The "New Teacher" Blog
Our First Field Trip
First of all, I have to say, that I thought it was quite a good idea to visit a school and see for ourselves what the situation about New Media in the classroom was. I also expected to learn a thing or two from the teachers working with computers or the internet or even other devices even I haven heard about, yet.
On the morning of the field trip, I met with some other course members in front of the staff room of the Martin-Luther-School in Marburg. We were welcomed by Mrs. Fernandez who offered to show us around the school and its media-related teaching rooms and to show us how some of the programs and devices work. She seemed like a young, inspired teacher and it was easy to listen to her as she initially told us some things about the school and showed the equipment that was present at the time.
I did not know anything about the quantum of technical devices a school should have or is supposed to have. So, I was surprised to hear about all the things this school had, including a media case with an integrated projector and loudspeakers. I thought the school had quite a lot and Mrs. Fernandez told us it was rather poor. Other than that she also pointed out that a lot of the stuff is booked most of the time anyway, so you have to be quick in your preparation for your classes beforehand.
Afterwards, we left for the library, which had several computers and like libraries normally do, lots of books. A few pupils were sitting, funnily mostly not at computers, reading the paper or doing homework or research. Mrs. Fernandez talked a little bit about the rules of the library and the possibilities and pointed out that there usually was a invigilator present, who checked if the pupils visited dangerous websites or else. She also said, that not a lot of students would check their social network accounts in the library or do other off-topic surfing.
The next room to look at was the main computer room on the top floor. Mrs. Fernandez gave us a brief general introduction regarding the usage and the rules the students had to follow before we could ask the questions each of us had prepared for that day. I followed her explanations with interest as I had never heard of most of the issues about pupils in the media classroom.
The teacher explained that the students attend an introductory course where they all receive the so called digital school bag, a USB-stick that should introduce them to the media world. Other that that , they do not receive a general training concerning software like Word, Excel or PowerPoint. One of the most interesting programs for me, was the Mastereye, which enabled the teacher to follow every action taken on any computer in the room, further providing him with the possibility to intervene if necessary. Here, we also got a go with the Mastereye, which was quite interesting.
During the session a lot of interesting questions were asked by the students of our course leading to an interesting knowledge exchange.
Generally the teacher had a positive attitude towards the work with computers which mainly consisted of web quests, research or math programs. She then said, that most of the older colleagues did not get down to learn how to use the computers and that not a lot of staff attend the training sessions that were held. Regarding the frequency of usage she explained, that it amounted to around two to three times a week. Later, she remarked that the feedback of the parents varied and that the school also received negative feedback regarding the privacy of the kids. In the end, she added that only specific subjects like Math, Informatics, Languages and to a lesser extent History were present in the media rooms.
In conclusion, I found it a really interesting trip providing me with a lot of insights in the work with New Media in foreign languages and in school in general. I am aware of the traps and dangers of these kinds of school areas specifically, now.
On the morning of the field trip, I met with some other course members in front of the staff room of the Martin-Luther-School in Marburg. We were welcomed by Mrs. Fernandez who offered to show us around the school and its media-related teaching rooms and to show us how some of the programs and devices work. She seemed like a young, inspired teacher and it was easy to listen to her as she initially told us some things about the school and showed the equipment that was present at the time.
I did not know anything about the quantum of technical devices a school should have or is supposed to have. So, I was surprised to hear about all the things this school had, including a media case with an integrated projector and loudspeakers. I thought the school had quite a lot and Mrs. Fernandez told us it was rather poor. Other than that she also pointed out that a lot of the stuff is booked most of the time anyway, so you have to be quick in your preparation for your classes beforehand.
Afterwards, we left for the library, which had several computers and like libraries normally do, lots of books. A few pupils were sitting, funnily mostly not at computers, reading the paper or doing homework or research. Mrs. Fernandez talked a little bit about the rules of the library and the possibilities and pointed out that there usually was a invigilator present, who checked if the pupils visited dangerous websites or else. She also said, that not a lot of students would check their social network accounts in the library or do other off-topic surfing.
The next room to look at was the main computer room on the top floor. Mrs. Fernandez gave us a brief general introduction regarding the usage and the rules the students had to follow before we could ask the questions each of us had prepared for that day. I followed her explanations with interest as I had never heard of most of the issues about pupils in the media classroom.
The teacher explained that the students attend an introductory course where they all receive the so called digital school bag, a USB-stick that should introduce them to the media world. Other that that , they do not receive a general training concerning software like Word, Excel or PowerPoint. One of the most interesting programs for me, was the Mastereye, which enabled the teacher to follow every action taken on any computer in the room, further providing him with the possibility to intervene if necessary. Here, we also got a go with the Mastereye, which was quite interesting.
During the session a lot of interesting questions were asked by the students of our course leading to an interesting knowledge exchange.
Generally the teacher had a positive attitude towards the work with computers which mainly consisted of web quests, research or math programs. She then said, that most of the older colleagues did not get down to learn how to use the computers and that not a lot of staff attend the training sessions that were held. Regarding the frequency of usage she explained, that it amounted to around two to three times a week. Later, she remarked that the feedback of the parents varied and that the school also received negative feedback regarding the privacy of the kids. In the end, she added that only specific subjects like Math, Informatics, Languages and to a lesser extent History were present in the media rooms.
In conclusion, I found it a really interesting trip providing me with a lot of insights in the work with New Media in foreign languages and in school in general. I am aware of the traps and dangers of these kinds of school areas specifically, now.
