I have been lucky enough to speak to a number of teachers over the past few years to share my passion for blogging – professional, class and student.

This week I was preparing for another presentation, but this time, I am taking along some students with me.  The process of preparing our combined presentation was quite simple.  I shared a Google presentation with the students, we had a short discussion about what they would like to share and they divided roles.  They prepared their own sections and we came back together.

After I heard them talk through their ideas, the main messages they wanted to share, I realised that they had covered almost all the important points I do in my presentation.

What this means to me, is that our blogging program is successful, the students value it, enjoy it and can articulate how it impacts their learning.

Yeah!

I am proud to say that I have a decent relationship with my daughters aged 19 and 22.  We chat, share laughs, discuss issues and disagree like any fairly normal mother-daughter relationship.  I accept that my children as they mature pick the pieces of their lives and thoughts that they want to share with their parents, just as I did with mine.

My 22 year old has been a writer all her life – words have been her friend: spoken, read, written and sung.  She has, in fact recently, begun a career using these skills in a Marketing Communications role.  A rich blessing I will say has been passed on from her grand-mother who in her later years shared many musings in the written form.  She has dabbled in blogging for a number of years and I always enjoy the conversations that often lead to a post as well as the end result. 

When someone writes, they often expose themselves in different ways than they would in spoken language and this is never more true than in the recent days when my 19 year old has begun a blog – challenging herself to post each day. When I read her posts feels like I am getting to know her in a different way.  I am seeing a side of her that I admit I had not acknowledged or recognised earlier.  Perhaps it is a result of maturity and a bit of life experience but it is definitely providing an interesting read : enlightening in many ways.

It makes me think about our classrooms and the importance of providing our students with a variety of outlets for expressing themselves, sharing their learning and expressing themselves.  Sometimes, they may not be ready to use a tool in way they may later in their lives but they will learn along the way nevertheless. Our students should be invited to write on paper, in a journal, sketch, write a blog post, draw, paint, record a podcast, prepare a speech, compose a song, write an essay and any other format you can think of.

Our students, like my daughter, may surprise you if given the chance.  The teacher role in this is exposing them to a variety of media, digital and non-digital : many of these ideas will not be in their toolkit unless they are introduced to them. Many will suit them at some times and for some purposes but not for all.

In the meantime, I will keep enjoying the glimpse into the other side of my girl !

 

 

I am getting a bit tired of the fear mongering and rhetoric going on around the use of technology both in schools and in the wider community.

I, for one, have never said that technology use should replace ALL other activities, that pen and paper have been superceded by a superior force.  I have actually never heard anyone even tech evangelists suggest such a thing.

Nevertheless, I find myself constantly hearing and reading Warnings about the potential harm of too much screen time.   Listening to teachers who seem to glow with relief when someone says “It’s not all about technology” and almost outwardly heaving a sigh of relief that the role of tech is challenged.   Current affair television thrive on articles about research showing how family lives are being harmed by over use of technology and communication tools.   I almost shout at the TV to say “Where are the parents, the teachers who should be setting BOUNDARIES, producing opportunities for BALANCE and supporting their students or children in PURPOSEFUL use?”

I am left wondering why people have this resistance and I assume it is a fear or a definite discomfort with change.  The media certainly thrive on any opportunity to spout the ‘Technology is evil’ campaign. A friend brought this brilliant blog post to my attention :

Crowley debunks the fear mongering and explains the situation as part of evolution.  Mark Crowley concludes:

There can be no question but that technology can provide the potential for isolation, for synthetic relationships, for a sedentary lifestyle, an anxiety-ridden social existence, a failure to focus, concentrate, and engage. But surely this is a worst-case scenario conception of technology without balance, without thoughtful schools, informed, engaged parents? An education system that emphasises the need to be cultured as well as educated, well-read as well as literate, articulate as well as able to skim, physically healthy as well as mentally engaged … surely an individual in this context will only benefit from the interactive tools of contemporary technology to allow them to create, design, persuade and engage? Yes, perhaps our brains will be rewired in the process, but isn’t that what the brain has always done throughout history? Perhaps Feifer sums it up best: “Our brains changed to meet the challenge of driving cars. They changed so we could dance to recorded music. Now we are witnessing more change, and our brains will change again. Yes, change can be scary. But it’s what we’re built for.”

Perhaps, I take it too personally as my job involves trying to get technology used in thoughtful, purposeful ways and I am affronted by people who cling to the negativity, inferring I might not be making judicious decisions.  I rarely, if ever see teachers using technology because they are mandated, they always make wise, considered choices about where it will enhance the learning.  Is the negativity a band-wagon that will have its’ day?  I hope so.