Today I heard an interesting technology story from my boyfriend who teaches alternative ed out in Jackson. It raises the question of what we are really trying to teach kids: skills or content? He was administering a test to students the other day. It wasn't a class that he taught but he was filling in for a coworker. As he was giving the test he saw a student hunched over his desk funny so he went to check it out. The student was using his phone to look up an answer (or at least get some information about it) online. My boyfriend asked him what he was doing and he explained (defended himself) that he had no idea what the question was asking and that he was trying to get some more information about it. Well they discussed how this was technically cheating and how there are other strategies, like asking for clarification etc, if you are unsure how to do something on a test. The student proceeded to show him the question and he didn't know it either. (Again not his test/class/content area) So he looked it up online!
Now it is up to the classroom teacher how to deal with this incident but the thought does cross my mind that one of the most important skills any person can have is knowing how, when, and where to access information. In the real world you dont need to know everything, it wouldn't be possible, but you do need to know how to get information. To me this is an important skill. It doesn't make the cheating ok, but it certainly makes sense. What do you think?
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While this is an interesting story, as you put it, the situation is becoming more and more common. It is no accident that with the newest standards in Michigan for technology education (MET-S) that ethical use of digital media has a prominent position. What I see everyday at the high school level, and I'm sure you all as well at other levels a cavalier cut and paste mentality when it involves digital media. One of the things I have pushed hard for in my school is to do a quick ethics in a digital world lesson that is given to the computer apps course. On the subject of cell phones to "clarify" questions, of course its cheating and should be viewed as such. Cell phones in schools are rife with the possibilities for cheating and I think will be viewed with a jaundiced eye by educators for some time to come. We have to educate at a very early age how to use digital media ethically. We are already hearing about college students having million dollar judgments rendered against them for illegal sharing of copyrighted music. I read in the past couple days of universities charging "re-connect fees" to students who have had their network access disconnected after receiving a copyright infringement notice from recording companies for sharing of music. There is no easy fix, however, cheating is always going to be cheating.
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very interesting point of view Gina. I am a general ed teacher but work in an urban area where most of my students lack the skills necessary to solve the most seemingly mundane tasks. The result is usually anger, sorrow, or cheating based on the context. I often get heat from my co-workers when I stand up for a student who uses skills that are not immediately viewed as socially acceptable.....punching a locker for example instead of another student or hiding crackers from the cafeteria for later. I often have to defend my actions my explaining to the offended staff that we are, after all, preparing our students to elave us and join the real world someday.......Though using a cell phone to get information for a test is definitely cheating......don't we all use our cell phones to make our grown-up lives easier?????
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