This morning I was in a professional development session with Mrs. Healey on digital storytelling. We created a short movies the go with a poem that we read and recorded. After leaving for my law seminar I wondered:
What is computer literacy in 2006? When I was in high school, my school (Muskegon Reeths-Puffer) bought their first classroom computer. The Tandy Model IV was slow, expensive, and of very little use in the classroom. It was still exciting to dream of what the possible uses might be. Maybe we could do complex math problems that we didn't have the time for. Maybe we could simulate a physic's problem. Oh, what might wonderment might be displayed on that monochrome screen. I certainly never envisioned a blog, Photoshop, the Internet and all the other things we do today. So, what should we teach for today's computer literacy?
I remember teaching kids what a floppy drive is and showing them the inside (floppy part) of a 3.5" disk. That lesson was part of the curriculum. I would hope that few are still using floppy drives and now use thumb drives. So how can we as a school best teach to this quickly changing subject?
I don't have all the answers. So, let's use the technology of the blog and comment on ideas that you may have.
posted by MiddleSchoolPrincipal @ 5:09 PM
2 Comments:
It almost seems as if there is too much to learn in the world of technology! I think the best way of learning technology as a staff and as a student is by others teaching it to us and sharing. We cannot just rely on our computer teacher to share the "new technology" with students. It is disappointing that we don't have a computer lab to do more integration with new ideas such as digital story telling, podcasts, and blogs.
Greetings from the West side, do have room on your blog for a former AMS teacher?
As a "social studies turned technology teacher" I truly see the challenge of technology education as synthesis and integration across the curriculum. Just as we strive to to integrate literacy in all its forms (writing,speaking,listening,reading) across the curriculum we need to view technology in the same way. Why do we stress litercy skills? So our children can be, at a minimum, proficient life-long learners in any endeavor they choose. In my high school days "technology" was an elective that was not much more that a glorified typing class. In 1994, (when I graduated) knowing how to type an MLA style paper was enough to get you through your freshman year in college and any decent entry level job. The marketplace requires far more from our students - and us. Unfortunatly, many of our students see technology from an entertainment perspective and not as productivity and learning tools. That's our job, across the curriculum, to give our students the knowledge and means to diversify their use of technology. We've changed our thinking about literacy as being contained to English class, now we need to take technology out of the lab as well.
By the way, there is absolutely no substitute for a Raft Burger in Grand Rapids!
Post a Comment
<< Home