Yesterday I took the New York State Educational Technology Content Specialty Test (CST). In New York, every content area has a CST that you must pass in order to be certified. The test consists of 90 multiple choice questions and one written essay.
The essay question was not bad. It described an activity that a classroom teacher does with her students and asks you to suggest a way to integrate technology. This was a good exercise and, between planning and writing, took me about an hour to complete. I just hope they can read my handwriting. The multiple choice questions, as in any standardized test, were problematic. A few were pointless, such as the cause of monitor flicker; some were obvious, if not because of the answer choices then because of how the correct answer was worded. The most problematic were those questions where even like-minded people would agree to disagree, such as the order of doing something. In every case, two of the answers were easily dismissed, while the remaining two were equally valid. Getting these right has more to do with whether you think like the people who wrote the questions, as opposed to whether you understand the field. Another issue for me was the order of questions. Instead of grouping similar questions together, they are random, so in one you are answering about networks, in the next about professional development. It is not clear to me that any attention was paid to how many questions from each area are included, either. It seems like they are randomly selected from a question bank and randomly ordered. In 2008, Howard Gardner (of multiple intelligences fame) introduced an idea he called Five Minds for the Future (link). These include the disciplined mind, the synthesizing mind, the creative mind, the respectful mind, and the ethical mind. These last two point directly to what we commonly refer to as character education. If you Google "character education," you get a number of sites that offer resources, lesson plans, and definitions all aimed at helping educators provide character education.
But is character education really all that important? Isn't our job as educators to teach content and thinking skills? This is a potentially very long discussion, but the short answer is that we must educate the whole child; it is not enough to teach them content, study skills, thinking, etc. To be a valuable citizen of the world, character is required, and that means understanding the difference between right and wrong and acting accordingly, in all circumstances, not just when it is convenient. And we as teachers must lead by example. There is no point in teaching about copyright and fair use if we do not follow the rules ourselves. Gardner ends his paper thusly, "Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Intelligence plus character— that’s the goal of true education”. And philosopher Ralph Emerson said, “Character is more important than intellect”." How true.
Having just finished a year teaching at one of the more prestigious boarding schools in the US, I have begun to wonder why it is considered so highly; why students from here get into the best colleges in such considerable numbers. There is no coordinated use of technology; no attempt to integrate technology; no push for 21st century skills; students are not creating eportfolios; no compelling educational initiatives.
It remains the standard for secondary education because the metrics that colleges and universities use to measure students hasn't changed. The colleges and universities that students aspire to still look to GPAs and SAT scores. Until higher education takes a more comprehensive and meaningful approach to assessing students who apply, why should secondary schools change? Critical friends, or peer review, is another step in promoting student-centered, collaborative learning. The idea is that students help each other with projects, writing, etc. by providing constructive critiques of each others work before it is handed into the teacher. This idea fits well with involving students more in their own learning, in learning from each other, and in having a wider audience for student work, much like the eportfolio concept. I leave the specifics of how to do this to more experienced authors. For more, in the first instance see: Why Every Student Needs Critical Friends, Amy Reynolds, Multiple Measures, Pages 54-57, November 2009, Volume 67, Number 3; Through the lens of a critical friend., Costa L. Arthur and Bena Kallick, Educational Leadership, 51.n2 (Oct 1993): pp49.
I have been studying educational technology now formally for a year, my spring 2012 courses all but over. I started with 810, 811 and 812, all of which have a greater focus on the tools than the other courses. They are a great start to the program, and started me thinking in new and different ways about the role of technology in education. Last fall and this spring brought the required classes and some electives, all of which continued to propel my thinking forward. I've gotten to the point where I have some pretty clear ideas, and am able to talk about them; I fully expect my thinking to continue to grow and change over time, but at the very least I have a solid foundation from which to let that happen.
So now comes the capstone course in the MSU MAET program, a bringing together and reflection on everything that has come before. This is a welcome addition, thought before I start the class - and here I am speaking before fully understanding what all is involved - I cannot help but think that something like this should have been happening the entire time; that there should be a framework above the courses that helps students pull together, reflect on, and make important connections between all of the various elements of the program. Perhaps we should start with an empty portfolio and gradually fill it as we produce various content over the course of the program; perhaps there should be ongoing assignments - reflections, presentations, etc. - that are done as and when they make sense during a student's path through the program; any and all of this could be updated and improved as each student makes progress towards the master's degree. In so doing, we can make the whole greater than the sum of its parts. |
AuthorAfter teaching for 10 years and using lots of technology, I have decided to move into the technology side of education. Archives
December 2015
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