Article #1
The Connected Teacher
Online professional development is a new concept for today’s educator. For many teachers it is very difficult to juggle the demands of school, family life, and professional course work. This article The Connected Teacher located in the online magazine Electronic School dated January 2002 addresses a viable option for meeting the needs and demands of teachers for continued instruction through online instruction. The responsibilities of today’s teacher are identified in this article with the major concerns being implementing state standards, preparing and taking tests, and continuing professional development. The author also notes that although expectations of teachers have changed, training these professional for changes in their field, continue to be done in the same manner. One method of continuing education which could meet the needs of teachers, according to the author, is online staff development. At present courses that are held online for teachers are usually on how to use technology and how to implement the use of that technology into district designed curriculum. Recently, though, online courses for teachers are addressing teaching strategies and traditional graduate work. Ms Joiner, the author of this article, lists many positive reasons why online professional development does work and is another option for teachers to acquire additional professional training. One positive of online instruction identified was that many teachers are isolated by geography or by the courses they teach. Online instruction can put these teachers in touch with their educational peers electronically. Another positive of this instruction is that online instruction can employ a variety of methods from video conferencing to online communication. There was also the point made in this article that online instruction allows for flexibility of the learner to link up to instruction when it is convenient for the learner. Negative components of online instruction are identified as well. The teacher taking these online courses must have the technological background to participate. Also computers and all the hookups to various servers must be up and running for all to participate. The article also identifies that online courses can isolate many from face to face physical encounters with other peers which onsite courses provide. The author does an excellent job including the rational for including online courses as an option for presenting continuing education courses.
The Connected Teacher helped to clarify many of my ideas about online instruction for educators. The many positive points raised in this article are valid. I do feel it is easier for me, with my demanding schedule, to go online and work on projects when I have the time. But, conversely, I also identify with one of the negative points of online instruction identified by the author and that is lack of skills necessary to participate in the course. Many of our younger teachers are coming out of college with advanced technological ability. Some of us “more mature” teachers need and are still working on acquiring computing skills. Another concern, brought forth in this article that I relate to, is the social isolation online courses impose. I learn and enjoy learning from others ideas and thoughts. Presently I miss the personal connections enjoyed on onsite courses. One last idea that I thought was interesting was the concern on how these online providers were holding teachers accountable for material learned. It was interesting to note that the author quoted a source stating teachers should produce a project to show learning. I imagine that is one the reasons for all the projects that are being completed in this course. This article was a well written synopsis of the positives and negatives of online courses as well as listing the necessary components of this type of professional development for educators.
Joiner, Lottie
L. (2002, Jan). The Connected Teacher. Electronic School.
Retrieved
Article #2
Connie Sylvanus
LS521 Sp02
Journal
Article Review #2
Technology Across the Curriculum
Different states, cities, and school districts have different philosophies or concepts on how curriculum is to be disseminated. Mr. Serim, the author of Technology Across the Internet written in the November/December issue of online magazine MultiMedia Schools, looks at three different philosophies or approaches to education and describes how technology can be implemented into all these educational approaches. The first style of education described is termed the traditional approach. In this teaching style teachers are imparting information in the way education was conducted in the 1960’s, teachers lecture, students listen. One would also note in this classroom that there are teacher directed questions and a student right or wrong answer. The author suggests that the technology for this classroom or school would be software that provides much drill and repetition. Also software would help to remediate students who are having difficulty with concepts in this classroom. The second type of educational approach viewed by this author was termed the progressive approach. In this classroom one would see an approach towards education where how children reach answers being most valued. The right or wrong answer to questions is not as important as how one achieves the answer. The teacher in this classroom is aiding children in locating methods for achieving success. In the progressive classroom the author suggests simulation software, software that allows students to question what if I tried this or that. The last type of educational approach Mr. Serim identifies is the transformative classroom. This classroom is a classroom which values questioning over answers. Hands-on and real life tasks are performed. The author sees web quests as a valuable resource for this type of learning environment. As this article closes the author states that all philosophies of education can use a variety of software. In addition, Mr. Serim states that the three different types of philosophies are all valid and that all three philosophies of education, in his opinion, are important and should all be included in the way a child is educated.
The break down of different types of educational philosophies and how these philosophies impact on technology was interesting. I agree with the author that in present day education there are needs for a blended philosophy to be applied to curriculum as well as the technology supporting that curriculum. I was hoping as I was reading this article that Mr. Serim would suggest different web sites and software which could be used in these types of classrooms instead of suggesting a general type of software. I am sure that students have a style of software that their abilities and learning styles receive more positively than others. In my third grade classroom my students range in ability from learning support to gifted. The type of teaching I provide varies at times from traditional to transformative depending on what I am teaching and how I feel my students can learn the information I am about to teach. The types of software I provide for my students, therefore, need to be as diverse as the learners and the teaching. This article supports the concepts of teaching diversely and providing software to accompany that diversity.
Serim, Ferdi. (2001, Nov./Dec). Technology Across the Curriculum. MultiMedia Schools, 8(6).
Retrieved