Another point November made was the permanency of anything posted on the web. It is forever, and students need to understand that what they post or do on the internet can be tracked and archived. Students who only think about 5 minutes into the future have a hard time grasping the potential consequences of their actions as teenagers and how it can affect their life as adults.
The final point I agree with November on is the desperate need to show how to find relevant websites off a Google or Bing. The first site must be the most reliable right? It can save them time, and prevent headaches for teachers and teacher's aides.
Whether we are empathetic to the global needs is one issue, but the importance of teaching students the wide variety of cultures and values they hold onto is important. Students need to know about the world which rotates around the sun, not around them.
How should we do this in schools (All levels)?
At Beloit Turner Middle School we have an 8th grade class called Transitions. It teaches students to respect diversity, discover who they are, and begins to prepare them for high school. An option to include in that course would be a technology unit in which these things are discussed and practiced.
I think the four points November makes is something that should be included in all curriculums at all levels as a part of the classroom philosophy or mission statement. They don't need to focus on the technology part, but more on the moral, ethical, and character building skills. Yes, researching valid websites doesn't really relate to being moral or ethical, but that could be done as a separate activity.
One thing I could work on in these points for next year
Finding relevant information for students with learning disabilities is a painful activity for everyone involved. Aides and teachers just want to click on the site for them, and the students would rather be looking at pictures. Teaching them how to read a brief description and understand what it is they are looking for is very hard.
What I will need to start doing is getting the students to stop waiting for the aide or teacher to tell them they are right or to step in and do it for them. Enabling these students is the worst thing for them. It's hard to stop, because watching them fail makes you feel like a failure. Students with LD need to realize they have a brain and they can make wise decisions. It just might take a long, long, long time before its mastered.
I like how you stated that these four points should be something that is included in all curriculum's and at all levels. I think too many times we wait until students are older to bring up topics such as these. If we can introduce them at a younger age, it may be more beneficial to the student and society. After all, it is not uncommon to see a third or fourth grader with a facebook page or a cell phone in their back pack.
ReplyDelete“An option to include in that course would be a technology unit in which these things are discussed and practiced.” The technology might also be used to expand the walls of the class to include students or other individuals outside this particular high school. This may be especially important in districts that are not as diverse as yours might be.
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point about finding appropriate (not just relevant and accurate) information for your students. This is especially true for younger students or those who don’t read as well. Websites often have little editorial control and are not written with the same attention to readability as textbooks and other edited curriculum or library materials. They generally don’t even have the same structure or tools to help students decipher meaning. Perhaps starting with a few good links and then letting the students find more from there would be a way to guarantee success and give them some autonomy.