Pedagogy+and+Technology

As Your Challenge, Please address the following questions


 * Is Ms. Robson's lesson representative of novice, beginner, proficient or advanced example of a technology-based "learning environment" from your understanding of what is "good pedagogy."
 * Ms. Robson's lesson is noteworthy in that it is an attempt for her students to integrate their learning of the town's history with the use of some technology. Her learning outcomes cover a wide range of skills that relate to journalism and history. The technology she employs for her lesson results in a multimedia presentation that one can argue is a step above the classic poster board presentation. Her lesson does include broadcasting their work on a local television which provides a level of authenticity with the students' work being showcased and presented to the community. However, her use of the technology is very prescribed and teacher-centered. This results in her lesson being categorized as a novice example of a technology-based "learning environment." If Ms. Robson desires for her lesson to promote the transfer of her students' knowledge related town's history along with the use of the various technologies, her lesson needs to be more student-centered. By moving from her teacher-centered approach to a student-centered approach she increases students abilities to link their prior knowledge with the project/task she has given them to document the history of the town. If her lesson is changed to become more student-centered using a project-based learning approach, she can require students to produce //**something**// documenting the town's history that can be appropriately displayed in a public forum (media that is online, offline, and or digital). If students regulate their project through their own selection of technologies and tools, this level of autonomy can direct their strategic thinking and their understanding of the content. Students strategically thinking through the development of their product/project in a novel way promotes flexible thinking and knowledge transfer. For example, some students may be into photography and want to take photos of the various people and places in the town, edit their photos in Photoshop, and create a Voicethread. Their VoiceThread would represent their final multimedia presentation and would be uploaded to the town's website. The following is a link providing an example of how 5th graders created a VoiceThread that can be used as a Podcast when visiting the Oklahoma History Center: []
 * Could the money be spent better than on technology in this classroom to further the education of the students?
 * The issue of whether or not the money is spent on technology does not address how the money is used on technology. While money could be better spent on more learner-centered resources, it could just as easily be spent on the same resources that Ms. Robinson spend it on, yet it could provide much more educational benefit if these resources were implemented in a more learner-centered fashion.

>> Hi ,Nice to talk with you! I am so glad that you are interested in my topic .I am happy to be a friend of you .Can you give me a hand? This is my bolg http://123.writeboard.com/e697a7015700e4c07 ,You¡¯ll also need this password:200800801046 Please write some words there, as soon as you can .Because ,my teacher said ,I must ininvite some friends to my bolg and qequest my friends leave some messages .This is one of examination .Thank you very much. || Is this application saving the teacher time and making her more productive or is it adding to the complexity of teaching and learning?
 * Is this use of technology changing teaching?.. learning?.. both?
 * While the example of Ms. Robson's class using technology is an example of technology changing teaching and learning it is a very poor example. Ms. Robson should be given credit for using some new technology in her lesson. She uses Microsoft word with track changes, iMovie, podcast and iSight as part of her lesson. Simply utilizing the programs changes the way that she teaches. She must help students learn how to use these programs in order to fulfill her requirements for her projects. However the only change in the teaching and learning is the requirement and use of these new programs. This change is similar to a teacher changing a literature book, but covering the book in the exact same way as other books that were already covered. She does not use technology in a way that students can see how the technology can be a cohesive part of their educational experience.
 * Ms. Robson could use the same tools and transform this lesson into one that utilizes technology as a learning experience. She should start by first "hooking" students with the idea of the sister school in China. Students will be interested in this idea and be excited to communicate with children from across the world. The class would then brainstorm things that they believe the class in China would be interested in learning and how to best communicate these things to their Chinese sister school. Students should be encouraged to use there laptops during the discussion in order to come up with ideas during the discussion. At the end of the discussion Ms. Robson would present the classroom with a list of requirements for the students to complete as part of the lesson. These requirements would be activities that do not necessarily require technology in order to complete, but projects that would be significantly better through the use of technology. Some examples of such a requirement could be: s: teach the sister school something about a member of the community, communicate with a student in the sister school or write organize and conduct an interview with a member of your community . These examples are beneficial because without the internet, or a telephone the only way to communicate information with the students in China, or a member of the community, would be through regular postage, which would take a very extended period of time, longer than most students have patience. Instead of requiring students to use her prescribed type of technology Ms. Robson would have daily mini-lessons offering students different types of technology, like imovie, the class website, and podcasts. The overall idea of the lesson would be to get students passionate about their projects. This passion would result in them wanting to use both the fastest and newest forms of communication as well as the most exciting type of presentation creations.
 * While the above lesson is an example of how to use technology as a tool to improve classroom teaching and learning the degree to the change depends highly on the enthusiasm of the teacher and the effectiveness of the mini-lessons. Ms. Robson's enthusiasm is required to keep student involved and excited throughout the project. The mini-lessons must clearly demonstrate the benefits and ease that new technologies provide. The lessons would also be an excellent way to help students who are suffering from disablilties because in many situations the teacher can provide the option to use the assistive technology not only to the disabled student but to the entire class. Ms. Robsons current lesson requires that students use technology during the learning process. In order to adequately use technology to change teaching and learning she must utilize technology as a tool to transform the learning environment.
 * The following is an excerpt from a website for international clubs, forums, penpals, etc. In this excerpt there is a link and password that provides you with the student's blog which is require by her teacher as she uses technology to assist in learning English.
 * || || Reply from ** Kelly **, 21 yrs ( ** China ** ) - 2009-11-01
 * ** In the example of Ms. Robson's class project technology is simply adding to the complexity of the lesson because technology is really just being used for the sake of technology. Talking to the students in China is a great activity and the students will likely get excited about the activity but the act of communicating with the students themselves is not really giving students much educationally. If the students were doing a unit on china, or if the lesson was focused more on comparing our communities to the communities in China, then it would make more sense to communicate with students from the area. She uses technology in the lesson primarily as forms of presenting information. Requiring students to present the same materials in multiple ways, simply to use technology is a waste of not only her time but the students as well.


 * Is this instance of technology integration enhancing the teacher's domain understanding or pedagogical skill?
 * The use of technology in this classroom, in the fashion that Ms. Robson has prescribed, does not provide much enhancement to Ms. Robson's pedagogical skill as a learner-centered instructor. While she does take on some facilitatory roles, they are minimal, and most of the students' tasks offer little room for creative input. In a more learner-centered environment, where Ms. Robson would also engage on a learner level, the class would explore new ways to use the technology that is available to them, in addition to the exploration of new technologies and methods that even Ms. Robson, herself, may be unfamiliar with.


 * Is there scientific proof that technology is "working" in this instance?
 * There doesn't seem to be any scientific evidence presented in this particular example, only the methods of instruction. While the students are certainly using technology, there is no scientific "proof" that the technology is "working," although, with the proper implementation, as discussed above, technology could certainly "work" more effectively.


 * Is technology in this instance preventing students from having a more authentic real-world (vs virtual world) experience?
 * The processes that students are going through in Ms. Robson's class are authentic in theory, but have a significant level of non-learner-centered direction that is likely impeding their ability to transfer any knowledge gained from this context to other environments. The ways that the technology available to them is being used in Ms. Robson's class promotes very specific uses, and more closely resembles a virtual-world experience for this reason.


 * According to the scenario Ms. Robson has scheduled a day for students to present their work and have it broadcast on public access cable for the community to view.
 * It’s not clear if the students will present their project in front of an audience other than their classmates. In case they will present just for the purposes of the broadcast and not in a live face to face presentation to the people of their community, it can be said that actually the opportunity to broadcast it on public access cable is preventing students from presenting their project in front of a real audience. Presenting in front of an audience is a valuable skill for the students. Additionally the organization of such event will enable them to learn new skills (e.g. preparing the invitation document) that will not use if they just present it for the public access cable.
 * In this instance, is there a danger that students might become addicted to media and less social in real life?
 * As the integration of technology used in Mr. Robson's class was not particularly engaging in ways that were irrelevant to the educational context, it does not seem to present much risk for students becoming obsessed with technology in unproductive ways. While the projects presented may offer extended interactions with focused media environments, the net result is collaborative and should not be seen as deterring real-life social interaction.


 * Is there an ethical, legal, or social concern with using technology in this instance?
 * Some of the interactions with people around the area, the students involved, and their legal guardians, might be considered problematic if, in fact, there was no notice and proper consent consent of their interactions being filmed, and/or otherwise documented. With proper consent, however, there should be little issue with the specific uses of technology in this instance.