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In one of my classes, I was asked to talk about what our thoughts are about where we stand educationally regarding technology and whether or not we are really preparing students for dealing with the technological society of tomorrow. In a way, this will be very subjective depending on where an individual is, whether or not they are an educator and even whether or not they themselves are technologically competent. So, for me, this will be an interesting question.
Educationally speaking, I think we are still behind more countries around the world than we are in front of — which is extremely sad in my opinion. I believe we have been the leaders for so long that it has come to the point we no longer remember what it took to get there. I recently watched a video (2 Million Minutes) and it described what students do in other countries to receive their education. We take it for granted that we allow EVERY student to receive an education.I think it is because of these our students do not really “work” for it anymore. Instead, they show up because they have to, not really striving or doing the most of what they can accomplish.
In some countries, students have to dodge bullets just to go to school. Others, must complete various testing and score high enough to keep in school. Our students are entitled to an education. We are becoming an entitlement society more and more. This, for me, is one of my greatest fears. If we relax too much, what will become of this great country of ours?
Are we preparing our students to enter into this technological society? I can speak for others, but I can speak for myself. I am trying my best! I set high standards for my students and try to expose them to more and more technology. Unfortunately, but the time they get to me, they have already been failed. I am teaching them skills that should have been taught many years before I have them in class.
Where, or possibly better asked, how does this happen in a country as blessed as we are? I think it begins with how we operate as a society. We are who we are and that should be enough. Unfortunately, it is not anymore. Projections have shown that in order for us to keep up with the rest of the world we are going to need to graduate more and more people within Sciences, Math and Engineering segments.
Our educators need to be retrained so that it begins as soon as a student enters school. Our parents need to be trained so that mediocre school work is not acceptable. We need to start from ground zero to implement these changes and quickly before another generation is lost to the entitlement era.
I am adding a linkto a portion of the documentary “2 Million Minutes”. I would highly recommend everyone look at this, it is scary to see where we stand.
YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niU1E3SSTAM
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As a relatively new college professor, I have had a lot of firsts this year. Last semester I had a student email when he was contemplating suicide and a little later in the year I was nominated for an exceptional teaching recognition. This semester, I have had several students enter my classes that are registered with disabled student services. While this is not unusual (I had some last semester also), it has been a bit different. I do not want to go into details to protect the innocent, but I have found that college professors need more training on how to deal with the various disabilities — some of which, as they are in my case, can be extreme in nature.
Now, I don’t want this to come across as complaining, because in no way am I, but it does go to show that as an educator, sometimes we are to be stretched to our limits and in certain times, beyond these limits. This has happened this semester as well, but not for any of the aforementioned reasons. Last semester I had the great fortune of teaching many wonderful students (somewhere around 180) and enjoyed it greatly. I enjoyed it so much, that I wanted to teach an advanced class and have several of the students return. I do not know that this is normal, but for me, it was wonderful as I was able to teach several of my “favorite” students. I was able to handpick students due to the timing of when the class was added, again not normal.
Let’s fast forward to this semester. I have had a great time with the students in the class, and in several instances seeing them blossom into great learners. It has been a great class. Unfortunately, a couple of weeks ago, one of my students was killed in a terrible accident. She was nineteen and full of life — finally choosing a career, making some important decisions and just an all-around AWESOME young lady. Her birthday was this past Monday. Needless to say, this class was a close-knit group and has taken this extremely hard. I have taken it hard. We each have tried to deal with it, and at times, it just hasn’t seemed possible.
So, now we get to the relevance of how this might somehow deal with technology. A group on facebook was created by a friend in the student’s memory, email has been used to spread the news after the accident, the local news had a comment section enabled directly after the accident and many students were notified by text. This did make my job so much easier in that I did not have to be the first one to notify the students in my class.
In addition to everything that has went on, my class has decided to unite and do something to help the family. You see, the family does not have the money to pay for the funeral or marker for the grave. At the present time the details have not been completed, but it will be a fundraiser of some kind.
There is not a lot more I can say about this subject, but I do think I have learned so much from this experience. I would not wish this experience on anyone, but I can say I am a better educator and person for having known Britt.
Britt, you are gone, but not forgotten.
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In another class, I have been reviewing materials that deal with multimedia and its purpose in education. The article, “Multimedia in Education – Introduction, The Elements of, Educational Requirements, Classroom Architecture and Resources, Concerns ” which is also linked as an enclosure, tells us that multimedia “combines five basic types of media into the learning environment: text, video, sound, graphics and animation, thus providing a powerful new tool for education.”
I like the sound of that — “a powerful new tool for education,” but truly how new is it? Educators have been trying each of these mediums for a long time now, its only that the mediums and the educator’s access to the mediums has changed. I remember when I was in elementary school, we had projectors with film strips and sound. There were our letters forming a border around the room. Our teachers had bulletin boards with relevant information about what we were studying pinned up. Maps pulled down in front of chalkboards which were erased daily (and if you were lucky, you got to clean the erasers!!)
Instead of using the media from that time, we have now moved into movies provided online. We having testing available that will show us what perhaps we had to imagine at one time — was it really so bad having to imagine? At any time, we can speak to anyone anywhere in the world. Computers are now provided at some schools, chalkboards have been replaced by smart boards and bulletin boards replaced by LCD televisions.
The fact that educators have the access to these new mediums is remarkable to many people, but how are they being implemented in the classroom is the real question that needs answered. Are educators moving forward with this, or are they standing on the sidelines waiting to others implement the mediums into classrooms? Are educators being trained on how to use the hardware and software? Are educators wanting to be trained? I think these questions and more can be answered by the following quote in the article: “But the adage, ‘Putting computers into schools will directly improve learning,’ is negated by the reality that, ‘all this expensive technology will yield little educational return until schools and districts address the need for professional development, technical support, the availability of appropriate software, classroom management, and curriculum integration.'”
It’s one thing to have all of the equipment, technology and everything else that goes along with it but it is quite another to actually effectively use the technology. As educators, we need to changed from the ground up how this is utilized in the classroom. We need to step up to the plate and educate ourselves so that we can educate our students.
Our students are not tech savvy just because our students can get on the internet, check their email (if any actually are using email anymore), check out their Twitter page and Facebook page. These are very elementary technical skills to have when it comes right down to the root of things. The students still do not have the skills to reason out how to do things — they just can do it. Thus, truly they are not learning a new skill instead they have been learning to mimic what they have done before.
Our students need to be able to reason things out and understand how come things work the way that they do. Using the internet is a prime example listed in the aforementioned article. Anyone can put anything on the internet at this time. How will our students know what is right or wrong? A prime example is Wikipedia — how can a student tell if it is fact or fiction? Many students believe that if they see it on the internet, then it must be so. As educators, we know this is simply not true.
I have heard other educators say that with age, they will begin to realize the fallacy in their thinking, but I ask, “What if they don’t?” We need to realize that more needs to be taught at an earlier age so that these new technologies are implemented in a way to further develop and hone the necessary skills to lead our students, and thus our society, further into the future. So, as an educator, I will continue to learn more about technology, I will continue to add more into my classes and I will strive to do my part. How about you? Are you ready to jump into the water with me? I won’t lie, it is mighty cold in here — but the rewards are worth it!
