Debunking the Digital Divide

Carla at the English Teacher Blog posted on rethinking our assumptions about integrating technology. The first assumption she critiques is one that I’ve heard a lot and have a pretty strong opinion about: that “students know more about technology than teachers do.” I wholeheartedly agree with her position that this is proving to be further and further from the truth. I just want to make three very simple points about this.

1. Students knowledge of technology is very limited in scope. As Carla mentiones, students are generally fluent in the things their friends are fluent in – MySpace, YouTube, etc. However, when they need to use technology with specific, school-related functions (i.e. Word, wikis, etc.), they still need to be taught how to use it. For example, I have to spend time each year teaching 9th graders how to use the basic functions in Word – double-spacing, margins, indenting, and so on. Obviously this shouldn’t be surprising; when have they ever needed to type an MLA formatted essay before?

2. Students still need to learn how to learn – just watch them try to learn a new tool. Last year, I tried to use a wiki for my students to post book reviews and other class-related information. It was surprising (because I fell victim to this assumption) that students struggled to use the wiki. Again, I had to try teaching them how to use it. However, some students still struggled to learn. That was yet another example of students who need to learn how to learn – they still need to develop the thinking skills and habits of mind we try to focus on.

3. While they may show some skills in using technology, students very rarely know how to use technology ethically. The students we teach are typically more adept at using and learning how to use technology. They set our VCRs for us because they’re not afraid to hit all the buttons. They navigate the web quickly because they’re willing to click on just about anything. Of course, while these are positive behaviors (taking responsible risks is one of our habits of mind), they can also lead to some less desirable, and often illegal, behaviors. Look at the preponderance of music and movie piracy and the ease and frequency of copy-paste plagiarism as evidence.

Of all the things our use of technology in the classroom should focus on, it seems that this last one should be the most important – we must find ways to teach our students how to use technology in a morally responsible way. Any suggestions?

Teachers of Philosophy

One of my lesser-known passions is the study of philosophy. Along with English, I double majored in Philosophy in college. I student-taught in an International Baccalaureate Philosophy class made up of 11th and 12th graders. I wrote my Master’s Thesis on methods for developing critical thinking skills in high school students, and one of the key methods I discussed was the study of philosophy. I work in a district that values thinking skills and habits of mind above nearly everything else.

I’m still a young, novice teacher, but one of my longer-term goals (alongside the goals mentioned in the last post) that I will begin to work toward this year is to find a place in our curriculum (currently, at the 8/9 levels) for some sort of philosophy course. I believe deeply that there needs to be a place for students to read about and discuss huge issues like knowledge, ethics, and humanity. I believe that the lack of this sort of study in K-12 education is at least in part responsible for the lack of knowledge, morality, and empathy that we see in our society. Needless to say, I value the study of philosophy a little more than most.

Obviously, there are some complications in getting a course like this approved, not limited to dealing with graduation requirements and credits, curriculum development, and how to categorize the course (social studies? language arts? elective?). However, it’s still a bit early to be worrying about these things.

What I am wondering at this point of my process is simple. I have two questions:

1. What is “philosophy” to you? Is that worth studying alongside literature, mathematics, history, and science?

2. If you teach philosophy in a K-12 school, how is your class structured? How are the credits arranged? What was the process of getting the course approved?

The Social Web Comes to School

Back when I was in college (oh so long ago), a couple of friends got me onto this site called Facebook. I’d never heard of it before and it sounded silly, but I tried it out, mainly because it was geared toward college kids. The idea was that we networked with other students at our own schools and could create interest groups and do other things. It was pretty cool, but I wasn’t all that into it.

The idea was apparently a pretty good one. Facebook is currently one of the hottest companies in the world, largely because of the awesome demand for social networking. Along with MySpace (Facebook’s “tween” cousin),  the social networking site has spawned a sort of internet revolution.

Of course, there are plenty of well-documented issues with these sites that leave them blocked by school security systems (and for pretty good reason). But the concept still could have a valuable place in the classroom – imagine students networking with peers across the country or even in other countries. Now that would be cool. Realistically speaking, however, MySpace just isn’t going to provide that for our students for a number of reasons.

That’s why I’m a big fan of what my students called “BookSpace” sites – social book networking websites like GoodReads, LibraryThing, and my personal favorite, Shelfari. I started using Shelfari last year after hearing about a group at our high school using it. I was trying to find ways to engage the students in their outside reading assignment and this turned out to be a pretty good solution. Here’s a quick rundown on Shelfari.

What Students Like:

• Simplicity: I had initially tried using a wiki for them to post and share book reviews, but it was apparently too complicated.
• Intuitive Interface: it is structured much like MySpace, complete with profiles, groups and friends. 
• Visually appealing design: wood bookshelves house digital versions of your books. If you don’t have that cover, you can find the one you do have and use it instead. It’s almost eerie how similar it will end up looking to what you actually have on your shelves.

What Teachers Like:

• Book Reviews: I can see them from their shelves, but they are also posted under the book’s page. This means that if you go on and look for a review on one of the Harry Potter books, you will see one of my students’ reviews posted there (you might have to sift through a few pages to do so). I sincerely hope that this encourages them to give more consideration to their writing, as they are now writing for a purpose and for an audience.
• Groups: I created a class group, so I have all of their profiles in one place. I’m considering creating a group for each period next year to make grading a little more efficient
• Tags: A more recent addition, you can tag your books and browse tags. Students can use tag browsing to find other books they might be interested, as well as other users (and classmates) who have read similar books.
• Recommendations: If a student is not sure about a book, she can ask the community or just a friend if she should read that particular book, and receive responses.
• Loan Status: A recent Shelfari update allows you to keep track of who you’ve loaned out your copy of a book to. This is great for classroom books and even better for personal books. You can even print out a spreadsheet to keep handy.
• Fun: Face it, anything that gets the kids excited about reading a ton of books is a good thing. I watched several students read a book in class, then add it to their shelves over the weekend.

Downsides:

• Like all technologies, there is the potential for abuse. For example, before one student realized that books on his shelf appeared on my updates page, he added several editions of an adult magazine to his shelf, complete with covers. Fortunately, most of these sorts of actions are quickly identifiable and can be taken care of. In any case, one of the biggest concerns we must have regarding social networking like this is teaching responsible use.
• Like all social networking sites, students interact with strangers. In some ways, this is great, but not all families allow students onto social networking sites. As teachers, we need to understand and respect this, so I have and continue to offer several alternative or “choice” assignments

All told, I love Shelfari. I’ve continued to update my profile regularly (look me up – I’m “Mr. Hurt” with a capital H. The other one was a funny student) and I’m planning on using it again this coming year.

A snippet of my "Books I've Read" shelf, complete with ratings

Are You Not Entertained?

Lately, school has me feeling like Maximus Decimus Meridius (from Gladiator). 

In one particular scene early in his fighting career, Maximus quickly defeats a pretty intimidating gladiator with great ease. After lopping off the guy’s head, Maximus throws his helmet and sword to the ground. He looks out on the cheering audience and begins to yell: “Are you not entertained?!?! Is this not why you are here?!?!“

As he yells this, however, the crowd continues to chant his name and fails to hear what he is trying to tell them. They are, indeed, entertained.

Future Gadflies of America

“The unexamined life is not worth living.” – Socrates

One of the greatest philosophers to walk the face of the earth was Socrates. He was inquisitive, patient, curious, and wise. He attacked the dogmatic assumptions and beliefs of his culture and encouraged citizens of Athens to truly think about what they believed and what they did. My favorite example of this is the great story of Euthyphro, who was prosecuting his father, and whom Socrates asked to define what is virtuous and good. Socrates, merely by asking Euthyphro a series of probing questions, was able to show Euthyphro that he had no idea what he was talking about.

Two thoughts cross my mind as I think about this. First, as an educator, it is my role to be the gadfly in my classroom – to fly around and bite at students’ assumptions and dogmatic ideas and get them to think independently and critically about their ideas and beliefs. If that’s my role, however, I can’t help but think I’ve been failing.

The other thought that crosses my mind as I think about this is that I should be encouraging this sort of “gadfly” behavior in my students. I shouldn’t let them just sit here and be “armchair” philosophers. Instead, they should be going out into the world and encouraging others to go and do likewise. Students should be poking and prodding at the assumptions and dogmatic beliefs of American society and encouraging those around them to think about those things as well. Each student should be a little Socrates: thinking about big topics and irritating the status quo.

As I look around my classroom, I don’t see this. I see a room full of students who are the status quo. I see students who are happy with their own unquestioned beliefs and shallow thinking processes. I see students who have no idea that there is an enormous world of ideas they have yet to be exposed to. I see students who are so into their own little world that they don’t even see the the other little worlds in this one classroom. And when I see all of this in my class, I can’t help but feel like I’ve let them down – like I have failed them.

Fortunately, there are still several weeks left before the end of this school year. Hope, as they say, springs eternal, and I still have a chance to get the students to begin examining their lives, their ideas, and their beliefs. I still have a chance to help them become the future gadflies of America. The question is simply, how badly do I want that?