{"id":13061,"date":"2011-01-20T00:15:19","date_gmt":"2011-01-20T06:15:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/jesuscreed\/?p=13061"},"modified":"2011-01-19T13:20:42","modified_gmt":"2011-01-19T19:20:42","slug":"should-teachers-befriend-students-2-sam-lamerson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2011\/01\/20\/should-teachers-befriend-students-2-sam-lamerson\/","title":{"rendered":"Should Teachers Befriend Students? 2 (Sam Lamerson)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Technology in the Classroom<\/p>\n

A friend of mine is a middle-school teacher.\u00a0 She told me the other day of having some photographic slides around the room and one of her young students picked one up, held it gingerly up to the light like a loaded gun, and was amazed.\u00a0 \u201cMiss Neal, Miss Neal, you are never going to believe this.\u00a0 These cardboard things, they are like pictures only really small.\u00a0 If you hold them up to the light you can see PEOPLE\u00a0 in there!\u201d\u00a0 This reminds me of the day in the thrift store when I heard a very young man point out a typewriter to his father and say \u201cDad, what is that, some kind of old-fashioned computer?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Like it or not, technology marches on.\u00a0 The questions today, for both students and teachers are \u201cWhat are we to do with this technology and how can it be best used in the classroom?\u00a0 Think back to your best classes and ask what use the teacher made of technology; did it help or hurt the class?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr. Patrick Allitt in his very helpful work, I\u2019m the Teacher, You\u2019re the Student: A Semester in the University Classroom<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, speaks of the technology that he has used and then points out the results that the use of this technology \u00a0has had.\u00a0 Though Allitt\u2019s book has an entire chapter on \u201ctechnology and technique,\u201d I should mention that I am also watching an excellent series of lectures produced by the \u201cTeaching Company\u201d in which Dr. Allitt spends 24 half-hour lectures on \u201cThe Art of Teaching: Best Practices from a Master Educator.\u201d\u00a0 In one lecture Dr. Allitt speaks to this very issue so some of the information below comes \u00a0from the lecture and not from the book (to check out the course go to http:\/\/www.teach12.com\/tgc\/courses\/course_detail.aspx?cid=2044<\/a> ).<\/p>\n

First, both student and teacher should think about what is meant when we use the term \u201ctechnology.\u201d\u00a0 On the low end there is the black\/whiteboard, the flip chart, and (to some extent at least) the textbook.\u00a0 On the higher end there is power-point or Key-Note, videos, smart boards, and even classroom equipped clickers.\u00a0 Clickers are put into large lecture halls so that input can be gained directly from students on a question that the professor asks (much like polling the audience on \u201cWho Wants to be A Millionaire\u201d).<\/p>\n

Second, the primary question to be asked is: \u201cDoes this help or hurt the classroom instruction?\u201d\u00a0 We likely have all been held captive to slide shows in which the person did nothing more than simply read what was up on the screen.\u00a0 While a little reading aloud from the textbook or from a slide can heighten the importance of the text, constant reading tends to remind the student that she herself can read and that class should be used for something else.<\/p>\n

As to the actual use of technology, I tend to use slide shows to show the outline of the lecture as well as any visuals I might need (e.g., pictures, maps, drawings) but not to put the entire class on the slide show.\u00a0 Since my school uses \u201cMoodle\u201d and the slides are available for students to refer back to when studying for the test I don\u2019t want a student to think that everything in the class is on the slide show.\u00a0 It just occurred to me how funny it is that we call these slide shows when no slides are used.\u00a0 It is kind of like the cc put at the bottom of a memo when there has not been a \u201ccarbon copy\u201d used in twenty years.\u00a0 At any rate, I find the slide show a very helpful tool when used properly.\u00a0 It helps keep the students on track with the lesson, makes the showing of visuals easy, and helps those students who have trouble taking notes.\u00a0 One of the problems that the instructor faces is getting the students to look at her rather than the screen during the lecture.\u00a0 Allitt suggests darkening the slide once it has been seen and the professor is lecturing about the point made in the visual.<\/p>\n

In addition to using slide shows, I suppose every teacher uses some sort of writing surface.\u00a0 It might be a flip-chart, a black\/whiteboard, a smart-board, or whatever.\u00a0 While the slide show communicates preparation and a direction in which the professor expects the lecture to go, the board communicates the ability to improvise and go with the flow of the question or discussion.\u00a0 Neither is better when used properly.\u00a0 They are different tools for different purposes.\u00a0 One suggestion that Allitt makes is to ask select students to draw a picture on the board of whatever the lecture topic might be for the day.\u00a0 In Allitt\u2019s case having a student draw a bicycle or a cow is not that hard.\u00a0 On the other hand having a student draw \u201ccovenantal nomism\u201d would be a little more of a stretch.\u00a0\u00a0 This helps with student involvement and (depending upon the drawing) adds some humor to the class.<\/p>\n

As to the use of clickers, I have never taught in a class with this technology.\u00a0 It does seem that it would allow for questions with four choices and might permit the professor to see if her ideas were really getting through, though I don\u2019t know this from experience and Allitt speaks very little of it.<\/p>\n

Allitt does have an idea that I found fascinating.\u00a0 He finds a piece of music from the time period upon which he is lecturing and has that playing, with a loop of pictures from the same time period, as the students enter the classroom.\u00a0 This allows the early students to \u201cget into the mood\u201d of the class and makes those sometimes awkward moments before class starts more useful.<\/p>\n

With all of the technological choices before the professor, how does one decide what will aid the class and what will distract from it?\u00a0 Have you seen movies or music used successfully? Can you tell us about your best and worst experiences with technology in the classroom; times when the technology helped immensely; times when it was more distracting than helpful?\u00a0 What technology do you use when you teach and what do you do to make sure it is effective?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Next week I will finish up this guest spot by writing about grading, particularly grade inflation.\u00a0 I can\u2019t wait!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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