K Bechtel

Is getting an education the same thing as learning?  This question has been brought up this semester and I think about it often.  I tell my students regularly about how important it is to get an education so they can get a good job.  Reality tells me otherwise though.  After my husband graduated with an associate degree in business management and a bachelor’s degree in business administration, the best job he could find was at the local hospital making minimum wage as a pharmacy tech.  I began working upon graduating with a bachelor’s degree in natural sciences/math at a bank in the loan department at minimum wage.  So we both have this education and where did it get us?  Well, in the process of being educated we learned a whole lot.  We learned how to solve problems, how to manage our time, our to meet deadlines, how to budget our resources, and how to complete tasks.  We learned responsibility and coping strategies to deal with a full-time schedule of classes with requirements we thought we’d never complete, a job sometimes two, and playing college basketball.  Learning to do all that was enough for a bank and a hospital to hire us.  After being hired, we then learned how to do the job.  Once we proved ourselves, we were able to work our way up the ladder.  Now I am no longer at a bank of course, I am a teacher.  But the idea is that we get jobs not because we know a lot.  We get jobs because of our work habits and academic backgrounds.  We keep our jobs because we learn how to do them well through experience.  Our experiences allow us to learn in a way that education cannot and will not ever provide.

How do we use technology to educate?

This was another question posted on Blackboard during Unit 4.  I use technology to help educate my students in ways I couldn’t possibly do in my classroom.  Technology use in my classroom is similar to a field trip.  Field trips are fun, educational, insightful, and teaches things other than just core content objectives.  We’ve all taken kids on trips and have been shocked to find out they’ve never been out of the county.  (My most recent experience included lunch at the mall, a place many of my students had never been inside.)  Technology like that field trip provides students the opportunity to see things in a new perspective, to do things they’ve never done, and do experience the world.  Technology boosts the interest level of many students grabbing their attention and pulling them into the lesson.  Those are some ways technology is used to educate.

How do I use technology to learn?

Technology helps me when I am learning because it gives me access to information very easily.  In fact, technology (and I’m speaking about the Internet) provides me with so much information that it is at times overwhelming.  I really have to have a good understanding of what I’m searching for or I’ll end up with thousands of hits.  This is similar to the prewriting/focusing stage of writing that I used to go through before I used a computer.  I would look up information (probably starting in the card catalog) by making my way around the library, skimming books, articles, and journals, hoping to find just what I needed.  Now I do the same thing except I am doing all of the searching online.  This should save me time but it doesn’t.  I have so many resources available to me now that I think I actually spend more time online.  The result?  I am able to create documents that are better researched, contains more perspectives, and shows the bigger picture of the topic I’m writing about. 

I also use technology to help me learn whenever.  I am very interested in cooking, but I am one that needs a recipe.  Unlike Mom, I cannot just throw in a little of this and a little of that and create an unforgettable dish leaving everyone wanting more.  I can search for recipes and cooking tips whenever I need to very simply online.  Help is only a click away!  So when Mom isn’t available to answer my call about how to make barbecue in the crock pot ( a question I needed answered just last week), I can find chefs from all walks of life able to advise me.

So technology for me makes learning a one-stop shop!

I really enjoyed reading High-Tech Heretic by Clifford Stoll.  There were times that I actually laughed out loud or reread certain passages aloud to my husband.   I realize that the book is nearly 10 years old, but so many of the things he wrote were very true.  One in particular is the notion that bringing technology to schools will help eliminate the problems schools are having and initiate school reform.  Bringing technology to schools since this books has been written has not eliminated many problems schools face, such as lack of discipline, poor attendance, little or not parental/community involvement, underachievement, and poor teaching strategies.  In fact, I think technology, as suggested by Stoll, just adds additional problems to the pot.  Overall the first section of the book provides countless reasons has to why computers do not belong in schools.  I did not agree with all of them, but many of them were right on.  In the second section, I saw many times where the book was dated but still his message was clear.  Technology and all of its glory (not) cannot and will not solve the problems of the world.  He also talks about the culture of techies and how internet use is changing our socialization. 

There were a few pages in the book where I may have even uttered, “Amen” or “That’s right” or some other phrase in agreement.  I really liked the chapter “Information is Power”.  He poses the question, “How can wiring schools for the internet make students want to learn math or history?”  He goes on to add, “The best way to create a community of loners is for each of us to escape into the welcoming arms of the internet.”  There’s no mention of the SNS that we’ve talked about in this class, but the internet is a very lonely place.  Surfing is not something you can do with your family and friends surrounded around you.  Even chats, emails, IMs,  and SNS do not give you the same connection with people as actually being with them.  Because so many conversations are out there in cyberspace it’s really hard to feel connected to anyone at all.   Keeping up with all those conversations is almost a full-time job!  It’s also hard to completely understand someone’s message without hearing their tone of voice and seeing their body language.  I also am very skeptical of someone’s message because I can’t see them to know who they are and what credentials they have to write about a certain topic.  We enter conversations with people who we really have no clue who they are.  It is true as Stoll said that the internet provides information that is “fast, cheap, and easy” but he goes on to add that “you get what you pay for”.  Many relationships over the internet are built on blind faith, meaning people believe what they read.  To me, that is a little scary.

 In this same chapter,  he goes on to discuss the price of the internet.  We are told we get it for free.  In reality we spend something “far more valuable than dollars”.  We spend our time.  I don’t know how many times I have sat down at the computer to do something very specific and before  you know it I have my personal email open, my work email open, several sites open on the internet, Blackboard open, and hours have passed.  (This happens everytime I go in Walmart too!)  It is especially true when you are taking an internet course(s).  There is no end to the time you can spend.  When you watch tv, the show ends eventually.  Telephone conversations go through some kind of wrap up and then are ended either by choice or because life is happening around you and you want or need to join in.  (My sons always seem to have a fight when I’m on the phone!)  Classes have a start time and an ending time and a professor dare never go over that ending time!!  The internet is not like that.  There is no closing activity, no wrap up, and no end.  In my home, we used to have an office where our computer sat on a desk.  My husband would bring home work he needed to do at times, his art table was in there so he could work on projects, I would bring home things from school and work on them in there, and we also took care of our bills in this room too.  After we had our second child, we were in need of more space.  Basically we needed a play room other than our family room.  So we decided to do away with our “office” and turn it into a play room for the boys.  Our computer was moved to family room and the art stuff, well it’s in a closet now.  This change turned out to work very well.  You see when we had an office, my husband or I would disappear in there and not be seen for, well, sometimes hours.  Now that the computer is in our main living area, we are at least seen by our family members!  My husband is available for his job 24 hours a day.  His email is up and running all the time, and if we aren’t at home, he can be reached by his cell.  I would love for him to sometimes not be connected.  I believe I read about someone giving up their ties to the internet for several days and how that changed their life.  The internet has made us somewhat prisoners in our own homes.

The only chapter that I really didn’t enjoy reading (because I was in disagreement with) was the one about Powerpoint.  A Powerpoint presentation can be a very useful tool.  It is not intended to be read by the speaker, teacher, or presenter.  It is merely a visual tool to help the audience see the main points of your message.  It is not the message itself.  I also think it’s a good prompt.  It helps me see where we are and where we’re going.  I can follow along easier.  I actually liked the idea of using one in church.  It would be like having a projected bulletin.  I may make that suggestion today!

As I am still reading High-Tech Heretic, I am thinking about the extremes we have to deal with.  Is there no happy medium?  Stoll is an interesting read thus far.  He asks if we want computer literate students or literate students.  Everything is so black and white which leaves little room for grey.  Anytime you deal with people and education, there is always a grey area.

Well I did it.  I have created a video about being a 21st century learner.  You’re all invited to check it out here.

I have only made 4 videos to date, but each time I do I gain a new appreciation for those people out there that create videos for all of us to enjoy. 

My district is hosting its first annual technology fair next month.  In preparation for the event, each school is supposed to be registering students to attend.  Students should demonstrate their use of technology and how it helps them learn.  My school had one entry (a powerpoint presentation of an extended educational field trip) as of the registration deadline date, so panic spread across the room during a teachers’ meeting.  Ironically, it was suggested that students just create something on the computer as perhaps an activity they could do when they finish with state testing.  Again, we miss the whole point of the fair.  Using technology for the sake of using technology is wasted time.  On the other hand, integrating technology to enhance learning isbeneficial and would be nice to showcase.  Side-note, I asked if my students could enter their My Space pages.  The answer was no since ten year old aren’t supposed to have My Space accounts.

I suppose I am missing something as I take part in the stream of thoughts known as twitter.  I usually don’t understand what is being said because I don’t speak the language.  I also am not quite sure how this is a useful tool although I did enjoy watching twittervision.  Here’s another opinion about twitter from David Jakes.

I, being a veteran of face-to-face instruction, am not quite so comfortable just writing my thoughts down for the world to see.  I try not to give my gut reaction to questions or even to other people’s posts.  The written word is so different in my mind than talking.  I do not want to offend, overreact, or be misinterpreted.  So anyway, I’ve been thinking about some of the questions and topics presented to us over the last two weeks and I think this is what I’d like to say or contribute to the already in progress discussion.

Homeschooling

I never thought this would be such a hot topic.  I have had the experience of losing students to be home-schooled and gaining students in my classroom from being home-schooled.  In my experience, I can see positive and negative attributes of homeschooling.  I have seen students fall behind in the eyes of the school after being at home for a period of time.  I have also seen students pulled from school because of the parents’ concern about the quality of education their children were getting and the social influences they believed were negatively impacting their children.  I can’t really say I am totally for or against homeschooling.  I certainly don’t want to talk myself out of employment, but I do want what is best for kids.  Most parents do know what is best for their children and they have the right to make that decision.

I equate homeschooling with distance education courses.  You really don’t know what you are getting into until it’s too late!  The instructor guides you through the material and you make of it what you want to make of it.  Homeschooling is no different.  But really, public schools are like that too.  You make of it what you want to.  You get out of it what you want to.  I think I am digressing…on to the next topic.

Technology and learning

Technology is a tool to help you do something easier or faster.  Just like a calculator at times can help you get the answer faster than paper and pencil, technology is an assistant to a student, any student.  Using technology doesn’t make you smarter, but it certainly adds to the motivational level of the learner, adds interest to the lesson, and allows the student to learn more than just what they are supposed to be learning.

Why teach?

This question has really made me think.  I do believe teachers help students learn.  Without the teacher, yes, some students would learn, but would they learn what we think they should?  I have written about the purposes of education and I think those same purposes can be used to explain why we teach.  First and foremost, we preserve our culture through teaching.  We benefit society by teaching cultural norms, acceptable behaviors, and literacy.  We produce people who can work so that our economy is maintained.  We teach more than just content areas.  We teach social skills, teamwork, time management, problem solving, and an accepted value system.  We teach others so that we too gain deeper understanding.  We teach our past so we learn from our mistakes and not repeat them.  We teach literacy so our citizens can effectively communicate.  We teach tolerance and awareness of individuality so we can live peacefully.  We teach students how to find information so they can make informed decisions.  We teach to improve the lives of our people and the people of our world.  We teach so we can live and sustain this life that we all value so much.

Professional Development

We have all experienced pitiful wastes of time masked by the title “Professional Development” as well as very rich and meaningful opportunities under the same name.  As Pam stated in her blog and as was stated in Ch. 11, professional development is a key element in school reform.  I have had the opportunity to have some wonderful experiences this year involving a Math Cadre of regional teachers sharing their best kept secrets and tools that work for them as well as ongoing activities that incorporate the use of a Smart Board in the classroom.  Both of these learning opportunities have truly changed how I teach. 

An important element that must be present in quality professional development is choice.  When I choose to attend a workshop, I tend to get more out of it.  I want to be there, I have an interest in the topic, and I would go regardless if I was getting credit for it or not.  When I sit at the computer I have a choice of what I do with it.  It certainly can be a source of excellent pd opportunities.  (Tapped In has some great opportunities that I’ve enjoyed.)  So just like students in our classrooms, we too want to learn what interests us and motivates us to learn.

In researching the purposes of education I discovered this PowerPoint Presentation which describes four purposes for education in America. 

1. Education for Intellectual Attainment:  This purpose can be categorized as using schools to develop, exercise, or stimulate the minds of the students.
2. Education for Citizenship:  Schools exist to benefit society in that they help create citizens that can function in the American democracy, thus sustaining the American economic and political systems.
3. Education for Vocational Preparation:  This purpose of school is to train students to be ready to enter the workforce or prepared to enter college.  Either way, students are prepared to be productive workers.
4. Education for Individual Development:  This belief stems from the idea that education serves as one’s vehicle for success.  Schools recognize the uniqueness of each student and directs each student to their potential physically, emotionally, and intellectually.

This same presentation went on to discuss The Seven Principles of Education designed to set forth goals beyond just preparing students for college. 

1. Health:  The health of our country can be greatly impacted by presenting health issues to students in schools, such as health classes, nutrition, drug/alcohol/tobacco education, sex education, and physical education classes.
2. Command of Fundamental Processes:  This is the old 3 Rs in education insuring students know how to read, write, and do basic math by the time they leave school.
3. Worthy Home Membership:  This is teaching students both male and female how to create a healthy, stable home as adults through courses such as home economics.
4. Workforce Ready:  Students are prepared to enter the workforce upon graduating from high school.
5. Citizenship:  Our democracy is dependent on an educated citizenry and the school is the place where students are taught how to be responsible citizens.
6. Worthy Use of Leisure Time:  Schools teach students what constitutes a healthy lifestyle including healthy leisure activities.
7. Ethical Character:  Schools teach students what is right and wrong based on the values and beliefs of our culture, which is still up for debate.

The presentation goes on to list several issues of concern today for educators in thinking about what is important for students to know and be able to do.  It suggested the following abilities that students today should gain from education.

1. How to acquire, analyze and use information
2. Concept development: concentrating on the big ideas rather than memorizing details
3. Problem solving using real life situations
4. Promoting inquiry based learning and the idea of constructivism
5. Social Concerns:  Social issues are often dealt with in schools.  For example, when obesity rates are on the rise we see an increase in nutrition and physical fitness activities at school and changes in the school lunch program.

In another PowerPoint Presentation, the same four major purposes of education are listed. 

So education serves society in that it does produce citizens that can think, work, contribute to society, and preserve our culture.  It serves as the vehicle for success in that it teaches students how to solve problems, how to work with others, what is acceptable behavior, and how to manage many things at one time.