Sort Out The School Tech Mess (Techlife Australia Article)

The April Edition of Techlife Australia has an interesting article for parents on selecting the right device for student learning given the myriad of options now available such as laptops, netbooks, ipads and tablet computers.

With the future of the laptop rollout in schools in doubt after this year, it is likely that parents will pick up the bill in providing the technology needed to aid student learning in the classroom. Some schools already bill families levies for the hire of laptops for example schools managed by the  Catholic Education Office Sydney have various levies associated with the hire of laptops to students.

To cut to the chase, the article recommends that for the time being, the humble laptop is the recommended device for student learning given that the programs and applications can operate more smoothly. The computing power needed on a laptop is there as opposed to the tablet and Ipad. Also keep in mind that tablets and Ipads are more for consuming content as opposed to creating content. Yes students have to consume content, but they need to also create the content to demonstrate to us as educators that they are indeed learning.

The article also provides useful consumer advice on selecting the right laptop, the essential features of a laptop needed for learning e.g processing speed, batteries etc, several laptops are reviewed plus options for either buying or leasing a laptop.

Technology & Classroom behavior: Do they cause kids to misbehave? (Part II)

I have taken some time to sit and reflect on how we as teachers should deal with those in the classroom that engage in inappropriate use of technology.

During the past few days, I had the chance to look over at two technology policies of two schools that I am employed at casually at the moment along with their consequences.

I have also been challenged by the limited number of articles on the topic as well. I hope at some point soon that there is some research out there to guide me.

At this stage, I feel that punishment within the “pastoral” or “welfare” policy is fair provided that the behavior is covered by policy. For example, acts of cyber bullying can be dealt with under the policy because bullying involving the use of technology is the same if the bullying was to occur physically or emotionally. Cyber bullying does cause the same effects.

Obviously if a student fails to comply with instructions with their use in the classroom e.g. no music again it should be dealt with because the student has not complied with instructions.

The only time a student should be denied access to technology is if there is serious misuse of it e.g. accessing sites of pornographic and/or offensive nature. If we look at workplace expectations, serious disciplinary action can be taken if one misuses technology. In many instances it has led to loss of employment. 

If school is about preparing our youth for the workplace then we need to foster appropriate workplace practices and develop an understanding of possible consequences. It may mean that a student may loss access to technology for their learning but sometimes students need to learn the “hard way” of separating right from wrong. Access to technology is a privilege, not a right.  

Since discipline is about helping students correct their behavior – I feel that students should also be required to receive support from support staff such as counselors who can guide the student in addressing their issue. Sometimes it does go deeper and that may help the student long term as it may fix other problems affecting them at their stage of life. 

It is still an area that needs to be looked it further. As this blog entry and the previous one showsmI am glad that I have curiosity about it, which is great.

Technology & Classroom behavior: Do they cause kids to misbehave?

Being a casual teacher, this is an interesting question that I want to take some time to reflect on. Obviously the use of laptops allow for greater teaching and learning opportunities in the classroom on so many fronts whether it may be in the presentation of information or making the use of the world wide web to research for information.

As a casual teacher, I try and encourage the students to use the laptops for their learning. With many youngsters wired up to technology, it is fair that if they enjoy the technology, that should be utilized to allow them to learn. As teachers, we do need to focus on student interests if they are to learn effectively. Obviously there are some who want to opt for more traditional means of learning and I try and accommodate that too.

However I find that using the laptops in the classroom can cause students to disengage from learning and end up off task. This is a common issue that has been raised with colleagues that I work at in the various schools that I am employed at. This becomes more challenging if you are a casual teacher.

For instance, some will end up surfing the web, visiting websites not related to learning. They will listen to music from youtube and/or have music stored on their laptops, some of which contain offensive content.

Gaming has emerged as another challenge. Some have downloaded games or simply can access a website that contains games.

I have found that the only way to control the class is to effectively stand at the back of the room where the screens can be seen and moving around regularly. At the front of the room, you cannot see them so there is little point in remaining down the front at all and ensuring that they remain on task.

Then some will want to test my expectations relating to appropriate use of laptops and that of the school’s e.g. play music aloud or simply not comply with instructions even though those expectations were firmly provided.

Taking away the computers from the students may be a short term solution but then the student cannot learn. A few years ago when training as a teacher and even in my first year of casual teaching, I did that and at the end of the day the situation is not really resolved. If the task requires internet research, to sit there and doing nothing will not work. They do not learn at all and miss out on learning the information and communication skills that they will need as part of curriculum requirements.

Will conventional punishments such as a “work” detention (where the student stays back to finish the work) work? Maybe that is the effective way. If a student wastes their learning time doing recreational activities on the computer, maybe sacrificing some of that time after school might do the job. In the workplace, if we waste our time, don’t we have to make up for the time lost at some point, either directly (staying back at our desk) or doing it in our own leisure time.

I plan to answer this further in my next blog post.

New University Standards for Teaching Students in NSW

Here in NSW, there has been a lot of coverage relating to the Government's plans to increase standards for graduate teachers and to attract those with a higher academic ability.

The plan will only allow teachers to become qualified in NSW if they have received a Band 5 (80 %) or more in a minimum of three subjects. One of those subjects must be English.

Universities will still be allowed to enrol students for teaching courses if they don't meet the requirements but they will not be allowed to undertake practicums. Hence they would be ineligible to graduate and become qualified teachers in NSW.

I do have one question relating to the proposed standards. In NSW all students study one of the following English Courses in order to receive a Higher School Certificate:

1. English Advanced
2. English Standard
3. English as a Second Language.

Students who do English Advanced can also undertake the following one unit courses:

1. English Extension 1
2. English Extension 2

Lets focus on the three main English Courses.

English Advanced is generally undertaken by more academically able students as opposed to English Standard. English as Second Language is undertaken by students where English is not their first language.

So under this system, a student who gains a band five in any of those courses would be eligible to become a qualified teacher in NSW.

This means that students who may opt to do a more challenging English courses may be punished for simply doing that unit because their level of English is not regarded as "good enough" despite the fact that they have opted for a more challenging course.

Given that English subjects cater to different levels of student abilities, shouldn't the focus be on either:

1. Imposing a minimum standard for English proficiency.
2. Adjusting the cutoffs for each English subject.
3. Require students to complete a certain English subject e.g. Satisfactory completion of English Advanced.

The State Government needs to be clearer on the standards or otherwise those who do have sufficient proficiency in English will miss out because they have opted for a more academically challenging course.

ICT & Maths

I was talking to a friend last month. They are a qualified maths teacher and we discussed some challenges of using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in maths.

I can understand their viewpoint that traditional methods of teaching and learning such as writing on the board and students presenting their work in an exercise book is much more effective. At the end of the day students won't be tested on a computer and hence need practice in presenting their work by hand. The teacher does use a wide variety of resources such as learning kits etc to help in students develop their practical understanding.

After some personal reflection, I realise that there is more scope than ever for using ICT to help students learn.

Many students despise maths and ICT can make maths more interesting for students.

The rise of Ipads in the classroom has given opportunities for teachers to use to satisfy ICT requirements.

Last year, I was asked to identify suitable apps to support teaching and learning. This site contained a list of apps that are available for Maths. Calculators, quizzes, instructional videos are some of the apps that are available. As time progresses they will surely be refined.

And just browsing around today is helping me to identify possible resources that can help teachers. A wiki that I located has a list of resources that a maths teacher can use in a lesson. I like the fact they provide teaching resources to allow students to develop their mathematical understanding by using online sites such as Google Earth. I can even see a cross curricular link right there with Geography.

Anaphylaxis NSW schools 4.0 Online Course

Just a few thoughts from the online course that I did last week:

Generally I enjoyed it because its a handy life skill. This situation can happen with anyone, anywhere at anytime. It will help me not just at school but in the wider community.

It was interesting to learn the difference between an allergic reaction and a Anaphylaxis attack and being reminded that when in doubt, just inject the Adrenalin into the patient because it can make the difference between life and death.

I was taught last year by my mother in how to inject the needle with Adrenalin last year and impressed with how easy it was to do, yet it shocked me how the teacher at Ashfield Boys High would end up stabbing himself with the needle while trying to treat the boy who later died.

The only downside is that being an online course, practical training was quite limited. I think there needs to be some hands on training attached to the course and actually be assessed on it as well to make sure that the person knows what to do in such a situation.