I just got off the phone with my mother who is a special education teacher for the third, forth and fifth grade.
Now, knowing that my mother just learned how to use the laptop we bought her for Christmas (even though she didn't even know how to turn on the computer we've had in our house for 14 years) and just learned how to text message, I was extremly curious to know if she even knew what pod-casting or blogging is.
To my extreme suprise, my mother, the technology disabled, informed me that she will be learning how to pod cast in her school next month. Although she did not belittle the idea of technology in her classroom, she is dumbfounded over the fact that her principal expects her to use technology with her students when more then half of them can't even write their own names on a piece of paper.
Aside from that, 1 out of her 13 students has a computer at home, but that student does not even know how to use the computer.
It is situations like these, that are more realistic than we want to realize, that technology should not become the one and only source of learning in a classroom. How can we even think of libraries only being accessed online and research being done online when not everyone is capable of doing it?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
In situations like these, perhaps technology might be helpful. Many special education students excel in areas where we might not expect them to. Your mother might find that, out of her thirteen students, two or three can learn to use the computer efficiently.
But you bring up a good point. There is a need for the physicality of libraries and books. To continue the learning process for students of all sorts. While a virtual library could be a amazing, and probably should exist for those who find it easier to access a novel online than driving to a book store, the buildings should too remain.
You have to always start small. Maybe your mother's students won't be podcasting anytime soon, but how about starting them with their own blog? She could provide them with step-by-step instructions on how to do them, and then aim to go to the library a certain number of times during the school year and blog about what they're learning about?
However, I do see your point on the availability of technology and the abilities of students to use it. I think that as technology gets more advanced and is more widely integrated into our classrooms, potential solutions to problems such as your mother's will be found.
There are many different ways that this situation can go. Maybe if she begins to introduce some of the new technology slowly and a little bit at a time they may begin to learn it.
Most households do have a computer so you never know they could be at home playing on the computer. It also may help stimulate a different way of thinking for these students.
I'm not saying that it will completely work but its worth a shot to see if it can help them.
K, How does the principal think teachers in his/her building are going to use technology if kids don't have access to computers in school? I need more of this story!!
Funny you should bring up this topic Kristin since I just received a text message from my dad yesterday. I was shocked because he barely has any clue on how to answer his cell more, moreless text. What the funny thing was, was that he told me later on that he had learned how to text from one of his younger co-workers (one that actually graduated a year ahead of me). Our parents' generation still has so much to learn when it comes to technological advances. On the other hand, according to Will's utube speech, his children are familiar with how to text, podcast, use iTunes, etc...Perhaps it is our generation that needs the most help, as it will be us who will be using it the most in future years.
Linds
That is crazy. When I worked in a fifth grade classroom my senior year in school there was a boy in the class who was in the Special Education program and during specific classes he was in the "normal" classroom. When he was in for regular class he was always on the computer, however he was not doing anything educational he was playing games. Here is the opposite side of the "Yay go technology!" His aide was using technology to her benefit, not his. He could have been listening to the lesson for the day, maybe not fully comprehending, but he would have the feeling of knowing what it is like to feel "normal/like everyone else." Like I said he wasn't always playing educational games, if he gets this "special treamtent" why couldn't all the other kids either? This may be off topic, but this can show how technology isn't always the way to go.
Actually, whether they are "playing a game on the computer" or actually surfing the web, students with special needs are learning something. In the case of games, they are learning how to manipulate the mouse. I realize that this may sound like a very basic skill, but sometimes it is the basic skills that get us started in the right direction. Mastery of the mouse, could if monitored, lead to other computer related skills.
Also, technology could be useful for students with special needs since it gives students a chance to try a different approach to learning. Not all students learn in the same way and technology is actually another tool that can be utilized by ANY student to learn. Never count something out, just because you can't see how it will relate, sometimes they relate rather well and in the most unexpected ways!
Great work.
Post a Comment