As part of my Graduate program, Technology in Education this post and future posts may reflect a particular assigned topic. This week I was to blog about "What the Internet is good for in terms of education."
In terms of education, the Internet is goof for an infinite amount of information and tools. It is hard to take even a portion of these possibilities and bottle them up into a blog post. Therefore I will focus on how the Internet has helped transform teaching and learning in my classroom.
In terms of education, the Internet is goof for an infinite amount of information and tools. It is hard to take even a portion of these possibilities and bottle them up into a blog post. Therefore I will focus on how the Internet has helped transform teaching and learning in my classroom.
The Internet provides students with tools so
that they can achieve possibilities that were once inconceivable before the
Internet. The Internet can be utilized
for finding information, designing lessons, skill building, and many
others. For example students can
extend their knowledge beyond the classroom walls by researching questions that
arise as they are reading texts. As a teacher one of the comprehension
strategies we ask children to when reading a text is to ask questions, we want
them curious about the text they are reading, especially when it is information
text. However, often their questions are
not answered in the text. Before the
Internet, it was often difficult to answer these questions, which can deter
students from using this strategy.
Beyond
finding information the Internet allows students to connect with others
throughout their city, state, country and world! Prior to the Internet, students may have been
lucky to have a pen pal in another state and exchange a few letters over the
period of several months. Now students
and entire classes can video chat, email and more all in the matter of
seconds. Students and teachers are able
to connect, collaborate and learn from one another like never before.
Students
are also able to be authors and producers of their own work. Utilizing blogs, video software, and more
students are able to create and produce products and post them online for
authentic audiences such as their teachers, classmates, families and
communities. Having authentic audiences
able to provide immediate feedback and recognition teaches students that they
do have a voice, a place in our world and that their voice is matters.
What is
most amazing about the Internet is how through the use of blogging, social
media and other platforms educators and students have become connected and
learning from one another like never before.
In terms of
negatives… Just as a marker is a wonderful tool for use in the classroom, it
can also be used for evil (to write on walls, etc.) It is our duty as educators to teach students
Internet safety, what is appropriate, what is not appropriate, etc. At some point our parents, babysitters,
teachers etc. taught us it how to use a marker for good; what appropriate uses
for markers are, when a pencil or crayon may be of better use, how to care for,
etc. Teaching children to use the
Internet should be no different than teaching them how to use markers. 
What are the pros and cons of Internet use you are experiencing in your classroom? What is your favorite use of the internet in education? 
Karla,
ReplyDeleteThere appears to be a common consensus among our TIE colleagues that believe the internet provides plentiful opportunities for unique learning to take place. The HOW component of the kids using the internet, however, seems to be creating a fear factor. We can give children devices, we can give children access to the internet, but HOW are we going to ensure they are being purposeful and appropriate with it?
The reality is that we will never be able to guarantee ALL kids are using technology in desirable ways ALL the time. Just as you said, we had to be taught how to use our markers and crayons growing up. Does this mean we weren’t caught coloring on the walls? I know I was. But that is life. Life is making mistakes and learning from them. We shall still “proceed with caution” (as Tim Kaegi warns us) when using the internet, but we should not fear it. We need to be confident and purposeful when modeling with technology. We need to be open with our children about what they could encounter while using the internet, how to identify what is helpful and what is not, and how to proceed when they are presented with undesirable material.
Whether you consider yourself an “educator”, a “lead learner”, or a “teacher”, we are all working with children to give them experiences that support their present and future lives. Technology, and specifically the internet, is just part of the process.
Karla,
ReplyDeleteThere appears to be a common consensus among our TIE colleagues that believe the internet provides plentiful opportunities for unique learning to take place. The HOW component of the kids using the internet, however, seems to be creating a fear factor. We can give children devices, we can give children access to the internet, but HOW are we going to ensure they are being purposeful and appropriate with it?
The reality is that we will never be able to guarantee ALL kids are using technology in desirable ways ALL the time. Just as you said, we had to be taught how to use our markers and crayons growing up. Does this mean we weren’t caught coloring on the walls? I know I was. But that is life. Life is making mistakes and learning from them. We shall still “proceed with caution” (as Tim Kaegi warns us) when using the internet, but we should not fear it. We need to be confident and purposeful when modeling with technology. We need to be open with our children about what they could encounter while using the internet, how to identify what is helpful and what is not, and how to proceed when they are presented with undesirable material.
Whether you consider yourself an “educator”, a “lead learner”, or a “teacher”, we are all working with children to give them experiences that support their present and future lives. Technology, and specifically the internet, is just part of the process.
Hi Karla - First of all, what an adorably cute blog! I agree with so much of what you had to say! As I was reading, I highlighted this comment: "Having authentic audiences able to provide immediate feedback and recognition teaches students that they do have a voice, a place in our world and that their voice is matters." I love this perspective! I think it's so important for us, as teachers, to think about the fact that giving kids an authentic audience is so important. It always makes me sad when my students make comments about how I might be the only one who sees some of their writing or their work. And I agree with you, that technology offers kids an amazing opportunity to expand their audience! This is an area of technology that I would like to incorporate more into my classroom. Thanks for the suggestion and reminder!
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