Liz B's Blog

Have you experienced the development of the field in the same ways as described in the article?

I remember when my parents purchased their first computer…I think it was called an Apply IIe…it was in the early eighties and I thought it was the neatest piece of equipment ever!  The monitor colors were black and green and when you went to print, you had to tear perforated strips from the side of the paper. My mother was in graduate school and she used the computer to write her papers—I used it to play spelling games!  In elementary school, my teachers did not have computers in their classrooms.  I do remember computers in the main office, but we did not have “computer lab” as a special area subject like many elementary school students do today.  And….there was still a wooden card catalog in the library!  By the time I entered middle school, most teachers had one computer in their classroom (but it was certainly not for student use)!  As a high school student, I can recall much more time being spent on the computer (although not at all significant when compared to high school students of today)!  I wrote all of my papers on the computer, I used specialized programs in Journalism and Yearbook, I completed the “Common Application” when I applied to colleges and I used “Print Shop” to make cards and posters.  I did not surf the web, network with peers, communicate with family and friends, store digital media, create multimedia projects, research term papers or read books online!  In fact, I think that my generation (Gen X or the 13^th Generation) was right on the cusp of the internet revolution.  Email and the internet did not become part of my “routine” until college….even then, I did not use these tools on a daily basis (now, I can’t imagine a day without them)!  I remember attending sessions in college on online research tools, but I recall just as well crawling between the dusty stacks in the basement of Miller Library looking for journal articles for a research project.  I was in college when this article was published—it does not seem like so long ago, but it is amazing how rapidly things have changed! 

Has your role in the classroom changed because of technology?

I think that my role in the classroom has changed for two reasons…first…. our students have changed.  Our students are digital learners—I remember seeing a youtube about digital learners  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT2E2F0DmyE&feature=channel) when I was a resource teacher in Baltimore County and thinking to myself, “We could do so much more with our resources!!”    Since that time, I have tried to consider how my students learn best and use this knowledge to inform the way that I deliver lessons.  I have read many studies on the ways that teachers teach, and much of what we do is based on how we were taught and how we best learn.  I am a visual learner and I was taught, for the most part, via traditional lecture format.  This is the way that I delivered lessons early in my career— but this is not the way that my students learn!!  In addition,  Dr. Molnar’s statement that “preparing children for the world in which they will live is becoming more difficult than ever,” is more true than he could have realized…we are preparing our students to live in a world with technology that we cannot even comprehend.  We need to use the technology that we have now to teach our students to solve problems.  Second, my role has changed because so much more technology is available… in the beginning of my teaching career, I had an overhead projector and a VCR!  Eventually, our department shared one projection device and we were able to bring the internet to the classroom.  Now, I can use collaborative tools like Blackboard, wikis and blogs to communicate with my students.  Instead of a twenty pound binder, we are able to pilot an e-portfolio.  And, I am very fortunate to train my student interns on the interactive Promethean board!  I would never have dreamed of these tools as a student teacher myself…and that was not so long ago!

Has your perspective on teaching and learning changed due to, or along with, the influx of technology?

Absolutely….as a special educator, technology allows me to do my job better!  I can summarize in two words:  Universal Design!    Our classrooms are becoming more diverse than ever before…to meet the needs of many different students, we must rethink the way that we teach and the way that we think about learning.   All students do not need to do the same thing on the same day in the same way!  Universal Design in Learning is linked to the Universal Design movement in architecture—think curb cuts, speakerphones, counters at crosswalks… these were designed for people with disabilities, but they work better for all of us!  Transfer that to the classroom—think about what features can be embedded into your lesson for students with disabilities, and use these features for all students.   Obviously, this is where technology plays a huge part–  digital media allows us to have so much more flexibility in how we present information.  Dr. Molnar touches on this point when he discusses the shift in education from theories of learning to theories of cognition.  Although he was not referencing students with disabilities directly, there is a clear link between his explanation and current practices.  Provide students with the tools to find the facts, rather than ask them to recall bits of information—the emphasis should be on problem solving and thinking.  In addition, technology allows us to provide accommodations that level the playing field.  Programs like Kurzweil, Intellitools, and Start-to-Finish have affirmed my belief that all children can learn and succeed in their least restrictive environment, but they must be given the correct tools to assist them as they access the curriculum.  Learn more about UDL…  www.cast.org

Although still accurate, this article is already more than 10 years old, what changes have you seen since when this was written?

Molnar describes the beginning of visualization techniques and virtual reality.  Both of these areas have grown exponentially.   He cited biology as the discipline that would be most likely to use computers to visualize and animate processes…today, we even use visualization in the humanities.  Social studies students can take a trip on the Mayflower, create a layered demographic map and “speak” to a past president.  Learning through artificial environments has a taken on a new meaning with the popularity of programs like Second Life.  At the time that this article was written, two Universities offered online Masters degrees-today, most institutes of higher learning offer a program of online opportunities.  Project-oriented education, which began with science, is embedded into every discipline…in Baltimore County, each curriculum office embeds online projects into their curriculum guides. 

What would you add to the article given the growth of the field and development of new technologies over the last 12 years?

I would highlight two areas:  Web 2.0 tools and assistive technologies.  Web 2.0 tools seem to be everywhere—they are certainly a lifeline to many of our students!  Blogs, wikis, social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, and video and photo sharing sites are used every day by our students—think of the implications for the classroom.  We are just beginning to find ways to incorporate these tools into our lesson delivery.  I am continually amazed by the vast amount of assistive technology hardware and software that is available to make the curriculum more accessible for individuals with disabilities.  Obviously, we have entire journals and magazines devoted to AT, but now that we seeking to bring the principles of IDEA to every classroom, we must look for a closer marriage between instructional and assistive technologies.