EDT676+Assignment+5

Type in the content of your page here. EDT676-Assignment #5 Write a brief reflection on how I see myself using the iPod in the classroom and in my personal life:

PERSONAL

I have waited for a while before writing this for a very specific reason. Had I wrote this a few days ago, my frustration would have for sure slopped over into this reflection. As has been stated in earlier writings (See Assignment #2!), trying to do the simplest stuff (like subscribe to a couple Podcasts!!) left me pretty frustrated (I have not given up—I never give up. I will try again later today. It is likely that this Digital Dinosaur (me!) did something obviously stupid (so simple and stupid as to not even show up on “watch out for this” instruction/warning lists) and I will be successful on the next straight-forward attempt). So I took a few days and worked (successfully) on some other things before sitting down to write this reflection. What is very obvious to me is that this cool iTouch device doesn’t mean much to me personally. There is no doubt I will use it to create lists of my favorite music (and maybe some YouTube videos). When I first saw the iPod products coming out a few years back, I knew this was very powerful stuff and would put into my hands and shirt pocket and ear canals, lots of neat music of my selection, played at my discretion regardless of location. Now it has taken me quite a while to get off the dime and do it and I am in the process now mostly because of this good course in the Marian MTech program. Equally obvious to me though, is that all the bells and whistles and most of the “Apps” are meaningless to me. I don’t have need of them at all in my life. I don’t see this neat piece of technology suddenly changing, organizing and directing my life. There will be no swoon from me whereby I become aware that “I can’t live without this! How could I have gotten this far in life without it!! Now I expect that to change a bit, albeit slowly, but there will be no head-long rush into the (personal) digital world for me. Instead I foresee a gradual absorption of a limited number of the features into my personal life (reference Assignment #3). All of this stuff is amazingly cool but to put it bluntly: I don’t need most of it.

TEACHING

I have done a lot of thinking about this and my final thoughts/position is still being developed. I think I need to be extremely careful about how I approach this in my classroom. I think many of my HS colleagues are feeling the exact same way. Here’s why: As I have mentioned elsewhere, our school board just a couple months ago have ruled that “. . .iPods are allowed in the classroom for educational purposes. . .” OK, I think that is a correct decision and I am somewhat impressed that our school board got to that position as quickly as it did. Somebody(s) got through to them and I applaud them for the effort whomever they are (Parents? Students? Teachers? Administrators? Or some effective combination of those stake-holders. // {I have been waiting patiently and stealthily (is this a word?) for a chance to use the word “stake-holder” in my writing. Too bad most students today will interpret “stake-holder” to be a reference to that silly series of Vampire/Werewolf/Love Story movies (look at that—can you really believe the girls are swooning over this bizarre drivel?! OK, so the heroes have dreamy eyes __and__ abs—that is supposed to compensate for their fangs? Beyond amazing. But enough social commentary!!} // So I will be faced this fall with a double-dilemma: I will still be struggling to be effective with my own iTouch and trying to decide which Apps and/or Web stuff to connect to with it and how do I connect it through my new dedicated-projector and document camera (just installed in my Physics room last May!) for big-screen display. That’s the techno-challenge in my dilemma. The second and hugely important part of my dilemma is the student/ethical challenge. My Physics students will hit the door this fall displaying the banner of the school board’s decision to allow iPods for “educational use”. That means virtually every student will have one with them (most did last year—just kept out of sight) and how am I going to control their use/misuse? Further, cell phones/smart phones are not to be used during the school day (they can be on the person but are not supposed to be used during the school day). Can I (or you or anybody!) easily tell the difference between an iTouch and a smart phone at a distance? Isn’t the iPhone 4 (just being released) looking an awful lot like a regular iTouch?? I foresee lots of potential problems and “misunderstandings” coming. Many students will try to play by the rules and use their iPods in the correct spirit, i.e. appropriately unleashing the incredible information gathering, sifting and application power in those tiny little boxes. But there are already lots, and I mean lots of students (good students!!) who are simply not able to make the more mature decisions necessary on appropriate use. They are still kids (OK, young adults) but their decision-making is based upon a whole different set of ideas, values and social-norms that their adult mentors (read: Digital Dinosaur = me!) usually don’t even know about. High School kids are //consumed// by the social aspects of their lives. They //must// fit in. Their friends mean //everything// to them. I know this is true. I see it and feel it everyday at school. Using iPods/iTouch/iPhones in the classroom is right on top of us, right now. And it is a right thing to have happening. However, it is going to be a challenging and enlightening fall semester for all of us, for sure!

Sincerely submitted: Tim Moeller, Physics Teacher and Digital Dinosaur