Week 7 -Further Discussion

A few more questions for this week, I'm afraid.

On pages 26 and 27, Ertmer tells us that low-level technology usage in classrooms is usually teacher-centric, while higher-level usage is more student-centered. Ertmer floats the hypothesis that low-level usage eventually leads to high-level usage and that teachers will learn to use the technology bettering “five or six years,” but then says that particular hypothesis lacks backing from “empirical research.” Does low-level usage lead to higher-level usage, or is there some “x” factor we’re just not seeing?

In the “Implications for Research” section on pages 35 and 36, Ertmer gives a laundry list of questions that could lead to further studies, but I was struck by the only question on page 35: “How and when are teachers’ pedagogical beliefs formed?” Consider this question and think about your own beliefs, specifically with regards to technology.

Week 7 Discussion

On page 31, in the last paragraph, Ertmer mentions that "some beliefs about the nature of teaching are formed over many years of experiences as a student and are resistant to change because they have been supported by strong authority and broad consensus." Do you think technology is a strong enough reason to change how we have been taught to teach? Do you think we need to change how we teach?

On page 36, Ertmer says, "While the foundations for successful technology integration finally appear to be in place, high-level technology use is still surprisingly low, suggesting that additional barriers, specifically related to teachers' pedagogical beliefs, may be at work." Do you think as a new "generation of teachers" our pedagogical beliefs are different from veteran teacher or similar? Why or why not?

Week 6 Discussion

1. One of the major concerns several of us have voiced in class regarding integrating technology into lessons has been how it does or doesn’t play into the always prevalent role of high-stakes testing. On page 240, Hew and Brush offer an example for implementing technology into lessons while still considering state standards. The teachers at Newsome Elementary School let the students choose which SOL’s (Standards of Learning) they wanted to address the most, and the teachers brainstormed project-based learning activities that utilized technology in order to meet these state standards. What do you think of this implementation of technology? Do you think this is an effective way to use technology to meet assessment standards? Why or why not?

2. In Table 2 on page 240, Hew and Brush link the first-order and second-order barriers to strategies they present in their article. Which barriers listed in this table do you think are the most pressing—the first-order or the second-order barriers? In other words, which barriers do you think weigh as the heaviest burdens on teachers who are being asked to implement technology into their lessons? Why?

Week 5 Discussion

1. Kozma article (p. 10): Do you agree with Kozma that “students frequently have difficulty drawing on the knowledge that they have of situations in the real world. The knowledge of solution strategies that they acquire in school is frequently stored in ways that are not evoked by problem situations that they encounter outside of school.” ?

2. Kozma article (p. 11): Kozma gives two examples of how incorporating real world experience-type technologies into the classroom (ThinkerTools, Jasper Woodbury Series) help students better understand the material that they are learning. Students are always asking, “when will I ever use this in real life?” Within your chosen field, how could you incorporate more real world experience-type technologies into your classroom?

3. Kozma article (p. 16 ): Kozma makes the statement that, “Media must be designed to give us powerful new methods [of teaching], and our methods must take appropriate advantages of a medium’s capabilities.” So how do you choose the appropriate medium for a particular lesson? When is an audio clip better than a video clip? Why use a PowerPoint presentation when you can lecture? How do you make the best choices for your students’ learning when it comes to the use of technology?

4. Clark article (p. 22 ): Clark states that he believes that, “media is a mere vehicle that delivers instruction but does not influence student achievement any more than the truck that delivers our groceries causes change in our nutrition.” Do you agree with Clark or do you think a form of media can influence student achievement?

5. Clark article (p. 23 ): Clark claims that, “media not only fails to influence learning, it also is not directly responsible to motivating learning.” If this is the case, why have anything but lecture in a classroom?

6. Both articles: I noticed that all of the studies in the articles are extremely old. The most recent study in both articles was from the early 1990s, the oldest being conducted during the 1960s. Do you believe technological media’s influence or non-influence has changed since these studies were conducted? Do you think we would find similar or different results due to the fact that students today are more aware and involved with technology than the students ad instructors of when the studies were made?

Week 4 Discussion

1. After reading both articles for this week, what are your opinions on their findings? Do you agree/disagree with their assumptions about teachers and technology? Why or why not?

2. Cuban, Kirkpatrick, and Peck discuss two possible explanations for the results they found: the "slow revolution" explanation and the context explanation (pp. 825-829). Do you agree with either explanation? Why or why not?

3. There were some teachers that wanted to change the school schedule of 6 periods of 55 minutes and some did not want to change the schedule. Why would teachers not want to change to a block schedule? Which do you prefer?

4. Russell, et. al discuss the need to change teachers' perceptions about the effects technology can have as well as the need to show teachers how to incorporate technology. We have already talked about this in class, but when do you think this should be done? How do you think it should be done?

5. What are some ways a teacher can use technology in the classroom? What do you define as USE OF Technology in the classroom? Is it enough for a teacher to prepare a lesson using technology or the actual use of it?

6. Can you explain why new teachers and teachers that have taught more than 15 years share the same teacher centered approach compared to the student-centered approach of teachers with 6-15 years of experience?