One of the main things I got out of the Power point presentation called “educating the net generation” is how crazy multi-tasking my generation is. Even as I’m writing this blog I was taking with someone, checking my emails, and working on another classes assignment. The other thing is that I need to remember that the newer generation is going to be even more multi-taking and even more involved in technology. At least I can remember a time when we didn’t have internet. I remember when we were the first family in our apartment complex to get a regular NES. My friends thought my dad was so cool because he could beat Zelda. What would it be like to have a life where you were given a DVD for your 2nd birthday, or an IPOD at 5. A cell phone in 3rd grade… I can’t even imagine. I guess that is the whole point of this slide show…the kids are growing up with a very different outlook on life. They are techno-dependent. How long could some teens go without their cell-phone or Facebook? How can use this techno-dependence as a positive and integrate technology into my classroom to make for an awesome learning experience.
The video “why integrate” was about a high school in Georgia. One thing I was impressed with was the use of “eclickers” or “iclickers” whatever you want to call them. As a teacher, I should constantly look for ways to incorporate technology in my classroom. Standard 2D in the NET says - “Provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching.” I think using the iclickers is a great way to have students take quizzes. Not only are you using technology, you are saving paper, and you can get instant results, automatically record grades, and walk through each question with the students, and provide scaffolding in quiz / test taking skills. I wish that I had teachers that used these. Some friends of mine have had teachers use these even in large lecture type classrooms with 200+ people and said they were a great way to keep the class interactive.
The article titled “21st century” has one little section about Technology. It mostly emphasizes the fact that we need our students to be technology literate so they can make it in the workplace and in life in general. I do think that is a correct statement, but I think there are more reasons we should include technology in our teaching. We should not solely focus on “our students need this to be competitive in the workplace.”
The article titled “Online teens are learning skills, not wasting time” is a great reassurance to teachers trying to incorporate technology in their classroom. I’ve heard some people say, “Kids get enough computer and technology on their own, they don’t need us adding even more hours to their lives. We need to get kids off the computer.” I think that is the wrong attitude. Media is a part of their lives. Use that to their advantage. Teach them how to use it effectively and teach them how great a learning tool it can be. If you leave them to learn how to navigate technology on their own, there will defiantly be those kids that will get lost or drown.
The article WWW: Whatever, Wherever, Whenever is advocating using the internet in classrooms. I agree with most of this article. I think teachers should be integrating learning through media like the internet, podcasts, and short films. I think one of the most important parts of this integration is made clear in this article: “learning must be real, rich, and relevant.” Teachers shouldn’t just use media because it is cool, fun, or “the new thing to do.” Media is a tool. It is a means to an end, not the end itself.
While watching the video about engaged learning I thought about my education. I remember sitting in nice neat little rows in Jr. High and High school in almost all of my classrooms. Where in “real life” do we sit in rows and listen to someone spout off facts for 7 hours straight. I really like the word Collaboration. I really hope that Collaboration is a word that can describe what kind of learning is going on in my classroom in the future.
The last article about games made a great point: “
It is important to emphasize that games and play may be effective learning environments, not because they are “fun”12 but because they are immersive, require the player to make frequent, important decisions, have clear goals, adapt to each player individually, and involve a social network.” Games can be included in my above statements about media. Games used in the classroom to be used as a game are pretty pointless. If a teacher says, “I think I’ll include a game in my lesson to make it fun for the students” I think they are forgetting the point of their jobs. If most of your lesson is so boring that you need a game to get your students excited again, you are doing something wrong. You could instead come up with a great game that transforms your entire lesson. It’s not about boring vs. fun. It’s about instead of spewing out facts, get your students working together, making decisions, and competing. The learning will follow.
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