Please read the two articles linked and respond. I will also like you suggest areas of interest that I can help guide you with. You can create one blog entry for all three tasks. Just be sure to create separate paragraphs for each response.
Should We Eliminate the Laptops?
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2 responses so far ↓
1
Cal Hillesland
// May 14, 2007 at 7:27 pm
Response to “Laptops, Anyone?”
I believe, Scott, all the skills you mentioned (spending more time involved in collaborative work, participating more in project-based learning, producing writing of higher quality and greater length, gaining increased access to information, improving research analysis skills, directing their own learning, readily engaging in problem solving and critical thinking, consistently showing deeper and more flexible uses of technology) are vital. I also believe that computers need to be a big part of helping students to develop those skills. However, I am not so sure that a one-to-one laptop initiative is necessary to make it happen. Even though I love the convenience of everyone having a computer all the time, I think there might be a valid point in Kurt’s writing about financing such an ambitious project. In addition, I do not believe that computers are the only way to practice these skills. I was doing that with my students long before the advent of computers in the classrooms. Perhaps a couple computer labs and some carts with computers would prove adequate—or maybe that would prove to be too little too late. I am not sure. I would like to add that I thought the same thing as you as I read the New York Times article. I figured that the teachers at Liverpool High School did not have the tremendous support that we have had here. It has been nothing short of phenomenal. I was also thinking that maybe the administration primarily valued high test scores and not the sorts of skills you listed. Sad, but understandable. It is hard to strike the right balance—especially when faced with a terrifying monster like NCLB.
Response to “It’s the Empowerment, Stupid”
As I read through “It’s the Empowerment, Stupid” and the 32 responses that had been posted with it, I came to the conclusion that what’s wanted/needed in education to empower young people to learn is the right sort of heart. I mean the right sort of heart in our kids.
Let me speak for just a moment from the experience my wife and I have had as homeschoolers. With every one of our eight children, there has come a time–generally between the first and fourth grades–where the lights start to flicker for them and then finally go on. What I am getting at is that there comes a time where they finally understand that although
we’ve been working together, the learning is really going to be up to them in the end. We are not going to carry or herd some self-centered, unmotivated, pleasure-seeking children through their education. They have to come to a point–fairly early on–where they take responsibility for their own learning. They have to have an epiphany which results in a personal commitment to their education. Often tears will accompany this
traumatic moment, and the truth is that for some of our kids, it’s taken longer than a moment. A crisis occurs, and my wife will tell the child: “Put your books away. I don’t have time for this nonsense. Let me know when you want to work.” So far, our children have always come back—ready to work.
Why do they come back? I think it’s relationship. They cherish the relationship they have with my wife and me. They want very much to be in right relationship with us. They see that although they might derive some momentary satisfaction from a freedom from their studies, the benefits pale when compared to what they have lost. I do not mean to make it sound as if we as parents stop loving our children if they refuse to perform, but we do show them that we will not play games.
They cannot bully us or blackmail us. They are the losers. The demands in education are real. The consequences for failure are staggering. They come to see work as a privilege. Blessings follow obedience.
Let me add that I am not saying one must homeschool in order to get the right sort of parent/child relationship or student heart for success in education. In fact, I know of homeschooled kids who have rebelled, failed, and been enrolled in public schools so that the pieces could maybe get picked up. I believe the freedom of homeschooling regarding the how, what, when, why, and where of instruction is a marvelous opportunity for parents and their kids. It will not work for everyone though.
What do we do as educators to get this kind of heart in our students? First, let me say it’s not our job, really. It’s the job of the parents. It ought to begin in the homes—even if the kids are coming to public school. So if the job isn’t done there, then what? Then it becomes our job—and that scares me. Images of Big Brother start to pop up in my head. By taking on this task, what’s happening is that parents are turning over their rights and responsibilities to the state. That’s the bottom line. It’s a tragedy. It’s obvious that the work needs to start early—in pre-school. (Do you recall some recent legislation in South Dakota?) By the time students get to the high school, it’s generally too late. The best we can do is advisory and academy. These are avenues by which we attempt to make connections with young people, woo young people who have not comprehended the importance and joy of working at learning/education.
So what about public schools and computers? What about 21st century learning skills? I accept Will Richardson’s list (students needing to become self-learners, self-selectors, self-organizers, etc.), but those things only come about when young people have the right heart. I want to add as well that the schoolbag full of papers that he sees every Friday could quite eloquently represent the sweat and tears and fruit of diligent learning— genuine learning. Granted, the work has not been done on a computer, but a computer is just another tool, right? Other tools (handouts, pencils, books, notebook paper) are still legitimate and often successful, are they not? The pile of debris that he sees coming from his son’s bag may be a token of his son’s heart being in the right place, and that’s what counts the most.
Areas of Interest
1. I need to do a threaded discussion—this week—on WebCT.
2. I think I could make the wiki work next year with some research projects that I have my accelerated English groups do. I’d like to know more. You mentioned my German classes too, and I should investigate that as well.
2
William Gripentrog
// May 15, 2007 at 9:01 am
Some things I would like to addressed in our “class”.
1. Electronic cheating and ways to prevent it. I attended the session and it was great. The philosophy of what students do was great. I want the actual application of what students can do and what I can do to prevent it.
2. More information on Wikis.
3. The use of macromedia and animation for edcuational purposes.
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