Status3 April 9, 2007
Posted by Steve in Elearning, Musing.trackback
The IT assistant at school, Andrew Greenlees, has worked tirelessly over the Easter break to figure out how to use WordPress Multi-user at the school’s additional domain website: tigs.com.au I haven’t quite figured out how we are a commercial entity as compared to an organisation or an educational entity. It looks like Andrew has successfully met all the criteria that I set. In the long run, it means a much cheaper alternative as compared to using EduBlogs Premium for the school. We will start the Honours students off first. Semester Two will see a rotation of Technology classes and we will add the new classes at that time.
Of course, the site is available to any subject who wishes to make use of a blog.
The videos on this site have at least a message to get across to mainly teachers. It appears that there is great resistance to the use of Technology in the classroom. I tend to dispute that, especially at my current place of employment. If the Web2.0 services cannot be used to promote the high order of thinking, then it isn’t being used to its potential. Developing a quiz program (drill and grill) is not high order thinking in my opinion. Technology should compliment what already exists. It is not meant to replace current strategies.
For me, the most difficult skill to develop in students is the ability to show relationships between concepts in writing. Why writing? because the Year 12 Three Hour Exam is a written one and that is what we teachers are building up to.
It is more important for students to be involved in the creative process using technology. They need to create the Podcast, they need to create the Blog and they need to create the short 3 – 5 minute video. This ‘Project Work’ integrates all the facets of learning. After they create the end products, they will be more critical of the mass of digital data that is bombarding them. We hope that the multi-media tasks also helps develop that ability to show relationships between concepts.
Yes, the students are digital students. They make use of the iPod, mobile phone, digital camera but that does not make them critical users. Activities need to be developed to nudge the development of analysis and critical thinking.
The use of Web2.0 services are another bunch of activities that we can place in our teachers’ “bag of tricks”.
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