Workshop #3: My Reflections

I am creating this post in response to the activities for our current workshop material (Workshop #3: Introduction to Educational Technology). There are three topics for reflection, each of which I will address below....

1. My Own Philosophy on Educational Technology

     To begin with, I must admit that my own philosophy on Educational Technology is not completely developed. I, of course, have my own preferences and opinions on the matter, but it is not something that I have given enough thought to in order to claim it as my own "philosophy." To put my view in the simplest of terms, though, I believe in student-centered pedagogy models; I believe that everyone has their own way of learning most efficiently and that this needs to be accommodated for in teaching. This stems largely from my personal struggle with grade school teaching methods! I was never one to learn from memorization (as I assume most people are not) and found that, because I was rarely given the "big picture" (why we're learning this to begin with) I always struggled to retain anything let alone utilize it during an exam (or in real life!). So, in my opinion, I believe that there needs to be a teaching technique that accommodates the various learning styles among students. Note: An important part of this technique would require a reworking (or perhaps complete elimination) of the entire American grading and evaluation system....but that's a separate discussion/argument all together!

However, I do not think that instructors should be expected or required to figure out each student's learning style and to actively provide a large range of teaching methods and resources to every student during every lesson in order to accommodate for these differences. Rather, I believe that teaching the skills necessary for students to be proactive and self-sufficient in finding and utilizing the skills and resources that benefits them most is at the core of the foundation of modern teaching. In other words, regardless of what it may be, students need to be taught from the very beginning how to best utilize the technology and tools that they do have access to; this is, in my opinion, one of the most important skills in the modern age of technology and what seems to be an endless array of information sources! How exactly this could be taught in schools, I am unsure, but it seems as though exposing students to whatever resources are available and allowing them to explore them thoroughly would be most beneficial.

So, to sum up my "philosophy," what I believe is most important is that students are exposed to and required to incorporate technology throughout their educational experience because technical/digital literacy is a skill set vital to everyone in the modern age, regardless of that person's personal or professional title. While students do need to learn specific skills for how to use technology (i.e. how to browse the internet, how to upload/export a file, etc.), the skills associated with self-sufficiency and seeking out information are some of the most important today and will continue to be in the future... After all, students will be the work force in the future, so they must learn how to find and utilize what they need in the array of resources made available to them. My hope would be that these skills would allow students, over time, to discover how they personally learn best so that, regardless of the task they are given, they know how to best accomplish it!

2. Historical Artifact of Educational Technology at HWS

     Ok, this one is really cool! To find out more about the "history" of technology at HWS, I met with Bette, a woman who has been working here since 1966 (that's 46 years!). She shared lots of really great information about her job role and how much it has changed since she started. To begin with, she began working here the very same year that HWS got their very first computer. Here's a picture of that computer (Bette is the second in on the left). For those of us millenials, what we're looking at can be a bit confusing but, YES, that entire thing is a "computer"!....

"Cards" (she showed me one of these too, but I didn't get a picture) were punched and fed through the computer to print various reports (i.e. student grades, billing, etc). While the computer was able to convert the cards into printed reports, the process of updating and archiving these cards was an enormous task. Every student had multiple cards containing personal information, billing information, grades, etc. All of these needed to be continuously updated (re-punched or remade) and filed. As Bette explains, she has seen this same process transform from cards to tapes to disks and eventually (as it is now) completely online; she has loved every change and advancement and appreciates the role that technology has played in her own job role. Before that, the only real "technology" that existed on campus was the telephone, the calculator, and a "420 Accounting Machine." Purchasing the first computer for the schools was really the beginning of a long timeline of technology adaptation and innovation here at HWS. Bette even showed me the "History of Computer Center" timeline that her past boss kept of all these updates/changes. Here's another picture!

It includes 43 big events from 1966 to 1996; from the first computer to "joining the internet."A few of the more significant events include:

    1.  Nov 1966: Installation of IBM 1130 System with 1442 Card Reader and 1132 Printer

    18. Jan 1980: Increase Disk capacity of 3/34 to 64MB

    36. Jan 1991: Joined first off-campus network (BETNET)
    40. Summer 1994: Join Internet

Prior to 1966, I am unsure of how many of these processes were done. Bette assumes that most were primarily manual and/or outsourced but even she says that she cannot imagine how people used to do what she does now back before the age of technology.

My discussion with Bette was interesting not only from the perspective of technological change here at HWS but the significance of the changes have had on the processes and overall nature of the HWS campus as a whole! Technology is such a huge part of our experience here as students at HWS that it is almost impossible to imagine an experience without it. I can't help but wonder what sorts of changes will occur over the next half a century.....

3. Peter Norvig's TedTalk: The 100,000-student Classroom

     I don't have much "reflection" on this beyond merely being intrigued by the teaching style as well as the data and findings that resulted. While I personally think that I would benefit from such a method of teaching, I do not foresee this style of teaching/learning as being suitable for all learners or all class topics. I do think that this brings forth an important question about digital teaching, though! - Can digital teaching be implemented successfully throughout all disciplines and class topics or are there some better suited for such teaching methods? It seems as though this type of teaching method would be ideal for "100-level"/entry courses, but I wonder if it would be as beneficial in upper level analytical/comprehensive courses (I would assume that it would not be). I am interested to see what the data suggests and how these techniques are implemented in the future!

I encourage others to check it out, too! Here's the link: The 100,000 Student Classroom

-Megan