"No Access, No Use, No Impact"

No Access, No Use, No Impact is an article that challenges whether or not technology use is actually triggering student learning.  The article points out that several schools have only one computer per classroom, and so there is almost No Access. Because there is No Access to computer software and internet resources, there is No Use. Because there is is No Use, there is No Impact on student learning.

This article spoke to me as a result of this week's discussion with limited access to internet resources. However, with little access to websites from the start, it doesn't seem to matter too much how many computers are in the classroom, right? Hmmm...

Let me paint a picture and take you there:  In my classroom, there are chalkboards. I do not have a SMART board. I have one desktop that is still operating with Windows 97, so it's access is limited because it is slow and dated.  I do have a laptop issued by the school, but that too, is limited.  Thus, I continue to hold fast to my motto "do more with less".  But if the No Access, No Use, No Impact theory is true, how can I get around it? In a district where teachers receive RIF letters every year, there is very limited technology, and limited use to websites (security), how can I obtain more access? I try to be creative and make Power points, have students use the class blog for discussion, or even access the class wiki.  But, I often feel as though I am running out of ideas!  So now, I am on the hunt for more and more ways to incorporate technology into my students' learning. \

What technologies do you use? Do you use something that others in your building do not? Is your technology availability large?

Living in a Virtual World

Through coursework for my Master's, and experience as an educator, I have come to realize the importance and influence of technology! It's amazing how technology has taken over! We use computers to talk to people (and even see them), to read full-length books, to live in a virtual world, and to do almost everything else (well, with the exception of eating and sleeping).  However, I wonder if technology sometimes makes our students "dumber" in a global society. When I was in school, there were no Kindles, or I-pads that allowed me to do work outside of the library. For certain information, I HAD to become familiar with the Dewey Decimal system, and find the research on my own. BUT, here's where I grapple with the issue: is technology merely making life more convenient and NOT dumbing us down? I say this because as a graduate student, teacher, mother, and commuter (of 82 miles a day), I wonder if I would have even pursued a graduate degree if I had to go to a campus, or library. When would I have the time? However, from the comfort (although it's not that comfortable when writing a paper) of my own couch I am able to find sources, read, communicate and discuss the same information that would otherwise take me weeks to do. Thus, is technology "dumbing" down individuals of society, or enabling us to become more intelligent and efficient faster?"

Here are some links that discuss this issue:

1.http://blogs.southfieldchristian.org/msbrowne/files/2010/09/Technology-Doesn%E2%80%99t-Dumb-Us-Down.-It-Frees-Our-Minds.-NYTimes1.pdf

2. http://www.citi.columbia.edu/elinoam/articles/WILLBOOKSBECOMETHEDUMBMEDIUM.pdf

3. http://www.helium.com/items/1370731-modern-technology-the-internet-demise-newspapers-the-rocky-mountain-news

2,  

Blogging for Learning

I have used Blogger to create blogs for my classroom (I will post the links later), but the blogging experience wasn't the blissful one I had envisioned.  While I was excited for this new technology to be a building block in my students' educational career,  I did not have the newfound knowledge of blogging that I now possess, which is still a work in progress. 

I posted homework assignments on the blog, and managed it as more of a classroom website than a space for students to be able to communicate with one another, share ideas, and engage in more constructivist learning.  I did have a time period in which students would post responses to text, and the directions would prompt them to "respond to at least two classmates. Select one student you agree with and one you disagree with and explain why".  However, my students' responses were not as educated or text support heavy as I had desired.  My initial reaction, with everything else I had going on in life, was to simply let the blog take a rest for a while.  Then, while sitting in a staff meeting, the principal discussed the importance of incorporating technology. At this point, I realized that I needed to resuscitate the life of my blog.

I gained focus and sat down and thought of ways to better incorporate the blog. I spent 2 days explaining the blog use, and modeling how to respond to one another on the blog, as well as blog etiquette.  My students' posts became much more intelligent.

I had removed myself from the blog and never posted. Yet, I realized that this was why the conversation was not progressing. My 9th graders were not at the level of carrying on their own conversations without any input from me. So, I began prompting them for higher order thinking.

After all of the discussion and readings in this course about blogging, I am thinking of even better ways to integrate them into my classroom.  For instance, I may have a project where students are responsible for posting the week's discussion on the blog. This way, they are required to think and reflect deeper.  As the course progresses, I am hoping to think of more ways to use blogging to enhance all of my students' learning.  

I wonder if blogs exist that are similar to on-line courses, where students are able to respond directly to one another's posts individually!