Greetings!
I spent the past three days at Westchester BOCES for some professional development; I'll be pioneering the Cambridge Pre-U GPR course in New York, so we've been hard at work learning the do's and don't's of the course. Anway, Cambridge requires the students to do a multimedia project pon a global issue as part of the assessment. The question arose about whether or not it's fair to criticize a student on his or her use of multimedia. If a student is unfamiliar with the use of digital tools, should it affect his or her grade?
Before I began to delve into the world of 21st Century Literacy, I thought that learning a "new tool" would be difficult. However, I have come to learn that digital tools are quite easy. When another teacher commented that he couldn't hold a student accountable for technology because he "couldn't even upload a picture from a camera," I tried to explain the ease of learning these "difficult tasks." It's scary to me that we, as educators, often dismiss digital technology as "too new" or "scary." If we're afraid new ways of thinking, then how can we implement new courses like Cambridge Pre-U?
Thoughts? Comments?
FYI: A link to the FAQ concerning Cambridge Pre-U for those who want to know more. http://www.cie.org.uk/qualifications/academic/uppersec/preu/faqs
Cooper,
ReplyDeleteI want to comment on two points you've made. First, do we hold students accountable for their lack of know how as far as digital tools are concerned. I think we do. There was plenty I had to teach myself when taking these courses, but I had to use trial and error and basically figure things out if I wanted a passing grade. These tools aren't that difficult to learn and much of the technology incorporates excellent tutorials. I'm thinking we underestimate how savvy our students really are when it comes to technology, and what took me two hours to learn would probably take them ten minutes.
The second comment I want to share is based on your last. I agree with you wholeheartedly! If we, as educators, as too intimidated to explore the "scary" world of 21st century technology, what example are we setting for our students? Give up when the learning seems intimidating?
Jenny
Re: Criticizing a student's use or lack thereof of multimedia--many of our teachers request that student work be "drop-boxed" to their teacher accounts. Drop-boxing entails multiple steps--grades 6-8 can do this procedure, but we provide a "cheat sheet" -- a numbered list of steps. Over time we have compiled a number of these help sheets that we share in the library media center with students. We also distribute these to teachers.
ReplyDelete“That’s easy for you to say!” is the punch line in a very cruel, old joke. We teachers need to remember that what seems easy to us might not always seem easy to others.
ReplyDeleteDigital technology should not be dismissed as "too new" or "scary," but teachers need to empathize with the fact that some students will have more difficulty with it than others. Just as some teachers might lack athletic, musical, or artistic skills and inclinations, some students might have a harder time than others in adapting to digital technology.
Skills and inclinations aside, some students might find digital technology challenging for cultural reasons. As an ESL teacher, I have students from parts of the world with no electricity or telephone networks while other students of mine have grown up with much or all of the technology surrounding native-born American students.
It would be not just unfair but also downright cruel to criticize a student for his or her difficulty in using multimedia. Such criticism would only further discourage the student from growing to become comfortable and proficient with the ever-changing world of technology.
Thanks for your commentary! It gets me thinking quite a bit about holding students accountable. The main point is that if we're going to hold them accountable for knowing how to use the tools, then we should know how to use the tools!
ReplyDelete