I am often called skeptical, pessimistic, and all around
negative. Despite this I genuinely do not enjoy being such a downer about
everything, but having looked over my blog posts I feel as though I must come
off poorly. There have been very few things I have written positively about. In
my first post, I mentioned that I am not a huge fan of technology in the
classroom and after Friday’s class I am still not convinced.
We discussed the usefulness of Skype, Dropbox, Evernote, and
Diigo. I have used the majority of these products in my personal life, but feel
they would simply become a distraction and clutter my classroom instead of
putting it in order. Diigo and Evernote might be useful to keep track of
websites or news articles and that would be convenient for me as a teacher, but
I feel each service offers just minor improvements beyond saving files on my
own computer. Dropbox is handy to share large numbers of photos or video files,
but how often would I really be sharing so many files with my class?
Lauren has concluded that the reason I dislike the vast
majority of technology is due to my old age. As a 27 year-old geriatric, I fear
that I will resist adopting things that my students might find helpful just
because they annoy me. In my old-man viewpoint, Dropbox and Evernote are just
one additional thing to download, signup for, and eventually forget. I am
constantly making new accounts because I cannot remember passwords (sign of
dementia) and I know the logistics of maintaining all of these accounts will
just drive me insane.
I also fear overloading my students with the requirement of
maintaining so many different accounts. I strive for simplicity and integration
and having a million accounts I know will just become more of bother than
anything. I want substance, not some fancy way of organizing links or notes.
To best adopt the usage of some of these services, the
school must first limit the number of tools to just a handful. Secondly, the
students should have a single account per tool that can be used for every
teacher. If at all possible, I would try and limit everything to either the
school’s website or a google account, the most integrated and useful product we
have discussed thus far. Google works with a single username and can be used
for a number of different tasks. This streamlines everything so the students
can focus on the material, which I contest is the first causality of all this new
fangled media sharing young people stuff.
Until I see some product really increase productivity and
the quality of my students’ work, I will remain an old man. I have to take a
balanced approach, however, and accept that times have changed and at least try
some of the new products that are out there.
Well Jack Attack, I think that you DO need to at least know about all of these things. I'm not saying use all of them all of the time, but these are things that you're students will using, and keeping up with the technology will help you to find new ways to keep up with your students. Like, let's say all of your students, for some reason, have Evernote Hello (I don't know why they would) or they are all on the same googledoc for notes, you should want to know how to use new tech (tek?) things to keep in touch with them.
ReplyDeleteI just don't want you to be that old teacher who doesn't know how to turn on the dvd player... I want you to be the hip teacher who knows how to use dropbox. :)
Another way of looking at Friday is to look back at the assignment title: Organizing YOUR online life. You're already doing that in a way that satisfies. As you go into your classroom and get to know what your students need in order to feel confident in their digital lives, you can marry those observations with the solutions you've heard about in MAC or found in your personal life. It's awfully hard, given the diversity of American classrooms, to pinpoint those solutions until you're in the classroom. An Ann Arbor middle school had terrific success using Evernote for research this spring; another middle school might find something else.
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree. I think there is a lot that a teacher needs to do to keep all of these sources of information in nice, neat order! When I purchase a new computer it is sort of a relief to just throw all of my documents that have been cluttering up my desktop into some folder that says... "old stuff," and then just forget about it. As a teacher, however, keeping track of material is absolutely necessary. The task is still daunting though.
DeleteJack I totally agree about Google ... I basically devoted my post to Google because I love how streamlined Google products are and how Google is so innovative they are always coming up with better ways to do things ... So I'm not gonna make this another post about Google but I guess what I'm getting at is that I also don't want to waste my time figuring out a bunch of online tools and lose sight of what the tools are supposed to be doing ... If they will help my student learn better than great ... if not ... then I don't think I will really concern myself with them ... Also Lauren I think the not being able to turn on the dvd player moment is inevitable ... sooner or later it's just a fact of life =D
ReplyDeleteJack, I'm feeling pretty similarly to you. If these tools were all streamlined like google then I'd be much more likely to use them. The process of logging in to a different tool every five minutes will take me out of any productive flow. I can't multi-task. I know this about myself. The best way for me to stay organized is to keep it simple. With that said, there might be some circumstances where these tools prove to be helpful (i.e. a specific research product or a trip) But in everyday life, I wouldn't be able to keep up with all the log ins. As it is, the diigo icon on my tool bar if about to make me go all Tell Tale Heart. Seriously, every time I open my computer there it is . . . annoying as can be. It has to go . . .
ReplyDeleteI can certainly understand your concern with looking for a teaching position in this day and age. It is truly a faith walk to say the least. I know that the time for job searching is going to come and it will probably come fast. However, with the robustness of this program, I cannot even THINK that far ahead. I can only look a month or two out into the future. You are on the right track with your thinking – focus on the strengths that you do have and NOT on the experience that you do not yet have. Your ideas for using Weebly to set yourself apart from the rest of the more experienced competition pool is an excellent idea! Keep that creative flair with you in your job search.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if any of the graduates from last years program remain unplaced? I also wonder what was the latest timeframe in which a person got placed? In other words how close to the start of the school year did they receive notice of employment? From what I can hear, in places like Detroit it can be VERY last minute! Is there a particular district in which you desire to teach? Does it matter for you whether or not it is a public school, charter school, or private? Or are you open to any of the above?
Hahaha, love the title. Age doesn't matter. It is the attitude to accept new skills. It is ok to dislike the new tech after you used it, but we stil need to keep trying to learn and better ourselves as teachers. I am glad at the end you said you have to take a balanced approach, if some product really increases productivity and the quality of my students’ work. As a teacher, we need to think about our students more than ourselves, and meet their needs instead of our own. If the student can learn faster with the tech, no matter how hard it is for us to use, we still need to try our best and help them out. So, way to be a flexible old man.
ReplyDelete