As we have seen in our readings, chats and discussions, emerging
technologies cannot be wished away in the present ever changing world
and especially classrooms, but all the forces we know of embrace it eg
social forces and economic forces. For the children who want to get a
good education, they have to keep up with the new technologies like
tweeter, blogging, IM, chats even texting, and not give in. With texting
though, once they get of age to have cell phones the gadget stays in
their hands constantly and so it comes easily. Here is a twist about Text Messages
But what I can see and I have to say that this is just a layman
retorting and not a research finding at all, is that although there will
be more than enough end point user hardware around the world, there
might be difficulties when it comes to connectivity. As we have seen in
our readings (Web 2.0 and Disrupting Class text), some countries are
far ahead when it comes to connectivity of the World Wide Web but none
of them has reached the perfect level (100%). So this will always be
hindrances as far as online learning and especially due to the
financial, technical and logistical difficulties attached to it. For the
majority of the countries finance is a problem, especially most of
third world countries. We have to bear in mind that it is not
collaborative learning until we hear from everybody in different parts
of the world. At the same time, I believe that every country is doing
its very best for their citizens to be connected and be part of this
great experience and even better become global citizens.
Putting that aside, my take for a good education is not just mastering
the lectures and readings provided by the teacher but also relating the
lectures and readings to the real world events. For example, apart from
just listening to news and getting satisfied by what you have heard, an
educated individual will try getting other views from other sources
using the internet, texting friends to know what they think and so on.
Paulo Barsio explains this better here .
Social networks have grown very rapidly and they offer fast ways to
organize things like get together, sharing, lazar fast communication and
meetings as they collaborate. Such are the functionalities I think
kids will benefit from but by using them for educational purposes other
than just socializing. See this Computer Games Another way
that student can learn better is using online based computer games. This
is well explained here Educational Computer Games
Evans,
ReplyDeleteYou share some interesting facts and opinions about how technology will fit into our world today. I must admit that I found the Social Networking reference quite informative.
I would have like to have heard more about what you have been learning while following the blogs you have been following over the past few weeks. What were the general themes and how did they relate to you?
http://tinyurl.com/39b96vs
Z
Evans,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you on the subject of teachers relating their instruction to real world events. Teachers can't just base their lectures on what is in a textbook. Teachers need to get their students involved in real world activities.
Colleen
Evans,
ReplyDeleteA lot has changed over the years in regards to technology. Many students are very literate in using these newer technologies; however, some teachers have not caught up. Some teachers wonder why students are misbehaving and becoming bored in their classrooms. In my opinion the answer is simple: they are not connecting to the interests and needs of their students. Instead of asking students to step outside their comfortable zone to learn the way we teach, maybe we, as teachers, need to step outside our comfortable zones and teach the students the way they learn best.
Billie
Evans,
ReplyDeleteI think it is interesting to note that many politicians are citing their promise to increase connectivity in rural areas on their political platform.
Great post,
Shelly
This is really intersting article! I have often wondered how politicans will take a stand on technology being incorporated into education.
ReplyDelete