Education in the 21st Century

     I was talking with my students the other day and they were wondering if I only had white boards when I was in elementary. They were shocked when I said that we didn't even have white boards and that we used chalk boards instead. It got me thinking back to how much technology has changed education and how far we still have to go. Smartboards and computers in the classroom are great but how much do the children actually use them? In my classroom the computers are mainly used by the teachers, only when the students are inside for recess or have to type up a paper are they ever really utilized. Likewise, the students are able to manipulate the Smartboard sometimes, but all to often it is just used to show videos or presentations.
     I have been thinking about why technology is so underused and I think it is because many teachers do not see the possibilities. When something has been done a particular way for a long time people become used to it and dislike change to the routine. Technology seems to time consuming to get out, and to hard to get working right. I also think many teachers don't have the level of comfort necessary to work with technology. We have a technology specialist at our school but she stays in the computer room and does not leave it much. How awesome would it be if she was able to help out in the classroom with computer supported temperature gauges or microscopes? Even just to be another set of hands to help students use a virtual manipulative on the laptops would be nice. The students are capable of handling technology in a much more in depth way then they are now, but as teachers are we?

Lost in Lostpedia

So back when Lost was on and in full swing, (mmm, Sawyer) I happened to spend an entire afternoon (day) clicking on various links on the wiki Lostpedia. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you view time suck activities, this isn't the only time I have devoted hours to clicking on links in wikis, I wouldn't be surprised if I have viewed a full 50% of the articles on Wikipedia.

Which brings me back to what was discussed in my integration of technology and literacy class. During the discussion the idea was brought up to have the students create a wiki with each student responsible for a the initial creation of a page. Then they would be assigned to go through and add to the pages created by their classmates. Immediately I thought, wow what an awesome way for the students to not only show their knowledge of content in science or social studies but work on their writing skills as well. Then when it's SOL time they have all the information they need to study right there on their wiki. Students are always being given boring study packets come SOL time. This would allow them to study and continue to learn. I know many students, and definitely one teacher, who could easily become lost in such an activity.

Students and Blogs

I read an interesting chapter yesterday of the book, Using Blogs to Enhance Literacy, by Diane Penrod.While initially I was fairly skeptical that an elementary student would benefit from creating a blog, after reading Penrod I began to see the possibilities. Instead of reports or posters, students could create a blog of their discoveries of ancient Greece or the volcano Kīlauea. Thereby, the students would not only be learning social studies or science, but writing as well. 

Writing does not come naturally for many students and oftentimes they have a hard time getting their ideas out. A computer format encourages the students to begin getting their ideas out because it is easily changed or manipulated. I have seen students who, unable to create a written piece with pencil and paper, flourish once they were in the computer lab. Blogs would also encourage the students to pay close attention to their mechanics and the factual information of their writing because of the ability for anyone to read and critique it, not just their teacher who is, unfortunately, all to often the only audience a student writes for. The chapter was overall very insightful and really got me thinking, or musing, about the possibilities. I think blogging would be a wonderful way to use my classroom's currently unused computer lab time.

I know this isn't the morning but...

I'm creating my first blog this evening. Unfortunately creativity is not something I have an abundance of at this time of the day but stick with me and it will get better, hopefully. I'm a pre-service teacher with twenty one students, three classes, two kids, two cats, one dog, one husband, and one enormous pile of dirty laundry and my mornings are the rock to which I cling in order to maintain at least a semblance of sanity. I love getting up before everyone/thing in my house and having the time to think and organize my thoughts. I'm already looking forward to this time twelve hours from now...