After all my trips to the middle school this week there are two somewhat intertwined issues that have really been bothering me. First, the student apathy towards standardized testing (as intimated to me by the teachers during our planning session) worries me. It doesn't surprise me, but it worries me. I know that the students take way more high-stakes tests now than students of previous generations, and I know that the stakes for these standardized testing keep getting higher and higher and higher to the ridiculous extreme. Student scores can have profoundly negative affects on the lives of the students, the teachers, and (possibly soon) even the teachers' pre-service training programs. With all that on the line for the upcoming Milestone tests, it's very difficult even for me to maintain the practiced calm that I usually have. I'm extremely anxious to see how the next two weeks go in the ELA classrooms as the students review for and take the tests.
My second concern stems primarily from a place of care for the students and secondarily in the name of making classes flow more smoothly. After two weeks of seeing students at a middle school with one-to-one technology, I've seen more exhibitions of terrible typing techniques than I ever would have expected. Without exaggeration, I could count on one hand the number of students that I've seen across three different classes who could type correctly and expediently. When I was in middle school, typing was a mandatory connections class. My middle school had the prescient awareness to foresee that all students would need to be able to type quickly and accurately as technology became more and more heavily integrated into our lives. Based on what I've observed so far, this just doesn't appear to be a priority at the middle school here. Maybe I'm mistaken, and their is a mandatory typing class. If so, I just don't see the results. Now, with the high stakes tests all being taken online, students will be expected to brainstorm, organize, and type a 5-paragraph-or-more essay within 90 minutes. I have hope for all the students, but I'd be a fool to say that the cards aren't stacked against them in this scenario. It worries me to no end that the students might be getting the short shrift through no fault of their own. Even students who have the capability to answer the questions on the exam might run out of time, because they just haven't been adequately taught the skill of typing.
Beyond student performance on the state-mandated tests, skillful typing would minimize the amount of time spent inputting information onto the laptops. The little bits of time saved by eliminating the hunt-and-peck method from classrooms might not seem like much, but I'm sure it adds up quickly. With more time, comes more instructional opportunities, deeper discussions, extra reading and writing, etc. Computers are wonderfully powerful educational tools with amazing benefits, but, like any tool, they require a certain skill set in order to maximize their utility.
I really hope to find out more about the middle school's technology initiatives in the coming weeks.
WOW. I totally see your point and wonder how much of that WILL impact their writing scores/performance. We already include SO MUCH in the English curricula - are you thinking that this might also include some touch typing "refresh" or skill work? We make all kinds of accommodations when students struggle to write in longhand - and one of the key ones is that they type rather than write by hand. You're uncovered a key (and problematic) assumption...
ReplyDeleteWOW. I totally see your point and wonder how much of that WILL impact their writing scores/performance. We already include SO MUCH in the English curricula - are you thinking that this might also include some touch typing "refresh" or skill work? We make all kinds of accommodations when students struggle to write in longhand - and one of the key ones is that they type rather than write by hand. You're uncovered a key (and problematic) assumption...
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