Father Technology...I'm always one step BEHIND

We've been talking about social media and its role in the classroom and I was a huge advocate for Twitter. I guess the joke is on me! I swore that Twitter would be bring me closer to my students. HHHAAAA boy was I wrong...we at least for this week I am.

*In my best Sophia from the Golden Girls voice* "Picture it...last night, the night before the first day of the MSA. I forgot to tell my kids good luck so I decided to send a mass email as I always do; hoping that their parents would relay the message. Some students' email addresses are on my distribution list so I knew they would get it too. For a moment, I had a thought to post it to Twitter as well...so I did. Fast forward to today. I ask the kids, "did you get my tweet last night?" A resounding "NOOOOO" is heard throughout the room and possibly down the hall. As they are leaving, a girl looks back at me and laughs. She says, "Ms. Johnson no one really tweets anymore...you should get a 'path'."

As my face drops, I ask, "what is that?" She continues to laugh and says, "look it up".

So yet again, I've been had by Father Technology. Of course, not wanting to appear dumb I look it up. Apparently, a new type of "Facebook/Twitter" app has launched called "Path". It is very similar to both in that you post pictures and status messages for your friends on your list. I'm not really sure how they plan to market this app or make it appeal to current Twitter/Facebook/Tumblr users. I guess we shall see...

Ava-teacher

As I am reading the article "Modes of Interaction in Distance Education" by Terry Anderson, I stumble across the various definitions of "interaction" and what that term could possibly mean in 2012 as it relates to distance education. One thing that stood out to me is this quote, "Formal education is usually accomplished both with and without exclusively human interaction, and it is becoming increasingly difficulty to qualitatively differentiate between the two. Further, I believe that it is impossible to determine with certainty which exact combination of human and non human interaction is necessary for effective instruction with any group of learners..." (Anderson, 2003) 

From this quote I began to wonder when will physical teachers become completely dispensable? Is this where the education system is going? The idea that we can simply replace humans in the equation and eliminate them from some definitions of "interactions" is a bit scary. On one end I can see where humans can be replaced by computer devices and/or software (hence the term non-human) but where is the line drawn? On the grader scale what does this mean for human teachers? 

We all know that pretty soon our lives will look more like Star Wars and Star Trek than we would like. But how soon will physical teachers be replaced with avatars and/or robots in the classroom?

Anderson, T. (2003). Modes of interaction in distance education: Recent developments and research questions. In M.G. Moore & W.G. Anderson (Eds.), Handbook of distance education, (pp. 129-144). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc.

Twitter and My Classroom

I asked that all of my students follow me on Twitter at the beginning of the school year. You would have thought that I asked them to get a job or something heinous that would cause them harm. Parents were outraged that I would dare ask their children to participate in a social media site. Neither did they know, their kids already had accounts.

I was just reflecting on the conference we did in class a couple of weeks ago on using social media in the classroom as I began to coordinate an event for my dance team. It's funny that when parents need you to stay in contact with them on the weekends for frivolous reasons, they don't mind. But when I asked about using Twitter for my class, it was a problem.

I have never been able to understand how as a teaching professional, when I propose things to parents that could help their child it is rebuffed or at times REBUKED! I mean teachers have the same professional credentials as a doctor or lawyer yet we are treated as if we know nothing. I thought that by using Twitter in the classroom that we would be able to open the doors of communications and that my students would see me as a teacher that was accessible...for whatever they needed. Yet, it was seen as just another "gimmick" of sorts by parents. This was after I explained how the tool would be used and why.

I guess my question is why are teachers treated with the same respect as doctors or lawyers? If the doctor were to give a parent advice on how to take care of their body, the parent would accept the advice with no hesitation. Yet, when I provide advice and tips on how my students can become better writers and readers, it's shrugged off as no big deal. I know that tying that conference topic up with my rant may seem far fetched...but it's something that has been bugging me all school year.

When will parents begin to truly see the value you in using social media as an educational tool? Not all teachers will use it incorrectly...if any at all. Also, I'm sure that when Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook that he did not limit its capabilities to JUST being a tool that people used to see if someone was single, in a relationship, or married. He had the forethought to expand upon the basic principles of his idea from the very beginning. I'm sure the same can be said for the creators of Tumblr, Twitter, and other social media outlets.

We are a world that is moving towards a technology take over of sorts, yet we continue to try to shove ancient teaching practices and rituals down our students throats. It's no wonder that students aren't interested in school anymore.

Quality of Online Learning

I find it remarkable that for so long advocates of online education have had to defend their position or ranking if you will in the higher education realm. It baffles me that numerous reports have to be written about the quality of online education and if it is really worth it or if it works. I remember taking a class not long ago where I made the ultimate confession…I had once been ashamed to admit that I earned my undergrad degree from an online university (UMUC). Immediately, I began to get feedback from a few classmates about how they felt the same way. We all agreed that times have changed and that we thought people were beginning to change their mindset when it came to online education.

Nancy Parker’s chapter in the book “The Theory and Practice of Online Learning” provides insight on how people need to come to a happy medium of sorts and begin to really reshape their thinking about the quality of learning that goes on in an online environment. In the chapter she states, “Students and faculty alike need to be more open and to promote capacities to analyze, interrelate, and communicate about facts gleaned from network-based knowledge.” (Parker, 2008)

I could not agree with Parker more. Although this book was published a few years ago, I can still see that many people’s mindsets need to be changed about virtual education.  We all know that the television show “The Jetsons” is no longer going to be “futuristic entertainment” and will more than likely become our reality sooner or later. So if that is indeed the future, why isn’t virtual learning and teaching taken more seriously?

Parker, Nancy. (2008). The Quality Dilemma in Online Education Revisited. Retrieved from

http://www.aupress.ca/books/120146/ebook/13_Anderson_2008-Theory_and_Practice_of_Online_Learning.pdf

Second Life

I think that I have not given Second Life much of a chance. But then again, I was always under the impression that it was just like the Sims game and I was not interested in that. However, I think my students would be. The bad thing is that even I were to roll this out in my classroom, we wouldn't be able to use this tool on a consistent basis or at all. Why? Because we do not have enough computers in the school to facilitate this type of activity.

I wonder how I can: 1) learn more about the second life phenomenon without feeling like a gamer (not a feeling I'm looking for or even like), 2) incorporate this into my classroom, even if it's on a surface level, and 3) convince my non-gamer students that this is worth giving a try???

Hmmm, lots to ponder.

I love the idea of blogging but sometimes I get sidetracked and don't have time to post like I should. I'm hoping that this blog will really help me to digest what I am reading in class. I've taken tons of EDTC classes so some parts of DE and the concepts are not foreign to me. I really hope to learn something new to really cap off my experience in the EDTC program.