Script

 ** TECH IN THE CLASSROOM – Final Presentation **  ** 12/14/10 6:00 pm CST **  ** SCRIPT **  ** 10 min. presentation w/5 min of Q&A **

All visuals are located in the VISUALS page of the Wiki. Time displayed in minutes passed.

** 0:00 – 2:00 ** ** MODERATOR: ? ** ** VISUAL: Word doc with graphic of book and learning goal displayed. **

Intro group by telling our learning goal, the book we chose and each group member (telling their full name, job title and school where they work). Explain the format for the presentation – each group member will address one guiding question pertaining to the book. After we discuss the book, each group member will tell what their main take-away from the group, the book and the class.

** 2:00-3:00 Talking ** ** 3:00-6:00 Show video at end ** ** BYRON ** ** VISUAL: Picture or Avatar of Byron or graphic that represents him ** = = = ** This book predicts/hopes that technology would improve teaching by... Byron ** = Seymour ﻿ Papert, in The Children's Machine: Rethinking School in the Age of the Computer, has visions for technology and how it can transform and save education. His views take both a macro approach and a micro view. On the macro level, Papert sees the school system circa 1993 (and probably largely still true today) as being dysfunctional. Learning is all compartmentalized and the creative powers of technology have been subverted by making "technology" a department among many. At its worst, education is a technical process of knowledge-for-knowledge-sake that is boring and does little more than prepare students to be cogs in the economic environment.

Papert would like to see schools as smaller environments ("little schools") where technology is abundant and plays a key role in helping students explore their passions. He believes that schools only work when there is a "shared vision" and when students believe that attending school will lead toward future success. Papert is a big believer in project based learning, especially when students are take part in the design of their education (as opposed to being told what they "must" study). He envisions education where students have the time to think about and process through conversation what it is they are doing. Papert feels that using technology helps make education more interdisciplinary and therefore more interesting, real, valid, etc...

I think Papert would envision education like the video from an Oceanside High School art class. Here is the link…

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** 6:00-7:00 ** ** MELISSA ** ** VISUAL: Picture or Avatar that represents Melissa or graphic that represents her ** = ** This prediction/hope has fallen short because... Melissa ** = Papert likes the concept of collaboration projects. He feels that by giving the tools to the students, they will explore and discover to find meaning in their learning. It seems that projects of exploration need a lot of direction and a lot more time to implement than we, as educators, seem to have within the school day/year. Educators that are using project based learning may not be giving the freedom intended in Papert’s thoughts to make their learning more meaningful.

Papert likes the idea of thematic units and making a unit fluid through all subject areas. In our system today, many students travel to many teachers for many different classes leaving the student to compartmentalize their learning. Compartmentalizing leads to a lack of exploration, discovery and use of students’ metacognition.

Most every school has a computer lab and computer classes. Papert says that computers should be a tool to use and explore to expand and discover knowledge. Computer should not be another class. Papert would be disappointed to know we are teaching the students how to use and what to do with this learning tool.

The less you teach and the more the students discover and explore, the more they will take away from the experience. This book gives some great ideas, but doesn’t help educators figure out how to best put these ideas into practice. Twenty years later we have more technological capabilities yet our abilities to use technology in education is still altogether fallen short of the expectations of Papert and society.

= 7:00-8:00 = = TRISTA = = VISUAL: Comic posted on wiki, picture of Trista. = = Even though this book was written 20+ years ago, its application in this chapter relates to today by... Trista = Sadly, what Papert saw in the classrooms of his time is what he would still see in today’s classrooms. It is still drill and kill and applying building blocks of knowledge one brick at a time only there are always more bricks to learn. This drill and kill /cram it in their heads/ have them regurgitate the knowledge practice or reputation education has received is so common place there are cartoons about it. His book champions computers as a means to accomplish a different way of conducting class. A way of conducting class where children’s passions are utilized to begin learning and continue its organic growth from idea to idea and then through out life. He had hoped computers would be the catalyst of change. His ideas are full of hope. And there are some amazing stories. But the sheer use of computers is obviously not enough. I could see if we use computers as a integral part of the community that the way we use the tool could change the way we participate in education. because the way we interact is changed. He wanted computers to be a mediator between children and their ideas. In today’s classroom, we have not moved beyond paper and pencils as the mediators and medium for the students’ ideas, for the most part. Even using a computer to spit out a page or perform a standardized test is not utilizing computers in the way Papert had look forward to.

The call for schooling to change has been shouted for numerous years, yet little change has occurred on how a classroom is conducted. Computers are still viewed as a way to improve schooling but why has it not happened?

Computers have dramatically changed workplaces and social habits. So why is the classroom outside of this change? Perhaps it lies in the isolating nature of teaching. Our teaching is contained within the walls of our classrooms. Web 3.0 tools can help contribute and connect to others outside of the walls but it has not happened as a whole in the classroom.

** 8:00-9:00 ** ** CAROL ** ** VISUAL: TPCK Graphic, picture or Avatar of Carol, or graphic that represents Carol ** = This chapter ties into the TPCK model by... Carol = SIMILAR TO TPCK: The only similarities between Papert and the TPCK model is that they are both theoretical views on how to approach education. I just think Papert seems quite displeased with the current model.

DIFFERENT: Papert does not seek to offer a model that addresses all areas of the TPCK model -- he is simply talking about a shift in our thinking about teaching in general. I think he is interested in thinking outside the box and that looking at how best to combine technology, pedagogy, and content would not interest him. Papert feels the current system is so poorly set up that he would want to work on developing a very different kind of theory of learning. Due to Papert disliking curriculum and confining students to a certain way to learn and think, I don’t think he would like the combination of pedagogy, technology, and content. If there was a model that included technology into the classroom and into the way things are presented and taught, I think he would enjoy that. He wouldn’t care for the traditional educational part of the model. It’s specifically the P in TPCK he has issue with -- the pedagogy. It’s the process of teaching he doesn’t like. Papert states, “…If we are to have new forms of learning, we need a very different kind of theory of learning.”

Papert seems to be a bit heavy on the technology portion, assuming that kids will choose items of interest that contain content knowledge. He couldn't have possibly imagined the wide range of activities available on the internet today. In the most basic terms... if you handed a teenager a computer and said, "do what you want", they'd be on Facebook all day. I do believe that there's much learning to take place via social networking (we do a lot of it in this very class!) but I believe for K-12 students, the content knowledge needs to come from standards (or some other guideline) and the pedagogy comes into play when we carry out the teaching and provide guidelines for learning. Left to their own devices, I do believe many children will thrive. But what about the ones who don't?

Papert would argue with the TPCK approach. I don't think Papert wants technology to become co-opted by a traditional academic approach. Papert is more interested in rethinking how we can use technology to reconfigure education so that it is more student centered and less one-size-fits-all.

** 9:00-11:00 ** ** OUR QUICK TAKEAWAYS – 30 seconds each ** ** ALL – EACH IN THE SAME ORDER AS ABOVE ** ** VISUAL: The Wordle **

Byron's Take Away - I saw Sir Ken Robinson speak at the Minnesota TIES conference and his point was that we need to change schools to personalize education for students. Our goal should be helping students find and pursue their passions. This idea is very similar to Papert's concept of changing our educational system to "little schools" that specialize in a common idea or focus.

MK TAKE AWAY I have learned and will take away a lot from the course, the book, and the learning group. I have realized that technology is more than just using computer games in the classroom. I love the idea of using the computer to explore and discover information that is relevant and interesting to kids. I want to try to incorporate different kinds of technology into my classroom. I realize that it will take time to incorporate some parts of technology in the classroom, but I want to use some of the things I have been exposed to in this class (delicious page, wikis, edmodo) to expose my students to the exciting exploration and discovery of technology in the classroom.

CAT TAKE AWAY My biggest take-away from the book is... let the children play. Papert advocates for letting children play with computers. As a computer teacher and only having the students for one period a week, it always seems hard to do this, but I think if I structure my class differently, I can allow for more play. That's my biggest take-away from the class overall... structure. We just finished a trimester. When we return from winter break, I'm planning to restructure my class to include face to face discussion, a brief in class lesson and a tech tool to be practiced outside of class or during study hall. I will then be providing a blog space for students to tell me about the tech tool. I think this restructure of my class will also allow for more play.

** 11:00-16:00 ** ** Q & A ** ** Not sure how mics will be set up, but we might want to announce that we’re going to take a question if we choose to take it. **