Nowadays, technology makes the world spin faster and every day there is something new coming up. In the past, I still remember when I had a school paper, I would research in the old encyclopedias we had, that once belonged to my mother. Finding information was not so easy, almost limited. Today, with internet and google, the world has changed and we have (fast, even instant) access to pretty much everything. Got a question? Ask Google.
People know a lot more today, as knowledge is available as long as you have internet connection. Therefore, teaching has also changed. Teachers have assumed a new role, less of retainers of information and more of facilitators, who will lead and guide students through the learning process.
"When students are using technology as a tool or a support for communicating with others, they are in an active role rather than the passive role of recipient of information transmitted by a teacher, textbook, or broadcast."(1)
That means keeping up - to - date is vital to survive in today`s world. The new generation of students were born with a smartphone on their hands. As educators, we need to be aware of that and accept how valuable technology is in a classroom.
"The myriad resources of the online world also provide each classroom with more interesting, diverse, and current learning materials. The Web connects students to experts in the real world and provides numerous opportunities for expressing understanding through images, sound, and text." (2)
Online books, encyclopedias, E-mails, social network websites, video - sharing websites, blogs, microblogs and so many many other resources available should be integrated with education.
This week I was introduced to a new tool - Diigo. I had never heard of it before but it called my attention because of how simple it is to use and the possibilities it offers in a classroom. I`ve reasearched some lesson plans using this tool and I was totally convinced that it is doable.
I was specially interested in the highlighting tool. Even though I believe techonolgy helps us a lot in learning and having access to information, I also believe that make people still copy and paste information without reading the whole thing. This could a be a task, invite students to share their websites on a specific topic (just like we did in the previous task) and ask them to highlight what called their attention the most.
Using sticky notes is another way to make sure students reflect on what they read (and that they actually read it).
I can imagine and even find online many uses for Diigo in the classroom, however I cannot really imagine 3 year - olds using this tool (yet). The world is changing fast, but with my students I don`t think it is possible to be integrated. We are already using technology in other ways, such as apps from our Ipads, smart board games, videos online, weebly for communicating with parents. We`re preparing students for tomorrow to get to the point to using tools such as Diigo effectively.
Citations from:
1. Change in student and teacher roles - http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/EdReformStudies/EdTech/effectsstudents.html
2. Why inegrate technology into the curriculum? - http://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration-introduction
Images from:
1.https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRDMf4JA22Y3LwPTeoNEfKLyG4q6IFVIkv9wnVfsILzGLirxAFH
2.http://images.tvnz.co.nz/tvnz_images/technology_news/2012/08/child_baby_toddler_computer_laptop technology_generic_2_3_4_N2.jpg
3.http://edudemic.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/diigoLOGO_transparent.png
4. http://image.slidesharecdn.com/quotes-090601015546-phpapp02/95/slide-5-638.jpg?cb=1377529500
I agree that Diigo may be difficult to incorporate into your student curriculum with your three year olds. I do not feel as if I can incorporate it with my students in my current position either. However, we can certainly use Diigo as a tool to manage our knowledge as well as share and collaborate with others.
ReplyDeleteOh boy, I remember the encyclopedias!
Cecilia, I really enjoyed reading your reflections on how teachers are now more facilitators of the discovery of information, rather than the direct providers of it. With all of the technology and information available over the internet, teachers (myself very included) need to do their best to switch the classroom to more discovery and inquiry based learning using these technological tools. However, I think it is very important that students learn reliable sources from the non. We need to teach students Google search skills, how to identify proper resources, and filtering of all non related results while using the web. Diigo also helps guide the students with this, because of the sharing groups and collaborating. It allows them to check one another's sources out and to learn to identify proper sources. Speaking of all resources...great citations list, Cecilia!
ReplyDeleteWell said Cecilia. I can empathize with you in the limitations of a tool like this for 3 year-olds. As both Lexi and Monique said, you will find it very handy as a personal tool for saving and recalling websites. When you tag your pages you can recall them very easily by clicking on the tags! Its awesome! I truly appreciate your perspectives on the changes we are facing in society even if your 3-year olds may not be using Google any time soon.
ReplyDelete