iPads, affordances, and Vygotsky

There were several things that I took away from both our most recent class discussion and having read Vygotsky. The first was:

As educators we get shown tons of new technology. Whether it is at in-services, or countywide programs, we are given access to so many different options. This being said, I think we need to first establish a learning goal and then see if the tool helps to achieve that goal. If the tool does not fit within your objective- it’s better to forgo that technology in lieu of something that works better. As we see in the Vygotsky, affordance based analysis can be adapted to serve us in education. We discussed in class that an affordance is a strategy for choosing and using technology. The affordances we are talking about are when the learning goals and techniques or tools come together and fit well- well being the operative word there. It’s the meshing/meeting of these two things without being forced into it working. The affordances can be cognitive, physical, social, sensory, or any number of other things.

The only problem with this meshing together is that often times teacher learning goals and the student learning goals are rarely the same. For instance: students want to get a good grade on a science test. Teacher wants the student to master the steps of the scientific method- there we see that the meshing is not happening organically. We also have to look at the utility of the tool. Does the user recognize what the tool can do for you? The learning goals and the techniques we use, as teachers should support one another in accomplishing the objective or goal. Together, when we have the learning goal and technique working in harmony, we have an affordance.

Also, in the Vygotsky I was acutely aware of how his ideals were much different then Piaget. Piaget was much more focused on the timeline of things. I learned about Piaget in college and often found myself wondering why in the world we ever listened to a man who was trying to pigeon-hole kids into learning on a pretty precise timeline. This was not an effective way to teach, or to expect kids to learn. I get where Piaget was coming from, that most kids can fit inside that timeline if it is well thought out. But, there are still going to be those kids that do not. Then what do we do? Because, learning beyond the skill development is not consistent with Piaget.  Meanwhile we have the opposing side, “Vygotsky emphasized the unique qualities of our species, how as human beings we actively realize and change ourselves in the varied contexts of culture and history.” This quote is on page 131 and I really think this sums up the differences between Piaget and Vygotsky. Piaget was concerned with timing everything, while Vygotsky was more concerned with the uniqueness of people as a species and how different we all are, and those differences blended over onto his own thoughts of how kids should develop. It was much more developmentally paced, rather than a timeline like a hamster on a wheel- always reaching for the next step.

As far as how all of these different ideas will affect my practice, I think that quite honestly it already has started. I have been more actively engaged when I learn about new technology and not forcing the tech into what I am doing. I am trying to make my technological uses more streamlined in the fact that I want it to be affordance-based. It needs to help me meet my learning goal for the kids- not just be a fancy add-on to a lesson that would work better without it. For instance, I was trying to think about how I could be more successful with my 3^rd and 4^th grade kids to do research. It is always a struggle because I only have 11 computers in the library and we have about 27 kids per class. This is a problem because while I can use books, more often than not there is more information that is up to date on things like World Book Online- and the kids prefer to use the online component as well. I will still of course have them use print resources, but in the case of their upcoming planet and famous American research, I knew that incorporating technology would be helpful to me in my learning goal of researching. This being said, I knew that the students would also benefit. So, I decided to borrow about 10 fifth graders for a half hour today and I helped them to create a bookmark in Safari for two researching websites on all of our 60 iPads on the two carts we have access to. The third and fourth grade students will be able to use the iPads in a 1-1 ratio and thus their research will be much more effective and seamless while incorporating the new technology. I personally think this was a great affordance. I also think that Vgotsky would approve because in using the technology as opposed to a book we have a greater level of customization based upon the student’s level of comprehension. Easier research articles for those who struggle and extension articles for those who finish early. All in all, I really think that the affordance-based learning is already in my brain and affecting my teaching style for the better.

 I just found this wonderful illustration on Pinterest and HAD to share! Knew you all would appreciate!

Victiorian Internet: A Dot-com Cult Classic

Write a journal entry and post it to your blog by 5 pm on Sunday about The Victorian Internet and the second design principle created in class.  Remember the three questions that guide professional reflection.

•   What did I learn?  What does it mean and what supports that position?  What are the ways in which it might impact my practice?

This week, our assignments for class featured the book, The Victorian Internet by Tom Standage. This book was extremely different from Sabertooth, the book from the previous week. This book went into great detail talking about the history and design of the first telegraph. I personally thought it was a riveting read, because I had never known that so much went into making the first telegraph. Until reading this book, I had never once heard of an optical telegraph, nor did I give much thought to the specifics of this particular technological feat. The fact that the inventors somehow had to come up with a way to get a telegraph line under water all the way from England to America still baffles me. I am getting ahead of myself here, but it truly was astounding- talk about design!

As far as answering the first question of what I learned, I can proudly state that I learned a lot from this particular book. I really enjoyed the fact that it broke down the process of designing the telegraph and the many ways in which it was a failed design, and then ultimately the designs that were put into use around the world. I feel that in history, we are often taught the glossed over version of events. Like for instance, I never thought about the fact that there would be people so short sighted when it came to technology. On page 20, it says: “since the war with France had ended, the telegraph system was in no need of improvement. Telegraphs of any kind are now wholly unnecessary … no other than the one in use will be adopted.” This is the kind of thing that we are not often taught in school. Things like people arguing about the best method, the best model, the fastest cheapest way of doing whatever it is they are trying to accomplish. We almost never learn about the backlash the idea gets when it is first received. If you were lucky and had a good teacher in school, you may have learned about Morse code and how that innovation in design changed telegraph forever. But mostly, you stick to the fact that he invented it and that was that. As we learned though from The Victorian Internet this is a gigantic understatement in terms of the events leading up to Morse developing the telegraph. As I briefly mentioned before, there was an optical telegraph that had a system of flaps and different things that allowed the viewer to communicate from a fair distance away. Of course there were terrible limitations to this including weather, time of day, and distance. But, this would be something you were totally unaware of because once again, in history we have a tendency to gloss over the way that you got to the desired outcome- the actual invention at its best. You never hear about two inventors who were so preoccupied in fighting over who was doing more work that they almost came to an actual fight. You never hear about people falling in love over the telegraph wire or how there were marriages performed across state lines by telegraph. Learning about the process of the creation of the telegraph was very interesting because it was basically a comprehensive guide to the whole design process. From the first models to the actual workings of the telegraph and the impacts on the world, it was an interesting way to see the “highway of thought” at its beginnings.

There are also a lot of similarities between the telegraph and the modern Internet we have today. They both drastically improved the pace of the world and the way we share information, they also both started off as being for the government. It also changed the way jobs were used. For instance, some jobs (like the pony express) were no longer needed. But, we saw a rise in skilled workers to be able to use Morse code, same thing for the Internet- we no longer needed typists to type a paper for you, now we needed computer programmers or other jobs similar to that. The use of code and encryptions is still relevant today but it started with the telegraph. These are only several of many similarities, but I was shocked at just how many there were!

As we talked about in class, good learning design reflects the thoughtful considerations of the technologies chosen and considers the cognitive, social, societal, and physical consequences. This statement is true both of designs from the telegraph days to our current Internet. These considerations are also similar between both the telegraph and Internet today because they are good designs. Such as, there was now a way to verify information in a fast reliable way, which was cognitively sound. As far as social we see a whole crop of people in The Victorian Internet that are able to communicate with each other that was not at all possible before hand. (This was also similar to the video we watched about the printing press bringing people together- even if it was only through their ideas). The Internet did the same thing, it made the world smaller and people in each society were more able to understand what was going on in different places throughout the world in a much broader sense than before. Physically things also changed drastically with telegraph and Internet. Before both of these technologies, people were able to write letters but the mail was unreliable, slow, and news was so outdated that by the time it got to you from a different country literally wars could be over and no one would have any idea. Physical limitations were now something totally overcome. Information could be delivered at an astounding rate, and this of course presented new consequences. These consequences were things like how to keep up with the traffic of the telegraph messages, how to make the telegraph wires able to be submerged into the Atlantic ocean, and there were even things like wars being fought and criminals being caught with the use and help of technology. The Internet has even less physical limitations today. We have different consequences, but as far as physical limitations, you literally cannot even go in your own personal car these days without having Wi-Fi as an optional upgrade.

All of this being said, I think the way all of these things would effect my own teaching practices is that we need to be aware of the consequences of technology. It really can be a can of worms at times. Technology is wonderful but it does create problems that can be unforeseen. This is why you need to think about the consequences before jumping in. Such as, in my library we often use something called Playaways. These are audiobooks the older students in fourth and fifth grades can check out. There is one book title per audiobook and the kids absolutely love using this technology to listen to a book. They are also super helpful for kids who struggle with comprehension, because they can read and listen and that seems to really increase their ability to take in all the details and maximize their comprehension. This all being said, there are consequences for this new technology. Cognitively some of the students only listen with half an ear and are not really using them the same way they would a book. They lose interest faster and are more likely to not read the entire book listening than physically reading it. Socially, there are less Payaways than there are students so they need to be willing to share, which can sometimes be a drawback. As far as our society of students, we have third graders who continually ask me to change my mind and let them get the Playawys like the older kids. And physically, there needed to be space made in the library for these things to be stored so the kids can use them. So, the benefits much outweigh the drawbacks, but you need to have a good design plan for implementation before you use technology in the classroom or library setting. 

From Sabertooth to Harry Potter and Back Again

Use your newly create blog to post your journal entry about The Sabertooth Curriculum and the first design principle we created in class.  Complete this entry by Sunday at 5 pm.  Remember the three questions that guide professional reflection.

• What did I learn? 
• What does it mean and what supports that position? 
• What are the ways in which it might impact my practice?

         The Sabertooth Curriculum, really put a lot of things within education into perspective for me. Being apart of education, I think that sometimes we are so used to doing what needs to be done that we can miss the reflection piece that is really necessary to make education effective. Sabertooth gave that reflection piece; in fact it made me question things that I did not even know that I needed to reflect upon.

         The most important thing that I learned from Sabertooth is found in a quote on page 25. “He knew how to do things his community needed to have done, and he had the energy and will to go ahead and do them. By virtue of these characteristics he was an educated man.” I think this quote speaks volumes about our education system. Are we really preparing kids for the world and helping their community? How do we know what the community needs? These are the questions that as educators we need to try to answer. The problem with trying to prepare kids for their community is that we as educators do not get to make decisions about what we teach curriculum-wise to prepare the kids for the world. The curriculum is passed down to us from the powers that be and it is our job to impart that to the kids. In my opinion, this is not always the best thing we should be teaching the kids- the things that would most help them in their search to be a meaningful member of their community. I think that the open dialogue that Peddiwell uses about preparing the students for their community is echoed all throughout Sabertooth. The stories about the Paleolithic society are filled with what the community needs, and as the lectures go further on, we see them moving farther and farther away from the needs of the community and more towards what they feel are the historical conventions are to uphold (fish grabbing, tiger scaring, and horse clubbing). We see the community upholding these traditional subjects even though the community no longer needs to be taught these things. This begs the question of our own community and its teachings: what exactly are we teaching that has been rendered superfluous by time? How can we better adapt to what we need in our communities currently? This is a question we all must face as educators and also will try to answer through the Design Principals and Processes we are making and discussing in class. Actually, if the members of the Paleolithic community had the PICKLE thought process- perhaps their community would have made a better more ideal curriculum for their particular community needs.

All of this reflection being said, there were several parts of Sabertooth that I found to be really interesting and that I made an instant connection with. I am a big reader and there was a particular passage on page 42 of Sabertooth that really reminded me of Harry Potter. Peddiwell is talking about how the community leaders started to think about the fact that the students in their Paleolthic community only needed the THEORY of these skills (fish grabbing, pony clubbing, and tiger scaring) without having to actually practice the skills. Everything would become the theory of the skill- not the actual doing of these long practiced skills. This particular part reminded me of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix when Professor Umbridge is the Defense Against the Dark Arts school subject teacher. She is a terrible character and one of the most hated in the entire Harry Potter series. She comes in to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and revolutionizes the way the subject is being taught. She- like in Sabertooth- decides that the knowledge of the skills of defending themselves against evil is enough to pass their Ordinary Wizarding Level (OWL) tests. She goes on to say that they do not need to use magic; they need to only know the facts. This connection really reminded me of the way the SOLs are in Virginia and that we have cut down so much on the doing of things in education. Like for instance, at my school we used to do a Colonial Day where the fourth grade did a whole project and the grade would get together for weeks to practice skits, music and songs, and dances. They would even put on a small play. But, as soon as the SOLs became more and more intense- that was the first thing to go out of the curriculum. Even though many students said that it was their favorite part of the year. This is something we need to look into, no more than the teachers in Harry Potter- are we doing the very best we possibly can? Or is it that we are trying to teach to the test and not doing any actual practicing of those needed skills? This truly is food for thought and something we as educators need to be aware of.

As far as impacting the ways that I would practice education is that I would try to bring back more of the practicing of skills into the classroom. I know that for me, as a librarian this kids need to learn how to use the online library catalog. Just this past week, I taught them how to use it, but instead of droning on and on about it, I decided to have the kids do a library scavenger hunt to practice the skills rather than just knowing the theory of finding the books in the library. This, to me, is much more effective because it makes the kids use the knowledge they have to answer the questions. Instead of just the theory of the library catalog they need to go out and use it to find specific answers to the questions. As soon as I told the kids they were going to practice it with the scavenger hunt they were super excited to go out and DO it. I think that if you give kids activities- things like QR codes, or scavenger hunts, or web quests, especially when you integrate technology they are learning that much more. Their excitement level also goes up so much because it is interacting with the skill, not just hearing about it.