Thank You!

Wow! Can you believe that 12 weeks are over?  When I first started this course I like many of you was expecting to find the latest tricks of the trade and the newest software to use.  I am so glad that it did not turn out to be that way.  This course had me question my stance on the use of technology in all areas of my life and I am fortunate for that opportunity. I am taking a lot from this class and applying it to my own classroom and that I hope will start to bring about the change we have been talking about.   You guys were great to bounce ideas off and I have learnt so much for you guys and I just wanted to say Thank You.  I am sorry that I missed Preet's presentation and I enjoyed presenting alongside two great people.  I cannot wait to see the rest of the presentations tomorrow and of course the food and great company.  On a final note, I think it's only appropriate to quote McLuhan: "I may be wrong, but I am never in doubt."

Teacher's & Technology in the Classroom

Hi Everyone:

Here is my audioblog.  I interviewed some teachers that I worked with on their views and practices with technology in the classroom.  Have a listen and tell me what you think.
http://soundcloud.com/surriayia/sounds-from-friday-afternoon-2
http://soundcloud.com/surriayia/sounds-from-friday-afternoon-1
http://soundcloud.com/surriayia/sounds-from-friday-afternoon

Giving Digital Natives A Choice

Liz, in response to your question if social media and cell phones could be considered technology since they are so ingrained into our lives, I think they are no longer the "new" technology.  Look at the pencil, at one point it was considered technology and today we don't even give it a passing thought when we pick it up to use it.  Liz I also think about the computer lab being run by robots but will tell you more in my presentation. As I dig into the impact that technology has on the Digital Natives the more I lament over what will be lost. 

Please don't get me wrong, I am not opposed to technology as it is inevitable and has made some parts of my life easier, but I was happy to see that Maha & Kristin understood where I was coming from in my previous blog.  As mentioned at the beginning of this course, I was the Technology Support Teacher for my school and my job was to train/mentor other teachers on using more digital devices in their classroom. Preet, I think you misunderstood me at the beginning of the course.  I did know how to use blogs and knew of Twitter, from my Tech Support time, but I didn't want to spend the countless hours that were put into creating and maintaining my school blog.  I did not want the same scenario to  play out in my master courses.  Preet I applaud you for learning Prezi.  I too looked at it for presenting my presentation and it was more than I was willing to put effort into at this time. I keep wondering about when Socrates or Martin Luther King Jr. were speaking to crowds and they did not have  visuals,  people did not walk away, instead they were engaged in what they were saying.  Today we have to have the latest and greatest visuals so we can keep our audience listening.  Yesterday when I was working on my PowerPoint for this class, I almost spent $60.00 on buying 3D clip art so you guys would be engaged!  The Digital Immigrant in me refrained me from doing it and ensured me that my content would be engaging enough that I would not have to resort to the latest and greatest.  Again, it's not that I am afraid to learn the new software and purchase the latest and greatest add ons, it is that I chose not to buy into the hype.  It is the hype that I lament over.

While I'm working on my presentation and my literature review I am sad to see  what technology has done to the Digital Natives in my classroom.  At the beginning of the year, I had to tie my first shoelace in about 15 years.  The last one I remember tying was for my niece when she was two years old.  My student could not tie his shoe since he was use to Velcro.  Velcro was the newest technology.  All school year long, students have been asking me what time it is (they have to sign out to go use the washrooms) since they aren't able to tell time on an analog clock.  This week I had enough (maybe doing my assignments for this class had some impact on it) and I began to teach them how to tell time on an analog clock.  If I could go back to teach the students how to tell time by the sun right now, I would!

My job as an educator is to present my Digital Native students all the different ways to do something, be it tying a shoelace or using Velcro, telling time digitally or by analog, handwriting or typing and let them decide which way they chose to do it and what median is the most appropriate for them to demonstrate their learning.  As I mentioned in class, I have a stack of cards I use when students are deciding which format to use when giving presentations.  It has everything from digital displays, artwork to hands on construction.  To me each student can be honored and are not told "you have to do this the old fashioned way" or you have to do it the "new fashioned way".  These approaches takes the ownership and creative process away from the student.  I would be no better than the ones who are pushing for technology or the ones who are opposing technology in the school if I told my students which way to do something.  I have to give them the tools and they have to decide which tool works best for the job at hand.

Come Full Circle

The more we advance in our course, the more questions I have around technology.  Before starting this course, I had clear ideas of where I stood with technology and how it played or would play a part in my life and those of my classroom.  I believed that technology was going to play a minimal part of my personal life; cell phone laptop used for e-mail and word processing and smart boards and digital devices in the school would only enhance my students learning.  Though some of my thoughts remain in these areas, others have changed.

Since starting my inquiry into technology I have bought and IPAD 2, joined twitter and created a blog. I also now enjoy tweeting (but not on demand) and text far more than I used to.  I am questioning if I need a new laptop and think that I want a macbook, but a voice in my head is telling me that I am buying into all of the hype that is directed by the big corporations.  I don't want to be anyone's puppet and therefore have not bought a new laptop...yet.

For my classroom, I view somethings differently.  Immediately, during our first class I started to realize why I bought into all of the sensation of smart boards being used in the classroom as well as other digital devices.  In a sense, I was programmed to believe in their validity through all of the inservicing that was being done.  Now instead of buying into what I am told, the voice in my head has me questioning, who is gaining from this? The big corporations or my students and myself.  If there is some benefit to my students and myself, then I will use it, otherwise it will not enter my classroom.

New information I have learned is around e-waste, robotics and gaming in the classroom.  I totally buy into the proper disposal or reuse of digital devices and am seeing from first hand experience, the impact in can have on the future generation to do something about it. 

As far as robotics and gaming in the classroom, I agree with Preet, there is the time and place for it.  It should not be a forced issue.  If gaming works into my lesson or unit, then great I will use it.  I will not, however, force my unit or lesson to fit into gaming.

Robots have a place also, as a tool.  I agree with my grade 4 student who said that we should use robots to do functions that would be dangerous for humans to do.  It amazes me how a nine year old is clear with his thoughts and mine are so muddled up.  When robots start taking on human persona's like the ones Maha showed us through twitter, then that to me is taking it too far.

The friend of Kristin's in London who did not want to be rude and read on the bus, was a shocker for me.  Being an avid reader I was sad to hear that reading took a back seat to digital devices on a bus.  Somewhere in my mind I knew it was coming, I just didn't think it was here already.

I enjoyed seeing the business cards that Liz blogged about.  I think they are a great idea. As a teacher, we get a lot of business cards from substitute teachers that have been in our classrooms.  We can't put a face or know anything about the person who has taught our students for the day.  Like Stephanie said, it would be like advertising, but that's one advertisement or information I would like to see.

So for me, everything is coming full circle.  Everything seems to go back to topics previously discussed and I think will be discussed for years to come.  I am glad to now have more information than I did before I started this journey.  I can no longer be that person who can live in her limited technology bubble, but now have to be an active participant in the technology world.  I have more information to decide what I want my digital world to look like.

E-Waste

I guess the hot topic is e-waste.  Is it me or have we become so greedy as a society that we don't stop to think about the consequences of our actions.  I am as much to blame as anyone.  I too like Maha felt awful and guilty for being so frivolous with my acquisitions of technology.  What part got me, was how surprised I was when I realized how technology devices were being disposed.  I asked myself, "what did I think happened when I recycled my old cell phones or computers?"  The answer is that I didn't think.  I never once stopped to think about what happened after I dropped off my technology.  Like Maha, I was ashamed with myself on my ignorance.  But I can't beat myself up forever and if I want to make up for being uninformed, I realize I can do it by educating others.

I did show video that was suggested in twitter by Rennie to my students and the first thing they were looking for was the places where they could dispose of technology properly.  They went home and had discussions with their families around the topic.  Just today our school has collected over 26,000 plastic bags in a month so they don't end up in landfills or our ditches.  One student said that if we can have Wasteless Wednesday lunches, and collect 26, 000 bags, then we can also find a proper way of disposing our technology.  She further added that maybe we don't have to get rid of things as quickly as we do if they are still good.  From the mouth of babes.  We could stand to listen to some of these enthusiastic young minds. 

Thanks Kristin for the great leads on where we might be able to dispose our technology properly.  maybe as a class or school, we can investigate this further. 

On a final note, I believe that the governments need to become a part of the solution and demand  safety measures be in place when dealing with e-waste.

"Our Brain"

The digital information really has me thinking about our future generations and child development.  I had a strong suspicion that pathways in children's brain had to have been changing or new ones being formed since the use of digital devices has become so prevalent, but I never really thought about the parts of the brain being used more or less.  I am beginning to understand more on how digital natives are using their brains differently than we are, but also am learning to relate to them differently, now that I understand them better.

I find it interesting how digital natives can be "plugged in" in so many ways and yet seem to be able to function with what is happening around them.  I am the total opposite.  In order for me to read anything, I need to have total silence and do away with any distractions that may interrupt me.  When I begin to work or study, I have this checklist of distractions to deal with before I am able to sit down and do the job I intend to do.  I guess this is why they call me the "digital immigrant."

My next wondering is how as a digital immigrant, do I accept so new ways of learning, socializing, and of simply being, when I don't really mind the way digital immigrants function?  I do understand that digital natives are "wired" differently than we are, but what happens when I don't agree with a certain way of learning with the integration of technology and would rather do it the "old fashion" way?  Am I doing a disservice to my students or am I preserving some learning techniques that are on the brink of extinction?  How am I going to know what to keep, what to adapt, and what to adopt?  With research in this area being in the infancy stages, how do I trust what I am being asked to do is for the betterment of my students and not to their determent?

I think these questions will be on my mind for a long time to come.

Robotics...a part of our future

In response to Kristin's latest post, I think we definitely will be working with robots in the future.  When I was a technology support teacher for my school, there was a video circulating in the division to promote LwICT.  Here the video stated that students couldn't possibly know what job they would hold as an adult as the job hadn't even been created yet; that is the technology hadn't been created yet.  This was to show teachers that indeed we needed to integrate technology into our classrooms so our students would be prepared for the workforce when they were ready to enter it. 
It may be in question if whether or not "our generation" will be working with robots.  I think though, there is no question that indeed the future generation will be part of the robotic workforce. 

It is important that we make the conscience effort to stay grounded in this new world that is emerging upon us.  It is only we, that can make the decision to be taken over by the robotic world.  We can fight for our individuality and not buy into the large corporate hype that is going on all around us. 

The robotic world is also used for good.  Robots have been sent to space, explored the depths of the ocean (San Andreas Trench) and explored many unreachable places of this earth.

There is no denying that the world is evolving and with it, robotics will probably be very much of our future.  As long as we remember that the technologies are the tools and not the other way around, we will be able to hold some sense of balance.  This has to be a conscious decision and we will have to decide to be the masters of our own fate.

I think that Preet being freaked out that about robots and not wanting them to replace humans, and Stephanie noticing that her workplace is already being run by certain types of robots, will aid us in trying to maintain the balance between humanity and a world run solely by technology. 

A word of hope.  Technology cannot survive without human beings. If we educate those human beings that will be programming the future robots (our present day students) to realize that the robot is the tool,  the programmer is the master, and the consequences of greed in regards to technology, we may avert such an artificial world.  As an educator, this is what my goal will be.

Information is Freedom

I am a true believer that information is freedom.  Being "in the know" has never steered me wrong in anything that I have done.  Our class is providing us an avenue to think critically about how technology is changing society in both positive and negative ways.  People from generations past have warned us to be critical of anything new that enters into society.  This is not saying that we should be a primitive society, but rather be a critical society in what we chose as acceptable.  There is no stopping evolution in the sense of society, but there is a way to decide which way we want to evolve. 

We no longer come from a society where we "stop and smell the roses" as Stephanie posted, but rather we are a society needing "instant gratification".  It is up to each person, to stop long enough to decide what WE want, and then do it.

Liz commented on educating society more on technology as there seems to be a lot of fear around it,(Sorry Liz your blog won't let me post) and I agree.  I think information is the key to anything.  If advertisers started advertising technology more as a tool (apple is starting to do it) and less as the next new fad, then the hesitant buyers may be less resistant to it.  I think Liz that since we're educators, educating society seems only natural.  The more information you have, the more you are in control to decide what devices come into your home, if at all.

Also in Preet's wiki (Preet, your site also doesn't let me post), I don't think that there is anything wrong with wanting IPhone 5.  I say this because you are "in the know" and you have decided that you still want it and that's where the freedom comes in! You have decided what is right for YOU!  It is not up to anyone else to decide for you and tell you what THEY think is right or wrong or what you should or should not have. 

Let's face it.  We are living in a world much different from Heidegger, McLuhan and Ellul and we need to do what is right for us.  We should not however, disregard their wise words as they still apply today and will for many generations to come, but at the same time, we need to be cognisant of what impact those decisions will have on future generations.

"Shutting Down"

I can't help but keep going back to the part of class that we were talking about being able to disconnect from the digital world at the end of the day and how hard that really is. 

The first thing that I do is wake up to the alarm clock, power up my blackberry (have to turn it off at night so I don't have "alerts" waking me) and check the weather.  My husband turns on TSN to see if he's missed anything from the late night highlights that he watched mere hours before.  I then pick up the phone and call a friend that I work with who I have talked to the night before and will be talking to during work as well.  Shortly after I jump into my "loaded" vehicle that has gadgets I still don't know what to do with (the car is a 3 years old) and call my husband on bluetooth who I have spoken to a mere 1/2 hour before.  I sit with some co-workers having our morning coffee, texting my friend who is on leave or my sister in the states while continuing to rant about the amount of work that the week has to offer.  The day is spent using all forms of technology with the students.  My after work drive is the same as my drive to work.  Once at home, I get my dogs ready for their walk and put on their training collars which too by the way are remote control operated (no I am not using shock therapy on my dogs. lol).  Did I mention that I take my blackberry to make any phone calls, texts or e-mails that I need to clear up so I can spend a quiet evening at home.  When I get home and supper is being prepared, I am sure to have the t.v. on so I don't miss anything from the entertainment world.  The evening consists of either talking on the phone with a friend, while texting to another and trying to do my university coursework on the laptop with the t.v. going on in the background.  When it's finally time for bed, I check the weather one more time to see what tomorrow's weather is going to be and then I finally "power down".  Does this sound at all familiar?  Maybe all, except for the part of "shutting down" at night's end?

I can't help but wonder, what this is doing to us as a human being?  We all know how important a good nights sleep is and I wonder if we are so stimulated by technology throughout our day, how can our bodies really shut down?  How do we block out all of the voices we have heard through out the day and all of the other forms of communications we have had with others?

I was once taught an ancient Hawaiian ritual where at the end of the day you have to visualize severing  a cord that is around you and each person you have been in communication with during that day so you can have a restful sleep.  Wondering if now this is what we are going to have to do as a society so we don't burn out.  Ha! Also wondering if they will make an "app" for that!

So last night I watched "Live Free or Die Hard". Gotta love Bruce Willis.  For those that haven't seen it, the premise is around virtual terrorism.  A fire storm is set out.  The first thing to go is the transportation.  Traffic lights are taken out causing major traffic jams and accidents, planes are grounded, subways are crashing into each other.  The second part is where the financial markets come crashing down and the final stage is to take out all of the utilities.  The country was in chaos!  It was amazing to see how technology was strategically eliminated.

Have we become so ignorant using this technology that we aren't able to cope without it?  What about the new generation that doesn't know that the old technology existed and, if they do, don't know how to use it?  How would they survive? 

I, like many others enjoy the luxury of technology.  I started wondering how I would cope in the similar situation.  What I figured out was that I would be part of the chaos.  Although I would be able to handle things better than some (husband works for Hydro, so we've invested in a back up generator), it would still be a state of panic and fear on my part.

What's the saying? "With great knowledge comes great responsibility." I think it is up to us to continue being familiar with the "old technology" (i.e) candles, hunting and gathering, being able to make a fire and so on. You need to be confident that if there is ever a time when the world comes to a stop because our technology isn't working or is being abused, that you won't find yourself in an utter state of immobilization. 

We can't let the "old technology" become obsolete. When technology is pushed to the limit and crashes, we must be able to survive the fallout.

Often I tell my students that they need to know how to do the basics for when the technology is not available or has crashed. We have technology free days in the classroom.  Away goes the smart board, the computers, the listening center and so on.  I have my students do math without calculators.  We write our stories instead of typing them, or better yet, we have learned to story tell in case there is not a pen or pencil around to record our thoughts.  I have even gone as far as teaching them a whole day without the use of the lights so they know it can be done.

My job as their educator is to give them a balanced education.  I do this with and without the aid of technology.

Who do we listen to regarding ed tech? (philosophers, upper admin, ‘salespeople’, ‘evangelists’ or vested interest groups?, passionate early-adopting educators?

We need to listen to the educators that are at the front line in educating today's students; that is, the classroom teacher. 

Isn't it funny how recently our government had a public announcement requesting the general public to bring forth ideas on what  could be done to raise the level of education our students were receiving? Don't get me wrong, two heads are better than one.What strikes me funny though, is that never once has the classroom teachers been asked what their view were for raising the standard of education.

It is the same with educational technology.  You have everyone and their dog weighing in on what technology should or should not be allowed in the classroom, yet not once has anyone bothered to ask the classroom teacher what they would like to see in their classroom that would assist both teacher & student alike.  Makes you wonder.