Technologically Challenged

Homeschooling

Now here is a difficult issue for me.  I have mixed feelings about homeschooling.  First, I think parents have a right to determine how their children are educated (this is America, afterall).  But, on the other hand, what if the children are actually being cheated out of an education by being kept home?  Who is to decide what is best for them?  Again, it is America….tough call.  I feel in order for homeschooling to be successful, the environment must be structured.  There should be a time and location for learning to occur.  Of course, learning occurs naturally through everyday occurances…but there should be structured learning too.  At least this is my opinion.  I know myself that I never considered homeschooling my son even though he has had many difficulties getting along in public school.  I knew that I could not be structured enough and that I would probably let him slide by without learning what he needed to know.  I felt that the best education for him was through the public school system.  Did I make a mistake?  I don’t know…he is a junior in high school and still struggles. 

As I have said…I am torn on this issue.  I think homeschooling has its merits and its downfalls.  I think there should be some kind of regulation on how homeschooling is done.  I am not sure how curriculum should be decided.  I am not a big fan of high-stakes testing and  in the public schools that is what learning is centered around.  I am anxious to read some other posts about this subject.

HELP!

Is anyone else having difficulties using edublogs right now?  Every time I try to log in and post, I get an error message.  I have tried about 5 or 6 times and just now it let me access my site.  I was just wondering if anyone else is having problems or if it is just me.

Purposes of Education

purposes_of_education1.pdfDuring my Google search of the purposes of education, I found an interesting article.  I have attached it to this post.  It gives three different possible purposes of education along with some questions to provoke a discussion about them and some things to think about. 

Pappert

I am nearly finished with The Children’s Machine.  I particularly liked chapters 6 and 7.  Chapter 6, “An Anthology of Learning Stories” was interesting because I always enjoy reading or listening to stories about how children learn differently.  This chapter focused a lot on authentic learning and I am inclined to learning that way myself.  It is sort of like the phrase “necessity is the mother of invention”.  When we are forced to learn in order to obtain a desired outcome then that learning stays with us and often leads to learning other things as well.  The section on Kitchen Math is a fine example of that.  When I am in the kitchen cooking from recipes (not that I do it that often because I don’t like to cook); I find there are lots of occasions when I must try to solve a math problem.  I never sit down at the table; pull out my paper and pencil and calculator and start working it out.  Instead, I think on the fly, so to speak.  I use whatever it is that I am working with to come up with a solutioin.  If I calculate wrong, and the recipe is a flop then I make adjustments and try again. 

 Chapter 7 was of interest to me because in my district; we take a constructivist approach to teaching.  The idea is to find out what the child knows and build on that.  This chapter does a great deal of comparing abstract thinking to concrete thinking.  Both are interrelated in my opinion.  I agree with the quote of an African proverb:  If a man is hungry you can give him a fish, but it is better to give him a line and teach him to catch fish himself.  I feel this way about teaching my students with special needs.  I want them to learn so that they can be self-sufficient as much as possible.

 I don’t know what the answer to education is…I don’t know if there is some magic equation out there that we could follow to ensure that children are taught in the best way possible.  There are a lot of things to consider.

The Children’s Machine

Okay.  I have been reading Papert’s book, The Children’s Machine.  I understand now that I have read through the first three chapters that Papert is concerned with education reform.  Some of the reading so far has been a bit confusing to me.  For example, does he refer to the children’s machine as the institution of education?  What exactly does he mean by the children’s machine?  I am a fan of Dewey and like the fact that Papert quotes and refers to him quite often.  I agree that education is better when it is brough about by necessity or when their is an intrinsic motivation to learn something.  Children as well as adults need to see how what they are doing and learning is relevant to their own lives.  I look at the state standards and wonder what they base them on.  Who is to say what is important for children to learn?  Is this an example of the “machine”?

MySpace is actually cool!

My children are absolutely thrilled that I have signed up for a Myspace account.  My teenage son in particular has been after me for quite a while to do so, and I am sure I would not have without being prompted to do so by our professor.  I was dreading getting into the whole social networking thing because I didn’t think any of my friends (we are kinda old you know) would be involved and I would be left with no one to communicate with.  I was wrong.  The very next day and good friend who lives out of town, left me a comment!  Well, at that point I was hooked.  Now I want to learn all I can about personalizing my “space”.  My son says he will sit down with me and help me do all the neat things I want to try.  Has anyone else had a positive experience?  I am so glad that I have my own “space”.  I feel connected!!!!!!  Oh, and there is this other plus….my kids think I am a “cool” mom now.

“Participation Gap”

I wanted to take a moment to draw attention to an interesting article that I read today in the March, 2008 edition of NEA Today magazine.  As I pulled it from the mailbox I noticed the front cover headline, Mind the Gap…It’s a high speed, high-def, Wi-Fi world.  But not for everybody.  This jumped out at me immediately because of the discussions we have been having on digital equity.  This article addresses what they call the latest version of the digital divide - the participation gap.  This article discusses isssues of access to technology.  I was stunned to read that there are 30 million household in America that don’t have a computer.  I won’t say a lot more, but please read this article if you can.  It is very interesting and is a current discussion of the digital divide as it is today.

Digital Technology

Digital technology can improve equity for those who have access to it.  However, we must go back to the question of access.  I would like to discuss for a moment Silicon Ceilings.  This article made me see the technology divide in a whole new light.  Now I am not only considering the problems presented by a lack of access to technology but also about the divide as pertains to technology production.  I didn’t realize the stats were so staggering.  As a society of educators we are going to have to start reinforcing females’ interests in technology at an early age.  Andrea Matwyshyn stated that this should begin in junior or high school.  I think it should begin as early as elementary.  For example I believe it is around first or second grade when students are introduced to units on jobs and community helpers.  We must be careful not to stereotype these positions.  We should also try to find examples of women who work in the digital production field.  I agree with Matwyshyn that the educational system needs to embrace this gap in the same manner that they embraced the inequity in the fields of science and math as relates to gender.  I think as more publicity is brought to this existing problem, the better the stats will become.  It is just going to take time.

Culture is affected by digital technology on the very fundamental levels.  Take the Danah Boyd interview for example, she talks about how technology is used today by youth as a way to virtually “hang out” with friends and others who share similar interests.  Twenty some years ago when I was in high school we socialized with our friends by talking on the telephone or by cruising town on a Saturday night.  Now students are socializing more through the use of Myspace, IM and other digital means.  At first, I was terrified of Myspace because of some of the negative news reports I heard involving its use.  Now that my son has sat me down and showed it to me as it truly is, I think it is actually a good tool.  I don’t have to worry about my son being out on a Saturday night and possibly getting into trouble.  Instead, he can sit right here at home and talk to his buddies.  Now this doesn’t mean that kids shouldn’t get out and go to ball games and other social activities, it is just that this is a safe and productive way for them to “get together” and talk.  It isn’t such a big difference in how I socialized as a kid, only the means has changed.

Assessing Educational Equity

There are several critical factors when it comes to assessing educational equity in our country.  There are the issues of gender inequities, racial inequities, issues of poverty, and location.  One could go on and on.  There seem to be many areas in which divides exist in education.  It is sad considering we are in the year 2008, that there are so many disparities in the American educational system.

 What is the remedy for these conditions?  I wish I had the answer.  I don’t believe there is a fix-all solution for all of the gaps that exist.  One thing is for certain, we educators must try to take on a pro-active stance to try to overcome as many of these problems as possible.  It may mean being a positive role model or mentor to a student who falls into one of these groups or it may mean trying to voice our concerns to those in the legislature.  I think it will come down to all of us who are involved in education to identify the problems and then work together for some solutions.  Yes, I know this is easier said than done, but we must start somewhere.

Technology Adoption in the U.S.

Good evening everyone!  Hope all of you are escaping the awful dreaded flu bug.  I think I am not going to be so lucky.  I have felt it coming on for a couple of days and began taking a prescription for it, but I still feel pretty under the weather today.  But work and life go on don’t they?  So here I sit trying to wrap my mind around the issues of the week as relates to education.

While investigating technology adoption in the U.S. has anyone come to any conclusions?  I skimmed some articles on technology adoption in the healthcare industry and in the manufacturing industry.  Did anyone find anything significant about technology adoption as relates to americas schools?  Just curious.