Philosophy A of Technology / Victor King EDUC319 / Dr. Sessoms Manifesto: As an ESOL teacher, I will not allow technologies to usurp their role as "helper" to the human interactions at the core of language acquisition. However, I will not unthinkingly disregard any medium or tool that might support my students in their quest. All for truth, all in love. My overarching patterns of use and thought regarding technology have remained fairly constant across this semester. The one shift that I can put my finger on is that my data archival and web-browsing habits are becoming as much web-based as desktop-based. My iGoogle homepage and "delicious" page have virtually eliminated my need for a browser-bound bookmarks folder. Also, since the awful experience of losing a thumb drive last semester only ten days before finals, I have begun saving final drafts (and even drafts-in-progress) of my papers within my Gmail account by e-mailing them to myself, tagging them, and archiving them. My understanding of a few programs has increased considerably, namely: Windows Movie Maker, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Frontpage. I am blessed with a relatively unflappable disposition when it comes to "technical difficulties," so frustration in that area has not been a problem for me. With internet-enabled computers in a classroom, one situation that is likely to occur at some point, at least at the secondary level, is this: I catch a student (or several) bringing up sexually explicit material, possibly even pornography, on a web browser. Of course, my response would depend significantly on the context: if the student was alone at the computer, and if it was an isolated occurrence, I would quietly reprimand and dismiss him/her from the computer. With a repeated offense, I would talk with the student at lunch, and probably speak with his/her parents. If it were a group of students, I would consider digging deeper into the issue with the
entire group (by "the issue" I mean the sexual objectification and violence that are so closely correlated with pornography). It is a volatile topic, to be sure, but one of vital importance. My chief goal is not to "nanny" my students, of course, but there is much to be said for moral modeling. In the special education class that I have participated in this spring, digital technologies are regularly integrated. The teacher wrote (and received) a grant last year for computer equipment including a high-quality a projector, laptop with a touch-sensitive screen, and a wireless tablet. Daily "warm-up" activities often have students writing or toggling answers onto the document via the wireless tablet and stylus, and two students with significant speech/language disabilities are supplied with compact, easy-to-use word processors at their desks. Research for in-class projects is often carried out via internet-enabled computers, and a common reward for finishing one's work early is the privilege of playing (relatively clean) webbased games like dirt bike racing, virtual doll-dressing, or car modification games. One technology that seemed helpful was the Neo portable word processors; the three children that used them could participate where they otherwise might not have been able to. I am not sure whether I have signed up for the sort of "professional organization" alluded to in the syllabus. There is only one professional organization for ESOL teachers, called (not surprisingly) "TESOL," and membership costs about $80 a year. I am waiting until I am employed as a teacher to join, in the hope that my district will pay for my membership as a dimension of my professional development (but if they don't, I will probably join anyway). One very useful thing I have signed up for is the ASCD Smartbrief - a free e-mail newsletter that compiles important news about K-12 education in the United States. As far as access to up-todate research in linguistics or ...