New technologies have opened up a whole new world that can be used for "good or evil." Students and educators need to be educated about just what plagarism is and what constitutes software piracy.
The article, "The New Plagarism" makes some interesting points. First, many of the research projects/reports that were done in the past are irrelavant today and will likely encourage students to cheat. Jamie McKenzie proposes that we change the questions that students are being asked to answer to encourage thought and critical thinking. Jamie calls these "essential questions." We must also teach them how to cite materials and ideas from other sources.
Bob Krueger encourages us as adults to be good role models for students and to talk to them about cyber-ehtics. He states that educators need to take the lead in the discussions about Cyber-ethics because many children have more knowledge and skill with the web than thier parents.
Both articles challenge us to look at our own practices and the practices of our staff to ensure that we are being good role models. We need to help students understand what the legal and ethical requirements of using the web are and how they should be observed.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
WebQuests
WebQuests are a way to build interactive environments through which other people build knowledge. There are different types of WebQuests. The main distinctions are the length of participation (one session to weeks of work) and the products that are created. There are various products that can be created, ranging from webcasts, to surveys, to interviews. Kathleen Schrock proposes that quality WebQuests contain six components: introduction, task, process, information sources, evaluation, and conclusion.
The portion that I found most intriguing was in the information sources section. It is recommended that people be given a pe-determined set of resources on the web to use in the WebQuest. This idea will help me as I continue to design professional development for teachers that is timely, useful and does not waste thier time. I have never made a WebQuest so I am very interested in the experience.
The portion that I found most intriguing was in the information sources section. It is recommended that people be given a pe-determined set of resources on the web to use in the WebQuest. This idea will help me as I continue to design professional development for teachers that is timely, useful and does not waste thier time. I have never made a WebQuest so I am very interested in the experience.
Searching the Web and Literacy Skills
The series of ariticles that we read for searching the web were intriguing in a couple of ways. First, the amount of information available on the web is imense. Search strategies and skills are essential for efficiet use of the web. If someone is not skilled at searching they will waste countlless hours and likely be discuouraged from using the web as resource. The basic skills mentionin the Step Zero and Four Nets are simple ways that people can be taught to improve thier searching skills. The methods in the articles are simple and easy to remember.
Second, searching the web is a much more complex process than many of us think. Our brain does multiple complex tasks as we search the web and decide which site to go to and what information to use. Many people now do these tasks instictually, but the is much cognitive work going on even if we do not realize it. The Henry Study does a great job of drawing attention to the fundamenal skills, reading and writing, and more importantly, the higher order thinking skills, such as evaluating and formulating questions, that take place during web searches. The researcherargues that some of these skills are unique to web searching. I beleive that while the context is unique to web searching, the skills that are used are similar to thosed used by more advanced researchers. As we were going thorugj school the average research report had maybe 3 or 4 sources if we were lucky. This is not much informaiton to evaluate and synthesize. Using the web you can have a myriad of sources and that brings all of the challenges (and opportunities) that a multitude of sources brings. It is a great opportunity to teach and apply higher order thinking skills!
Second, searching the web is a much more complex process than many of us think. Our brain does multiple complex tasks as we search the web and decide which site to go to and what information to use. Many people now do these tasks instictually, but the is much cognitive work going on even if we do not realize it. The Henry Study does a great job of drawing attention to the fundamenal skills, reading and writing, and more importantly, the higher order thinking skills, such as evaluating and formulating questions, that take place during web searches. The researcherargues that some of these skills are unique to web searching. I beleive that while the context is unique to web searching, the skills that are used are similar to thosed used by more advanced researchers. As we were going thorugj school the average research report had maybe 3 or 4 sources if we were lucky. This is not much informaiton to evaluate and synthesize. Using the web you can have a myriad of sources and that brings all of the challenges (and opportunities) that a multitude of sources brings. It is a great opportunity to teach and apply higher order thinking skills!
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Tech Integration at RV
Our school district is trying to address some of the challenges that are mentioned in the article. We are having teachers apply to attend Smartboard training and then recieve a Smartboard. They serve as model classrooms on each campus for the next round of Smartboard application period. One area that we will need to ensure that complete is the follow-up portion of the training. We need to ensure that we do not have "one-shot" trainings. We also have a serious challenge in terms of the hardware that is available for students.
Tech Integration 6-3-07
The article that I read "Technology Integration as a Transforming Teaching Stategy" was by Jerry Woodbridge. The study looked into whether teachers who participated in the Jacksonville University Master's of Arts in Teaching integrated technology into thier classrooms. The researchers analyzed teacher beleifs, perceptions and attutudes towards technology, thier teaching stategies, and their integration of technology in the classroom.
The article had a good summary of some of the challenges that teachers face when they attempt to integrate technology in the classroom. The challenges range from the lack of good models to observe, lack of adequate pre-service and inservice training, the lack of follow-up after initial professional development and the lack of communication between IT departments and teachers. Many teachers who are skilled are self-taught.
Effective integration includes combining content knowledge, pedegogical knowledge, technical knowledge and student construciton of knowledge. The researchers found that there was a strong correlation between constructivist teaching methods and those teachers that effectively integrated technology. They found that their was a difference in how teachers integrated technology based upon thier beliefs and perceptions.
The article had a good summary of some of the challenges that teachers face when they attempt to integrate technology in the classroom. The challenges range from the lack of good models to observe, lack of adequate pre-service and inservice training, the lack of follow-up after initial professional development and the lack of communication between IT departments and teachers. Many teachers who are skilled are self-taught.
Effective integration includes combining content knowledge, pedegogical knowledge, technical knowledge and student construciton of knowledge. The researchers found that there was a strong correlation between constructivist teaching methods and those teachers that effectively integrated technology. They found that their was a difference in how teachers integrated technology based upon thier beliefs and perceptions.
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