The Tech Savvy Teacher

A colleague of mine is finally testing the idea that if all students have a computer then they will find avenues for learning that, through traditional teaching methods, cannot be found.  Some might think that students should just have access to computers and the Internet, but in many schools that is not the case.  Some might think that students have too much access, but that is not always the case either.

I wonder, though, when the smoke has cleared, what role does the teacher play in this 1:1 teaching scenario?

In a recent video on www.edweek.org, Karen Cator, the Director of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology, says that teachers don’t need more professional development to learn how to use “new” technology in the classroom.  Teachers “are tech savvy” and need to begin using the same technology they use in their personal lives in their classrooms. 

Cator continues by saying that professional development should help teachers to develop new assignments that engage students and use current technology as the vehicle through which students will learn. 

I couldn’t agree more!

My colleague, knowing that every one of his students has a laptop, is able to teach students to write differently using blogs.  He is able to provide links to videos, podcasts, music, and books.  And this is just scratching the surface. 

In my own classroom, I watch my students go to the laptops and, with the click of the mouse, create dynamic presentations using research skills that they didn’t know existed.  What do I do?  I watch them create!  For a tech savvy teacher, using the same technology I use in my own life has opened my classroom to wonderful new ways to teach my students. 

So what does all this really mean?  Well, I think it’s the tech savvy teacher that will find ways for his students to engage the world and learn from it.  Traditional teaching will only show the students how much of the world fits on one page. 

To view my colleagues blog and hear more about his 1:1 teaching, go to http://teacherstalkingshop.blogspot.com.

To view the entire Karen Cator video, go to http://www.edweek.org/ew/section/video-galleries/october05-event-edtech.html.

Should Classic Novels be Re-imagined?

I'm a lover of the classics; To Kill a Mockingbird and Of Mice and Men are favorites of mine that I re-read each year and find something new to love each time.  However, as this generation of learners is more demanding of interactivity, should classic novels such as these be re-imagined? 

If you follow my blog, you may have noticed that I enjoy playing a few video games now and again.  I certainly feel that video games possess elements of storytelling that sometimes surpass novels.  In most cases, the level of interactivity allows the player to take part in the fictional world in ways a novel can never do.  And it is with these ideas in mind that I re-imagine the classics. 

Imagine Atticus Finch as a video game hero!  Imagine George and Lennie's relationship put into the world of a video game!  While these are just a couple of fun examples, there is an endless number of ideas available.  But would it work?

I think the opportunity to interact with these novels and the characters in a new way would be beneficial to my students because gaming is something that many of them spend a lot of time doing.  Reading, for many students, seems like a boring, tedious, and forced process.  Why not bring these classics to a game world where the students are already comfortable?  Teachers could still focus on ideas such as characterization, theme, setting, and conflict.  Moreover, why not have the students play the game while reading the novel? 

However, with the amount of controversy surrounding the recent changes to Huck Finn, I have to assume that making these classic novels into games would cause just as much controversy.  Although I don't see schools using the games instead of classic texts anytime soon, it is difficult to deny the power of interactive storytelling and the unbelievable experience a gamer may have interacting with a game.  I guess I can still enjoy the idea of my favorite classics gracing the Wii, PS3, or Xbox 360! 

Take a look at this excellent documentary on Interactive Fiction that informed this post: http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/02/01/new-documentary-takes-a-look-at-interactive-fiction.aspx

Happy reading...or gaming!

How Much is Too Much?

A colleague of mine recently said to me, "My students are finally able to learn at home and discuss and enjoy the learning in class."  I've thought about this statement for days and have finally realized that it has been burning in my mind because it turns all we think about education upside down. 

For the most part, teachers "teach" in the classroom and students "learn" in the classroom.  Homework is a form of practice and application of those ideas they've taken from a lesson or lecture in school.  But how much is too much? 

Most teachers assign homework as an application of the ideas the students have learned in class.  The application of the notes or lesson serves an important purpose as it allows the students time to practice what they've learned in class.  Of course this makes sense!  But how much is too much?  When does homework lose its impact?

If students learn at home and apply, practice, discuss, and interact with the learning at school, homework takes on a whole new meaning.  It's at home where the students prepare to "show and tell" when they come to the classroom.  Each student would have his or her own response to learning material individually and be able to share those ideas in the classroom; and other students will be able to share and collaborate as well. 

In the end, while I haven't made and drastic changes yet, I've been forced to re-define what homework means in my classroom.  And I know that the changes will come soon enough. 

Facebook...in the Classroom?

According to statistics, there are over 500 million people currently utilizing the power of Facebook.  Additionally, users spend over 700 billion hours a month communicating, writing, sharing, and enjoying Facebook's unique applications.  Moreover, over 70% of Facebook's users are outside the United States ( http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics).

But...does it belong in the classroom?

I began a lesson with my own students where they were asked to create a Facebook page for a character from Act 1 of Romeo and Juliet.  While I gave the students a generic template from which to begin their page, I found that most students opted to manipulate the template to fit their character's needs and to add the appropriate information to their page that their character would probably include.  Adding friends, a quote, a nice picture, and some hot topics on their walls seemed like second nature to my students.  And I started thinking, they probably enjoy this Facebook activity because they are part of the statistics I shared above. 

Yes, it's true.  Teenagers - students - are on Facebook.  It is part of their daily lives.  It is so much a part of this generation's culture that those who do not use Facebook may seem...lost. 

But...does it belong in the classroom?

While I don't have the ability to bring live Facebook pages to my classroom, I can't deny the power that communicating with our own classmates and teachers, and communicating with students and teachers from around the world, could have on learning.  If used wisely, the possibilities for learning are endless.  If expectations of learning are set high, students will see the power of Facebook as a tool to enhance their learning...not just a tool to catch their friend's latest relationship status. 

In the end, bring it on!  Facebook doesn't seem to be going away any time soon, so why not enjoy the opportunities it affords us all. 

Racial Diversity in Schools, Novels, and...Video Games?

Racial diversity in video games is certainly something I'd never thought about before reading Matthew Kato's article in the newest edition of Game Informer.  The topic of diversity, however, is something that I encounter quite frequently. 

As a high school English teacher, I deal with diversity every day in my school.  I am often asked, by students and parents, if I teach novels with protagonists who have diverse cultural or ethnic backgrounds.  Moreover, I am also asked if I teach novels written by authors with diverse cultural or ethnic backgrounds.  Unfortunately, most of the same old texts that were popular ten or twenty years ago still permeate our curriculum today. 

Video games, however, are a different story.  As Kato's article suggests, stereotyping certain racial groups in certain types of games could be problematic.  Additionally, wrestling with the relationship between a game's content and diversity can be a difficult fight.  But video games have become one of the nations fastest growing markets; can we just turn our cheeks to their impact?   

Novels are so much easier.  For the most part, I know my students are not waiting in line at midnight to pick up a copy of Of Mice and Men.   I don't see them identifying in the same way with the characters in novels as many of them do with video games.  Though, after reading some novels I see them appreciate the relationships that the characters experience.  Honestly, though, I'm sure some of my students could tell me more about some of the most popular video game characters than they could about iconic characters in literature. 

In the end, diversity in video games is certainly an issue to be discussed.  But, as Kato's article states, "If it ain't fun, nothing else matters."  Do gamers really care about identifying culturally or racially with a game's protagonist?  Or, will they simply be thinking about the next wave of zombies ready to attack? 

Remembering Mark Twain!

With all the controversy about the new edition of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, I can't help but remember another smear on Twain's good name: Adventures of Tom Sawyer NES!

While the new edition of Twain's novel has removed all N-word references and replaced them with "slave" and made other small changes to the text, as a teacher I am worried that Twain's colloquial language may suffer. That's what we've grown to know Twain for - using the dialect of the time period to immerse the reader. That's also why it's sometimes difficult to read.

Of course the NES Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a game that certainly puts me into the adventures Twain intended. I remember playing this game as a kid because I had leafed through Huck Finn and enjoyed Twain's writing. I guess I shouldn't be too upset at moving up streat in a clunky, brown raft dodging aligators.

O, well. I can just see Twain rolling over in his grave!

My Eyes! My Eyes!

Nintedo's new warning against playing the new Nintendo 3DS makes my eyes hurt!

According to CNN.com, Nintendo has sent out a warning that children who play the Nintendo 3DS may experience improper eye develepment. Additionally, Nintendo warns that children should take regular breaks while playing the 3DS; after 30 minutes of play time children should turn off the system to rest the eyes.

At $300.oo, I think I would be a little upset that I couldn't use the product for longer than 30 minutes at a time. On the other hand, as a parent, I might be happy that my kids will be forced to put down the handheld and play some football in the back yard.

Either way, could this hinder the long-term success of the 3DS?

I just wonder if Gutenburg, after inventing the printing press, warned the public that if they stare at a page for more than 30 minutes they might experience stunted eye growth? Well, maybe not. Books have been around for a very long time.

Check out the whole story at cnn.com by clicking on the following link: http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/gaming.gadgets/12/30/nintendo.3ds.kids/index.html?hpt=Sbin

Gamer Bully

It happened quickly. In the midst of a fierce firefight, grenades and bullets raining from above, a voice buzzed in my headset. He had found me. We were the only ones. And he provoked me to speak.

I said nothing, of course. I’m not much a talker while playing online. Occasionally I’ll exchange friendly banter when my friends are online, but in this case I wasn’t eager to entertain another banal conversation.

Again, he probed. “If you have a headset, you’ve got to talk. It’s annoying when people don’t talk.”

Again, I ignored him. But he continued. “I hate you people who don’t talk. Just talk already.”
When I finished the game, I turned off my console, but the feeling of being “gamer bullied” stuck with me. It’s laughable, but it’s true.

Most of us are mature enough to recognize when bullying occurs. And with so much attention being thrust upon the issue of bullying in schools across the nation, there is more information available on bullying than ever before. But is it possible that we’re forgetting the “gamer bully?”

As an educator and gamer, I like to think that the old social stigma placed on “gamers” has disappeared and people from all walks of life can come together over a video game and find some common ground to stand on. My own students, students who wouldn’t normally speak, have found a common interest in Call of Duty.

I guess, in the end, I hope that more of the later occurs. Let’s come together and enjoy friendly competition instead of creating more conflict than what appears on the screen!

Video Blog - December 23, 2010

They're finally here! Check out the most current video blog for Consoles in the Classroom by clicking on the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dj9TTHjx0SY

Happy holidays. We'll see you next year!

The Thin Red Line – Call of Duty in the Classroom

Call of Duty: Black Ops has undoubtedly become one of 2010’s best selling games. Treyarch and Activision have created an exciting, albeit brief, solo campaign and a stellar online multiplayer platform that will keep gamers coming back for months. They’ve even thrown in some zombies for good measure! But with all this aside, I wonder if Black Ops should occupy a corner of my classroom?

As I’ve said before, not a day goes by that I don’t hear a conversation about Call of Duty: Black Ops in one of my classes, in the hallways, or at the lunch table. From a societal standpoint, there’s always something that people need to talk about around the water cooler. In this case, Black Ops seems to be that something. But from an educational standpoint, there is a thin red line between what should and shouldn’t be discussed in a classroom.

There is no doubt that Black Ops, along with other war games such as the new Medal of Honor and Bad Company all satisfy a niche in the video game market. They all put the player into war-like situations and force him or her to fight to the end. I remember playing Medal of Honor: Frontline on the Playstation 2 and being in awe at having to fight my way up the beach in Normandy. I actually pictured myself alongside my grandfather shooting and ducking for my life. But is this educational?

In a military history course, for sure! I can see the obvious benefits to having a group of students work their way up the beach in Normandy in a video game while they are discussing D-Day in class. I can see the obvious benefits to have students work their way through a Vietnam landing zone while discussing the Ho Chi Minh trail. In one sense, there seems to be no better way to immerse students into the history. And believe it or not, these games are mostly accurate.

Additionally, while students play games like Black Ops online in multi-player matches, they may gain certain benefits from playing socially with other people. Group communication, establishing roles, and compromise are all parts of these online experiences. And certainly in moderation, this type of online communication could help students to communicate outside of the online world.

In the end, it’s still important for educators and parents to remember that some games have a mature rating because they incorporate mature themes. While I do agree with the current rating system, educators and parents need to be cautious about using video games in the classroom or home just for the sake of using a video game that is popular and exciting. Moderation is key! Too much of anything isn’t always a good thing. And even though there are some benefits to playing games like Call of Duty: Black Ops, it ultimately becomes a choice of the teacher or parent to step behind or across that thin red line.