Thursday, 7 April 2011
A little anecdote
My son in Grade 5 was given a task where he had to compse a letter to the principal about being allowed to use digital technology in class. He had to use persuasive text. He doesn't write very legibly and only ever wants to do the minimum amount of work necessary (although thinks he should always get a HD for eveything he does). I suggested that he present his letter to the principal using the technologies, maybe power point, maybe a little video of him using the technology to show how useful it would be in the classroom. I was very excited I could help him, maybe even use an avatar; how cool would that be?! I could apply some of my learning. NO WAY was his response. NO WAY was he going to put himself out there, NO WAY was he going to do anything the teacher didn't actually suggest. NO WAY was he going to embarrass himself in front of his friends. NO WAY was he going to take a risk and maybe be wrong! He wouldn't ask the teacher himself if it was okay nor would he let me ask her. NO NO NO was his reply to every suggestion. He eventually typed his letter in word and it was okay and what the teacher wanted but his disappointed mother had to bite her tongue.
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This sounds like a NAPLAN preparation task, am I right? So I suppose actually writing the letter was what the teacher was expecting. It does however raise the question of the relevance of testing these 'digital natives' by traditional, paper and pencil means.
ReplyDeleteYes I think so; makes me wonder again about the usefulness of NAPLAN testing; seems to create a lot of extra work for the teachers and stress for both parties. Although my daughter thought she'd get prizes for it!
ReplyDeleteI also think there are some issues with ICT's in class; lack of teacher confidence, lack of resources available, maybe that class is not a safe place for experimenting.