Technology through Time

Did you know? This comes from State School Healthy Policy ( State of Alaska Policy on Bullying and Harassment: Last Updated: 1/5/2011 Bullying/Harassment : Statute  14.33.200 (2006) requires the Department of Education to provide a model policy for harassment, intimidation and bullying to school districts.  Based on this, districts are required to adopt a policy prohibiting harassment, intimidation and bullying of any student and share the policy with parents or guardians, students, volunteers and school employees.  Statute  14.33.210 (2006) requires each school district to report all incidences involving harassment, intimidation or bullying to the Department of Education, which will then report it to the state legislature.  Statute  14.33.220 states that a school employee, student or volunteer may not engage in reprisal, retaliation, or false accusation against a victim or a witness.  It also encourages reporting of any harassment...

Here is another example.  I was at the Juneau airport for a flight and took a moment to look around for a water fountain. I spotted what looked like one from across the room, and walked over. Upon closer inspection, it did not look like the regular fountain, but like a filling station with a drinking fountain. Now I started to fill my water bottle the old way, holding it at an angle while I attempting to capture the stream of water. While I was waiting for it to fill,  I inspected the entire device and saw the picture of  a water bottle in the back with a stream of water going into it. I ignored it, and attempted to finish filling my bottle which I could only get 1/4 full because the angle was all wrong for filling. I went and sat down and began to ponder the picture. It occurred to me that it was a way to fill my water bottle all the way. I went back over and attempted to use the picture to fill my bottle as directed. It took me several tries to figure out how to exactl...

Recently, I have had a lot of conversations with people about integrating technology into education.  In these conversations there has been a lot of discussion about using technology as one of the tools that helps students reach understanding.  I agree with that.  But, what I keep coming back to is my fear that technology will replace the things that I think all children need; art, time outdoors, music, time to create, time to talk, etc.  After I mentioned using iPads in elementary classrooms a colleague of mine stated, “What will they replace?  Reading with real books?”  She has a valid point. What I am beginning to realize is that perhaps children need to be taught how and why to unplug.  (I also think that adults could use this lesson too.)  According to Dr. Larson in the article “Plugged in Families,” “Parents need to focus on how to help kids operate independently with technology and give them the skills they need to deal with it.”  I think that teachers can discu...

The question was posted "How do I handle it when something I have planned has a glitch?" It is important that your students be involved in the problem solving process. Remember that they are digital natives and the idea of work arounds is familiar to them. Allow them to take some ownership over solving the problem. Is there a different program to be used? Could you convert items into a different format? Be clear in the learning objectives and the tasks required of the class. This is one those places that we as teachers and digital immigrants have to get out of our own way. We don't have all the answers.