Futuring Assignment

Futuring Assignment

After reading the articles and watching the videos assigned, my mind was overwhelmed with the discussion of information overload and technology expansion. I quickly realized my tools as an educator have shifted from an age of overhead projectors and Xerox copies, to promethean boards and digital media. I graduated high school a mere five years ago, and yet, stepping foot into the classroom I so recently sat in, technology seems to have surpassed me by decades. The most important piece I can take away from these articles is the notion that it is my job as the educator to change, grow, and adapt a new method of teaching: it is not the students’ responsibility to adhere to the old teaching styles.

Marc Prensky’s article, Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, really got me thinking. According to the article, I would technically be considered a Digital Native; however, I feel more like an immigrant. My family did not own a computer until we moved to the United States in 2001. Until then, I was known to use a typewriter for a book report or two. I was educated in schools whose most advanced piece of technology was the opaque projector, a piece of equipment that made life simpler in the art room. Now, it is uncommon for a classroom of any grade to not have a promethean board. These boards have become the center of most classrooms, and as an intern art teacher I have quickly realized my job is to embrace this new technology and use it daily. Bell assignments, visual research, art history, and some photography demonstrations are made simpler and more engaging by having a promethean board as a center of the classroom. At first, I was almost hesitant to convert to this new technology—that is until I realized that it has still left room for the hands-on approach I am so accustomed to using.

The second fact I took away from these articles was at first, hard for me to swallow. In Jason Ohler’s article, Orchestrating the Media Collage, I felt empowered by the promotion and celebration of the arts, but also felt as though I am lacking as an art instructor. Many computer teachers are teaching courses that integrate digital art into coursework. Although my bachelor’s degree is in art, my field of study was constrained to painting, drawing, metal smithing, and pottery. Ohler states, “Digital literacy demands that we treat art as the next R, just as important as the traditional 3 Rs.” While art programs still remain in most high schools, art programs are typically the first programs cut. It is my duty as an art educator to build a case and fight for the arts. While any art teacher would defend the traditional mediums, I need to be spending time becoming literate in the digital arts so I can ensure my career as an educator as well as ensuring a future for art programs in the public school system.

A third concept I took away from these articles was less a fact and more of a doubt. Matt Richtel’s article, In Classroom of Future, Stagnant Scores, I found myself wishing for a more hopeful outlook. This particular article speaks of the Kyrene School District and its investment in an ever changing and expensive technology increase. In a district where technology reigns supreme, the role of a teacher is near obsolete. Positions are being cut and yet the technology budgets are increased. One pro the article uses is the success of students writing abilities. My question is, how well are students grasping basic grammar, spelling, and punctuation when Microsoft Word autocorrects continually? How legible is student penmanship? I understand the importance of technology, but its future leaves me uncertain.

School Train is an exceptional video created by a group of forth grade students at Molalla Elementary School in 2007. The goal of the assignment was for students to convey their understanding of a metaphor. The students chose to relate school to a train. If I were assessing the video as an assignment, I would have a list of several criteria. I would have students start with the simple metaphor of a school being a train and require students to work their way into smaller categories. Ex: If a school is a train, what are the classrooms, students, and tests? I noticed the students made many comparisons: conductor = principal, ‘pull hard’ = testing, dining car = cafeteria, cars = classrooms, passengers = students, ‘tickets please’ = homework please. I feel these students strongly grasped the concept of a metaphor. They incorporated the more literal metaphors, as well as the more symbolic like “keep on track!” Students included Spanish terms they had learned and used those appropriately. I feel the repetition of the metaphors throughout the video were catchy enough for students to remember as a study aid when working on a poetry assessment or something of the likes. For students of such a young age, I would say School Train was a very successful tool and use of integrating technology.