Now for my thoughts on the course...
I will be honest in saying the first few classes intimidated me a little bit. I didn't quite understand where Denis was going with the course. The philosophy and the readings where foreign to me. I was an expert in my school who knew all the tools, but I did not have a broad picture of what technology was really about. Over time, Denis and the whole class environment really did enlighten me. Again I thank all of you for you bricks. Now, I have a much broader view when it comes to technology. In order to grow as a professional I really did have to trust Denis, and I am glad I did. This is the first course in my program and it put me back in the role of a student; something I have not experienced for 10 years. I never appreciated how much trust a student puts in a teacher until now. For trusting us, we owe our students a great deal; to start we should trust them with technology by minimizing filters and implementing creative way of using hand held technologies in the classroom.
Heidegger taught me many things; The most important being that the essence of technology is nothing technological. In education, technology should be infused with the main purpose of helping students succeed. Technology does not and can not replace good teaching. Good teachers use technology appropriately, and in a manner which allows students to explore curricular content in context. The second thing I learner from Heidegger is that when you are not an "expert" in the field, shift the debate to a field in which you are the expert. I apologize for sharing with you my passion of mathematics education!
The blogs and the class discussion were a blast. I truly enjoyed class, and the reflection time that followed. I commented on everyone blog at one time or another. I would have liked to comment on more blogs but life and family got in the way (as it should).
A "Word map" or "World Cloud" with the 75 most common words that appear in my blog is shown below. The larger the font the more it appeared. I am proud of how my word map turned out. The two most prominent words were students and technology. In reflection I truly believe that all the technology that we use in our schools has to benefit our students in one way or another.
click on the image for a larger view
Created with http://www.wordle.net/
Posts
Good closing comments, Paul. It was great to get to know you. We certainly did learn and discuss many important things. I really like the wordle you put in, interesting - and very appropriate that the biggest words are 'students' and 'technology'. Good luck in the rest of your program & keep up the great Math teaching that I am sure goes on in your classroom! Another brick in the wall!
ReplyDeletePaul, this last reflection is heartfelt. I remember my first class with Denis. I came to it with a very systems oriented stance. That class called me to grow in a direction different than most I had before travelled. If at all you thought this course was philosophical, take Curriculum Design. Denis will hopefully not retire before you get a chance to have him teach you in that one.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your comments on 1) teachers need to change their programs to use technology well, 2) if you are not an expert in a field, try to switch the debate to the field where you are one. I really enjoyed your math oriented discussions. I expect we'll have fun in the course next fall.
Have great summer!
You stated....We really have to stop using technology as a vehicle for 'transforming' teaching practices. The tools may keep changing but it is ultimately up to the teacher to change their teaching practices.
ReplyDeleteIt's a very profound statement and completely true. I've taught for 30 years and I still feel a need to improve my practice. Sadly, I believe the number of teachers who subscribe to this philosophy are amongst a minority. But, don't let that dissuade you. Convince yourself you are an agent of change and I guarantee you, your career will be quite eventful.
Enjoyed your thoughts and comments on the many topics in class and on the blogs, especially the math. I taught math for twenty years prior to moving into information technology so I feel connected to what you were sharing. It's nice to know that there are math teachers with a revisionist philosophy towards teaching math.
One more filter story for old times sake...I attempted to use the wordmap application in my class but, as is typical, it was filtered. It's one thing to filter the non-education material but now divisions are blocking the educational material. Fahrenheit 451 all over again? Blocking websites and webbased resources is metaphorically like burning books, don't you agree?
Good luck with the Masters program.
Down with Filters - should be our new mantra! I forgot to add, Paul - you are right it is the Teacher that makes all the difference, I have seen this time and again over 32 years in ed. The technology can help, but the teacher is the bottom line.
ReplyDelete