Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Post 2
The Internet and other forms of information and communication technology (ICT) are redefining the nature of literacy. To become fully literate in today’s world, students must become proficient in the new literacies of ICT. Do teacher/educators have the responsibility to integrate these technologies into their literacy curricula? Why or why not?
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Educators do have the responsibility to integrate technologies into their curricula. According to the ISBE website, this has become basic means for relaying information. Using on-line services is common among most professions. Knowing how to use the technologies provides students with "necessary opportunities to search and process information, be in touch with experts, prepare documents, and learn and communicate n new, more effective ways." The summary of the National Reading Panel notes that using computers in vocabulary instruction was more effective than some tradional methods. In addition, using speech with computer presented text was said to be promising in reading instruction. In my opinion, the purpose of education is to prepare students to fully participate in and contribute to society and to achieve maximum potential as well as to be lifelong learners. It is difficult to do this without using technologies. The problem for older teachers working in poor school districts is the lack of inservice opportunities to be trained on and feel comfortable using them. Also, in somoe poor rural school districts, some technologies and even reliable internet access is unavailable.
Yes, I feel educators should have responsibility to integrate technology into curriculum. Students have to start early to learn how computers/technology work in their classrooms. Their future career in school depends on it. The ISBE website explains that information from the internet has become commonplace and the NRP suggests that developments with use of the internet have a myraid of possibilities in the classroom today.
But are we ready to teach literacy with this technology? Computer technology is rapidly growing in the school setting but I feel it needs to be developed and designed to fit individual classrooms. NRP also suggests that not enough research has be done to determine if computer technology is capable to deliver instruction. Using this tool as a teaching device is possible and much more reliable than in the past. I am sure more and more research will be done and programs will be developed.
As educators, it is our responsibility to integrate technology into the existing curriculum. We should embrace the era of technology and realize it did not replace our teachings. Technology has allowed educators to enhance their teaching and utilize tools that encourages and expands learning in the classroom. Technology not only provides the teacher with additional support, but also students with diverse needs. It enables teachers to plan, organize, and present material that can be differentiated for each learner. It is important that educators focus on how to apply and use the technology in the classroom, rather than, how it works. The board of education mandates that teachers are responsible for teaching subject content, regardless of their methods. Educators should create a technology rich environment and implement technological skills where students will become masters of the specific content area. It is not based on the students proficiency level with the technology, but the success at which the technology supports how well they have grasped the material. Student rely on educators to teach and provide them with the necessary tools to live and grow in society. However, it is difficult for educators working in areas of poverty to be provided training and the necessary tools to enrich their classrooms. Therefore, making educators and providers responsible for integrating functional technology and making sure all schools are equipped with necessary equipment for higher learning.
Yes. The goal of a teacher should be to provide students with the skills necessary to be successful in life. As a future special education teacher, I find ICT to be helpful when integrated into the curriculum. Using these types of technologies is part of universal design. These other methods of technology will give students a variety of ways to express what they have learned. Learning how to use different types of technology is also important because they will need these skills in the workplace. We are in a technology driven society and students will need to be capable of using the equipment if they want to be employed. Also, according to the NRP, integrating computer technology into your reading curriculum has shown good results. It also states that using computers as word processors is helpful.
I do feel that it is an educators responsibility to integrate technology into our literacy curricula. As a future special education teacher, I think of it as "If I don't, who will?" I am referring to those students who do have a computer at home. Society today is depending more and more on communication through technology and feel that it would be my job to educate my students on this new wave. The NRP does show that using computers is effective when teaching literacy. Today students are introduced to computers and technology at a young age, however technology changes daily. We as teachers, need to continually update ourselves and our students on the changing waves of technology. Technology should be integrated into all curricula, not just literacy.
I do feel that intergrating different forms of technology into the classroom is a must. As special education teachers it could be used to give students another way of learning when other ways of teaching have failed. If we do not teach students how to use the computer or Internet then who will because a lot of parents do not have the time or resources to be able to teach their children. It is also apart of everyday life in most work places so starting students out early will only benifit them in the long run.
As educators, I do believe we have a responsibility to integrate ICT into literacy curricula primarily because it is a different form of literacy and because it is the currency of communication in the 21st century. Reading an electonic text is a very different process from reading a print source and many students lack the awareness of how to read such texts. They are different in format, layout, purpose, and structure and students need to be aware of the effect of such differences on literacy. Since writing is also an integral part of reading instruction, incorporating writing instruction with the internet is a creative and meaningful way to engage students. Next week's readings refer to the importance of attitude and motivation on literacy, so it makes sense that teacers would incorporate ICT in their literacy instruction as it is often a way of motivating reluctant readers and writers. However, the teacher makes all the difference in how he or she incorporates such technologies, and from both of this week's readings, it is clear that how a teacher implements any instructional practice makes all the difference in the world. Teachers should use such technologies responsibly to help prepare students for the world that awaits them.
Since students must be proficient in the new literacies of ICT in order to become fully literate, then teacher's must incorporate these technologies into their classrooms. In today's world most information is gleaned via the internet; even newspapers are becoming obsolete. The most efficient method to research any topic is to do an internet search; therefore, in order to prepare our students to be future writers, we must teach them computer skills, including creating word documents and doing research. One incentive for integrating technology into the classroom is student interest. Students love to work at computers. Some reading skills that require repetitive practice are more fun when the practice is done on a computer. The NRP article states that although the research in this area is limited all studies report positive results. If we have an effective method to deliver instruction and it will hold student interest then we would be foolish not to use it.
I agree that educators have a responsibility to their students to integrate technology into their literacy curricula. The Internet and other forms of technology are the driving force behind almost everything in our world today. This reason alone is justification for preparing our students to live in a technological society. In addition, students can benefit by learning information in other forms than print only. The more we use technology in the classroom, the more familiar and proficient students will become in it's use.
Teachers should be responsible to integrate technology into the literacy curriculum. Teaching practices should always be evolving, always changing and improving with the times. Our times call for our children to be proficient with technological aides. With the latest advances in technology teachers have so many more tools that they can use to help students whether with sound bites, video clips, or just a slide show, or a software program, a teacher can accommodate all of their learners. Since the nation, and in general the world, that we live in so dependent on technology as a way to convey and send information that we would be doing our students a disservice if we didn't take advantage of these new technologies nor encourage them to actively apply them in academic and everyday life.
I feel it is our job as teachers to prepare and educate our students to the best of our abilities. Now that computers and here to stay, students must know how to use them to help themselves. Not everything is done on paper anymore, a lot of it is just on the computer. Since computers are the future, it is our responsibility to educate our students on how to use computers and how to navigate around the internet. In the National Reading Panel article, it said that vocabulary instruction is done successfully on computers. In junior high and high school, we used computer programs to study for tests like the U.S. Constitution, and it was fast, simple, and helped us study. Students now are getting to be more fast-paced and study better using computers and technology.
Teachers definitely are responsible for integrating technology into their curricula. However according to the NRP Summary, there is not enough "credible, exoerimental and qualitative research" to conclude that the technologies should be used in 'teaching literacy'. I believe this to mean that although technology and computers are very important because they are a growing part of our everyday lives, they should not be used to teach reading. They can (and should), however, be used as a supplement to all other forms of reading instruction. Reading on the computer screen has been proven to be more difficult for younger children, and I believe that is a good reason to use it as a supplement only. I agree that students must learn how to communicate and research on the computer, especially now in a more and more paperless world, however--again, it should not be used in teaching phenomes, fluency, comprehension nor vocabulary.
I believe that teachers do have the responsibility to integrate the Internet and other forms of information and communication technology into the litercay curricula. Teachers have the responsibility to help their students gain the skills they will need to be successful in the world they will be living in. Computers and technology are an integral part of today's society and will be in the future. Teachers would be failing their students if they did not prepare their students to use technology successfully. The National Reading Panel found that "all the studies report positive results, suggesting that it is possible to use computer technology for reading instruction." Computers should not be the only tool used for reading instruction, but I think they can be effectively integrated in to reading instruction.
Yes, I feel educators do have the responsibility to incorporate technology into their classroom. Teaching students about technology is important to ensure our students keep up with our ever changing society. Some students will already be proficient with the use of technology at an early age. Other students may not have had the opportunity to be exposed to computers or the internet until they enter school. It is our responsibility to ensure students do not get left behind when it comes to technology. The internet offers a lot of great material and resources for learning. The NRP has reported positive results related to reading instruction when combined with the use of technology. Overall, I feel the use of technology is a great resource that should be incorporated into the classroom curricula.
Educators definitely have a responsibility to integrate ICT into the literacy curriculum.To prepare our students as integral members of society,teachers much constantly change and adapt methods of instruction to ensure that students flourish in a technologically savvy society.Technology is just another useful tool in providing students a well rounded literacy program.
I published about the same question on my two ENGL300 grammar courses' blogs - only we analyze the language, not the act of employing computer technology. Here's the blog link for my education major grammar class: http://grammarians300-1.blogspot.com/ Under the link "Internet Lingo - Literacy of the Future" you can see the responses of my students.
Yes, educators DO have to include teaching about new technologies in their classes (I'm doing livetext, WebQuests, blogs, database research, online assessment (rubrics), etc. with my students), but they also need to warn them of the traps the Internet sets for using academic language.
The Internet (like text messaging) lures students into writing in abbreviations, colloquialisms, even vulgarisms, and especially future reading teachers have to teach their students the code-switching between Internet lingo and Standard Written English (SWE).
The NRP report (the 500+ pages version) only dedicates 13 (!!) pages to chapter 6, "Computer Technology and Reading Instruction." If we compare this to the 133 pages dedicated to chapter 4, "Comprehension," and the 145 pages for chapter 2, "Alphabetics," we must be disappointed. In the short summary report of the NRP we only find five tiny paragraphs which state that merely 21 studies were thought "worthy" by the NRP to be included in their report: "Only 21 studies met the NRP research methodology criteria." (NRP 17) That means, the panel members had a tiny data pool to choose from, and their results are correspondingly weak, making "some general statements" (17). This is a chapter that should be updated regularly, as technology advances with a fast pace year by year.
According to the summary report, seven studies found that addition of speech to computer-presented text "might be promising." Also, "hypertext may have instructional advantage." The panel says tentatively, "we are encouraged in the use of computer technology." What news did the panel tell us? We only received vague hints at possible benefits - no definite statements, no foreshadowing of dangers whatsoever.
My recommendation to future teachers would be to go out and simply use technology in instruction, with trial and error - then, we have some evidence-based criterion on hand, and don't need to rely on a pseudo-research approach by the NRP that does not really say anything.
Teachers should have the responsibility to integrate technology into their curriculum.
Technology is an essential part of our future. Any student in today's society has had expose to computers and other technology. If you don't help in the integration of technology at a young age when these students go out to get jobs they are going to be unfamiliar of how to use the technology. It may actually be a factor on if that person gets the job. I still believe that a teacher should teach and the student should not only use technology to complete their work but it should be used as a supplementary support to the core curriculum.
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