Pretend you are a K-12 teacher or university professor. Everyone in your class has a personal computer connected to the Internet. Describe in 300-500 words what you think will be several of the most significant challenges you will face when using the Internet in your classroom.
In my write-up I tried to avoid simply discussing some of the obvious challenges like students not paying attention to a lecture since I would probably have to change me teaching style entirely based on the fact all students had a computer and dealing with students accessing sites they shouldn’t during class. I tried to focus on deeper challenges.
I think the first challenge I will face is my own personal issues especially past training with using the internet in my classroom. As an educator, my primary goal is to ensure that students achieve and master the skills and knowledge in each grade and course. Being an educator, I was trained to utilize lecture and basic multimedia outlets (i.e., videos) as the primary methods to deliver content. Therefore, I am comfortable teaching through these methods and may even believe they are more effective than using the internet in my classroom.
The next challenge I would face would be the fact that many of the people I would be teaching may in fact be far more competent and experienced with various internet applications that are available. As I watched the Youtube video that showed students holding signs in the classroom it made me realize the students I would be teaching in college would have been raised on the internet and would use this as a prinmary form of communication. Therefore, they may find information and resources that I am unaware of and need to be constantly checking sources for accuracy when reading papers and assignments. In a similar thought, these students may need to have unique assignments created for them that I am uncomfortable creating like Wikis.
Next, I believe there would be a challenge for students to differentiate between good and bad information found on websites. I want students to have access to the most current information but cautious because it takes skill to differentiate between quality research and opinion. According to the 2009 Horizon Report: The K12 Edition, teachers using the internet as a resource are aware that the amount of content available is staggering and selecting valuable material can be time-consuming and frustrating. This same frustration could be exacerbated for a student who is not skilled in differentiating between quality research and opinion on a topic. As a result, they could turn in an assignment or reference a website, blog, etc that is not a viable source of quality information. I have been reading research for years and am still amazed by the amount of poorly designed research available in peer-reviewed journals. If this is true for journals than it has to be worse on the internet.
Finally, I feel there would be a challenge in understanding student rights as it relates to using the internet in the classroom. As noted in the article about the NYU professor found in one the first week’s readings, there seems to be a lack of understanding how technology may impact student rights. The main question in this article is whether blogging or twittering about a class is an invasion of student privacy. I wouldn’t want to be the first teacher sued by a parent who felt their son/daughter’s privacy was invaded based on blogs I was encouraging in class. In fact, the article stated this issue has never come up but it doesn’t mean it never will.
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I agree with you that using the Web challenges our traditional, teacher-centered ways of teaching. If we believe in this direct teaching method, it becomes harder to know how, or even why, we would use a ‘connected’ classroom.
ReplyDeleteYou gave me a new insight when you linked the almost overwhelming amount of information I feel I would have to choose from as a teacher when designing lessons using the internet to the students own inexperienced critical-thinking skills in sorting through this information on their own. It is beginning to seem to me that there is never sunshine without shadow. This web explosion of information is connecting people and making information available like never before, but...the shadow...too many choices can stop us in our tracks, especially if we don’t have a way to choose among the choices.
I’m enthusiastic about using Web 2 technologies as a teacher, but I too have realized that I must be aware of legal ramifications if I do something wrong. It’s scary. In my enthusiasm to teach, will I inadvertently expose students to something that boomerangs back to hurt me? If I use the web, I am suddenly going beyond the four walls of my classroom and opening up to the entire world. This affects my students. This affects me. Wow. I do negotiate this realm.
If done with intelligence, teaching is one of the most complex endeavors we can undertake. Matt, as a practicing educator, you should be very proud.
I drafted my comments in Word before posting. Next time I'll check the formatting before posting. Sorry for the way the text blurs paragraphing. I enjoyed reading your post.
ReplyDeleteMatt you and Cynthia point out the obvious, teaching styles will have to change in order to meet the challenges presented by students armed with technology. As I was reading your post I was drawn back to my thoughts of how technology makes us all learners. As the lesson designed by us engages the student the student researches for the answer that works for them. Through group sharing and the class ability to dig deeper into the questions posed during the class discuss we all become learners of new knowledge or knowledge viewed through a different set of lenses.
ReplyDeleteYou also pointed out the fast pacing issue of liability. Who will be held accountable in the classroom if the student's rights are violated. Since I started my journey for my PhD I have asked this question often in regards to technology in the classroom. Just as the student is preparing for jobs that are not yet in existence we as teachers and students are dabbling in a world that has not yet been challenged legally. You are right, it is scary teaching technology in the classroom without clearly defined laws to govern you decisions but than consider how the laws that do govern education came about.
Matt,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you on some of your concerns that you had mentioned above. I to would be nervous to tech students about certain applications; knowing that they have grown up using these application more than I have.
The main thing that I have concerns about, is that of using research and project based from the internet. What makes me nervous is that of authenticity. When I assign projects or research papers to my students, I get concerned if it is their real work. I feel that we have over empasized using the internet to students, that they lose focus on their own creativity and aunthenticity.