How can the NoT inform technological decision making? This question is best answered in part from this quote. "There is another ideological conflict to be fought -- between "liberal democracy" as conceived in the eighteenth century, with all its transcendent moral underpinnings, and Technopoly, a twentieth-century thought-world that functions not only without a transcendent narrative to provide moral underpinnings but also without strong social institutions to control the flood of information produced by technology" (Postman, 1992).
Children and adults alike are overwhelmed by the tsunami of information that is the internet, and as a society we cannot get enough of it. We are linked in through Facebook, Instagram, Email, messengers, web pages, and apps. We have expert opinions, facts, data, and social freedom at our fingertips 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Our greatest challenge as educators is teaching our students how to integrate technology into their lives, not allowing technology to dictate their lives.
In Effective Teaching I we came up with a list of goals that we strive to establish with our students. A couple of goals from that list were:
Students demonstrate a passion for lifelong learning
Students demonstrate a growth mindset
Students demonstrate innovation and creativity
Students demonstrate kindness, empathy, and compassion
While striving for these goals with our students we need to understand the role that technology will have in their lives. We need to teach them how to be their own filter of information when they develop a passion for lifelong learning. There are endless articles on the internet that will help them obtain knowledge in any professional field if they understand how to analyze and sytnhesize text.
Innovation and creativity may begin with a short clip on youtube and end with a discovery in a laboratory.
Kindness and compassion is practiced and reinforced in the classroom, but students will need to replicate those social interactions when communicating digitally.
With the NoT a growth mindset is the most difficult concept to teach our students. As we quantify and explain everything through technology we rely on and think more like our technology. We are constantly grading, scoring, labeling, and quantifying our students. We treat them like a statistic on a computer, but we need them to understand that they are so much more. They have the ability to learn, surpass and lead their generation. As educators in a technology driven society it is critical that we teach our students how to use technology and not be consumed by it.
Children and adults alike are overwhelmed by the tsunami of information that is the internet, and as a society we cannot get enough of it. We are linked in through Facebook, Instagram, Email, messengers, web pages, and apps. We have expert opinions, facts, data, and social freedom at our fingertips 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Our greatest challenge as educators is teaching our students how to integrate technology into their lives, not allowing technology to dictate their lives.
In Effective Teaching I we came up with a list of goals that we strive to establish with our students. A couple of goals from that list were:
Students demonstrate a passion for lifelong learning
Students demonstrate a growth mindset
Students demonstrate innovation and creativity
Students demonstrate kindness, empathy, and compassion
While striving for these goals with our students we need to understand the role that technology will have in their lives. We need to teach them how to be their own filter of information when they develop a passion for lifelong learning. There are endless articles on the internet that will help them obtain knowledge in any professional field if they understand how to analyze and sytnhesize text.
Innovation and creativity may begin with a short clip on youtube and end with a discovery in a laboratory.
Kindness and compassion is practiced and reinforced in the classroom, but students will need to replicate those social interactions when communicating digitally.
With the NoT a growth mindset is the most difficult concept to teach our students. As we quantify and explain everything through technology we rely on and think more like our technology. We are constantly grading, scoring, labeling, and quantifying our students. We treat them like a statistic on a computer, but we need them to understand that they are so much more. They have the ability to learn, surpass and lead their generation. As educators in a technology driven society it is critical that we teach our students how to use technology and not be consumed by it.
Really enjoyed your blog post!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that students are more than just stats - and we have to show them how to use technology, without relying on it for everything. NOT is a constant struggle - how to use it, when to use it, and still keep the conversations flowing in the classrooms. Thanks for sharing! Lisa B