Learning to Unlearn

As humans and lifelong learners we are always growing and learning new things. For professional growth as a teacher it is important to unlearn and re learn certain things. The Text (The Connected Educator) says that “connected learning is a process of learning, unlearning, and then re learning as we participate in networks and communities”. We have to forget previous thoughts to grow and learn the new techniques and the new curriculums for teaching. As a teacher it is easy to teach the same way you were taught as a child, but to be a teacher in the connected communities in the current world you have to unlearn the techniques and ways of your past teachers.

Although it is important to keep up in today’s communities of technology and new age thoughts I think that the past has a lot to teach us and has a lot of use. Growing up my schooling was a lot of writing and doing work out on paper and memorizing, while today it is all about technology and being involved in the online world. Kids are not taught the basics as they use to. In today’s schools kids are not learning how to do math without a calculator or spelling without word check. I think a lot is being lost through teachers unlearning how to learn the basics and relearning the new technology.  

Interactive Whiteboards in Today's Classroom

 

 

Interactive white boards (IWB) are just another upgrade in the school system. In 1928 stores started to create ink for pens instead of making ink at home, this was a big controversy and teachers spoke out about it saying that it when students ran out of ink they wouldn’t be able to write till they went to the settlement again. Today we have just a modernized controversy with IWB being used in schools. Teachers can easily say that activities done on the IWB can only be used at schools and art accessible at home.
                I think that the IWB have many pros and I can see why schools install them in their classrooms but personally I think the cons overweight them. Schools are paying thousands of dollars on one piece of technology that can only be used in the classroom. Also many teachers don’t know how to work the IWB effectively and engage all the students. A third con is that students today are into what is new and next and get bored with things so quickly. With internet becoming more of a community of learners why don’t school districts spend money on more individual computers for all students so each student can work on their own computer and connect to online networks full of learners just like them. Teachers also know how to use personal computers more and can share documents and other free online information easier to all students and they can connect at home and on their own to what they are learning in class. We are investing thousands of dollars into something students will get tired of and stop paying attention to. In the article “Some educators question if whiteboards, other high-tech tools raise achievement” a professor stated that even with a presentation on the IWB students still fell asleep and didn’t pay attention. Through studies expressed in the article the studies about whether or not the IWB really has an effect on student achievement are very mixed and don’t really seem to have a conclusion.

Even with all the cons the IWB is an effective way of using differentiation in the classroom. The board allows many ways to express lessons through visual, auditory and tactile learning. The board has different programs all using different teaching techniques. Through presentations, similar to a power point, teachers can engage the students by having hands on lessons involving touching the board and moving icons and they can engage auditory learners and tactile learners by having a lecture behind the visuals and have printed worksheets that follow a presentation. The board also allows all students to participate in the class and keep their attention.

Although the IWB is designed to keep attention and be “cool” kids always want what’s next and will get bored with seeing the same thing every day. With a personal computer for

every student they can constantly download new programs and work on their own so they are always engaged. Teachers are not always trained correctly on how to use the IWB and therefore use them the same way they can remember and don’t have lessons that are different and interesting for long. Students like to work with their own hands and see their own work instantly; this just can not be done with one classroom IWB. Therefore I think that the US is spending money on one large board for a class and wasting our money that could be used for technology and materials that our schools could use more.