I was surprised that all the feedback was not as positive as the teachers were expecting. Many parents liked it a lot. They felt it was great practice and very engaging. Some parents though felt it was to hard for their children to maneuver and had to st with them if they wanted their kids to actually use it.
As us teachers discussed the feedback we realized we were not looking at this technology the same way many parents were. When the kids use the lab we monitored and observed what they are doing. Many of the parents seemed to think that they could sign their child in and walk away. We did not send this home as a quick babysitting option. We had hoped parents would do this with their children (as the letter that went home stated).
Part of the balance of using technology with young children is that they will need more help, especially at first. Many parents seemed to not understand this. I am hoping that they will continue to try this program. As their kids get better at it, they will become more independent.
Some parents will always assume that projects (particulary computer projects) are all student based with no parental envolvement. They will often blame the school when the student struggles or does not understand. I can remember simple projects building houses out of cardboard and some students did not finish it because the parents failed to review with their students the tasks.
ReplyDeleteSome of these same parents also assume that students will magically get everything on computers because they grew up using computers. The reality is that the child is still building the house but on a computer and not with glue and cardboard.
These reasons are why I think educators are pushing for more and more tellecollabortaive projects. This way students help students and you take the necesity of parents out of the equation.
Hi There:
ReplyDeleteSorry, I couldn't find an email for you. I decided to post a comment on your blog.
Exciting News! I’m working with Dr. Marcovitz as he gathers information for a book he will be publishing in the near future. David in looking for examples of actual classroom uses of Web 2.0 technology. He just wants ideas that have actually been implemented in the classroom. Unfortunately, because of the filtering in the schools, not all projects will have been used.
If you did implement any Web 2.0 technology into the classroom, please let me know what you did.
Thank you in advance for you support in this project.
Linda Daywalt
410.903.5714
ldaywalt@aacps.org