Technological Simplicity

For class, I needed to create a podcast.  I decided to include the text for those without speakers and who are hard of hearing.  I couldn’t actually get it as a true m4a file, so I just made it into a quicktime and uploaded it to youtube, so there is no visual.   Ewan McIntosh adressed the economic debate issue of whether technology actually simplifies our lives or not in his blog.   McIntosh neither supported nor rejected this claim, but  instead presented both sides in this post.   I feel that  it is easy to see how technology has crowded our lives with confusion.  Between rebooting, reformatting, call waiting, spam, and online hackers it is hard to sometimes see how we are better off than “the good old days.” The question I have is “Does technology make our lives more complicated, or do we?”   I think it is the latter.  I believe that technology has absolutely made our lives more simple.  It has succeeded almost perfectly.   I stress the word almost.  Telephones saved us loads of time from writing personal letters to anybody we wanted to be in contact with.  E-mail made this even easier and quicker.  Computers help us process information with the beat of an eye, store information and consolidate space by eliminating the need for endless filing cabinets.  The list goes on.   So where did this all get screwed up?   I believe it was when we had all the spare time and eased stress when this was spoiled.  We had free time and we clogged it up with more technological advances.  Instead of using the time that we were given by the simplistic technology we just added more to our plate.   If we want technology to be used as it was intended, we must learn not to serve our machines, but for them to serve us.  This is a common problem among most things today.  Lets be prudent about how we use our ‘conveniences.’  

Ed Tech Funding

Since the beginning of SpEd 312 starting, I have been convinced that technology is completely necessary and vital to be in the classroom.  But one concern of mine was “where do we get this money from?”  We see classrooms across the state that struggle to keep information updated.  (I’m pretty sure my home high school still has pluto in the textbooks!)  There is a constant need for new, underpaid teachers and constant threats to cut school budgets if they do not meet state requirements.  But, there is still a demand for updated technology and constant criticism to those who cannot or will not make changes toward this.  In a blog by Doug Johnson, an answer is proposed.   “We in education spend millions on dry textbooks, drill-and-kill software, inumerable paper worksheets, and useless testing. What if we took just 10% – or even 5% – of our budgets and spent in on things that actually got kids excited about learning – like an immersive trip to the stars, really good library books, educational games or field trips to interesting local history sites.” This sounds like a fantastic idea!  But the question is, “is it feasible?”   Do boards of directors feel comfortable throwing millions of dollars at hardware and software that they are not familiar with.  Would parents be responsive to the phasing out of text books?  I’m thinking, not so much, or so the majority would cry.   Although this is a great solution, I think it will be a long process.  We may see in the next generation what we want to see now.   

Pushing New Frontiers

I managed to stumble across a new blog this week entitled “2¢ Worth”  A fun little title if you ask me.  The post that jumped out at me was entitled The Changing Landscape of Education.  The post was about the MIT OpenCourseWare Initiative that allows students from multiple campuses in higher education to access a wealth of information and resources, straight from the horses mouth so to speak.   The professors who participate in this give access to video and audio clips in addition to lecture notes and assignments.   This is not new to students at the University of Illinois, but the interesting thing about this “initiative” is the access they have given to college-prep students mainly in AP courses.   The reason why I am excited about this is because we may see a trickle affect from this.  If the program were to extend to the regular education high school students and even through special education, we would be seeing great steps forward.  <<Steve Rosenbaum, I don’t think this is the doing of your “middle 70% who are “waiting and hoping the whole thing will go away. Real change happens not when you silence the critics but when you engage the middle 70%”  In-concrete passive idealism is not a result of this remarkable forward progress.>>  If, and hopefully when, this reaches Special and Regular Education, the format for this will clearly need to be revamped.  I don’t think that these students will effectively utilize audio clips.  But the use of digital assignments and interactive and entertaining videos could be.    The youtube generation of learners may finally have a venue for learning that will fit their needs.