CE,
I keep hearing individuals say technology is a tool. Very true, but this
is
only half of the definition. Technology is the tools of our day.
Whenever possible, schools should be encouraging students to use the
technology of our day as they learn the curriculum. In fact, in math and
science, the curriculum and technology are interwoven.
One problem I face on a daily basis is helping individuals understand that
technology is more than a computer (though computers are an im****tant part
of technology). In science, there is gel electrophoresis equipment, mass
spectrophotometers, digital recoding thermometers, GPS systems, etc. All
of
this is im****tant as students learn to "do" science. Similarly, it would
be
difficult to imagine a mathematician being very successful if he/she had
never used a graphing calculator and tried to do everything longhand.
A never ending problem of technology is that it is always changing. The
TV
set of the 50's is somewhat different than today. The key is to teach
students to use these tools of their time as they relate to the curriculum
and hopefully, in doing so, they will continue to be open to new
technologies as they emerge.
On a side note, I will mention that thus far I have not been overly
pleased
with many "on line" high school courses that are now available. Too often
they are digitized textbooks.
Hope these opinions help.
Steve
Alabama
"Curious Educator" <justsomequestions@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:KoVUc.26099$vc4.11043298@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Dearest Colleagues:
>
> First and foremost, thank you for taking the time to read this post.
>
> From an educational perspective, are there resources, white papers,
> articles, etc., from reputable sources that either sup****t or go aginst
the
> subject of using computers in the classroom.
>
> More specifically, I am working on a thesis of sorts whose base premise
is
> to first find out what has worked in education in the past, idenfitying
> those things, and then using technology to improve those skills. The
common
> talk around the faculty break room is that way too much is thrown at the
> whole concept of having technology for the sake of having it, than using
it
> as a way to improve the learning/teaching process?
>
> I also know the internal disputes within the education field itself.
Those
> on one far end say that technology is a panacea that is destined to
change
> the way kids learn, the way teachers teach, etc., and then there are
those
> who say that kids are losing their base abilities (e.g. handwriting,
> reading, researching, etc.) and using computers more as a quick and
dirty
> way of just copying and pasting things from a myriad of pieces of
articles
> here and there and then putting their names on the finished work.
>
> I stand in the middle of the fence, by background is that of an
automobile
> mechanic turned engineer, then turned into systems engineer, programmer,
> systems engineer and, as of late, I have embraced the concept of Linux
for
> its potential.
>
> Discussions on either side of this issue, links to authorities on the
> subject, etc, would be most greatly appreciated.
>
> Thank you all for your time, I very much look forward to your input with
> regards to these questions.
>
> Regards
>
> CE
>
>
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