Evaluating Learning Technology

When do tools of technology fail to achieve a desired learning outcome?     Consider the challenges in developing a distance learning program for a growing number of students in Grades K-3.  Students are practicing their handwriting skills during this stage of development.  Has anyone ever been able to use the “pen” tool in Blackboard’s Elluminate virtual classroom environment to demonstrate the finer qualities of handwriting? Or handwriting at all?  Computers cannot teach children how to write.  This is a skill that requires practice leading to the development of manual dexterity.  How effective are workbook pages accompanying text-based curriculum containing English grammar, punctuation, and comprehension exercises?  Workbook pages allow students to practice their writing skills.   However, printed materials and writing pose challenges to students with disabilities (North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, 2005).  Therefore, in developing a curriculum for Grades K-3 in English, I would design an integrated program that would include options for all learners.  The resulting mix would combine text-based materials in an asynchronous and synchronous environment developed to Standards.  Emphasis would be placed on reading, writing, and creative expression.   It would include virtual classrooms where students come together to hear and tell stories, to solve mysteries, make discoveries that would engender problem-solving and critical thinking skills, and otherwise experience the world (North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, 2005). 

            When (hands-on) text-based curriculum is combined with Web-based technology, visual, auditory, and print-based learners are included in the design.   Options include projects and activities that personalize the program for the students’ individual needs and interests.  Because of the volume of hand-written work, drawings, posters, etc., for Grades K-3, the Learning Management System (LMS) should be designed to accommodate large files for containing the work submitted each week.  Since many home teachers have trouble zipping and compressing files for uploading into the LMS, emerging technology may allow downloads to be made directly into the LMS as media files and Google docs.     

References

North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, (2005).  Critical issue:  Using technology to

            improve student achievement.  Retrieved from

            http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/methods/technlgy/te800.htm

Technology in My Daily Life

I was inducted into the Information Age when desktop computers were delivered to everyone who worked in Administration at Knott's Berry Farm, an historical theme park located in Southern California.  It was set on my desk with a DOS Operating Manual, and everyone was taking bets on whether I could learn how to operate it.  Could this  middle -aged (I was in my early 40s) "old dog" learn new tricks?  It wasn't easy, because as I learned to operate this marvel of technology, I had to get rid of a lot of old habits like using the return key when I got to the end of a line of text.  Eventually, though, I felt confident enough to throw the "white-out" in the trash and use my new-found  toy with a flourish.  Since that time I've used the computer, and later the Internet, for everything that I do in my business and professional life, and I would say that I accomplished it with the ease of a digital native (Prensky, 2001), or one who has grown up in the digital age.  According to Dede (2005), that gives me a millennial learning style.

Today I am a K-12 teacher of distance learning.  I work with my home teachers (parents) and students using many different curriculum programs (text and online) in math, history, science, and English.  I  often customize the curriculum to personalize the program of choice for the different learning styles of my students.  I use the Internet extensively to find good, interactive websites that I can share with my students.  I have also used it to write an online curriculum in Environmental Science for Middle School students where I developed immersive opportunities involving hands-on "eco-activities" for students that benefit the environment.  According to Dede (2005), this begins to take on neomillennial (new) aspects, also referred to as 21st century skills.  My school was one of the first to offer distance learning to K-12 students, and last year we included virtual classrooms for bringing students together in a synchronous environment.  It is now possible for students who live as far away as China and Africa, to come together, meet their classmates, and participate in activities together. 

Lastly, I’ve become a student of distance learning where I hope to acquire new skills in the fast-developing digital universe that is creating a brave new world in the field of education. 

References:

Dede, C. (2005).  Planning for neomillennial learning styles.  Educause Quarterly, 1, 7-12. 

Prensky, M. (2001).  Digital natives, digital immigrants.  On the Horizon, 9(5).

Prensky, M. (2001).  Digital natives, digital immigrants part II:  Do they really think differently? 

            On the Horizon, 9(6).

Technology Prioritization

Living on the windswept Central California Coast, we often have gales that sweep in from an angry sea making spaghetti out of our power lines and plunging our area into complete darkness at night.  No phones, no cable, cold sandwiches by candlelight, and nothing but a nice fire in the fireplace to weather the storm.  What would we do without electricity today?  It seems inconceivable that less than 100 years ago, people didn’t have the one thing that is now so indispensable to society—electricity!   I’ve often thought, as I’ve sat through those dark, quiet nights, what it would be like to have a wood-burning stove, and a good kerosene lantern to help light the night.  My mood changed to frustration as I thought of my computer, sitting lifelessly and uselessly in the study, when I had student lessons to grade and Walden assignments to submit.    It has only been in the last 30 years (Molnar, 1997) that personal computers have become an everyday necessity in our lives.  I am a teacher as well as a student of distance learning, a technology made possible by computers, the Internet, and the World Wide Web (Technological Advancements Over Time, n.d.).    Computers are used today as a primary means for research.  They hold vast databases that have become accessible using the Internet which serves to connect people with one another and with the world.  Computers and computer technologies link together industries, global economies, and provide research and information sharing on a global scale (Bussell, 2006).  In education, computer and computer-related technologies are referred to as “ 21^st century skills”  that include opportunities to “show” as well as  “tell.”  To link students synchronously from around the world via virtual classrooms, connect with Skype, and have students participate in projects together through fast-emerging technologies keeps me on the run.  I often feel like the slow little burro that cannot seem to catch up with the carrot forever in front of its nose.    It’s a fast-moving world we live in today!

 It was interesting for me to review the history of computers over the past 50 years.  I remember learning about the big mainframes as they were developed, and seeing how education and industries used the first large computers for storing information and computing mathematical and engineering applications.  I remember endless reams of paper-punched copy, and those awful computer cards associated with batch processing.  The history of computer technology was a nice review of those times.  I was surprised to learn that computers were developed within academia at Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia, the University of Illinois, Dartmouth, and UCLA (Molnar, 1997).  LEGO construction was developed by Seymour Papert at MIT, and it was Stanford that led the field in developing individualized instructional strategies that led to student-directed learning which, in turn, resulted in a paradigm shift in education (Molnar, 1997).  For the first time students were able to take control of their own learning, and computers became an extension of themselves.  Students have downloaded their own “stuff” and email and instant messaging is on top of the list of “must have’s” for students of all ages (Prensky, 2005). All this in just 30 years!  Can we even begin to forecast what the next 30 years will bring?

References:

Bussell, J. (2006).  Technology.  In M. Vevir (Ed.), Encyclopedia of governance, 953-956. 

            Thousand Oaks, CA:  Sage Publications, Inc.

Carlson, R. D. (2006).  Instructional technology.  Encyclopedia of educational leadership and

            administration.  Thousand Oaks, CA:  Sage Publications, Inc.

Molnar, A. (1997).  Computers in education:  A brief history.  T.H.E. Journal, 24(11), 63-68.

Prensky, M. (2005).  Shaping tech for the classroom.  21^st-century schools need 21^st –century

technology.  Edutopia.  Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/adopt-and-adapt-shaping-tech-for-classroom

Technological advancements over time (n.d.).  EIDT-2001, Technology & Learning 2012.

            Walden University Resources.