There are countless arguments as to the pros and cons of a student's knowledge of technology, and how a school should facilitate and teach technology to it's students. With these arguments there comes several main conflicts, including the idea of censorship and school/teacher liability. While teachers don't want to give students too limited a mindset of technology because we fear the negative aspects, we also do not want to be held responsible for opening a student's eyes to material consider objectionable, or for putting a student in a negative situation with the outside world. If teachers (schools/districts, etc.) protect, we in essence censor, and if we don't we could possibly cause harm to the student, the school, or our own career. You can see how this debate turns into a round robin... there really seems to be no good answer. And I am not suggesting there is one, rather I would like to suggest that educators, administrators, and schools need a new question.
In my Multi-Modal class, I was assigned to read Little Brother by Cory Doctorow, and while I am completely willing to admit that I am no computer guru and some of the technological jargon did have me a little lost, I think this novel brings up a valid point. We have reached a time where the average high school student is going to know more about working with technology than an adult does. It seems like common sense, adults did not grow up with the technology we have today, and students have, therefore, students are more comfortable (and most likely more knowledgeable) around technology than adults. Given this knowledge, I think perhaps the discussion should not just be what a student should or should not know about regarding technology, but rather how they can constructively use what they do know.
Let's face it, a teacher has a limited window of control on a student's life. A class? A semester? A year? The boundaries of control differ with every teacher, student, and/or school. So isn't it better to strive to influence rather than control a student's accessibility/knowledge of technology?
For example, let me throw out a little story to all of you (this will thrill all of you multi-modal people). A high school senior from my hometown made his national television debut this morning because of an online video contest. Reoccurring his role as a nerd from one of his high school musicals, Scott Bauman decided to create a lip-synced music video for the "My Grammy Moment" contest. While Scott did not receive first place this morning on CBS The Early Show, he did get a free trip to the Grammy's and his video was seen along with the other three finalists' videos behind Katy Perry as she performed during the awards show.
While this story is just all-around cool, what I consider to be the most beneficial to take from this is number one: look at what high school students are technologically capable of; number two: this Nerd character was developed in a high school musical (shout out to the dramatic arts!); number three: the limitless possibilities of how this YouTube like technology could be used in a classroom.
By teaching and allowing students to use technology in constructive (and most often downright comical) ways, teachers are influencing instead of controlling... and their classrooms just got a lot more interesting.
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Sooo, I checked out the videos on the "My Grammy Moment" and of the top three, his definitely was the best. Why do I have the feeling that the one who did win was the girl who was in the tub and actually singing along to the song? Rather disappointing.
ReplyDeleteNot to mention some of those were just creepy!
Julie, you brought up some excellent points about using technology in the classroom. It can be so advantageous, but it seems like there are som many things that teachers ahve to worry about if they want to use technology in the classroomj. All of the potential dangers or problems in using technology is almost a complete turn off, for a teacher anyway. Most students are going to know certain technologies inside and out, but they won't consider what is appropriate in a school environment. Also, I think students might tend to be more mature about the use of certain technology, since they are immersed in it, than administration is likely to be.
ReplyDeleteStephanie Schmitt
***This if from my high school English teacher who read this post--Julie***
ReplyDeleteJulie,
As a teacher who has experienced both the "brick and mortar" classroom setting as well as the "electronic classroom" that I currently teach in, you bring up some very valid points. I think the bottom line for traditional classroom teachers is that you really only can control what students do on your watch. Realistically, if kids want to find something inappropriate, they can. And, like you said probably can find it more quickly and with more prowess than most adults.
A few things on this topic, I do think that teachers can introduce software like Covenant Eyes to concerned parents. For about 10 bucks a month, this company does not firewall, but instead reports all internet activity to two "accountability" sources. So, in essence, I get a list every month to my email that tells me what my kids were on, what times of day, and for how long they were on. One of the accountablitiy emails goes to a trusted friend of our family. In addition, CE flags questionable sights and suggests further investigation.
For the classroom, the teacher is absolutely responsible to create parameters on assignments that keep students focused. This may even mean giving a list of acceptable websites or sources. This also means teachers must be extremely attentive to student activity during class. This is not censorship any more than not allowing students to wear profane tshirts to school is. It is simply teaching students to be sensitive to contexts. Teachers have to teach context appropriateness. Jobs have these too! It is not just about limiting minors!
For my e-classroom, the school distributes computers. All school computers have extreme firewalls that only let students on to a very selective list of sites. I think this is sort of like removing distractions. Not censorship. I am not judging the unapproved sites. I am simply saying, not while you are on the clock for my class. This is like not allowing cell phones in a regular class. Sorry so long. Great topic, Julie!