Upon reading through the Michigan Educational Technology Standards for Students (METS-S), I found myself speechless. As I look at my seven month old son with his two new bottom teeth and his triumphant grin as he has just conquered the art of crawling, I begin to wonder if I should start exposing him to typing techniques and PowerPoint do’s and don’ts! I am completely amazed at what is expected of our graduating second graders, fifth graders and eighth graders. As an individual who is involved in professional forums, societies, and is fluent in creating business documents and simulations, I realize that I still have much to learn if I want to stay ahead of tomorrow’s youth with regards to technology!
Part of my dismay may result from the fact that when I was a student in the early elementary grades, we used the true “Floppy disk” (5.25” I believe?) with the green-screened Apple computer and the internet was merely something that “everyone will use someday”. It may also result from the fact that I do not deal with such small children to know what their limits are when using technology. From a high school perspective, I feel as though most standards are within the abilities of most students. But I am utterly amazed that a second grader would have the aptitude to use a variety of digital tools to learn, create and convey original ideas or illustrate concepts as PK-2.CI states let alone be able to discuss the advantages/disadvantages of using technology per PK-2.TC.
Once the initial speechlessness wore off, I think the plan has some great ideas and goals to strive for. However, I still think that we need to emphasize on the importance of the basics of communication, writing, ethics and other basics. Sometimes I think our students rely too much upon the technology. For example, most students learn their multiplication tables around grade 2 or 3 by memory. Usually by grades 4 or 5 the students are allowed to utilize multiplication tables and/or basic calculators to do the basic functions multiplication, division, addition and subtraction. By the time I see the students in high school, they have relied so heavily upon the calculator to do the basics for them, the student has a hard time telling me what 6 times 4 is without the use of a calculator. As a result, the student ends up taking more time to get through an assignment because they do not trust themselves to do the basic math on their own so they have to type everything into the calculator! (This is a huge pet-peeve of mine!)
I think it is great to have such high standards for our students. And if elementary students really are capable of fulfilling the goals that are laid out for them, then I too will have to ensure that I stay ahead of the game and keep myself educated on the latest and greatest technology. Otherwise, I will have to call on a second grader to become my technology specialist!
First of all, your son is adorable. I sense that I may be a little older than you, but my computer class experience was limited to one as a senior in high school using the Apple computer and one in college: Apples for Teachers. Any training I have received since has been through seminars and self-teaching, so I also am amazed with the amount of technology our children are exposed to at a young age. My daughter, now 13, completed her first PowerPoint presentation in the second grade. I remember her getting in the car one day and displaying her multiple-page printout about a day at the zoo. Each page had a picture of a different animal and key bullet points about the animal. When asked her about the project, she nonchalantly said, “Mom! It’s my PowerPoint!” Her tone implied that I should have known. It is amazing, and although I am thrilled with all the technology our children are learning, I agree that there is such a dependence on technology from the younger set. Many young people cannot even make change. There needs to be some sort of balance with education so as not to lose sight of many vital skills.
ReplyDeleteThere is so much we will need to know to educate the youth of tomorrow. As I continue in this class I realized that more and more. The standards set forth in METSS make it clearly obvious that we as educators must stay above the curve or we may not have much job security. The expectation seems to be high for second graders but I truly think that students can achieve the goals because this is their era. The technological era has opened so many door for so many of our children and we have to embrace it, even if that means starting with our your seven month old and my two year old.
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ReplyDeleteAs I read your post, I thought of the TV show, "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" (smile). Kids today are so smart when if comes to technology. A vivid picture comes to mind of my nephews playing their video games (Xbox, Nintendo, Wii, and others) with the multiple buttons on the top, sides, and bottom of the controls. At their age, I was playing the Atari with a joystick and one red button. Educators must continually keep up with the latest technology in order to capture and keep the kids attention at school. Schools that can afford the latest technology are equipping the school with digital white boards and plasma screens to display videos. What happened to the chalk board (smile).
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned that the kids in your classes use calculators to perform basic math functions...which makes me think of spelling and grammar. I was assisting one of my nephews with his homework and realized that he did not know the difference between "to" and "too", so I assisted him the way I was taught...get the dictionary and look them up. Of course, he looked at me strangely before realizing that I was serious and was not going to give him the answer. I instructed him to look up both words and read the definitions for both out loud and redirected his original question back to him: Which one is correct, "to" or "too"?