This chapter reminds us everything tech related is ever changing and changing quickly. Already, several of the links we have looked at over the weeks were unavailable or I was redirected to a new site. With that, we need to design our teaching to be able to adapt to the technology advancements and according to Prensky (2001), educators should learn to communicate in the 'language' of digital natives.
It was interesting and not so far in the future to consider web-based educational software will become a type of electronic personal education assistant. Text books could be on wikis, the tool would track a student's progress or lack there of and make or respond to comments and suggestions quickly. School educators could advise and keep track of student's work through educational blogs. It could be quite powerful to be able to choose the software best suited for each student's learning style. The polls and surveys by techlearning.com suggested people believe a school's physical location would be less important. That is true in other aspects of work. As an example, I think of the many realtors who continue to collaborate using web tools with their employers from great distances. (HGTV-House Hunter fan)Personally, I still need the human to human (3-D) contact with students so there will have to be a good balance between physical and electronic learning.
I agree with Jeff Utecht when he says today's kids are probably wired differently because of what they have grown up with. Just yesterday, a first grade girl told me she was getting a laptop and ipod for her birthday. Just, a few years ago, someone this young wouldn't even know what those were. If we want to reach her and her generation we need to teach using web 2.0 tools. You can bet that is where she will be as she grows and understands her computer.
'Learning from Games' by David Warlick provided 5 components of video game activities which made these games so intriguing. This helped explain clearly to me why games, IM, myspace and other social networking sites are so popular. Our continiuing staff development should include ways to tap into the video game mentality and use this for instruction.
Finally, I appreciated the online links to educational conferences about web 2.0. I like to read what others have said and where they feel we are headed.
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I agree completely that we need to get on board with the kids because as one of my co-workers put it...They have already gotten on board and taken the express train :-)
ReplyDeleteThe gaming connection is one that interests me... I think that what has held it back before now is that the game developers haven't been educators and educators aren't game developers. But I think that is coming together now and we should be seeing some interesting things. Ann