Jenna Johnson
"Computer science programs use mobile apps to make coursework relevant"
Washington Post
March 8, 2011
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/06/AR2011030602729.html?wprss=rss_education
Topic: Technology
Computer science is growing and this article shows how students are able to address real world problems with technology solutions.
Key Points: I thought it was interesting that this particular teacher just turned the students loose on these projects without much constraint. The result was some pretty interesting innovation and creativity.
Relevance: After reading this, I saw at the end of the article that the other sciences, college prep, etc, like Chem, Bio are much more popular courses as core curriculum. My question is, is or should technology become a core competency or is it still off to the side like vocational specialties such as wood or metal shop?
Posted By Doug K
Now we can see more and more laptops appear in classrooms, from kindergarten to university. It is ture that computer skill is important in studying. However, I don't think it should be as popular as core curriculum. It is like other tools in learning, which helps us better understand. It sure brings us convenience as we are using this blog to do our study, and people can communicate through this. But Sometimes I was thinking maybe writing or drawing by hand is better than using computers. It is time consuming to learn how to use some drawing softwares. For example, before we start to type down our thoughts, we have to deal with probelems like font, color, size, margin, paragraph, etc. Or, while we are typing in word, and we forget to save as much as we write, or we are typing while looking for information on the internet at the sime time, we might suddenly close the word document with nothing saved.
ReplyDeleteSome people might say, "Why don't you write down first, then type?" If we already write down what we think, isn't it time consuming to type it out?
In a word, technology is a tool to help us learning knowlegde better. But we should not spend too much time on it.
I think it's a good question Doug. Part of me agrees with Yin Yin, technology is a tool that is good for some aspects of learning but not necessarily all and so maybe should not be part of the core. If this is to be the case, then I think that it's incumbent on teachers to get better informed on how to infuse technology into their teaching and student activities in ways that will enhance learning in the classroom and give students exposure to different technology tools [kind of like what I'm trying to do with your all in the Flex program].
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, there is an aspect of technology literacy that I do feel is not adequately developed in high school. It surprises me how few technology courses are offered - they seem to be mostly tied in with business courses.
My husband and I were having dinner with some friends who run a successful tech business in PDX. Clearly this a future job growth area [this couple for instance spoke about how quickly they have bounced backed from the economic slump to the extent that they cannot hire programmers fast enough to meet their demand]. I asked them what skills are needed for young people wanting to enter into the field. In addition to strong reading, writing and communication skills, they mentioned basics like word processing, Excel, PPT as well as computer programming.
Basics? Each year I am still surprise to get undergrads who never learned how to use Office at high school.