Computers as fingerpaint: rethinking the role of ICT in the classroom

Mitchel Resnick’s article “Rethinking Learning in the Digital Age” uses the analogy of comparing computers and finger paint. Resnick’s point being that as educators we need to start to think of computers as a medium to create, not simply as an information transmitting device. “If we want to help people become better thinkers and learners, we need to move beyond these information-centric views of computing and learning” (Resnick, 2002, p.32). Resnick asserts that students learn best when they are engaged and part of an active process, designing and creating things. In my own teaching, as an example, this could involve students creating a class blog or online anthology in a poetry unit.

Resnick also makes some interesting assertions about the way the education should change to cater for digital technology in the classroom. One method is to rethink what people learn and look at the curricula. In the NSW syllabus there is an ICT component woven through all aspects of the curriculum, which shows a positive start for Australian classrooms.

A key learning I have gained from Resnick’s article is that we should stop looking at computers as information sources and look at them as creative tools, or ‘fingerpaint’ in the English classroom.

Collaborative learning environments with Web 2.0

The new wave of Web 2.0 technology greatly interests me as it takes ICT use in the classroom one step further. Bryan Alexander (2006) describes this type of technology as an open form of information collaboration. He compares the static nature of Web 1.0 technology to the fluid and ever changing nature of such software as wikis, blogs and social networking sites. “Blogs are about posts, not pages.” Alexander highlights that Web 2.0 technology has “powerful implications” for education, namely that it is altering the way we teach and learn. What I find most exciting about Web 2.0 technology is that is creates a collaborative learning environment which creates openness and dialogue which traditional classroom can’t provide.

Motivation in the classroom

Steve O’Hear’s article “E-learning 2.0 – how web technologies are shaping education” (2006) is a thorough overview concerning the way that digital technologies are being used “to empower students and create exciting learning opportunities”. One important aspect of learning which O’Hear mentions is motivation. When students have to produce a blog or podcast they are often more motivated to produce more excellent work because they are able to create something that they can be proud of. As a teacher, motivation is something which can often be a struggle in the classroom. Increasing motivation through the use of ICT is yet another benefit that we can find from the use of technology in the classroom.

O’Hear outlines how wikis, blogs, social networking software and media sharing can all be used to create more meaningful lessons. One activity which particularly interested me was the work of Will Richardson . Richardson was studying the book The Secret Life of Bees and he worked with his English literature students to produce a Readers’ Guide in a blog form. Richardson then organised for the book’s author, Sue Monk to answer questions on the blog. O’Hear (2006) says that this created “a truly democratic learning space.” This brings me back to the idea of motivation, which I am certain was high in Richardson’s classroom!

Aussie classrooms miles ahead of radical Papert’s prediction

Seymour Papert’s speech that he gave in 1998 painted quite a grim picture for the education system if it did not keep up with the fast paced digital revolution. While I do think that it is vital to have open dialogue about ‘big ideas’ and I recognize that it is important to have revolutionaries who go ‘against the tide’, I think the arguments in Papert’s speech are not relevant to Australian classrooms today.  

Papert asserts that the skills that students learn in school will be obsolete by the time they get into the workforce. Firstly, I think that the purpose of educators should not be exclusively to prepare students for the workforce. Education should be about educating the whole student both socially and academically. The skills that we learn in the English classroom, such as literacy, critical and cultural skills and social skills, are all important and valued skills that are needed long after a student leaves the school gates for the last time.

Papert (1998) also suggests that in digital age classrooms, students should not be placed into age specific groups and should “have the power to control their own learning processes”. I do not totally agree with this view and I do not think that such a radical change is required in order for the modern classroom to incorporate technology. I also think that while students should have power and autonomy for some of their learning, the teacher’s role is imperative in designing the learning process (for example by designing the webquest for students or advising students on how to model their wiki).

Papert says that “we’re seeing a bigger and bigger gap between school and society”. I would suggest that through the use of ICT and the great ways that many teachers today are utilising ICT in the classroom, students are actually becoming closer to the outside world. For example in the English classroom students can discuss issues with students on the other side of the world through the use of forums, take a virtual tour of The Globe theatre or visit blogs about their favourite book characters.

Papert’s article was written ten years ago and I certainly think that many Australian classrooms are indeed riding the technology wave and are using ICT in the classroom to create interesting, engaging, meaningful and exciting lessons.

Differentiating the curriculum through digital technology

The article “Teachers on a learning curve” published in The Australian in April outlines how technology is changing both the way lessons are conducted and also the teaching profession as a whole. The story details how one primary school teacher, Wendy Pettit, found computers and related technologies becoming “as integral to her teaching as any other medium”. It is interesting to note that Pettit describes how technology can assist in differentiating the curriculum and cater to the various learning styles of students, such as visual, auditory and kinesthetic. Pettit says that auditory styles have traditionally been the dominant form of teaching.

I think using digital technology in the classroom certainly can allow for various teaching styles to cater for the different needs of students. For example, websites are very visual and the layout of a website is important, therefore strengthening visual literacy skills. Podcasting can help with auditory learning and kinesthetic learning can take place through students actually producing and becoming active participants in the online world.

The crux of the article is that digital technology provides a platform for students to be active learners.  

ICT and “The Tube”

Source: http://www.informationarchitects.jp/webtrends2007 

I lived in London for a year and worked in Holborn in the thick of the city. In a way I see many similarities between using ICT in the classroom and catching the dreaded Tube.

- The Tube is overcrowded. In the classroom often computer labs are under-resourced and crowded.

- The Tube is messy and confusing at times, who knew that it’s only 50m between Leister Square and Covent Garden?! 

- The Tube is exciting. You never know where you are going to end up or what interesting characters you will meet.

- It’s expensive but worth it.

As teachers I think we are the Oyster Cards for students. We are their ticket to ride but in the end they decide where they are going and create their own journey.

It’s written in the syllabus…

I feel that it is worth noting that using ICT in the classroom is necessary in order to meet syllabus requirements in NSW. There is an ICT element in all the English stages 4, 5 and 6 syllabuses.  In stage 4, students are required to “use specified tools and functions of word processing for composing” (Board of Studies, 2003) and also evaluate and learn how to design websites.  In stage 5, students are required to become more advanced and learn more about graphics and digital communication. 

It is vital for teachers’ survival to incorporate ICT in the classroom and learn how to use ICT effectively to produce engaging lessons. 

Lies, damned lies and statistics

It’s great to see some evidence that all this digital learning is going to good use. Miriam’s posting about the Microsoft Innovative Teachers Awards Winners of 2008 stated that students who are exposed to ICT perform better in the classroom than their less technologically savvy counterparts.

This is all very well, however as they say, there are lies, damned lies and statistics! I suggest that these findings are funded by Microsoft so therefore are not completely free from bias. It would also be interesting to know the backgrounds of the students in the study. It can be assumed that students who have more access to ICT are from higher socio-economic backgrounds that those students who do not use ICT as a learning strategy. It is well know in academic literature that students from higher socio-economic backgrounds generally perform better in school that students from socially disadvantaged backgrounds.

While I completely agree that ICT is highly beneficial in student learning, I think that statistics such as these  need to be taken with “a grain of salt” so to speak!

What to do with our students’ technology habits

External blogger, elearning space recently wrote about the dilemma that teachers face about whether they should adapt students’ digital habits to the educational sphere. She brings to light the interesting idea that the use of technology is enlarging. We still have email but this is constantly being built upon with wikis, blogs and social networking sites such as Facebook. As an English teacher, I would like to expose students to as many different mediums as possible in order to inspire them to be creative and aware of the world around them. I think we need to co-exist and accept that communication and learning is forever changing and we should try numerous approaches to teaching because our students are used to being exposed to a fast paced dynamic environment.

To answer my question, what to do with our students technology habits? Answer: embrace them!

Problems for the digital generation: cyber-bullying

Cody’s comments on cyber-bullying are highly valid, especially his comment that “as educators we can control and monitor the use of computer technology in our time with the students, but the reality is that this is such a small part of the student’s daily dialogue with the digital that there is simply no way to quash this behaviour.”

The suggestion that I could offer to in some way curb cyber bullying is to educate students of the implications of the cyber world and make them aware that the virtual world is in fact very real with real consequences. I have found a useful site that might be good to bookmark which gives some details of cyber-bullying and how to prevent it.