Chapter 9: New Schools

           

Harnessing the Collective Intelligence of Education Data

As technology is becoming more and more involved with every aspect of communication, teachers now need to adapt their teaching style in order to teach “digital native students” by using new web tools.  One very important tool that could be developed would be an online electronic personal assistant.  This type of navigator would be helpful for students in order to help guide students to sites that would be helpful to them.  The navigator would suggest sites that follow how the student learns best either through simulations, reading, games, drills, or other type of learning.

             Software and textbooks could eventually only be paid for when it is actually used so therefore money is not wasted on materials that teachers are unable to use.  Teachers would be able to pick out the software that is important for their classroom, style of teaching, and style of learners, and just pay for that.  Textbooks could be used less, and instead use online resources such as wikis where classes can collaborate and discuss and almost make up their own “textbook” of information that is useful to them.  This would also allow students and teachers to have access to information at anytime and anywhere.

            “A body of educational applications that are all free, open source, and maintained by a collaborating community, could result in an exciting new generation of computer-based learning activities that are well designed, robust, and highly effective” (183).

Toward a Smart Future

            In order for such technology advancements in schools, students and parents need to have easy access to the internet, even at home, which is not the case for everyone.  The Telecommunications Act of 1996 provided poor and rural areas with broadband.  This same structure could be used in order to provide internet access.

            Net neutrality is another issue that is emerging.  The concept of net neutrality is that companies would have to pay the internet companies in order for their site to be loaded and transmitted faster.  This would then cause smaller companies who do not have the money for this to be transmitted very slowly.  In today’s society, people do not like to wait around for a page to load, so this could drastically negatively affect the smaller companies that are on the web.

            As the web continues to be more influential in today’s world, teachers are having to learn how to incorporate the web 2.0 tools into their curriculum effectively.

NETS • T Standard

          2.       Planning and Designing Learning Environments and Experience – Teachers plan and design effective learning environments and experiences supported by technology.  I think this standard applies to the chapter because it describes how teachers design developmentally appropriate learning opportunities that apply technology-enhances instructional strategies to support the diverse needs of learners as well as applying current research on teaching and learning with technology when planning learning environments and experiences.  It also relates to the chapter because the standard notes that teachers identify and locate technology resources and evaluate them for the accuracy and suitability and well as plan for the management of technology resources within the context of learning activities.  Finally, the standard also notes teachers plan strategies to manage student learning in a technology-enhanced environment.

Citations:

Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0, new tools, new schools. Eugene, OR: Intl Society for Technology in educ.