Learning Aloud

Those of us promoting the integration of technology become concerned when individuals are unable or unwilling to make use of technology because we believe technology supports student learning. Any concern I had that gender differences were responsible for such inequities have diminished over the years I have followed such issues. I am aware of large gender differences in the number of students pursuing computer science as a vocation, but I am willing to treat vocational preferences as a separate issue. The question of whether there are gender differences in the willingness to make use of technology in a more general way is similar to the issue of whether there are gender differences in the willingness to read – both have implications for learning on a more general level.

Christensen, Knezek & Overall (Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 2005, 38, 23-37) offer a recent study claiming there is a percipitous drop in female “enjoyment” of technology in middle school. This drop appears to occur between the 5th and 6th grades and the authors speculate the drastic change is the result of emerging gender differences in sensitivity to relationships vs. achievement/competition orientation. Among the recommended solutions offered, greater use of technology in group projects, online interaction, and technology supported communication. These suggestions are very similar to our own suggestions for addressing several sources of inequity (Responsible Use of Technology).

I think the results of the reported study should be regarded with caution. A general issue in any research is how key variables are operationalized. “Enjoyment of Computers” is assessed using a five item scale. To me, the items are a curious assortment – I am tired of using the computer. I enjoy lessons on the computer. I enjoy computer games very much.

Consider this, the one specific activity mentioned in the list is game play. This fits very well with the concern for gender differences in competition and would be associated with less enjoyment among females who are reported to not enjoy competitive game play. There is no item on the list that might tap use of the computer for communication/socialization. Consider that the recommendations offered by the authors would engage learners in activities the scale they use to evaluate enjoyment would only indirectly assess at best. Makes no sense to me.

Why do a study of this magnitude with such a weak and potentially misleading indicator of the key dependent variable? This is my take – read the article and draw your own conclusions.

Cindy is always trying to help me out. She monitors a huge number of blogs via RSS and continually sends me things she wants me to write about.

In the inbox today, I found “The Ten Best Resources for CSS“. I suppose it is time for me to spend some time bring a more “mature” look to my projects and this may be a useful place to begin.

I thought that CSS From the Ground Up looked like a promising place to start.

Washington Post writer Brian Krebs has a recent blog post addressing the issue of parent responsibility for their children’s net behavior.

Take the time to read the reader responses to his post. If you thought your position on the issue of parental responsibility was “obvious”, the diversity of positions people take should convince not everyone is of one mind on this topic. The case studies provided by parents are fascinating.

Just kidding – but I assume it is possible.

I do use virus software and learned something you Mac users may find helpful. I purchase .Mac services (now upgraded to 1 gig of space I see) and happened to run across an alert that claimed the Virex software is not compatible with OS 10.4. .Mac customers used to get Virex as part of their membership so I believe them when they say that Virex causes problems with 10.4.

A recommendation for Mac users running the current operating system? Try an open source product – ClamXav.

You may have abolutely no interest in exploring an alternative to your present browser. I can’t resist. Perhaps this is naive, but I make the effort because I think some diversity encourages developers to work harder to improve their products. If everyone continues to use the standard products, what motivation do developers have to offer a better product? A little competition is a good thing.

Anyway, Opera is now both free and free of ads.

When I tried it today, I immediately found something I really like. When the bookmark sites, you have immediate access to a window for annotating your bookmark.

The business model for free software? According a pundit podcast I heard, offering priority access to Google (note the search box in the screen capture image) can be worth millions.

Does taking advantage of technology retard the development of important intellectual skills? I encountered an article today that addresses this issue on a broad scale (intelligence in the Internet age). It is an important question.

Whether we realize it or not, as educators, we make such decisions frequently. The elementary school teacher must decide whether or not students are allowed to use calculators and in what circumstances. The college statistics teacher must decide whether or not students are allowed to use computers or must rely on a calculator. We decide whether exams will be open or closed book.

A question I face concerns whether or not I should use technology to help students study more effectively. I design and evaluate computer supported study environments. As a simple example, I evaluate the benefits/detriments of providing notes (outline and complete) to students in introductory classes. I had a discussion related to this interest with a new faculty colleague today and it was like so many I have had with other colleagues over the years. The core issue in this discussion concerned whether providing notes to students retards the development of these students’ literacy skills. My colleague wanted to help students learn to process the increasing amount of material they encounter and suggested that by “making it easy” for students to identify key points and the structure of my presentations I may not be requiring the students to develop such skills. In addition, maybe the students would simply download my notes and not come to class.

It is not that I am suggesting that these are trivial decisions. Rather, I am suggesting that the positions people take are guided by assumptions rather than actual data. I cannot prove that by providing notes to students I am not undermining the long-term development of “learning to learn” skills. I think I can demonstrate that by providing notes I can improve student performance on exams. I am waiting for someone to demonstrate that “toughening students up” by providing them minimal support is a good long term strategy. If this turns out to be the case, I will have to rethink my position.

The Sept. 15 edition of techLearning offers a piece entitled “portrait of a digital native.” The digital native/immigrant distinction has been argued by Marc Prensky. In addition to the description of a world most of us are assumed not to understand, Prensky argues the digital natives are frustrated with the educational world they encounter. Perhaps the techlearning article will persuade some that young learners operate in a world requiring a different educational approach.

Are we really that different? (previous post)