Technology: Meta-reflection

I have truly enjoyed this technology class. I feel like each of the assignments have led me to be able to “practice the integration of appropriate technology with instruction”, which is one of the Principles of HOPE at SPU. At the beginning of this course my feelings toward technology, were accepting, but cautious. Too cautious. For this class we read two books, The Shallows by Nicholas Carr and Brain Gain by Marc Prensky. When I first started reading these books, I thought, “how was I going to get through reading these two books, on a topic that can’t possibly be that interesting, and to top it off I would be reading it on my computer?! At the very least, couldn’t I just go buy the book? Then we were asked to join G+, which is similar to Facebook, in that it is a social networking site, but we were going to use it as a way to share websites and resources about current technology. I was wary of this medium of sharing information as well, but as time went on I began to see the value in each of the class’ assignments. The books even began to grow on me. In fact I learned to like reading a text book on the computer because I was able to so easily highlight my work, take screenshots and put them directly into my blog. Using G+, learning about hash tags, and becoming better at searching the web for resources has also been valuable to me. All of these skills lead back to the standards stated above, “practice the integration of appropriate technology with instruction” .

Becoming more comfortable myself with technology and being shown so many resources by my classmates has made me more familiar with the technology that is available for me to integrate into my classroom. The books we read also have really enlightened me. I feel like they were a perfect balance of the different feelings or arguments people may have when struggling with the idea of technology. It seems to me that we are really not given any time to process the technology; it is happening so fast! It is reasonable for people to be wary. This class has helped me past the hump of wariness.

I, in fact, thought I was incorporating a lot of technology in my classes over the years. I have used websites to show videos, websites for students to do HW on; I have made web search assignments. But somehow, I realize now that there is SO much more I can be doing to incorporate technology into my classroom. I may have even realized this before, but I was never quite comfortable enough with technology to really delve into it.

Now not only do I have so many more resources from my classmates and teachers, but I am more comfortable being authoritative about technology. This has given me more confidence to not only integrate it more into my classroom (I am doing a flip class with Khan Academy for my 6^th grade math!), but with other teachers as well!

” Memories light the corners of my mind…” Barbra Streisand

In this chapter of The Shallows Carr once again wows with his historical connections. This chapter goes deep into the inner workings of the brain. He references several different researchers over the last few hundred years that have spent time studying the brain and how it works. He specifically targets research on memory. He then connects this research to the Net and attempts to prove why the Net gets in the way of us forming new memories and has made our memories more inept.

Carr begins his chapter by referencing Socrates, who he had previously quoted as being skeptical of the written word.

Carr credits Socrates’ idea, but says it was not the written word that ended up causing this ruin, but the Net. He quotes an Italian novelist and scholar, Umberto Eco, “Books provide a supplement to memory, but they also, as Eco puts it, ‘challenge and improve memory; they do not narcotize it.’” (Carr 2010).

He concludes that the written word and books, have been good for our brain, and he attempts to prove whey the Net is not.

Throughout the readings I have felt a stronger connection to Carr’s cautiousness regarding the internet. However, in this chapter I feel like he is being overly critical. I am not saying that he does not make good points. His research seems sound, but I wonder if it is worth dwelling on the negatives of the Net and how it negatively affects our brain or if instead he should try to find ways to use the Net to our advantage. Whether that means figuring out, through research, how to get our brain to make the memory connections that we may be losing out on from relying on the Net for memory, or if there are other connection we can make in our brain to make up for the ones we may be losing out on? It seems Carr’s answer to this question would be no, and he may be right, but since the internet is here to stay, it seems that his focus on the downfall the Net may bring to our brain, may not be worth his time and effort.

I was fascinated by all of the inner workings of our brain that Carr explains; it brought me back to my college days of studying biology. I had some of the memory sparks that Carr describes when reading a lot of the descriptions of how the brain works in fact! Much of the research Carr gives over is about how the brain forms new anatomical, not just chemical, connections when making memories and moving them between short term and long term memory.

He holds that if we are not using the parts of our brain for our memory we are then losing out on the creation of these new synapses, which will ultimately be detrimental to our overall memory capabilities,

One point Carr does make that stands out to me and relates back to Artificial Intelligence is that AI cannot replicate the kind of memory we have. Yes, AI can remember everything we need it to, but what makes us unique is that our memories change with our experiences and we continue to process information and use it when having subsequent experiences.

This is interesting because before I thought the biggest distinction between AI and humans was our emotional capabilities, but here is something else, our memories and the plasticity of our brain that might be a much bigger difference that Prensky and Singularity movement do not seem to give credit to.

I think my favorite metaphor, or historical perspective that Carr quotes is by the Roman Seneca. I think it culminates Carr’s point well, that the brain is ever changing, but I also think it is a really beautiful description of how our memories work and affect us. 

I just wonder if Carr has become too cynical of the Net. He acknowledges the Webs ability to seemingly pull off the connections our brain makes, and store the material that our brain can. But he holds strongly to the idea that our brain, being a living organic entity is capable of much more, but needs the memory making ability to stay intact.

In Carr’s digression at the end of chapter nine he does admit that although he harbors much skepticism and negativity- he may not be able to live without the Web! And I don’t think that there would be too many people who could disagree with that sentiment either.

Carr, N. G. (2010). The shallows: What the Internet is doing to our brains. New York: W.W. Norton.(Kindle)

~I have found that I do like reading for an assignment like this on the computer. Although it is still a little harder on my eyes and I find that I have to dim the screen. However, it is really nice to be able to highlight text and take notes all in one place. It makes it so easy to turn my thoughts into a post.

I do however miss a book. I feel like it took me a while to get a general sense of what the book is really about. Whereas when I have an actual book in my hand to flip through and hold, I feel like I have a better sense of what I will be reading. I just really like the feeling of holding a book and reading it and I like to see my progress through a book as well. The visual of seeing your progress through book does not really translate well to books on a computer.

 

TELA Project- P4

P4 – Practice the integration of appropriate technology with instruction.

Teacher-candidates use technology that is effectively integrated to create technologically proficient learners.

We live in the 21^st century and the classroom does not look the same anymore. We need to move forward with our students. We live in a time where technology is advancing so quickly and if we are not providing students with opportunities to use technology and modeling the use of technology then we are doing our students a disservice. This can look different for different teachers. It can even look like students working alongside teachers. I have found that children these days have loads of information about how to use technology. Students are interested in technology and are often teaching themselves in ways that we may not know how. Engaging them as teachers in your classroom can be another way to incorporate technology and help them learn as well as yourself!

KhanAcedemy.com

For my TELA project I am using KhanAcademy.com in my 6^th grade math class. I started the year using a regular math book and following a traditional classroom style of lecturing while the students took notes, then they had a few minutes to start their HW. They would then go home and the next day we would review some of the HW they had questions on then we would move on to the next topic. It became apparent pretty quickly that this format was not going to work for my class. In trying to find an alternative way to reach these students, I was reminded of Khan Academy. I have used it in the past and several teachers in my school use it casually, but I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to try a flipped classroom.

Khan Academy is a website that has thousands of videos on an array of topics across different subject matters. The videos are pretty short; they are clear and articulate. Over the years several features have been added that make Khan Academy more user friendly and perfect for a flip classroom setting. After each video there are a series of practice problems the students can do. Here is the cool part, as the teacher you can have the students choose you as a coach and then you (the teacher) can monitor their work. There are several different ways to view their progress as well. You can view it as an overview like this, where it shows you quickly using colors how all the students are doing:

Or you can view individual progress (this can be seen in more than one way, here is one example):

This is a cool way to view it because it shows you each night what they are doing. This way you can track that they are keeping up with their work and it gives you data on how they are doing. There are also incentives for the students to win badges and such- they seem to get excited about that!

Now that I have been giving this for HW, we have been able to do the assignments in class. This has allowed me to be able to sit down with each student and work with them. Find out where they are struggling, what is easy for them, and where they just need more practice. It has allowed me to give more individual time to each student. I also have been able to incorporate a project every couple of weeks that encompasses a few topics, since we have more class time. I still spend some class time going over the video, or sharing other strategies with students, but this has given me more time in class with the students and they enjoy the Khan Academy for HW and the students feel like they are getting more out of it.

Unfortunately, there is not a video for every topic we cover, so my classroom is not a fully flipped classroom, but the students like using this as their HW and like working on assignments in class. This gives students the opportunity to use technology at least a few times a week. Lately I have been thinking a lot about how I can take this to the next level. I thought a great way to end the year would be to have the students get into pairs, choose a math topic from the year, and create their own videos and assignments on that topic! This way the students can integrate a math topic they have learned with the technology they have been exposed to. I plan on enlisting the help of the technology coordinator at my school to work with me and the students in creating these videos. I think this would be a great culmination of the flipped classroom, and maybe I would even be able to use these videos with future classes!

NETP Goals:

2.0 Assessment: Measure What Matters
Our education system at all levels will leverage the power of technology to measure what
matters and use assessment data for continuous improvement.

3.0 Teaching: Prepare and Connect
Professional educators will be supported individually and in teams by technology that
connects them to data, content, resources, expertise, and learning experiences that enable
and inspire more effective teaching for all learners

H.G Wells, Jules Verne, Scott Westerfeld, maybe these authors were really onto something…

This week Carr once again starts off with a historical perspective and seamlessly brings home his point by using stories from the past. The difference in this chapter is that the story he tells us is from not so long ago, but from about 20 years ago- the start of Google. He goes on to describe who began Google, the intent, the journey and evolution up till today. Larry Page, one of the founders of Google said:

Google is working on getting closer and closer to that to AI, but is not so close. Carr’s purpose in taking us through the evolution of Google was to bring us to his point:

That not only are we not near creating AI that mimics humans, but that we may never get there.

The beginning of Prensky’s chapter this week starts with the opposite sentiments! He refers to the term “singularity” which in this case means, “an event where there is no turning back” (Prensky 2012).

He then goes on to describe that this “singularity” is the point in time where the technology will be even stronger than the human brain; in other words, Artificial Intelligence.

Prensky refers to Ray Kurzweil as the leader in the Singularity movement. Kurzweil has written two books,

Kurzweil describes the way technology has advanced as exponential rather than linear. He ascertains that we are inclined to think linearly and that is why it is so difficult for us as humans to fathom the idea of AI actually happening. But that exponential progress, which is what is happening with technology, moves so quickly, we will have AI, as Kurzweil predicts, by 2045. That is not so far off…

In Carr’s book, he references how we are far off from truly understanding the brain, so to we are far off from creating technology that is AI, BUT according Kurzweil, we are at a place deep into understanding the brain, so with exponential growth, AI will be a reality.

Prensky does note that there are many who disagree with Kurzweil, however, he maintains we should be taking Kurzweil seriously and that it is digital wisdom to know that what Kurzweil claims, singularity, will happen.

I am going to interject a personal note here. I am an avid reader of young adult dystopian books. And technology is of course, a huge basis for several of these stories. In so many of these books the technology is viewed as bad, or it took human kind in a destructive direction. What makes these books so good is that there is an antagonist, technology, and that the situation is something the we can sort of imagine actually happening, but not really, so we are safe. We are made to feel somewhat scared of technology, but also intrigued by it.  This is the view we are inundated with in movies too. That furthering our technology is somehow bad, but it captures our attention because, maybe it could happen.  Prensky points out though that Kurzweil sees singularity differently, more optimistically.

Prensky then goes onto to say that he believes what Kurzweil and his followers are really looking for is the digital wisdom that Prensky says is about understanding technology and using it in a positive way.

Presnky refers to how we as humans are even evolving from homo sapiens to homo evolutis- a human who shapes their own evolution rather than letting things happen to them ( an example is gene therapy). All these points make me wonder now if science fiction and dystopian writers are really predictors of the future! Maybe H.G Wells really did use his time machine!

I feel like this chapter, in Prensky in particular, but also in Carr gave me a lot to think about in terms of the future of technology and AI. I could probably ramble on about this for a while, as I mentioned early I love dystopias, and as you might have guessed science fiction, so the idea of this being a reality, at least according to Prensky is incredibly thought provoking for me. I will end with this. I don’t think the human brain can be replicated. I can’t imagine being able to actually create a being that can feel complex emotions and navigate the mind of a human, however I do believe that technology can come close in making it seem like that is what is happening. Kind of like in The Jetsons, Rosie, she was AI ,and she did show emotions, she was sort of human, but even when she did express emotion, she did not understand why she was having the feelings she was.

As usual, Carr and Prensky have vastly different opinions, and although I tend to enjoy reading Carr more and tend to agree with some of his apprehensions towards technology, I was drawn to Prensky this week because this chapter was SO thought provoking for me. Thoughts on this? I would love to hear what others think about this topic!

 

~My feeling about reading on the computer vs. a book have not really changed. I can see benefits to both, but I still prefer a book. I have noticed that my eyes seem to tire more quickly when reading on the computer.

Carr, N. G. (2010). The shallows: What the Internet is doing to our brains. New York: W.W. Norton. (Kindle)

Prensky, M. (2012). Brain gain: Technology and the quest for digital wisdom. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. (Kindle)

Are we there yet?

Above is a view of Prensky’s that is rather like Carr, a little more cautious about technology perhaps? I think his introduction here is not about being cautious about technology, but it comes from his desire to show that he sees “the other side”, he even refers to the book The Shallows as being one that is overly cautious of technology. He uses his ability to see the other side as a way to make sure that the reader sees he is being fair and that his conclusion is right. At least that is how I see it. His bottom line: it is about how we use technology not whether we should use it. I think he is right here. This is the first time where he seems more even keeled, than he has seemed throughout the rest of the book.

Carr spends a lot of time in this chapter sharing research and studies that were done that demonstrate some of the challenges of reading and retaining information that is read on the computer.

He also shares a metaphor that I think really helps visualize what is happening in our brain when we read on the computer, with all the “extras” vs. reading a book.

This is interesting.

I love thinking about how much more reading kids are doing than before, but it is al little disturbing to think about there being less in –depth reading. The whole idea Carr focuses on throughout the book is about how we are rewiring our brain. The real questions here are, I think, are we changing our brain for the better? How do we know?

This too is an interesting picture, especially in light of the dense history of communication through print, does it seem like we are going backwards?

Carr also counteracts with some small studies that indicate there could be some benefits to surfing the Net as well.

This particular study indicates that it may be possible to expand our working memory. That seems to me to be a huge benefit, if it is in fact accurate and would work for everyone.

SO what is the bottom line? Carr quotes the writer Sam Anderson here:

According to him, the bottom line is, we are not going back.

This might bring one to conclude we should look at the positives of the Net and move on. I do think that we should be doing this. It is not going anywhere, it would be wise,and I think Prensky would agree, for us to embrace it, BUT as Carr indicates, it is also wise to be wary. That although we may be gaining some kinds of intelligece that is different or good from the use of the NET. We are losing other types of intellegence. Is there a final answer? A single answer of what is best, or what is the most wise?

No, there is not one answer. The most wise action we can take is to educate our students with technology since they WILL be using it OFTEN in both their schooling and in their work as they get older. BUT we should also be giving them skills to work off the computer. We should make sure we are also developing their deeper level thinking skills. It seems to me that there is not much of a medium ground when you ask teachers’ their opinions on technology. People seem to feel pretty strongly for or against the use of technology in the classroom. And it seems that it is taking a long time and is a slow process getting technology in the classroom.

I know for myself, before this class, I was more on the side of the fence of people who discouraged the use of technology. That does not mean that I did not use it, or that I did not give my students assignments that they were required to use technology, but I was SO wary. After reading these books and seeing how much more there is out there for teachers than I even realized, I feel like my eyes have been opened a little bit more. I still want to make sure I am giving my students skills that develop higher level thinking, but I also feel pretty strongly about making sure that my students will be well prepared for what will be asked of them as they move through the years, which means using technology and encouraging the use of it throughout the school.

~I still prefer reading a book, but since I am savvier at reading, highlighting and taking notes now on the computer, it is not annoying and does put me a little ahead when it is time to put my post together. Since my notes are already typed, it is easier to make them into a post.

Carr, N. G. (2010). The shallows: What the Internet is doing to our brains. New York: W.W. Norton.(Kindle)

Prensky, M. (2012). Brain gain: Technology and the quest for digital wisdom. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. (Kindle)

How long till we hear from our kids, “What?? Read a real book?”

Carr writes about how the experience of reading an eBook should be different than the experience of reading a book in print. That there should be links or other features of the computer incorporated into the reading experience. That would be cool, but I think it would take away from my experience in reading a book for pleasure. If it is a book for school, I can see advantages, but not in a book for pleasure.

There are a few features that are written about that will be incorporated into an eBook. One such feature is social networking.

Which could be engaging, to be able to know what others are reading and have real time discussions with them, but it does completely change the experience of reading a book. I think I would use both formats. It would depend what I am looking for. Back to the “getting lost in a good book” or as Isaac of Syria had put it “…as in a dream, I enter a state when my sense and thoughts are concentrated. Then when the prolonging of this silence the turmoil of memories is stilled in my heart, ceaseless waves of joy are sent me by inner thoughts, beyond expectation suddenly arising to delight my heart.” (Carr 2010). I think it would be impossible to feel this way if I was in the midst of communicating with other people while trying to read. Maybe this goes back to Prensky (2012), digitally wise or digitally clever. Is it wise to have all these features incorporated into eBooks or just clever? I think that it depends on both the person and the book that is being read. This could be especially true for students who may be struggling to understand a book. If the student had the opportunity to be connected to to others through social media it could help them, but on the other hand, the student may resort to asking for help before really trying on his/her own.

As you can probably tell I am pretty torn myself. I know that I would rather read a real book for pleasure. But I also know that a lot of my negative or skeptical opinions about technology have been changing weekly since I have been reading both The Shallows and Brain Gain. So really now I am just totally confused! I think that is a good thing though. Technology is not going anywhere and in fact it is coming faster than I think anyone imagined, so if I have gone from feeling negatively about it to being confused, it is probably a push in the right direction… no?

And let’s take this a step farther, what about what we should be doing with our students? Prensky’s focus this week is on the inevitability of our culture being so entrenched in technology that many other things we do in the “old” way will become obsolete. We are in a new age. And we need to embrace it because it is happening right now. To embrace it is digitally wise. But as Prensky points out, if we are embracing it, shouldn’t we be teaching it to our children as well? Are we not doing them a disservice if we don’t?

~Experience this week: I find it more annoying to click to the next page, when reading on my computer, than flipping a page in a book. It is better on the iPad, but I still prefer flipping pages.  I also like to lay down when I read, and I can do that when using my iPad, but not my computer.

Carr, N. G. (2010). The shallows: What the Internet is doing to our brains. New York: W.W. Norton.(Kindle)

Prensky, M. (2012). Brain gain: Technology and the quest for digital wisdom. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. (Kindle)

Carr gave me a lot to think about this week…

One thing Carr mentioned that stuck out to me in this week’s reading was about how people often have three screens open in front of them at once. This struck a chord with me since I have found myself in that same situation, sometime with even four screens in front of me at once. This has been especially true since I have been in Graduate School.  I imagine what it is like for our students who are growing up with this being the new normal. That having multiple screens around and being constantly surrounded by this technology is expected behavior.

According to Carr (2010), print is falling from popularity in so far as how often it is read. This includes not only newspapers and magazines, but books as well. This makes me kind of sad, no matter the benefits of reading on a screen; I don’t think I will ever prefer it, at least when reading for pleasure, over reading a book.

I wonder how Prensky would categorize reading books vs. the same book digitally? Digitally wise, or digitally clever?

This week Prensky (2012) goes into great detail over different actions that make us digitally wiser.

One example is email. This I, I think, really important to pay attention to since it seems like there are so many ways to be digitally dumb, when it comes to email. Mistakes can be made that could not be made while penning a letter, which leads to another interesting thought by Carr. About how some outdated technologies still get used, like vinyl records, but that using this outdated technology is a progressive “dead end”. It does not move us forward in developing new technologies. Letter writing still gets used, and “snail mail” is still around, but it is not progressive.

Another topic Carr (2010) mentions that I found intersting is this:

I had always looked at it from a different perspective. That being able to physically highlight in a textbook for example, is better because it involves more cognitive processes. Where Carr uses the same argument for why reading on a computer is more beneficial. Hmmm… that is something for me to ponder.

Here is something else for me to think about as a special ed teacher.

Having all these distraction can be extremely detrimental to some students. So there is a fine line between making sure our students are being taught the latest and greatest technologies, but also helping them to figure out what kind of learners they are so we can teach them to sift through and find the right type of technology for them. And the flip side, some amazing things are possible for children with disabilities because of technology as well, so teaching the right tools for each individual student is part of what we should be doing as well. I think Prensky would agree, doing so, would be digitally wise.

~I was actually starting to get used to reading, highlighting and taking notes on the computer for this assignment. I finally felt like I got a system going between flipping between the screens with the books, creating screenshots and taking notes on word. THEN I needed to highlight two words on a page in order to take a screenshot. It was the first two words on a page and it was continuation of a quote, so I really needed it. I could not get it to work. It either highlighted everything on that page, but the first two words. OR when I got it to highlight those two words, the “highlight or note” screen did not come up. After about seven tries I gave up. Then a fellow classmate suggested I download the Kindle app for my computer and I was able to get the two words highlighted, but that was a frustrating experience I had this week.

 

Carr, N. G. (2010). The shallows: What the Internet is doing to our brains. New York: W.W. Norton. (Kindle)

Prensky, M. (2012). Brain gain: Technology and the quest for digital wisdom. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. (Kindle)

Digitally Wise or Digitally Dumb?

In the book, The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to our Brain, I LOVE how Carr always gives us a historical progression of technology. I particularly found chapter 4 in the book so interesting! I love reading about how people originally wrote on anything they could scratch symbols onto and how the development of different writing mediums changed over time. What makes the chapter even more intriguing was reading specific quotes or feelings of people during the time of change when writing became easier and more personal. This quote by Isaac of Syria is AWESOME; it is exactly how I feel when I get lost in a good book.

On the flip side, as Carr progresses through describing how printing became easier and how much more accessible the written word became to people; there was a lot of “low-minded” publications that were being printed. Such as, gutter journalism, propaganda and pornography.

This for me connected to what Prensky wrote about in chapter four of his book, Brain Gain. Although he did not make the connection I am about to explicitly, I see one. Prensky refers to the idea of being digitally wise vs. being digitally dumb. He describes a criterion for being digitally wise in the screenshot below:

He describes being digitally dumb or stupid as something that most people do at some point, but we should know better to avoid that action. In the screenshot below is his explanation of digitally stupid and one example that resonated with me. In fact, he is pointing out to me that I am REALLY digitally stupid, because I had that exact same scenario where I lost all of my lesson plans and assignments etc. from 6 years of teaching, and I still have not backed up the computer I have been using for the last two years!! (And I consider myself intelligent and not among the “old” people who just don’t know better).

I also think that being digitally dumb can be compared to using technology for dumb things, like Facebook could be digitally dumb. Prensky refers to how it can be digitally benign or digitally clever, but it can also be digitally dumb. I have seen posts by people that seem so ridiculous to me that anyone would even think about posting and sharing that information. One post I saw once was by a girl who is 24 years old and she posted how she cut herself shaving so she felt like she was 13 again. Really? Who wants to read that? Those kinds of posts and shares seem to me to be a digitally dumb way to use a social networking site.

On that note though, just like when the printed word became a mass phenomenon and it is and was totally worth the “low-minded” stuff that went with it, I think that that it is worth us taking the digitally dumb in order to have the technology and become digitally wise or digitally clever. The technology does push us forward; it is a matter of how we use it and how we teach our children/students to use it.

—-I have continued using the computer to read the two books. I don’t really enjoy reading on the computer. It makes it feel too  much like I am reading because I have to, not because I want to. And I am actually enjoying the two books for class, so it is sort of disappointing to me to be reading on the computer. I also have a hard time not being able to flip through the book to see where I am in a chapter. Instead I have to scroll through the pages and then go back to where I was. Since the pages are not numbered, if I don’t remember to click on the page I am on to see the page number, I have to spend extra time reading parts of each page to find where I left off. The thing is though, if our students are introduced to reading on the computer or an iPad earlier on, they probably won’t feel a lot of the frustrations that I feel.

 

Carr, N. G. (2010). The shallows: What the Internet is doing to our brains. New York: W.W. Norton. (Kindle)

Prensky, M. (2012). Brain gain: Technology and the quest for digital wisdom. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. (Kindle)

Should we be Digitally Recording all of our Memories?

In the Brain Gain Prensky talks about what makes us digitally wise. He poses a series of questions for us to ponder and think for ourselves if these technological advancements make us wiser. The first one he mentions is, “Are we wiser if we record everything our senses experience?” This really struck a chord with me. As a mom, I feel like I am constantly scrambling to make sure to record as many memories as I can of my children. I take pictures easily, but I have to be more conscientious to remember to take video or to write down things the kids say that I don’t want to forget. Recently, I have run into a dilemma; what to do with my kids artwork? There is so much of it; it comes home almost every day. How do I decide what to throw away and what to keep? I don’t think I can. So here is an idea: keep a few pieces of artwork and lay the rest out and take pictures of them! This way I have a recording of all the artwork without all the clutter. What a wise solution that supports the idea Prensky poses of recording our experiences. I think though, that in cases like this, having the ability to record does make me wiser- and neater. But I also wonder if we start to rely solely on our devices to remember for us, will we re-wire our brain (like Carr describes in relation to our brain’s neuroplasticity) and forget how to remember? I hold, as I do with most things, that it is about how we use it and moderating its use. This might look different for different people, so it is up to each individual to decide how to use the technology; if/when it becomes available. As for how this helps us as teachers, it is important that we keep up with new technologies so we can help guide the youth.

Carr shares a story in Chapter three of his book that mirrors my question above.  Will we forget how to remember if everything about our life and our experiences can be digitally recorded? In Carr’s story Socrates is sharing a story about the Egyptian god Theuth and one of Egypt’s Kings, Thamus. The story is in the screen shot below.

At the end Socrates explains that he is concerned that if we begin to write everything down, we will begin to forget since we won’t have to remember anymore. After reading this and knowing that just because we write things down doesn’t mean we will forget, maybe my above concern is a moot point?

It seems, as Carr says, that these conflicting views of Plato and Socrates are similar to what people go through as each new technology has been introduced over time. It is just that recently technology is moving so fast people don’t have time to process these conflicts before having to make a decision.

This week I did my reading on my computer rather than my iPad. I need to update my iPad in order to download the Kindle App to be able to highlight. I also needed to download a different browser for my computer in order to visit the cloud reader website. In the end it was easier to download a new browser, so here I am reading on my laptop. I do enjoy reading more on the iPad. The backlighting on the computer makes it difficult to keep my eyes on the screen for too long. However, I do feel pretty accomplished for figuring out what is wrong with my iPad (with help from a classmate), and what is wrong with my computer. I also figured out how to take a screenshot on my computer. So even though the reading experience was not great, I feel like I accomplished a lot of tasks I did not know how to do before.

Carr, N. G. (2010). The shallows: What the Internet is doing to our brains. New York: W.W. Norton. (Kindle)

Prensky, M. (2012). Brain gain: Technology and the quest for digital wisdom. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. (Kindle)

Technology: Pros and Cons, still undecided, but learning to embrace it.

I have been reading the two assigned books for this class on an iPad. I have read other books on my iPad and I have read a couple of books on my computer as well. I don’t really like it. I realize there are some advantages to it; you can carry a lot of books without much weight, or the iPad takes up less storage space in your house (I have books everywhere in my house). I love the feel of holding a book and flipping through pages. I did get used to reading on the electronic devices, but I like going back to books. For textbooks I find the iPad even more challenging because even though I have found how you can bookmark pages, I like to write notes and highlight as I read as well (I know how to do this using my computer, but I have not figured it out on the iPad). In addition, I like to quickly flip through pages after I read reviewing what I marked and it is not the same experience to scroll through the pages on the iPad. I also like to see how many pages I have left in a chapter and it is again, harder to just flip through to see what there is left to read. That being said, I am sitting here, surrounded my cell phone, iPad and computer. I like technology and I do think many of my apprehensions will wane as time goes on, I am not so sure that my opinion on reading on the devises will though… I think about inventions over the past century and a half and how people must have felt when cars, TV, or microwaves were invented, and I can’t imagine life without them. This is how students of our generation feel about the internet and devices that literally put the world into their hands with the push of a few buttons. It is our job as educators then to put some of our personal feelings aside and look at the bigger picture; where will this technology be when we release our student to the world? We need to prepare them as best as possible and in this day in age, that means incorporating technology into our teaching.

In the book The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains, Nicholas Carr talks about how our brain works in relation to outside stimuli. It describes some of the history in learning how our brain learns and how our neural pathways work. He talks about how our brains have plasticity so they can be rewired (on a side note: I found all of this information incredibly interesting and would like to look into some more of the research experiments he referenced).

One example he gives of how this works is technology.  He has found that he has more difficulty reading lengthy articles or getting lost in a book. He feels like he can’t concentrate for as long and he seems to blame it on the internet. Because the Internet is a quick way to get information and perform tasks that used to take much more time, he does not need to concentrate for as long on tasks. So he has rewired his brain in a way that makes it more difficult for him to concentrate long term on reading actual books or articles. Although he seems to think this is an affliction that many people suffer from, and it may be, I don’t feel that way. I can get lost in a good book. I may have more difficulty concentrating on articles or books that don’t hold as much interest to me, but I don’t feel that is because of the internet, I think it has always been that way for me; if a book holds less interest, it is more difficult to keep my mind on it. It is possible that although I did not grow up with quite as much technology that is available now, I have been around it in more of my younger years than him. Maybe I don’t see the problem as much because I am more used to technology? Maybe this means that our students don’t have this problem at all? Or maybe I am the outlier and he is the norm? Although Carr is an avid user of technology, he seems skeptical of the negative impact it may be having on our brains, and seems, thus far, uncertain of a conclusion on how he feels. On the other hand, Marc Prensky who wrote the Brain Gain: Technology and the Quest for Digital Wisdom, has embraced technology.

Prensky writes, “But whether you are personally for or against modern digital technology (or have, as most of us do, a view somewhere in between), today’s technology is changing your mind- and all of our minds- for the better”. He thinks that technology is making us smarter, in a way that technology is an extension of our brain; he calls us “technology-enhanced humans”.

A piece of being able to embrace technology is about attitude. We need to have a positive attitude to utilize all of the benefits of technology. I appreciate how even though Prensky embraces technology, he recognizes that it can be good or bad depending on how it is used. He notes how there is a difference from an immediate gain that we get from technology from the wisdom, which can take longer to recognize because it is about how we choose to use our new technologies.

It seems to me when thinking about the past; almost all new technology that has been introduced has in some way, made our lives, as humans, easier. Have there been or are there drawbacks? Yes, but ultimately it has been for our bettering. Trying to keep this in mind helps with keeping in line with Prenskys opinion on how a positive attitude towards technology is important to embracing it and to gaining digital wisdom.

Carr, N. G. (2010). The shallows: What the Internet is doing to our brains. New York: W.W. Norton. (Kindle)

Prensky, M. (2012). Brain gain: Technology and the quest for digital wisdom. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. (Kindle)