The web opens up so many new avenues to learning - like realtime discussions taking place between people thousands of miles apart. Like being able to communicate with the author of a book about his or her work. Thats a great use of technology.
I really like using google documents or wikis to track research - what an ingenious way to deal with online research.
I must say for most of these ideas presented I just read, look, and say, "Wow, cool, I'll have to try that someday." I feel like the train is passing me by, though, and if I don't put these newly learned techniques to use I will never do it, I will continue to be somewhat apprehensive of new technology. My approach to this tends to be both idealistic and pragmatic - idealistic in that I want to share the ideas with people I think could use them. Pragmatic in that if I can't think of an application for it in my immediate circumstances, I discard the idea.
The question it all raises for me is how much of this is just a new spin on something that's been around for awhile, and how much of this is really innovative learning? Kids writing on blogs instead of paper - well, I'm sure at one point paper was quite novel, and before that, the slate, and before that, the wax tablet. But has what we're writing, or the level at which we're writing, changing? Is it using technology to be cool and 21st century, or is it using technology to help in learning?
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2 comments:
I think you are wise to discard that which is not personally useful. Each of us can only do so much, and we each have to decide what is worth pursuing. I can understand your feelings about technology-- no one can keep up or know their way around the WWW like they know the streets in their hometown. There are times when I want to scream "Stop!! That's enough technology!!" But- it's not going to stop growing and changing. So I choose to use the apps that help me do something easier, faster, or better, or are more fun.
The hope is that students writing in a blog will write more and better stuff because of the blog format.
Jeff, once again you make great points. I too have found that there are only parts of the technology I can use. I agree with Becky's comment, "we can only do so much." I think it is best suited for us to pick a few of the wonderful ideas we have picked up and perfect them instead of trying to use them all and only adequately teaching them.
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