Mac or PC?? Please fund me!!

The school I was at during my last practicum received a funding to buy about 20 laptops for their students. This funding was part of the NSW government: $1.2 billion plan to place computers into schools.

The interesting part was, at this school, the major debate was not to buy laptops or computers, but the debate was to buy Mac or PC!

Some of the school’s staff were wondering about the benefits of buying computers over laptops, discussing the issue of which would stay longer with students. But it was interesting to see how far the debate about Mac vs PC was going.

The final decision was that in favour of buying PC! And being a Mac lover I have to say, I was very disappointed.. But, putting all the Mac and PC debates aside, what really concerns me is the funding that fuel resources in schools. Being a language teacher in training, keen on using technology, I have noted a lack of resource when it comes to constructing a language classroom that promotes technology. It seems that in order to construct such classroom, a teacher would need to already be familiar and own such technology.

Providing a smartboard in few schools is a start, but there is so much that needs to get done in order to truly cater for today’s digital generation in schools. The issue here is funding schools with enough resources that would enhance students learning and motivate them to study during and after class hours. And with the need for more funding, comes the need for finding more passionate teachers that creatively and effectively use these funding that would best cater for the students’ academic needs.

“Wild about Wiki” by David Jakes.

The article “Wild about Wikis” by David Jakes, gives an insightful summary of the types, benefits and concerns of using a Wiki for educational purposes.

Jakes states that Wiki is an effective way for creating a collaborative learning environment between students and teachers. The article cites the types of Wikis. But, the Wiki page that is most popular, user friendly and free of charge is  Wikispace  which is ideal for school usage, as it requires basic technology skills and minimal technical support (i.e. Installation and software friendly).

However, the major negative issue of Wiki usage is: vandals. Which includes no protection of inappropriate postings and spams on the wiki page. But the article proposes the usage on the “notify” feature and the password option. The “notify” feature informs the administrators of all postings, allowing the ability to delete inappropriate contents. And the password protects from any editing or pollution to the page. The article also urges teachers to monitor students’ collaborative work on a project, so that all students complete equal parts without having one doing all the work.

This article is a deep and clear introduction to the Wiki world.

Reference:

Jakes, D. (2006). Wild about wikis. Techlearning.Retrieved on 3/10/2008. From:http://www.techlearning.com/story/showArticle.php?articleID=191801354 

Picture perfect class ☺

The perfect class as described my a high school student in USA toxichack who says that a perfect class would have no homework, no detention, a very nice ‘female’ teacher, comfortable chair and furniture, refrigerator, a relaxing space, and amongst many other things, have computers and technology to do the class work.

Yes, I am indeed surprised! This student is actually interested in.. class work!?

Well, in support of this statement, and from my point of view, there is a need for more technology oriented class work. Teachers may need to speak the students’ digital language in order to effectively teach them. Students are much more interested to get work done using technological means, than hand writing their work. Creative teachers could incorporate students’ interests to motivate them to learn.  

I believe, a perfect class is in the eyes of the beholder. Some teachers are happy with their students achieving the required learning outcomes. Others add to this, by going to the extremes of getting students interests in each topic, therefore allowing students to see the relevance between what they are learning and real life situations.

Regardless if the class is has behaviour management problems or not. All teens prefer the usage of technology. Which could serve a mean for behaviour management.

Nelson M. et al. state the necessity for schools to cater for all students, the advanced students as well as the troubled ones. All deserve to have an equal opportunity to receive the best education provided in each school. And this includes catering for students’ technological interests and incorporating this in each KLA.

A picture perfect class is based on a teacher who is passionate about catering for the students’ academic needs.  

“e-learning 2.0 How Web technologies are shaping education.” by O’Hear, S. (2006).

The article titled “e-learning 2.0 How Web technologies are shaping education” by Steve O’Hear, states the influences of e-learning on education. He notes the revolution of using e-learning as a mean for teaching. Stating that teachers are using blogs, media-sharing services and other social software to enhance students’ learning.

O’Hear states successful examples of teachers who used blogging, Podcasting, media sharing and social networks in and out of the classroom, and the positive impact that such usage has had on students’ learning.

The article is rich with hyperlinks that demonstrates the exact examples of the mentioned successful e-learning experiences. And is a great motivation of teachers to adopt such technology as a teaching strategy. I am particularly interested in using blogs as a mean to enhance students’ language learning, and has found the example very helpful. O’Hear states the benefits of blogging which includes, encouraging students to enhance their writing skills, and facilitate feedback through the comments sections – which could be from teachers, other students or other blogger. He also notes the Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA), which is a legislation that addresses the moral issues over commercial social networking website. This legislation has added restricting parameters even to learning space created by teachers for students. Thus, calling on spending more time to create social networking tools for learning that is protects students, teachers and the learning process and enhance a positive learning environment.

A very rich article indeed!

The revolution of language learning.

As many teachers work on creating a more revolutionary language classroom that caters for today’s digital generation.  The following question causes concerns: Would online language tutorials and Internet resources soon replace language classroom teachers?

Students can now have effective online tutorial and other resources that enhance their learning. Students could even watch languages lessons on YouTube, and with the masterboard that allow conferences between schools, I wonder if in 10 years, would there be the need for so many teachers in schools?!  

One of the popular cyber interactions, that has been promoted as a possible educational tool, is the game called Second Life. It is referred to as a game, but in fact it is not. In this virtual world exists communities constructed by members (real people), and requires interaction between the members.

As a teacher in training (soon to graduate), this concerns me. I believe that language communication is one of the most effective ways to learn a language. And cyberspace interactions could not replace such ‘real’ face to face interaction in a foreign language.

I liken cyber communication, to looking at photos of a country that one would like to visit. Photos could be informing and stimulating but could never replace the actual experience of visiting the country. 

I can see the advantages of cyber interaction. And, I support the usage of technology in a language classroom, but only if there is a balance when it comes to technology use, and face-to-face classroom interaction. 

“The machine is us/ing us (final version)” By Michael Wesch.

The YouTube piece, titled “The machine is us/ing us (final version)” features the views of Michael Wesch (assistant professor of cultural anthropology, Kansas State University) on Web 2.0. He is the creator of this video. Which, I found both insightful and very interesting to watch. Particularly, the last 30 seconds that could be translated as imposing the idea of rethinking our lifestyles.

In just under 5 minutes, Wesch was able to summaries Web 2.0 and it’s affects and benefits on our lives. And concludes by questioning one’s lifestyle after using Web 2.0

I agree with the fact that such technological means, allow us to communicate and connect with people from across the world, and with little effort. I also support the usage of Web 2.0 in language classes, so long as there is a balance between face-to-face interaction and technology interaction, in order to enhance students’ language learning.

 \”The Machine is Us/ing Us (Final Version)\” by Michael Wesch

Matthew’s blog: “Use of video medium”

Matthew’s blog titled “Use of video medium” was very insightful, as it demonstrate the numerous and effective ways of making and publishing video’s for educational purposes.

But, there is an issue that concern me..

Where could teachers get these resources? Such technology requires resources that are not in many (if not most) schools. These would be very effective for a teacher who already owns and is familiar with these technologies. But there is a need for further awareness and implementation of these technologies in every school.

As a language teacher in training, I can see the effectiveness of using the video medium in a language classroom. And even if students are not familiar with using such mediums, orientation sessions could be incorporated in the language lesson, and instructions conducted in the Target language (assuming students are in an advance level in that Target language). Alternatively there may be a need for I.T. sessions that would allow these students to be familiar with using the video and other relevant technology mediums. Which may cause the issue of being time confusing and distracting students from actually learning the language. So such projects need very specific planning and precise instructions from the teacher, in order to secure maximum benefits of language learning through technological means.