Drowning In A Sea Of Teaching and Learning Resource Possibilities
Part 1 Background
Part 1 Background
Back in the seemingly
pre-historic days of the solely, hard copy-driven classroom (think: notebooks,
textbooks, lined – 3 hole paper, pencil sharpeners… remember those?, etc.),
access to content and materials was ALWAYS an issue; the loss of a single copy
of the text book that drove the vast majority of planning and activity of a
teacher’s class could send that teacher and class into a tailspin. Some
teachers assiduously culled relevant items from magazines and paid for photo
copies of class sets to supplement or make up for shortages (and try to imagine
life BEFORE the availability of photo copy machines J In short, before tech, when all there was,
was hard copy, most teachers had to contend with a condition of teaching in
which content was hard to come by and precious and that very seriously limited
the possibilities of what could be taught and learned!
FACTOID 2: In 1976 (42 years ago) one of the world’s
first attempts at a personal computer, the Apple Computer 1,
was released by the Apple Computer Company (now Apple Inc.). Within a few
years, a few visionary teachers began to use this relatively low cost and
relatively portable computer in their teaching in public schools. At first.
this was considered by almost the entire field of Education to be a novelty, a
curiosity, and most educators couldn’t imagine what a computer might have to do
with teaching and learning.
FACTOID 2a: In 1994 I was drafted by the Division of Instruction of the NYC Board of Education (now Department of Education) to work as part of a small team of ‘specialists’ to promote the use of computers in teaching and learning. Many schools had computers at that time, although far from all (can you imagine a school without any computers for instruction, whatsoever?) This was before the WWW and school computers used software that ran on their ‘hard drives’ or perhaps were connected to a small, ‘local network’ of computers (a lab classroom) to share software. There was no connection to “The Internet” which most teachers had not heard of yet. As was true of hard copy-driven classrooms, software was scarce, hard to come by, and precious. This seriously limited the possibilities of what could be taught and learned!
FACTOID 2a: In 1994 I was drafted by the Division of Instruction of the NYC Board of Education (now Department of Education) to work as part of a small team of ‘specialists’ to promote the use of computers in teaching and learning. Many schools had computers at that time, although far from all (can you imagine a school without any computers for instruction, whatsoever?) This was before the WWW and school computers used software that ran on their ‘hard drives’ or perhaps were connected to a small, ‘local network’ of computers (a lab classroom) to share software. There was no connection to “The Internet” which most teachers had not heard of yet. As was true of hard copy-driven classrooms, software was scarce, hard to come by, and precious. This seriously limited the possibilities of what could be taught and learned!
FACTOID 3: In 1989 (29 years ago, as I write this now) English
scientist, Tim Berners Lee English
invented the World Wide Web. He wrote the first web browser in 1990
while employed which was released to the general public on in 1991.
Within a few years of the
popularization of the WWW, it exploded and all of a sudden there was content
and resources ‘aplenty’ to be had. Virtually every organization on the planet
either had a website in which it offered information or it had plans to create
on soon or wished it knew how to do that. This was the start of one of the very
most profound changes in the development of the human intellect. With the rapid
proliferation of low cost personal computers, and the Web through which vast
amounts of content and resources were made available to all, the human race
(including teachers and students) went from a condition of content scarcity to
content surplus. Fast forward a few decades and that surplus has become an
overwhelming condition!
Part 2 – Teaching and Learning Well in the Content Deluge
We have gone from scarcity to extreme overabundance! Is that a good thing? If so, how do we cope with and extract the extreme benefits that are possible due to this???
Here’s a Google search I just completed:
Part 2 – Teaching and Learning Well in the Content Deluge
We have gone from scarcity to extreme overabundance! Is that a good thing? If so, how do we cope with and extract the extreme benefits that are possible due to this???
Here’s a Google search I just completed:
Fortunately, Google presents its search results in a hierarchy of relevance and so we don’t have to delve through all of the 190 MILLION search results it turned up on our own to determine which might be of use to us!
I think that by now just about all teachers are aware of the massive amount of material ‘out there’ that’s available, whether the school pays for it or one’s search must be confined to free items..
The question set therefore becomes (below a sampling of possible concerns to guide the thinking of school technology leaders):
- 1. Which resources are good? And WHY?
- 2. Which have been vetted to assure that they can be used with confidence? Are they aligned to standards that are approved for teaching? Is there research that supports the quality and relevance of the materials? Etc.
- 3. Are the materials ‘implementable’? In other words are they designed to be compatible with the type teaching practices that are part of the school/district Instructional Culture? For instance, if the school has a ‘No Homework’ policy, does the curriculum in question require homework? Or vice versa; does the school require it but the resource in question not provide it? Or perhaps, the resource involves small group work, a practice that the school may frown on….
- 4. Does the (digital) resource require, for implementation, technology that the school has? Or doesn’t have?
- 5. Will the teacher(s) who will be implementing the curriculum (or resource) know how to do that? Or will it require a significant amount of PD?
- 6. Will the use of the digital resource be cost effective? Most cost effective compared to others?
- 7. Is it the ‘best of breed’? In other words is it the best of a wide variety of resources available (digital and/or traditional) available to address a specific need?
- 8. Other considerations and criteria? ___________________________________________
Part 3 – Articles to
Shed Light on Finding and Evaluating Digital Resources
(there are many more to be found out on the Web)
NOTE: Some of these may address purchasing instructional resources - some, hardware. However, there is some crossover of understandings between purchasing (or simply selecting) hardware and content and instructional resources.
(Highlighting, below, to facilitate the course's focus on Instruction)
(there are many more to be found out on the Web)
NOTE: Some of these may address purchasing instructional resources - some, hardware. However, there is some crossover of understandings between purchasing (or simply selecting) hardware and content and instructional resources.
(Highlighting, below, to facilitate the course's focus on Instruction)
- ISTE: ISTE Launches Free Diagnostic Tool, Resource Library for Schools and Districts Navigating the Road to Technology Integration
https://www.iste.org/about/media-relations/news-details/2014/10/27/iste-launches-free-diagnostic-tool-resource-library-for-schools-and-districts-navigating-the-road-to-technology-integration- Edtech Advisor: a platform that gives ISTE members insight into which tools, technology and apps will best meet their learning objectives.
- https://edscoop.com/iste-announces-new-edtech-evaluation-platform-for-educators
How do you choose an open educational resource? | Education Dive
https://www.educationdive.com/news/how-do-you-choose-an-open.../504110/
Sep 25, 2017 - What are some of the best places to find high-quality OERs? ... because we have to be sure what we're choosing has the best impact for kids.".
- Getting Started Using Open Educational Resources (OERs) | Schoology
https://www.schoology.com/blog/getting-started-using-open-educational-resources-oers
Aug 9, 2017 - Learn what open educational resources (OERs) are, how they differ ... of a ladybug, she may choose a traditional "all rights reserved" copyright
- How Should Schools Purchase Ed. Tech? - Education Week
https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/.../how-should-schools-purchase-ed-tech.html
Apr 12, 2016 - ... basis of marketing rather than careful analysis, writes Harold O. Levy. ... classroom-management systems, and other software services for schools in the United States. ... low-income students—to comparison-shop, learn from each other, ... Resources, like those that appear on the carefully curated website ...
- Why Schools Make Bad Buying Decisions | EdSurge News
https://www.edsurge.com/news/2013-10-08-why-schools-make-bad-buying-decisions
Oct 8, 2013 - Software can amplify great teaching but it doesn't turn mediocre teachers ... Harold Levy served as New York City's chancellor of public schools ...
- Tips To Help You Identify Classroom-Ready Tools
The Common Sense Education team is constantly searching for the best tools for digital teaching and learning. Our experts have rated and ...
eSchool News
- Tools target districts' tech interoperability
School districts with fully interoperable computer systems will be better able to use technology to improve student learning, according to the Consortium for School Networking. The group released two tools to help assess and support more interoperability, including an online self-assessment and a maturity model.
EdScoop (9/14)
- Online teaching materials can make lesson planning more efficient, help educators save time and support teacher retention, asserts Kelly Burnette, assistant principal of instruction at a Florida high school. In this commentary, she shares how teachers at her school have benefited from Teachers Pay Teachers for Schools' online resources.
The Hechinger Report (7/27
- Making the Best Ed Tech Decisions For Your District
No comments:
Post a Comment