In fun news, SLA student Jasmin Thomas and I were quoted in the Technology Counts issue of EdWeek this week. We were quoted in an article entitled "Outside Interests" that dealt with how students are generally using technology out of school, not in school.
At Philadelphias new Science Leadership Academy, Jasmin Thomas can use one part of her schools Web site to post her work, edit another students work, or join classmates in responding to a teachers discussion prompts. On other parts, she can commiserate with classmates about a recent Philadelphia Eagles loss or listen to a podcastan audio file stored on the Internetof the poetry clubs newest verse. Free software called Moodle and Elgg enable those functions.
Thomas, 15, enjoys the high-tech opportunities her school offers. She writes for the online newspaper, which features audio clips and graphics, and sparks lively cyber chats among its readers. It allows me to be more creative, and use more learning styles, she says of the schools tech-friendly climate. Doing things so many different ways keeps me more interested.
Principal Christopher Lehmann says the idea is to build a vibrant, interactive learning community. Were creating educational social networking, he says of the center-city magnet school, which enrolls 110 students in 9th grade and plans to expand to 10th grade next year.
and later..
Tech-savvy practitioners also say that teachers, pressured to cover material and prepare students for tests, worry that they cant afford to let students use technology to shape projects in unexpected ways. Some are uncomfortable with upending traditional classroom dynamics by letting students be the experts on technology.
To change requires understanding that we do not have all the answers anymore, Lehmann of Philadelphias Science Leadership Academy says. What we have are some amazing questions. And that forces people to re-examine their practice.
Read the whole article… I’ll comment more later…