Ch. 10 Reflection: Design and Management of Learning Environments

It is entertaining to imagine the possibilities for the use of Google Earth in an educational setting. Opportunities such as virtual field trips, preparation for field trips, geography lesson, earth science lessons, and even social studies lessons. I played around a bit and “went” to Yosemite and Yellowstone National Parks. What an interesting way to see the world—especially if you are a student from a family that would not likely have the opportunity to travel to these places.
Houghton says, “Team teaching between classrooms with partners or in much larger groups has only recently become a possibility, and few have explored it. For a profession that has historically closed the door and taught alone for a lifetime, this has immense rich implications for sharing teacher workload, enhancing professional development and even addressing the hot topic of teacher retention.” I think this is a very exciting time to be an educator for this precise reason. Never before have wee been able to share the resource of actual instruction in such a way. I am excited to be a part of this generation of teachers who are continuously breaking technological boundaries and expanding the capabilities of our classrooms.
At the middle school where I have worked there has been a big push for integrating tech into all of the subject areas. Trainings have been given on how to use the tech available in the building in each content area and how to collaborate with the tech director for lesson planning and our own technology education. Teachers still seem resistant because it is “one more thing,” and they say “just let us teach”—but it is important for kids to gain these computer literacy skills and to understand that tech use does not exist in a vacuum, that it can be applied to all elements of their lives, each type of subject they are studying and many settings. It is each teacher’s responsibility along the way to ensure exposure to a variety of technologies for their students.
I wonder about the laptop initiatives in Peru and Nigeria. I can’t help but wonder if their teachers have the training to use the tech in class. And, what it will mean to train the teachers to be abet to best teach the students using the laptops. Also, what does it do socially when a kid can use a laptop at school then returns home to a house that might not even have power or potable water to access? What kinds of generational and social divides might be created by this situation? Might it mean that more people might move away from small home towns and villages to continue to seek advanced technological training? It is hard to predict the impact of increased access to technology, but I am sure there are folks out there ready to study what will happen when these communities suddenly have the world at their fingers in a way that was unthinkable not many years ago.
The list of information management systems available to the education field is impressive. I was present at a school as the staff was switching from one system to another—it was fascinating to hear the complaints and praises. They would say, “The new system is so much better at this,” and, “I wish it would do that like the other program.” It is clearly impossible to please them all, all of the time. However, I think it s good that school systems continue to search for the information management system that best serves the needs of its students, teachers, and administrators. Each has its own personality and the right match might take a few tries to find.
BigDog robot is amazing! Considering that there are robots that have been developed out there to do things like surgery on the human body and complex assembly of machinery, I suppose it is no wonder that there is now a robot that can move along terrain of all sorts with the easy of a large, healthy animal. I can just imagine showing the Boston Dynamics clip to a room full of 7th graders and inspiring in some of them the innovation and creativity for the next amazing feat in robotics. I love when BigDog slips on the ice and regains balance without falling! It is remarkable!!
Reviewing the Computer Literacy Competencies makes me think of the integration of comp literacy into the content areas and how teachers can be sure they are doing enough of this to enhance and build the computer literacy skills of our students. Also, with looking at these competencies specific to learning environment I wonder how to best create an environment that encourages inquiry. I suppose many straight rows of students facing the teacher lecturing at the front of the room would not accomplish this. I also would assume small groupings of students makes the most sense and encourages opportunities for other models like cooperative learning.