Archives and Research

     I have to be honest, yet again. I was overwhelmed with the materials for this week. There was just so much! One of the archives presented that I can envision using in my classroom  would be the videos from Civil Defense that help explain a different time, a time of fear and  for example, the Cold War.  In my classroom today, students finished reading a novel that focuses on the inferiority of women in the Afghan culture, and are currently reading "A Jury of her Peers" by Susan Glaspell, "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin and other female empowerment stories. The Rural Civil Defense resource has a great resource on the " issue of female employment" that would generate discussion over gender roles in the classroom. The video shared above is from Youtube, but is also a classic sexist propaganda piece that would generate debate about a woman's role in the workplace, society and the home.

     Other issues from this week that I would like to comment on include the issue of laptop usage. I commented on that topic previously, but I continue to debate this daily, often with a varying perspective.Though some instructors feel that laptops hinder the learning experience, others feel that it is vital.  In my experience, I have seen instructors misuse, overuse and under use the resource of technology. Teachers who use laptops as babysitters exist. Teachers who cannot relinquish any control over their classrooms, and fear the laptop because it is not their lecture that is the focus exist as well. Just like with any tool, I feel strongly that a balance can be achieved. If instructors design their course with technology in mind, and consider how this access can help them cover more content and do so more deeply, then a successful experience with technology is possible. At first I agreed with research cited in the article by Carrie Fried, that "Human Attention and capacity to process information is selective and limited" ( Kaheman, 1973, Posnur,1982). Then it dawned on me that this research was older than me. And though I do feel overwhelmed with info at times, I know that in this age, we just have to learn to process it differently, quicker and adapt to the medium of the time. I overwhelmed, excited and fearful for the processing needs of my four-year old daughter. There are no words.