On critiquing

This blog fulfills a number of purposes.  I aim to use the blog tool to communicate some of my thoughts on aspects of teaching and learning using Web 2.0 social media.  I also want to emphasis the importance of critical thinking.


Web 2.0 has the potential to provide authentic, engaging learning tasks that can take individual needs into account.  However as An and Williams (2010) argue, many teachers are not using Web 2.0 technologies to their potential. They argue that educators are often doing the same thing they have always done, just with a new tool. They stress the point that Web 2.0 itself does not guarantee more effective learning and that “Effective use of new technologies requires innovation in teaching methods”. (p.6)

Students also require scaffolding to learn effectively with Web 2.0 technologies.  Teachers need to provide appropriate support and this needs to be integrated into the design of the learning activities and can range from step-by-step procedural guidance to helping students find appropriate resources to teach themselves.  We should not assume that students in their teen years are all computer literate.  They may be avid facebook users but not e.g. be able to use word processing or do productive Google searches.

 Although I do agree with a lot of Marc Prensky’s theories I do not support  his digital natives/ digital immigrants idea. I think it was useful when first introduced but that now we have moved beyond it.   I advocate knowing about individual differences and learning styles theory so that while many teenagers may be very adept at using technology not all of them are.  I am not alone in this as, Prensky's views have attracted a lot of criticism in the last few years. These have focused primarily on the generalisations that Prensky adopts. Likewise with teachers, some of us may be experts at using one kind of technology yet not other types etc.  In this way we can be both what Prensky terms digital natives in one area and digital immigrants in another.

 To hear and view an interview with Prensky go to:

http://www.viddler.com/v/f4f35454


Also of interest is Prensky on teachers knowing how to use technology.The following comes from an interview in 2011.

LL: Do we need “digital teachers”?

MP: It will help greatly if our human “digital” teachers understand and respect what today’s digital tools can bring to education. To do that, though, these teachers do not have to necessarily learn to use all the tools themselves (unless they want to) becuase the students can use them---and they do want to. Teachers can model using technology for students, when appropriate, but they should never use digital tools (electronic white boards, or computers or anything else) for the students---students should use them by themselves, with their teachers’ guidance and quality-control of the output.


For the full interview go to 
http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky-l'Unita-Interview-6-11-english.pdf


The marking guide for Assignment 3 is asking you to provide evidence of evaluation and critical thinking. When you decide on a Web 2.0 tool for ALLN, search for references that support your use of it but also for problems in using it.  An example of this is e.g. you might choose to design a learning activity on the Web through a Smartboard.  However using Smartboards, as with other technology, comes with its own philosophy.  Smartboards have been criticized as being what An and Williams (2010) describe as doing the same thing but with a new tool! I have linked you to two sites that critique Smartboards.

http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.co.nz/2010/05/why-smartboards-are-dumb-initiative.html

http://sites.google.com/site/team4edtc6433/time-tracker


I wil post this blog in this draft stage and continue reworking it and add referencing at a later stage.