Those funny lines with that dot over it.

I can definitely, along with every one else who has been through the public school system, remember being drilled on cursive handwriting over and over and then being told that all my work in middle school, high school, and college will have to be written in cursive. So there I sat. Terrified that I will never ever get to turn anything in beyond 5th grade. I might as well give up school now and go work in an apple orchard or something.

But not to fear, despite what Mrs. Traumatizeallthechildren said, I was never required to turn in anything in cursive beyond one paper in 7th grade. Luckily, I grew up in the age where computers were starting to get more prevalent and, since my dad was in pharmacy school at the time and he had to have one to write his own papers, little cursive-deficient Amanda was able to type her work and submit it (Note: I can actually write and read in cursive but even though I am now 30 years old, it still looks like a second grader did it.).

My situation is definitely one example many people are using to say that word processing/computer skills should replace the focus on cursive in schools. I agree with this somewhat. As with most situations, all things should be done in moderation. Children should definitely be taught how to write cursive and read it but should not be scarred into leaving for the apple orchard. To not teach it, would be a disservice to students as many people still use it today and many documents from the past were written in it. However, they should be taught word processing skills as well to keep up with the growing use of technology in our society.

Can I still visit the Gift Shop?

One of my favorite aspects of the internet today is its ability to connect people from all over the world. You can video chat with a friend in China or order books from someone in Kansas. You can browse artifact databases in England and see Butterfly specimens in Florida. Almost everything is accessible via the internet now and if it's not, someone is thinking about how to make it happen.

One recent trend that has been growing over the last 5 years particularly, is virtual field trips to museums. This is due to many different factors- including budget cuts to schools leading to limited resources for buses and field trips being one of the main reasons. This then also really impacts lower SES schools and greatly reduces the likelihood that they will be able to take a field trip. So museums have tried to find ways to reach out to schools and communities through local outreach programs and then going beyond to making their institutions accessible worldwide-- through online databases, publishing papers, and creating ways to interact with the exhibits virtually. Even my own institution, the Florida Museum of Natural History, has virtual exhibits, thousands of artifacts, pieces of information, videos, and more available online (http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/discover/cultural-heritage/online-exhibits/). We are even working on a multi-million dollar grant project to digitize collections and have them available online (http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/discover/life-on-earth/research-highlights/)! 

I think one of my favorite online exhibits with FLMNH is the Historical Archaeology Collection's website (http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/histarch/). They not only have information, interactive pages, timelines and the like available but they also have a Digital Type Collection that allows researchers from around the world to access archaeological information they have discovered (Example: Faience- Provence Blue on White ceramic).

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/histarch/collections.htm

So to my main point, I think virtual experiences with museums are excellent resources for teachers to use in their classrooms. However, I do not think that it can replace the actual experience of visiting a museum. There are a lot of ways to engage a classroom via a museum's website- text, images, video, links to other sources, etc.-- for many different subjects like art, history, science, etc. but actually seeing and experiencing a museum can really make a topic more meaningful to a student. Virtual exhibits are also a good way to introduce a place before a visit and reflect back to it afterwards and even to visit places you may never see (like the Louvre in Paris!).

Tech Savvy

Oh my goodness! I cannot begin to explain how much technology has impacted my life. I purchased an iPad last month and it literally (not figuratively...and not in the "I literally ate a million tacos" kind of literally) use it as much as I physically can every day. I'm sure the shiny-new toy feeling will wear off one of these days but I do not see it anywhere on the horizon.



I appreciate Mr. Maximus's sentiment.
http://www.lovemytool.com/blog/2011/02/sunday-buzz-i-love-my-ipad-by-denny-k-miu.html
 

There are apps for video messaging, chatting (with friends in the US and abroad!), apps for social networking, a calculator where I can write equations and it transfers it to text for me, a recipe app that walks me through cooking step by step and times it for me, and just yesterday I found an app that will organize my library for me. Like literally (not the taco literally), IT WILL ORGANIZE ALL MY BOOKS. I can scan in my titles and it will create a searchable database of what I have which will make finding what I need so much easier and will literally (the taco kind) make my brain explode (last L-word use, I promise).

So back to my main point, technology has had a huge impact on my life, not just in the tools it brings (LIBRARYDATABASESOMG) but also in the way that it connects me to family and friends near and far. The internet, social networking, and personal devices (let us not forget the glory of the cellphone) have given us the opportunity to communicate quickly and often without necessarily confining ourselves to the traditional ways of conversation (you know...where two people talk with words and their voices and manners to each other). As Sherry Turkel mentions in her book and as is discussed in the NY Times article about it (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/22/books/22book.html?_r=0), people are changing the way that they communicate with one another as a result of technology.

http://cheezburger.com/685427968

I wouldn't necessarily say that it is a bad thing though. Sometimes, it is sooooo much easier to text a yes or no question to that friend that goes on and on with an answer when you just need to know if you should buy those green shoes or not because OOHMYGODTJMAXXISCLOSING JUSTTELLMEWHATYOUWANT. But then other times, I do definitely find myself relying more on texting or messaging friends rather than calling people because it is just easier-- I can watch Family Guy and catch up with someone rather than (GASP) taking 20 minutes out of my evening to actually speak with someone. So while I don't think this reliance on technology to communicate for us is a bad thing in some situations, it is something that I want to cut back on when I can. Because, honestly, that friend is worth a thousand 20 minute conversations and our society as a whole seems to forget that sometimes-- that people around us are what is important.

In other ways, I am so grateful for technology because it gives me a chance to video chat with my family in North Carolina so I can just see their faces when I need it and to get silly texts from friends in the UK when I need to be taken down a peg. I can definitely see all sides of the arguments of how technology is impacting our lives but I think, as with all things, we need to do things in moderation and in healthy levels. So I'll put down the iPad and call my mom. Literally.

To inquiry or not to inquiry?

Inquiry-based learning is my bread and butter. In my work as an Educator with the Florida Museum of Natural History, the majority of programming I create for children (and even adults!) is based on the idea that children will learn about the natural history of Florida through interaction with science.



Visitors engaging with a wetland model with the UF Wetlands Club at ButterflyFest this past October at the Florida Museum of Natural History (Photo Credit: ©Florida Museum of Natural History photo by Jeff Gage)

 

I find that children learn better by touching items or engaging with experiments. For example, they will discover how waves impact a seashore by creating their own wave demonstrations and studying erosion patterns and actually seeing it happen through their experiments much better than I could ever tell them in a lecture. Through my work with the Museum, I can definitely say that a child's interaction with material is a better teacher than I could ever be. Granted, guiding them through exploration helps them to investigate it and think about it in new and different ways than they might have done on their own. But overall, the opportunity to see and hold something brings it off the page and into their world.



 (Photo source: http://www.protozone.net/AJsand.html)

Experimentation with seashores at the Long Island Children's Museum

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Learning is done through experience-- whether that experience is a lecture/discussion or by touching artifacts. Children should be given every opportunity to create meaning for themselves rather than just having meaning thrust upon them.

While I tend to be biased toward inquiry and experience based learning, it is definitely important to make sure the ways in which we teach are varied and can meet the needs of all of our students-- whether it is objectivist or constructivist. With that said, I don't think it is necessarily fair to say that one way is more correct than the other. I am definitely a huge fan of inquiry-based, or constructivist, learning but I understand and see the benefits behind a more structured and standardized learning approach. However, the best approach we as educators can take is the most varied one-- where we incorporate different methods and opportunities for children to learn.