I found this chapter stretching the meaning I had for “technology” deeper and deeper as I progressed from page to page. On page 4, Postman goes into detail about writing being a form of technology. Then, on page 6 he talks about railways, telephone lines, ocean tankers, and hygiene, along with many other advances in our culture. I found myself realizing that I have put technology into a small box that limited itself to computers and other devices that are similar.
As Neil Postman describes the differences between winners and losers in everyday life, it made me think about the children in my classroom. This chapter helped me stretch my views, which will hopefully help me distinguish the proper technologies that I should be using (keeping one eye open, page 5). On page 17, paragraph 2, Postman says, “Over four centuries, teachers, while emphasizing print, have allowed morality its place in the classroom, and have therefore achieved a kind of pedagogical peace between these two forms of learning, so that what is valuable in each can be maximized.” How do you see computer technology coming into your school and or classroom and finding a peace between our current forms of learning?
Lisa, I love this question! No easy answer from me...in fact, I think that for the most part computer technology is disrupting the current forms of learning in most classrooms I'm part of. I'll use phones as one example. Many (not all, but many) of the 7th and 8th graders I teach have a cell phone. (Which is sort of crazy to me, but that's not the point.) Our school has a blanket policy that students are not to use their cell phones at school. (Again, this is sort of crazy to me, but also not the point.) Where it got interesting this past year is that one of my colleagues wanted kids to actually bring their phones to class and use them as classroom response "clickers" using polleverywhere.com. (If you haven't heard of it, check it out--pretty wild!) He had laptops available for students without a phone of their own, so they could easily participate too. He reported the experiment as a success; the kids were HIGHLY engaged. The trouble came later when some other teachers really freaked out about the kids having their phones in class. My experimentalist colleague has since been told he should not try this again. Interesting, no? I'm not saying I agree with the way he went about it, but I think this story perhaps exemplifies what you're talking about. (Or maybe the opposite.) :-)
ReplyDeleteSometimes I think that instead of resisting change - we need to embrace it more. I don't know about you, but I am sick of policing cell phones. They can cause major distractions,can aid cheating, and I know the list could go on and on. However, what this teacher did seems to make sense to me. Kids are going to have phones - why not use them to our advantage? The trick will be how we can safely incorporate the technology that the kiddos are tuned into. That lesson sounds like it was fun and effective, and it sounds like a shame that this teacher won't be able to do it again.
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