After reading Loren’s post and watching the video No Gamer Left Behind my eyes have been opened to yet another way in which technology and in particular, computer games, can be beneficial to our children. It has generally been my belief that children these days spend too much time playing invaluable games on the computer or on their latest Nintendo / PSP, so much so that I had vowed to never let my children spend their days inside on the computer. However, after reading and watching these posts, I have been enlightened. I have really been struck by how engaging and thought provoking games can be. In particular, the post talks about simulation games and technology and the power it has to engage students in ‘critical thinking, by tapping into their interests as well as allowing them to assist in designing the games’. There have been several examples of how students themselves have designed games which are used to educate other students, for example a McKinley Technology High School student designed a Fire safety game for younger students to educationally inform them of the dangers of fires. After bearing witness to this video and the benefits gaming holds, my perceptions of computer games are changing and I have become more inclined to promote my children to utilize such software in a way that is meaningful.
Here is another interesting software which I have experimented with, called Commic. This would be a great way to get students to be creative in the publishing of their work. The teacher could use this program in KLA’s such as English by teaching students how to write comics and then publish them on the computer using this software. This would familiarise the students with the layout of a comic and encourage them to experiment as to which style of comic will best portray their story. This will help in making English more fun and enjoyable for the students, because it appeals to a forward thinking and technology driven generation.
If you are lost for ways in which you as a teacher can take control of using technology to help organise, display and share your own work then I suggest you take a look at this article which I came across on Louise’s blog. The article lists ten quick ways in which you can get started with your own blogging! I highly recommend taking a look.
Whilst researching the broader impact that technology has on education, I came across this interesting video on Utube. The video discusses how imparting knowledge through technological software, can both empower the receiver, as well as the wider community in which the receiver lives. I recommend you watch the following video clip to see how technology is enabling developing nations to reach new grounds.
Source of Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/37718678739@N01/40544062
According to Edit Harel’s article ‘Building Software Beats Using It’, research over the past few decades has supported the view that children learn best when they are actively involved in an activity through exploration and design. This is known as Constructionist Learning and proposes the idea that the use of computers in the classroom should go beyond instruction toward educating students by putting them in an active role in which they engage in an interactive and meaningful experience. Through new programs such as Logo and Scratch children are not only able to take responsibility for their learning, they are also able to express themselves by publishing and sharing their work. I believe that it is the scope and ability to share ideas (made available by these new learning technologies) that makes using them in the classroom valuable and valid.
I have just read Jessica’s post concerning the effectiveness of computers in the classroom and fundamentally with regard to student improvement and achievement. I agree with the notion that computer use can help stimulate writing skills in students. By means of motivation, technologies such as computers can drive students to practice skills which they otherwise might find tedious, and because it is an activity enjoyed by most students this is more likely to occur. According to a parent in Kathy Cassidy’s video ‘Telling the New Story’, he has seen a remarkable improvement in the literacy of his son since he started using the computer for blogging and as social software. In particular, this parent believed his son was able to formulate sentences more clearly and able to communicate in a way which is more mature. I believe that having a wider audience to communicate with and the expectation to achieve higher standards has facilitated this improvement in literacy and learning.
I have just watched a fantastic video on TeacherTube by Rachel Boyd, which sums up perfectly the many reasons as to why we as teachers should allow our students to blog within the classrooms.
I have just read Louise’s thought-provoking post The Underdeveloped Classroom. I could not be more shocked at the reality of its content. As I first started reading the post, I thought that the article was off-track and that surely the classroom environment has kept up with the rapidly changing technologically-driven society in which live. However, if you stop to look at the incredible technological advances taking place in the health care system, learning and entertainment tools, mobile and internet devices, science and almost every aspect of our lives, it is evident that in comparison, technology in the classroom has not advanced as much. This raises questions regarding the reasons why classrooms have been left behind. Have people become too lazy, have they not realised the potential for classrooms to move beyond the basics of technology? If advances in creativity and originality could be channeled into creating a technologically-driven classroom, it may be able to move beyond its current reputation. The only remaining question is whether there would be sufficient funding to support this move toward keeping up with the changing world.
While blogging is not an entirely new phenomenon, it is turning learning experiences in the classroom inside out! This is the opinion many of us share with Sarah Fallon, whose article All the World’s a Stage: Teaching through Online Journals, addresses the changes being made in classrooms through ICT. With advances in technology, students are now becoming ‘heard’ for the first time. Teachers who are encouraging their students to blog are opening them to an entirely new experience as their voices and their works are being published for the world to see. Gone are the days that students were only able to display their work for their teachers, parents or at best, their school community to see. Through web logging, their audience has become worldwide. I think this is revolutionary and that student motivation and pride will become far greater, because their ideas / work have more meaning (that is outside of the classroom). Not only does learning take on a new meaning for students, but teachers are able to become more creative with the curriculum too.
After reading Will Richardson’s account on using podcasts in schools, I have been inspired to the many uses and benefits surrounding this new technology. Podcasting leaves the mind open to imagination and allows students to become creative with their ideas. From writing and producing and hosting online radio shows for other kids to ‘sound-seeing tours’ of a local field trip, the list of things to do are educational and endless.
However, most interesting would be the use of podcasting to help teach languages through aural and interactive sound clips. Considering the growing percentage of Non-English speaking students in Australia, it is refreshing to see that technologies such as podcasting can be used to help scaffold learning experiences and make language learning fun!
