Response to articles in week 1

Response to article by Reigeluth and Joseph, and an article by Postman.

The time that both of these articles were written is of interest to me. To be honest, before I read either article I noticed the date that both were written. 1993 really was a long time ago, especially when you consider that much of the technology that Postman was referring to was just getting started. Change is not an easy thing to adjust to, and as we all know, technology is constantly changing. It was clear in Postman's essay that change wasn't necessary, and I struggled to see the conclusion that he came to that technology should become the end of schooling.
While Postman had some ideas that I agree with, which I will get to later, I believe that technology as a whole has a lot to offer, and the article by Reigeluth and Joseph gave some ideas that can help. Diversity in teaching is critical as our students all have differing levels of ability. I can observe in my own classroom (some between 40-60 students) that there are many different levels of need within each class. I find that when I incorporate a different way of presenting music (showing a performance of one on youtube, importing music through smart music) rather than the tradition way of note reading, I help those that normally struggle with note reading, and often time create interest with those that get bored with the same mode of learning. If I post a recording a one of our songs online and require my students to learn the music at home by listening to it, that also gives an opportunity for the students to show the initiative and to have the responsibility to learn it on their own.
One of the points in the Reigeluth and Joseph article that I find to be very important is that technology is meant to be as an aid to our teaching, not a replacement for it. Unfortunately Postman missed that point. In my music classes, there is a premium on being able to read music. When students have the ability to do that, it dramatically improves the speed in learning music, and it allows time to teach other skills in the class. The neat part of smart music (a program that I have just begun to look into) is that the students have to play or sing the music through a microphone, and the online program follows what they sing or play and lets them know the accuracy of their performance. This program is a good opportunity to aid the learning of the students, or to test their learning from the comfort of their own room.
Some points that were brought up by Postman that I thing merit conversation, which were also alluded to by Reigeluth and Joseph are the costs associated with constantly changing and updating technology, and the social concerns that go with overuse of technology. In my previous job as the facility manager at SoccerZone, I quickly analyzed that many of my youthful employees were very skilled and efficient communicating via e-mail, text messaging, and instant messaging. However, their skills in face to face communication was much weaker. I have to wonder if that is a bi-product of the impersonal nature of our online and wireless communication.
To conclude, I think the ultimate point is that technology is meant to be an important aid in teaching, and through the course of my study through the remainder of this class and the many following, that I can learn how to better use it in my teaching.