On Digital Learning Day Remember Your Values
I discovered this article while reviewing the Working Smarter Daily – http://www.workingsmarterdaily.com/, an on going collection of learning articles from thought leaders in the learning field, managed by the +Internet Time Alliance. Thanks to +Marcia Conner for listing it – thanks to Lego for the #serendipity .
Interestingly, the post only has one tweet, which surprises me as it's a very well written article on a topic that although somewhat controversial, is nonetheless topical, or should be. Perhaps it's just not what people want to read about, perhaps it's to close to home?
One of the question asked by the interviewer stood out:
So I don't need to throw away my iPhone?
Absolutely not! It's a precious technology, when used in accordance with your social, professional, and personal values.
This reminds me back to the time when I also spent a serious amount of time researching the possible negative effects of technology if not managed well.
I like the emphasis in the reply above about values and it would normally lead me into a much longer post, however I think I've captured most of what I'd want to repeat in the links below. Just to add – it's very important for parents to support their children responsibly with technology. If as an adult you are struggling then I suggest forming/joining communities of practice to support one another. It's not a shame game, it's about understanding behaviour, groups help; kids know more, ask them, engage them, engage everyone!
Final word – bear in mind that if you are not able to help yourself you'll find it hard to help your children; behaviour is mimicked – repeatedly telling your kids one thing and continuing a different action yourself is counter-productive and will most likely result in a 'against' reaction over time.
Have a great Digital Learning Day perhaps also use it as a day to focus on what's really important, the person learning, not the tools they're doing it with. #dlday
More on the topic…
http://simbeckhampson.com/2010/05/24/on-my-soapbox-facebookosis-twitteritis-oh-thats-funny-or-thats-no-laughing-matter/
http://simbeckhampson.com/2010/06/07/regaining-perspective-in-our-cluttered-minds/
Category: Addiction
http://simbeckhampson.com/category/cognitive-science/addiction/
#learning #addiction #technology #communities
Embedded Link
“Alone Together”: An MIT Professor’s New Book Urges Us to Unplug
Sherry Turkle, has been an ethnographer of our technological world for three decades, hosted all the while at one of its epicenters: MIT.
Google+: Reshared 2 times
Google+: View post on Google+
Google Demo Slam – What's that? Take a look
#google #technology #design
Reshared post from +Eve Windmüller
Google Demo Slam – where amazing tech demonstrations battle for your enjoyment"… Technology rocks! Especially when it's available to the world and doesn't cost a thing. But learning about it? That's not so great.
What the world really needs is a few brave souls willing to tech demo like no one has dared demo before, so everyone can benefit from this stuff.
That's Demo Slam. A stage where charisma, creativity and maybe even a dash of courage can finally make demos gotta-show-your-friends awesome. Anyone can slam. …" www.demoslam.com
#iicsearch #techdemonstrations #technology
Google+: View post on Google+
Let the workflow and people determine the technology, not the other way around. #web20 #strategy #learning
Snipped a few gems from this article… resonates!
Listening to the past… Postman (1998) Huxley (1959) < New Post
Last night I watched Neil Postman’s speech, a series of seven YouTube videos. In total it lasted over an hour. It was most interesting listening to him slice and dice media and technology but one section particularly caught my attention. Using Splicd, I snipped a section on the video where Mr Postman saw no evidence how technology would have any part to play in the classroom…
Extract from: #Technology and #Society by Neil Postman (1998)
During his entire talk he focused on six key questions relating to technology, which I’ve transcribed. I find it an interesting set of questions that could be used as a road map and even be applied today by #developers.
1) What is the problem to which this technology is a solution?
2) Who’s problem is it? Who will benefit from it and who will pay for it.
3) What new problems may be created because we have solved the problem?
4) Which people and what institutions might be most seriously harmed by a technological solution?
5) What changes in language are being inforced by new technologies and what is being gained and lost by such changes?
6) What sort of people and institutions aquire special economic and political power because of technological change?
Shortly after watching these videos, I also watched a three part, 30 minute interview with Aldous Huxley, he was interviewed by Mike Wallace in 1959. Referring to technology and power Huxley answers…
“…these are all instruments for attaining power… it’s extremely important not to let any one man or any one small group have too much power or for too long a time…”
I’ve clipped that section below and I was watching it I began to think of the recent overwhelming success of Facebook, and Google for that matter, and whether or not Huxley was indeed referring to exactly this type of instrument.
It’s all left me wondering what lessons are to be taken away from this… thoughts?
A Vision of K12 Students Today ~ B Nesbitt (Video) – ht @ColinSteed #education #edchat #lrnchat
Inspiring video.
IBM RFID Commercial – The Future Market < Beyond QR Codes…
The future looks chipped. What do you think?
QR Codes and how we’re using them < hat-tip @CraigTaylor74 ;)
What faculty behaviours bother students the most? The top 10… < ht @busynessgirl #teacher #education
1. Does not know how to use #technology in the #classroom / technology does not work
2. Speech / #Communication Issues: accents, mumbles, too quiet, monotone, um, like, brilliant but not #connecting
3. Deviating from topic
4. Goes over class time
5. Consistently late
6. Takes class too seriously…my class is the most important
7. Gets lost during lecture
8. Not enthusiastic
9. Talks to only one person/teacher’s pet issues
10. Does not notice when class does not understand
busynessgirl
busynessgirl
RT @facultyfocus: What faculty behaviors bother students the most? Not knowing how to use the tech. http://bit.ly/aT5DQF @LIFT_Institute
Future of Screen Technology (video) < ht @roninchef
Surprised how close we are to this already! Can’t see this taking another four years…
This is the result of TAT’s Open Innovation experiment. It is an experience video showing the future of screen technology with stretchable screens, transparent screens and e-ink displays, to name a few.
The Threat of New Technology via @BarrySampson #lrnchat
Nice share Barry… interesting stuff!
Get Uncomfortable! by Roderick Silva (From Ning to Amplify)
Love this! It’s just reminded me to try new things that make me uncomfortable!
“Stretch yourself. Start learning new things. Be honest with youself. Ask yourself what it is that you can learn to make your job easier.” < Inspired me!
Get Uncomfortable!
I know there is no advantage to brushing your teeth with a different hand so it only makes sense to doing things the easier way. What about in our professional lives? We all know that technology has found ways to make our everyday tasks easier. It may not be the answer to everything but it is the answer to many things. So, why is it that we work with people that never change? We all know people that are using antiquated systems to get things done. Why? Because they are comfortable doing things the old way.
Stretch yourself. Start learning new things. Be honest with youself. Ask yourself what it is that you can learn to make your job easier. Do it the new way. While you are doing it you’ll notice that you are paying closer attention to what you are doing. When it starts to get tough resist going back to the old comfortable way. So, go get uncomfortable!
Are you Guiding or Governing? by @scottgould < my reply…
In reply to Scott Gould’s post > Are you Guiding or Governing?…
Using the analogy of children’s playground, the organisation has the responsibility to purchase the required equipment, ensuring from a range of attractions that they best meet the desired learning outcomes. Once purchased, the attractions are deployed, tested and then the fun can begin. With the official opening of the playground the children are all excited, they can’t wait to play with the new shiny tools. At the official opening parents, teachers and officials watch as the children are allowed into their new world.
Here’s comes the notice… we don’t need to tell the children HOW to play, they know how to do that; just imagine being told how to play… uurhh! – that’s no fun! And, no fun = no motivation = no success. We know how quickly children become bored when they are only instruced and governered, so don’t go there.
What we do need to do is ensure that they are safe especially around those attractions that are beyond their capabilities. We as parents, educators etc, need to be there when the children need us. We should have solutions (or know where to find them) to their problems as they arrive and we need to remind them about the rules when conflicts arrive. We should only join in their celebration and fun when invited to do so by the children.
Governance
- Create the environment for learning.
- Give permission for the environment to be used.
- Maintain the environment.
Guidance
- Be available to provide support 24/7
- Let creativity develop organically (including mistakes)
- Give 100% trust those in the environment
Less is More…
The children have enjoyed playing in the playground and all is going well. Two weeks after the opening another playground is opened nearby. The children of course want to see that too and for the first time choice occurs; should I play in PG1 or PG2 today?
Six months later fifteen playgrounds now exist within easy reach of the children. Where to meet, with whom and when is now a complex challenge for the children and those supporting the environment. Governence is required in the form of strategy to ensure the new complexities of the duplicated environment can be managed.
In essence it’s a balancing act; a process that should be continually monitored, adapted and re-applied with the core focus always on the learning outcomes of those in the environment with relation to the organisations overall goals.
Complex environments looking to encourage creativity need a certain amount of… “No thought, no reflection, no analysis, no cultivation, no intention; let it settle itself. ~ Tilopa.” Finding the balance and learning how to maintain it is the new role for management.
We stand at the advent of social learning and I’m very excited about the possibilities.
The Government’s Official Plan For Education Technology HT @casillia
“Technology will help us execute collaborative teaching strategies combined with professional learning that better prepare and enhance educators’ competencies and expertise over the course of their careers.”
Sounds great… hope the reality matches.
The Government’s Official Plan For Education Technology
The Department of Education has recently unveiled their proposal for the education system in the U.S. It’s chock full of great reasons to be at least a little hopeful about the future of the education system. Here’s a glimpse at just a few of what the DOE is promising:
Just as technology is at the core of virtually every aspect of our daily lives and work, we must leverage it to provide engaging and powerful learning experiences, content, and resources and assessments that measure student achievement in more complete, authentic, and meaningful ways.
Click here to download the full PDF of the Dept. of Education’s plan.
Reasons For Bringing Technology Into Schools
Some interesting points…
Reasons
For
Bringing
Technology
Into
Schools
Support
Thinking
Processes
Many teachers at case study schools cited a belief that computer-based technologies could provide support for thinking processes.
Stimulate
Motivation and
Self-Esteem
A second frequently cited rationale for introducing technology was to stimulate motivation and self-esteem. Through either personal experience or a review of the literature, many innovators perceived the dramatic effects that technology can have on students’ interest in class activities and their sense of their own capabilities.
Promote
Equity
In the case of several schools serving students from low-income homes, technology innovators stressed the importance of giving these students the technology tools that would equip them to compete with children coming from more affluent homes where technology is commonplace.
Prepare
Students for the
Future
I don’t care what field they’re in, be it factory worker, office worker, medicine or whatever. [There is no place where technology will not be used.] It’s getting harder and harder to get jobs. You want your kids to get a leg up. It’s becoming a necessary ingredient.
- Middle school principal
Support
Changes in
School
Structure
Researchers have argued that technology has the potential to dramatically change the way in which our schools are structured–providing pressure to do away with the division of instructional time into small blocks and discrete disciplines and to rethink the way we use physical classrooms and teaching resources (Collins, 1990; Newman, 1990). A number of our sites reported consciously deciding to use technology in order to support changes in school structure. Several district administrators expected technology to free up teacher time by taking over or supporting administrative and routine teaching tasks. The administrators setting up ShareNet expected it to lower boundaries between schools, districts, and even states.
Explore
Technology
Capabilities
Finally, in several cases, there were individuals who were simply intrigued by new technologies and wanted to explore what they could do. Not surprisingly, the desire to explore technology capabilities was most likely to be a factor in cases where there was an external partner involved in the design, manufacture, or selling of technology products. Although we felt that technology push was one motivation for some implementations, in no case was it the sole motivation.
Technology in schools: Is the clock being turned back? < What IS the UK Govt’s position on ICT in Schools?
A long, but interesting article. I clipped the section regarding balance as it fits in with what I was talking about earlier on this post… Blended Schools – http://bit.ly/dc8ewV
Technology in schools: Is the clock being turned back?
Is the government’s attitude to computer technology in schools taking us back to a “dark age” of chalk-and-talk?
That is the fear of many in education who think the coalition government’s actions are turning back the clock on recent developments in the use of computers for learning.
Balance
Research from the US Department of Education, concluded that “students who took all or part of their class online performed better, on average, than those taking the same course through traditional face-to-face instruction”.
It also found that “instruction combining online and face-to-face elements had a larger advantage relative to purely face-to-face instruction than did purely online instruction”.
In short, a balanced use of both ICT and traditional learning achieves the best results.
Financial Habits of The American Youth (Infographic)
Interesting read…
Why is the increasingly electronic version of reality winning?
Yesterday I posted a comment on Jonah Lehrer’s (The Frontal Cortex) with regard to his review of Nicholas Carr’s Book…. it was perhaps a little out of the box, but I was pleased to see a response from Jonathan Hall which nailed my point firmly to the wall.
Please consider answering the title question in the comments below, I’ll link this post back to the original article – hope it drives some more attention and makes others more aware when wandering down the street, drinking a coffee or riding the bus.
Let’s take this entire review and subsequent conversation to ground from a moment. Let’s leave the numerous inconclusive studies, the theories in progress and the variable perceptions and arguments from academics, scientists and authors; let’s just take a stroll down the street, to use Jonah’s example.
What do we see with your own eyes? What is your gut reaction in the busy coffee shop as you observe those around clutching their electronic devices? What comes to mind on the bus when it’s packed full of school kids clicking away? What basic natural instincts are being awakened in such situations? Spend some time visualising more scenarios where technology is being over-used or abused. When your ready, answer this question as honestly as possible.
Do you feel empathy or sympathy?
Posted by: Paul Simbeck-Hampson | June 7, 2010 3:33 PM
I think it is quite healthy to question the effects of new technology, regardless of its popularity and widespread adoption.
I see people walking down the streets with friends, who instead of talking, are texting away in silence. I just ate in a cafe next to a table with two guys who ate their entire meal surfing the internet on their cellphones, and spoke perhaps two words throughout the entire meal. I see cops texting while driving, and I witness my nephews going into depressions if they can’t play videogames sometime during the day.
My concern is that these technologies are slowly trumping everyday reality for many people. Choosing between talking to your real live friend right next to you versus texting someone who’s not, why is increasingly the electronic version of reality winning?
Posted by: Jonathan Hall | June 7, 2010 4:26 PM
The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains ~ Nicholas Carr (inspired by @socratoad via #amplify)
Just spent a good hour following links, listening to audio and watching videos from Nicholas Carr and I have to say, he’s nailing it! He was asked by ABC – ‘So, is there a solution?’ He replied,
“Each of us is responsible for the choices we make and how we use or don’t use our minds… each of us has to ask hard questions… is the balance of thinking conducive to getting the most creative… the most introspective thought we can… and I think we’re losing this right now.”
I also read that the book is not aimed at one particular generation, but more for everyone using the Internet. I guess my question has to be: How are we going to communicate this message to a younger audience? Will they listen or are they too engrossed in the medium to care?
Link to the book > http://bit.ly/aDfMyY
One day a monk fell down in the snow…
“One day a monk fell down in the snow and cried out for help. Another monk came along and lay down beside him. The first monk got up and walked away.” – Zen Koan
I laughed out loud when I read this quote. This is recovery in action–perfectly expressing the essence of twelve step work. One addict helping another through identification. If you see a newcomer in recovery, you can share your story and explain that you were in their shoes. They gain hope in seeing that you are happy and content with your life in spite of your addiction. That is how we pass hope to the newcomer–through identification. That is why we must tell our stories of addiction before we explain how we achieved sobriety–so that the newcomer knows that we are true addicts and alcoholics just like they are.
http://www.spiritualriver.com/spiritual-recovery-from-addiction-zen-buddhism/
“Screenagers” – Rehab clinic for children internet and technology addicts founded (London, via Telegraph)
There you go… I hadn’t read this article, in fact hadn’t read much about this topic before getting on my soap box earlier (http://bit.ly/cQD44v) – it had just been bugging me for some weeks and eventually it exploded into a blog post.
Perhaps its just a small percentage, as with gambling or alcohol abuse teenagers, but my feeling is this is far easier to get lost in and far more socially acceptable; suddenly you end up developing addicted tendencies that later can apply to other areas of life.
I agree with Dr Richard Graham who says “‘What we need are official guidelines now on what counts as healthy or unhealthy use of technology.”
Rehab clinic for children internet and technology addicts founded
Britain’s first internet rehab clinic has been founded amid fears children as
young as 12 are addicted to the web, computer games and mobile phones.
By Andrew Hough
Published: 7:00AM GMT 18 Mar 2010
Children will be forced to go “cold turkey” from their technology use as well
as being encouraged to cut out any problem use, such as computer games, and
restrict the time spent using their phone or computer.
Consultant psychiatrist Dr Richard Graham, who is leading the new addiction
treatment, said services need to ”adapt quickly” to help young people
affected by technology addiction – who he dubbed ”screenagers” – rather
than sticking with the same treatment models used for substance abuse.
Dr Graham said children played some computer games for the social contact,
adding: ”It gives them a sense of connection so they end up playing all the
time.”
”What we need are official guidelines now on what counts as healthy or
unhealthy use of technology,” he told the London Evening Standard.
A spokeswoman said the service will be offered for children as young as 12 but
those aged 15 to 17 are expected to be the main target group.
She said the service did not aim to make children give up technology use
completely, instead they are encouraged to cut out any problem use – like
computer games – and restrict the time spent using their phone or computer.Read more at www.telegraph.co.uk
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