pathways | an educator's notebook

I usually find educational software products lacking in some way or another. I expect most educators who are using 3rd party tools are vigilant in finding and adapting tools. In short we think of this as fun. As a result we are very aware of what is really available out there. The many different successful tools that exist, such as blogging engines or hosted blog sites or hosted wikis which become popular have proven their worth with a broader audience than education. Edublogs for example, while targeting the education market, is built on the successful Wordpress engine. Successful products have had to respond to market demand, and the global community can place a lot of demands on a piece of software. Educational products however have a much narrower market. And, I expect there is often a disconnect between the end consumer (teacher, parent, student) and the purchaser (IT crew, administration). As a result the drive for improvements in the product cycle is weak.

I use a variety of third party tools for my classroom. Thus far the use of these tools has been well supported. Other teachers are adopting some of the same tools too. However, there are no tools provided in the first place (other than basic productivity software).

I think there are times when the supplied product is the right choice to use, even if the product is lacking. For example my school adopted an online grading and reporting system. I need to use this to maintain consistency with other teachers and facilitate communication with families. If I don't like the software then my job would be to get on the committee making the decisions and be a part of the process, which I am.

I've tended to stick with what the institution provides. At SUNY we used a system called ANGEL that worked well, once you got the hang of it. There were clunky menus and the filing system was byzantine. But the university offered a LOT of training and you could get instant help from a well coordinated IT group entirely dedicated to making ANGEL work, and for the most part, it did. I certainly preferred it over the WebCT we used at UNB.

(This is somewhat off-topic.) Surprisingly, my biggest challenge was getting my students to use the system. I'd put lecture notes, papers in pdf format, images, videos, links, practice quizzes, and sample essays online- and invariably some students would complain that they wanted printed copies on reserve at the library ( I refused). It was most difficult to make them use the ANGEL tools that were community-oriented: online help chat, listservs, group discussion, peer evaluation, course feedback... students resisted using any of these tools. For them, their online "community" is simply an extension of their real-life one- the web is for keeping in touch with friends or doing research for term papers, and that's all. They're incredibly unsophisticated wrt web use.

Discussion with students is a great idea. Not only would the kids have to weigh the reasons for choosing an open platform compared to a closed environment. This would teach not only internet safety but communication skills.

I think there are a fair number of teachers who would prefer the walled garden approach. Often times because they worry about potential risks and maybe are not comfortable handling situations with their current skill set. Web publishing tools are very easy to use and I have seen first hand how someone’s lack of knowledge regarding privacy and internet posting can cause problems. So I respect someone for knowing their limits.

A walled garden can be a nice place to start with students and teachers who have not published online for school in the past. he environment is “safe” and could lead to a transition. What would be ideal is to have a switch, controlled by the teacher that opens the gate or closes the gate.