Journal #9: Are Schools Inhibiting 21st Century Learning

The article “Are Schools Inhibiting 21st Century Learning?” by Dave Nagel uses a number of different technology based surveys to examine whether or not schools and teachers are advancing technology skills or inhibiting them. Overall it seemed that (while the teachers, staff and parents thought "local schools are doing a good job preparing students for jobs and careers of the future,") many of the students felt that the teachers were in fact limiting their technology use.

The article also talked about how the different "education stakeholders" about different technology tools that can be used to enhance the students learning. Both teachers and students felt that electronic learning tools like educational games and online learning. But, even though both teacher and students expressed interest and acknowledged the benefit of these tools, only a small percent were actually using them (11% of teacher said they were presently using educational games and only 8% of students said that they had any experience with online learning.)

Questions:
1.) Q: How do you feel that this class has prepared you to deal with some of the issues addressed in this article?

A: I think that this class has not only introduced me to tools that I had never encountered before, but it has also made me more comfortable using the tools that I was already familiar with. It gave me more insight to using everyday applications like Word or PowerPoint and also introduced me to applications on the web that enhance my use of those tools.

2.) Q: What was one thing in this article that stuck out to you?

A: One thing that stuck out to me was that there were such big differences between the percent of teachers that thought the technology tool was useful and the percent that were actually using the tool. According to the article “65 percent [of teachers] indicated that they thought educational gaming would be an effective tool for students with different learning styles and would help engage students in coursework” but only 11% were actually using them in their lessons.

Journal #8: Computer Tutors vs. Teachers

The article that I read was “Can Computers Tutor Students as Effectively as Teachers?” by Jeanie Cole and Ken Luterbach. In this article the two authors debate the two sides of the question. Luterbach believes that yes computers can tutor students as efficiently as teachers. He points out that studies have shown that “achievement from computer-aided instruction equaled achievement from teacher-led instruction” and that students who were struggling with the material showed improvement when using the computer lead instruction. The author says that as long as the instructor (be it a teacher or a computer) engages the students attention, makes the content relevant, and increases the students confidence both modes of instruction can be equally effective. In the end the author points out that computer provide “individual attention, immediate feedback, and unending patience” that is important in helping students learn.

Jeanie Cole argues that, while computer software has evolved greatly, it can not take the place of teacher lead instruction. She emphasizes the fact that students need the connection that teachers provide. She says that “A teacher satisfies student needs for connections to others, challenges them beyond expectations, promotes high-level and collaborative learning and can adjust to student personalities and learning styles.” She gave a number if examples of how her students have responded best to computer based learning when she has still been interactive. On the whole she feels that computer based learning is a useful tool for tutoring students that struggle but they can not reach the student on all levels.

Questions:
1.) Q: Which side do you agree with the most?

A: I am a little torn on this subject. I think that computers probably could teach the subject matter to students as effectively as teachers but I also agree with Jeanie Cole in that students still need that connection that the teacher brings. Overall I think that teachers still have the upper hand.

2.) Q:What do you think would be the most effective way to use computers as tutors?

A: Computer-based teaching would be most effective, I think, when it is integrated with teacher-based instruction, so that the student can still get all of the benefits of the computer set up and still have the connections through the teacher.

Journal #7: Middle School Classroom Management

The article that I chose was Middle School Classroom Management: Behavior Action Plan by Adam Waxler. This article basically talked about how classroom management is one of the most important and most difficult skills to master, and that it can be an especially daunting task for middle-school teachers. Waxler talks about the fact that many first year teacher let the first few weeks of the school year fool them into thinking that there doesn’t seem to be much of a problem with managing their classroom. Once the students start to feel more comfortable though, they begin to test the teacher boundaries.

Waxler then goes on to give an alternative to the standard reward and punishment management systems, which he says is “only a temporary solution to an ongoing problem. Students who respond to the rewards begin to do their work and behave ONLY if a reward is involved, while at the same time many students who thrive on negative attention actually begin to seek out the punishment.” He suggests the behavior action plan. This is a more “proactive plan” that’s main purpose is to keep the students actively engaged in the lessons. The behavior action plan calls for the students to set up their own plan. They do this by completing three statements: “I am writing this plan because I...”, “This behavior was not appropriate because...” and “To prevent this from happening again, I plan to...”. The students then sign and file their statements. The author feels that this management plan has more long lasting effects because it makes the student acknowledge their actions and then think of ways to correct that behavior.

Questions:
1.) Q: What did you find most interesting or informative about this article?

A: I found this article interesting because I would like to teach middle-school and in my observations I have found that classroom management in middle school classrooms can be an issue. So far I have seen a number of reward systems and I have not really thought that any of them were terribly effective and I am interested in the different types of techniques out there.

2.) Q:How effective do you think the Behavior Action Plan would be?

A: I would have to say that I do not one-hundred percent think that the Behavior Action Plan would be very effective. If the student still does not think that their behavior is in the wrong, filling out the BAP afterwards would not really get the point across. Also, I do not quite understand if this plan is ment to be implemented before the unwanted behavior takes place or afterwards.

Journal #10: Inspiration Tutorials in Atomic Learning

Overall I did not get a whole lot out of the Atomic Learning tutorial, I personally like to get into a program or project first and fiddle around with it. So, looking at the tutorials first was not as helpful to me as opposed to if I had started the Inspiration project and then looked back on the tutorials when I came upon a problem or question. I did find them very well done though and I think that they would be very helpful in explaining specific questions that you might have. One thing that I did like a lot was the fact that it had a step-by-step visual of exactly what the person was explaining.