Teacher to Be

I am reviewing Miram’s Blog titled Google Docs. I found it a really good idea setting up a ‘how to’ when creating a google doc. Amzing that 100 accounts have been set up. It made me think about my own students and how I could incorporate it into my teaching.  The embedded Video did not seem to work but I am sure it is a good video. 

The fact that she also included the good and the bad is good for teachers in order to access whether they would be able to use it in their classroom. The benefit of a “collaborative workspace ” can’t be ignored, students working together. It means students in ‘japanese’ (my subject area) can learn from each other but I as the teacher can correct their work and their peers will see it and can change it in their own work if they made the same mistake.

I defintly believe that when I have my own class I will use this as a guide to my students creating their own google Docs.

Technology in the Classroom on Youtube. This post is short but I really like this movie. It is discussing how one of the dangers of allowing different technology into your classroom is misuse. Now of course we would be monitoring the students but I can remember having a laptop in year 11 and 12 and I was always playing games when the teachers wasn’t watching.

I guess the main thing we can do is monitor as much as possible.

Just for a side note, It is amazing what you can achieve with a computer and camera. imagine what our students could create.  Have a look at this video, an 11 year old boy created it. Shopin!

I found this article intriguing. It talks about newspapers and how they need to change to suit the growing needs of the digital natives. It has an interview from Rupert Murdoch. Mr Murdoch quotes from research and states : “attitudes towards newspapers are especially alarming. Only 9 percent describe us as trustworthy, a scant 8 percent find us useful, and only 4 percent of respondents think we’re entertaining” I found this interesting because I get most of my news of the internet and don’t really read the newspaper anymore. I never really thought what others were thinking when it came to newspapers.

I loved this quote “One commentator, Jeff Jarvis, puts it this way: give the people control of media, they will use it. Don’t give people control of media, and you will lose them.”  Why pay for a newspaper when you can look it up on the net. At the same time, it is kind of sad that we are going digital, you lose that era, the ones who sit down and read the newspaper with a coffee.

 The next statement I believe could easily be adapted to suit teachers. “By streamlining our operations and becoming more nimble. By changing the way we write and edit stories. By listening more intently to our readers.” So By listening to our students, Becoming quicker with the technology and changing the way we teach we can meet our digital natives.

He asks the question “What do we – a bunch of digital immigrants — need to do to be relevant to the digital natives?” 

He goes on to talk about what the digital natives want, he writes “The challenge for us is to create an internet presence that is compelling enough for users to make us their home page.” I do not think I have ever actaully activly searched out a newspaper homepaeg, usually I just write in google news today and look it up or msn just has it on their homepage. I find it interesting that newspapers think about their digital natives, I mean it is obvious now, but before I only thought about digital natives in reference to education.

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Their Space; Education for a digital generation

The research in this article was very interesting and thought provoking. Their reserach indicated that many ‘digital pioneers’ were blogging before we knew what blogging was.  They were building webpages, making movies, sharing their photos and music with all.

People who communicate have been given an easy life through texting, emailing and msn.

This article also reports on myths and misconceptions which included learning from digital pioneers (that is in the focus groups there was usually one person ahead of everyone), Start with people not PCs (that is schools need to respond and listen to the user, and develop strategies to mend the gap between formal and informal learning),the world has changed why haven’t we (that is just as it is stating. We need to adapt to the times.)

I found these interesting and relevant to us from the report;

1 The internet is too dangerous for children.

2 Junk culture is poisoning young people and taking over

their lives.

3 No learning happens and digital technologies are a waste

of time.

4 There is an epidemic of internet plagiarism in schools.

5 Young people are disengaged and disconnected.

6 We’re seeing the rise of a generation of passive consumers.

7 All gaming is good.

8 All children are cyberkids.

 It talks about parents needing to supervise children, talk to them, understand what they are using the internet for. OR even put a tracking system into the computer to monitor and block certain programs that they deem unsafe.

One of the most interesting aspects of the report is that students don’t always (and mostly don’t) learn from someone else. They teach themselves the technology and they explain it as the older you get the harder it is to learn. 

The report goes on to explain how schools need to incorporate different technology but also making students aware of the dangers. It is practical advice after all. All teachers should read this report. It gives many student opinions and childrens opinions. Overall it was an interesting read.  It is just another piece to this teaching puzzle we are piecing together.

I was reading the blog Sophie wrote on “Self similarity:childhood sketch to field of study”  and I found it interesting.

When it comes to teaching langauges we have to look at “hobbies, talents and imaginations”. We use these in our teaching, students are always coming up with new hobbies that even as a language teacher, I have to find out what it translate to.  I like the idea that something is sparked in us as children that grows until we are what we are today.  The idea that “interests can be directly linked to their cognitive development and later achievement.” intrigues me because this means that if a students interest lies in the destructive, what could this mean for their future. However, overall I would have to agree with Sophies thinking, we do need to take into account our students interests and not just our interests when it comes to teaching, because half their time is spent in school, their interest should be nurtured not squashed.

Thanks to digital cameras and Facebook, a generation documents itself like never

Ok I am of the facebook era, and yes I have facebook but when I read comments like “Joelle Chow, 15, said that when she and her friends gather at her house, they sometimes do their hair and make up just to make sure they look good in the pictures they post on Facebook. ” I mean seriously how “me” in multimedia can you get. I have photos up but we do not go around for the express purpose of taking photos for my facebook.  I actually think it is fairly dangerous tool, I mean I have a friend on facebook who has photos of her two year old son and he is naked in alot of them. You tag it as nudity but nothing happens, well not yet. So what happens if some pedophile is on looking at the photos, of the two year old, the 15 year old.

Also this article talks about how people “Today, if you choose not to do Facebook in college, you have all but chosen to be a social isolate.” So if you are not using this, this makes you something that is beneath talking to. How obscene is that?

Yes facebook and my space has advantages, you can share your photos and show friends stuff, but when there are people specifically going around getting dressed up in case they get snapped for face book. It just seems plain silly. I think in moderation it is a great idea, and I use it. However, if it is monitored enough it could go awry.

Truly Madly Engaged Click here to read

The article states the core needs are music, internet and mobile devices. When I look at myself. I think about it, in my car I listen to music, have my phone ready to answer and when I get home I have to get on the internet to check if my friends had emailed me back. We are immersed into this media world, walk in the city and I dare you to go ten minutes without running into someone on the phone or someone tuned out with their mp3 player. 

It is stated in the article ” Mass market media as well as marketing messages do not appeal or deliver the emotional connections to this audience.”  I think this is because we become desensitised to all around us. We watch movies about gore and horror and we are bombarded with mass media marketing. The more we see the more we don’t really care.

 The part in the article I found most interesting is that the US lags behind when it comes to mobile phone functions. I do not know why but I assumed they along with Japan would be at the top of the list for using the new technology.  They have it but don’t use it. However, when I look at what I can do on my phone and what I actually do, it is probably very similar to people in the US.

The article asks the question which could you live without? Mobile phone, intenet and tv. ME I would choose the TV. Cause I can and am living without one for six months now. When you have the internet and a phone you can entertain yourself easily.  In High school I would have said there was no way I could live without the television. I always multitasked, I studied for my Japanese exams and watched the television and sometimes I also had music on. So yes this generation would definitly be multitaskers.

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I guess what this means for us as teachers is we need to incorporate the devices our students frequently use. Use the internet, the mobiles and even the Ipods. Make it an advantage to have it in the school instead of a disadvantage!

Julia’s post

I completely agree with this post. It is true that teachers need to be taught the new technologies. There are of course certain teachers that may not want to change but like Julia stated “Teachers want more training, better technology and more support to take full advantage of the digital revolution sweeping through the education sector”. Really what teacher wouldn’t really want to learn and know more than what their students know.  So really Train the teachers and we won’t have to deal with all this “digital native, digital immigrants”, if everyone is trained then no problem, we should know more than our students, or at least be on the same level.

Listen to the natives article

I find it interesting that this article assumes that all teachers are digital immigrants. I mean I am not and there are teachers out there the same age as me teaching. However what is more interesting is that even if there are digital immigrants out there, that does not mean they are behind the students. I know many people who were not brought up with computers around and they are much better at using them then I am. It states that “Our young people generally have a much better idea of what the future is bringing than we do. ” Yes they may be using many different means of technologies, but that does not mean that they might know more. I found that on my prac students use the different technologies in their schooling and yes sometimes they know something different to the teachers but I believe that teachers know more technology (or at least they should) then the students.  I like that this article is establishing that teachers can learn with the students, can use the students prior knowledge. This is essential in all subject areas, the use of prior knowledge is a must in teaching.

This article suggest collaboration is necessary for teaching in the future. Collaboration with students is an interesting concept, in theory it sounds like a great idea. However, it seems like there could be potential risks, it would depend on the students, the school and many different factors. Students can’t always have so much independence, they do not always respond well. I think this could be tested in different schools but it would not work in all.

“Today’s students have mastered a large variety of tools that we will never master with the same level of skill. ” This quote I find ridiculous, who is to say that we wouldn’t master this device if someone taught you how to use it. Anyone can learn, so why not just have a course to teach the teachers the needs of the students.

To sum up, all I think we need from reading this article is to teach in university the needs of our students. computers, technology, how to use them, are essential to the students today.