As I was searching for something to add onto my other blog for my other class, I came around this idea. We kind of touched on it in this weeks class however, if anyone else had thoughts to add to this topic, it will be interesting to see what people have to say.
Does technology really enhance the quality of learning or teaching?
Should our classes evolve around technology? Should we be giving more assignments that use the web?
On another note, online learning. Does that increase student learning? I know that I took a course online over the summer and I didn't like it at all. I liked how I was able to learn on my own, however, I missed engaging in the classroom. I like listening to some lectures and doing group assignments.
How do you feel about this?
And how will technology affect the way we teach when that time comes?
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On the topic of online learning, I can only speak from my own experience. I believe that there is a valid place for online courses when the student has a valid reason. There are any number of reason that a student is unable to fit a certain course into their schedule.
ReplyDeleteThat said, however, I also believe that taking a course online should be a last resort. There is something lost when the student is isolated and forced to learn independently. Especially during the formative years of middle and high school, the social aspect of schools is as important as the academic side.
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ReplyDeleteGreat topic for a post! This is certainly one of the hottest topics in contemporary education! The debate around technology used to be centred on: equal access for all students, the costs involved with keeping a schools technology current, and how to offer the appropriate training to teachers to use all the new technology being purchased.
ReplyDeleteMore recently, it seems that the debate has evolved to ask “How can teachers prepare students for the world outside of school?” So instead we ask, “How can I bring technology into the classroom in meaningful ways?” “How do we keep the curriculum relevant and interesting for the generations of students who actively use technology?” It seems as though the questions have changed from "Should we?" to "How do we?"
In my own opinion, whether to use technology is no longer the question and applying the term technology - in any broad sense - is no longer relevant. If we think of technology in the broadest application of the term - as a huge toolkit, we can instead ask “How can specific technologies be used to build connections to the curriculum?” “Which technology will best enhance my course content?” “How can I best use the internet, build websites, create podcasts, blogs, Wikis, use Moodle, Teacher Tube, digital photo, digital video, social networking, or cell phones and texting technologies in my class?”
Even more importantly how can we guide students to actively and critically engage with new media? Web 2.o technology claims to take learning beyond the four walls of the classroom. It encourages active participation in media production, enhancing students understanding of their own media consumption.
There is much academic discourse about inter-connectivity and collaborative communities - to some educators these are revolutionary concepts. These revolutionary ideas certainly pose challenges to traditional teaching jobs - but I don't believe that person to person instruction can ever be totally replaced. As a specific tool, when chosen carefully for the correct job, technology can widen participation margins, encourage individual success, and provide flexible opportunities for variable modes of learning for students.
Thank you for the opportunity to discuss such an interesting, relevant, and engaging topic in contemporary education.
Since posting that long reply yesterday - I have been nagged by the question - how is technology used in physical education?
ReplyDeleteI look forward to the answer to this question Phys. Ed. teachers
ReplyDeleteI think like with any new technology the question is not should we look to it to expand our programs, but how can we best use it to open the world up to our students.
ReplyDeleteI worry though, with the pendulum swinging so far towards technology that teachers will become reliant on websites for the students interpersonal skills learning and development.
Having worked for many years in marketing, sales and in the art world I understand the importance of strong verbal skills in the work place.Does having debates on a website compare to a classroom debate, where body language and the tone of a word can totally change the context of a sentence?
Are we preparing our students to face the world person to person, or blog entry to blog entry? Just wondered if anyone else had any concerns about what a healthy balance means to the future hapiness of our students and their relationships with others?
The easiest way for technology to be used in PE is to find errors. If you teach a sport such as volleyball and then have the class play a game, the best way for the students to know how they are doing is to video tape them. Showing the students a video of themselves is a great way for them to realize body positioning and skill execution and if they are doing it right. Also the internet is full of skill demonstrations that students can always find helpful. Any other PE students have to add to that?
ReplyDeleteTechnology can be used all throughout physical activity! For example, for me, as a runner, I use my IPod to measure my running distances, my pace, my time, and to of course, listen to music. Students in phys Ed. use this kind of technology to set personal goals. As well as doing the beep test, students require a stereo system for this to be done.
ReplyDeleteOf course not all parts of phys Ed. class are the psychomotor aspect. The internet can be used for the cognitive and affective aspects. To look up athletes in a particular sport, or to learn the specific rules of a game so a student can be the official in a game! The sport education aspect of phys. Ed requires all kinds of technology!
Im hoping at some point to get ahold of a projector and laptop to use in my own PE lessons. For some sports/activities, such as Yoga, I can't come close to giving a proper demonstration of a skill, but it isn't hard to find videos and pictures of experts online to give students the proper example that they could follow.
ReplyDeleteMy pipe dream is actually that I could have a class with multiple stations and have a projector at each station that shows exactly what skill is to be performed and the teaching points for it. I think it would be more effective then doing the same thing with paper because I think the students of today would find video demonstrations more useful then handouts at each station and watching the video would probably be faster then reading and understanding the paper. That being said, its just a pipe dream. I'll be lucky to get a computer to use for my PE class, let alone multiple projectors :p.
I think Kim and Tyler nailed that video is where technology fits into PE. For me I find a can learn a ton about refining my performance in a variety of ways by taking a video of my performance. There is a lot going on that you just don't "feel" happening until you see it on the screen.
ReplyDeleteIn the Golf and Tennis classes that Dennis Fedoruk teaches at UVic he has an assignment that involves comparing your execution to a skilled one. I found it rather helpful and might even give a similar style assignment in a school setting.
"I worry though, with the pendulum swinging so far towards technology that teachers will become reliant on websites."
ReplyDeleteI think the class where many of us couldn't get into eportfolio was good example of the downside of using technology. I can recall several examples at UVic where a prof has tried to play a video from Youtube or another site and it just doesn't want to cooperate that day.
Another issue with relying on websites is that anyone can make one. I think it's good to make students aware of all the resources that are available to them, but we also need to teach them to objectively consider the credibility and validity of these sources as well.