This post is also appears on my other blog Learning, Teaching, Thinking, Playing which is where I will be writing more often next year. Hopefully I will be able to put together a technoLanguages Team of writers and get more regular and varied articles happening on this blog - and more voices other than mine to add. But, I digress! The reason I’m here now is to share this with you:
I wrote recently about a project I did with iPods, mobile phones and Year 8. It wasn’t an entirely successful venture, but not a complete failure either. My main aim was to engage Year 8 more with their Chinese language learning, and I don’t think that happened. They liked using the iPods and phones, but that didn’t get them to create any more or any better quality work. This has really made me think about what I’m doing and why.
It is becoming a bit of a cliche, but I’ll say it anyway - the technology is only a tool. We really need to be thinking much more deeply about the quality of the content we are working on with the kids. The content is paramount to motivation and no matter how fun the technology is, the kids will still get bored if they aren’t interested in the content. Introducing technology will not magically engage kids – well, it might for the first couple of classes, but the novelty will wear off and they will see through it all!
I have found that students still want lots of teacher direction, but they are still very quick to criticise when something is boring. Sometimes that is a bit confusing as to what they really want, and I have had the impression from a couple of my classes this year that no matter what is put in front of them, or what they get to choose, they still aren’t going to be interested. Admittedly, the two classes I have in mind have not only been difficult for me, but other teachers as well. Our Year 7 class has turned their noses up at many things – complaining about having to do Voicethreads and big deal about a video conference with Manila. A few of them even asked their English if they should be learning how to read and write more!
I think the big thing for me to realise is that it is not only the staff who often need to be ‘convinced’ that this technology is great and can have huge impact on our students, but the kids need to be shown explicitly what the benefits are for them too.
How very true, Jess! The issue is that we sometimes lack an overall view of the Big Picture. If a highly -motivating ICT-based activity is done by every teacher in school, it will certainly not be seen as fresh and innovative any more. What are your colleagues doing with your class? This kind of information would be soo useful to share in a secondary set-up. What we see is “fashionable activities” appear in waves throughout the curriculum and what might have been very exciting then becomes rather dull… even if it is not. Real communication with other curriculum areas i.e what are you doing? What tools ar you using?, particularly for those tricky classes could make so much difference….
Isabelle
http://isabellejones.blogspot.com
I think you are right - we do lack on overall Big Picture and if there is so much innovative ICT use in a school then it quickly becomes a bit ‘old school’ for the kids I guess. In this case I knew my colleagues weren’t doing the same sorts of things that I was trying to do, but they were using other cool tech related stuff. I think it also comes down to kids attitudes to school and the fact that their focus really is on themselves, which is fine. I also think it is to do with kids really not thinking that all this technology is as fantastic or as exciting as we, their teachers, do. They can take so much of this sort of stuff for granted. The fan-dangled technology does not take away from the fact that we have to connect with our students through the content, not the tools.
Hey you have to go 2 presentation night!!
Because we hav something to show you!
PLEASEEEE!
hey jess (:
how are you….
we miss you muchly here…
well i spose i will talk to ya soon (:
Flick
Take care