Wednesday, July 16, 2008

This picture of Carmen is my favorite use of technology 
so far...
Although Chatzy is pretty great, too.  It's taken some getting used to, but I think that this doing-five-or-eight-different-things-at-the-same-time-in-class-thing could really work for me.  And MAN do I want to keep this computer.  The last couple of weeks have been such a whirlwind of mastering new tools (from our snappy little cameras to Inspiration, Macbooks to CTools, Chatzy to Backpack and for some of us die-hard Mac users, even Word has been a struggle), I want to congratulate everyone in the cohort for not going all luddite on us and writing egomaniacal editorials to the New York Times.  I much prefer Eugenie's idea of sending a productive piece of poetry into the New Yorker of the Atlantic.  Everything else aside, what a luxury to get to master all of this stuff before we get into our classrooms.
Something I've been thinking about a lot, however, and that I'm looking forward to talking about in class, is whether many public schools have the kind of technology that we're learning about, and how much we can rely on all students having internet access.  If two or three students in my class don't, I don't want to conduct the class as if everyone does.  Despite the wealth of wireless on campus, my impression is that computers and connections are still a relatively major marker of economic status, and while I know it's important to teach all students how to effectively navigate and utilize web resources, I want to pay particular attention to how to do this in a fair and equitable way that doesn't advantage those who already have the privilege of advanced technology in their own lives.  

6 comments:

Liz Kolb, Ph.D. said...

Chloe
Great question about a typical school's technology compared to the 1 to 1 MAC program. I know this is a concern of mine, because the 1 to 1 is a false sense of reality (most schools do not have the MAC technology). It is important to be aware of all the resources in your school and how to best use them. Additionally you should find out what resources your students like to use and have; take advantage of those as well (iPods, cells, video games, IM...etc).

David Palay said...

My personal view, not that they have been solicited, is that you should work to use these new technologies to suppliment your classroom. Don't plan an entire lesson requiring access, but let the students know that the resources are out there.
If I recall, you said that you will be teaching at CHS in Ann Arbor. If that's the case, then expect a wide range of technological access. I observed there in Winter 08, and there were often 2-3 laptops out during the class - and this was a geometry course!

Brenda said...

Hi Chloe,

How is it going in Seciton A? I have not quite mastered the multi-tasking as well as some. I have concerns with how to integrate technology into the classroom when not all students have access.

Rebekah said...

I do hope we are careful to discuss accessibility of resources as well as the resources themselves. But if the school has them, we should be able to use them.
And I hear there are tons of grants out there for technology stuff, even when there is no money for doing something like fixing the boiler.
(-:
Just Say No to Chatzy!

Leanne said...

Thank you! I know that I have personally taken my Internet access for granted. Though when I was teaching before, I had two desktops and would allow students to use them after school to do research, or give them passes to the library during certain classes. I had a rude awakening during my first week here. My last laptop was property of my company. I knew we would be getting one here, so I did not explore buying one. Then on the first day when I found out I had to submit assignments online and we wouldn't be getting our computers until that Friday...temporary freak out. I'm glad to hear it acknowledged that we cannot take "computer wealth" for granted. your classroom is going to be awesome! Oh and I also appreciate all the workshops for those new-to-the-MAC. I think my personal favorite is the video editing!

helena said...

A month has past, but Just catching up on blogging and I saw the dog pix and got inspired. I have to see if I can get some pix of my dog/puppy to post and some other cool pix. For me, that would be a great technological advancmnet for me. I have a digital camera and have yet to do more than take the photos and make copies at CVS. I have not put them on my computer or anything so now id the time. I also tried to use my digital camera at my daughters horse show and still not much luck . I could not get it to record so back to the drawing board and more learning