This ACER article describes the benefits to students of strong school-community collaborations. How might ICT be used to enhance school-community collaborations?
This is something worth reading! Have you considered the long term effects of WIFI in the classroom on student health? Or maybe your childrens health? Watch the Video and be informed. As teachers we have a moral obligation to ensure the safety of students.
You may also wish to explore a little further on this issue, rather than just rely on a single source. Teachers also have an obligation to be fully informed.
WIFI - The uncontrolled global experiment on the health of mankind
There are little to no studies of the long-term effects of EMFs and on a developing brains, which are physiologically more vulnerable than the adult brain for a number of reasons. With WIFI being a relatively recent technology, there is a gap in the literature addressing longitudinal studies of EMF and children. If you wish to view a recent peer reviewed study assessing just the short-term effects you may read Kuzniar et al. (2017). As we know, in our current metropolitan environment we are exposed to EMFs constantly.
Markov and Grigoriev (2013) have clearly addressed some of the ethical and political issues arising from the use of WIFI technology and the unregulated global approach and safety guidelines. Grigoriev has explored this with a number of peer-reviewed studies. One that I found interesting was his article "Cellular communications and public health, 2012". From what I have read, there seems to be a consensus in the scientific community that this is an area for further research as conclusive results of the long-term effects of EMF on children cannot be found.
Further reading is included below (apologies for inconsistent referencing style):
Grigoriev & Markov (2013) Wi-Fi technology - an uncontrolled global experiment on the health of mankind: http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/15368378.2013.776430
Kuzinar et al. (2017). Semi-quantitative proteomics of mammalian cells upon short-term exposure to non-ionizing electromagnetic fields. http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/metrics?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0170762#citedHeader
Stable URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0170762
Grigoriev YG. Cellular communications and public health. Radiat Biol Radioecol. 2012a; 52 2: 1-4.
Anke etal. (2015) Environmental Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields Exposure at Home, Mobile and Cordless Phone Use, and Sleep Problems in 7-Year-Old Children, http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0139869
Thank you for sharing I watched the video and it certainly illuminates some serious concerns not only in schools but also in our homes. I will now be looking at where our wifi unit will be situated and taking a closer look at our homes technologicial set up. This is very important to share and my children will be taking a look at this video later today.
I have also read about some experiments students have done at school with a living plant that they placed near the computer and Wi-Fi as a science experiment I will see if I can find the link.
I agree it is also important to research such a topic to get a broader scope of the situation.
Regards
Faye
U1069753
Thanks for your input Faye,
The intent of my original post was not to create hysteria but to encourage critical thinking, as National Government institutions can be slow to respond to new global research...especially when it may challenge our current 'comfortable' way of life and assumptions.
Cheers,
u1070429
Thank you for sharing this information. My thoughts are an education in civilised countries can't function without these devices. Children response to technology than any other educational diverse. There are more positive than negative. Using technology in the 21st century is helping our kids engage in the classroom, and our children need these devices to function in their learning to become capable and able students in future. I work in a school setting where the majority of the student's complete task using computer and iPad. We as teachers need these devices to function properly in our role as educators.
Technology is fun, engaging and reliable to some extent, these methods over the years have help to improve our student outcome.
Thanks,
Joy
Seymour Papert once pointed out, just imagine the absurdity of a school that has only two pencils in each classroom. Or imagine a school where all the pencils are locked up in a special room.
Squeak was used to write Scratch. Perhaps the most widely used "introductory" programming language. Find out more about Scratch here http://scratch.mit.edu/
An interview with a man responsible for most of what you see in personal computers talking about why the computer revolution in schools hasn't happened yet.
We may be using this during the Week 2 learning path.
A 2009 blog post from a NSW teacher about setting up a school Internet radio station. Includes some ideas for how this could be used. Involves aspects of recording information, distributing it and creating it (amongst others).
Kathleen Morris discusses the benefits of using blogs in classrooms. She has been an active 'blogger' for over 6 years now, and explains that she feels blogging assists students to make connections with their learning, particularly in primary school settings, with home, school, and global influences.
Page from the eSafety Commissioner's website that provides links related to school policies and e or cyber safety. It includes links to a list of national and state education department policies; advice on implementing policies; and, classroom resources.
List of "things" that you'll probably still find in most schools, but which this article argues are obsolete. Many of these link with aspects of EDC3100.
Assuming you agree with some of thse, a challenge is how are you going to help make these obsolete? e.g. "Isolated classrooms" is one you might be able to do something about. As is "Teachers that don't share what they do"
Parkhurst school and it's use of ICT in every grade across the curriculum is remarkable.They are really preparing their students to be 21st century learners.It is also evident that the teachers are continuously on a learning journey too.
A Western Australian based high-school teacher - mostly at risk kids - expert in using the Moodle LMS for learning. Currently embarking on a PhD. In spite of that, has great insights into teaching, learning, schools, learners and technology.
"My blog will share the creative ideas I use in school and demonstrate how effective use of ICT can impact across the curriculum. My role this year has been deploying a class set of iPads and piloting the use of iPads to enhance learning across the curriculum. I can also provide inset training, 1to1 intensive courses and workshops for a variety of ICT areas, in particular using iPads in the classroom for schools. For more info please email davyhulme.ipad@gmail.com for enquiries."
“I don’t buy into the fact that we can get a system – and this is not a popular belief – that can do the full analysis of what students need,” he said
“I value the teaching profession and I think they need to look at the data that’s put out in front of them, the information that’s cut in different ways and use their ‘neck top computer’ [brain] to make some sort of valued judgement as to what the data is saying.
“Information can give black or white positives or negatives, but without the analytical mind of the teacher over the top understanding the student, what’s happening at home and in the classroom, they [IT] actually miss some of that analysis.”
Magazine report of a presentation by the CIO (Chief Information Officer) of the Department of Education and Training in Queensland. The presentation talks about how using ICT to gather and enable analysis of student data is helping schools and teachers better support students.
News article describing how one Brazilian school is encouraging their students to reply to the tweets of their favourite celebrities to correct their grammar and spelling.
On the plus side, it's engaging students in something they might get a kick out of in relation to grammar/spelling.
On the down side, there are questions about how well this fits the Twitter culture. Some may also raise questions about the practice of having students attach photos of themselves to the tweets.
Hello fellow EDC3100 members
Here is a very interesting school in NSW that considers themselves a "Technology High school". Go over and have a look and post your thoughts.
Candace Merriman