ch8 how schools cope w/ new technologies

• How does this reading impact your thinking about technology's role in teaching and learning?

I thought computer based assessment went as far as the state and nation standardized tests with the scan tron sheets. the system doesn't measure the individuals knowledge because the information gathered is to compare districts. the computer based assessment described in this book sounds a lot more involved w/ the students individual abilities. I saw this as the teachers domain using a wealth of different strategies, tests, and assignments to gauge a students ability. But if a computer can do it better then we should. I am not sure how i feel about students only taking classes that they need for a specific certification. Personally i like the old system a wide base of knowledge that all students have the opportunity to get. i didn't have a clue what i wanted to do in high school, in fact i didn't know what i wanted to be until my mid twenties and i don't expect high school students to be able to chose correctly, even w/ the help of a computer.

I had a couple of friends in middle school who dropped out and never got a diploma from high school, they got GED's. both of these gentlemen were very computer inclined but couldn't handle the stress of a traditional school environment. If they had the opportunity to take a few of their classes on-line and maybe show up half days to get in art class or something they may have stayed in school.

• What will you do differently as a future teacher as a direct result of this new thinking?

I like some of those ideas in the new curriculum design. If i am teaching in a poor district that cannot offer the exceptional students the classes they want or need a distance learning situation were students from one school can take the classes, AP Biology for example, they want via computer on-line.

i want students to stay in school and get the most they can from it. Kids are good at computers, my six year old can use a computer w/ assistance, an i pod, a digital camera, and video games. If students have a hard time being in a traditional class room all day long i am all for them using half the day getting computer based classes, whatever works.