Journal Review Synopsis
Ray Etheridge
Western Washington University
Synopsis
In doing this assignment I have learned much. Initially I was not expecting much, and while I think I still only have 1 reader, the instructor for the course, what I have learned is that as much as I would like others to read and benefit from the blog, the blog is more about my learning than others. While I am sure other blogs will differ on this, being designed and evaluated by the number of hits they receive of the number of comments made, friends added and what not, that is not the purpose of this blog.
The Wikipedia article on Technology starts with this comment.
“Technology is the usage and knowledge of tools, techniques, and crafts, or is systems or methods of organization, or is a material product (such as clothing) of these things. The word technology comes from the Greek technología (τεχνολογία) — téchnē (τέχνη), 'craft' and -logía (-λογία), the study of something, or the branch of knowledge of a discipline.[1]”
The craft of studying is something that I can wholeheartedly endorse, and what this assignment, along with those in rest of the class, as well as the other classes I am in at Western, and also most notably, the interactions I have had with my technologically savvy students at DigiPen Institute of Technology, Highline Community College and all the other schools I have worked with dating back to my first classroom teaching experience back in 8th grade at North Kitsap Middle School in Algebra I class, have really taught me is that technology and the use of it is not just based on the tools used in the practice of it. Rather, technology is the synergy of the tools, the techniques, the understanding of them that one has and uses. In other words technology, and hence information technology, is not just the physical tools of the keyboard, hard drive, printer, server, satellite and screen that make up the technology we use but the mental tools that we used to access it and the point of view or lens we use to guide our use of it to whatever ends and purposes that we can conceive of.
In this regards I would like to take a moment to comment on some of my articles. From the Finnish article on teaching science in the class I have been reminded that our use of technology is but one of many and how valuable it is to have other’s insights into the application of the tools of language and science that challenge our point of view and encourage us to see the world in different ways. From the articles I have retrieved from websites, the western portal, and the copyright laws e have been learning about I am learning the usefulness of really good search engines like ERIC and how much remains to be done to empower teachers to be able to engage with students effectively and to avoid some of the very serious consequences that can emerge from unrestricted access to download and publish to the net. From the articles on Science in the Big Apple I am reminded how technology and tools are often limited by our access to them and how educational reform can have unintended consequences as well as how much social engineering is involved in education planning and goals, sometimes to the detriment of core understanding and skills development, let alone access to the very tools and disciplines needed for success in a technologically driven world. And finally from the article I on James Burke’s Knowledge web I have realized that in the modern world the webpage is an article in the modern world, and yet so much more, it can be a tool of access, a propaganda piece or a list of resources or all of the above and how important the development of media literacy, critical thinking and the ability to construct and destruct knowledge, assumptions and understanding are.
In the end I am left wondering about some of the comments in the article by McKercher, Bonne, and Rogers entitled “The Web of Knowledge.” In it they discuss how knowledge has become separated into distinct disciples and fields of study at the very time we need to be more inclusive not less. In my own life I have often been denigrated and discriminated against because my studies in astronomy, history, religion, philosophy-eastern and western, modern and tribal, environmentalism and languages are not the norm in which an individual is expected to specialize over and over again. In regards to education has this not become the dominant theme as well? Have we have allowed the separation of professions into specialized fields of teacher, administrator, bureaucrat, committee member, etc… taken us away from the fact that we are all teachers to the next generation?
I remember watching a video about a magnet school in New York where there are no such separations, all the teachers have administrative duties and there are virtually no pure administrators. Of course this school also had a class size limit of sixteen and as a result had a much higher cost per student and thus such a system would provoke panic about spending nationwide, yet such experiment are getting results. We say we want the best education possible for our children but do we really mean it?
Are teachers responsible for student learning and success? Clearly we, as a society, have said they are. And yet are we, as citizens, parents, administrators and bureaucrats really supporting this activity by demanding more of “them” while simultaneously providing less support and time for professional growth, let alone the acquisition and mastery of new skills, technology and techniques? Requiring more while providing less is not a recipe for success in the new technologically complex societies of the 21st century, and, while new tools, like those detailed in the articles reviewed for this assignment, may provide some answers and relief, is it not incumbent upon all of those involved-teachers, parents, administrators and official alike-to be involved in the process of solving these problems. Clearly it is. Technology offers us great opportunities, but it cannot resolve us of our responsibilities, responsibilities we must all embrace. Rather than expect tools and techniques to provide solutions to our educational concerns do the insights we have gained by learning about them, what they are capable and what promises they hold for the future provide us with an even more important gift-the gift of re-empowering us to learn how to use such to come to a better understanding of, appreciation of, and interaction with the underlying systems and methods that are just as much a modern technology as the physical technology itself? This assignment has taught me many things about various technological tools, programs, websites and articles but what I value most about it is that it has given me an insight into how to use them, to use them so as to empower others to find ways to make discover their own ways to use them. I plan on using the websites, articles and tools I have learned to one day make my own article, my own webpage, dedicated to helping new teachers-in-training better understand the education process and what is required of them and how to access resources that will aid them in creating their own careers and lives, so, in the end, this is not an end, but a beginning, and that will have to do for now.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Review of "Releasing the Isolated Warrior" by M. Goss
Journal Review of “Releasing the Isolated Warrior”
Ray Etheridge
Western Washington University
Goss, M., (1996) Releasing the Isolated Warrior. Retrieved from http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/technology/goss.htm
Review
The article begins with a retelling of the scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark when Indiana Jones (noteworthy for being a teacher) confronts a sword wielding warrior who is revealed when the crowd, remembers he has a gun and shoots him dead. The article then goes on to relate how most teachers are like that warrior, using the tools, techniques and technology of yesteryear in a modern education engagement. How can most teachers, happy to finally being able to use a collating copier instead of a mimeograph, deal with the demands of a modern, technology driven society? Fortunately the article does not go on to play the blame the teacher game, rather it details, in rather succinct fashion how modern education has gotten to this point including budget concerns, administration, government, poverty and the law. It then goes on to state that a new system based in the ideas of basing education in the actual learning process, systematic and holistic planning and the integration of technology is needed to empower reform and do so by empowering teachers. Yes, teachers. With already exaggerated demands for their time raging from increased student loads, increased time needs necessary to evaluate various authentic assessments, administrative concerns and special needs do teachers have the time to also take on being responsible for learning, adapting, adopting and integrating new technologies, beliefs and methodologies? Not without the support and time necessary to do so is the article’s final conclusion.
The article does a good job of providing a very high level discussion of the challenges that face the modern teacher. By detailing the state of the industry and the challenges that teachers face it become clear that without support it is unrealistic to expect teachers, already burdened with a full day of teaching and grading activities, lesson and classroom planning developmental tasks, social, parental and community concerns, administrative and special student needs, state assessments, requirements and constraints, let along the social engineering aspects now expected of them, to also lead the way in developing the solutions incorporating new technologies and techniques at the very cutting edge of social development, at least not without considerable support. In calling for a renewed effort to give teachers the support and professional they need to engage successfully with these concerns the article serves as a reminder of the challenges that teachers face in the modern world. If only it had provided links or references to articles on how to do this I would have been very happy indeed, but I must give some credit to an article written in 1996 and yet so very relevant today, perhaps even more relevant today than when it was written.
Ray Etheridge
Western Washington University
Goss, M., (1996) Releasing the Isolated Warrior. Retrieved from http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/technology/goss.htm
Review
The article begins with a retelling of the scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark when Indiana Jones (noteworthy for being a teacher) confronts a sword wielding warrior who is revealed when the crowd, remembers he has a gun and shoots him dead. The article then goes on to relate how most teachers are like that warrior, using the tools, techniques and technology of yesteryear in a modern education engagement. How can most teachers, happy to finally being able to use a collating copier instead of a mimeograph, deal with the demands of a modern, technology driven society? Fortunately the article does not go on to play the blame the teacher game, rather it details, in rather succinct fashion how modern education has gotten to this point including budget concerns, administration, government, poverty and the law. It then goes on to state that a new system based in the ideas of basing education in the actual learning process, systematic and holistic planning and the integration of technology is needed to empower reform and do so by empowering teachers. Yes, teachers. With already exaggerated demands for their time raging from increased student loads, increased time needs necessary to evaluate various authentic assessments, administrative concerns and special needs do teachers have the time to also take on being responsible for learning, adapting, adopting and integrating new technologies, beliefs and methodologies? Not without the support and time necessary to do so is the article’s final conclusion.
The article does a good job of providing a very high level discussion of the challenges that face the modern teacher. By detailing the state of the industry and the challenges that teachers face it become clear that without support it is unrealistic to expect teachers, already burdened with a full day of teaching and grading activities, lesson and classroom planning developmental tasks, social, parental and community concerns, administrative and special student needs, state assessments, requirements and constraints, let along the social engineering aspects now expected of them, to also lead the way in developing the solutions incorporating new technologies and techniques at the very cutting edge of social development, at least not without considerable support. In calling for a renewed effort to give teachers the support and professional they need to engage successfully with these concerns the article serves as a reminder of the challenges that teachers face in the modern world. If only it had provided links or references to articles on how to do this I would have been very happy indeed, but I must give some credit to an article written in 1996 and yet so very relevant today, perhaps even more relevant today than when it was written.
Review of "The Web of Knowledge" by P. McKercher, J. Bonne, and A. Rogers
Journal Review of “The Web of Knowledge”
Ray Etheridge
Western Washington University
McKercher, P, Bonne, J. and Rogers, A., (December 2002) The Web of Knowledge: Vision, Design, and Practice. Retrieved from http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/technology/bonne2.htm
Review
The article is practically a biographical account of how James Burke’s Knowledge Web came about. It begins with a simple telling of how James Burke, who first became famous because he could speak Italian and, therefore, was hired to do a program on the Sicilian Mafia and how it’s success lead to the TV studio to ask him to present, in one sentence, a proposal for what he wanted to do next. His inspiration to do the show Connections then lead to his interest in education and the creation of the K-Web, http://www.k-web.org/ or the Knowledge web. The article them goes on to detail how the knowledge web developed as a collaboration with Silicon valley programmers and how it was almost lost in the dot.com bust but was resurrected when a teacher(telling that part) prodded him not to abandon it but let teachers and students actually make it themselves rather than having it provided for them. The K-Web is based on the concept of constructivism and goes beyond interactivity to engage it’s participants in immersion and educational virtual reality or edVR. By involving students and educators alike in its creation it allows for a constantly changing, adaptable and high level thought generation, such as organization, evaluation and synthesis, in a way no traditional education could possibly conceive of into the next generation as a true community of learners.
Initially the reader wonders exactly what the authors are intending as it rambles on about a wide variety of subjects but, fortunately, it manages to pull all the strands together and reveal their purpose. To explain, expound on and encourage exploration of the concept of educational virtual reality in general and the K-Web in specific. In its detailing of how separated, dispersed and specialized knowledge, and the mastery of it has become, such as how a friend of Burke got his Ph.D. for the study of the use of the comma in the writings of Milton, the article manages to invite the reader to start to consider how, especially in this modern age, we need to be able to see the big picture and explore the connectedness of things rather than on expound in detail about specifics and minutia. While the article does remind us that basic skills are necessary, they are no longer sufficient for a proper education. The article intrigued me enough to go out and find the Knowledge Web for myself; I hope that an exploration of it proves it to be as useful as it promises to be.
Ray Etheridge
Western Washington University
McKercher, P, Bonne, J. and Rogers, A., (December 2002) The Web of Knowledge: Vision, Design, and Practice. Retrieved from http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/technology/bonne2.htm
Review
The article is practically a biographical account of how James Burke’s Knowledge Web came about. It begins with a simple telling of how James Burke, who first became famous because he could speak Italian and, therefore, was hired to do a program on the Sicilian Mafia and how it’s success lead to the TV studio to ask him to present, in one sentence, a proposal for what he wanted to do next. His inspiration to do the show Connections then lead to his interest in education and the creation of the K-Web, http://www.k-web.org/ or the Knowledge web. The article them goes on to detail how the knowledge web developed as a collaboration with Silicon valley programmers and how it was almost lost in the dot.com bust but was resurrected when a teacher(telling that part) prodded him not to abandon it but let teachers and students actually make it themselves rather than having it provided for them. The K-Web is based on the concept of constructivism and goes beyond interactivity to engage it’s participants in immersion and educational virtual reality or edVR. By involving students and educators alike in its creation it allows for a constantly changing, adaptable and high level thought generation, such as organization, evaluation and synthesis, in a way no traditional education could possibly conceive of into the next generation as a true community of learners.
Initially the reader wonders exactly what the authors are intending as it rambles on about a wide variety of subjects but, fortunately, it manages to pull all the strands together and reveal their purpose. To explain, expound on and encourage exploration of the concept of educational virtual reality in general and the K-Web in specific. In its detailing of how separated, dispersed and specialized knowledge, and the mastery of it has become, such as how a friend of Burke got his Ph.D. for the study of the use of the comma in the writings of Milton, the article manages to invite the reader to start to consider how, especially in this modern age, we need to be able to see the big picture and explore the connectedness of things rather than on expound in detail about specifics and minutia. While the article does remind us that basic skills are necessary, they are no longer sufficient for a proper education. The article intrigued me enough to go out and find the Knowledge Web for myself; I hope that an exploration of it proves it to be as useful as it promises to be.
Review of "Learning with the Internet" by M. Kumar
Journal Review of “Learning with the Internet”
Ray Etheridge
Western Washington University
Muthukumar, S. (September 2004) Learning with the Internet. Retrieved from http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/technology/muthukumar.htm
Review
In this relatively short article the author summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of using the internet in education. He begins with a short discussion of the ways in which the internet can be used, as a tool for inquiry, communication and construction as detailed by Bruce and Levin in 1997 and continues to discuss the details of such. For example how the internet allows for rapid access to facts and data or how it allows teachers or students to communicate across vast distances. He then discussions the pedagogical benefits of using the internet, such as high level learning, self reflection and social awareness and then goes on to detail some of the drawbacks of such a system, such as the need for increased training in media literacy, evaluation strategies and the need for students to be able to access more complex thinking in order to effectively use such tools. Finally, he details how the benefits of such a systems, such as how students can learn how to organized, reflect on and interact with, evaluate and synthesize new skills must be based in core skills and abilities such as Boolean logic and critical thinking skills. He also details how the time and budget constraints of the system and accessibility of such a system which would require monitoring and guidance from teachers and administrators alike thus requiring a new level of complexity in order to be actualized successfully for enhance learning implementation.
The article is well written, easy to read and does a good job of detailing the basic advantages and disadvantages of the importance of technology to modern education. While I had hoped for a more detailed review of specific techniques, programs and methods such was clearly not his intent. He does a good job of listing the basics of what is needed for the student, parent, teacher and administrator the challenges and opportunities of the Internet in regards to learning and as a basic introduction it succeeds, however it should not be confused, it is no more than that and lacking a good list of references or links to websites that detail more specifics one is left wanting more. Fortunately it is only one article on a much more useful website and as such is acceptable for what it is and what it is not.
Ray Etheridge
Western Washington University
Muthukumar, S. (September 2004) Learning with the Internet. Retrieved from http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/technology/muthukumar.htm
Review
In this relatively short article the author summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of using the internet in education. He begins with a short discussion of the ways in which the internet can be used, as a tool for inquiry, communication and construction as detailed by Bruce and Levin in 1997 and continues to discuss the details of such. For example how the internet allows for rapid access to facts and data or how it allows teachers or students to communicate across vast distances. He then discussions the pedagogical benefits of using the internet, such as high level learning, self reflection and social awareness and then goes on to detail some of the drawbacks of such a system, such as the need for increased training in media literacy, evaluation strategies and the need for students to be able to access more complex thinking in order to effectively use such tools. Finally, he details how the benefits of such a systems, such as how students can learn how to organized, reflect on and interact with, evaluate and synthesize new skills must be based in core skills and abilities such as Boolean logic and critical thinking skills. He also details how the time and budget constraints of the system and accessibility of such a system which would require monitoring and guidance from teachers and administrators alike thus requiring a new level of complexity in order to be actualized successfully for enhance learning implementation.
The article is well written, easy to read and does a good job of detailing the basic advantages and disadvantages of the importance of technology to modern education. While I had hoped for a more detailed review of specific techniques, programs and methods such was clearly not his intent. He does a good job of listing the basics of what is needed for the student, parent, teacher and administrator the challenges and opportunities of the Internet in regards to learning and as a basic introduction it succeeds, however it should not be confused, it is no more than that and lacking a good list of references or links to websites that detail more specifics one is left wanting more. Fortunately it is only one article on a much more useful website and as such is acceptable for what it is and what it is not.
Review of "The Future of Learning in a New Free World and how to Build a World Wide Learning Web" by G. Dryden
Journal Review of “The Future of Learning in a New Free World and how to Build a World Wide Learning Web”
Ray Etheridge
Western Washington University
Dryden, G., (March 2004). The Future of Learning in a New Free World and how to Build a World Wide Learning Web. Retrieved from http://www.newhorizons.org/future/dryden.htm
Review
The article begins with a summary of the building blocks of the World Wide Web with an emphasis on free and open content and websites such as Linus, Netscape Navigator and Google. It then goes on to discuss the basics of what has driven economies in the past-land, labor and capital, and what drives them now-ideas, brainpower and information, specifically scientific information. The author then goes on to detail the current state of education in regards to computer use and fluency, which is that computers are typically used primarily in computer education and not in general education or other classrooms. He then discusses how the information revolution, free and open to all is being adopted by the younger generation who are now referred to as digital natives. These natives know how to upload, download, edit, access, explore and create using computer resources as easily and as early as their parents knew how to add, subtract and write their alphabet. He then details how teachers are creating some internet resources, such as online lesson plans and web-pages, but sharing them with very few users. He then calls on the education community to embrace these new technologies and learn from such nations as Singapore, who have wholeheartedly adapted the internet to supplement, not replace, instruction so much so that even during an outbreak of SARS, when schools were closed not one student missed their lessons or assignments. Rather than suggest that the technology be used to replace education he calls for it to supplement, support and accelerate it into the modern world, a world which needs students to be ever more scientifically adept and adaptable.
Overall I found the article prescience. Clearly the world is headed in this direction, and six years on much remains to be done. The article does possess some unique features, as a traditional article it is filled with improper writing conventions. Proper paragraph and article structure is almost entirely absent and while grammar and spelling is good it is filled with lists and other features that have been improperly used. This is not a problem nor does it distract from the effectiveness of the article unless one feels tradition bound to enforce them long past their expiration date. On the other hand the use of graphics, hyperlinks and other modern technological usages is also absent. The article, in word and appearance is at the cusp of the very sea change it is talking about. While published on a website it is still bound by the old forms and usages, sort of. Sadly, the most telling part of the article, that teachers and schools have yet to adapt to these new technologies except on a limited individual scale, for example, in the creation and then constant recreation of lesson plans and daily activities that modern cohorts of students at some of the most progressive schools in the country, are being ask to create anew is telling. Six years on modern students are still being asked to create something that should have been provided for them a priori as something for them to use, consider, reflect on and add to rather than have to recreate from scratch.
Ray Etheridge
Western Washington University
Dryden, G., (March 2004). The Future of Learning in a New Free World and how to Build a World Wide Learning Web. Retrieved from http://www.newhorizons.org/future/dryden.htm
Review
The article begins with a summary of the building blocks of the World Wide Web with an emphasis on free and open content and websites such as Linus, Netscape Navigator and Google. It then goes on to discuss the basics of what has driven economies in the past-land, labor and capital, and what drives them now-ideas, brainpower and information, specifically scientific information. The author then goes on to detail the current state of education in regards to computer use and fluency, which is that computers are typically used primarily in computer education and not in general education or other classrooms. He then discusses how the information revolution, free and open to all is being adopted by the younger generation who are now referred to as digital natives. These natives know how to upload, download, edit, access, explore and create using computer resources as easily and as early as their parents knew how to add, subtract and write their alphabet. He then details how teachers are creating some internet resources, such as online lesson plans and web-pages, but sharing them with very few users. He then calls on the education community to embrace these new technologies and learn from such nations as Singapore, who have wholeheartedly adapted the internet to supplement, not replace, instruction so much so that even during an outbreak of SARS, when schools were closed not one student missed their lessons or assignments. Rather than suggest that the technology be used to replace education he calls for it to supplement, support and accelerate it into the modern world, a world which needs students to be ever more scientifically adept and adaptable.
Overall I found the article prescience. Clearly the world is headed in this direction, and six years on much remains to be done. The article does possess some unique features, as a traditional article it is filled with improper writing conventions. Proper paragraph and article structure is almost entirely absent and while grammar and spelling is good it is filled with lists and other features that have been improperly used. This is not a problem nor does it distract from the effectiveness of the article unless one feels tradition bound to enforce them long past their expiration date. On the other hand the use of graphics, hyperlinks and other modern technological usages is also absent. The article, in word and appearance is at the cusp of the very sea change it is talking about. While published on a website it is still bound by the old forms and usages, sort of. Sadly, the most telling part of the article, that teachers and schools have yet to adapt to these new technologies except on a limited individual scale, for example, in the creation and then constant recreation of lesson plans and daily activities that modern cohorts of students at some of the most progressive schools in the country, are being ask to create anew is telling. Six years on modern students are still being asked to create something that should have been provided for them a priori as something for them to use, consider, reflect on and add to rather than have to recreate from scratch.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Review of "Assistive technology training for teachers" by L. Chmiliar and B. Cheung
Journal Review of “Assistive technology training for teachers - Innovation and accessibility online”
Ray Etheridge
Western Washington University
Chmiliar, L. and Cheung, B., (2007) Assistive technology training for teachers - Innovation and accessibility online. Developmental Disabilities Bulletin, 35(1&2), 18-28.
Review
This is an article by the developers of a web based course in assistive technology for teachers so as to be able to learn how to use some of the modern technological developments and tools available to teachers to aid students with special needs. The article begins with a brief discussion of the fact that many teachers, over 70%, have had no training in how to used web or other technologies so as to be able to assist their IEP students or others with special needs. The article then goes on to detail what the program they have created at Athabasca University and show examples of the use of these programs and techniques via a web based course. The illustrations are primarily screen captures and the text supports and describes what is being discussed, such as their web based Tool Lending Library, discussion forums, interactive study modules, and assessment tools. The article concludes with the statement that the need for such training is evident as teachers need to be brought up to speed with the tools and techniques that exist to assist their students.
At first I had high hopes for this article, I was hoping for some sort of review of tools, programs and techniques that I could use in development of my classes and special needs students, or at least and overview of various such things as they exist today. In this I was disappointed, the article is really simply a description of what the University has done and how it manages to meet the needs of teachers in such a situation. Details are sparse and most of the technology they discuss is now commonplace or even superseded by newer, more advanced tools that simple did not exist in 2007. To be honest the article is not all that useful today except to remind us how rapidly technology changes and how we must never stop learning and adopting it, as well as adapting it to our own uses, as teachers.
Ray Etheridge
Western Washington University
Chmiliar, L. and Cheung, B., (2007) Assistive technology training for teachers - Innovation and accessibility online. Developmental Disabilities Bulletin, 35(1&2), 18-28.
Review
This is an article by the developers of a web based course in assistive technology for teachers so as to be able to learn how to use some of the modern technological developments and tools available to teachers to aid students with special needs. The article begins with a brief discussion of the fact that many teachers, over 70%, have had no training in how to used web or other technologies so as to be able to assist their IEP students or others with special needs. The article then goes on to detail what the program they have created at Athabasca University and show examples of the use of these programs and techniques via a web based course. The illustrations are primarily screen captures and the text supports and describes what is being discussed, such as their web based Tool Lending Library, discussion forums, interactive study modules, and assessment tools. The article concludes with the statement that the need for such training is evident as teachers need to be brought up to speed with the tools and techniques that exist to assist their students.
At first I had high hopes for this article, I was hoping for some sort of review of tools, programs and techniques that I could use in development of my classes and special needs students, or at least and overview of various such things as they exist today. In this I was disappointed, the article is really simply a description of what the University has done and how it manages to meet the needs of teachers in such a situation. Details are sparse and most of the technology they discuss is now commonplace or even superseded by newer, more advanced tools that simple did not exist in 2007. To be honest the article is not all that useful today except to remind us how rapidly technology changes and how we must never stop learning and adopting it, as well as adapting it to our own uses, as teachers.
Review of "Convergence of Technology and Diversity" by W. Gaudelli
Journal Review of “Convergence of Technology and Diversity: Experiences of Two Beginning Teachers in Web-Based Distance Learning for Global/Multicultural Education”
Ray Etheridge
Western Washington University
Gaudelli, W., (2006) Convergence of Technology and Diversity: Experiences of Two Beginning Teachers in Web-Based Distance Learning for Global/Multicultural Education. Teacher Education Quarterly, 33(1), 97-116.
Review
The article begins with a discussion of the importance of technology in the modern world, the need for new teachers to become familiar with it, as their digitally native students surely are, and the simultaneous need for diversity education. This is followed by a lengthy discussion of national accreditation standards, a review of the history of distance learning. Following this the author discusses his design for the study, in which two new teachers took a class on the convergence of technology and diversity and reported on their observations in regards to it and their actual practice of teaching. The author goes to considerable length to include their backgrounds, one a young female white teacher from suburbia with little teaching experience and the second a Hispanic male from a socio-economically disadvantaged community with a great deal of multicultural and education experience. He then goes on to discuss their responses in relation to the responses of the rest of the background students in the class and this is followed by his analysis of their experiences and conclusions about the implementation of the program and directions for future inquiry in the subject, particularly noteworthy is the need for greater support for new teachers in how to use specific tools for their teaching and the difficulty in doing so as the convergence of these issues is all too often given to the new teachers as burden with little to no guidance or help rather than included as part of their instruction. This is made particularly more difficult due to the fact that new teachers are on the lowest ranking rung on the educational ladder and frequently do not have the resources available to them or the support of the administration who seem more interested in high stakes testing, specific assessments and basic skills, as detailed in his earlier discussion of the teachers responses.
At first the article seemed dry and rather slow, and I wondered exactly what the author was trying to relate. The limitations of the study are obvious, small sample size; limited study responses and concern over applicability are all major concerns. However, once the actual responses of the two teachers involved are related it all becomes clear. The article is more of an in-depth piece about the trials and tribulations of people in virtually the same boat I will find myself in one short year. Their responses are authentic and straightforward and given insights into the problems faced by new teacher in such a way as to make the article extremely enjoyable to read and should be required reading for anyone involved in setting up a new program of instruction or in charge of teacher training anywhere. The author’s analysis of their trials and responses is thoughtful, insightful and reveals the layers lying behind the difficulties faced by these teachers and his recommendations for inquiry and helpful in both new teacher and teacher preparation education alike in understanding the situation and challenges faced by new teachers being asked to engage in the creation of the new digitally native curriculum. Particularly interesting is his discussion of how these different and diverse strands of teaching are coming together in a convergence of issues and challenges that all involved need to consider as we move forward into the future of teaching and how even greater teacher preparation and training are needed to make the leap from such training to being able to ensure the success of students in the ever increasing complex world of modern education.
Ray Etheridge
Western Washington University
Gaudelli, W., (2006) Convergence of Technology and Diversity: Experiences of Two Beginning Teachers in Web-Based Distance Learning for Global/Multicultural Education. Teacher Education Quarterly, 33(1), 97-116.
Review
The article begins with a discussion of the importance of technology in the modern world, the need for new teachers to become familiar with it, as their digitally native students surely are, and the simultaneous need for diversity education. This is followed by a lengthy discussion of national accreditation standards, a review of the history of distance learning. Following this the author discusses his design for the study, in which two new teachers took a class on the convergence of technology and diversity and reported on their observations in regards to it and their actual practice of teaching. The author goes to considerable length to include their backgrounds, one a young female white teacher from suburbia with little teaching experience and the second a Hispanic male from a socio-economically disadvantaged community with a great deal of multicultural and education experience. He then goes on to discuss their responses in relation to the responses of the rest of the background students in the class and this is followed by his analysis of their experiences and conclusions about the implementation of the program and directions for future inquiry in the subject, particularly noteworthy is the need for greater support for new teachers in how to use specific tools for their teaching and the difficulty in doing so as the convergence of these issues is all too often given to the new teachers as burden with little to no guidance or help rather than included as part of their instruction. This is made particularly more difficult due to the fact that new teachers are on the lowest ranking rung on the educational ladder and frequently do not have the resources available to them or the support of the administration who seem more interested in high stakes testing, specific assessments and basic skills, as detailed in his earlier discussion of the teachers responses.
At first the article seemed dry and rather slow, and I wondered exactly what the author was trying to relate. The limitations of the study are obvious, small sample size; limited study responses and concern over applicability are all major concerns. However, once the actual responses of the two teachers involved are related it all becomes clear. The article is more of an in-depth piece about the trials and tribulations of people in virtually the same boat I will find myself in one short year. Their responses are authentic and straightforward and given insights into the problems faced by new teacher in such a way as to make the article extremely enjoyable to read and should be required reading for anyone involved in setting up a new program of instruction or in charge of teacher training anywhere. The author’s analysis of their trials and responses is thoughtful, insightful and reveals the layers lying behind the difficulties faced by these teachers and his recommendations for inquiry and helpful in both new teacher and teacher preparation education alike in understanding the situation and challenges faced by new teachers being asked to engage in the creation of the new digitally native curriculum. Particularly interesting is his discussion of how these different and diverse strands of teaching are coming together in a convergence of issues and challenges that all involved need to consider as we move forward into the future of teaching and how even greater teacher preparation and training are needed to make the leap from such training to being able to ensure the success of students in the ever increasing complex world of modern education.
Review of "Teacher Scholastic-Dirtmeister"
Ray E. Etheridge
Western Washington University
Teacher Scholastic Website-Dirtmeister
http://teacher.scholastic.com/dirt/index.htm
Site Accessed: May 10, 2010
The Scholastic Website is an excellent resource for teachers and students. It has many different resources for the teacher and student alike from laboratory exercises to news, publishing resources, projects and links to additional websites. The website is easy to use and navigate and easy to adapt too many different classroom situations. The laboratory exercises are clearly spelled out and offer clear and obvious examples of the different ideas presented in the book. The resources are useful, approachable and easy to use. Using this website therefore allows for an easy and enjoyable introduction to the concepts of environmentalism, activism and community involvement that are embodied in the modern concept of education that I have been talking about in my previous posts. While a corporate website at heart it offers many free resources and opportunities, ignore the occasional corporate logo and access what you like, ignore the rest.
One of the main reasons I like this resource is that it allows for a ready-made access to many practical examples, ideas and project that can easily engage students in the study of the subject of Sustainability Literacy. Also I like this website because I feel that it offers many practical resources for teachers at many levels that augment the concepts and ideas embodied in the ideas of issues based education and environmentalism combined with good Science program that allows for a diversity of education techniques that I have discussed in my previous postings. While many ideas are of great importance they are often difficult to approach at a ground level and the website fills the gap between theory and practice that can otherwise be difficult to bridge, especially for beginning teachers and students with special needs or diverse backgrounds. After all what is more down to earth and common to every civilization that dirt.
Western Washington University
Teacher Scholastic Website-Dirtmeister
http://teacher.scholastic.com/dirt/index.htm
Site Accessed: May 10, 2010
The Scholastic Website is an excellent resource for teachers and students. It has many different resources for the teacher and student alike from laboratory exercises to news, publishing resources, projects and links to additional websites. The website is easy to use and navigate and easy to adapt too many different classroom situations. The laboratory exercises are clearly spelled out and offer clear and obvious examples of the different ideas presented in the book. The resources are useful, approachable and easy to use. Using this website therefore allows for an easy and enjoyable introduction to the concepts of environmentalism, activism and community involvement that are embodied in the modern concept of education that I have been talking about in my previous posts. While a corporate website at heart it offers many free resources and opportunities, ignore the occasional corporate logo and access what you like, ignore the rest.
One of the main reasons I like this resource is that it allows for a ready-made access to many practical examples, ideas and project that can easily engage students in the study of the subject of Sustainability Literacy. Also I like this website because I feel that it offers many practical resources for teachers at many levels that augment the concepts and ideas embodied in the ideas of issues based education and environmentalism combined with good Science program that allows for a diversity of education techniques that I have discussed in my previous postings. While many ideas are of great importance they are often difficult to approach at a ground level and the website fills the gap between theory and practice that can otherwise be difficult to bridge, especially for beginning teachers and students with special needs or diverse backgrounds. After all what is more down to earth and common to every civilization that dirt.
Review of "The Physics Classroom"
The Physics Classroom
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/
Date Accessed: May 6, 2010
The Physics Classroom is a site developed by a High School Physics teacher and is intended to such as well as their students. The site is extremely easy to use, employs simple but effective graphics and the authors allows, nay encourages, the use of the site for other classes. It has much information, explanations, graphics and illustrations that could easily be used by a teacher for illustration or by students for learning, such as it’s numerous tutorials and sample homework questions. This could be of particular importance to young students with few resources other than a library’s Internet connection as a online tool, teacher and tutor to aid them when other help is not available. In addition to all this the developer provides many useful tools for the teacher so as to aid them in developing their own methods of instruction and classroom preparation, such as in descriptions of laboratory exercises with materials, concepts and quantities listed. These are not pre-printed labs as such but rather, infinitely more valuable, the tools to make such easily and quickly. In essence it is a free prepackaged box of tools and support materials that no new physics should be without! Go to this site, play around with it and figure out how you want to use it, it will make the first few years of teaching much easier.
Overall I find the site highly useful is somewhat devoid of the typical bells and whistles often associated with such sites. If you want basic good quality tools to help you set up a class this is the place to go for teachers. If you want some guidance and help as a student, this is a good place to go. As a starting point for web activities The Physics Classroom is basic, easy to use and fun. Go and check it out today!
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/
Date Accessed: May 6, 2010
The Physics Classroom is a site developed by a High School Physics teacher and is intended to such as well as their students. The site is extremely easy to use, employs simple but effective graphics and the authors allows, nay encourages, the use of the site for other classes. It has much information, explanations, graphics and illustrations that could easily be used by a teacher for illustration or by students for learning, such as it’s numerous tutorials and sample homework questions. This could be of particular importance to young students with few resources other than a library’s Internet connection as a online tool, teacher and tutor to aid them when other help is not available. In addition to all this the developer provides many useful tools for the teacher so as to aid them in developing their own methods of instruction and classroom preparation, such as in descriptions of laboratory exercises with materials, concepts and quantities listed. These are not pre-printed labs as such but rather, infinitely more valuable, the tools to make such easily and quickly. In essence it is a free prepackaged box of tools and support materials that no new physics should be without! Go to this site, play around with it and figure out how you want to use it, it will make the first few years of teaching much easier.
Overall I find the site highly useful is somewhat devoid of the typical bells and whistles often associated with such sites. If you want basic good quality tools to help you set up a class this is the place to go for teachers. If you want some guidance and help as a student, this is a good place to go. As a starting point for web activities The Physics Classroom is basic, easy to use and fun. Go and check it out today!
Review of "Skymaps.com"
Ray Etheridge
Western Washington University
Sci. Ed. 481, 5/6/10
Web Resources Paper
Skymaps.com
http://skymaps.com/
Date Accessed: May 6, 2010
Skymaps.com is an excellent site for anyone interested in astronomy. While technically a site that sells a variety of Astronomical resources the heart and soul of the site are the free educational resources that the site has, in particular the user friendly easy to read, download and use Skymaps themselves. Printing out these maps, which is free for educational purposes, is a treasure that no astronomy class should be without. Provided each month and available in a variety of languages and for a variety of locations the maps are easy to use, fun and with a bit of practice very accurate. The Sky Calendar, also free, provides a list of the interesting astronomical events of the month and can be used to plan activities and group outings. While there is not much more free on the site than these two offerings there are plenty of maps, links to telescopes, calendars and other quality items available for purchase, if you are inclined.
Scientist and laymen alike can make use of this site for education purposes such as for guides in viewing the might sky for astronomy projects or just for fun. While there is not much free at this site the Skymaps and Sky Calendar are enough and for those interested in taking the next step the products they offer are good and reasonably priced. Skymaps.com is a simple resource, but an excellent one.
Western Washington University
Sci. Ed. 481, 5/6/10
Web Resources Paper
Skymaps.com
http://skymaps.com/
Date Accessed: May 6, 2010
Skymaps.com is an excellent site for anyone interested in astronomy. While technically a site that sells a variety of Astronomical resources the heart and soul of the site are the free educational resources that the site has, in particular the user friendly easy to read, download and use Skymaps themselves. Printing out these maps, which is free for educational purposes, is a treasure that no astronomy class should be without. Provided each month and available in a variety of languages and for a variety of locations the maps are easy to use, fun and with a bit of practice very accurate. The Sky Calendar, also free, provides a list of the interesting astronomical events of the month and can be used to plan activities and group outings. While there is not much more free on the site than these two offerings there are plenty of maps, links to telescopes, calendars and other quality items available for purchase, if you are inclined.
Scientist and laymen alike can make use of this site for education purposes such as for guides in viewing the might sky for astronomy projects or just for fun. While there is not much free at this site the Skymaps and Sky Calendar are enough and for those interested in taking the next step the products they offer are good and reasonably priced. Skymaps.com is a simple resource, but an excellent one.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Review of "“Improving Fluency Skills of Secondary Level Students from Diverse Backgrounds" by D. O'Shea, K. McQuiston, and M. McCollin
Journal Review of “Improving Fluency Skills of Secondary Level Students from Diverse Backgrounds”
Ray Etheridge
Western Washington University
O’Shea, D, McQuiston, K. and McCollin, M., (2009) Improving Fluency Skills of Secondary Level Students from Diverse Backgrounds. Preventing School Failure, 54(1), 77-80.
Review
After the introduction, and a short discussion of why all teachers need to concern themselves with English language learning, due to the prevalence of ELL (English Language Learners) at all levels of education the article begins with a discussion of how language skills develop from basic picture and words phonics to literary competency and finally fluency itself. It then launches into the bulk of the piece which introduces and variety of techniques and methods meant to aid the teacher in the teaching of fluency. Such techniques include Repeated Reading, Multicultural Readings, Oral Histories, Choral Readings, Echo and Antiphonal activities. Each is in tern defined, discusses in regards to its usefulness and an example given of how it can be implemented in class. Naturally a discussion of Culturally Diverse (CD) students and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse backgrounds in included and the lists of books supporting such activities are provided. The article concludes with a discussion of follow up activities and ways to reinforce the lessons that should enable the student to engage in more self directed critical thinking exercises and how the teach can monitor such activities.
Overall the article is designed as a tool of instruction which is intended to list, discuss and guide an educator as to what type of activities they can engage their students in so as to increase their fluency in English. This article is clearly intended for educators. Aside from the overall theme the article is filled with jargon and terms that few outside of the education community would be familiar with, which this is more of a comment than a criticism it does limit the accessibility of the article somewhat. The overall flow of the article is good, presenting the situation the article is addressing, discussing the relevant research, defining goals and techniques that will be explained and then the explanations of the terms and techniques. A summary paragraph discussing how these techniques can aid students reiterating the importance of repetition and the basic fluency development methodology concludes the work. While useful as an introduction to these techniques and with a substantial bibliography the article does not provide or discuss the trade-offs, advantages or time considerations of the techniques it discusses. The initial discussion of how literacy develops into fluency is the strongest and most informative part of the article. It is well written and supported by the research and bibliography. As for the rest, the overall discussion is good, the techniques are introduced and defined well and while the various suggestions are good and useful without more specific details or strategies one is left with little more than a series of good ideas, all the hard work, or additional research one must do on one’s own. One is left wondering how much time, what results you can expect and how assessment and standards are addressed by these ideas in a timely manner. Perhaps it was not the author’s intent to include these in the discussion but without them the article merely serves and an introduction to the subject and little more. Worth reading, but ultimately one wishes for more from an article aimed at improving fluency.
Ray Etheridge
Western Washington University
O’Shea, D, McQuiston, K. and McCollin, M., (2009) Improving Fluency Skills of Secondary Level Students from Diverse Backgrounds. Preventing School Failure, 54(1), 77-80.
Review
After the introduction, and a short discussion of why all teachers need to concern themselves with English language learning, due to the prevalence of ELL (English Language Learners) at all levels of education the article begins with a discussion of how language skills develop from basic picture and words phonics to literary competency and finally fluency itself. It then launches into the bulk of the piece which introduces and variety of techniques and methods meant to aid the teacher in the teaching of fluency. Such techniques include Repeated Reading, Multicultural Readings, Oral Histories, Choral Readings, Echo and Antiphonal activities. Each is in tern defined, discusses in regards to its usefulness and an example given of how it can be implemented in class. Naturally a discussion of Culturally Diverse (CD) students and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse backgrounds in included and the lists of books supporting such activities are provided. The article concludes with a discussion of follow up activities and ways to reinforce the lessons that should enable the student to engage in more self directed critical thinking exercises and how the teach can monitor such activities.
Overall the article is designed as a tool of instruction which is intended to list, discuss and guide an educator as to what type of activities they can engage their students in so as to increase their fluency in English. This article is clearly intended for educators. Aside from the overall theme the article is filled with jargon and terms that few outside of the education community would be familiar with, which this is more of a comment than a criticism it does limit the accessibility of the article somewhat. The overall flow of the article is good, presenting the situation the article is addressing, discussing the relevant research, defining goals and techniques that will be explained and then the explanations of the terms and techniques. A summary paragraph discussing how these techniques can aid students reiterating the importance of repetition and the basic fluency development methodology concludes the work. While useful as an introduction to these techniques and with a substantial bibliography the article does not provide or discuss the trade-offs, advantages or time considerations of the techniques it discusses. The initial discussion of how literacy develops into fluency is the strongest and most informative part of the article. It is well written and supported by the research and bibliography. As for the rest, the overall discussion is good, the techniques are introduced and defined well and while the various suggestions are good and useful without more specific details or strategies one is left with little more than a series of good ideas, all the hard work, or additional research one must do on one’s own. One is left wondering how much time, what results you can expect and how assessment and standards are addressed by these ideas in a timely manner. Perhaps it was not the author’s intent to include these in the discussion but without them the article merely serves and an introduction to the subject and little more. Worth reading, but ultimately one wishes for more from an article aimed at improving fluency.
Review of "Scholarpedia"
Web Review of “Scholarpedia”
Ray Etheridge
Western Washington University
Web Address: Scholarpedia (n.d.). Retrieved from the Scholarpedia Wiki: http://www.scholarpedia.org/
Name of Website: Scholarpedia, curator Dr. Eugene M. Izhikevich
Additional Information: ISSN 1941-6016 (online)
Sponsoring Organization: National Science Foundation
Review
The Scholarpedia website is clearly intended to mirror, as closely as possible, that of the “Wikipedia” website. However, it has one major change, in that it requires articles to be written by an accepted expert (publicly acknowledged or chosen by the Scholarpedia staff), peer reviewed and then submitted to an accepted curator before publication. While works-in-progress are accepted, they are clearly delineated from published articles that had been accepted and reviewed.
Although the level of scholarship is very high, the articles tend to be very limited to the fields of expert scholarship in astronomy, physics and mathematics. What works I reviewed are well written, easy to access-with the full set of Wikipedia search tools I would have expected nothing less-and convenient to use. While limited to a fairly select audience the Scholarpedia website is well organized and a good resource for a scholar interested in these subjects.
Ray Etheridge
Western Washington University
Web Address: Scholarpedia (n.d.). Retrieved from the Scholarpedia Wiki: http://www.scholarpedia.org/
Name of Website: Scholarpedia, curator Dr. Eugene M. Izhikevich
Additional Information: ISSN 1941-6016 (online)
Sponsoring Organization: National Science Foundation
Review
The Scholarpedia website is clearly intended to mirror, as closely as possible, that of the “Wikipedia” website. However, it has one major change, in that it requires articles to be written by an accepted expert (publicly acknowledged or chosen by the Scholarpedia staff), peer reviewed and then submitted to an accepted curator before publication. While works-in-progress are accepted, they are clearly delineated from published articles that had been accepted and reviewed.
Although the level of scholarship is very high, the articles tend to be very limited to the fields of expert scholarship in astronomy, physics and mathematics. What works I reviewed are well written, easy to access-with the full set of Wikipedia search tools I would have expected nothing less-and convenient to use. While limited to a fairly select audience the Scholarpedia website is well organized and a good resource for a scholar interested in these subjects.
Review of "Grading and Reporting in a Standards Based Environment" by T. Guskey and L. Jung
Journal Review of “Grading and Reporting in a Standards Based Environment: Implications for Students with Special Needs”
Ray Etheridge
Western Washington University
Guskey, T. and Jung, L., (2009) Grading and Reporting in a Standards Based Environment: Implications for Students with Special Needs. Theory into Practice, 48(1), 53-62.
Review
The article is a fairly frank discussion about how we, as educators can deal with students special needs and yet also maintain proper records in regards to student’s abilities. The authors begin with a brief description of the current state of affairs in regards to students with special needs and the increasing trend of Standards based testing. Their review of the literature is short but detailed and serves as a good introduction into the heart of their subject, namely how do we deal with the legally required former and maintain the rigor and intent of the later? It is there contention that we need a more precise grading system than we currently use, in which all aspects of a student’s work is lumped together to produce a single letter grade. In such a system the actual achievement of required grade standards (product), the energy expended (effort or as they term it, process), and improvement in ability (progress) are lumped together and the difficulties and limitations of such a system as discussed. Should a student with special needs be failed if they do not reach standards for a grade, even if they tried as hard as they could and actually made significant progress toward their IEP goals, clearly not! Yet how can a single letter grade reflect this. It cannot. The solution is elegant in its simplicity. Record each grade separately. However this idea is not the main part of the article for they not only reach this conclusion, which, of course, has been reached before, but provide a five step plan for clearly implementing such a system for use by a school. The five steps are 1) Establish Clear Standards for Student Learning that differentiate between product, process and progress, 2) Ask if the Standard needs Modification for the student, 3) Ask what type of change is needed, a simple accommodation or modification in product standard, 4) If a Modification is needed what is it, and 5) Record such a change in the IEP noting in the student’s record that a modification was made. Which such tools the parents, special needs teacher, staff, general education teachers and administration are provided with far more exacting details and information that they need to ensure the student’s success than any simple letter grade could provide. Since the note that a modification was made does not violate IEP or confidentiality rules those that need to know have access to all appropriate information without violating confidentiality or federal law. The article then ends with an extensive bibliography.
The article is well written, and while some might call the writing style dry, it manages to convey its message in clear and distinct detail. This message is simple-our current grading system, in which a single grade is assigned for all coursework, is insufficient to properly address the educational needs of modern students, schools and teachers. By providing clear guidelines for an improved system, with a well thought out decision tree as the hallmark of the article I find this article extremely valuable as a new educator as it provides a clear tool for address the needs of those students most at risk in the current system. I am very interested in learning more about this idea as well as what the response to this idea might be from other educators, administrators and legal experts. To be honest I might even suggest that it is possible to go a step further, after all why limit “Modification” to just students with special needs? Why not include all types of modifications from AP classification or any course assignment that is not typical for the program. In this way the term and concept of modification can be used to maintain a student’s anonymity but allow for noting any sort of alteration, difference or variation in education for those that need, and have the right to know, what information they need to properly address any and all student’s educational needs, special or not.
Ray Etheridge
Western Washington University
Guskey, T. and Jung, L., (2009) Grading and Reporting in a Standards Based Environment: Implications for Students with Special Needs. Theory into Practice, 48(1), 53-62.
Review
The article is a fairly frank discussion about how we, as educators can deal with students special needs and yet also maintain proper records in regards to student’s abilities. The authors begin with a brief description of the current state of affairs in regards to students with special needs and the increasing trend of Standards based testing. Their review of the literature is short but detailed and serves as a good introduction into the heart of their subject, namely how do we deal with the legally required former and maintain the rigor and intent of the later? It is there contention that we need a more precise grading system than we currently use, in which all aspects of a student’s work is lumped together to produce a single letter grade. In such a system the actual achievement of required grade standards (product), the energy expended (effort or as they term it, process), and improvement in ability (progress) are lumped together and the difficulties and limitations of such a system as discussed. Should a student with special needs be failed if they do not reach standards for a grade, even if they tried as hard as they could and actually made significant progress toward their IEP goals, clearly not! Yet how can a single letter grade reflect this. It cannot. The solution is elegant in its simplicity. Record each grade separately. However this idea is not the main part of the article for they not only reach this conclusion, which, of course, has been reached before, but provide a five step plan for clearly implementing such a system for use by a school. The five steps are 1) Establish Clear Standards for Student Learning that differentiate between product, process and progress, 2) Ask if the Standard needs Modification for the student, 3) Ask what type of change is needed, a simple accommodation or modification in product standard, 4) If a Modification is needed what is it, and 5) Record such a change in the IEP noting in the student’s record that a modification was made. Which such tools the parents, special needs teacher, staff, general education teachers and administration are provided with far more exacting details and information that they need to ensure the student’s success than any simple letter grade could provide. Since the note that a modification was made does not violate IEP or confidentiality rules those that need to know have access to all appropriate information without violating confidentiality or federal law. The article then ends with an extensive bibliography.
The article is well written, and while some might call the writing style dry, it manages to convey its message in clear and distinct detail. This message is simple-our current grading system, in which a single grade is assigned for all coursework, is insufficient to properly address the educational needs of modern students, schools and teachers. By providing clear guidelines for an improved system, with a well thought out decision tree as the hallmark of the article I find this article extremely valuable as a new educator as it provides a clear tool for address the needs of those students most at risk in the current system. I am very interested in learning more about this idea as well as what the response to this idea might be from other educators, administrators and legal experts. To be honest I might even suggest that it is possible to go a step further, after all why limit “Modification” to just students with special needs? Why not include all types of modifications from AP classification or any course assignment that is not typical for the program. In this way the term and concept of modification can be used to maintain a student’s anonymity but allow for noting any sort of alteration, difference or variation in education for those that need, and have the right to know, what information they need to properly address any and all student’s educational needs, special or not.
Review of "Speaking English in Finnish content based classrooms." by T. Nikula
Journal Article Summary of “Speaking English in Finnish content based classrooms”
Ray Etheridge
Western Washington University
Nikula, T., (2007) Speaking English in Finnish content based classrooms. World Englishes, 26:2, 206-233.
Review
The article deals with the process known in Finland as CLIL, or Content and Language Integrated Instruction, a process in which the students are taught a non-language arts class in English rather than their native Finnish tongue. While I admit it may seem a strange choice for teaching in American classes I find that an outsiders view of a situation is often very helpful in understanding and clarifying problems and thoughts related to subjects or concepts that we may take for granted here. The authors’ main goal is to investigate the effective of CLIL and learn how students use or claim ownership of the language in these classes and how it affects the classroom as a learning environment. Research was carried out to understand how students utilized the language and what can be learned from it for teaching in general.
The grade level for the research was 13 to 15 year old students’, male and female students were involved in the study and ability levels varied considerably, although Finnish students typically score very high on standardized tests, the authors clearly point out that knowledge of English as a popular language is new in Finland, having only surpassed German as the most popular choice for a secondary language in the late 1990’s. The data were gathered during eight lessons of ninety minutes each in two classes with a total of 15 students involved in 53 different lessons involving students. Entire sessions were recorded so the study is an in-depth study of a small number of students, and while this is a weakness of the study, the total time under observation is 720 minutes times 15 students, or 180 hours of recorded audio and visual evidence that was involved in the study-a considerable period of time.
The results of the study showed that the students clearly valued the opportunity to learn in English and that, contrary to expectations when language difficulties presented themselves, most students did not resort to using their native language for intellectual or scholastic reasons but rather for emotional or contextual ones. In other words, the students felt that having a biology course or physics course in a foreign language was a privilege or treat and one that they enjoyed and in which they voluntarily choose to continue speaking English, even when it would have been easier to revert to their mother tongue.
It is important to note that the students in the CLIL classes were not being evaluated on their language skills when they were not being graded on their mastery of English. In other words it, was a low-stake environment. They choose to speak English over their native tongue before the class started and engaged in small conversations in English among themselves as well as while speaking to the teacher. When there is no explicit focus on the language, the students chose to use it, to make the language their own, or claim ownership of it, a trait most notably shown when students who were quite fluent in both languages starting mixing the two languages together in order to express complex thoughts or ideas that seem to be better expressed in one or the other of the language. This activity, known as code switching, such as using the more exacting Finnish words for weather and atmosphere as part of an otherwise perfectly acceptable English sentence on wind, shows that the students had reached a level of understanding of and comfort with English even before reaching a level of complete fluency. The only other time students typical resorted to use of their mother tongue was when emotions were involved. If the student got frustrated or overly excited, or they wanted to express something in an emotively manner, as opposed to a rationally manner did they commonly resort to the use of their native language.
In summary the paper reports that students can “claim ownership” of a language best when they interact with the language not just directly as a language course, which the authors admit is important to build up the basic skills of the language, but are able to do so when the atmosphere of learning is informal, creative, interactive and playful, encouraging both official and off-the-record usage of the language outside of the formal class setting itself. Thus the teaching of the language at this point in the classroom is one of a complementary practice to the formal class instruction and it is during this time that the students are allowed and encouraged to use the language and seek mastery of it free from the pressures, fears and difficulties associated with formal lessons and exact plans, goals and evaluation criterion.
Now, as for the analysis of this study I feel that it has both many weaknesses and strengths. Clearly the sample size is a problem. I would like to see far more students studied and far more classes involved and obviously these studies need to occur in America somewhere. So the location of the study is a problem as well, while humans are human the world around nation and culture may mean that these lessons and ideas may not translate well to the American classroom. Still the study does offer some interesting ideas and challenges some of our notions of what it means to be a teacher and how content literacy can or should be taught. The students chose to use the language, they clearly valued the experience, it was something they were encouraged to make their own and something they could see that had value. Rather than creating ever more exact standards, guidelines, EARL’s, GLE’s and ever increasingly complex techniques for measuring, evaluating and testing students not only on the content but the mastery of the language itself, should we not encourage students to make the subjects their own, particularly in regards to instruction of ELL students, and to do so in a low stress and positive environment.
Finally, it is noteworthy is that teaching content language literacy should be seen as a positive and conscious opportunity or noteworthy advantage rather than a chore or onerous task by the student. We should not attempt to slip this in past them but rather embrace it and get them involved in the process of wanting it in order to make it effective as seen in the recent demand for English in such a far away nation as Finland. Clearly the students involved in this study perceive the value of fluency in English, a priority that many of our own native speakers seem not to share. As for the complexity of how to effectively integrate teaching and multilingual mastery and combine the rational and emotional or passionate sides to the teaching world, we can see from this study that attempts to separate them seem to be both impossible and even undesirable, but such a revelation only points us in a direction that we might have only been able to perceive if we allowed others to be the basis for a look in at teaching our own language.
Ray Etheridge
Western Washington University
Nikula, T., (2007) Speaking English in Finnish content based classrooms. World Englishes, 26:2, 206-233.
Review
The article deals with the process known in Finland as CLIL, or Content and Language Integrated Instruction, a process in which the students are taught a non-language arts class in English rather than their native Finnish tongue. While I admit it may seem a strange choice for teaching in American classes I find that an outsiders view of a situation is often very helpful in understanding and clarifying problems and thoughts related to subjects or concepts that we may take for granted here. The authors’ main goal is to investigate the effective of CLIL and learn how students use or claim ownership of the language in these classes and how it affects the classroom as a learning environment. Research was carried out to understand how students utilized the language and what can be learned from it for teaching in general.
The grade level for the research was 13 to 15 year old students’, male and female students were involved in the study and ability levels varied considerably, although Finnish students typically score very high on standardized tests, the authors clearly point out that knowledge of English as a popular language is new in Finland, having only surpassed German as the most popular choice for a secondary language in the late 1990’s. The data were gathered during eight lessons of ninety minutes each in two classes with a total of 15 students involved in 53 different lessons involving students. Entire sessions were recorded so the study is an in-depth study of a small number of students, and while this is a weakness of the study, the total time under observation is 720 minutes times 15 students, or 180 hours of recorded audio and visual evidence that was involved in the study-a considerable period of time.
The results of the study showed that the students clearly valued the opportunity to learn in English and that, contrary to expectations when language difficulties presented themselves, most students did not resort to using their native language for intellectual or scholastic reasons but rather for emotional or contextual ones. In other words, the students felt that having a biology course or physics course in a foreign language was a privilege or treat and one that they enjoyed and in which they voluntarily choose to continue speaking English, even when it would have been easier to revert to their mother tongue.
It is important to note that the students in the CLIL classes were not being evaluated on their language skills when they were not being graded on their mastery of English. In other words it, was a low-stake environment. They choose to speak English over their native tongue before the class started and engaged in small conversations in English among themselves as well as while speaking to the teacher. When there is no explicit focus on the language, the students chose to use it, to make the language their own, or claim ownership of it, a trait most notably shown when students who were quite fluent in both languages starting mixing the two languages together in order to express complex thoughts or ideas that seem to be better expressed in one or the other of the language. This activity, known as code switching, such as using the more exacting Finnish words for weather and atmosphere as part of an otherwise perfectly acceptable English sentence on wind, shows that the students had reached a level of understanding of and comfort with English even before reaching a level of complete fluency. The only other time students typical resorted to use of their mother tongue was when emotions were involved. If the student got frustrated or overly excited, or they wanted to express something in an emotively manner, as opposed to a rationally manner did they commonly resort to the use of their native language.
In summary the paper reports that students can “claim ownership” of a language best when they interact with the language not just directly as a language course, which the authors admit is important to build up the basic skills of the language, but are able to do so when the atmosphere of learning is informal, creative, interactive and playful, encouraging both official and off-the-record usage of the language outside of the formal class setting itself. Thus the teaching of the language at this point in the classroom is one of a complementary practice to the formal class instruction and it is during this time that the students are allowed and encouraged to use the language and seek mastery of it free from the pressures, fears and difficulties associated with formal lessons and exact plans, goals and evaluation criterion.
Now, as for the analysis of this study I feel that it has both many weaknesses and strengths. Clearly the sample size is a problem. I would like to see far more students studied and far more classes involved and obviously these studies need to occur in America somewhere. So the location of the study is a problem as well, while humans are human the world around nation and culture may mean that these lessons and ideas may not translate well to the American classroom. Still the study does offer some interesting ideas and challenges some of our notions of what it means to be a teacher and how content literacy can or should be taught. The students chose to use the language, they clearly valued the experience, it was something they were encouraged to make their own and something they could see that had value. Rather than creating ever more exact standards, guidelines, EARL’s, GLE’s and ever increasingly complex techniques for measuring, evaluating and testing students not only on the content but the mastery of the language itself, should we not encourage students to make the subjects their own, particularly in regards to instruction of ELL students, and to do so in a low stress and positive environment.
Finally, it is noteworthy is that teaching content language literacy should be seen as a positive and conscious opportunity or noteworthy advantage rather than a chore or onerous task by the student. We should not attempt to slip this in past them but rather embrace it and get them involved in the process of wanting it in order to make it effective as seen in the recent demand for English in such a far away nation as Finland. Clearly the students involved in this study perceive the value of fluency in English, a priority that many of our own native speakers seem not to share. As for the complexity of how to effectively integrate teaching and multilingual mastery and combine the rational and emotional or passionate sides to the teaching world, we can see from this study that attempts to separate them seem to be both impossible and even undesirable, but such a revelation only points us in a direction that we might have only been able to perceive if we allowed others to be the basis for a look in at teaching our own language.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Review of "Closing the Mathematics Achievement Gap of High-Poverty Middle Schools" by B. Balfanz and V. Byrnes
Balfanz, B. and Byrnes, V., Closing the Mathematics Achievement Gap of High-Poverty Middle Schools: Enablers and Constraints, Journal of Education for Students placed at Risk, 11(2). 143-159.
Review
This article was written as part of an analysis of an attempt to implement a series of reforms in the Philadelphia School District in regards to improving the district via a process called Whole School
Reform. The purpose of the study was to investigate how the achievement gap can be understood via a longitudinal study of students in middle school (5th to 8th grades) and its’ usefulness, as well as the challenges of such, in doing so. They concluded that while various types of individual changes (such as professional development, curricular changes, community involvement, etc…) could be effective at a local level that such improvements were only effective for the student body as a whole when implemented as part of such a system wide implementation of reform, yet even if such reforms were made intriguing challenges and tasks remained.
The article began by describing the prevailing research, the setting of the project and the methods used to analyze the success and failures of such an attempts. One of the strengths of the article is its’ clear and concise language, as it was easy to read and understand with relatively little jargon or obtuse references and yet retained a level of rigor and precision important for this type of article. Following a well done documentation of the research the authors clearly listed their methods and goals, such as number of students, attendance, test scores (particular attention was paid to improvement in test score per year), pre-testing and post-testing methods, student attitudes and activities, community involvement and addressed issues of validity and accuracy consistently and professionally. The authors also stressed that the lack of longitudinal studies of the size they were attempting and hoped that such an attempt would result in new discoveries and a better understanding of the challenges that faced modern education and what successes you might be able to expect following such a model as they were attempting.
The results of their research were presented in a clear concise fashion, with much of the mathematical tables and results summarized in the body of the article with the actual data reserved for its’ final pages. Some results were expected such as the need to implement such changes as administrative reform, teacher support and training, community involvement worked best when done as part of a whole system of reform system rather than as piecemeal projects. They also pointed our some surprising results and interesting discoveries that emerged from their study, phrasing these as avenues
for further research, interesting discoveries and surprising results, such as the fact that while many students were able to thrive in middle school while others in the same school and system sank further behind as well as the lack of an expected difference in performance due to gender, with a frankness and sincerity that made the article informative and thought provoking. As a weakness they did not really address how the results of the study could be generalized to other areas, as they clearly intended the article for such a purpose, but left this part of the discussion as inherently understood by the reader.
Overall the article was informative and well written. As an educator one can clearly see both the benefits and restrictions of such a study. While piecemeal reforms can work it is really only due to such a longitudinal study do the cumulative benefits of such an overarching system of changes become apparent? In fact I believe that it is the clear and frank discussion of the unintended discoveries of this study that point to its’ success. By opening up new avenues of research, such as an investigation of what is needed for those students not reached in such a system of change, we can clearly see both the advantages and limitations of such approaches, namely that a system of reform is clearly most effective when supported by the entire range of educators, administrators and parents as well as the manifold difficulties of reaching the students most at risk in such a well run system. What works for many students may fail to reach the most disenfranchised from the system and that at some point such students may well need assistance that goes beyond what is possible in the classroom and when school is view as a separate part of their life experiences. Of course solutions to such dilemmas may prove difficult to achieve given the limitations of the current education system but that is a subject for other, newer, research studies and another day.
Review
This article was written as part of an analysis of an attempt to implement a series of reforms in the Philadelphia School District in regards to improving the district via a process called Whole School
Reform. The purpose of the study was to investigate how the achievement gap can be understood via a longitudinal study of students in middle school (5th to 8th grades) and its’ usefulness, as well as the challenges of such, in doing so. They concluded that while various types of individual changes (such as professional development, curricular changes, community involvement, etc…) could be effective at a local level that such improvements were only effective for the student body as a whole when implemented as part of such a system wide implementation of reform, yet even if such reforms were made intriguing challenges and tasks remained.
The article began by describing the prevailing research, the setting of the project and the methods used to analyze the success and failures of such an attempts. One of the strengths of the article is its’ clear and concise language, as it was easy to read and understand with relatively little jargon or obtuse references and yet retained a level of rigor and precision important for this type of article. Following a well done documentation of the research the authors clearly listed their methods and goals, such as number of students, attendance, test scores (particular attention was paid to improvement in test score per year), pre-testing and post-testing methods, student attitudes and activities, community involvement and addressed issues of validity and accuracy consistently and professionally. The authors also stressed that the lack of longitudinal studies of the size they were attempting and hoped that such an attempt would result in new discoveries and a better understanding of the challenges that faced modern education and what successes you might be able to expect following such a model as they were attempting.
The results of their research were presented in a clear concise fashion, with much of the mathematical tables and results summarized in the body of the article with the actual data reserved for its’ final pages. Some results were expected such as the need to implement such changes as administrative reform, teacher support and training, community involvement worked best when done as part of a whole system of reform system rather than as piecemeal projects. They also pointed our some surprising results and interesting discoveries that emerged from their study, phrasing these as avenues
for further research, interesting discoveries and surprising results, such as the fact that while many students were able to thrive in middle school while others in the same school and system sank further behind as well as the lack of an expected difference in performance due to gender, with a frankness and sincerity that made the article informative and thought provoking. As a weakness they did not really address how the results of the study could be generalized to other areas, as they clearly intended the article for such a purpose, but left this part of the discussion as inherently understood by the reader.
Overall the article was informative and well written. As an educator one can clearly see both the benefits and restrictions of such a study. While piecemeal reforms can work it is really only due to such a longitudinal study do the cumulative benefits of such an overarching system of changes become apparent? In fact I believe that it is the clear and frank discussion of the unintended discoveries of this study that point to its’ success. By opening up new avenues of research, such as an investigation of what is needed for those students not reached in such a system of change, we can clearly see both the advantages and limitations of such approaches, namely that a system of reform is clearly most effective when supported by the entire range of educators, administrators and parents as well as the manifold difficulties of reaching the students most at risk in such a well run system. What works for many students may fail to reach the most disenfranchised from the system and that at some point such students may well need assistance that goes beyond what is possible in the classroom and when school is view as a separate part of their life experiences. Of course solutions to such dilemmas may prove difficult to achieve given the limitations of the current education system but that is a subject for other, newer, research studies and another day.
Review of "Newton in the Big Apple" by A. Kelly and K. Sheppard
Kelly, A. and Sheppard, K., (2008) Newton in the Big Apple: Access to High School Physics in New York City. The Physics Teacher, 46(5), 280-283.
Review
The article details the state of affairs in the access to Physics as a course in high schools across New York City. It begins with a brief overview of the populations, ethnicity and types of courses offered in the high schools of New York City as well as with a discussion of the types of schools there, particularly noting their size, ranking schools as large, mid-sized and small (typically restructured) schools with populations of more than 1200, 600-1200 and less than 600 each. The authors then go on to detail, in both words and with graphs and tables the sample size, numbers of schools, percentage of schools and types of classes offered. Classes could be AP (Advanced Placement), Regents (a rigorous college prep class with a standardizing culminating examination) and Non-Regents (a more conceptually oriented class). They then discuss where and what types of Physics courses are available at what types of schools and notable ethnic and socio-economic differences discovered as part of their research. The results are stark and disturbing. Physics tends to be offered predominately at higher income schools with substantial Caucasian and Asian populations while smaller schools, generally considered desirable offer less Physics and usually Non-Regents courses. Interestingly, the smaller schools that did offer Physics courses, typically Non-Regents, graduated substantially more students who had taken Physics course 61% compared to the city average of 21%. In summary the authors list three conclusions of their study. First, large disparities exist in the opportunity to take physics in New York City. Second that larger schools typically offer it far more commonly than small schools-95% to 26% respectively, although the smaller schools have percentage-wise more students taking the course if offered-21% to 61% again respectively. Finally, third, that AP and Regents classes are typically offered at schools with a larger percentage of Caucasian and Asian students and also in larger schools situated in more economically privileged areas. In finale they summarize that if the goal of Science Education is to “science for all” then clearly the system needs work. They suggest a comprehensive review of the system in order to effect improvements system wide.
Overall I found the article to be well written and quite illuminating. The authors present their datum clearly and with precision. The definitions used are easy to understand, their logic and variable well presented and conclusions startling in their simplicity. Differences in the types of schools are clearly discussed and the fact that the general trend to make smaller schools out of larger ones, generally considered a desirable trend to increase student involvement, motivation and community has had the unintended side effect of limiting access to AP and Regents style courses. In addition the article effectively points out differences in community resources and ethnic constitutions. While I feel some additional research to identify why this situation has developed and what could be done about it, as clearly the goal of “science for all” has not been reached by the recent changes and restructuring, in fact, it appears these reforms may have actually helped to create a situation in which science education is even more rarified and stratified than before. The authors do not offer solutions for the problem they have discovered, but that is not their intent. The article is more of a “smoking gun” piece than outline of reform, but as such it is very successful at pointing out what has happened and how even well intended reforms may have unintended side effects. Overall, I found the article to be quite enlightening and well written and it has spurred me to search for similar such datum regarding my own city and teaching environment.
Review
The article details the state of affairs in the access to Physics as a course in high schools across New York City. It begins with a brief overview of the populations, ethnicity and types of courses offered in the high schools of New York City as well as with a discussion of the types of schools there, particularly noting their size, ranking schools as large, mid-sized and small (typically restructured) schools with populations of more than 1200, 600-1200 and less than 600 each. The authors then go on to detail, in both words and with graphs and tables the sample size, numbers of schools, percentage of schools and types of classes offered. Classes could be AP (Advanced Placement), Regents (a rigorous college prep class with a standardizing culminating examination) and Non-Regents (a more conceptually oriented class). They then discuss where and what types of Physics courses are available at what types of schools and notable ethnic and socio-economic differences discovered as part of their research. The results are stark and disturbing. Physics tends to be offered predominately at higher income schools with substantial Caucasian and Asian populations while smaller schools, generally considered desirable offer less Physics and usually Non-Regents courses. Interestingly, the smaller schools that did offer Physics courses, typically Non-Regents, graduated substantially more students who had taken Physics course 61% compared to the city average of 21%. In summary the authors list three conclusions of their study. First, large disparities exist in the opportunity to take physics in New York City. Second that larger schools typically offer it far more commonly than small schools-95% to 26% respectively, although the smaller schools have percentage-wise more students taking the course if offered-21% to 61% again respectively. Finally, third, that AP and Regents classes are typically offered at schools with a larger percentage of Caucasian and Asian students and also in larger schools situated in more economically privileged areas. In finale they summarize that if the goal of Science Education is to “science for all” then clearly the system needs work. They suggest a comprehensive review of the system in order to effect improvements system wide.
Overall I found the article to be well written and quite illuminating. The authors present their datum clearly and with precision. The definitions used are easy to understand, their logic and variable well presented and conclusions startling in their simplicity. Differences in the types of schools are clearly discussed and the fact that the general trend to make smaller schools out of larger ones, generally considered a desirable trend to increase student involvement, motivation and community has had the unintended side effect of limiting access to AP and Regents style courses. In addition the article effectively points out differences in community resources and ethnic constitutions. While I feel some additional research to identify why this situation has developed and what could be done about it, as clearly the goal of “science for all” has not been reached by the recent changes and restructuring, in fact, it appears these reforms may have actually helped to create a situation in which science education is even more rarified and stratified than before. The authors do not offer solutions for the problem they have discovered, but that is not their intent. The article is more of a “smoking gun” piece than outline of reform, but as such it is very successful at pointing out what has happened and how even well intended reforms may have unintended side effects. Overall, I found the article to be quite enlightening and well written and it has spurred me to search for similar such datum regarding my own city and teaching environment.
Review of "Using Issues-Based Science in the Classroom" by S. Williams and J. Howarth
Williams, S. and Howarth, J., (2009) Using Issues-Based Science in the Classroom: Challenging students to think critically about the role of science in society. The Science Teacher, 76(7), 24-29.
Review
The article begins with a discussion of various issues of the day, such as H1N1, paper or plastic bags and the environment, and genetically modified crops, which serve as an introduction to the involvement of students in science via such issues. The article then goes on to discuss and define the various characteristics of issues-based science education and how it varies the emphasis of science as an isolated, information based subject studied in isolation and assessed via multiple choice tests to a field of study based on understanding the context of science as a collaboration which seeks to connect science to everyday issues in via open ended questions and “authentic” assessment. A variety of issues are then illustrated with pertinent questions, tips are given for engaging in the activities of an issues based science education, such as giving students a chance to make recommendations after they have done the appropriate research and drawing on student’s knowledge and interests to generate questions to study. The article then discusses how the method addresses the new National Science Education Standards and the relevance of doing so in a global society. The article then goes on to discuss how to go about planning an issues-based method of instruction and gives many helpful ideas that help explain the advantages, disadvantage and needs of such a curriculum in a short but well written series of paragraphs and charts. The article concludes with an analysis of when it is appropriate to engage in this type of learning and suggests how many types of students and their learning methods could be accommodated by this method before concluding with a call to engage students in critical thinking about science and the need for it in the modern world.
The article was well written, organized and helpful. It provided a clear overview of the advantages, and disadvantage of teaching issues based science. In fact the strongest feature of the article was its’ critical analysis of itself. By including the advantages-developing critical thought, involvement with the community, and student interest and motivation with real world issues, and disadvantage-extra time, energy, materials, resources required and the more advanced mental stage of development required for use of this process, formal operations, the article not only addressed the reason for using the technique, the limitations of the technique and included suggestions for how and when to implement the technique as part of an over-arching plan that address both the student’s needs and limited resources and time of the teacher. The charts and graphs are particularly useful in this regard and by providing a rubric for use and a continuum of methods the article succeeds in empowering the teacher with tools they can use in their classrooms. The only weak point of the article was that it should have been more precise in how issues-based science could be used to address the needs of students at different developmental levels, it did admit that such an method of instruction works best with students who have acquired the critical thinking skills necessary for the approach but was weak in delineating how to address those students how had not reach such an intellectual level or how the method could be used to aid them in this regards, a small point but an important one as this is the one issue that is perhaps the most difficult for teachers to address in order to use this style of instruction effectively. The articles in the bibliography also seem tailored to allow the reader, presumably the teacher or administrator, more tools to reasonably access this style of teaching in a manner consistent with practical use and teaching constraints.
Review
The article begins with a discussion of various issues of the day, such as H1N1, paper or plastic bags and the environment, and genetically modified crops, which serve as an introduction to the involvement of students in science via such issues. The article then goes on to discuss and define the various characteristics of issues-based science education and how it varies the emphasis of science as an isolated, information based subject studied in isolation and assessed via multiple choice tests to a field of study based on understanding the context of science as a collaboration which seeks to connect science to everyday issues in via open ended questions and “authentic” assessment. A variety of issues are then illustrated with pertinent questions, tips are given for engaging in the activities of an issues based science education, such as giving students a chance to make recommendations after they have done the appropriate research and drawing on student’s knowledge and interests to generate questions to study. The article then discusses how the method addresses the new National Science Education Standards and the relevance of doing so in a global society. The article then goes on to discuss how to go about planning an issues-based method of instruction and gives many helpful ideas that help explain the advantages, disadvantage and needs of such a curriculum in a short but well written series of paragraphs and charts. The article concludes with an analysis of when it is appropriate to engage in this type of learning and suggests how many types of students and their learning methods could be accommodated by this method before concluding with a call to engage students in critical thinking about science and the need for it in the modern world.
The article was well written, organized and helpful. It provided a clear overview of the advantages, and disadvantage of teaching issues based science. In fact the strongest feature of the article was its’ critical analysis of itself. By including the advantages-developing critical thought, involvement with the community, and student interest and motivation with real world issues, and disadvantage-extra time, energy, materials, resources required and the more advanced mental stage of development required for use of this process, formal operations, the article not only addressed the reason for using the technique, the limitations of the technique and included suggestions for how and when to implement the technique as part of an over-arching plan that address both the student’s needs and limited resources and time of the teacher. The charts and graphs are particularly useful in this regard and by providing a rubric for use and a continuum of methods the article succeeds in empowering the teacher with tools they can use in their classrooms. The only weak point of the article was that it should have been more precise in how issues-based science could be used to address the needs of students at different developmental levels, it did admit that such an method of instruction works best with students who have acquired the critical thinking skills necessary for the approach but was weak in delineating how to address those students how had not reach such an intellectual level or how the method could be used to aid them in this regards, a small point but an important one as this is the one issue that is perhaps the most difficult for teachers to address in order to use this style of instruction effectively. The articles in the bibliography also seem tailored to allow the reader, presumably the teacher or administrator, more tools to reasonably access this style of teaching in a manner consistent with practical use and teaching constraints.
Review of "From Frustrating Forgetfulness to Fabulous Forethought" by M. Hall and G. Brier.
Hall, M. and Brier, G., (2007) From Frustrating Forgetfulness to Fabulous Forethought: Current research on the adolescent brain may provide insight on how to create a more fruitful learning environment. The Science Teacher, 74(1), 24-27.
Review
The article begins with a brief discussion of some typical student behaviors such as forgetfulness and focus, and then launches into a summary of some recent research on brain development, particularly that of the development of the adolescent brain in the regions of the pre-frontal lobe, the cerebellum and limbic cortex. They then discuss some of the processes during this phase of life, particularly that of myelination, or the development of myelin around the axons that guide neurotransmitter processing. It is also during this discussion that they mention various aspects of adolescent behavior that are related to these developments, particularly that of the development of organizational abilities (pre-frontal cortex), motor control and the understanding of social cues (cerebellum) and emotional stability (limbic cortex). The article then launches into a discussion of various useful tools and techniques meant to help encourage the development of these various regions of the brain, such as firm due dates, negative consequences and student developed organization of tasks to aid in the development of the pre-frontal cortex, varied in class activities (visual aids, kinesthetic hands on activities, etc…) and types of organizers to help remind students of the structure and timing of the class (pre-frontal cortex and cerebellum), allowing students to personalize their learning process to create emotional context to the educations(limbic system). The article ends with a discussion of what the teacher can do to help engage their students with examples such as demonstrate emotional neutrality, providing choices, varying instruction and holding mini-conferences to assess student development and advancement, helpful suggestions all.
I found the article to be helpful and informative as a teacher. Had I not known anything about neuroscience and adolescent behavior the article would have been an excellent introduction to the subject. While some of the information would go over the head of non-science teachers the writing was contemporary and easily understood by the layman. In giving specific techniques the article shined. It gave may helpful ideas and suggestions that could be easily used in class to make both the teacher and the students lives easier, such as color coordinated papers and daily rosters of activities. The only criticism I might have is that I would have liked a discussion of the linking process between the activities and the brain development, even if in footnotes, but must admit that would probably have put the article into the realm of the scientists rather than the teacher so do not begrudge its absence, at least a good bibliography was provided so such activities could be undertake if you are so inclined. Fortunately the authors do stress that the teacher should remain emotionally neutral in regards to their student but passionate about the subject and try to encourage such passions in the students. All too often the concept of emotional neutrality is taken to such an extreme that a dry intellectual approach to subject matter can bore students and teacher alike. Interestingly, I found one note, mentioned merely as a illustration of adolescent behavior in the article to be most illuminating, the authors tell of how the teacher was teaching the class about the development of the pre-frontal cortex and how it does not full mature until around the age of 25, to which a student responded that he was happy to know that all this organization would become easy one day. Actually teaching students about the process rather than using it, as a tool of manipulation via psychology is probably one of the best tools we have these days. Sharing this information with the students so they can come to realize what they are going through as much as possible so as to become more integrated in the learning process itself may be one of the best techniques we discover as a result of these discoveries. Should such information not be shared with those actually going through the process itself even if they are not ready for the full study of neurochemistry itself? This author thinks so.
Review
The article begins with a brief discussion of some typical student behaviors such as forgetfulness and focus, and then launches into a summary of some recent research on brain development, particularly that of the development of the adolescent brain in the regions of the pre-frontal lobe, the cerebellum and limbic cortex. They then discuss some of the processes during this phase of life, particularly that of myelination, or the development of myelin around the axons that guide neurotransmitter processing. It is also during this discussion that they mention various aspects of adolescent behavior that are related to these developments, particularly that of the development of organizational abilities (pre-frontal cortex), motor control and the understanding of social cues (cerebellum) and emotional stability (limbic cortex). The article then launches into a discussion of various useful tools and techniques meant to help encourage the development of these various regions of the brain, such as firm due dates, negative consequences and student developed organization of tasks to aid in the development of the pre-frontal cortex, varied in class activities (visual aids, kinesthetic hands on activities, etc…) and types of organizers to help remind students of the structure and timing of the class (pre-frontal cortex and cerebellum), allowing students to personalize their learning process to create emotional context to the educations(limbic system). The article ends with a discussion of what the teacher can do to help engage their students with examples such as demonstrate emotional neutrality, providing choices, varying instruction and holding mini-conferences to assess student development and advancement, helpful suggestions all.
I found the article to be helpful and informative as a teacher. Had I not known anything about neuroscience and adolescent behavior the article would have been an excellent introduction to the subject. While some of the information would go over the head of non-science teachers the writing was contemporary and easily understood by the layman. In giving specific techniques the article shined. It gave may helpful ideas and suggestions that could be easily used in class to make both the teacher and the students lives easier, such as color coordinated papers and daily rosters of activities. The only criticism I might have is that I would have liked a discussion of the linking process between the activities and the brain development, even if in footnotes, but must admit that would probably have put the article into the realm of the scientists rather than the teacher so do not begrudge its absence, at least a good bibliography was provided so such activities could be undertake if you are so inclined. Fortunately the authors do stress that the teacher should remain emotionally neutral in regards to their student but passionate about the subject and try to encourage such passions in the students. All too often the concept of emotional neutrality is taken to such an extreme that a dry intellectual approach to subject matter can bore students and teacher alike. Interestingly, I found one note, mentioned merely as a illustration of adolescent behavior in the article to be most illuminating, the authors tell of how the teacher was teaching the class about the development of the pre-frontal cortex and how it does not full mature until around the age of 25, to which a student responded that he was happy to know that all this organization would become easy one day. Actually teaching students about the process rather than using it, as a tool of manipulation via psychology is probably one of the best tools we have these days. Sharing this information with the students so they can come to realize what they are going through as much as possible so as to become more integrated in the learning process itself may be one of the best techniques we discover as a result of these discoveries. Should such information not be shared with those actually going through the process itself even if they are not ready for the full study of neurochemistry itself? This author thinks so.
Applets a la Davidson Review
Ah the wonderful world of applets. How I love thee! To be honest these little programs, often developed by many computer savvy people across the world really do help bring a Physics class to life. Since most are free, and easily accessible via the Internet it also serves as a major tool that allows even cash strapped classes, schools and people be able to interact with what is in essence a virtual Physics laboratory.
The Davidson site, http://webphysics.davidson.edu/applets/applets.html is a particularly useful one. It is easy to navigate, very simple to use and has many fun applets are are useful for illustration, experiment and enjoyment. The only downside is that many of the applets are for more advanced studies such as waves, electrical fields and optics but within these limitations it is a very useful site. It also has many links to other sites and excellent source materials and even a Spanish language version available!
I thoroughly recommend the site and will endeavor to find you all one with Mechanics and other applets that are more appropriate to subject matter introduced earlier and for other fields! Hope you liked this review and found it handy.
The Davidson site, http://webphysics.davidson.edu/applets/applets.html is a particularly useful one. It is easy to navigate, very simple to use and has many fun applets are are useful for illustration, experiment and enjoyment. The only downside is that many of the applets are for more advanced studies such as waves, electrical fields and optics but within these limitations it is a very useful site. It also has many links to other sites and excellent source materials and even a Spanish language version available!
I thoroughly recommend the site and will endeavor to find you all one with Mechanics and other applets that are more appropriate to subject matter introduced earlier and for other fields! Hope you liked this review and found it handy.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Applets
Hello again, while not technically a review of a website there is something I wanted to share with the class, namely the wonderful world of Physics Java Applets! I will be doing reviews of various sites but just wanted to say that I have found no resource yet to compare to the usefulness of these free online teaching tools. Just search "Physics Applets" and you may add in "Java" if you wish but its optional. I will be adding more and specifics but any basic search engine should bring up literally hundreds of such sites. Just bookmark the search results page and you will have plenty of sites to browse and explore at your leisure. I will be doing a review of Davidson College site which I have informally accessed for years at the location of "http://webphysics.davidson.edu/physlet_resources/bu_semester1/index.html" first but want to do more research and playing around before I commit things to paper.
NSTA Website
Ray E. Etheridge, Western Washington University, IT 544, 4/21/10
Welcome to my second post as a blogger. As part of this assignment we need to post weekly about websites we visit and activities undertaken in our exploration of teaching and technology. This week I also had to do a review of the NSTA(National Science Teachers Association) Website for my Science Education class and so I figures two birds, one stone. So without further adieu here is my review of the NSTA website.
Reference: National Science Teachers Association, (2010, April 21), Retrieved April 21, 2019 from the NSTA website: http://www.nsta.org/
NSTA Review
In looking in on the NSTA (National Science Teachers Association) I was first interested in what type of benefits it offered and the costs associated with membership. Fortunately finding this, much like navigating the rest of the site proved to be very easy. The information was clearly and neatly presented in the second tab from the left under Member Services. The information, far to lengthy to present in detail here centered on the many benefits of membership, mostly centered on educational tools, search tools, publications and professional development. Examples of such included a conference finding tool, search tools to help you find state standards-which I found far more helpful and easy to use than the state sites themselves-and various links and resources for members such as links to science websites and online activities, many of which were free to use.
Next, I thought it very nice to see the goals and ideal of the organization clearly spelled out under their guiding principles section. These goals are 1) Model excellence; 2) Champion science literacy; 3) Value scientific excellence; 4) Embrace diversity, equity, and respect; 5) Enhance teaching and learning through research; 6) Collaborate with partners; and finally 7) Exemplify a dynamic professional organization. Combined with their Green Initiative program and links to the very helpful Science Matters™ website and the National Science Education Standards clearly spell out that the site is intended to act as an enabling tool for teachers, students and parents so as to achieve the scientific goals foreseen for success in the future. Of particular noteworthy mention is that of the promulgation of Science education in each and every grade of elementary education, a topic that I personally feel great importance needs to be placed.
In the end however what impressed and interested me the most were the many hands on tools and activities that I can use as a new teacher to develop my own classes and activities. The SciGuides, WebSeminars, SciPacks and many helpful, and often free, links in the Publications and Products section is was drew most of my attention. Any tools that enable me to enable my students is clearly of great importance and interest. Overall I was pleased with the website but did wish that they had included a list of links to other sides, rather than just to products that could be searched directly. While they had many clear links to their own or related sites, such as the John Glenn Science Initiative page I was hoping for a more expansive sets of links to other sites, however, this is but a minor issue for what is otherwise a very helpful, easy to navigate and informative site. I will be joining the NSTA shortly and that, perhaps, is the best recommendation I can offer.
Well, I hope this was helpful. As you can see I rather liked the site and plan on joining it. Now I have to review the journals and see which ones I want to activate with my membership. Of course money is always tight but I need to stay current with the state of education! So we shall see. Stay turned for more next week!
Mr. E.
Welcome to my second post as a blogger. As part of this assignment we need to post weekly about websites we visit and activities undertaken in our exploration of teaching and technology. This week I also had to do a review of the NSTA(National Science Teachers Association) Website for my Science Education class and so I figures two birds, one stone. So without further adieu here is my review of the NSTA website.
Reference: National Science Teachers Association, (2010, April 21), Retrieved April 21, 2019 from the NSTA website: http://www.nsta.org/
NSTA Review
In looking in on the NSTA (National Science Teachers Association) I was first interested in what type of benefits it offered and the costs associated with membership. Fortunately finding this, much like navigating the rest of the site proved to be very easy. The information was clearly and neatly presented in the second tab from the left under Member Services. The information, far to lengthy to present in detail here centered on the many benefits of membership, mostly centered on educational tools, search tools, publications and professional development. Examples of such included a conference finding tool, search tools to help you find state standards-which I found far more helpful and easy to use than the state sites themselves-and various links and resources for members such as links to science websites and online activities, many of which were free to use.
Next, I thought it very nice to see the goals and ideal of the organization clearly spelled out under their guiding principles section. These goals are 1) Model excellence; 2) Champion science literacy; 3) Value scientific excellence; 4) Embrace diversity, equity, and respect; 5) Enhance teaching and learning through research; 6) Collaborate with partners; and finally 7) Exemplify a dynamic professional organization. Combined with their Green Initiative program and links to the very helpful Science Matters™ website and the National Science Education Standards clearly spell out that the site is intended to act as an enabling tool for teachers, students and parents so as to achieve the scientific goals foreseen for success in the future. Of particular noteworthy mention is that of the promulgation of Science education in each and every grade of elementary education, a topic that I personally feel great importance needs to be placed.
In the end however what impressed and interested me the most were the many hands on tools and activities that I can use as a new teacher to develop my own classes and activities. The SciGuides, WebSeminars, SciPacks and many helpful, and often free, links in the Publications and Products section is was drew most of my attention. Any tools that enable me to enable my students is clearly of great importance and interest. Overall I was pleased with the website but did wish that they had included a list of links to other sides, rather than just to products that could be searched directly. While they had many clear links to their own or related sites, such as the John Glenn Science Initiative page I was hoping for a more expansive sets of links to other sites, however, this is but a minor issue for what is otherwise a very helpful, easy to navigate and informative site. I will be joining the NSTA shortly and that, perhaps, is the best recommendation I can offer.
Well, I hope this was helpful. As you can see I rather liked the site and plan on joining it. Now I have to review the journals and see which ones I want to activate with my membership. Of course money is always tight but I need to stay current with the state of education! So we shall see. Stay turned for more next week!
Mr. E.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Welcome to Ray Etheridge's Teaching Blog!
Welcome,
This is a blog for talking about teaching and computer use as part of my Master's in Training Class at WWU for class IT 544-Instructiobnal Technology and Education. Although this blog is specifically for the class I hope to use it as a springboard for using blogs about teaching in general. Thanks for your patience and interest! Slante!
Ray Etheridge
This is a blog for talking about teaching and computer use as part of my Master's in Training Class at WWU for class IT 544-Instructiobnal Technology and Education. Although this blog is specifically for the class I hope to use it as a springboard for using blogs about teaching in general. Thanks for your patience and interest! Slante!
Ray Etheridge
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