Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Chapter 9 Reflections

On Pg. 179 the authors refer to an ad from Apple years ago that predicted a "knowledge navigator" to help steer users to the right information, guide their activities based on strengths and help them navigate their day. They also state that we are much closer to that reality these days. It is a confidence builder to tailor learning using someones known strengths and interests but we run into potential abuses. What ever happened to "know thyself"? Why is pondering, self reflection and trial and error suddenly so inconvenient? Goodness knows many of the situations I encounter in life are not tailored to my strengths, I must continue to expose myself to other approaches in order not to be completely helpless. How long will it take to arrive at the point where people cannot make a move without the system guiding them in their learning or daily activities? How long did it take for many to not develop the skill of making change once cash registers completed this task for them? This is a use it or lose it prospect - just think of all the phone numbers you yourself no longer "know" because you have programmed them in to speed dial. Our brains are powerful but if we are trained to take the path of least resistance that will be all we are capable of when faced with something outside our "strengths". How will the power to deduct and problem solve evolve?

RE: Pg. 181 " The hope is that professional development will fill that gap for current teachers and that new teachers will enter the profession armed with the technology skills they'll need to help students learn in new ways. WHAT???? I've asked brand new teachers at my school the last two years what kind of educational technology training they are receiving in their programs. They furrow their brow and tell me nothing like that was part of their training. Teacher preparation courses are not on board yet, except for a few, and professional development is STILL the stop gap in the vast majority of situations. Certainly, professional development recently has been focused on assimilating ESL students and meeting NCLB requirements. Technology integration, while still around, has not had the limelight. I see much of those tech departments faced with Bandwith, security and repair issues. Also, I see many teachers throw their hands up because it is another area where there is inconsistent resources in schools and they feel the district should be supporting them in delivery. They want updated hardware and professional development that trains in integration. They are not willing to take another thing on that requires their personal time. What I see occurring is the individual who invites technology in to their personal life in pervasive ways is the one who decides to branch out on occasion and integrate it in to classroom work.

I still recall attending library school 8 years ago and visiting a "Gates School". They told us then 35% of all school tech budgets needed to be spent on prof. development/training. I'm not sure I've seen that occurring.

It often seems that the recent governmental focus on NCLB issues is in direct conflict with what many believe to be imperative technology skill development through integration. It was difficult to jump through more than one hoop at a time and so many have not. Many districts were being faced with programmed curriculum guides and found it overwhelming to try and adopt those AND attempt technology integration. Of course at the district level there were only funds for one or the other and at the classroom level, teachers were choosing to deal with the curriculum area that they were being judge upon and which newspapers were publishing results.

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