My first blog entry pertains to the article "Chatting It Up Online" by Pamela Livingston. This article describes the experience of Livingston and her third grade class participating in a live chat with a popular children's book author. Livingston describes the process of the finding, preparing and participating in chat with her students. I think that the article brings to light a lot of unforeseen technical issues that can arise when using the Internet in a classroom, especially in the format of a live chat room. She specifically mentions that educators shouldn't announce that a chat or any special technological component in the classroom will be used without some certainty that it will actually happen. (Disappointing students generally is not a great idea!) I found it to be a very practical and informative article because it reminded me that anyone working in a classroom needs to take plenty of time to make sure that issues with firewall, Internet connection, and even the glare of a computer screen need to be dealt so that the technology can be used effectively. Livingston also brought up another important issue which is that educators probably have to teach Internet etiquette ("netiquette") to their students. She used her example that using all capital letters is considered to be rude "shouting." I agree that a world of texting and "twittering" creates kids that are technologically savvy, but probably not very polite. Livingston made a point that kids enjoy the immediate feedback of a chat environment, and I appreciated that she listed many resources to help the reader find chat rooms for students.
While my career plans involve working in schools as a speech and language pathologist, and not a teacher, I still feel that I can glean some valuable information from this article. The first point being that I must plan on technology failing at times, and that I should allow time to fix errors and have the resources and support needed when technology doesn't function as planned. I should not promise students that they will be able to use a certain program on the computer because there is always a chance that the computer or software will fail. This means that I have to have some sort of backup plan in my therapy plan for the student, but I should also know how to make quick fixes, and make good friendships with someone in the IT department. I can't particularly imagine that I would be using online chat sessions with my students, but that I would use programs that aid with reading and speech skills in order to make my therapy less routine, more fun, and completely integrated with technology. I have to ensure that these programs work as smoothly and consistently as possible, and that I know how to use them myself. Similarly, I also must prepare students to use his or her computer and its programs correctly, ensure that they are comfortable with his or her workstation, and will alert me in the case of an error. I think that unlike Livingston, in my situation, I would have to work in an environment where each student can have their own computer for use.
This article discusses ISTE NETS for Teachers Standard 4: Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility.
I would agree that it is important that you personally know how to use such tools. Although, I am not sure I agree that your students in speech and language pathology could not benefit from the use of such web sites as that discussed in the article. I think with the vast amount of information out there may be advantageous to your special students as well - especially as an occasional change in instruction format.
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