This is Punita! She wrote this week's blog and is in charge of questions for tonight's chat. She's formerly of middle school and currently of awesome. #WeirdEd
A1: I think it would be awesome to have kids program chatbots. And then they could talk with each other's. They could write to them....OOOH! Teach the netiquette! #WeirdEd
A1 Sadly, the most up to date tech in the room is their phones. (Sadly, not mine. Even my iPad is 4 years old)
Sad, because there are strict limits on phones in class. #WeirdEd
I have seen them used effectively for polling and quiz questions, but by teachers who could make them put the phones away again when they were done. #WeirdEd
A1 - I love that. Esp as an acts of kindness X programming lesson. I'm imagining a coding project where students have to create a bot similar to @tinycarebot
A1: What comes to mind is something like MENACE. A machine that can learn to play tic tax toe that is made entirely out of matchboxes and beads. (Long video for interested)
https://t.co/5XHDHpb7ib#WeirdEd
My iPad is not refreshing the Latest on the hashtag as it should. It’s not showing, eg, responses to my tweet that I got notifications about, so I’m sure I’m missing other stuff #WeirdEd
(While we're on Q1, let's also add Q2 in the mix bc it's very similar!)
Q2 for #WeirdEd - How could you teach the #TechnologicalSingularity to a Language Arts topic / what kind of discussion Qs could you ask students?
I'm thinking there's probably interesting data that students could play and find a curve of best for (likely exponential.) The sticky party would be deciding where singularity is "achieved". #weirded
Q2 is more my speed... It's a fascinating idea to explore... the implications could be explored in story, in essay... What will the impacts on us be? How will it impact our needs and wants? #weirded
(While we're on Q1, let's also add Q2 in the mix bc it's very similar!)
Q2 for #WeirdEd - How could you teach the #TechnologicalSingularity to a Language Arts topic / what kind of discussion Qs could you ask students?
I'm thinking there's probably interesting data that students could play and find a curve of best for (likely exponential.) The sticky party would be deciding where singularity is "achieved". #weirded
A2: There is so much good fictional and actual theoretical content on the potential deadliness of a self-aware AI that it could be a fun exercise in research based argument. Should humans be allowed to continue to pursue a true AI? Also exploring what is intelligence? #WeirdEd
A2: In ways, we've already explored it in my room. We've discussed the implications of social media on our activism, our relationships through poetry and imagery. #weirded
The Poetry & Image Pairing lesson we use gives them those things as a ctalyst for discussion. We did one about relationships, and one about the tweeting of "thoughts and prayers." I often see what pops for them, and we go from there, #WeirdEd
Totally! I had Ss talking about that lately. Even the way that the term "algorithim" has become part of the vernacular, outside of tech and math talk, is telling. #WeirdEd
This kind of goes back to the argument of "do we even need teachers if students can learn entirely online?"
Obviously I'm biased and think there's a lot to be said for human interaction, but some students really thrive in independent learning. #weirded
I have some kids who, while maybe not emotionally mature enough for a lot of the content, are right at the place where intellectually they can start grappling with the themes and ideas. #WeirdEd
Can you imagine trying to find the common tech for all your students?
That “information gap” of the turn of the century would get real, real fast.
Oh, and so much for last years lesson plans! #WeirdEd
#WeirdEd A3 - I imagine teachers' roles in the classroom would be more focused on teaching *THINKING SKILLS* post #singularity.
Musings on that scenario here:
https://t.co/MigNhO2kZf
A3: Well, we're kind of low-key there already. Tech is pushed, but by the time it's implemented in a classroom, it's sneaking towards obsolete... hence the closer relationship between edtech companies and education power brokers. #WeirdEd
A3: I think school would look as different to now as 2018 schooling looks compared to one room schoolhouses, and digital citizenship may become the focus. It could be that teaching becomes a job outsourced to technology. #WeirdEd
A3: In the post-singularity classroom, will students be choosing their content delivery platform? Is the job of the teacher to teach discernment?
#WeirdEd
I was a "pre-internet" learner. I liken my learning to a steady, slow current from a faucet, gradually expanding my pool of knowledge at a rate I could control, and handle.... today... it's like a firehose into the brain. #WeirdEd
I suspect that we will always need human interaction. Back in my day independent learning meant I chose books from the high school library that interested me, but I still attended classes. #weirded
I think even now we are shifting from learning things and information to learning how to access that information reliably and efficiently do then process that information. It doesn’t matter if you know Avagadros number so long as you can find it and use it quickly. #WeirdEd
I think of all the skills kids learn at school outside of content, and a lot of it is navigating choices as well as person to person interaction #weirded
I wonder if in younger grades you have teachers returning to social skills and structured play time. Academics are online, socio-emotional skills are handled by real people. #WeirdEd
Yes and no. Technology is evolving to give immediate feedback in a way a print textbook can't. I've seen math programs that provide Ss with specific advice about what error they've made based on which wrong answer they provided. TBs can't do that. #weirded
Sooooo many learners (me included) also need knowledge & skill learning to be paced slower... Creative solutions needed to sustain meeting this need in the future #weirded
I was a "pre-internet" learner. I liken my learning to a steady, slow current from a faucet, gradually expanding my pool of knowledge at a rate I could control, and handle.... today... it's like a firehose into the brain. #WeirdEd
Again, we're edging there mantras like "guide on the side" and push for things like "critical thinking." With the fire-hose analogy, they need that guiding, to help process the volume of "knowledge" at their fingertips. #WeirdEd
Truthfully, I'm kind of already making this shift. Direct instruction can happen through videos - when you're on my time, let's do some stuff a video can't teach you, or clarify things that need more detail. #weirded
Also, there's aggressive messaging related to questioning information, which is, in essence good, but there's an inherent distrust of everything amongst kids. They fact check, yet still question. (Saw it today in response to data on plastic bag use.) #WeirdEd
Tidbit: I am 60. My dear ol' Daddio was one of the first professors of data processing. Mr. MIT bought a kit and built his first computer. I have this old fashioned notion we still need human interaction. #weirded
A4: My class recently had a discussion about “The Human Condition” re: theme. There is so much that is outside the bounds of “knowledge”. Rare is the teacher who got into teaching just because they wanted to deposit facts into kids heads. We teach the whole student. #WeirdEd
A4: My class recently had a discussion about “The Human Condition” re: theme. There is so much that is outside the bounds of “knowledge”. Rare is the teacher who got into teaching just because they wanted to deposit facts into kids heads. We teach the whole student. #WeirdEd
A4 Making sure that their students know what to do with that knowledge. Facts and/or data without critical thinking skills can be overwhelming and needs to be aided. #weirded
Did I just Google “cura personalis”? Yes. Did I take Latin in HS? Yes. Does this all feel eerily relevant to the topic...
(Sorry to another teacher, Mr. Fierro, for forgetting Latin)
#WeirdEd
A4 imagine it will be the ultimate in flipped classrooms. you can’t download creativity, empathy etc. DL’d info does not create a whole person. Education as always been more than just facts and information, Ts impart some of the what it simply means to be human to Ss #WeirdEd
Oh it's amazing. My dad died in December 2000. He had dementia. In the end it was all beyond his understanding. 18 years later and Mr. MIT is still teaching himself coding languages. #weirded
Yeah, I don't think it was ever intended, but I'd say the impact of technology on our scoiety has made it a thing that is more necessary, a more targeted and intentional approach. #WeirdEd
A4 imagine it will be the ultimate in flipped classrooms. you can’t download creativity, empathy etc. DL’d info does not create a whole person. Education as always been more than just facts and information, Ts impart some of the what it simply means to be human to Ss #WeirdEd
A5: First year teacher: there is a lot of off beat things I would love to incorporate, but I worry about how to introduce them in an appropriately slow and careful way to 5th graders. For example this topic I could see myself jumping in too fast and creating confusion.#WeirdEd
I could read papers from kids with politics or religious beliefs that I vehemently disagree with and grade them with a fair and detached mind.
Write a paper saying GIF has a soft g sound and you are failing Writing for the quarter. Don’t care how well written. #WeirdEd
