Teaching Technology Outside the Computer Lab

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Teaching Technology Outside the Computer Lab
Robert Horgan Bridges to Learning
Conference May 9, 2009 Mississauga, ON
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About Me

• Doctoral studies in education at Queens
  University
• M. Ed. Technology in Education from Lesley
  University
• B. Ed. Queens University
• Varied teaching experience from K to
  Post-Secondary
• Two years teaching third grade in Las Vegas
• Five years experience at Sheridan College

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My Interests

• Support the use of information and communications
  technology (ICT) in the classroom
• Better prepare teachers to integrate ICT in
  teaching and learning
• Research models of preparing preservice teachers
  to value educational technology and how to
  develop skills to become lifelong learners of ICT

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About You

• Who are you and why
• are you here?

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Agenda

• Framework for teaching technology outside the
  computer lab
• Digital Literacy and Technology
• Logic Reasoning and Technology

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Traditional Ways of Teaching

• Teacher is holder of knowledge
• Teacher uses chalkboard to introduce material
• Students learn at the pace of the teacher
• Teacher assigns questions 1-12, 16-21 from the
  text
• Students submit answers for grading
• If g gt 50, student moves up a grade

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What Are We Really Teaching

• Dependency
• The teacher is the expert
• If a teacher is not an expert in technology,
  students will not be able to maximize their
  learning
• Shift to
• Interdependency
• Teacher is the facilitator
• Students share their learning with the rest of
  the class including the teacher

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Unfortunate Trends inTeaching Technology

• Teacher knows very little about technology but
  tries to mask this from the students by
  encouraging students to play menial games
• Teacher uses PowerPoint like a chalkboard
• Students learn at the pace of the teacher
• Teacher assigns questions 1-12, 16-21 from the
  text
• Students submit answers for grading
• If g gt 50, student moves up a grade

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Unfortunate Misconception of Students Today

• Grown up Digital
• Don Tapscott

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Grown Up Digital

• Students know
• How to use to computers
• How to conduct research on the web
• How to learn new software
• How to discern
• How to problem solve

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Problems in the Computer Lab

• What are some of the challenges of teaching in
  the computer lab?

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Bottom Line

• In the computer lab
• Students become producers of knowledge IF they
  are digitally literate and can think critically
• Students need to be taught skills in digital
  literacy and logic and reasoning to become
  effective users of technology

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Digital Literacy

• The basics
• Vocabulary
• Reading
• Writing

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About Books

• Before we learn to read, we learn about books
• This is
• The spine
• How to hold a book
• The front cover
• The title page
• The verso page (publisher, author, illustrator

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About Computers

• What is important for students
• to know about computers?

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Vocabulary

• Which vocabulary words are essential to working
  efficiently in the computer lab?

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Vocabulary Words
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Reading

• Books vs. online sources
• Researching online sources
• Decoding online text
• Evaluating online source material
• Organizing information
• (Martin Madigan, 2006)

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Books vs. Online Sources

• With respect to print and video materials
• Libraries search for and order appropriate
  material
• Schools select books and learning materials
• Parents search for and purchase books and movies
• With respect to online sources
• Who is screening online material for our students?

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Researching Online

• What procedures should be taught to students how
  to research materials online
• Safe Search is On!
• Filtering
• Big Brother is watching

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Decoding

• How effective are reading strategies for print
  when used for reading online materials
• Web Sites
• PDF documents
• Word documents
• Online dictionaries
• Text to speech resources

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Evaluating Online Source Material

• What do students need to be taught in order to
  evaluate and discern online source material?

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Organizing Information

• How should students organize information they
  find online?
• Copy/Paste into Word document
• Saving Word documents
• Save web pages as HTML
• Bookmark/Add to Favorites
• Delicious.com

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Writing Online

• Beyond target audience,
• Beyond purpose in writing,
• Beyond content,
• What type of technology are you writing for?
• Email, blog, web site, txt msg, PDF, script for
  video

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Logic Reasoning

• Two ways of teaching logic reasoning
• Think Harder!
• Or
• Teach thinking strategies
• Modeling, scaffolding,

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Logic Reasoning

• What is technology?
• Why do we use it?
• How do we learn it?
• Where can we use it?
• Who uses technology?
• When should we use technology?

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What is Technology?

• General definitions
• Low tech, high tech
• Information and communications technology (ICT)
• Assistive technology
• Adaptive technology
• Extension of human activity to improve our
  lifestyle

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Why Use Technology?

• Automation
• Access to Information
• Collaboration
• Publication
• Distribution

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Before Going to the Computer Lab

• What are you going to do in the computer lab?
  Why?

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How Can I Learn About Technology?

• Workshops
• Course
• Trial and Error
• YouTube
• Learning Communities

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Learning New Technologies

• How many software programs have you ever used?
• How did you learn them?

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Learning About Technology

• Case in point
• Using videos to teach MS PhotoStory
• http//educ.queensu.ca/course/prof150-155/social/s
  tory/index.shtml

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How Can We Use Technology?

• Legal Limitations
• Sexting
• Harassment bullying
• Source http//www.youtube.com/watch?vlB-lsMkiGok
  eurlhttp3A2F2Fwww.mahalo.com2FSextingfeatur
  eplayer_embedded

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Where Can We Use Technology

• Social Limitations
• Physical presence of technology
• Use of technology in social situations
• Physical Limitations
• Memory and storage capacity
• Network accessibility
• Access to a power source

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Who Uses Technology?

• Find a career occupation that does not use any
  form of technology.

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When Should We Use Technology?

• Efficiency and productivity
• Target audience
• Personal preference

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Stages of Knowing
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Logic Reasoning inResearch and Data Collection

• Who wrote this article?
• What is this article really about?
• Where in the world does this information come
  from?
• Why is this information posted on the Internet?
• When was this article written?
• How credible is this information?

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Critical Thinking in Action

• Case in point
• www.google.com
• Use the search string Martin Luther King
• Select www.martinlutherking.org

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Critical Thinking Skills

• What common problems do your students face and
  what type of logic reasoning do they need to
  solve those problems?

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References

• Martin, A. Madigan, D. (2006). Digital
  Literacies for Learning. (Eds.), London Facet.