Today we had a good discussion about video games and teaching during the ch. 9 presentation. We also talked about the generation gap and the changing workplace associated with changes in technology.
The book suggested children join social networks online. Not only is is a large threat, but it does not help students with vocabulary, correct spelling, punctuation, or grammar, etc. If parents can constantly monitor it, I do think it can be accomplished but this should not take the place of face-to-face interactions.
We also discussed the changing workplace--what careers have been changed an what careers we think may change in the future due to the revolution. Then, we talked about social lives and learning in respect to peer culture and entertainment technologies.
We briefly learned about the implications for education, specifically technology to support learning, funding concerns, and technology-rich education systems. Some goals of education that we listed include: to make our students productive members of society, to be lifelong learners, to teach children how to find what they need (including in technology), and social cohesion. I do not think technology can meet these goals better than teachers can but I agree that they can work hand-in-hand.
In the ch. 10 presentation, we discussed what learning should be like--interactive and engaging, teach to student interests, relate learning to their lives/experiences, etc. People today choose to learn throughout their lives. Internal motivation is one area that needs to be addressed. Individualizing lessons and making lessons more interesting will help students become motivated. Inquiry projects are good ways to do this. For curriculum that you must teach, integrate those areas in a topic that students are interested in learning about and use a variety of materials, centers, etc. to make it more appealing.
We should also rethink what is important to learn, especially in communication and math and careers that have changed (specifically new skills in technology that you need for your career). We should also rethink transitions, especially during high school and from high school to college. The biggest transition I can think of for young children would be transitioning from pre-K to kindergarten.
The book suggests we also rethink educational leadership--they need to be passionate and are experts in technology. Educational leaders should be able to tell teachers about and how to use technology, working in collaboration to create the best learning opportunities for students. Having an administrator on campus, a technology resource teacher, would be extremely helpful so teachers could learn how to use new technology and make their lessons more interesting for students. Maybe colleges could create certifications for all education majors so they can have more access and learn how to use new technology as it becomes available.
Lastly, we should rethink the role of government in education--would it be better to give the responsibility of education back to the federal government? I am not sure. Pros are that there would be a national standard, more money would be available, and equalization. Cons are that it will need to be implemented gradually, it is worrisome that the government will have a lot of power over the people, and those who are already behind may fall further behind.
At the end, they polled the class to determine if at the end of this class we are technology skeptics, enthusiasts or somewhere in the middle. I chose in the middle because it can help supplement teaching and make lessons more appealing to students, but I do not think they should be the only way students learn/experience skills.
It is important to encourage students to be lifelong learners and be sure you are modeling this yourself.
Contemporary Issues:
A theme park attraction to encourage children to explore careers in math and engineering: to encourage children to want to design roller coasters as their career. You can do this with machines by the roller coaster. This is really interesting! This is VERY motivating for children.
The effects of the Internet on social interactions: a study found that people spent less time with their families and others while depression increased. This is an important issue because times are changing from when I was young. Trying to go without technology for a week, students were "bored out of their minds", went crazy and really did not know what to do with themselves. I think students need to learn how to entertain themselves and play outside with others. This is a parenting issue because many parents allow their children to play more video games or games on the computer than outside. I know this is partly due to the threats outside the house.
Math Anxiety & Technology: Girls can learn math anxiety from their female teachers due to the way the teacher acted (worried, etc.). Researchers say that early childhood/elementary teachers should have to learn higher math than they do now. I disagree with this because I had to take higher math that I do not need to know. Also, I am confident in the math skills I need to teach my students (addition, subtraction, etc.). I think it is the feeling of anxiety that is transmitted, not because of gender. 90% of elementary teachers are women.
Using search engines to do homework: I am sure this is happening. Students need to learn the skills to efficiently find information on the Internet. It also may be difficult to find the specific information they want.
IMing and texts affecting student writing: It can reinforce students' use of bad grammar, punctuation and abbreviations but this is not necessarily the case.
Cool Tools:
Draw anywhere: create organizational charts or diagrams. Downsides are that the logo will print at the bottom and students can view others' charts on any topic.
Google lit trips: It is organized by grades (nice!). You need to have Google Earth downloaded on your computer for this to work. Also, there are not many books listed because teachers must upload the information. The only threat is that anyone can contribute, which means some information may not be reliable.
Flickr: You can use this to upload pictures. It is not totally free. Teachers could use this to document field trips or in class learning for parents and other family members (grandparents, etc.) to see. You must get permission from parents and not ID children by full names. A threat is that it is public so you must change it to private.
Gabbly: It creates a pop up chat room. Anyone can join the chat unless you make it private. To create the chat, type 'gabbly.com/' in front of the URL. Students can chat together while they are on the same website on different computers in different locations.
We learned about screencasting using Jing. You are creating a video of your screen that you share with the world (the class in this case) with a voice recording explaining in greater detail the information displayed on the screen. During the screencast, you can scroll up and down, highlight text, etc. I hope this will not be too difficult to do but it does not seem too bad.
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