I think this latest blog article sounds really good, but lacks depth. While reading I saw numerous fancy words and ideas that sound good, but they all are very vague. I don’t feel like this article really explains much, but instead tries to captivate the reader with sugarcoated points. With that being said I don’t think this article was a complete waste of time to read; I did actually like what it had to say about technology with regards to assessment and teaching.
I think that using technology in assessment is vital. Our focus on standardized testing forces children to spend hours doing drills at their desk, and taking pencil and paper tests; I believe this not productive at all. Children today are used to playing video games, watching television, or even playing on the computer. Integrating technology into assessments, and taking standardized tests on specialized software would create a much more engaging environment for children, I believe it would also create a much more reliable outcome of student scores. Software could be created for test taking that personalizes tests to individual students; what would it look like if we used a program like Siri to administer and evaluate standardized testing? Using technology for assessment would also provide immediate feedback, which allows students to know how they did and what they got wrong right away.
I also liked how the section on teaching focused on how teachers will play a huge role in integrating technology with education. I think the suggested actions at the end are quite sensible and really would help teachers integrate technology in a productive way. I especially like the suggestion of using social networking platforms to help teachers learn and grow technology-wise throughout their entire career. I believe that integrating technology is not a simple two-step process, and teacher will need to constantly evaluate and improve what they are doing, and how they are doing it.
I agree with your overall view of the article. I think that is the type of writing we see when it comes from a source like the government. All of it sounds so great and wonderful until you remember that teaching is a very complex field.
I like your thinking about using technology as a form of assessment. I think right now what is stopping us from doing that is the risk for cheating. The computer program would have to work without internet or else students could easily just look up answers when the teacher was not looking. Ultimately though, I think it could offer a new and interesting form of assessment.
I agree that this article lacked depth, and you helped me to see what I did not pick up on as I read the article. I was so stuck on the unrealistic ideas and recommendations that seemed to jump out at me everywhere I looked, that I failed to notice that suggestions that were practical, and would help educators integrate technology in a productive way. Also, I completely agree with you about the use of technological assessment. As you said, not only will this allow the student to receive his or her grade immediately after completing the assessment, but this also removes some of the heavy lifting from the educator’s never-ending list of things to do, which allows him or her to spend time planning more constructive lessons for the students.
Please remember that I had you read only the executive summary of the technology plan. This is a plan – not a journal article. However, for more details and not only an outline of the plan, you can find all 200 pages at: http://www.ed.gov/technology/netp-2010
😉 – Professor Gonzales