Last week - shameless plug time

My theme throughout this class has been technology - the good and the bad. Mostly, I wanted to promote technology in teaching in a general way because I feel embracing it isn't something that is optional anymore in most schools and educational setting. I think that while many of the old tools and methods will always work, many have seen their better days and it is time to move on. The world has changed, the students and they way they think has changed, and we must change too. The rate of change continues to accelerate so I think it is something we must do sooner rather than later. Our ability to prepare these kids for the future depends on it.

This is a huge change, one that is difficult or seemingly impossible for some to face much less implement, so i thought I would go away from the overwhelming nature of the larger picture and present a simple, baby step on the road to embracing technology - get yourself an Activboard or Smartboard. I have an Activboard in my room and I will admit to a heavy preference to it. It was designed specifically for classrooms and teacher use and has an amazing number of downloadable, fully functional lessons called flipcharts available absolutely free and they are even aligned to state standards. This tool ties into student interest like nothing I have ever seen. I believe it is a tool of their world. They understand and relate to it fair more than to a traditional whileboard and it does what the vast majority of experts say is crucial to teaching to this new generation - it engages them.

I cannot speak to other peoples experience but here are some of the things I have found:

• the Activboard almost drives students to becoming involved. Any teacher knows there are 2 or 3 kids who will respond to anything, a large group in the middle you can coax into it, and the remainder who simply refuse to become involved. When I turn on the Activboard, hold up the boards pen (the equivalent of the mouse on the computer), and say "who would like to..." every voice yells "Me!!" and every hand shots up. Kids are excited by this tool and want to use it.
• Kids perform better and take their board work more seriously. They know they are in front of their friends. They don't want to look bad. They are driven to be as good with the technology as everyone else or better. It motivates them to do their best.
• It helps with classroom control. I have gotten more positive response from the simple phrase "If you keep that up I'm shutting off the Activboard" than from almost anything else I have tried. They like it, they want to use it, and they will change their behavior in order to do so.
• Comprehension is improved when you use an Activboard. Like most or all 4th grade teachers, I attempt to teach my students several new concepts including division and exponents. When I did not have the board, the kids struggled mightily with these ideas. With the board, their comprehension has improved dramatically. I do not have to keep reteaching these concepts.
• These tools make teachers lives easier and saves them time. Traditional tools like rulers, protractors, and the compass are still used but in an electronic form. You don't have to find, set up, use, put away, or clean up. It is all there just a click away and they are all incredibly easy to use.
• You are able to manipulate almost everything. Don't like where that text is on the board? Move it. Don't like the color or size? Change it. Did you mean to draw a horizontal line instead of a vertical line? Rotate it.

I could go on and on and on. Many teachers who are hesitant to use technology claim they don't have the time to use the Activboard or learn it. The sad thing is if they would drop their defensiveness about this tool and take a very short time to learn a bit about it, they would find the truth is the complete opposite. You spend far less time doing far more with the Activboard. You can add incredible, colorful interactive components to lessons that would have taken hours if you even had the technology to attempt it. With the Activboard, these things are always at your fingertips.

There you go. My one shameless plug for a specific technology tool. Get one, embrace it and use it to enrich your lessons and you will never be sorry. That goes for technology in general as far as I am concerned. Be wise. Be thoughtful. Develop knowledge and skills that allow you to make good technology choices. Your job will be easier, your classroom will be more vibrant, and you will be taking real steps to making the changes needed to serve the next generation of students fully.

Technology - the dark side

Ying and yang.

Good and bad.

Black and white.

The list goes on. The world, despite what it may look like on the news, really balances out pretty well. Nature wants balance and no matter how much we humans try to goof it up, balance is what we often get. Ying and yang - for everything good, there is something bad.

How very true this is in the world of technology. I plainly love technology. I think it is the future of our kids so it must be the future of education. It is inevitable. You can grip your chalk like a vise and insist that computers are a distraction but technology will overtake you eventually. Again, I love and embrace technology and learn as much as I can about it, and with all of the good - the ying - of technology, we must accept and be prepared to face the bad - the yang and there are two words that say more than I ever could to drive this point home.

Meagan Meier.

Meagan Meier is the reason I have outlawed instant messaging of any type in my room. Meagan Meier is the reason my daughter has never - and I do not exaggerate when I say not once, ever - has my daughter used the computer in our home without direct supervision. Meagan Meier was a relatively normal teenage girl who was the victim of cyberbullying. Meagan's case was particularly sadistic and cruel - and led to Meagan's suicide - but it is far from rare. The statistics about cyberbullying are chilling and make it clear that while the Internet has been a Godsend in many ways, it is also a place that lets the cruel people in the world expand their list of victims. Facebook and Myspace are only the best know sites where cyberbullies lurk. Any message board, chat room, or instant messaging system is prone to the cyber bullies use. The cell phone can be a wonderful tool or it can be a curse to a child who is targeted.

I know what some may say. We were bullied. It's nothing you can't get through. While perhaps well intentioned, those people are hopelessly behind the times. They do not understand that cyberbullying isn't simply cruel. It is relentless, it is sadistic, and the targeted child, because he or she has lived with technology their entire lives, depend on it, and bring it with them everywhere, literally are not able to escape a cyberbully. They can reach into the child's home, they can get to them when they are alone. Childnet International has produced an excellent video that provides some insight into what it is like to be stalked by a cyberbully.

So what can you do? First, recognize that it is not harmless or something kids do or go through. It is literally a crime. Children are killing themselves because of it. Take it very seriously. There are many sites that offer insight and help - go to them, learn what you can.
No matter how technologically backwards you are, you can monitor what a child does, and you can be there to help and support them if they are the victims of cyberbullying.

And as a died i the wool tech geek, I would like you to remember ying and yang. There is a dark side to the Internet. Be aware of it. Learn what you can about it. protect your kids from it. But there are also many good and positive things and this all gets back to something I have said before - embrace technology but do not trust it blindly. One of our greatest and most important skills or duties as the folks who bring technology to our students is the ability to tell the difference between the good and the bad.