Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Digital Kids
The importance of technology is unmistakable, and educators must learn to incorporate it appropriately in the classroom. As the comments show, it is a tool for young people today, and we can show them how to use it as a tool to accomplish what they want to accomplish in learning, in business and in creativity as well as in communication and entertainment. The technology gives access to an overwhelming amount of information, which means that the old patterns of memorizing and spitting back are useless. However, the technology does not educate the student on how to use that information, how to judge the quality and value of information or how to consider context and appropriate application. The need for wisdom, judgment and critical thinking has not been replaced by technology, but the wise thing for educators would be to learn the technology and engage the students in innovative ways to use it to accomplish their goals as human beings.
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You make a very good point when you say that technology does not tell students what bits of the information is important nor does it tell them how to use the information. I think that this where teacher education programs need to start from and work on. More classes on uses of technology like the one we are currently in.
ReplyDeleteGood thoughts. Which quotes are you responding to?
ReplyDeleteDo you think that the majority of teachers that are currently in the classroom receive the training they need to teach children how to use technology? I remember having the one hour of computer time scheduled in per week.
ReplyDeleteIn the second quote the author writes, "We know that good teachers help good students learn." I suppose a teacher could help teach the class as a whole with only one computer by having the students throughout the day blog two sentences about a class assignment.
I was responding in general to some themes in the quotes, but the one that got me thinking about this was this one:
ReplyDeleteThe kids who start school today will be retiring in the year 2065, and yet we know as little about what the world will look
like then as we do five years from now. We can give them all the content we want, but in this age, in won’t make much
difference if we don’t teach them how to learn first. And they do that not by spitting back at us what they “know.” They do it
by being creative, by trying and failing, by succeeding and reflecting.
A couple of more notches in the school is irrelevant belt.
http://weblogg-ed.com/2006/learning-to-learn-2/
William, Suzanne, I agree that good teachers help good students learn -- that is something that is true with or without technology. I don't know enough about the U.S. system to know if teachers get enough training, but I think the quotes are right that they should be able to use technology more to be able to connect with their students and help them learn how to be critical thinkers.
ReplyDeleteI really like your perspective on not only introducing new forms of technology to students, but also assist them in the bests ways to apply their new skills. In my experience, many adults believe that because children have access to various forms of technology on a daily basis, they automatically fully understand new concepts and strategies. Guiding and modeling new ideas and perspectives can help students become aware of how to use technology to their advantage.
ReplyDelete