The Frustrations of Technology

While technology is supposed to make things simpler, it can also severely complicate things. Besides the computer viruses, dreaded blue screens of death, software compatibility conflicts, Internet connection failures, and standard technology hiccups, I find the lack of personal interaction enabled by technology to be the most frustrating. I watch my son increasingly prefer to chat via pictochat on his DS with another player sitting next to him, versus talk out loud. At school, I see students sitting side by side text messaging each other. Kids these days would rather sit and play computer games than play outside with their friends.

Are we losing our ability to communicate with other humans directly? When I ask a student in class to put up their phone, I might as well have asked them to detach their hand and lock it in a box. I appreciate technology, but I feel that it is a cold means to live by. I have never been a fan of phone conversations when I can meet and talk to a person face to face. I feel that we should be enabled by technology, not disabled by it.

Now people say, "Why should they learn this fact or learn to solve a problem when they can google it?" Well I do not think that we should stop personal learning, if we do not use our brains they will atrophy. Is not allowing a student to cease to learn to think for himself and use google instead just another form of enabling? So my greatest frustration is that I feel too much technology will result in the loss of our ability to think and generate original ideas for ourselves. I also feel students resist learning more these days because they would rather take the easy road and GOOGLE it. So next time you think about text messaging, or calling someone versus going for a visit think of this... can your phone make you feel as good as seeing a person smiling and laughing in person?

Web Quests a Tool for Curriculum Reinforcement

This past week in my teaching with technology class we had to explore Web Quests and their application to our future role as K-12 teachers. Technology is more than a new and improved faster or smaller computer. It is the intelligent application of ideas in an improved format. A good Web Quest fills this role. Web Quests can be a tool to aide in the presentation of curriculum material.

I am a chemist and engineer, I wondered about the applicability of Web Quests to my curriculum topics. After exploring various Web Quest sites pertaining to my curriculum, I can see how Web Quests can accent lessons. Web Quests shouldn’t be replace the teacher, but a good Web Quest project can serve to apply INTERESTING redundancy of curriculum material. You are not limited to the Web Quest out there. There are plenty of web sites that help you design your own Web Quests. If you are hesitant at first, use those created by others to provide topic reinforcement and review.

These project based web applications can aide teachers through the provision of interactive sessions that engage and stimulate student learning more effectively than standard lecture formats. In addition to reinforcing the curriculum material in your average student, computerized instruction and projects can greatly aide in those with disabilities learning the material. Web Quest projects and lessons can be viewed at the students own pace and reviewed as many times as necessary. Lectures in class are not as easily repeated and flexible in delivery.

The Web Quests I liked the most were those that applied to more abstract topics in Chemistry, Chemical Reactions and the Gas Laws. The ones that I reviewed and recommended were created by the UCI Science Institute. They have Web Quests for various scientific disciplines spanning multiple years. The Web Quest, http://www.can-do.com/uci/ssi2002/chemicalreactions.html, has links to versions spanning six years that include all the UCI Science Institute Web Quests for the given year. This 2002 Web Quest of note relates to the Chemistry of atoms, matter, and chemical reactions. This is a great review of the scientific method as applied to chemical reactions and tests the general knowledge of atoms, matter, and chemical reactions. This would be an excellent curriculum reinforcement Web Quest to allow students alternate presentation of standard material. The second Web Quest, http://www.can-do.com/uci/ssi2003/gas-laws.html, on the topic of Gas Laws provides an interesting and interactive means to cover a topic that can be boring and difficult for some students to grasp. This is a great Web Quest that can be given to students to explore gas laws and properties before the class lecture and experiment. Having the students independently work through this introductory presentation will allow the teacher to increase overall understanding of the curriculum and reinforce weak conceptual points.

Please look into using Web Quests to accent your curriculum topics. They are good for all ages as long as the student has basic reading skills and the ability to use a computer.

An Elementary School’s Technological Take on Science Class

My son is in first grade. His public school has an extremely high rating according to state standards. The school has had good levels of funding from the state and community grants as well. On paper this school is exceptional, but my son and I are dissatisfied with the level of education he has received thus far. The school has a dedicated special education program for gifted students. But there is only one teacher to serve the needs of sixty students. The homeroom teacher is left to meet the needs of all students: gifted, ESL, learning disabled, or developmentally delayed.

The classrooms have smart boards and access to a computer room. The library is well stocked and the teachers are veterans. The teachers do the best that they can with all their resources, but it comes down to one teacher per 20+ students. The teacher is mainly forced to deal with pulling up those that fall behind.

The state textbook agencies are not helping matters with their expectations student progress through out the year. What bothers my husband and me is that the math text does not show significant progress in skill development from beginning to end. The expectations for the last week are only mildly more advanced than that taught in the first week.

There is not a science text. Now science education is promoted as highly technological for the first grade class. They get to watch episodes of the Magic School Bus on the classroom Smartboard. Now I like a good episode of the Magic School Bus, I think it is a great Sunday morning cartoon show. However I do not think that it is a sufficient substitute for hands on science experience. So do you think that a Sunday morning cartoon is sufficient science education for our children? I don’t. My son and I do home chemistry and physics experiments. We read about animals and biology. We study robotics and programming. School seems to be more like glorified daycare. Is anyone else concerned about the standards of education being brought down to the level of a few students, versus working toward bringing up those that fall behind?

The Impact of Technology Upgrades in the Classroom

A current technological advancement coming to classrooms these days is the Smart Board. I feel this is an important technological advancement for the classroom to aide teachers in their curriculum instruction.

This semester I am performing field experience in conjunction with education certification. My middle school mentor has just received her first Smart Board. She was excited for the addition of this technology into her classroom, but currently resents it. Why? Well it appears that while the state grants will give her the new technology, they do not provide training for the new instrument. So currently she has a wonderful resource that is covering one of two white boards she needs for instruction. Until she has taught herself the ins and outs of her new Smart Board she will be reduced to half her instructional writing space.

Technology is a wonderful tool and means for instruction. However this recent experience reminds me that there is a time requirement for all to learn and maintain our knowledge and skills related to technological devices.

Applications for Internet Research in the Classroom.

I believe that technology can improve our efficiency and ability to teach children curriculum material. The biggest challenge, in my opinion, is getting and holding our students attention. To engage our students we need to show them the relevance of the curriculum taught. I feel an important way to do this is personal research on the part of the student. I believe in giving take home projects and experiments that engage the parents/guardians, siblings, and students as a means of curriculum reinforcement.

In my chosen field of Chemistry, technology is important in many ways. There are new means for synthesis, analysis, and experimentation being developed daily. One growing field embedded in technology and its current limits is computational chemistry. Technology is a vastly growing field applicable to all curriculums.

The Internet will allow my students to explore and see chemical phenomena not feasible for a secondary school classroom setting. In addition, the Internet is a reference to attain relevant projects and experiments for student engagement and instruction.