Presentation Preferences

After watching the presentations for the K-12 Online Conference, commenting on the discussion board, and then reading my classmates' comments, one thing that became very obvious is that though there may be effective and ineffective presentation techniques, a good presentation is somewhat in the eye of the beholder.

Clearly the presenters for the conference hold a wide range of viewpoints on how to make a presentation and as a class, we have different ideas about what constitutes a good presentation. I, myself, prefer a simple, straightforward presentation style. I would rather listen to a clearly-written, informative script alongside supportive text-based slides, or descriptive images than watch a lot of images with music, but little talking (and little information). In short, when I attend or view a presentation, I am not looking for the same experience I might seek at the movie theater. I am looking to learn something, not be entertained.

This being said, I actually think one of the largest determinants of whether or not I do enjoy a presentation is whether I am initially interested in the topic. If I am already interested in a topic, I am somewhat predisposed to like a presentation about it and will therefore forgive some faults in the presentation method. On the other hand, if I am decidedly not interested in a topic, it takes a superb presentation to win me over.

The presentations we watched for the K-12 Online conference were all about topics that initially I was only "mildly" interested in, which is to say, they were not topics about which I, myself, am passionate about. Therefore, I felt that I was truly able to view the presentations with an open mind and take note of effective and ineffective presentation methods and styles. As a result, I thought that it was an effective way to learn what I look for in a presentation and begin to plan what elements I want to include in my own.

Juggling Spheres of Knowledge

In reading the articles about TPACK this week, one phrase that really stood out to me was from the Linton article: “Implementation of the TPACK model begins with content knowledge…” This statement struck me because, in my mind, this seems obvious. I think all teaching should begin with content knowledge. Without content, the rest of the teaching process would of course be hollow. On the other hand, content by itself is not enough. Content needs to be presented in such a way that students will actually learn it. This is the challenge of teaching.

The PCK model creates a visual representation of this interplay between individual knowledge of something and the ability to pass this knowledge onto others. I think it also highlights that teaching is more complex than many people deem it to be. I think that a lot of people consider teaching to be a simple task of passing along information, without considering just how difficult that “simple task” actually is. There are many people in the world who know a lot; who hold a lot of content in their heads. However, only a very small number of these people are able to teach. Teaching is a skill that is part natural inclination or ability and part skill acquired through years of training and practice. In fact, I would argue that no matter the natural talent of the teacher, the training and practice part of teaching skills are the most important. More than that, this part of being a teacher is (or should be) constant: a teacher should always be learning how to become a better teacher by learning new content and discovering new methods for delivering that content.  

The addition of technology to the model to create the TPACK model adds another level of complexity to the skill (or art) of teaching. As is discussed in the McGrath article, modern technology, by its very nature, is constantly evolving, so keeping abreast of using it requires continually learning and relearning how to use it. Therefore, as I see it, being an excellent teacher requires the ability to successfully juggle three constantly growing and changing balls (or spheres of knowledge). If one sphere is dropped, then the juggling is not successful. Perhaps this metaphor is a bit forced, but my point is simply to reiterate what our articles this week stated, that in today's school, technology needs to be viewed as a standard component of teaching and needs to taught and retaught to teachers, so that they can implement it properly in their classrooms. 

Digital Role Modeling

As I completed the readings about digital citizenship this week, of course they made me consider my own online behavior. Frankly, I am boring when it comes to my own use of the Internet and my computer. In fact, I may just be boring in general, but that is a consideration for an entirely different blog! I use my computer and the Internet mainly for school, to communicate with friends and family, to purchase items (also mostly dull), and to seek information that interests me (mostly related to pregnancy stuff right now--my baby weighs as much as a cantaloupe and the like).My use of Facebook, for example, does not follow the trend of many of my friends, which is to post mainly politically-oriented cartoons/memes that are usually jibes at the opposite political viewpoint, or to post inane cartoons/images that are just making fun of something, someone, or are just plain goofy. I never click on any items in Facebook because I am aware that sometimes things show up that were never really posted by a person, and they can lead to viruses or porn sites, or whatever. At least, that is what I think. If I truly am interested in a link, I cut and paste it to a new window, or I search for the item in Google to get to it. I guess I am paranoid because I had my email, Facebook, and Twitter accounts hijacked a few years ago and I do not want that to happen again.

I am writing this somewhat stream-of-consciousness post to show that even someone as boring as I am really needed more training in smart, responsible use of the Internet--or at least more reminding of how to act when using the Internet. I got lazy, and did not change my passwords as I should have. There are also still aspects of Internet usage that I do not know fully about. If this is the case for me, how much more true it must be for students. At least I know enough about the possible dangers to be paranoid and do my best to keep safe--young people are not that jaded yet, they need our help to learn how to be safe.

I think my use of the Internet and social media, while perhaps dull, sets a generally good example for my daughter. As she gets older, I will be more open with her about why I do things the way I do. Unfortunately, what I see a lot of my peers doing are things that I do not consider to be setting a good example. The constant use of Facebook as a forum for politcal slander and to mock people in various ways just seems like it is condoning the type of bullying and abuse that we read about in our articles. There needs to be a way to show our students and our children that the Internet is a powerful tool that should not be used only to make jokes at the expense of others; one that needs to be used carefully and responsibly. That being said, I think one of the best ways to teach them is to be better role models.  Afterall, we need to make the effort to learn how to be good digital citizens before we can teach others.

Righting Copyright Wrongs-Is it our responsibility?

The two topics which sparked the most thoughts for me this week were the suggestions for creating school library websites and the copyright laws for audiovisual material use in schools. Since the school library website topic was covered in depth on the discussion board, I have decided to focus on the copyright issue. It is truly astounding how tight the copyright rules are regarding audiovisual material use in schools, but really more astounding how loose attitudes are towards breaking the rules. Simpson’s list of illegal scenarios was impressive, because I have been a part of most of them—right down to the specific situation in which a band teacher played Mr. Holland’s Opus for my high school band as we rode to a band competition!  I also was familiar with the problem after speaking to my mentor last fall during my field experience. She explained that there had been multiple times when she tried to persuade teachers (or even the principal or superintendent) that showing movies in certain situations was breaking the copyright laws. They willfully ignored her information and said they thought it was ok because they were not going to charge admission—again, an example straight out of the Simpson chapter.

I really think the problem comes down to lack of education about the law for educators. I have now been exposed to copyright laws in three of my classes in this program, and expect that the issue will come up again and again. How often is this issue broached in other education courses, however? During our discussion last week, it was noted that school librarians are the only people in the school with any copyright or fair use training and so they are expected to police the school. That sounds a great idea, but what librarian is going to feel comfortable chastising a fellow teacher, or worse yet, tattling on them to an administrator? And if the administrator decides to ignore the infringement, what then can a librarian do—she is not going to tattle to the authorities and bring a lawsuit down on the school.

I guess it just all got me thinking about the challenges I will face regarding copyright laws as part of this career. Not only will I need to be constantly aware of my own uses of items, but I may be faced with situations that are very personally uncomfortable because of other teachers’ misuses, whether by accident or on purpose. What will I be able to do about it? Or, should I do anything about it? What is the responsibilty of the school librarian in situations when she knows copyright is being violated?

As I said in one of my discussion board posts last week, I suppose I will have to handle it by having all the necessary information at hand in the library to support teachers when they come looking for copyright law help. I can hope that I will never face a complicated scenario in which I feel a teacher is willfully ignoring my information and my suggestions for how to remain within the law, but based on the Simpson chapter, that seems unlikely. Does it scare me a little to think about facing some of these situations? Yes. But, it also makes me realize that this is another reason trained librarians are so necessary in the school setting, which just makes me want to learn as much as I can, gather my information around me and prepare to meet these challenges head on.