chapter 8
English/Language Arts Education in the Digital Classroom
The online resource I found the most interesting was the link to Storybird. I like the idea of using art to enhance language. With younger students (K-3rd grade) a teacher could develop a lesson that required students to create a story using sight words. The collaboration feature is a great tool to encourage teamwork. Students could then publish their work which opens up many doors for social interactive. Parents could post comments as could other relatives and friends. If a pen-pal project is created with another class, each class could review and comment on the published stories.
Some of the podcast and blog resources, especially http://howstuffworks.com could prove beneficial as instructional how-to material. With podcasts needing more than just internet access a project of its kind would likely be limited to the classroom.
The resource link to Magnetic Poetry does not take you to the magnetic poetry website, but the actual site, www.magneticpoetry.com is a site worth checking out and integrating into classrooms. There are many kits (some free to play, some to purchase) available at this website that will enhance English/Language education. The site also offers kits designed specifically for foreign languages.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
prompt #9
issue #10 Memorization in the Digital Age
Do Students Need to Memorize Facts in the Digital Age
I believe what should be considered are the types of facts. Yes, students should memorize math facts; multiplication, division, etc. Students do not need to memorize the periodic chart of elements. Yes, students should memorize various facts of language; spelling, definitions, sentence structure, etc. One should not rely on the internet for all knowledge and information.
Do Students Need to Memorize Facts in the Digital Age
I believe what should be considered are the types of facts. Yes, students should memorize math facts; multiplication, division, etc. Students do not need to memorize the periodic chart of elements. Yes, students should memorize various facts of language; spelling, definitions, sentence structure, etc. One should not rely on the internet for all knowledge and information.
prompt #8
issue #6 Student Attention Spans in a Digital World
Is Educational Technology Shortening Student Attention Spans
"If we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow." - John Dewey
The YouTube video "Pay Attention" mentions a T-shirt with the slogan, "It's not attention deficit - I'm just not listening".
Technology is evolving, improving and becoming more accessible through a range of devices. Students of the digital age are able to access information at an ever increasing speed. This accessibilty means students are recieving and analyzing information constantly. Does this lead to shorter attention spans, yes and no. Information and stimuli are coming at students from all angles. However, students can remain attentive to multiple activities, they have mastered the art of multi-tasking. What appears to be short attention spans is really shared attention spans. So contrary to the yes answer, no, attention spans of students are not shortening, attention is divided among various activities. Education, educational methods and educational technologies must adapt to take full advantage of students' abilities to manage multiple tasks at once. Educators cannot keep students in desks with pencils and paper and expect them to listen passively to lectures now that technology has changed the way society operates.
Is Educational Technology Shortening Student Attention Spans
"If we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow." - John Dewey
The YouTube video "Pay Attention" mentions a T-shirt with the slogan, "It's not attention deficit - I'm just not listening".
Technology is evolving, improving and becoming more accessible through a range of devices. Students of the digital age are able to access information at an ever increasing speed. This accessibilty means students are recieving and analyzing information constantly. Does this lead to shorter attention spans, yes and no. Information and stimuli are coming at students from all angles. However, students can remain attentive to multiple activities, they have mastered the art of multi-tasking. What appears to be short attention spans is really shared attention spans. So contrary to the yes answer, no, attention spans of students are not shortening, attention is divided among various activities. Education, educational methods and educational technologies must adapt to take full advantage of students' abilities to manage multiple tasks at once. Educators cannot keep students in desks with pencils and paper and expect them to listen passively to lectures now that technology has changed the way society operates.
prompt #7
The technologies under the second adoption horizon are where education is heading. Game-based learning combines the elements of entertainment with educational objectives. This combination allows for the use of several ISTE student standards; creativity and innovation, communication and collaboration, etc). Game-based learning allows students to put their fingerprints on what they learn as they can create and manipulate the environment. They can share what they create with others and provide feedback and suggestions. With mobiles teachers and students have direct access to one another. Mobiles provide instant interaction which means questions, comments, and ideas do not have to wait until class time to be addressed. When used purposefully and effectively these technologies have the ability to make students confident and successful because they are taking ownership of learning and are provided feedback quickly.
prompt #6
My girlfriend has a BlackBerry. I have an EnV 2 (best cell phone I've had for my needs). Zack Morris of Saved by the Bell fame had a Motorola Dynatec 8000X. The Dynatec 8000X is a huge phone, roughly the same size as a large sweet tea from McDonald's.
My nephews have an XBox, a Playstation (1, 2 and 3) and a PSP. (I had a Playstation2 years ago, but rarely used it.) I grew up with the third generation, 8-bit Nintendo. Occasionally I hook it up to my 32" TV. My parents own a 50" HD flatscreen. Their current TV dwarfs the TV I grew up with 20 years ago, not only in size, but also in number of channels available.
Number of channels
my TV at 10 years old - 12
my parents current TV - 70+
When I was young TV went off. By that I mean, the National Anthem was played while the American flag waved on the screen then there was a long beep and finally nothing but horizontal lines...on EVERY channel. Not so for the widescreen, flatscreen, plasma, LCD, HD, 3D TV generation.
When I was in grade school and middle school the teacher sat at her (majority of my teachers were female) desk and lectured or wrote on the chalkboard and lectured. Occasionally an overhead projector was used. Classrooms no longer operate in this fashion. Classrooms of the digital generation are equipped with computers and the newest technological device, SmartBoards. My father still has floppy disks with outdated information from when he was an engineer. I have flashdrives, my classmates have flashdrives, my co-workers have flashdrives, my teachers have flashdrives. What information storage device will the pre-k students I taught last year use when they are in middle school/high school/college?
My nephews have an XBox, a Playstation (1, 2 and 3) and a PSP. (I had a Playstation2 years ago, but rarely used it.) I grew up with the third generation, 8-bit Nintendo. Occasionally I hook it up to my 32" TV. My parents own a 50" HD flatscreen. Their current TV dwarfs the TV I grew up with 20 years ago, not only in size, but also in number of channels available.
Number of channels
my TV at 10 years old - 12
my parents current TV - 70+
When I was young TV went off. By that I mean, the National Anthem was played while the American flag waved on the screen then there was a long beep and finally nothing but horizontal lines...on EVERY channel. Not so for the widescreen, flatscreen, plasma, LCD, HD, 3D TV generation.
When I was in grade school and middle school the teacher sat at her (majority of my teachers were female) desk and lectured or wrote on the chalkboard and lectured. Occasionally an overhead projector was used. Classrooms no longer operate in this fashion. Classrooms of the digital generation are equipped with computers and the newest technological device, SmartBoards. My father still has floppy disks with outdated information from when he was an engineer. I have flashdrives, my classmates have flashdrives, my co-workers have flashdrives, my teachers have flashdrives. What information storage device will the pre-k students I taught last year use when they are in middle school/high school/college?
prompt #5
I like to view various sources for news, local, national and international. Often I will compare the information from one site to the information on another. I look for biases, subtle and/or obvious, I look for political agendas and often I follow up cited articles and/or links. Most news sites contain the same information, however, some are skewed to sway the reader to believe or not believe certain points of a story. To achieve the five ISTE educational standards for teachers I would teach my students how to analyze and evaluate various wbesites. To specifically foster creativity and assessment I would have my students design a blog page and assign each a job to report about various local news.
prompt #4
Students are connected to social networking websites with each other generally for the sheer enjoyment of instant contact. As a teacher I would poll my students to find out what social networking site they use the most, as a class we would then create a class page,the students would design it. Assignments and various extra credit opportunities would be available through the class page as would be discussion question/points. This one activity would put to use the six ISTE educational standards for students.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)