cheating, teachers, and technology

From last week's presentations, I was especially grateful for the information on detecting student cheating. I am glad to know about all of the resources that are out there to help me as a teacher. The issue of cheating in the classroom is one that I think about a lot. There is a film that really has facilitated some of my thinking. The movie is The Emporer's Club. In the film, Kevin Klein is a teacher at a private school. He finds out that his student that he liked a lot was cheating in an academic competition. For various reasons, he lets the cheating pass. Then, many years later, he comes to discover that this former student, now an important figure in society, still resorts to cheating for personal gain. How responsible was Kevin Klein's character? How responsible are we, as teachers, for the honesty of our students? Let me know what you think.

Good Quotes from Church Handbooks

We … declare that God is grieved by war and that he will hold subject to the eternal punishments of his will those who wage it unrighteously.

We affirm that all international controversies may be settled by [peaceful] means if nations will but deal unselfishly and righteously one with another. We appeal to the leaders of all nations and to the people themselves thus to mend and adjust their differences, lest the vials of God’s wrath be poured out upon the earth, for he has said he will visit his wrath upon the wicked without measure.
-Heber J. Grant


But since all capitalistic systems are founded upon the institution of private property, inheritance and the profit motive, great inequalities of ownership and income inevitably result. ...Among the more plausible suggestions offered to correct existing abuses without adversely affecting the productive system, is to continue the socialization of our service institutions through a system of progressive taxation based upon ability to pay...taking the bulk of their [captains of industry] profits to finance free education, free libraries, free public parks and recreation centers, unemployment insurance, old age benefits, sickness and accident insurance, and perhaps eventually free medical aid and hospital service. ...The average family may not have much more money, if any, to spend under such a system than now. But...then the meagre family income can be devoted entirely to the necessities of life, plus some of the comforts now enjoyed by the higher income classes. ...To finance all of this, of course, will necessitate huge sums of money. ...And it will also require a carefully worked out tax system so that every one will contribute according to his financial ability. Inheritance and estate taxes will become progressively higher, until the present system of permitting large fortunes to be passed on from generation to generation will become extinct. And incidentally, the so-called idle rich who have been living on the earnings of past generations will be no more.

LDS Melchizedek Priesthood Study Guide, 1939, copyright by Heber C. Grant (Grant, 1938 cited in Johnson)

Who won the first presidential debate?

I am super interested in your thoughts on these questions. In your comments, please tell me 1. if you watched the debate, 2. who you think won the debate, 3. if you already know who you are going to vote for, and 4. how the debates influenced your intended vote.

What does it mean to be a moral conservative?

The other day, I had a friend ask, "How do you reconcile your religious beliefs with your being a democrat?" Unfortunately, I gave my friend the boring answer. I explained how I agree with the social philosophies associated with the democratic party, but like many democrats, I am morally conservative. This means that I would vote against legislation that facilitates abortion, gay marriages, and other policies that are detrimental to the moral fabric of our nation. I have to admit that I am a little bit disappointed with the weak nature of my response. Here's what I wish I would have said:

How do YOU reconcile YOUR religious belief with your being a REPUBLICAN? Seriously! I am baffled that so many people insist on applying Christian teachings to so called "moral" issues, but refuse to apply them to matters of social policy. I personally favor the intermingling of morals and legislation because every law that is made is inherently moral in nature. That is to say that every law that is passed implies a moral judgement on what is right and wrong in society. But if you are going to advocate the use of values and morals in public policymaking, you shouldn't do it half way. The Savior explicitly exhorts us all throughout the New Testament that we should "give to him that asketh thee" and to "give alms of of such things as ye have." If we believe helping the poor is a moral act, the right thing to do, why do we not support those who seek to give opportunities to the poor. It is not enough to say, "people only are taking advantage of the system" or "by helping people, we are only making them dependent." Jesus didn't say to give alms to those who deserve them. He didn't say to help those who were able to help themselves.

Finally, it is not enough to say, "I want to give, but I don't want society to make me give." This is like saying, "I want to decide not to have an abortion, but I don't want the government to force me not to have an abortion." Another reason is that while personal accountability is real, much of the racial and social inequality is directly tied to a dirty national heritage of slavery, biased policy against immigrants, and social inequality in schools. If the government is part of the problem, it is important to help it to be part of the solution.

Can you be a Christian and a Democrat? Yes. If you find yourself agreeing to the things I have said, you might be more of a Democrat than you think.

Is technology really bringing us together?

Now don't get me wrong. I have really enjoyed my blogging experience. But I can't help but question, in a classroom setting, does blogging unify the class, or separate it? Let me qualify that question. We are in an age where communication is easier than it has ever been. We can follow the news in myriad mediums. We can send and recieve emails rather than wait for days or months to receive snail mail. But it seems to me that technology leads to a downgrade in communication rather than an upgrade. We spend time every week sitting at a computer communicating in writing precisely so we don't have to sit down in person with people who walk around all day on our same campus! We say, "isn't this convenient that I can get all the benefits of talking to Danielle without ever really having to talk to Danielle?" Now I can go online and grocery shop, having my groceries delivered to my house, so that I never have to interact with the other shoppers in my community. All of my entertainment needs can be met from the comfort of my own house via satelite, withouth the discomfort of interpersonal interaction in, say, a theatre or community dinner. It seems that technology is doing more to separate us from the world and from eachother than it is doing to unite us. What do you think?

Rules of Thumb for Use of Technology

1. Any technology used should not obscure the learning that technology was introduced to promote.

2. Technology should not be used to isolate students from each other or to preempt meaningful interaction with other students.

3. I did read the Roscelle article and scanned the Jonassen article.

Technology in the Classroom

I grew up going a series of different schools in California, Utah, and Colorado. In each of the schools that I went to, technology played a rather unobtrusive role in my educational experience.

In many of the schools, we were required to watch a news program during one portion of the day, so television in the classroom was nearly universal. One of the major biproducts of the technological revolution of the twentieth century seems to be the increased access to information through the media. I found that in most of my non-math classes, the use of video was common to teach about a concept. Additionally, I found that I knew more about the current events around me because of the access to television media in the classroom.

The second way that I noticed technology in my educational experience was through the computer. The first experience that I had with computers in school was a program that taught typing skills through an old black and green moniter apple computer. I thought that was effective in teaching typing, because typing really is an isolated experience. I didn't think that it would be as useful in promoting activity that could be benefited by interaction with peers. Besides this activity, almost all of my interaction with computers in the classroom entailed trips to the computer lab to type out papers for my English classes.

All and all, I am beginning to see that technology could be used much more in the classroom than I experienced in my K-12 schooling. I do believe that it should be unobtrusive however. Technology is a means, not an end in English education. Ironically, many of the works that we might read will be scathing indictments of the development of technology and societies built around technology.

Changing the world

The combination of ideas and dialogue are the catalysts for meaningful positive change. Diversity of thought properly represented increases the worth of ideas, propositions, arguments, etc. Let the dialogue begin.