This Week In Technology - TWIT
TWIT is about former TechTV hosts Leo Laporte, Kevin Rose, Patrick Norton, Robert Heron, John C. Dvorak and many others in a roundtable discussion of the week’s big tech stories. It is not only entertaining but it also holds a lot of information. They talk about what is out there today and what tech tools are better than others...or what is going on with certain tech companies. A great site to keep you updated on all that is technology, especially if you do not have a lot of time to research all that they offer.
I have the RSS feed located on the bottom right side of my blog or here is the website: http://leoville.tv/podcasts/twit.xml
I feel podcasting is a great addition to educational curriculum. Once you find information that is factual and on target with the lesson you are teaching, than you can integrate it into your teachings. Students will find it intriguing and it is one more way to reach students. I should say it is a different way to reach students also. Not only can staff incorporate this new piece of technology, but students have just as much access. As I learned searching and subscribing to the podcast is fairly easy and could be done with little training for staff or student. Students could do more research through podcasts and develop more knowledgeable and creative reports. There is no extra cost to students or staff to use podcasts and there are so many already available not including the podcast that the staff or student can create. Students can create podcasts in relation to the lesson and the staff can have future use of all of the top quality podcasts. Teachers can also produce there lessons, unit lessons, or just homework pieces on podcasts that students can access from home or school.
I think the idea of Human Performance Improvement (HPI) is needed in every school/company. It could help pin point problem area and give solutions on how to fix them. Now who can honestly say that you have never had problems at any job you have had? I can’t. There are always obstacles to figure out and you might be doing an awesome job, but because of someone or something else you still fail or fall short in the end. We have recently implanted a Positive Behavior Support System in our school and students and staff are rewarded for having positive behavior. On the staff side of the issue I personally think there is a lack of consequences in our program, but we decided to try positive reinforcement. There is a teacher of the month chosen and they get to spin the wheel for goodies (comp. time, longer lunch, free lunch from principle, etc.) We finally came up with this idea after everyone was sick to death of all the negativity throughout our school. We did not use the HPI system, but we did use some what of a breakdown to figure out how to solve our issue. Now it has helped, but it has not cured our ailments. Maybe if we fully implement the HPI System we can figure out to the T what we should do to accomplish our goals.
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5 comments:
Hi Jacqueline,
I like the idea of injecting a positive spin to behavior. We have a student of the month program, but as I'm sure most of us realize, those are not the students that need the positive reinforcement. I think it is interesting that there is also a staff side to the equation. After all, I have seem some "poor" behavior on the staff end of things, a few times. I also like the fact that you recognize that it hasn't solved everything. I think the most difficult part of any "system" is that it cannot address every aspect of the issue. We can't turn it into a clean mathematic equation, despite the wishes of theorists and perhaps administrators. Especially when dealing with kids, there are some variables that we cannot change, we can simply attempt to balance the scales a bit, especially when it comes to an unstable environment or things like that. Thanks for your insight and for sharing your school's recent solution.
Chris S.
Podcasting is a great addtion to eduation. I agree with you that this can can be a great way to reach more students. With the no added cost for schools, I see no reason why more people do do it. Yes it can be time consuming but it will be worth doing it for the students. Also, having students work with computers is a a great thing, because I have noticed that a lot students only know how to play games on the computer and not know how to use it any other way.
Jacqueline,
What a great idea, to implement a Positive Behavior Support System for teachers and staff. As with any negative behavior, if left alone it will continue to grow and fester. A really good example of Behaviorism, providing rewards for postive behavior in the hope that some of the negativity in your school will be eliminated.
Hello Jacqueline:
Skinner theories about stimulus-response were foundation for the behavioral Theory of Learning. This theory has influenced educational techniques applied in schools and classrooms for a long, long time. Even before there was any formal theoretical model, reward and punishment to control behavior have been part of our human history. With such a large background, behaviorism virtues can be questionable. Their critics specially condemn the over-simplification of the complex psychological and motivational processes occurring behind our actions as conscious human beings. I think HPI pretends to find the profound causes of a lack of good performance, these roots of the problem sometimes can be camouflaged in unsuspected ways, so solutions will not come easy neither.
Jacqueline,
I try to incorporate some of the elements of PBS you mentioned for both students and staff. If we freqently remind ourselves that educational outcomes of students are linked with not only meaningful and rewarding teaching but also with the establishment of healthy relationships among students and staff.
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