The internet provides educators with a great wealth of resources to enhance his/her instruction. Websites, such as studyisland.com, readwritethink.org, and United Streaming are used to help with test prep or as a resource for teachers. With the rise of Web 2.0 applications, such as wikis, blogs, and social networking sites, technology is now allowing students and educators to not just view the web, but to interact with it. We now have the power to and collaborate, communicate, even earn a Master's degree completely online.
Some technology is used primarily for instruction, such as interactive whiteboards in classrooms. However, I am beginning to see teachers take the technology that students interact with daily and find a use for it in education. IPods can be used on field trips to record interviews with classmates or as a way to view video podcasts from professionals or their peers. I have even seen a teacher have his students text friends on their cellphones as a way to collect data for a math lesson.
As technology continues to advance and become more accessible, we have greater opportunities to find uses for it in education.
6 comments:
I love the paragraph about using students "toys" as teaching tools.
Do you think there is any danger in inviting toys into the classroom?
I have seen some of my daughter's high school teachers use blogs as a great way to encourage students to interact not only with the instuctor but with each other. Sometimes we have to meet the students where they are in order to bring them to where we would like them to be.
Mike - I have had issues for a while about not changing as teachers, and thinking that students need to change in order to learn better. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that the culture has changed, and educators need to change with it. There are things that students use for entertainment, that we can use to teach. I do an entire unit on Newton's Laws using my skateboard, and by the end, this kids know motion.
When it comes to iPods and cell phones, personally those are 2 of the four things that I carry with me at all times (the other 2 being my keys and my wallet). If those are things that kids have on them and kids respond to them, lets use them to be relevant and get on the students' level. I have sat through enough poorly taught workshops myself to realize that I have to be engaged to pay attention. If these things engage today's students, we might as well use them for our advantage instead of fighting it. I do however see your point about bringing "toys" into the classroom. This is where design comes in to the equation. It must be done well, and takes a lot of planning, but with a solid process, I think you can accomplish great things with those objects in the classroom.
Tim - you are so correct in that for teachers to be "competitive" in today's learning environment, they have to be able to engage students by today's standards. Today's high school and college students seem to respond best to all the technological gadgets. On the other hand, when dealing with adult learners in a training and development setting, their lack of knowledge and understanding of technology can often hinder the facilitation of learning. So as you say, design considerations are an important part of the equation to make sure that the technologies are appropriate for the learning situation.
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