Back to the blog after a long vacation!

INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGY INTO THE CLASSROOM CURRICULUM

My last postings were related to coursework in another class in educational technology. This one is to shake off the rust and get used to composing on the fly. The class is interesting and I find that I'm mildly surprised. What it seems to be is the fact that I, who have never taught in the public schools, am excited about the possibilities and really humbled by the dedicated, resourceful, and often underappreciated practitioners that I share these classes with.

The same holds true of Instructional Message Design which I am also currently taking. In my undergraduate work leading to a degree in geology, I took several psychology classes (one, abnormal psych, from a professor who himself and family should have been committed!) since I found it really interesting. IMD incorporates many of the things that I found fascinating about psychology: the incredible complexity of the human brain, the effects of trauma, drugs, chemicals upon it, as well as the ability of the brain to heal itself. The ability of the brain to learn and to remember was always an awesome topic to me.

Since many students are used to chat and e-mail, I believe that using blogs or wikis in a classroom setting would be very productive. Many kids are reticent to speak up in class, but are more comfortable writing a response. Even though it is a personal response, there is an element of anonymity involved. Perhaps using the blogs or wikis for very non-threatening uses that are fun could lead to the use of blogs/wikis for more serious purposes. Even under light-hearted circumstances, students should be taught that what they say in blogs/wikis potentially could be read by anyone with internet access and to think accordingly. With consistent application, the student will take it as second nature to be guarded in his online communication about anything personal that could have adverse consequences.

I would encourage a dialogue with anyone who would like to share their experiences, thoughts, or interersts in any of these areas...