Instructional Television has been an interest of mine throughout my career. I have worked both inside and outside the classroom in this field and find it to be a neglected topic today. This blog presents some information and ideas about this topic for your consideration.
Recommended Video Program
I have often been dismayed by students in the U.S. who do not understand the potential of an education while students in other parts of the world will overcome overwhelming odds to obtain an education. I have tried to explain this in schools where I have taught without much success. WIDE ANGLE on PBS has created an award-winning 12-year documentary project, Time for School, which follows seven children - from Afghanistan, Benin, Brazil, India, Japan, Kenya and Romania - who are struggling to achieve what is not yet a global birthright - a basic education. This series of videos will open eyes about going to school. The video made me think about who the next world leaders will be.
To get more information or watch the series go to PBS WIDE ANGLE
Alternative to Channel One
I believe that video and television are important tools in the classroom. One of the companies deeply involved with video in the schools is Whittle Communications who sponsor Channel One News and other commercial promotions in schools ( click here to read an article about Whittle ) As a media specialist I tried to provide alternatives to Whittle’s commercial new programs for teachers. However, Whittle offered free televisions and other hardware that school leaders wanted to acquire. Now, with the advent of high speed internet it is easy for a teacher to develop a program for using the news in their classroom without intervening commercialization. One way to do this is by using CNN Student News. This is a daily news broadcast for students that provides questions and other media literacy information with the daily broadcast. I thin that a teacher who wants to incorporate the news into their curriculum and has access to a couple of computers in their classroom can use CNN Student News.
To get more information go to: CNN Student News
TV Production Skills
In my experience that the most productive use of TV in the classroom is video production. This job is frequently given to the technology teacher (it may be better placed in the drama department but that is another story). Usually students are sent out in teams or as individuals to make a video program about something they think is interesting. This is a good project but it does not really provide an understanding of how TV works.
When I began teaching schools were creating video studios based on the idea that learning to create a studio program might be a lot like work students might be able to find after graduation. It was the beginning of authentic curriculum. In the district where I began working, all the studios were dismantled in the 1990s and computers replaced television as the preferred technology. The computer provides opportunities for different kinds of video instruction and can be a central part of a studio. But, students seldom get an opportunity to expericence video production from the perspective of a team in a studio. Students I worked with who did studio work learned a whole new way of watching television, a spirit of team work and tons new information.
If you are interested in this idea, E school News has a great video about the benefits of students using a studio. In this video students at Minnesota's Eagan High School talk about their experience working with the Student Video Network (SVN) . SVN is a project-based educational program provided to selected schools free of charge by the national news organization eSchool Media. Learn about the opportunity for students to earn valuable video-production experience--and a shot at national recognition for their efforts.
Educators may obtain more information about SVN from Associate Editor Meris Stansbury at mstansbury@eschoolnews.com.
You can read more at eSchool News
- Rick Albright
- Yrisarri, NM, United States
- Inside every old person is a young person asking what in the hell happened!
Friday, September 18, 2009
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Book Review
Daniel T. Willingham is a neuroscientist and professor of psychology at the University of Virginia. He is the author of Why Students Don’t Like School: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What it Means for the Classroom (Jossey-Bass, 2009). I have always been intrigued by the question of "liking" school. In my experience most people do not like doing things they do not want to do. School seems to be a place that fits that profile for almost everybody at some time during their education. I disagree with the premise of this book. Children do like school! They like meeting their friends, they like learning new things, they like activities, they like some teachers, they like some subjects, but they do not like all of school every day. In other words they feel about school much like adults feel about work. This book presents some other ideas about "liking" school.
Willingham brings some important ideas to the classroom teacher. As a cognitive scientist he discusses the importance of story, emotion, memory, context and routine in building knowledge and developing learning experiences. He also dispels some cognitive myths that pervade the teaching profession. He shows that learning styles are much less important than the fact that people’s processes for learning and thinking are more similar than different and he provides information about the plasticity of the brain and intelligence.
Willingham’s most important argument has to do with his definition of thinking. He argues that the brain has limitations in terms of our ability to think and that if we do not teach with this idea in mind, children will not like school. His definition of thinking is that working memory receives input from the environment and then connects with long term memory to begin to create new neural pathways that remember this new information in the context of our old information. This seems logical and I think it is a useful way to define thinking.
The limitation is that our brains are not designed for thought, but for the the avoidance of thought. Most of our brain is devoted to seeing and moving and those functions operate efficiently and reliably while thinking is effortful, slow and uncertain. One of the problems is working memory, remember the model of how thinking works? Working memory is at the center of that process. One of the things neuroscientists know is that working memory can only hold about 5-7 thoughts at a time. So if thinking is retrieving information and procedures stored in long-term memory to create something new and working memory has limitations, how do we make thinking easier. Willingham believes that one must know the information and procedures well in order to come up with something new. It is our background knowledge that facilitates thinking.
Despite the brain’s limitations Willingham stresses that hard work in the form of practice pays off. IQ is not totally genetic and has been steadily rising around the world for some time. The message this should send to students is that the only limitations they have are ones they place on themselves. But, this work coupled with lots of practice that is too hard cause students to not like school.
In my opinion Willingham has overlooked the importance of motivation and seems to believe learning core knowledge is at the heart of student success. The pursuit of core knowledge often kills motivation in children. It also seems that a person can only obtain this information in school through hard work and it must be learned at a determined rate to be successful. Students will tell you they like to learn but want to have fun. Willingham believes that if the work is too hard it turns students off and if it is too easy it turns students off. I believe that if the students enjoy most of the work they will not be turned off!!
Willingham brings some important ideas to the classroom teacher. As a cognitive scientist he discusses the importance of story, emotion, memory, context and routine in building knowledge and developing learning experiences. He also dispels some cognitive myths that pervade the teaching profession. He shows that learning styles are much less important than the fact that people’s processes for learning and thinking are more similar than different and he provides information about the plasticity of the brain and intelligence.
Willingham’s most important argument has to do with his definition of thinking. He argues that the brain has limitations in terms of our ability to think and that if we do not teach with this idea in mind, children will not like school. His definition of thinking is that working memory receives input from the environment and then connects with long term memory to begin to create new neural pathways that remember this new information in the context of our old information. This seems logical and I think it is a useful way to define thinking.
The limitation is that our brains are not designed for thought, but for the the avoidance of thought. Most of our brain is devoted to seeing and moving and those functions operate efficiently and reliably while thinking is effortful, slow and uncertain. One of the problems is working memory, remember the model of how thinking works? Working memory is at the center of that process. One of the things neuroscientists know is that working memory can only hold about 5-7 thoughts at a time. So if thinking is retrieving information and procedures stored in long-term memory to create something new and working memory has limitations, how do we make thinking easier. Willingham believes that one must know the information and procedures well in order to come up with something new. It is our background knowledge that facilitates thinking.
Despite the brain’s limitations Willingham stresses that hard work in the form of practice pays off. IQ is not totally genetic and has been steadily rising around the world for some time. The message this should send to students is that the only limitations they have are ones they place on themselves. But, this work coupled with lots of practice that is too hard cause students to not like school.
In my opinion Willingham has overlooked the importance of motivation and seems to believe learning core knowledge is at the heart of student success. The pursuit of core knowledge often kills motivation in children. It also seems that a person can only obtain this information in school through hard work and it must be learned at a determined rate to be successful. Students will tell you they like to learn but want to have fun. Willingham believes that if the work is too hard it turns students off and if it is too easy it turns students off. I believe that if the students enjoy most of the work they will not be turned off!!
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Verbal Put Downs
In my last post I talked about unkind words at school. How frustration leads to anger causing verbal outbursts which raise stress levels. I believe that stress is one of the primary problems in our schools today.
Verbal put downs are a part of our youth culture. Young people, adolescent boys in particular, are constantly putting each other down. This is different than outbursts of frustrations. It is probably caused by the stress of competition in our schools. Young people have not yet learned the power of words and do not understand the devastating effects of verbal harassment and put downs. The see it as an accepted part of the culture. After all trash talk in sports is all about winning!
"We need to get away from the idea that bullying is always physical. Bullying can also include verbal harassment, which can be just as damaging and detrimental to student learning," said Christy Lleras, a U of I assistant professor of human and community development.
Her study used data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study and included 10,060 African American, Latino, and white tenth graders in 659 U.S. high schools. "In looking at whether students felt safe at school, students' fear for their physical safety was actually pretty low. But 70 percent of the students said they were bothered by disruptions in their classroom, and one in five students said that they were often put down by their peers in school," she said.
One of the primary human needs is for safety. This study points out that put downs and verbal harassment at school probably cause stress levels to rise in students causing a climate of fear to exist in our classrooms. Ms. Lleeras speculates that verbal put-downs in schools may be a coping strategy that students use when they don't have the skills to do the work and have little hope of acquiring them in their academic environment.
I believe that as long as competition is at the heart of our educational system, these problems will persist.
You can access the full article at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090901105142.htm
Verbal put downs are a part of our youth culture. Young people, adolescent boys in particular, are constantly putting each other down. This is different than outbursts of frustrations. It is probably caused by the stress of competition in our schools. Young people have not yet learned the power of words and do not understand the devastating effects of verbal harassment and put downs. The see it as an accepted part of the culture. After all trash talk in sports is all about winning!
"We need to get away from the idea that bullying is always physical. Bullying can also include verbal harassment, which can be just as damaging and detrimental to student learning," said Christy Lleras, a U of I assistant professor of human and community development.
Her study used data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study and included 10,060 African American, Latino, and white tenth graders in 659 U.S. high schools. "In looking at whether students felt safe at school, students' fear for their physical safety was actually pretty low. But 70 percent of the students said they were bothered by disruptions in their classroom, and one in five students said that they were often put down by their peers in school," she said.
One of the primary human needs is for safety. This study points out that put downs and verbal harassment at school probably cause stress levels to rise in students causing a climate of fear to exist in our classrooms. Ms. Lleeras speculates that verbal put-downs in schools may be a coping strategy that students use when they don't have the skills to do the work and have little hope of acquiring them in their academic environment.
I believe that as long as competition is at the heart of our educational system, these problems will persist.
You can access the full article at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090901105142.htm
Monday, August 31, 2009
Kindness
School has always been a place that gathers frustrated people whose unkind words are often heard on the playground, library, classrooms and the office! John Medina, in his book Brain Rules, has as his 8th rule "stressed brains don't learn the same way."
When frustration is released with unkind words, stress is one of the side-effects and learning is the casualty. The Red Robin Foundation is doing something about this problem by providing grants of up to $15,000 with their U-Act program.
The goal of the Red Robin Foundation U-ACT Program is to encourage kindness among students and help create a sense of neighborliness inside and outside of school settings. U-ACT which stands for Unbridled Acts, or random acts of kindness, is a character-building initiative specifically for middle and junior high schools with grades six through eight, which aims to inspire and energize students about the value of being kind to others.
You can find out more at http://www.redrobin.com/rrfoundation/uactprogram.aspx
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When frustration is released with unkind words, stress is one of the side-effects and learning is the casualty. The Red Robin Foundation is doing something about this problem by providing grants of up to $15,000 with their U-Act program.
The goal of the Red Robin Foundation U-ACT Program is to encourage kindness among students and help create a sense of neighborliness inside and outside of school settings. U-ACT which stands for Unbridled Acts, or random acts of kindness, is a character-building initiative specifically for middle and junior high schools with grades six through eight, which aims to inspire and energize students about the value of being kind to others.
You can find out more at http://www.redrobin.com/rrfoundation/uactprogram.aspx
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Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Ebooks for education
Google, Barnes and Noble and others are preparing digital books and hardware anticipating the educational digital book market. California is testing electronic textbooks that can be viewed on e-book readers and is planning to bring free digital math and science etexts to schools this fall. The move to digital books in schools in education is underway.
As a school librarian I have been anticipating this movement for several years. As printed text books became more expensive and schools invested heavily in technology ebooks seemed inevitable. As I discussed this inevitable change with teachers and other educators, there was a lot of resistance to the idea. Mostly from people who love books (most teachers love to read books) and can not imagine technology can give them the same feeling while they are reading. Students, on the other hand, accept the idea and do not have the same sentimental attachment to printed books as adults. Educational publishers have been producing ebooks for the library and commerical market for a number of years and they are certainly convenient, although in my experience they were not widely read, Many students I have worked with in the last 10 years do not really care to read for pleasure or information.
I have often thought about the impact upon libraries if schools were to purchase their libraries as ebooks. The space taken up by printed materials would be available for other uses and students would not have to leave their class to check out a book. Man hours spent physically checking in and reshelving books could spent in other pursuits. School libraries have already cut back on certified librarians and with ebooks they could probably cut back on library assistants. So there would be a savings of space, use of time and maybe money.
Money seems to be driving the California initiative and it is certainly driving Barnes and Noble, Google and other players in the e-book publishing game. My experience with ebooks in the library is that they are not appreciably cheaper than printed books. They are easier to update and certainly easier to handle but once the printed book is no longer the norm, ebooks will cost about the same as a print book. In addtion, some educational publishers charge a yearly fee for access to their ebooks. States may be able to hold costs down for etexts by negotiating with edubusiness, but I believe there will be other associated costs that will cause the price of textbooks to continue to be high.
What about the ereading hardware? Education will have to be sure that there is a standard format for ebooks and etexts if they are going to use them. Sony has a reader, Kindle is Amazon’s reader and certainly the lure of government money will cause other entrepreneurs to try to dip into the pool. How will schools ensure that whatever they buy can be used with whatever they own? I expect there will have to be a big investment in new technology in order to be ready for digital books.
The investment in hardware will mean more of the budget goes to the technology department. Those laid of library assistants will probably be replaced by more people in the technology department. If my experience in education is any indication, there will be misspent money, unused technology, broken equipment, poorly thought out plans, noncompliant students and resistant educators. The change to ebooks will not happen smoothly nor will it be quick. Most likely by the time all the technology, training and attitudes are in place, there will be a new movement that will replace ebooks.
Ebooks in education are inevitable, I hope that educators and school boards proceed cautiously and do something novel. That is to put learning at the forefront of their educational plans. Right now with print texts and books, we put information at center of our curriculum. All the information in printed books, textbooks and digital readers are only secondary to a useful education in the 21st century.
As a school librarian I have been anticipating this movement for several years. As printed text books became more expensive and schools invested heavily in technology ebooks seemed inevitable. As I discussed this inevitable change with teachers and other educators, there was a lot of resistance to the idea. Mostly from people who love books (most teachers love to read books) and can not imagine technology can give them the same feeling while they are reading. Students, on the other hand, accept the idea and do not have the same sentimental attachment to printed books as adults. Educational publishers have been producing ebooks for the library and commerical market for a number of years and they are certainly convenient, although in my experience they were not widely read, Many students I have worked with in the last 10 years do not really care to read for pleasure or information.
I have often thought about the impact upon libraries if schools were to purchase their libraries as ebooks. The space taken up by printed materials would be available for other uses and students would not have to leave their class to check out a book. Man hours spent physically checking in and reshelving books could spent in other pursuits. School libraries have already cut back on certified librarians and with ebooks they could probably cut back on library assistants. So there would be a savings of space, use of time and maybe money.
Money seems to be driving the California initiative and it is certainly driving Barnes and Noble, Google and other players in the e-book publishing game. My experience with ebooks in the library is that they are not appreciably cheaper than printed books. They are easier to update and certainly easier to handle but once the printed book is no longer the norm, ebooks will cost about the same as a print book. In addtion, some educational publishers charge a yearly fee for access to their ebooks. States may be able to hold costs down for etexts by negotiating with edubusiness, but I believe there will be other associated costs that will cause the price of textbooks to continue to be high.
What about the ereading hardware? Education will have to be sure that there is a standard format for ebooks and etexts if they are going to use them. Sony has a reader, Kindle is Amazon’s reader and certainly the lure of government money will cause other entrepreneurs to try to dip into the pool. How will schools ensure that whatever they buy can be used with whatever they own? I expect there will have to be a big investment in new technology in order to be ready for digital books.
The investment in hardware will mean more of the budget goes to the technology department. Those laid of library assistants will probably be replaced by more people in the technology department. If my experience in education is any indication, there will be misspent money, unused technology, broken equipment, poorly thought out plans, noncompliant students and resistant educators. The change to ebooks will not happen smoothly nor will it be quick. Most likely by the time all the technology, training and attitudes are in place, there will be a new movement that will replace ebooks.
Ebooks in education are inevitable, I hope that educators and school boards proceed cautiously and do something novel. That is to put learning at the forefront of their educational plans. Right now with print texts and books, we put information at center of our curriculum. All the information in printed books, textbooks and digital readers are only secondary to a useful education in the 21st century.
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