Will Richardson warns educators that if we are not staying current and using technology in our classrooms we are "falling more in danger of becoming irrelevant in our students' lives" (2009, p.x). For as long as I can remember, teachers have been encouraged to make lessons real for the learner. The reality of today's learners is that they have grown up surrounded by cell phones, video games, I-pods, and interactive web pages like My Space and Face book outside of school and are ready and willing to embrace any new technology that keeps them networking. The student who can not conjugate a verb to save his/her life is very capable of texting, e-mailing videos, and navigating web pages on a cell phone--even while it's hidden in a pocket! There's a new skill set educators need to tap in to in order to reach today's students.
Although I didn't grow up with it, I, too, enjoy the advances of technology in my personal life and have had a little laugh at the friend who had to send back her Blackberry because she couldn't figure it out. I have been fortunate enough to have many of the latest educational tools in my classroom and use them with ease--most of the time (Gods of the Smart board willing). However, when asked if the technology we use to teach allows us to accomplish tasks differently or to accomplish different tasks, I realize I have a way to go in using technology to its full capacity in my classroom. Reading about things to come has me overwhelmed. Richardson quotes the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard as saying the past twenty-five years in technology have been the "warm up act" (p.10) Wow! What's next? And how will the digital generation who has experienced and expected technology in the classroom from their elementary days react to new innovations? Take them in stride, or stand in awe of human ingenuity? What do young learners predict the new techno tools will be?
Reference
Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (2nd ed.).Thousand Oaks, CA:Corwin Press
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"The student who can not conjugate a verb to save his/her life is very capable of texting, e-mailing videos, and navigating web pages on a cell phone..." True, but given this trend we are about to produce a nation of illiterates. Not only will these people not know how to write, they will also not know how to program and hence will be at the mercy of a small group of people with regard to their intellectual lives.
ReplyDeleteI agree that texting and even e-mailing have lowered the standards of written language because what is acceptable in those arenas is often mistakenly thought to be acceptable everywhere, by students and adults alike. However, the idea here is to simply "engage" learners with the technology they are comfortable navigating and put it in the school setting where other skill sets can be included. As a language arts teacher, I will hold my students' blogging, texting, and e-mailing to a higher standard than their usual recipients and hope that by putting quality requirements in that field, it might just stick and even flow over to their casual communications (a teacher can dream, right?).
ReplyDeleteI put the word engagement in parentheses here because a recent read of Warlick's 2cents Worth has me thinking that this National Board word is becoming associated with fun and games rather than the idea that educators strive to engage their students by meeting their students’ individualized needs well enough to make learning enjoyable. This is where I was headed with my original thoughts that tapping in to what they are already doing with technology just gives educators a head start on what needs to be addressed in a child’s formal education. As a middle school teacher, if I can get and keep their attention long enough to get my point across…it’s been a good day.
References :
Warlick, D. http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/