Using Google Forms in the Classroom

Providers of Insight?

Marshall McLuhan
From Wikipedia

When considering Marshall McLuhan's 1959 lecture "Electronic Revolution: Revolutionary Effects of New Media," the notion of "fast-moving and flexible media" has indeed as much, if not more, significance in the 21st century. The evolution of technology in our society can be seen as both breathtaking and disconcerting. Inventor and Futurist Ray Kurzweil discusses the rapid advancement of technology which he argues will "blur the line between human and machine."

I think the role of "the teacher" in the learning environments of the 21st century is best illustrated when we consider McLuhan's observations about the electronic revolution of television: "The electronic revolution of television has made the teacher the provider no longer of information but of insight, and the student not the consumer but the co-teacher, since he has already amassed so much information outside the classroom."

Social Networking, Knowledge Management and the EPSS

Photo from morguefile.com

It appears that many characteristics that are inherent in social networking platforms would greatly enhance and perhaps even challenge the traditional view of the purpose of the Electronic Performance Support System (EPSS).

Deborah Alpert Sleight discusses what is meant by an EPSS in her article "What is Electronic Performance Support and What Isn’t?". She describes a two part characteristic of EPSS which is, firstly, "access to the specific information and tools needed to perform a task," and secondly, "access to the information and tools at the time the task is to be performed." Both parts need to be present for it to be a characteristic related to an effective EPSS. She continues her discussion that the specific information can be provided in various media, including textual, visual, audio, computer programs/tools, along with advice or guidance.

Considering Performance Tasks

When considering my performance in teaching and administrative tasks, the first challenge was trying to decide what I would consider administrative versus what I would consider teaching. Many times the two categories intersect and blend together and can be difficult to separate. Below are two charts illustrating how I decided to separate the two, accompanied with the factors involved for each category.

Plentiful Picasa Pleasures

How many words is it worth?

If a picture is a worth a thousand words, then using software like Google's Picasa for photo sharing and collaboration must be worth a billion. Well, maybe not a billion words, but given its capabilities it certainly exceeds a thousand.

Tiptoeing through Social Media

Photo from morguefile.com

Utilizing social networks (or social media) has been a bit of a struggle for me - both personally and professionally. I was not drawn to social media. So, initially, when sites like Facebook were banned in our school district, it did not cause much of a concern for me. However, over the past few years I have started to get my toes a little wet in social media. I have yet to create a Facebook account, but I have dabbled a bit in Twitter and have been quite surprised with the results.

Regardless of my small efforts to engage in social media, I have been troubled with what I see as a lack of a concentrated effort to prepare our students not just for "life," but also their digital life. I have started to make some attempts to discuss what it means to be a digital citizen and allow my students to explore issues such as Internet privacy, safety, cyber-bullying, and how young people use social media and mobile devices.

But when it comes to full immersion in social media... it is still only the toes that are wet.