Margaret Nerney
EDU 583- Cohort 1
Chapter 2: Bridging digital and cultural divides
TPCK for equity of access to technology
Due: January 21, 2009
The author’s definition of equity of access is certainly not what I had originally defined it as. I, like most educators, had limited it to the availability of equipment or Internet access. The three levels of access were not something that I had consciously previously considered in regard to technology. In fact, cultural awareness is just something that I try to be aware of all of the time. So it was important for me to see the author’s acknowledge
The lack of specific strategies for dealing with the three levels was a bit frustrating. I envisioned some sort of examples to help clarify the way to be technologically aware of cultural bias. It seemed as though the author’s blamed their lack of examples on it being a “wicked problem”, but a few specific suggestions would certainly have helped my teacher toolbox to expand.
I worry that I am a defensive teacher with my 5th graders. I really limit their own exploration in the lab because they are unable to do the tasks that I assign in a reasonable time frame. The first assignment I had was for them to type their newspaper article and use the computer to create a picture for their column. This simple task took almost three weeks! I was shocked. The next assignment was handled in a more controlled way. I hope that the book deals with strategies for teaching those socio-economically disadvantaged children who don’t come prepared with those basic typing and formatting skills. I felt like an ogre when I read about the “wait for me” aspect of the defensive teacher. I really did that. I wouldn’t let them go on until I checked their work and really took the fun out of the computer work. I will have to pay attention to that as this course goes on. I had always felt like I was a technology savvy teacher, but I had always worked with high school kids who had been taught the skills in middle school. Being the middle school teacher is a WHOLE different ballgame. I do need some new strategies to help equal the playing field.
One of the things that I would like to try, after reading section two, is a parent training session. Since I have been in the district, I have only seen one parent night to address the PowerSchool needs. I know that I get a lot of parent calls or emails due to a lack of navigational skills, so I would really like to try to work with them to improve our communication. I don’t know that it is really an access to equipment issue, so much as an access to the teaching (the 2nd digital divide) necessary to maneuver the program. Even though I post my assignments with the requirements and an explanation, the parents can’t figure out how to get to it. I really want to help parents to help their children. I know that it won’t happen overnight, but maybe getting a conversation around this started at my next team meeting is the first step.
Overall, I really looked at equity through a different lens, and that is always a good thing. This chapter allowed me to be reflective on my practices and to see some of my weaker areas. It is hard to admit that I still have so much to learn, but I think the supplemental texts that I purchased will give me more of those skills and specific strategies that will aid me in those changes.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
TPCK Chapter 1 Reflections
Margaret Nerney
EDU 583- Cohort 1
Chapter 1: Introducing TPCK
Due: January 21, 2009
‘Technology integration’ has been at the forefront of my district’s professional learning goals at least since I was hired in 2004. It is the buzz phrase at all of our professional learning days and an essential agenda item of every faculty meeting. I know that it must be a real problem somewhere, but I have never really seen great resistance in my district. It is never “somebody else’s job.” People seem to be fully aware that we live in a digital age with new and continuously changing demands. What I found interesting is the way that the book suggests the small ways in which faculty limit themselves or the technology by the idea of “functional fixedness.” I think that is the real issue in my world.
We try to categorize the new technology in the same ways that we departmentalize all other tools. We try to identify their function and put them in the right place. The smartboard quickly became the math department’s toy, while the digital video cameras were reserved for the humanities folks. Just as the white board was said to be limited in its use only by teachers, we started limiting or technologies by their use in one department. That is slowly falling by the wayside, but we are still trapped by those subconscious constraints.
My district’s attempt to integrate technology effectively makes me so proud. We have one-to-one laptops 5-12 with a cart of brand new macbooks K-4. Our district sports strong administrative support and a great technology department. At times, I worry that our district’s focus on technology has caused a technology overload. Some assignments and tasks that could be done more efficiently by a more traditional means are forced awkwardly into the digital age in the name of technology integration. That focus on the TPCK model is the struggle in our lives. How do we achieve that balance of content, pedagogy and technology without tipping in the name of integration?
So much of what the chapter mentioned hit home with me, especially the need to integrate technology not as a stagnant content but as a complex skill base. Our school’s focus on literacy needs has also forced the staff to look at the technology literacy, what the authors refer to as technology knowledge, that the students must have to be successful in post-secondary ventures. Each student must learn the ways in which to incorporate these new technologies into their daily lives effectively. Students must become savvy in the interpretation of the vast amounts of knowledge that wash over them on a daily basis through those technological advances. Technology has changed the way the world works. Most everything is connected and available at the click of a button. Ultimately, we are trying to prepare students for a world that hasn’t even been imagined yet.
EDU 583- Cohort 1
Chapter 1: Introducing TPCK
Due: January 21, 2009
‘Technology integration’ has been at the forefront of my district’s professional learning goals at least since I was hired in 2004. It is the buzz phrase at all of our professional learning days and an essential agenda item of every faculty meeting. I know that it must be a real problem somewhere, but I have never really seen great resistance in my district. It is never “somebody else’s job.” People seem to be fully aware that we live in a digital age with new and continuously changing demands. What I found interesting is the way that the book suggests the small ways in which faculty limit themselves or the technology by the idea of “functional fixedness.” I think that is the real issue in my world.
We try to categorize the new technology in the same ways that we departmentalize all other tools. We try to identify their function and put them in the right place. The smartboard quickly became the math department’s toy, while the digital video cameras were reserved for the humanities folks. Just as the white board was said to be limited in its use only by teachers, we started limiting or technologies by their use in one department. That is slowly falling by the wayside, but we are still trapped by those subconscious constraints.
My district’s attempt to integrate technology effectively makes me so proud. We have one-to-one laptops 5-12 with a cart of brand new macbooks K-4. Our district sports strong administrative support and a great technology department. At times, I worry that our district’s focus on technology has caused a technology overload. Some assignments and tasks that could be done more efficiently by a more traditional means are forced awkwardly into the digital age in the name of technology integration. That focus on the TPCK model is the struggle in our lives. How do we achieve that balance of content, pedagogy and technology without tipping in the name of integration?
So much of what the chapter mentioned hit home with me, especially the need to integrate technology not as a stagnant content but as a complex skill base. Our school’s focus on literacy needs has also forced the staff to look at the technology literacy, what the authors refer to as technology knowledge, that the students must have to be successful in post-secondary ventures. Each student must learn the ways in which to incorporate these new technologies into their daily lives effectively. Students must become savvy in the interpretation of the vast amounts of knowledge that wash over them on a daily basis through those technological advances. Technology has changed the way the world works. Most everything is connected and available at the click of a button. Ultimately, we are trying to prepare students for a world that hasn’t even been imagined yet.
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