So I have been on the road for work the last couple of weeks and have found it really difficult to blog for several reasons. Firstly, the places I have been going don't always have good reception for the net, nor do they have free wifi if they do have reception. Secondly, I have been travelling all day and the most useful way to blog is on my laptop, not on my phone - which is always handy if you can do anything on your phone. I am yet to figure out whether I can blog on my phone, so for now I find this blogging online time consuming and not always possible. SO I had to write my thoughts on paper -CAN YOU BELIEVE IT??? Now I am elaborating on those thoughts.
My experience got me thinking about my students. The biggest issue or obstacle I face with N&GL (apart from my terrible ability to use technology) and me using this as a teaching mechanism, is my students having access to computers and the internet. My students are high school students who live anywhere from Cairns and out bush there, through CQ down to the sunny coast and out west to Emerald and all the little towns on the way. My course is designed for students who fit the Higher Education Participation Program (HEPP) criteria. The majority of these students may come from Low SES families, hence having access to a computer, internet etc etc is sometimes difficult. So I then try and see whether these students can have access to all of this at school. Guess what - yes they can access the computer and internet, but they can't access Youtube or certain sites. So there is a massive issue with access for these students. My conundrum revolves around, "How do I expect or train my students to be networked and global learners when they can't even access half the material to allow them to do this?"
Kind of comical if you think about it? Here we are in a first world country and yet many of my students don't have the capacity to have access to appropriate learning materials to allow them to be lifelong learners. So when the National Curriculum has general capabilities that all learners are supposed to be using such as: information and communication technology, I wonder how they suggest that this is to be attempted by all students in all parts of Australia, that will allow them to prepare for the 21st Century? All of this is something that I will be pondering when it comes to my second assessment.
My experience got me thinking about my students. The biggest issue or obstacle I face with N&GL (apart from my terrible ability to use technology) and me using this as a teaching mechanism, is my students having access to computers and the internet. My students are high school students who live anywhere from Cairns and out bush there, through CQ down to the sunny coast and out west to Emerald and all the little towns on the way. My course is designed for students who fit the Higher Education Participation Program (HEPP) criteria. The majority of these students may come from Low SES families, hence having access to a computer, internet etc etc is sometimes difficult. So I then try and see whether these students can have access to all of this at school. Guess what - yes they can access the computer and internet, but they can't access Youtube or certain sites. So there is a massive issue with access for these students. My conundrum revolves around, "How do I expect or train my students to be networked and global learners when they can't even access half the material to allow them to do this?"
Kind of comical if you think about it? Here we are in a first world country and yet many of my students don't have the capacity to have access to appropriate learning materials to allow them to be lifelong learners. So when the National Curriculum has general capabilities that all learners are supposed to be using such as: information and communication technology, I wonder how they suggest that this is to be attempted by all students in all parts of Australia, that will allow them to prepare for the 21st Century? All of this is something that I will be pondering when it comes to my second assessment.