Reflection on Dr. Mike Vollmert's Presentation

Dr. Vollmert presented some fascinating information about the new direction of education. Rather than the traditional focus on mastering basic content knowledge, Dr. Vollmert believes the real purpose and direction of education is to build students' skills in four criticial areas: Collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and communication. He believes that the use of technology in the classroom is the essential component to teaching these skills. I always knew that technology is an important tool in delivering content that is engaging for students, but through Dr. Vollmert's presentation, I learned that nearly all other methods of delivering information to students are becoming obsolete.

As an educator who grew up in the "pre-technology" era, I find this a little bit frightening. To keep up with students' needs, I will have to learn a huge repertoire of technological skills. I am concerned that I won't be able to keep up. I am still, admittedly, quite "old-school." As an English teacher, I like to read a book, highlight the text, use post-its to mark passages, write outlines, and post ideas on chart paper. This old-school method feels comfortable to me, but certainly, if students are giving up on education because of such boring, outdated methods of teaching, I know I will need to change.

I am willing to learn--I have recently discovered many on-line materials for teaching very engaging literature lessons, such as www.storyboardthat.com, www.animateme.com, and other fun sites. I have also recently discovered the joys of blogs, and I would like to have my students do this as well. Of course, youtube.com has a plethora of exciting videos related to academic content that is also readily available. I know I still have more to discover, and I may never be as savvy as many of my younger counterparts, but I am giving it my best shot.

When Dr. Vollmert described that in school, students are "mostly learning stupid stuff," I felt really sad. I think this is more of a commentary on the poor quality of teaching in California schools than a complete dismissal of the entire educational system. Through my own high-school-aged children, I have seen that most of what they are learning is a waste of time, unfortunately. Still, for every "bad" teacher, there are some "good" ones out there too. Some teachers really challenge students' minds, expand their horizons, and provide them with very rich learning experiences. Some of these teachers use a great deal of  technology, and some do not. In my view, technology enhances great teaching, but I still don't believe it can replace it.

Although I agree with most of Dr. Vollmert's ideas, I only partially agree that technology is the complete answer to our educational woes; I think the problem has more to do with our entertainment-obsessed, distracted society. People are so busy finding ways of entertaining themselves that we have forgotten the value of hard work in many ways. The easiest, fastest way to do something is not always the best, because there are many lessons to be learned along the way. By taking short-cuts, sometimes we fail to fully develop a complete, original thought. We don't want students to become so busy "cutting and pasting"  that they lose the "heart" of what it means to truly be educated. Like any generation before them, to be truly "cutting edge" means to contribute positive ideas and solutions to society that enable everyone to live in a more fair and just world.

Reflection on Mystery Hangout Activity

The Mystery Hangout activity is a fun, new way to experience Skype-style technology in the classroom. Last week my EDU 531 Technology class at National Hispanic University in San Jose participated in a friendly competition with a similar class in Southern California. We played a game in which we each tried to be the first to figure out each other's location, simply by asking each other "yes or no" questions. Each member of the class participated by taking on a different role, such as greeters, questioners, navigators, etc. I enjoyed being a greeter and asking questions to the other side. Through our questions, we eventually discovered the location of the other class, but they were much faster than us--they only needed a few questions to find us on the map. From the comfort of our own classroom, we had the chance to interact with other students like ourselves, whom we may never have otherwise met. This activity has great learning potential for students everywhere. By using this technology, students have the opportunity to communicate with anyone, anywhere in the world. This is like taking a field trip without the expense!

For a teacher, another advantage of this activity is that students can learn to use the technology in a controlled setting. For students who may not have much experience with technology, guidance from the teacher removes the fear factor, so they "can't mess it up." Another advantage is that students can get to know other students, share ideas, and have interesting discussions with people with whom they would not otherwise have the chance to interact. For students who live in remote or underprivileged areas, this opens the door to many new and interesting learning opportunities and experiences.

Of course, the disadvantage of a technology-based activity such as this is that the teacher must become well-versed in how it works, and he or she is at the mercy of the technology working properly. Additionally, both schools participating obviously must have up-to-date technological capabilities. The teacher has to be careful to not over-promise how much fun and valuable the activity will be until he or she is sure that it will work. Otherwise, students may learn that technology is not to be trusted and is just another empty promise from adults.

Overall, the Mystery Hangout was an exciting demonstration of how technology is re-shaping our classrooms. I hope to use this in my own classroom eventually. I'm sure my students will have a great time getting to know other students in "parts unknown." The possibilities for new ways to learn are becoming truly endless!

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