tech class reflections

My first impression of this article is that this “new” tech filled world likes their lingo.  Techy words that ring and buzz: Crowdsourcing, Democratized, Mashups and other tech-sexy language ring, but do not articulate to me the purpose. I did get the main ideas, however, the language got in the way and, my opinion, tried to impress.

How will this impact my teaching? I guess that I will think more of what can the students offer to direct the class and learning. How can I modify my daily routines to incorporate student’s opinions, class directions and ownership.

I did like the part about before you ask students to perform a task/lesson; do it yourself first. The part of the teacher proclaiming students read more, when they are not avid readers. I do feel that we, as a profession, do not do what we ask enough; “practice your instruments” when I need to get to some practicing myself.

The last week (democratized classrooms) reminded me of the Firefox approach to teaching. I do feel that students can and should have an active role in their learning. The key is defining the “role” and knowing when to employ these approaches.

Lastly, I think these are all great articles and ideas. Have they been tried and tested? Are there models of schools that are “cutting edge?” I don’t wish to come off as “this is great, but…..” however, education is precious and moving to very new ground is sometimes scary. This fear often halts progress. Taking careful, deliberate steps toward a better learning environment is where we should always be heading!

Very interesting article.

The author touches on some very important and sensitive topics; mainly student boredom. We all want to be less boring to our classes and to have these assertions brought to light is enlightening and painful at the same time.

What happened for me, as I read the article, once I read through the boredom section, I took up a conversation with my daughter a senior in HS. We had a lengthy conversation about schools, change within schools, boredom with some classes and why.  More so, we talked at length about what makes a good teacher. Many traits were cited by her including passion, understanding of how to lead people to knowledge and caring for students. We talked about how the author discusses “turning off the outside world and their brains when entering schools.” Her perceptions were interesting and insightful.

Getting back to the article, the four areas you wish comments on:  1) Use of Technology in schools, 2) How do students wish to be taught, 3) Connecting to the outside world, and 4) Understanding where kids are going.

I think that in Yarmouth, we are addressing the 1st topic well. Not in all classes (certainly not as much in mine as in others) but as a school district, we get an A for this topic.

# 2 is a tricky one. I think that it is good to solicit data and bring all learners to “the table”, however, there is a gray area of “power” that can lead to a dissolving of the path of knowledge. I use the parenting model, we can talk to our children (age appropriate) about their input on a given issue/subject; however, at the end of the day we are the parents and have the parental responsibility. Not to sound pompous, educators are educated.

#3 Connecting to the world at large. I feel as though we have been doing this all along; sometimes better than others. The rules have changed and so the approach has to change.

#4 Understanding where kids are going-into the future. How does one accurately predict the skill set needed for the future; by looking in the past and gaining perspective. This IS the only way to position yourself and your teaching so that your students are gaining valuable skills for the future world. I think the phrase: “evolution, not revolution” applied here.

This video left feeling two ways: 1) The tools that we will need and use in the future are becoming more varied and 2) These tools should be used when needed and not abused.

The video covered the concepts that (I feel) would have been used to educate graphic designers in past years.

It was set up in two sections: 1) chatting with three different experts in this field and 2) Covering five techniques that will improve your work when designing technology presentations and class work.

The three interviews were helpful in the global aspects of design. From designing your classroom space to the use of computers, it brought to light some good points for consideration.  The one criticism I have: of all the touting of planning and directions that should be thought through, the audio interviews were poorly recorded.”  I am assuming that these were recording of web interviews, however, the experts were offering great ideas and the audio was fair at best. Not good planning or design in my book.

The author of the presentation returned for the latter half to bring forth five areas of design that matters: Planning, Imagery, White space; more is less, Innovation and Creating constraints. All of these had great points, except the innovation section. Here, I disagree. He thought the use of templates should not happen.  If you are working on getting idea’s out, not learning design techniques and tools, then templates can and should work. using your time to bring forth the information, rather than learning the ins and outs of a program, would be a design tool for your class time. In short, focus on the learning; not the technique of the tools being used.

All in all it was a good “watch” and gae me some ideas (changing the set up of the classroom for your purpose) to think about.

I looked at a few of the “50″ programs from the list.  While looking at these, which are all very cool in their way, I tried to think of how using these could positively impact my teaching and, more so, my students learning.

Looking at the photo album programs that had audio or pop up windows for captions, I found that this would be a nice add on to my web presence. However, I do not think that I will be taking photo’s of concerts, writing captions and then posting them. I may change my mind as I become more familiar with these tools and find the right one for the right application for my program.

Having my program much more “audio” based, led me to think of a way I could post a power point or video aiding students on the selection process when choosing an instrument. Further more, I wanted to make this something that students and parents could access remotely, especially when a new student comes into the program after the start of the beginner lessons.

With this in mind, I decided to 1) create a power point addressing this topic; 2) find a way to convert it to a  QT movie (slideshare.net or slideroll.com) and then 3) post to my web site in a way that can be streamed by users.

I have spent work on this project and am now adding the audio voice over.  I will need assistance on the conversion and posting; which I will seek on the 16th meeting time (if there is time).

I plan to create (through my web site) audio links to publisher mp3 files. This will be used when demonstrating professional sound clips for student use. In addition, I plan to make use of RSS (covered tomorrow) to create RSS’s that parents can subscribe to of classroom rehearsal recordings as well as concert recordings. I may also find use of blogs for my band students to comment on these recordings (still thinking this one through).

To update/clean up my web site. Currently, My site has many things placed in it without much organization. By streamlining where things reside and how the site flows, I will be able to have a much “easier to use” web site!

In thinking through this new tool for me, I can see this used with students and parents alike. With Students, I can post:

• Questions about a piece we are playing
• Ask for comments on a class recording (rehearsal recording)
• Ask parents for feedback on the program, concert reviews, general questions

This may be a new, unique way to gather information fast and easy!

This is the first day of tech class and I am learning about how to create and use a blog.  I will link these blogs to my web page as I update and improve my web presence.

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