This week we had the opportunity to
read several articles that discussed technology, education, and how it affects
our students and their learning. The articles that will be discussed are: Article
33: What is technology Education? A
Review of the Official Curriculum by Ryan A. Brown and Joshua W. Brown; Article
34: Plagiarism in the Internet Age by
Rebecca Moore Howard and Laura J. Davies; Article 35: Transforming Education with Technology: A conversation with Karen Cator
by Marge Scherer; and Article 36: Assessing
Middle School Students Knowledge of Conduct and Consequences and their Behavior
Regarding the Use of Social Networking Sites by Kite, Gable, and Filippelli.
This synthesis will analyze each article as it relates to present classrooms
and our students.
In the article, What is Technology Education? It discusses the concept of technology
education, how to approach the concept in the classroom (its curriculum) and
what standards would be sufficient to its goals that need to be met. Technology
education is to produce students with a more conceptual understand of
t4echnology and its place in society, who can thus grasp and evaluative new
bits of technology that they might never have seen before (ITEA, 2000, 4) (Brown
and Brown, 2013, 170). The overall goal of technology education is to obtain
technological literacy. There are several documents that offers definition for
technological literacy but the one I prefer that is the International
Technology Education Associations’ which defines it as the ability to use,
manage, evaluates, and understand technology (ITEA 2006) (Brown and Brown,
2013, pg. 171).
Why should students be taught technology? Understanding technology
and becoming technologically literate are believed to help students achieve a
better understanding of the technological society in which they live, not through
vocational or specific job training. (Seemann 2003; Brown and Brown, 2013, pg.
173) When I was in middle and high school, technology education was in the form
of “computer class”. In this class, that was offered once then twice a week,
taught student how to type, how to use a webcam, the internet, basic
presentations. Students learn visually, cognitively, and kinetically. Computer
class allows students to prepare for a curriculum that no longer requires a typewriter
but information, comprehensions, and being interactive.
In the article, Plagiarism in the Internet Age written by Howard and Davies. It
discussed how students use internet sources improperly and thus at times not
citing at all. Students who cannot summarize are the students most likely to plagiarize
(Howard and Davies, 2013, pg. 175). The article argues that students are given projects
and research activities but are ill equipped (not taught) to properly summarize
and cite sources within their assignments. To help resolve this issue the
article suggests teachers produce lessons and assignments that will teach them how
to summarize, correctly cite, and how to evaluate sources to be found credible.
The best activity that that comes to mind, in my opinion is for students to select
a newspaper article, summarize it, cite the source, and then turn it in with
the article to assess its validity and the comprehension of the activity.
Through this assignment, teachers are able to assess students understanding on
how to summarize and thus evaluate and evolve their methods to increase their
students understanding and the significance at correctly using sources.
The classroom environment changes
from district to district. Today, a district can have smart boards, while
others still have dry erase board. The use of technology in the classroom
enables students to use various means to learn, comprehend, and practice skills
being taught. They will be able to perform sufficiently in today’s society. The
article, Transforming Education with Technology:
A conversation with Karen Cator (the director the Office of Educational
Technology of the United States Department of Education). Scherer conducted an
informative interview on the purpose and methods of using technology with in
the classroom. She suggests that such a classroom should consists of engagement
from both students and teachers, the assignment is relevant to the material and
theme, and that students have their own personal touch as to what and how they
at are being taught. As we transition to a digital learning environment and
each learner has his or her own device; we will be able to facilitate personalization,
participation, interaction and collaboration… (Karen Cator; Scherer, 2013, pg.
178). I found this interview to be informative because it provided background
information as well as reasoning to how change can happen as it pertains to
technology use in education. For example, Cator was asked about professional
development for teachers; her response was “…the technologies we focus on need
to improve teachers opportunity to be successful. If a product requires a chunk
of time for professional development just to know how to use it, then it may
not be well-designed. (Scherer, 2013, 179)
How can we protect our children on
the internet? In Article 36, it discusses the negative uses of the internet
such as cyber bulling, and social networks. The article also discusses a survey
(the Survey of Internet Risk and Behavior) that was conducted to assess students’
knowledge and behavior on the internet. During the survey, five hundred and
eighty-eight students in grades seventh and eighth grade completed as series of
thirty three items. Its results raised questions and assessed that teachers, administrators,
and parents need to do more to protect and inform students on how to handle cyber
bulling and possible dangers. Cyber bulling removes all of the social cues that
are learned through face to face interactions, and the bully and victim are
left with caustic words being exchanged without and other interactions. (Kite,
Gable, Filippelli, 2013, p 181) “…Students of all ages are posting personal
information, conversation threads, blogs, and inappropriate pictures…” (Kite,
Gable, Filippelli, 2013, p 182). But in the age of smart phones, tablets, lab
tops and other smart devices, how to we get through to students? Provide information
and acknowledgement of the consequences for their actions. This can only be
done by teachers and parents. I have been in schools, where these devices were
not being allowed within the classroom, let alone the school. It provides a
distraction from academics and an open opportunity for bullying and social
networking updates. Educating students on the risks they may encounter through
social networking sites is paramount. (Kite, Gable, Filippelli, 2013, p 183).
Technology in education provides
both a positive and negative in terms of educating students, but it is through well-developed
professional developments, education programs, and a comprehensive curriculum
that students will be able to move forward and be prepared for our evolving
society.
References:
Brown, R. A and Joshua W. Brown (2013).
Article 33: What is Technology Education? A Review of the Official Curriculum. In
Annual Editions Educational Psychology
12/13, 170-173.
Moore Howard and Laura J. Davies
(2013). Article 34: Plagiarism in the Internet Age. In Annual Editions Educational Psychology 12/13, 175-177.
Scherer, M (2013) Article 35:
Transforming Education with Technology: A Conversation with Karen Cator. In Annual Editions Educational Psychology
12/13, 178-180.
Kite, S.L., Gable, R. and Lawrence Filippelli
(2013) Article 36: Assessing Middle School Students’ Knowledge of Conduct and
Consequences and Their Behaviors Regarding the Use of Social Networking Sites.
In Annual Editions Educational Psychology 12/13, 181-185.
Further Informational Links:
John Hopkins School of Education The
Center for Technology in Education (CTE) http://education.jhu.edu/research/CTE/
International Society for Technology
in Education https://www.iste.org/
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