Educational Blogging Reflection

I was very interested in reading about educational blogging, having actually seen one in action, created by fellow classmate Aaron Boyd, with his high school economics class. Blogs are thought of as new, or maybe not so new ways of communication in a open forum. I think the fact that blogs are public, is key in that it makes students more aware of their writing. Key words that stood out to me were that blogs are short, informal, sometimes controversial or deeply personal.
It appears that blogs will become more and more pervasive in education. For teachers, it facilitates how to set up curriculum, disperse timely information, organize class discussions and conduct assessment. For students, blogs provide a platform where their "voice" can be heard equally. Students are motivated and excited when they know others can read and respond to their comments. I think it will be important to be aware of installed applications where access can be controlled (for example, the blog is private and accessed only among teachers and students). Ultimately, blogs are motivating, they break down barriers, are current and have immediacy. Nobody is immune!

Learning for 21st Century

Learning for the 21st Century

In the Mile Guide for 21st Century skills, I couldn’t help but think that the whole report was a bit unrealistic. I have been in education for 10 years, in many different capacities, and I although the plan is commendable, I have only seen it in practice in independent and private schools. The letter to America’s Education Leaders states that, “Clearly, we must work together to fully prepare people for the challenges of work and life in the 21st century”. There is a partnership between major businesses and education organizations, and what I would like to know is, how do the public schools in San Francisco, that I have worked with, get to be one of the schools lucky enough to be a partner in this program?

One of the biggest challenges I see to the “plan” is one of establishing a technology infrastructure. It seems that the ability to have a technology infrastructure depends on the ebb and flow of the school budgets. At the beginning of my teaching career, my school’s budget was “fat” and we were able to purchase all the hardware to set up a computer lab geared to preparing and educating the students in a technology forum. Two years later, after developing a computer technology curriculum based on the California academic and technology standards, budgets were cut, and not only could the lab not be preserved and maintained, the Curriculum Technology Integrator (CTI) teaching position could not even be funded! I am a credentialed teacher, and therefore went into the classroom, but the whole program that I had developed just disintegrated. Needless to say, it was very disappointing to the teaching staff, the students and the extended community. The report summed it up in two sentences: Budgets are tight. Demands are intense.

Talking about intense demands, schools in San Francisco, run in on a shoestring budget. Classrooms are overcrowded, understaffed and lack educational materials. I agree with the whole premise presented by the article, we must prepare the future generations for learning in the 21st century! However, until our federal and state governments fully commit to all schools to incorporate the key elements, with funding and resources, then children will be left behind, and no teacher will be left standing.

First Blog Post to itec 830

Hello Fellow itec830 classmates. I'm not even sure where this will be posting to, but Dr. Foreman said to "play" and have fun with this. Hoping to become much more of an expert and actually create a blog with some interesting info and semi-intelligent banter.
I'm pretty amazed with this Web 2.0 thing. My fifteen year-old is all over it, using MySpace, Facebook, Photobucket, Flickr (I lose count).
Hope everyone enjoyed the beautiful weather this past Labor Day Weekend.