"In our classrooms and at our institutions, our friends and colleagues work — and, at times, struggle — to keep up with the tools available, to integrate digital technologies into their writing classrooms, and to gain access to the means and to the professional development required to teach in digital spaces."
In NYC especially, with the budget cuts, it is very difficult to integrate digital technology within the classroom. This is causing a rift in academic success for students. Within the classroom I teach in, we have very limited resources. Sometimes we do not have enough books to accommodate students. I hear a lot of complaints within the classroom, these students are not used to handwriting their notes, or essays.. My students had divulged that they are on the internet on their computer or cell phones for 5-6 hours after they come home from school... These students are used to typing/texting, not writing. There is an "overload" aspect, they are doing homework, while chatting with their friends, checking e-mail, surfing the net and updating their social profiles simultaneously. Their attentions falters within the classroom because they are used to multi-tasking, and having quick results and responses as opposed to what is going on within the classroom. When it comes to the English regents they have to sit for 3 hours and write two essays after reading and analyzing passages for two days (totalling in 6 hours of sitting and writing 4 essays).
The classrooms are not evolving with technology, it is still stagnant, while our students are used to technology and we are asking them to revert backwards. Who should be held accountable for the rift between technology and academic expectations?
What to do about the loss of handwriting skills? Should it be a mandated part of early elementary curriculum? Would it be efficient to require good penmanship of students who are learning all of these digital forms of communication? If students aren't required to develop their penmanship in school, why are they required to provide printed responses to the Regents Exam?
ReplyDeleteAll thought provoking questions, James. I am not sure anyone could answer them, especially not at this time because "traditional" pencil and pen writing is still as much part of our society as print newspapers. Yes, they are becoming obsolete, but slowly.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that, in order to meet the needs of our tech savvy student, our high school classrooms (even here at City College) need to be upgrades to accommodate the digital age. Still, basic writing skills are the same on an off the computer. We need to focus on having our students see the value in being able to express oneself in written prose. And, that they are accountable for all writing, whether it's via text message or for the Regents exam.
I would suggest making the regents computer based, but although students are tech savvy, I doubt they would be able to type quickly enough to do a computer based exam. Do you agree? I know many students who can do html coding on MySpace but still have trouble typing without looking at the keyboard.
Still, how do we address focus and attention span in the classroom when our students are in fact over stimulated by technology and the plague of "multitasking?"
I do agree that all the State Tests should be computerized. At least the multiple-choice portion of them. Especially the Teaching Certification Exams, four hours sitting in freezing room when you could've taken the test in the comfort of your home and most likely score higher.
ReplyDeleteI think this transition from "pencil-to-pixel" is in the works and will happen very soon.
What I'm fearful of is the state of our Educational System and what kids are actually learning. I don't know if digitazing textbooks, lesson plans and tests are the solution with our broken school system
I feel like new computers, new technology are likely to deepen the problem. They will simply be another reason (another excuse) that administrators, public officials and some teachers will have to why they can't teach a group of kids that they have at their mercy 5 days out of the week and ten months out of the year