Engaging Digital Natives

I think that contemporary instructional software helps engage "Digital Natives" because it lets them be actively involved in their learning. Higher-order thinking occurs when such software requires students to make informed decisions and consider all of their options. Also such software programs or online simulations require the students to draw on prior knowledge from class and therefore students would hopefully see the connections and real-life purposes of the concepts they learned in class. I think that students are mostly engaged when they can see the relevance of what they are learning and an answer to, "Why do I need to learn this?"

Many times simply adding a game feature, colorful graphics and sounds to an educational program adds a sense of competition, excitement and interest. Sam from the video said that technology was her second life and therefore she'd probably be more motivated to learn at school if technology was integrated. Her teachers said that she always added her own creative style to projects with the use of technology. The article mentioned that since technology is so accessible to many students, they will most likely expect it in school and learn more effectively through their "native language."

I found the term "Digital Natives" to be very fitting and the term in itself helped simplify the concepts. I always felt as if I was pretty good at technology because I grew up in school with it. Yet the technology that is available for students today is much more advanced than my first black and white apple computer. My students would probably gasp to hear that the Internet wasn't in common use when I was born. I tutor students at a local library and I see 5 year-olds playing computer learning games. So what I'm trying to say here is even though I'm more advanced in technology than others, my students probably know things in which they could teach me. I like step-by-step instructions and yet Sam from the video, "Digital Youth Portrait: Sam" mentioned how she finds technology to be like trial and error. If one thing doesn't work, she'll try something else. Honestly I think that's what makes students like Sam "Digital Natives" because as the "Schools Use of Games for Learning and Assessment Video" mentioned, the students are becoming designers of technology instead of merely passive consumers. As mentioned above higher order thinking occurs when students have to trouble shoot their way through a process and learn problem solving skills.

Technology integration can help with the usually difficult concept of differentiation because many software programs build with difficulty level as they are played. Also some allow students to choose the level of difficulty in order to start at a level in which is not frustrating or too easy. This flexibility allows the students to work at their own pace and level. Sometimes students will finish an assignment early and instead of sitting around or doing busy work, this would allow them to work on an engaging activity.

In an ideal teaching situation technology would be very beneficial for enhancing the content. The students would be given opportunities to think outside the box, be more creative and apply what they have learned. Its one thing to have the students memorize historical facts, but much more important if they can apply those facts to a hands-on critical thinking simulation. The downfalls of technology are even though some software programs have levels, not all students have had the same exposure to technology and some will need detailed instruction. According to the Prensky article, these students were immigrants because they would overwhelmed and unaccustomed to such a digital language that surrounds so many aspects of other student's lives. While that is true, it just emphasizes how important it is to reach as many students as possible. Plus just like Sam taught her mother's college students, kids tend to learn a lot from their peers.

I found two interesting links that would be interactive for teaching Latitude and Longitude and also for history teachers a link about digging for ancient artifacts.


http://www.kidsgeo.com/geography-games/latitude-longitude-map-game.php

http://mesopotamia.lib.uchicago.edu/interactives/DigIntoHistory.html

Oh and also a favorite of mine: www.freerice.com

Integrating Technology

The concept of a "blog" has been around for awhile, but it's something I've never really done. So to start off technology is something that I've always enjoyed as long as it "works" and doesn't get that frustrating. Being that I teach Reading / Language Arts and Ancient History, those topics tend to be of interest. For reading my school has purchased a new reading series called Storytown. There is a large on-line component in which the students will be able to leave their textbook at home and read a story on-line. The story / lesson can also be read to them. My teacher edition and any other workbooks / resources are available to me on-line. This will allow me to easily post / attach assignments for absent students / those who "forget" their homework at school.

I'm very interested in using technology to better link the partnership between parents and teachers. Currently I have a calendar webpage in which parents can view homework assignments, attachments for worksheets / handouts from class and also announcements. Throughout the last few years I have really started to understand how important it is for parents to have a place to be informed and know how they can try to ensure that their child gets their work done. This is something that I plan to update more often in the coming year. I'm excited to learn more from this class and find ways to make my website more user friendly and effective.

Having a blog or space for parents and teachers to ask questions / clarification might be nice as long as it is used just for help with homework and or classwork. Also if one student has a question about something, my answer might help others. Maybe on one of my sites I could post educational games / websites for students. I would have to let parents and teachers know that I will check in occasionally but not all the time.

Also so far I use technology in my classroom by using my proxima to project handouts, worksheets and short readings so that my students can visually follow along. I also use a program called Journal Writer to highlight sections and write notes. I can scan in any document that I want and then project it on a whiteboard. This has allowed me to get away from the traditional overhead projector. For grammar occasionally I show clips from a website http://www.brainpop.com/. It has short videos that through cartoon characters explain grammar topics and many other subjects. This was something that was purchased by my school and has grabbed my student's attention. Also as simple as it sounds I always try to find pictures and or websites to reinforce a topic or concept mentioned in a story we are reading. For example one time we were talking about Adobe houses that are made out of mud and clay. The textbook didn't give the best pictures so I found some on-line to help the students visually better understand what they were learning.

Lastly while it's not something I know a lot about, I'm interested in WIKI's. From what I understand they can be used to allow students to comment / discuss books or stories they are reading. I think if I learn more about it and understand how to make sure the students take the posts seriously, this could be a great way for them to reflect and think about what they have read. In addition it could help with their typing skills and social interaction!