Looking Back to Help Us Look Forward

The Unique Contribution and Project Discovery were enjoyable and interesting films to watch.  They reinforced that there is value in educational films and that when properly made and prepared the use of films can be of great value to learning.  I have felt at times that many people view films as a way to take up time and to give the teacher a break.  The most authentic learning happens through direct experiences, but at times with the limitation of the classroom, geography and group size make providing these experiences impossible.  What a teacher must be careful of is to find and use films or movies that are appropriate for the students and the learning objectives.  Another important component in using films is to teach students how to get the most out of films and to teach them that it is not a break and a time to turn off.  It is very easy in the present times to search and find material that is relevant but of low quality.  The story of the the student who fainted during the anti-bullying video is a perfect example of how the quick access to material can cause misunderstanding and potential problems.  This also relates to the fact that if a teacher does not take the time to preview and introduce material no matter how high quality the film is the message will be lost for many.  Film Tactics has reinforced that lesson.  

What also struck me about The Unique Contribution and Project Discovery was that if you replaced the word film with iPad and some of the other technical term such as photomicography with app, animation with virtual reality these films could have been used by the St. James School Division to promote their new iPad program that was in the news.  I hope that St. James has thought as thoroughly about the iPad program as it appear Encyclopedia Britanica had thought about the positive ways for film to impact student learning.  

Looking back at old films and the introduction to media archeology has shown that looking back at where we have come from in relation to technology is a valuable practice.  For some reason studying the history of technology seems counterintuitive to some, but looking back at the history of communities and cultures is a very normal and accepted practice.  Maybe if we were taught to look back more at technology and see that there have been many great ideas over the years and that many of the ideas and next greatest things are just new versions of the something from the past, some of the novelty and hype that often surrounds the next new technology could be dispelled and people could be more critical consumers of technology.

Guiding Students Through the Maelstrom in a Library

To hear the University of Manitoba no longer offers a master in library education is maybe not all that surprising if you look around schools today.  There are few librarians left and learning how to use the Dewey Decimal System and the card catalog might not be seen as relevant to learning in today's world.  What seems more surprising to me is that there has been no replacement or metamorphose of the librarian into a media specialist.  At one time there was some importance placed upon the expertise of a librarian as a person who held a specific and important set of knowledge and skills.  To think now that in today's information overloaded society that there should not be a specialist in schools with skills relating to research, searching skills, media and online ethics and responsibilities, and how to judge the information that is so abundant and available seems almost irresponsible to me.  I think this may be another example of how the speed of technology can blur the thinking of the education system.  It is like teachers and students are traveling on a high speed train and beside them only a few feet from the tracks is the billboard extolling the benefit and wonders of technology.  Everyone knows it there is a message on the billboards, but the train is moving to fast to make sense of it.  

Some people said the library is a dying place because in the online world there is no need to have a central location for information and knowledge.  This view doesn't take into account that the internet can be a lonely and misleading place.  In our world of information overload I think a library or gathering place is more important than ever.  It may create a place of sober second thought (Sir John A. Macdonald's not Mike Duffy's) for people publishing content on the internet as well a place to collaborate and share ideas and knowledge.  There is no way for one person to get a handle on technology and information and use it effectively in an isolated setting.  I think libraries should and may go through a resurgence if educators stop and think about the possibilities. 

"... Nature becomes a gigantic gasoline station, an energy source for modern technology and industry."

Heidegger has touched on a nerve for me with the above quote.  This attitude that everything can be used as a resource or monetized has changed the way we view our world and how we treat it.  Everyone is well aware of the damage being done to our planet by our ravenous appetite for resources.  Richard Sennett states, "...one million, for instance, represents the number of years Nature took to create the amount of fossil fuel now consumed in a single year."   It is obvious that something and everything needs to change.  I recently attended a Sustainable Energy Conference where a speaker spoke of the "silver bullet" that everyone thinks technology will provide and will save the world without us having to give up our current conveniences and comforts.  When I had sometime to reflect on that statement I came to the conclusion that we must all believe in the "silver bullet" or we would all be doing a lot more.  Our blind faith in technology will only lead to self destruction unless we can change our assumptions and and find a way to open our eyes to the essence of technology.

The person I heard speaking did not believe or have any hope that the silver bullet will ever exist.  


iPads in St. James

My biggest question that was not addressed in the CBC and Winnipeg Free Press articles that I read is, What sort of training are the teachers getting about using iPads?  They told parents to to monitor students on their iPads at home and to set up the iPads with accounts.  I hope there are opportunities for parent training sessions as well.

As a teacher I would be quite excited about a program like this but I wonder if the technology will  be introduced before the knowledge how to use effectively is in place.

I wonder if Denis' dysfunctional model of technology innovation may be relevant in June 2014?  Lets hope not.

EXTRAVAGANT CLAIMS, MASS PURCHASING, NON-TRAINING, MISUSE, NON-USE, REJECTION