This semester, as part of the requirements for my Masters in Reading degree, I have been exposed to the course entitled "Information and Communications Technology for Reading", which has proven to be very interesting and enlightening while also proving to be quite challenging to me. It has certainly broadened my perspective on the use of technology in the teaching/learning process whilst simultaneously revealing forms of media that I would not have known even existed if I were not taking the course. Over the past few years, there have been numerous technological advances in the area of media, so, it would be remiss of me not to educate myself about them. I an now faced with the challenge of incorporating these technologies into the instructional process so as to capture and maintain the interest and motivation levels of my students. It is imperative that I keep in sync with their learning interests if i want to maximize my instruction sessions. the knowledge that I have gained has left an indelible impression in my mind.
Every academic year I have to evaluate my students via a project. I have always dreaded this since I have always encountered problems with the students being able to access information. Fortunately, the Ministry of Education has seen it essential to equip schools with computer labs which have Internet access. This has brought great relief since my students are now able to access information and has also leveled the field in that all of my students now have access to the same information. However, I now realize that I have to exercise extreme caution with the websites to which I expose my students since some may not be appropriate or reliable. Being able to evaluate websites have empowered me and made me able to impart this knowledge to my charges so that they can become responsible independent learners.
Congrats Michael, on your new ability. I am sure you feel a little more in control of your choice to allow your students to access the internet while in your presence, since many educators believe that struggling readers cannot use web tools as well as their counter-parts because of their inability to master some of the fundamental skills. This is such a myth and one that you must ensure that your pupils are not led to believe or to hold as truth unto them. Guthrie (2000) remind us that children who lack ability in the traditional areas, usually develop skills in the non-traditional ones, for example many resistant reader enjoy "surfing" the web, they are attracted to the ease, the graphics , the alluring sounds and it's resemblance to their video games. This ability makes them feel empowered, gives choices and gives rise to opportunity for autonomy. Unfortunately this empowerment is compromised by poor selection of misleading and misinforming websites. The solution is simply guidance, once you are willing to advised them on elements that they should look for when choosing research sites, they usually move away from those can be to their detriment.
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ReplyDeleteImagine there are over 15 billion websites on the internet, this figure is really mind-boggling. With this huge amount our students are bound to come across some that are less than desirable. The website evaluation class was very informative and useful since it taught how to spot helpful websites, those that can prove to be useful to our students. Here are some statistics that contiue to remind us of how wired this present generation is:
ReplyDelete* 90 trillion – The number of emails sent on the Internet in 2009.
* 247 billion – Average number of email messages per day.
* 1.4 billion – The number of email users worldwide.
* 100 million – New email users since the year before.
* 81% – The percentage of emails that were spam.
* 92% – Peak spam levels late in the year.
* 24% – Increase in spam since last year.
* 200 billion – The number of spam emails per day (assuming 81% are spam).