Is My Wiring Compatible?

I have always thought myself to be somewhat computer savvy (for being a baby-boomer) but with new applications being invented by the minute my ability to keep up is in question. Back in 1983 I started working for an Insurance Company and they trained me to process Insurance claims on the computer. I also used inter-company e-mail some but I didn’t have a use for the computer outside of work that I could think of. I remember trying to explain my job to my family and they would always just remember I was working on a computer, a computer operator. I felt that was a put down because the difficult part of my job wasn’t working on the computer it was reading and applying the Insurance policies correctly. At that time the computer did keep track of claims and the benefits paid to the Insured but other than that it wasn’t much different than manually tracking the claims in a paper file. After awhile in the profession the computer programs were devised to do more and more of the computations until eventually the computer can finalize claim processing on most claims filed, as long as the Doctor or facility bill electronically or use the correct forms. My profession all of a sudden had less opportunity for using my skills, the computer was replacing me! The point of my story is we not only have to try to keep up and current with new computer uses but we need to keep re-inventing ourselves and how we do things to kind of ride this wave of technology available today, and I think this applies to education, work, and our daily lives.

I see many applications for the classroom in the vast array of technologies available today. We not only have information about anything at our fingertips we also have the ability to share information. In trying some of this technology, like Voicethread, I found I was stuck! Stuck in apprehension! I don’t have a fear of working on computers as I’ve done it for years but the idea of talking on something that was going over the internet caused me a great deal of anxiety, and I didn’t expect it to. Perhaps it was the idea that I was putting myself and my ideas out there for anyone to possibly see that bothered me. I think our younger generation can become comfortable with adding to a class blog or web site as long as some preparation is used. The instructions for using the software is really quite simple and it seems like you can just do one quickly but It would be a great lesson in planning to have the students block out the comments they want to say for each picture or video. This could relate to a lesson on cartoons where the same type of planning can be involved. What does the student want to say? and What do they want to leave up to the viewer? are questions that can be answered in pre-planning.

Open reactions and comments are what we strive for when we look for class involvement so giving the students some different avenues for this can only add to class participation. Posting a comment on a Wall Wisher, a blog or to a voicethread can lead to greater learning and understanding and it also gives the teacher a better chance to connect and better understand every student. Understanding how best the individuals in the class learn is an important part of teaching and having students use technologies that they enjoy to express themselves is an advantage in many ways.

I can also see that we can give students guidance in creating these self-expressive sites in a way that presents them well. Not just in what not to say but in how they want to express themselves visually and esthetically. Technology is here to evolve daily (not just stay) so we need to evolve with it and use it as a useful tool in being an affective educator.