The Computer Delusion

Over the weekend, with the exception of the time I spent sleeping or drinking coffee, I moved between desktop and laptop computer, engaged in reading, responding, researching, typing, revising and editing work related to my two grad classes, my job, and my children's extracurricular activities. Without the aid of the internet and its ability to display research materials within minutes, various software applications, and my ability to type upwards of 80 wpm, I would have completed only a fraction of what was expected. However, by the end of the night, instead of feeling motivated to use this tool even more, I felt like the students in Napa, California. My head hurt, my eyes were sore, and my wrists were in pain. But that's not all. During that time I had completely isolated myself from the world around me. At one point, my daughter was trying to ask me a question, and I didn’t even realize she was there until she poked me. “You remind me of those "video geeks" at my school. They have pale skin because they never get out in the sun, and they don’t speak to anyone except their geek friends. Maybe you’ll talk to me if I email my question to you?”

I agree with Todd Oppenheimer when he writes that “computers encourage social isolation.” If we allow technology to take the place of human interactions, we may lose our ability to communicate effectively, as well as think critically. The article reminded me of a situation I faced last year. The school I work in purchased a CMT “score enhancing” program. Students were required to spend 1-2 hours each week in the computer lab completing sample tests in reading, writing, math and science. After they completed a test, the students compared their answers to the ones set by the computers. When it came to scoring open ended questions, many students were shocked to find out their responses received a score of zero. Rather than examining the overall content of their responses, students changed individual words in an effort to type in the word that the computer was searching for. As I made my way to each student, I realized that many of the “zero” responses showed excellent comprehension of the text. However, instead of defending their responses and describing how they demonstrated their understanding, they wanted to change the words until they scored a three. Hence, the software did not enhance their learning.

I disagree with Jane Healy who wrote that essays conceived on a computer do not link ideas together. When my students draft their writing on the computer it is easier for them to reread the printed document and find the places where they need to revise and edit. If you turn on “track changes” it helps students see their own progress and reflect on what they did well in the piece, and what they still need to work on.

Lastly, the article also brought up another good point about teaching students how to use technology so they will be better prepared when they enter the job market. I agree that employees who are flexible and intelligent can “learn all the computer skills they need in a summer.” I used an electric typewriter, pencils, pens and papers until I was 20 years old, and the first time I accessed the internet was a little more than five years ago. I learned how to use a word processor as well as any software that was required, on the job within just a few weeks. In addition, the programs that students are using in school today will probably be obsolete by the time they enter the work force. Just ask the people who thought Wang would be around forever!

Ed Tech Thus Far...

Thus far, this has been the best course I have taken in years. Every week I come away feeling like I have learned something that can be directly applied in my classroom. Much of this is due to the fact that the course is hands-on, and taught by someone who is not only an expert on the topic, but is also an expert on how to teach the topic!

My fifth grade students love Thursdays. First, because they have one hour of art in the morning. Second, because I share the things that I learned in class. Knowing how to use the technology that is available to us has helped me become a better teacher. Through the use of technology, I am better able to differentiate my lessons. My students know how to use Inspiration to help them organize their thoughts when planning an essay, or taking notes on a chapter in social studies or science. They know how to access our classroom homepage to get updated information about school events, and homework assignments. They also know that while Wordle has great entertainment value, it can also be used as a diagnostic tool. During our mentor author unit of study we copied the text from The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco into Wordle and noticed that the word "Quilt" was substantially larger than the rest of the text. We discussed the reasons why that happened, then I tried the same thing with the students' pieces. One student wrote about Thanksgiving with her family. She wanted her audience to know that she enjoyed spending time with her family on that day. I can't tell you how hard she laughed when the word "like" was three times the size of Thanksgiving. "I think I need to use the thesaurus," was her reply. I am currently in the process of having Photo Story 3 installed on the computers in our lab, and our media specialist is already looking for inexpensive microphones. We are going to publish our memoirs using digital storytelling.

As for the rest of this course - I am looking forward trying everything.

Copyright - Implications for Educators

Over the past few weeks, I have had several conversations with our Library Media Specialist (LMS), as well as my grade level partners, regarding our concerns about Copyright Law and its impact on our teaching. First, the language arts curriculum writing teams have put together units of study that contain re-typed copies of entire texts by authors such as Patricia Polacco, Cynthia Rylant, and Sandra Cisneros to name just a few. These texts are reused year after year to teach specific reading and writing strategies. Many teachers and administrators are under the impression that if you re-type a text instead of photocopying it, Copyright Law does not apply (even though our LMS tells them otherwise). As a matter of fact, a few years ago she attended a workshop that was attended by several children's authors, including Patricia Polacco. Ms. Polacco informed the attendees that she rarely gives permission to reproduce her work.

Budget constraints and ever changing curriculums prohibit many districts from purchasing expensive classroom sets of these anchor texts. However, good teachers know that it is much more effective for every learner to have a copy of the text for discussion and to use as a reference to gather supporting details. We use the copies because we know they are effective tools for learning. Yet, when we provide students with these copyrighted texts, we are inadvertently telling them that it is okay to use a text in this way.

The Fair Use guidelines are posted next to the photocopier, our LMS reviews the guidelines with teachers every year, reads aloud the letter from Disney prohibiting the use of their videos for entertainment purposes, and she frowns when she notices teachers making copies of The Keeping Quilt. We know that it is not fair to copy these texts, but we also know that by using these texts, our students have become better readers and writers. Making the choice between unfair and fair use is difficult for teachers, and unfortunately, I believe that the practice will continue until Patricia Polacco finds out what we are doing.

Image

Using Foto Flexer, I inserted a woman's face on a caveman's body. I also applied a flashy star sticker to the upper right hand corner of the photo and applied a sketch like effect. This is such a simple process that can enable students (and adults like me) who struggle to produce attractive renderings of their mental images, to produce an artistic and professional looking piece of work that better represents what they are thinking.

The Power of Digital Media

This diagram shows the benefits of using digital media vs. traditional media to meet the diverse needs of all learners.

Standard

I am using the following standard as a target of focus this semester:


Discipline: English/Language Arts

Grade Level: 5-8

Producing Texts/Content Standard 2: Students will produce written, oral and visual texts to express, develop and substantiate ideas and experiences.


I find that since the first day of class I have been spending a great deal of time trying to think of effective ways to link visual learning with digital imagery. Following class last week, I was very excited when I found out that not only did my students have access to Kidspiration, but I could access Inspiration from my very own desktop as well. (The school purchased the software a few years ago, but neglected to show anybody how to use it!) I have been using it ever since.


Expository Writing - In the past, I used the "expository pillar," a linear organizer, to help students plan and organize their essays. If, after using the "pillar," their essays still lacked organization, students would write each paragraph on a separate index card in an effort to maintain a separate and distinct focus for each one. Needless to say, students were not happy about rewriting their work, but the visual did help some students understand the format better. Kidspiration eliminates this frustration.


Yesterday, I used it during writing with a student who jumbled together his intro, 3 main ideas, and conclusion in one paragraph. Using Kidspiration, we wrote the intro in the first link, underlining each of the three main ideas. Next, we linked the first main idea to the intro. "This is awesome!" was his response. Almost immediately, he created the last three links to the remaining main ideas and conclusion. Using copy and paste, he moved his relevant details from his word document to the appropriate links in Kidspiration and was delighted with his success. Over the past week, I have also showed my daughter how to use Inspiration to prepare notes for her science and Spanish tests, and brainstorm ideas for an English paper. She told me that the format helps her maintain a focus, or "think INSIDE the box."

Besides writing, I see applications in all the subjects I teach. In science, Inspiration can be used to show cause and effect, or maintain a focus for research. In math, it can be used to isolate digits in large numbers to illustrate the rules for rounding. And in reading, it can show how a plot develops, or trace chararacter change throughout a book. I hope my SmartBoard arrives soon so I can utilize this tool more efficiently.

Technology

When our tech expert is not available, teachers come looking for me. I have used a variety of word processing applications for many years, as well as PowerPoint and Excel, and can always find an easy way to organize someone's ideas using a table or chart. I am not afraid of the computer and I am always looking for new applications that will make the administrative part of teaching easier.