I don't think the case was made terribly well equating computer access in the classroom with social justice. I understand the need for technological skills and savvy for all students, but I am not convinced that rises to the level of social injustice on the part of a teacher faced with inequity of access among student homes. The information divide is a real concern in our communities, and across the world, but the individual teacher's role does not rise to the level of social justice or injustice. Yes, it is important to provide access opportunities, including open classroom times as possible before or after school, posting public library hours, information about programs like Free Geek and student discount programs. It also means providing time on assignments for those who may need to access library computers.
I think a big mistake in the articles is the emphasis on student's choices of entertainment rather than assessing their best learning. The two are not the same, but Greenhow seems to gloss that distinction:
"They wanted more technologies for learning in school and distinguished their out-of-school technology use for personal or social communication as "more entertaining" than the academically traditional technology use in school."
Well of course it was "more entertaining"... that's the nature of personal or social activities vs. academics! The technology is not the big distinction in that, is it? The real question isn't how do we make academic technology more entertaining, it is how do we make sure students are learning how to use technology as one (and not the only) tool for effective information gathering, analysis and presentation. In other words, the traditional goal of education: informed and critical thinkers.
The access students have at home to technology will not automatically translate to an adeptness with the applications useful in school or in the workplace. Teacher's should not assume that students who are skilled at texting and social media are good at finding useful information and discriminating among credible and dubious sources, for example. Thus, we can expect that access to computers will be only the first step in providing our students with competency they will require in the future. We'll have to provide them with information savvy as well as tech savvy. Because a student who has 24/7 computer access who still doesn't understand that Wikipedia isn't the best source of all information is not really much better prepared for the workplace than one who has limited computer access at the school.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
Power Points... a great tool, but one to use wisely
The variety of content was great; I enjoyed the many different directions and foci. A few technical points leapt out as examples to emulate and to beware of. I personally find too many transition sound effects to be distracting. To me, they are like exclamation points, to be used sparingly so they retain their impact. The smart art graphics were something I haven’t played with before, so I was interested to see how everyone utilized them, and the variety of styles and colors available. My favorite effect I saw is using a photo for the background of a slide, but fading it out a bit so the font contrasts better. Josh Stohl did this especially well with a photograph of his grandparent’s wall of art and family treasures. Adding in a little glow around the font is another trick for making it stand out against the background.
The things to beware of are the same as always: too much text on a slide, reading the slides directly to the class and font that is hard to see against the background. Rachel’s presentation about malnutrition had powerful images, but due to the limitation of the number slides set by the assignment, the hard choice was where to put a list of facts. I agree with the choice of not trying cluttering the most powerful images of starving children, but the “Facts” slide then had font that was too small to read easily. The “Symptoms” slide was about the perfect balance of size and amount of info, I thought. My own presentation was guilty of some over wordiness too, which may mean this is just a problem with biologists making presentations? ;)
I’ve used power point a lot for class presentations. In online classes, I have my students make freestanding shows that are posted for a week at a time for class discussion. It has worked well in that venue. Power point is a tool that can really illustrate and support a presentation’s organization, or starkly reveal a presentation’s lack of organization. Just like any other tool, it has to be used correctly and for the right reason to be effective. Using it just because it is available leads to “death by power point,” a terribly affliction epidemic in society today.
The things to beware of are the same as always: too much text on a slide, reading the slides directly to the class and font that is hard to see against the background. Rachel’s presentation about malnutrition had powerful images, but due to the limitation of the number slides set by the assignment, the hard choice was where to put a list of facts. I agree with the choice of not trying cluttering the most powerful images of starving children, but the “Facts” slide then had font that was too small to read easily. The “Symptoms” slide was about the perfect balance of size and amount of info, I thought. My own presentation was guilty of some over wordiness too, which may mean this is just a problem with biologists making presentations? ;)
I’ve used power point a lot for class presentations. In online classes, I have my students make freestanding shows that are posted for a week at a time for class discussion. It has worked well in that venue. Power point is a tool that can really illustrate and support a presentation’s organization, or starkly reveal a presentation’s lack of organization. Just like any other tool, it has to be used correctly and for the right reason to be effective. Using it just because it is available leads to “death by power point,” a terribly affliction epidemic in society today.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Bonus post! Teacher responses to the top ten student "lines"
Aimed at college really, but much of the spirit holds true in high school as well. Certainly inspiring for me over the years.
http://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/nosymp.htm
"Top Ten No Sympathy Lines (Plus a Few Extra)
Steven Dutch, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
First - time Visitors: Please visit Site Map and Disclaimer. Use "Back" to return here.
This Course Covered Too Much Material...
Great! You got your money's worth! At over $100 a credit, you should complain about not getting a lot of information. If you take a three credit course and get $200 worth of information, you have a right to complain. If you get $500 worth, you got a bargain.
The Expected Grade Just for Coming to Class is a B
This belief seems to be making the rounds in some college circles. The expected grade for just coming to class and not doing anything else is a D or an F. The average grade is supposed to be C although grade inflation is a perennial problem.
Unlike Lake Wobegon, all the children in the real world are not above average.
I Disagreed With the Professor's Stand on ----
The time to deal with this issue is when it comes up in class. I have no respect for anyone who complains on the course questionnaires.
But the professor might put me down, or the students might laugh at me. Not too likely, but even if it happens, so what? If you don't have courage in the safe setting of a classroom, when exactly are you planning to develop it? When your boss asks you to falsify figures or lie under oath? When someone throws rocks through your minority neighbor's windows? When the local hate group burns the synagogue?
Some Topics in Class Weren't on the Exams
The point of a class is the material, not the exam. The exam is a check to see whether you learned the material.
Do You Give Out a Study Guide?
Hmm. The textbook simplifies a vast amount of material, then I simplify it more in lecture. Then you want me to extract the most important ten per cent of that and put it on a study guide, so if you know most of it you can get an A.
So what you're saying is the cutoff grade for an A should be 10%, right?
How Am I Doing In Class?
You're failing.
If you don't know the class material well enough to assess your own progress, and you don't know enough math to estimate your grade given your progress to date, you're failing.
You may luck out and get something higher than an F, but as theologians say, don't confuse mercy with merit.
I Studied for Hours
How many? A college credit is defined as three hours' work per week; one in class and two outside. That's why adding a three-hour lab to a class only results in one additional credit.
This means that 12 credits translates to an average of 36 hours' work a week. That's why 12 credits is considered full time; it's the equivalent of a full-time job.
If you have a course that meets three hours a week for 3 credits but doesn't require six hours of outside work a week to keep up, consider yourself lucky. Other courses may require more time. Also, individual students require different amounts of study time. It does no good to complain that three hours a week per credit is excessive, any more than it does to complain that 26 miles is too long for a marathon. They are what they are.
The one thing you can count on is that a few hours of cramming before the final will not give good results. I recently heard from a student who lamented that she stayed up until 2 A.M. studying, then got up at 6 A.M. and studied some more, and did poorly. And she was surprised? She'd have been better off getting a decent night's sleep.
I Know The Material - I Just Don't Do Well on Exams
Leprechauns, unicorns, Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, hobbits, orcs - and students who know the material but don't do well on exams. Mythical creatures.
I've met students who claim to know the material but not do well on exams, but when you press them, it turns out they don't know the material after all. If you can't answer questions about the material or apply the knowledge in an unfamiliar context, you don't know it. You might have vague impressions of specific ideas, but if you can't describe them in detail and relate them to other ideas, you don't know the material.
In addition to content, every type of exam used in college requires specific, vital intellectual skills. Essay exams require you to organize material and present it in your own words. Short-answer exams require you to frame precise, concise answers to questions. Multiple choice exams require you to define criteria for weeding out false alternatives and selecting one best answer. All of these are useful skills in themselves. If you can't do well on some specific type of test - learn the appropriate skill.
I Don't Have Time For All This
Life is about choices. We all have more to do than we can do completely, and we have to set priorities. So we may have to accept tradeoffs. Some options:
Reduce your credit load and take longer to get through
Cut back on social events
Cut back on work hours and accept a lower standard of living and fewer possessions
When you have two conflicting assignments, focus on the most important one
Accept lower grades
The one option that is never on the table in life is to choose a course of action and choose the consequences. If you select a course of action, you also select the consequences. If you want to avoid or achieve a certain set of consequences, you select your course of action accordingly. So easier grading and fewer assignments to free up time for non-college activities are not an option. Don't waste time asking.
But you don't understand. I have a job
No, you don't understand. This is your job. If you don't believe me, just go out with what you have on your resume now and try to launch a career.
I got a message from one guy who did just that - dropped out of school and is now earning six figures as a Systems Administrator. This guy didn't finish college but still has a successful career. When he found out college wasn't for him, he quit and accepted the consequences. He didn't expect college to loosen its standards for him. (Of course, he was successful. If he hadn't made it and was earning minimum wage, I wonder if he'd have taken full responsibility?) So if college is cramping your style, go and do likewise. Get a job as a Systems Administrator, or buy a foreclosed property and sell it for a huge profit, or get in on the ground floor of some new business, or invent a perpetual motion machine. Or start a company to topple Microsoft. Instead of saying that Bill Gates didn't finish college, show me that you're a Bill Gates (would Windows be the mess it is if Gates had spent a few more years learning to think coherently?). Einstein and Edison didn't finish school either. Show us you're an Einstein or an Edison.
Just don't wake up on your fortieth birthday, say "my life sucks," and blame your lack of life satisfaction on your school taxes.
Students Are Customers
True. Students are customers, and they have every right to complain about poor service, unprofessional behavior, and out-of-date material. They also have a right to complain about low standards that water down their credentials.
Students are also products, and employers outside the University are also our customers. These customers have a right to complain if our graduates are lacking in skills, knowledge, and motivation. They have a right to complain if we certify someone as being a potentially good employee and that person turns out to be unqualified.
Despite the rising share students pay for their college education, students still only pay 40 per cent of the total cost. That means the University's responsibility is 40 per cent to students, and 60 per cent to the community. And our customers in the community want people who can communicate, reason, and have a good general stock of knowledge they can call on for unexpected needs. They also want us to provide an assessment that accurately reflects the quality of work students are likely to turn out as employees.
Pretentious Twit of the Year Award
Background: A philosophy professor at Syracuse University has a policy that if even one student in a class reads a newspaper or texts during class, he ends the class on the spot and walks out. One student complained:
“We the students are the customers, the consumers, the ones who make the choice every day to pay attention or not. I pay approximately $30,000 to go here, whether I text in class or not.
Get real here. I pay $30K a year? Not very likely. If this student does have that kind of personal wealth, he's too dumb to keep it for very long. But I seriously doubt that. More likely Mummy and Daddy are paying it, or he's getting financial aid, in which case donors to the university and taxpayers are paying it. Or maybe he's taking out loans, which he will pay back, maybe. Unless it becomes inconvenient and he files for bankruptcy. But it's virtually certain this student himself is not the paying customer.
Do I Need to Know This?
You can survive without the things you learn in college. People survive scrounging out of dumpsters and sleeping in doorways. If you want to talk about quality of life, we need to be a bit more demanding.
There Was Too Much Memorization
Sad to say, students have been victims of a cruel hoax. You've been told ever since grade school that memorization isn't important. Well, it is important, and our system wastes the years when it is easiest to learn new skills like the ability to memorize.
Memorization is not the antithesis of creativity; it is absolutely indispensable to creativity. Creative insights come at odd and unpredictable moments, not when you have all the references spread out on the table in front of you. You can't possibly hope to have creative insights unless you have memorized all the relevant information. And you can't hope to have really creative insights unless you have memorized a vast amount of information, because you have no way of knowing what might turn out to be useful.
Rote memorization is a choice. If you remember facts and concepts as part of an integrated whole that expands your intellectual horizons, it won't be rote. If you merely remember things to get through the next exam, it will be rote, and a whole lot less interesting, too. But that is solely your choice.
It is absolutely astonishing how many people cannot picture memorization in any other terms than "rote memorization," - even after reading the paragraph just above.
This Course Wasn't Relevant
If something as vast as mathematics or science or history can pass through your brain without even scraping the sides on the way through, that's a pretty big hole. Are you sure it's the course that doesn't relate to anything?
Our other customers in the community want people who have a good general stock of knowledge they can call on for unexpected needs. Being able to cope with unexpected needs means learning things that may not be immediately needed. You need to stop worrying about whether you need it now and begin worrying about whether your boss might need it later. A ten year old girl in Thailand saved hundreds of lives on December 26, 2004. She had just learned about tsunamis in school, recognized the warning signs, and convinced her parents to warn the resort management. As a result there were almost no casualties at her resort. In all likelihood none of her classmates will ever have need to know about tsunamis. A number of indigenous groups in the region escaped the tsunami with almost no casualties. They recognized the warning signs, which had been passed along through generations with no tsunamis, until finally that "irrelevant" knowledge became relevant.
Exams Don't Reflect Real Life
Some critics of education have said that examinations are unrealistic; that nobody on the job would ever be evaluated without knowing when the evaluation would be conducted and what would be on the evaluation.
Sure. When Rudy Giuliani took office as mayor of New York, someone told him "On September 11, 2001, terrorists will fly airplanes into the World Trade Center, and you will be judged on how effectively you cope."
Examinations are unrealistic. On the job evaluations where people are told in advance when they will be evaluated and exactly what will be covered are even more unrealistic. They're utterly artificial, carefully neutered attempts to be as fair as possible. The most meaningful evaluations in life are:
Completely unexpected.
Totally comprehensive. Absolutely everything you ever learned could be included.
Include material you never studied and maybe never even heard of.
When you skid on an icy road, nobody will listen when you complain it's unfair because you weren't warned in advance, had no experience with winter driving and had never been taught how to cope with a skid.
I Paid Good Money for This Course and I Deserve a Good Grade
Right on! And ---
I paid good money to get on this golf course and I have a right to shoot par. Anyone can enter the U.S. Open - that's what "open" means. But if you don't make the cut, you don't play in the tournament. Nor do you get a refund of your entry fee.
I paid good money for a lawyer and I have a right to win my case.
I paid good money for a house and I have a right to see it increase in value, even if I haven't lifted a finger to maintain it in ten years.
I paid good money for this stock and I have a right to see it go up, even if I haven't bothered to watch the stock market. (I just know the XYZ Beta Video and 8-Track Tape Company is poised for growth!)
Almost everything you pay for in life is an entry fee. What happens next is up to you. Buy a Lexus and never change the oil and see what happens. Get a triple bypass and keep on smoking and snorking down the cholesterol - you'll be back.
All I Want is the Diploma
The work force is full of people who do the minimum necessary to get by. Give me one reason why I, as a citizen or consumer, should help create more of them.
Call me elitist, but there are a lot more people who want good jobs than there are good jobs to go around. I think society has a perfect right to reserve those positions for people who demonstrate a commitment to excellence.
For people who want to get by on the minimum, there's a reward already established. It's called the minimum wage.
Return to Professor Dutch's Home Page
Created 31 March, 1999; Last Update 02 June 2010
Not an official UW-Green Bay site"
http://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/nosymp.htm
"Top Ten No Sympathy Lines (Plus a Few Extra)
Steven Dutch, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
First - time Visitors: Please visit Site Map and Disclaimer. Use "Back" to return here.
This Course Covered Too Much Material...
Great! You got your money's worth! At over $100 a credit, you should complain about not getting a lot of information. If you take a three credit course and get $200 worth of information, you have a right to complain. If you get $500 worth, you got a bargain.
The Expected Grade Just for Coming to Class is a B
This belief seems to be making the rounds in some college circles. The expected grade for just coming to class and not doing anything else is a D or an F. The average grade is supposed to be C although grade inflation is a perennial problem.
Unlike Lake Wobegon, all the children in the real world are not above average.
I Disagreed With the Professor's Stand on ----
The time to deal with this issue is when it comes up in class. I have no respect for anyone who complains on the course questionnaires.
But the professor might put me down, or the students might laugh at me. Not too likely, but even if it happens, so what? If you don't have courage in the safe setting of a classroom, when exactly are you planning to develop it? When your boss asks you to falsify figures or lie under oath? When someone throws rocks through your minority neighbor's windows? When the local hate group burns the synagogue?
Some Topics in Class Weren't on the Exams
The point of a class is the material, not the exam. The exam is a check to see whether you learned the material.
Do You Give Out a Study Guide?
Hmm. The textbook simplifies a vast amount of material, then I simplify it more in lecture. Then you want me to extract the most important ten per cent of that and put it on a study guide, so if you know most of it you can get an A.
So what you're saying is the cutoff grade for an A should be 10%, right?
How Am I Doing In Class?
You're failing.
If you don't know the class material well enough to assess your own progress, and you don't know enough math to estimate your grade given your progress to date, you're failing.
You may luck out and get something higher than an F, but as theologians say, don't confuse mercy with merit.
I Studied for Hours
How many? A college credit is defined as three hours' work per week; one in class and two outside. That's why adding a three-hour lab to a class only results in one additional credit.
This means that 12 credits translates to an average of 36 hours' work a week. That's why 12 credits is considered full time; it's the equivalent of a full-time job.
If you have a course that meets three hours a week for 3 credits but doesn't require six hours of outside work a week to keep up, consider yourself lucky. Other courses may require more time. Also, individual students require different amounts of study time. It does no good to complain that three hours a week per credit is excessive, any more than it does to complain that 26 miles is too long for a marathon. They are what they are.
The one thing you can count on is that a few hours of cramming before the final will not give good results. I recently heard from a student who lamented that she stayed up until 2 A.M. studying, then got up at 6 A.M. and studied some more, and did poorly. And she was surprised? She'd have been better off getting a decent night's sleep.
I Know The Material - I Just Don't Do Well on Exams
Leprechauns, unicorns, Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, hobbits, orcs - and students who know the material but don't do well on exams. Mythical creatures.
I've met students who claim to know the material but not do well on exams, but when you press them, it turns out they don't know the material after all. If you can't answer questions about the material or apply the knowledge in an unfamiliar context, you don't know it. You might have vague impressions of specific ideas, but if you can't describe them in detail and relate them to other ideas, you don't know the material.
In addition to content, every type of exam used in college requires specific, vital intellectual skills. Essay exams require you to organize material and present it in your own words. Short-answer exams require you to frame precise, concise answers to questions. Multiple choice exams require you to define criteria for weeding out false alternatives and selecting one best answer. All of these are useful skills in themselves. If you can't do well on some specific type of test - learn the appropriate skill.
I Don't Have Time For All This
Life is about choices. We all have more to do than we can do completely, and we have to set priorities. So we may have to accept tradeoffs. Some options:
Reduce your credit load and take longer to get through
Cut back on social events
Cut back on work hours and accept a lower standard of living and fewer possessions
When you have two conflicting assignments, focus on the most important one
Accept lower grades
The one option that is never on the table in life is to choose a course of action and choose the consequences. If you select a course of action, you also select the consequences. If you want to avoid or achieve a certain set of consequences, you select your course of action accordingly. So easier grading and fewer assignments to free up time for non-college activities are not an option. Don't waste time asking.
But you don't understand. I have a job
No, you don't understand. This is your job. If you don't believe me, just go out with what you have on your resume now and try to launch a career.
I got a message from one guy who did just that - dropped out of school and is now earning six figures as a Systems Administrator. This guy didn't finish college but still has a successful career. When he found out college wasn't for him, he quit and accepted the consequences. He didn't expect college to loosen its standards for him. (Of course, he was successful. If he hadn't made it and was earning minimum wage, I wonder if he'd have taken full responsibility?) So if college is cramping your style, go and do likewise. Get a job as a Systems Administrator, or buy a foreclosed property and sell it for a huge profit, or get in on the ground floor of some new business, or invent a perpetual motion machine. Or start a company to topple Microsoft. Instead of saying that Bill Gates didn't finish college, show me that you're a Bill Gates (would Windows be the mess it is if Gates had spent a few more years learning to think coherently?). Einstein and Edison didn't finish school either. Show us you're an Einstein or an Edison.
Just don't wake up on your fortieth birthday, say "my life sucks," and blame your lack of life satisfaction on your school taxes.
Students Are Customers
True. Students are customers, and they have every right to complain about poor service, unprofessional behavior, and out-of-date material. They also have a right to complain about low standards that water down their credentials.
Students are also products, and employers outside the University are also our customers. These customers have a right to complain if our graduates are lacking in skills, knowledge, and motivation. They have a right to complain if we certify someone as being a potentially good employee and that person turns out to be unqualified.
Despite the rising share students pay for their college education, students still only pay 40 per cent of the total cost. That means the University's responsibility is 40 per cent to students, and 60 per cent to the community. And our customers in the community want people who can communicate, reason, and have a good general stock of knowledge they can call on for unexpected needs. They also want us to provide an assessment that accurately reflects the quality of work students are likely to turn out as employees.
Pretentious Twit of the Year Award
Background: A philosophy professor at Syracuse University has a policy that if even one student in a class reads a newspaper or texts during class, he ends the class on the spot and walks out. One student complained:
“We the students are the customers, the consumers, the ones who make the choice every day to pay attention or not. I pay approximately $30,000 to go here, whether I text in class or not.
Get real here. I pay $30K a year? Not very likely. If this student does have that kind of personal wealth, he's too dumb to keep it for very long. But I seriously doubt that. More likely Mummy and Daddy are paying it, or he's getting financial aid, in which case donors to the university and taxpayers are paying it. Or maybe he's taking out loans, which he will pay back, maybe. Unless it becomes inconvenient and he files for bankruptcy. But it's virtually certain this student himself is not the paying customer.
Do I Need to Know This?
You can survive without the things you learn in college. People survive scrounging out of dumpsters and sleeping in doorways. If you want to talk about quality of life, we need to be a bit more demanding.
There Was Too Much Memorization
Sad to say, students have been victims of a cruel hoax. You've been told ever since grade school that memorization isn't important. Well, it is important, and our system wastes the years when it is easiest to learn new skills like the ability to memorize.
Memorization is not the antithesis of creativity; it is absolutely indispensable to creativity. Creative insights come at odd and unpredictable moments, not when you have all the references spread out on the table in front of you. You can't possibly hope to have creative insights unless you have memorized all the relevant information. And you can't hope to have really creative insights unless you have memorized a vast amount of information, because you have no way of knowing what might turn out to be useful.
Rote memorization is a choice. If you remember facts and concepts as part of an integrated whole that expands your intellectual horizons, it won't be rote. If you merely remember things to get through the next exam, it will be rote, and a whole lot less interesting, too. But that is solely your choice.
It is absolutely astonishing how many people cannot picture memorization in any other terms than "rote memorization," - even after reading the paragraph just above.
This Course Wasn't Relevant
If something as vast as mathematics or science or history can pass through your brain without even scraping the sides on the way through, that's a pretty big hole. Are you sure it's the course that doesn't relate to anything?
Our other customers in the community want people who have a good general stock of knowledge they can call on for unexpected needs. Being able to cope with unexpected needs means learning things that may not be immediately needed. You need to stop worrying about whether you need it now and begin worrying about whether your boss might need it later. A ten year old girl in Thailand saved hundreds of lives on December 26, 2004. She had just learned about tsunamis in school, recognized the warning signs, and convinced her parents to warn the resort management. As a result there were almost no casualties at her resort. In all likelihood none of her classmates will ever have need to know about tsunamis. A number of indigenous groups in the region escaped the tsunami with almost no casualties. They recognized the warning signs, which had been passed along through generations with no tsunamis, until finally that "irrelevant" knowledge became relevant.
Exams Don't Reflect Real Life
Some critics of education have said that examinations are unrealistic; that nobody on the job would ever be evaluated without knowing when the evaluation would be conducted and what would be on the evaluation.
Sure. When Rudy Giuliani took office as mayor of New York, someone told him "On September 11, 2001, terrorists will fly airplanes into the World Trade Center, and you will be judged on how effectively you cope."
Examinations are unrealistic. On the job evaluations where people are told in advance when they will be evaluated and exactly what will be covered are even more unrealistic. They're utterly artificial, carefully neutered attempts to be as fair as possible. The most meaningful evaluations in life are:
Completely unexpected.
Totally comprehensive. Absolutely everything you ever learned could be included.
Include material you never studied and maybe never even heard of.
When you skid on an icy road, nobody will listen when you complain it's unfair because you weren't warned in advance, had no experience with winter driving and had never been taught how to cope with a skid.
I Paid Good Money for This Course and I Deserve a Good Grade
Right on! And ---
I paid good money to get on this golf course and I have a right to shoot par. Anyone can enter the U.S. Open - that's what "open" means. But if you don't make the cut, you don't play in the tournament. Nor do you get a refund of your entry fee.
I paid good money for a lawyer and I have a right to win my case.
I paid good money for a house and I have a right to see it increase in value, even if I haven't lifted a finger to maintain it in ten years.
I paid good money for this stock and I have a right to see it go up, even if I haven't bothered to watch the stock market. (I just know the XYZ Beta Video and 8-Track Tape Company is poised for growth!)
Almost everything you pay for in life is an entry fee. What happens next is up to you. Buy a Lexus and never change the oil and see what happens. Get a triple bypass and keep on smoking and snorking down the cholesterol - you'll be back.
All I Want is the Diploma
The work force is full of people who do the minimum necessary to get by. Give me one reason why I, as a citizen or consumer, should help create more of them.
Call me elitist, but there are a lot more people who want good jobs than there are good jobs to go around. I think society has a perfect right to reserve those positions for people who demonstrate a commitment to excellence.
For people who want to get by on the minimum, there's a reward already established. It's called the minimum wage.
Return to Professor Dutch's Home Page
Created 31 March, 1999; Last Update 02 June 2010
Not an official UW-Green Bay site"
Cell phones: not in my classroom, thanks.
While the P/CP was entitled "Should cell phones be banned from classrooms?", the real discussion was not about cell phones being in the classroom at all but more specifically be used as tools integrated into the curriculum. The argument for using cell phones was that students already have these multi-use tools so use them. But the points raised against using cell phones were more compelling to me, and basically boiled down to the idea that to ensure uniform access, the schools would have to provide phones and plans and this would mean technology budget that should instead be spent on computers that do the same tasks better, perform other tasks too and are more uniform. As Josh Allen said, "You cannot
expect students to come to school with a Blackberry. If they have a Blackberry… OK, I’ll just stop there, because the discussion on why a parent bought their child a Blackberry is so ridiculous my head may explode.
Frankly, the author wanting to issue phones to all students is down right ridiculous when she suggests "Allowing cell phones to become learning tools will give teachers the opportunity to introduce appropriate cell phone etiquette to students as well as show them how their toy can become
an essential professional tool." I mean, really? As if learning how to use a cell phone now is going to be relevant to how cell phones will function in five or ten years? Look at phones of five to ten years ago, and you can see how this is a losing proposition for a school curriculum, even presuming the teachers could keep up with all the cutting edge tools on current cell phones. Besides, the newest phones function best by synching with your computer! Most functions described in the article can be done better with other tools (calculators, cameras, computers).
I am curious to see how the iPad fits into this debate (Apple iPad could be an A+ for schools), and the recent stripped down pad released in India (India unveils world's cheapest tablet computer at $35; may drop to $10). Time will tell, and we'll probably be able to read about it in the coming years on our phones!
expect students to come to school with a Blackberry. If they have a Blackberry… OK, I’ll just stop there, because the discussion on why a parent bought their child a Blackberry is so ridiculous my head may explode.
Frankly, the author wanting to issue phones to all students is down right ridiculous when she suggests "Allowing cell phones to become learning tools will give teachers the opportunity to introduce appropriate cell phone etiquette to students as well as show them how their toy can become
an essential professional tool." I mean, really? As if learning how to use a cell phone now is going to be relevant to how cell phones will function in five or ten years? Look at phones of five to ten years ago, and you can see how this is a losing proposition for a school curriculum, even presuming the teachers could keep up with all the cutting edge tools on current cell phones. Besides, the newest phones function best by synching with your computer! Most functions described in the article can be done better with other tools (calculators, cameras, computers).
I am curious to see how the iPad fits into this debate (Apple iPad could be an A+ for schools), and the recent stripped down pad released in India (India unveils world's cheapest tablet computer at $35; may drop to $10). Time will tell, and we'll probably be able to read about it in the coming years on our phones!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Cyberbullying: Harassment via tech is still harassment
Cyberbullying is harassment transmitted via electronic devices, such as internet and texting. The intensity can range from mild to severe. Any kind of bullying is intended to make the target feel vulnerable, frightened and/or miserable. The cyber component is just a new twist on an old miserable misdeed.
I’ve only had anything approaching cyberbullying happen to me a few times in online classes when students became irate and rude. One student in particular crossed the line from needing to be reprimanded for being excessively rude to being reported for scaring me. But once the class ended, I never heard from him again; and would be thrilled to keep it that way. I was pleased that my supervisor did check back with me to make sure the harassment didn’t continue. While some of my online students may have not liked the feedback they earned, I don’t think I’ve ever actually been a cyberbully myself. ;)
Schools face some real dilemmas about cyberbullying. Any activity making some students feel vulnerable, frightened and/or miserable is going to impact the educational environment. Student welfare is a prime concern for the schools. But that in and of itself doesn’t make it the school’s responsibility to stop the bullying. The issue becomes murkier as the question arises of whether or not the bullying is occurring on campus. If the messages are sent from school computers, over a school’s internet signal or from student cell phones operated on campus, then the school’s situation is clear: the school can and should intervene and hold the perpetrator accountable for violating as many codes of conduct as can be proven. But the course is not so clear if outside of school hours the students are using private resources to send harassing messages. It simply falls outside of the school’s jurisdiction. But even if the legal responsibility is lacking, shouldn’t the school do something? Well, that’s where it gets murky.
First of all, how would a school know if cyberbullying is occurring off campus? Well, we can ask them. That’s the best way to know what is happening. Letting students know that harassment online or via texts is wrong and they don’t have to put up with it is the first step towards preventing or stopping it. Victims need to know that this isn’t just something they have to endure and perpetrators need to know they are doing something reprehensible. I don’t think it is valid to presume young teens are already clear on those points.
As a teacher, I will address cyberbullying in my classroom by being emphatic that any harassment of people is wrong. That if everyone isn’t laughing, then it wasn’t funny… period. And then explicitly state that being harassed is something no one should put up with, and the best defense is to stay calm, confident and talk to people. Keeping it to oneself is playing into the hands of the bullies, so coming to me, or any of the other adults available to help, is the first step towards taking the power back from the cyberbullies. Additionally, we have to be constantly watching for indications that a student may be suffering from harassment that has gone beyond the normal realm of school life. When someone is clearly being beaten down, whether from cyberattacks or any other harassment, then we have to step in and offer whatever help and services are available.
I did find an interesting piece addressing how parents should cope with a child they’ve learned is a cyberbully. This might be a good bit of advice to have on hand, since if we are expecting cyberbully victims in our classes, we’ll probably also have their tormentors passing through our doors as well. If so, we’d hope the opportunity to stop them can be maximized when it arises.
When Your Child Is the Cyberbully, Parker-Pope, June 29, 2010
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