IWB - the use/lack thereof

Interactive whiteboards (IWB) a technological present sent from the future. A board with endless opportunities. It can be used as a computer screen, projector backdrop, a way of bringing the literature to the children, enabling to become engaged with the literature as by using your finger you can write on the IWB, can watch videos, and create games such crosswords without killing trees in order to let the children have some fun.

However, as awesome as these IWB are, they do not come to their right within our faculty at the moment. It’s no one’s fault. Lecturers are just starting, or by now have got the hang of using PowerPoint to help their presentations and some have even started using YouTube clips, which is pretty nice! Unfortunately these IWB are expensive, the University and the nice institution that is, provided the whole building with one, an IWB in each classroom. To my knowledge I am sure this was to improve education, unfortunately in some cases it has set us back. How can new and improved technology set you back you may ask? Easily when it is not understood, a perfect example of this was one incident last semester when I entered a class and someone (anonymous) wrote on one of these IWB with a permanent marker. This was just sad…

But we are provided with this technology, why don’t we embrace it? I have watched “glaskas” these past few months, and I can honestly say that one girl – colleague used the writing function of the IWB. No other person has to date, including myself used the IWB’s interactive functions. Personally it’s more a case of I don’t know how to use the IWB to my advantage. Hopefully during the two session provided for us on IWB usage we will start to embrace this new and daunting technology provided to us.

As a lecture pointed out today, when he started teaching they did not even knew what computers was. For him not using PowerPoint and the IWB effectively is close to a sin. Do we not see the endless opportunities? If so, why aren’t we embracing them.  

5

invisible...

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unseen

combining actual class with the virtual class

Teaching and especially in most South African schools have be or still are teacher centered, where information is provided to the learner and you learn! Using social media in conjunction to this challenges the known, the way in which it has been done. Challenging this status quo can prove daunting and even fatal if  adopted in the wrong manner.

Social media can be used to cause harm, the challenge lies in not only introducing the use thereof into the way I teach but also to teach the learners how to use the social media "correctly". With " correctly " I am implying for educational purposes. Students already know about most forms of social media and the use thereof but not for educational purposes. I would start by introducing Twitter questions, after the class or while doing homework students should experiment with asking questions through a hashtag, such as #askEcos. When viewing these questions, students can reply to one another and answer questions, but it also gives me as the teacher an idea of what they understand and where we have to focus on again.

The remind I will definitely setup with my class once an official teach at a school, only because I will know I will be dealing with these learners for atleast a year. Looking back at my own school days and even vasity experience sometimes information gets lost or forgotten, remind will be used to fill these gaps. Reminding students of assignments, extra encouragement through exams and just general school information.

I look forward to implementing and discovering these forms of social media with my learners.

Digital Pedagogy take 2

These articles help me understand digital pedagogy and what it is about. People trying to put it into different boxes, but it cannot be placed in a box. These articles also gave me new found hope. Because of all the information and podcasts available online, the question arose whether teachers would soon be needed at all?  The traditional is a teacher forcing information into learners/students. Not about if the student may be interested or not, not if they understand the concept, no this information to you, can you give to the next person or provide an answer in the exam.

These articles point out two very important points to me; teaching is not about you as a teacher and secondly teachers have a future.

Teaching is not about how much information a teacher can cram into a student’s brain, nor is the best teacher necessarily the best teacher.  Teaching and as I understood from these articles is creating an optimal learning environment and facilitating the learning process. Students should be able to learn through understanding and not just because teacher said so. A teacher should not aim to get the highest grades at her school, having the most distinctions, if this happens to be a reward for a method of teaching through understanding great. As a teacher you passed matric, had your chance, now be there to help and encourage these learners, teach them that learning never stops.

Today there is so much information freely available, so people start to question the need for teachers and having to pay salaries if the information is free. Teachers are guides, a helping hand, mentor, the only constant in some peoples’ lives and are there because they want to be. Yes, children can be given information and told to study it, watch podcasts from all over the world and read forevermore, but does receiving all this knowledge mean that they understand it? Teachers are there to facilitate the learning, help learns discover new things, search for more, to be intrigued by the unknown and to value knowledge. This sounds pretty easy, so can anyone do it? No. Being a teacher is professional job entailing much patience and care, it’s not especially in South Africa one of the most highly regarded professions and that is sad.

If you are reading and comprehending this message above, thank a teacher.

one method of teaching only?

“The more things change the more they stay the same” – Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr

As teachers in a modern era we strive to be in the “know” about the newest technology and how and where we can use it to help the learners learn. The irony is the way in which learners learn has remained the same through the ages, triggering their sense of curiosity and learning through research. The task of teachers becomes increasing difficult as we are not to over use technology to such an extent to bore children, the opposite using it to retain interest and attention. The prescribed article suggests two methods of a mixture of technology and physical teaching, they are discussed below.

A new method of teaching can be through use of a “flipped classroom”, where students are provided with all the literature for the subject, they are to grow through before class and ensure that class is a time of questions and debate. Personally this is a debatable method, in personal experience just in the last two days, two lecturers referred to the information provided and the homework given (reading), however in the same breath they said that they know we did not pre-read and therefore will just continue. If this is the response from students at a tertiary level, how can it be expected of learners on secondary level to master this technique and come to class fully prepared?

The term “naked teaching” as suggested by José Bowen, implies removing technology from the classroom such as computers and projectors. Bowen suggests podcasts and online discussion groups as supplementary literature to the lecture. From a South African perspective one has to keep in mind the vast inequality and cultural differences that exist. The availability of computers and internet greatly determines the success of the suggested supplementary tools, which will influence the success of the learner, or potential to achieve.

There seems to not be one, 100% correct way in which to teach, rather the emphasis on a mixture of ways. Using technology, showing videos, having a class debate on twitter, a life orientation project through Instagram and many more ways to still involving technology although not making it the main medium of teaching.

David Parry is bold to say that "teaching” without digital technology is an irresponsible pedagogy".