Blog #4 Games, Simulations, Virtual Worlds & WhiteBoards (Interactive)

#4 - GAMES

After exploring in class the following Emerging Technologies: a) Games, b) Interactive Whiteboard Activities, c) Simulations/Role Playing, & d) Virtual Reality/ Worlds (links found HERE), discuss whether or not you see a use for each of these four technologies. Then, pick two different, specific activities (a game, a simulation, an interactive whiteboard activity, or a Virtual Reality or World) and discuss in detail how it engages students in their own learning.

All four technologies have a place in my English classroom, assuming that I would have access to an Interactive Whiteboard. Games are great for introducing material and especially effective for reinforcing knowledge. With the use of a SMARTBoard and games, a class could be divided into groups or teams and compete for prizes. In these situations students have fun, are engaged in their learning, and would be moving academic content from the short-term to the long-term memory. With respect to Simulations/RolePlaying and Virtual RealityWorlds, for my purposes, I see these technologies as an option for students when doing projects. Many simulations and virtual worlds take a long time to set up and class time is precious and limited. Also, such activities are loved by some students and would be the right choice, and with other students, who are not that interested in simulations & virtual reality/worlds, it would be the wrong choice. I have used role playing often in the past, where students pretended to be someone else and acted, talked, or wrote as that person would, and those were effective role playing activites.

Two specific activities I experimented with today and enjoyed were the Rethinking Schools Middle East Map and the SAT Vocabulary practice. Although I was a high school English teacher, I would still have my students use the Middle East map to underscore that they are not as aware of the world they live in as they might think they might be. A tenet I believed in is that "truth often depends upon one's perspective," and in the challenging times we live in, I think all citizens need to understand people who may differ (ethnicly, culturally, etc.) so that we all have a better understanding of why events happen and what the effect of those events are ourselves as well as others. I would use the map in a competitive, fun way in class to illustrate how we need to be more aware of the world we live in. Also, I believe it is (and was) a good idea to do something completely different once in a while so the class and my students did not fall into a rut. With respect to the Vocabulary Practice, as a senior English teacher, most of my students were preparing for the ACT & SAT so the vocabulary quiz offers great prep for those college tests

Blog #3 Digital Nation

Blog # 3 - Digital Nation:

Prompt for the video, Digital Nation:

a) In what way (s) does Digital Nation depict digital technology as beneficial to teaching and learning?

b) In what way (s) does Digital Nation depict digital technology as detrimental to teaching and learning?

(For both of the above questions, cite or refer to, a specific example or examples to support your conclusions.)

c) What are your overall conclusions regarding digital technology and its impact on teaching and learning?

The segments I found most interesting and relevant are the following:

a) Distracted by Everything, b) What's It Doing to Their Brains, c) Teaching with Technology, d) Relationships, and e) Where Are We Headed.

a) While there are many ways that Technology is beneficial to teaching and learning, I will focus on two. Using a Word Processor greatly improves the likelihood that students will revise and improve their writing, and to me, drafting is the key to good writing. I also believe the Internet had a more positive than negative impact on teaching and learning because having the library come to students rather than having them physically have to go to the library has tremendously improved students use of references and sourcing.

 b) The way that technology is most detrimental to teaching and learning to me is best summarized by what MIT Professor Sherry Turkle said. "There really are important things you cannot think about unless it is still and you are only thinking about one thing at a time.  There are just some things that are not amenable being though about in conjunction with 15 other things.

Turkle has really hit on something here. While it is possible in certain circumstances to juggle multiple items, each demanding partial attention, teaching and learning do not fall into that category. A price is paid and I believe the greatest price is that students today do not frequently engage in deep thought. As several other professors noted, multitasking leads to being easily distracted, disorganized memory, poor analytical thinking, and in general less and less creative thinking.

c) As always seems the case, with the good comes the bad. While digital technology often brings us instant and worldwide access, it also has the potential to turn our brains into mush. Since many organisms (humans included) focus on the short term and instant gratification, we are also being deprived of many of the more important things in life which require deep thinking, postponement of gratification in pursuit of more loft goals (a degree, a successful marriage and/or relationships). Technology without self discipline often is a greater detriment than benefit. However, if one has the discipline to control one's urges, technology will be a every effective tool that tremendously benefits teaching and learning.