sitting
11 years ago
Enter Technos Ordos
I See All Technology!!
Nanobyte is Futile!!!!!
The Norminator
During our course, and in this blog, and other sites, The Norminator shall be revealed in mysterious contexts. Be aware, be prepared, and most of all be happy.
The Revelation of the Norminator shall be revealed in all at the proper time.
EDU 255 -- So It Begins!!
Good or Not So Good??
The Normalcy Fallacy
My teaching philosophy is not as mysterious as it sounds but it is unique, what might be referred to as The Normalcy Fallacy. My philosophy is that teaching is “the variety in life”. What I mean by this is that, as life as many different opportunities presented to us everyday, the same rational exists within the classroom. Normally, one would say the variety of life, but I say the variety in life. We, as teachers, are the entities that give students the opportunities in the classroom each and everyday. Our choices, in a manner of speaking, will have an influence on our students and their selections of activities in their daily lives.
Teachers influence children by providing a safe, fun, and stimulating classroom environment. For me, this type of classroom would provide many different avenues for students to be educationally stimulated. My room would be filled with learning centers, a game corner, a reflection station, and have exciting pictures and posters on the walls to bring some color and spirit to the room. Like a fellow colleague in our class has indicated on their blog, teaching is both an art and a science.
The “art” of teaching for me as related to my philosophy is the variety portion of the statement; as teachers we must give students every chance to process information and tap into prior knowledge by utilizing such methods as multiple intelligences, cooperative learning groups, and student-supported tutoring. Our brains are like sponges and they are meant to receive sensory input through all available modalities. Forcing children to acquire knowledge in just one or two ways is damaging and hinders learning. We as educators need to open every door to knowledge acquisition that is possible for our students to benefit from their educational milieu.
On the other hand, the “science” of teaching refers to the in part of my statement. Every attribute and component that we call life has an of connected with it. There is no single entity, action, or stimulus that is separate and apart from another aspect that we call life. The interconnection with one to another entity, action, or stimulus is chained to each other through the in process. As teachers, it is up to us to make the in connection by linking our lessons together with real world occurrences that have meaning and are compensable for our students.
This is in essence my philosophy on teaching. Just as the world has many different things, happenings, and opportunities, so does the classroom. It is up to us as teachers to “make it happen” for our students, to prepare them for the exciting variety of experiences they shall encounter during their lives, both in and out of the classroom. With The Normalcy Fallacy, we can make it happen!
The Oxymoron Pedigree
This blog has some very insightful postings, which all educators should be aware of. In the very first post, he elaborates on the devices of technology that are used by students on a regular basis, and how they are banned from school. In no uncertain terms he outlines how the district states very bluntly what and how, and what not and how not, technology will be used in the schools within the district. And the don’ts made up more of the policy than the do’s. The second post deals with President Obama’s speech to schoolchildren on September 4. His reaction is the position that schools are denying children many things, including seeing the President’s speech, because of their content and message. Schools are a place to learn, not a prison where dictations on sanctions are postulated; however, many educational entities have been forced to initiate the latter, and leave the former in parent’s control. A third post shares the author’s trip to several schools on the first day of school. These schools have technology, but the ways they use it in their curriculums is vague, if even stated.
In my opinion, these posts are reflective of the prevailing issue in technology in schools: we talk about it, we discuss its place in the classroom, and we think it’s a wonderful idea for children to be exposed to it. What we DO NOT elaborate about as much, if at all, is how we use, how its fits into our student’s learning process and teacher’s dispensing of knowledge, nor how technology can be interwoven into a real world perspective drawing upon ideas from students in our classroom. Thus, the oxymoron conception is manifested. Once educators at all levels stop referring to technology as the means to an end, and put it in the mindset of students that technology "is the end to a means", then it will truly be a tool that benefits everyone, from expert to novice. Thus, technology has a pedigree. Does anyone wish to debate, discuss, dispense, disguise, or disillusion the technology oxymoron pedigree? The Norminator gives an open invitation to all seekers, students, teachers, and others to contemplate and share in the age of information. Got technology??
The Referential Ontology
Two systems of instructional design that I like are the Advance Organizer by David Ausubel and Information Processing by George Miller. Both systems offer a variety of teaching and learning concepts that all educators will benefit.
First, both advance organizers and information processing provide a systematic breakdown and structure for recording steps in such items as lesson plans and unit notes. The knowledge may be presented in graphical or textual forms, and is usually sequential with steps highlighted in a particular order, or parallel in which items are listed and compared with each other. Next, both models also attempt to translate that knowledge which is latent without meaning into an energetic cosmos of manifest information in which it is comprehensible and useful in the real world. Each system allows teachers to present information in components both small and large that their students will be able to understand and replicate. In addition, both approaches have an aesthetic appeal; their natural referential order is visually attractive and ontologically sequential. Students can receive input through multiple modalities using either approach.
On the other hand, their differences are also of importance. The advance organizer method can segment knowledge components into any of several different forms such as the KWL, Venn diagrams, or mind maps. Information processing, although being presented graphically, do not make distinguishing characteristics that are easily acquired through some sensory modalities. Also, advance organizers allow the information being outlined to be clarified by the teacher to their students while information processing is more on a mental level, not readily accessible for clarification by students.
In conclusion, it is up to the referential individual, the source of the knowledge aka the teacher, to make an informed decision as to what systems he or she will use in their classroom, and then assemble the appropriate ontological organization of steps that their students will understand using higher order thinking skills. To the teacher, more power to you.
The Mischievous Wikiosaurus
Wikis have their place. To each their own. My own in music and song:
Crash that Wiki
Just like a keyboard
Avoid that crash
Find your Techno hack
How the link reveals
They should crack it
Helping high hopes held far out
They should crack it
That it could be resolved
They should crack it
Chorus:
Just crack it
Hey hack it
Hack it good
Got code
Get spacebar
Hit hard
Use Dos if you dare
Wake up Basic
Yyaaaa crack it
Crack it down
I am not currently teaching in a regular class or course, therefore it might be difficult for someone to understand the lyrics of the above song on Wikis (by the way, can you guess which song or group it is patterned after?). However, it fits into the wonderful science fiction world of chaos, oh I mean learning that this genre has to offer and is expressed on my wiki. Technology was once encompassed into this world of the unknown, the fascinating, and the illuminating. Now, today, it is the world of the known, the titillating, and the frightening. So begins the first round of the revelation of The Norminator, thus we shall begin at Warp 1 (by the end of our course we shall reach maximum speed: Warp 9, unless fellow classmates say otherwise).
This wiki will be geared toward the sci fi guru, the one who sees beyond the real world. My wiki will fit into any class because the ideas contained within science fiction cross all academic content areas. One can go crazy with lesson plans for sci fi included activities. As the wiki is an infant at this point, it is hard to say what the growing add-ons might be. Just like the dinosaurs, this wikiosaurus will fly to the stars and ever change course. Not even The Norminator can predict our final destination. All I can tell you is that our course heading is 327m52 (pronounced “3 2 7 mark 5 2”) at Warp 1. The wikiosaurus of science fiction shall become a revelation of interests. The Norminator has in the sci fi realm and shall share with all who seek it out. Bear in mind though that the wikiosaurus may be mischievous as the directions of our journey will takes us to places never before encountered in the “technosphere” so it is to expected that the wikiosaurus will be both naughty and nice. Ah, but the mystery of technology is as mysterious as sci fi, so The Norminator must preserve this concept, as least for this time. Look at it, play with it, but just be careful my fellow colleagues what you feed the sci fi wikiosaurus.
The Backlash Factor
Steve Hargadon makes several good points in his post. Amazing how so much knowledge and information can come out of a short meeting, and this one was face to face at a conference, not on the computer. Two points which I find refreshing and revealing are 1) topic or content is maybe not as important as the act of engagement, and 2) the network must fulfill some compelling need. Engagement is what Web 2.0, Social Networking, and everything techno is all about. If online surfers are not actively involved on a page or part of a network, then the network, regardless of how savvy, classy, funny, or seriously it looks, it may be doomed to failure, or at the least lack of support. For a network to be successful, there must be activity of some kind and constant input from its surfers.
In addition to engagement, the created network must also have a need, however basic or complex. Just as human beings are driven by the need of basic survival, the techno mages have to fulfill their hungry and thirsty quench for knowledge somewhere, and if your network doesn’t have that “needful” instinct for that person, onward and elsewhere says the fingers on the keyboard. Hence, “failure is free”, but “success is earned”. Welcome to the Backlash Factor.
With respect to the educational milieu, both of these concerns must be on the teacher’s mind. The act of engagement is already cemented as a foundation into the job description of an educator, and is thus produced in hundreds and thousands of lesson plans during a typical teaching career. Educators are expected, in no less term, to make sure that their students are successful in every encounter with content material. Also, research has revealed that what is learned must be meaningful, aka having a need? Students will not comprehend ideas and concepts that have no usefulness to them; it is up to the teacher to fill in these needful blanks and make the information interesting enough for their students to retain it and add it to their mental repertoire.
“Failure is free” in lousy test scores, unhappy students, angry parents, and a teacher who gets earmarked as “lowly qualified” and does not return the following year. However, “Success is earned” when lesson plans come alive, students incorporate acquisition of knowledge through multiple intelligences, parents receive all the support necessary for their child’s educational growth, and a “highly qualified” teacher is in the driver’s seat. Without these two important components in each and every classroom, school, and hallway, the backlash factor may come a knocking and that is not an opportunity that any educator will want to open the door for. Keep engagement and need as key elements in lesson plans and daily instructional routines, then you and your students will be on the receiving end of the Forklift Affect.
Some information was obtained from the following social network source:
http://www.stevehargadon.com/2009/01/some-things-ive-learned-about-building.html
The Orangutan Effect
Social networking, as we know it has taken a plunge, a dive, and has been raised, elevated, and dictated. Yahoo is one of the biggest Internet gurus who has recently shut down its social networking site, Yahoo! 360. Begun in 2005 as an interactive site from which people could mingle, it closed its online doors July 13, 2009. It was a site directed to the general public who could come together and share their lives, ideas, and thoughts. The site also hosted a blogging area, photo sharing and developing, and permitted users to access all of Yahoo’s available services, both current and past. It was in existence for 4 ½ years.
It was one of a few sites that offered an extension to services available on other parts of the network, i.e. Yahoo! Yahoo created a newer and more efficient service, a Profile, which Yahoo claimed would serve in the same purpose and protect users provide information from the public eye. Smart move, albeit it took Yahoo! four years to devise this new concept.
Ah, yes, just like the orangutan that scratches its head, and being one of the more intelligent “monkies”, evolution continues. Orangutans and Yahoo! Are much alike. They both extend their arms wide and reach for those items so ever far reaching. This extension is like an evolution. The orangutan is reaching for something such as fruit or companionship. Yahoo! Is reaching for higher plains in technology. The orangutan protects itself from predators; yahoo does the same for its members from Internet predators. Orangutans have minimal competition for resources in their natural environment. Yahoo! has unlimited resources at its fingertips, and it choose to shut down Yahoo! 360, with no other major competitor forcing its hand.
The orangutan explores and finds wonders in its natural environment, and continues to procreate. Yahoo! has enormous resources for its members and it manifests itself in newer and greater technological amenities for its family. Orangutans still exist; Yahoo! 360 does not. If it did, then I might have considered creating an account, since I already use many of Yahoo’s services and enjoy them very much. I have enjoyed Yahoo! for several years.
Socialized networking in the making. Thus, the orangutan effect: two evolving socialized cultures very different from each other, yet reaching and extending their “selves” to higher echelons.
The Youser Unseen
Within each of us is the unseen person, that side where we keep our most private and even intimate connections. As I, The Norminator, am not a big photo fan by any sorts it was difficult to search that inner being within myself to find the stamina and enthusiasm for this challenging endeavor. However, I accept any challenge. This describes the “unseen” portion in the title above.
Now for the “youser”, who by the way is you. We use the web so much that instead of calling ourselves a user, why not just say youser, make it more clear and easier to remember, just like the photos we stock up in one of the sites discussed during this week’s discourse. As an educator, I do feel that photos have their place; I just have not found my youser side yet as to how they would complement my lessons and my students to the fullest extent possible. Two examples that I shall provide for photos include the ones I have posted on our photo-sharing page showing our wonderful world, which could be used in a science lesson, and the other would be science fiction as highlighted on my Ning, which could encompass a language arts lesson or social studies project. Photos have many uses and educators are beginning to explore that distant realm on the Internet.
No friends, nothing charismatic, awesome flamboyancy, opportunistic wits, no, just the plain facts about photos. Even The Norminator has some limits on interests and topics, and this one of those few that does not fuel the warp nacelles.
The Dynamic Norminator
The Norminator Strikes Back
Exit Ordos Technos
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Go Norminator!
ReplyDeleteStudents face contradictions in their schooling and in life. They model the contradictions and pass it on to the next generation. Now everyone is facing the internet for the first time. It's bumpy going, with old rules being ground away beneath the flood of possibilities.
I think the fears that exist are the same ones that would come up if we allowed cable TV in school - we'd want to turn it off except for the one nice channel. The unrestrained spontaneous appearance of violence, sex and ill messages is inappropriate in schools, but there is obviously much more to this strange internet beast. How do we get to the good stuff with an acceptable level of risk and control?
Oh, and I'd like to behold the beauty a little larger! ;)