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When I think about my childhood, many memories come to mind. I remember the games my friends, cousins and I would dream up and how they all involved what was considered fantasy ways of communicating, traveling or just living. Now, most of those fantasies have come true. We can talk, take pictures, type and send secret messages and navigate from place to place using a telephone. We can type a paper, video conference and watch movies or T.V. using a computer. So when I think about the future of computing and what it would look like in my classroom or other classrooms, I believe that the sky will be the limit.
I have visions of students taking control of their own learning and conferencing with students around the world. Seventh grade students, one from the Midwestern United States and another from the Alaska and Hawaii, doing research together about global warming. More students studying together, discussing issues and working collaboratively on projects to help solve world problems without having to be in the same room. I see students as leaders in the learning community using the classroom as a headquarters to study, plan and carry out strategies like executive board members. I see text books replaced by notebook computers and every student having one of their own.
How will this affect my students and me? I believe that my physical classroom will become more flexible and extend the learning experience outside the walls of our building. Students will need me to guide and facilitate discussions and to encourage them to push past challenges. I believe that my students will become more interested and invested in their education because they will have more control over how they learn. This will be powerful for them and society.
To prepare people for this future, I will have to be a proponent of literacy on many levels. I have to help my students understand that as they learn about and use new technologies they must teach their parents and grandparents the same skills. I must be an advocate for integrating technology into as many areas of learning and living as possible when it is appropriate. I must also encourage users of technology to not loose the human connection that makes technology fun, exciting and a necessary advancement.
I think you hit an important point in your blog entry. Students need to, and will, take control of their own learning. With all of these different technologies available, students with all types of learning styles should be able to find something that works for them. With the help of a teacher and technology I hope that fewer students will be left behind.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you and Mike. Students will need to take responsibility of their own learning when different technologies become available. But do you think people will completely accept the cyber classroom and do away with the physical? If the cyber classroom becomes the more prevalent classroom how can we as community members encourage students to take responsibility for their own learning?
ReplyDeleteFirstly, your blog was most inspiring this week for me. I think my art classroom with see a great benifit from interacting with students are various regions and cultures. As much as this excites me to have my students gaging their own learning and interacting with other students so easily, I am afraid there is something valuable about to be lost from working completely online. Students need an equal balance of the community that is created in a classroom setting. I have already found that students are becoming incompetant of interacting face to face over important topics. Students will be so much more bold when speaking through typing than verbal response. I think there are many ways to balance out the classroom, through in class conversations about what was learned or new topics brought up. The TECC program already ties classrooms in China with American classes. (www.teccultures.org)
ReplyDeleteI don't believe that the advancement of technology in education will completely do away with the physical classroom. I also don't think that it will do away with the need and required face to face contact with others. I do believe that it will help shrink the achievement gaps we find in a lot of our physical classroom settings. With students having the ability to connect with theirs in other classrooms, whether across the city, across the country or across the world they will be able to do the things that promote higher thinking. They will be able to discuss ideas and concepts, challenge their own ability in a healthy, but competitve way. They can also can be exposed to diverse teaching styles or virtual hands on learning experiences which can be invaluable. For example, a science teacher in Nevada may be able to explain a concept in a way from her classroom that reaches a struggling biology student in a classroom in Appleton, WI. A scientist working in the desert can share their discoveries with a classroom of 4th graders live as they are digging and exploring.
ReplyDeleteIf we are able to help others in the community to see the value in these types of experiences, I think that become more supportive of the concept of cyber learning. I believe that another key to gaining community support is to also allow them a sense of control when it comes to the types of interactions.