Monday, February 23, 2009
Notes on "Morphing from Teacher to Cybriarian" by Ted Nellen
It was funny reading about Nellen's day since some of it is very familiar. "Upon reaching the fourth floor, I'm greeted by students sitting on the floor outside the class. 'You're late, Mr. Nellen,' they chime and tease. 'Yeah, I decided to have a chat with my family this morning; sorry,' I quip." I can imagine Nellen's chaotic class room environment fairly easily; it sounds like a lot of fun, but I think it requires a very subtle balance to be successful. Reading this, I was thrilled at the idea of students doing virtually all of their work on computer and online. The use of "telementors" sounds like a tremendous opportunity, but it only takes one cynical, paranoid perspective to worry about exposing young students to potentially harmful strangers. Suddenly the hope and excitement of the World As Your Classroom turns to fear and suspicion. If you have students who surf safely, and an administration who understands and embraces technology and parents who are not paranoid then I think Nellen's class reaches the ideal, but ultimately I think harnessing that kind of chaos is a tricky endeavor
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2 comments:
thank you, watermole. you nailed it in the last sentence! the "tricky endeavor" requires the hack. the key is understanding the underbelly of the technology. not only do i drive, i do the maintenance. that is the key to taming the chaos and to dazzle them too. i've been using computers in my classroom since 1983. i needed to know how to work the tech. sorta like those folks who owned cars in the early decades of the 20th Century. oh and don't forget the pedagogy.
the pedagogy is key, always. it doesnt matter what the technology is: overhead projector, chalkboard, pencil, paper, computer, book, internet. there's nothing scary or dangerous. the pedagogy is the key.
i enjoyed that you found it "funny" and "familiar." yes, it is "a lot of fun," watermole.
no yes, "but."
i agree, that it is thrilling they do all their work online. now take this a step further and digitize all of everyone's work. i'm thinking that the digital technology is ideal for data collectors.
reading your astute evaluation of this article written ten years ago reminded me of the tenor of the conference i attended about this article. now that was fun.
as i said in the beginning, you nailed it, watermole. it is about the "chaos" and the pedagogy. don't many journeys begin in "chaos," as we seek order?
cheers,
ted
Thanks Ted! Your commenting on a blog post that I wrote because of a class assignment is the perfect example of learning in the new century -- the barriers of time and space to getting the sources of information are quickly falling. You were way ahead of your time 10 years ago! I'll be watching and learning from your current work. Thanks again for your comments.
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