I always enjoy discussions about where technologies will take us in the future. For the past ten years, the predictions seem to have both fallen short of where we actually went (Google Earth) and exceeded where we ended up (all teachers now being guides). The readings, class discussions and interactions have stimulated me to take more risks in my technological life. These fall in three areas:
Attention - As I look around the class during the discussions and presentations, I notice the "old" paper and pencil people like me are visually and attentively directed at the source of the presentation. A number of "younger" computer people have their faces onto a series of changing website images. At first, I found this rude--like reading a newspaper in front of your college professor during his lecture. Now I see this as efficient. While class was going on today, I was actively looking at the websites and ideas people were presenting--scanning images, reading short bits of articles, gathering information, and asking myself questions. Is this what students would do if we let them? When a student doesn't understand what I mean by Hadley cell, might she look it up, get a quick idea about it, maybe ask a question about what she is not understanding, and then move on to greater understanding of the class discussion? I think I will be more welcoming of students having their faces in computers during my class.
Phones in class and in my future - Today I took a phone away from a student who was text messaging during a large portion of the class presentation. I hadn't checked to see if she was actually gathering relavent information before I had her give it to me. (When she moved on to the task to doing the exercise we had discussed in class, she was lost, which suggests she was not attentive.) But, like in the previous paragraph, she might have been. In which case I would have been wrong to follow the school policy and have her give the phone up.
Furthermore, the discussion about phones made me wonder if an iPhone or similar device is more economical than my present methods of digital living. The cost of a computer and phone and access now must be more than the cost of an iPhone and its access for a couple years. I would also have much more flexibility and accessibility with a mobile phone device. Maybe I need to think this over.
Sites (in addition to those I checked out during class) to check out -
WorldMapper (http://www.worldmapper.org/)
Zotero (http://www.zotero.org)
Delicious (http://delicious.com)
Diigo (http://www.diigo.com)
What a widget is
How images on Flickr can be used effectively
Amazing memory of today's session - With the analytical power of technologies, once voice recognition (and its translation) is effectively achieved, semantic aware tools will give us un-realized capacity for accessing useful information.
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It's great to see your changing thoughts about accessing technology during a lesson. It's amazing to think about what we now have the power to do as we're learning - just as you describe above. However, I do think you're right in being cautious - just because students can do those things, doesn't mean they are. As long as we're aware of what they can be doing, we can take the time to have a conversation about what they are doing before we take away those devices.
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