Blog Moved to Own Domain

I have moved this blog to http://www.edutechnophobia.com.  This blog here on wordpress.com is no longer being updated.  For all the latest posts please visit Edutechnophobia’s new home.

What is Edutechnophobia?

You probably have never heard of edutechnophobia because it technically is not a real word.  Most people have heard of technophobia, or the fear of technology, but edutechnophobia is slightly different.  As you can see from my definition above, it has a more evolved meaning than just the fear of technology.  It deals specifically with the fear of using technology in the classroom.

Kids, tweens, and teens are huge into technology.  They are all about video games, cellphones, Facebook, MySpace, iPods, etc.  As educators we may or may not be as technologically savvy as our students, which may or may not be a bad thing.  In my opinion this is where the problem begins; to our students this technology is life; to many educators and parents this technology is a distraction from life.

Students do not see the problem with text messaging twenty-four seven.  They do not see the problem with listen to their iPods while the teacher is trying to teach.  They don’t mind sharing their most intimate problems and concerns with everyone to see on the internet.  As educators and parents, we spend a lot of our energy telling them directly or indirectly that this technology is bad and they should not use it, at least during school hours.  To our students this makes us seem out of touch with reality and disconnected with the 21st century and to some extent I will have to agree with the students.

Schools are notorious for being slow to adopt new technology.  During the late 1980s and early 1990s I remember watching film strips in my classes that required someone to manually advance to the next slide at the sound of a beep.  VHS had been around for years at the time, but they weren’t available in the classroom.  During the 1990s computers and the internet became more available in schools as well, but tended to be more novelty items than anything else.  It’s only been the last three or four years that many teachers have been incorporating computers into their lessons on a regular basis.  For many teachers the pinnacle of technology integration is using a projector and the occasional Powerpoint presentation.  Sadly though, many teachers don’t even have computer projectors in their classrooms.  The highest technology in some of these classes is an overhead projector that you have to hit just right so the bulb stays on.

I can think of three main reasons that educators may fear incorporating more technology into the classroom.

1. Fear of the unknown. Administrators, teachers, school boards, etc. do not see enough of an educational value in the new technology to incorporate it into the classroom.  Or, they aren’t aware that the technology has educational value at all.  Budgeting money for technology falls under this category.  If the true value of some technology was truly understood, budgeting more money for it really would not be a concern.
2. Lack of knowledge. Administrators and teachers do not know how to use the technology in an educational way.  Traditionally teachers are supposed to be the experts in the classroom, including the use of all instructional materials.  Many teachers fear using something in the classroom that might cause them to look incapable or less of an expert.
3. Loss of control. Administrators and teachers are intimidated by the technology because the students are more comfortable using it than they are.  This means the teachers might have to give up some of the control in the classroom because they cannot tell the students exactly how to use a piece of software or equipment.

It is possible that there could be some fears that I have overlooked, but these are the three big fears I have encountered among educators.  Sometimes these fears are conscious, but more often than not, these are on a subconscious level.  In order to conquer any fear, you must first realize the fear exists.  Through subsequent articles I will guide you along the path to overcoming these fears.  In the 21st century we cannot afford to have edutechnophobia as educators.  I fear this is one of the possible reasons we are losing so many of our students.  However, just throwing new technology at the problem will not fix it.  I will show you along the way how the new technologies can help us reconnect with our students and increase their classroom participation at the same time.

Wordle.net

One Line Description:

Wordle is a free, online tool for creating word clouds.

Brief Description:

Wordle is a free, online tool for creating word clouds.  A word cloud is a visual tool for displaying key words for a topic, lesson, or unit.  There is nothing to download or install.  It can be used from any computer with internet connection as long that computer has Java installed.

To make a Wordle word cloud, you submit the desired text from a web page or other document.  Then you click ‘Go’.  Once you click ‘Go’ the magic begins.  It automatically determines the frequency of each word in the document and will create a word cloud with the most frequent words in the document.  The frequency of the individual words will determine the size of the words in the word cloud.  In the example above ‘computer’ is the most frequent word used in the copied document.  Click here to see more examples.

Once the first word cloud loads, you can easily change features like the font, layout, and color.  You also have the option to randomize and it will create a new word cloud with the same words.  You can do this over and over until you get a design you are happy with.  You can then easily print the word cloud for use in your classroom.  If you have the capability to print to a PDF file, then you also have the capability to save the image as a file that can easily be used again and again.

Opinion:

Wordle is an easy to use and excellent tool for students and teachers.  It allows you to copy all of the text from a report, web page, song, etc. and automatically create a word cloud.  You might have never heard of a word cloud or used one before, but they can be a great tool for summarizing key terms and concepts in a report, lesson, chapter, or unit.

The capabilities for customizing the look of each word cloud is fairly limited.  This could be good or bad, depending on your opinion.  The limited controls definitely make it user friendly and easy enough for very young elementary students to use.

I highly recommend using Wordle to make your word clouds.  It can be a great tool for summarizing the key concepts of any document you want to visually summarize.

Ratings:

Intended Users:  Students and Teachers

Learning Curve:  A

Ease of Use:  A

Capabilities:  C

Benefits:  A

Overall:  A

 

Screenshot:

Wordle Example

Helpful Links:

Official Website