Friday, July 2, 2010

First Class Impressions


This class will be useful. I fully understand that technology will become increasingly important in the classroom and also increasingly useful because there will be ways of accelerating learning through technology. One scene of the Matrix comes to mind where Neo gets 'plugged in' to the Matrix and information is downloaded somehow so that he finds himself learning martial arts in a virtual reality. I wonder if it will be like that some day where we can learn everything as if it is a first hand experience in a virtual world... even things like experiencing history in the making or constructing 3-d forms, or more dangerous things like mountain climbing... but until then other tools can be used to increase understanding. For example, assessments can adapt to the test-takers skill-base and background as the GRE already claims to do (... though perhaps they need to refine that feature).

I am slightly intimidated by technology because I think much effort will have to go into learning how to use it. As technologies improve we as teachers will have to update our knowledge in order to keep things relevant. Also another fear I have is taking more time to figure out how a particular type of technology works, rather than on the content and knowledge itself. Nonetheless however, the gains technology has to offer makes it worth the time and risk.

5 comments:

  1. You've identified a real tension in classrooms: the push to incorporate technology versus the time it takes to learn a new tool. TIME has to be a huge factor in how we plan experiences for our students. (I think about how my mom's high school U.S. history class had to cover 25 years' less history than mine did ... and how my nephew will have to cover 50 years more than my mother's did ... how do we balance technology versus burgeoning curriculum?

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  2. You also pose an interesting question, Eleni, regarding the speed at which change is occurring with regard to technology. This doesn't mean that change will occur at anything resembling that rate in schools, but I do think it is especially incumbent on people like Kristin and myself to equip you with some information and as high a quality a set of teaching questions as we can. Times of flux can be unnerving, but can also present some intriguing opportunities...

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  3. Hey Eleni! Everything *does* seem to be getting more and more like the Matrix all the time. Sometimes I feel--and maybe you (as a poli sci person) feel the same--that as we move more and more into technology that we move away from history a little bit. It's not a bad thing, but it's a strange feeling. We deal with tangible artifacts so to move into this ephemeral virtual world can be an uncomfortable affair.

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  4. Eleni, as cool as the matrix scenario sounds, I think the one we should be much more worried about is the Skynet scenario where computers take over. Just like in Terminator. However, your point in stating that technology seems to be changing at such a rapid pace that its very difficult to keep up with it. This is a problem that I can see schools having a lot of trouble with, especially in the costs of keeping up with technology.

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  5. Personally, I hope we don't ever get to the virtual world scenario - where would all the teachers fit in/would they be obsolete? I've always felt sooo much better when there is a person to ask if I have a question/problem - with technology you have to be so careful to phrase it just right or else you get nothing. Besides, as technology advances I feel like it gets harder and harder for kids to appreciate historical perspectives. When the first trains were able to go fifteen miles an hour, people were afriad that the human body couldn't withstand it; that their brains would turn to mush. How are kids today supposed to understand that fear?

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