Week 3

The Classroom Computer. 

Approximately two computers in each classroom. Sound familiar? It does for my peers of 4001EPS and I. How about one computer... per student. How much would a classroom change? How much would the unit, lesson, and behavioural planning have to be moderated to make room for that much exposure? Perhaps more than most teachers can handle. Where would all the text books and work sheets go? 

2M, a remarkable year 2 class run by one: Mrs. M, provided us with an opportunity to peek into such a classroom. 2M is a classroom where online blogging is used frequently as a tool for reading and writing. A very large stretch from the Writing Assisted Instruction method from prehistoric times (Luehrmann, 2002). Student self assessment and synthesising strategies are conducted on an iphone, to review one's oral fluency.  

How many teachers conduct tutorials of how to run a word processing tool, rather than how to use that tool to better communicate ideas, issues etc.? Mrs. M may be outnumbered, but she's certainly not alone. 

A drastic educational shift on the horizon tells us that it is no longer sufficient to use computers as a substitute teacher, or more likely, a teacher aid. In 2M for example, the six-going-on-seven-year-olds use technologies in ways which go beyond that of any other class in their school, arguably. Mrs. M is actively moving the focus away from the ICT and technology KLAs  as a means to an end, and pushing the need for integration in all other teaching focuses. How's that for "Professional Knowledge"? Yes, sir, she does it effectively. How long before we see a large movement in teachers shifting their teaching styles to embrace ICT (Bork, 1980)? 

An interesting video in Week 3's tutorial relayed some intriguing facts. Wikipedia is now arguably more accurate than Encyclopedia Britannica. There is a lot to be said for automatic uploading of collaborative thinking, or if you like: one billion heads are better than two hundred. Considering the rate of technological renewal, in 10 years, computers will fit inside a blood cell. What will it mean for those who are still learning to use a keyboard? Not to discourage the old pedagogies, which are of course effective in many ways... but it's a scary thought, isn't it?

References:

Bork, A. (1980). Interactive Learning. Cited in Taylor, R. (1980). The computer in school: tutor, tool, tutee. Columbia University, New York.

Luehrmann, A. (2002). Should the computer teach the student, or vise-versa? Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 389-396.