It felt good to get back into the swing of classes this week, and I was glad to see that some of the ideas brought up in the text related directly to conversations we've been having at school. I was particularly intrigued by the idea of Technological Literacy, as this is something we've been talking about a lot this year (though not by that name). I had read a while ago that the most important thing to get through to students is not how to use individual programs, because they will likely be obsolete by the time our students are using them in their careers. Instead, we need to teach why we use them. What aspects of this program make it a good fit? What would make it better?
I've seen this plenty of times with my own students. Over half of them are probably better at Power Point than I am, but look like a deer in the headlights when asked to use Google Docs. They know their one program, but that knowledge isn't seen as something that would translate. Last fall, I tried to take them out of their comfort zone on a presentation. They had to research a country, then act as its tourism bureau to attract visitors. They could make a flier in Publisher (though most were discouraged from it), a promotional video in Animoto, or a commercial in Kerpoof. To my surprise, they really took to the project. Most of the Publisher users actually abandoned their flier and switched to something more interesting. And once they were engaged in a project they found fun, getting them to research was a snap- they needed information to fill that commercial.
In a few weeks, I'm doing a similar project with an advanced class. They will be creating advertisements to some event that is taking place this summer. The main requirement is that they have to use an online presentation program that they have never used before. While some might be drawn to a program like 280 slides for its similarity to their familiar Power Point, I really think more will jump on to creative programs like GoAnimate. I feel this is a great example of how technology can be used as a tool. Since each program is suited for a slightly different purpose, this will lead to discussions of different forms of writing and a review of all the different styles and purposes we discussed all year. Much more entertaining than the "Name That Style" game I had planned to fill three days.
“Instead, we need to teach why we use them.”
ReplyDeleteExcellent observation. I, too, have always taught the essence of the technology, not necessarily the technology itself. This makes skill development transferable to other applications.