Agenda:
With the advent of technology human beings' relationship with information has fundamentally changed - because of this, education must change also. We cannot prepare students for the future with the tools of the past. What is the current extent of technology infusion in the lives of today's youth? Percentage of students with access to the internet either at home or at school - 90% Percentage of students with access to the internet who go online every day - 50% Percentage of students with broadband access to the internet, either at home or at school- 50% Percentage online teens share their own creations online, such as artwork, photos, stories, or videos - 33% Source: PEW INTERNET & AMERICAN LIFE PROJECT "Today's students - K through college - represent the first generations to grow up with this new technology. They have spent their entire lives surrounded by and using computers, videogames, digital music players, video cams, cell phones, and all the other toys and tools of the digital age. Today's average college grads have spent less than 5,000 hours of their lives reading, but over 10,000 hours playing video games (not to mention 20,000 hours watching TV). Computer games, email, the Internet, cell phones and instant messaging are integral parts of their lives."
Inspiration and Information "What our students understand (and that we, as teachers, seem blind to) is that the very nature of information has changed. It's changed in what it looks like, what we look at to view it, where we find it, what we can do with it, and how we communicate it. We live in a brand new, and dynamically rich information environment, and if we are going to reach our students in a way that is relevant to their world and their future (and ours), then we must teach them from this new information environment." -David Warlick "To me that is the biggest challenge the educational system faces in the next few years. Schools are not dealing with the way teenagers learn. They are taught by people that grew up and finished their education before the internet era. Lots of teachers still lack the skills to teach current teenagers in the way they are familiar with and can understand. Loads of information is coming to them via the internet and everything they do is through the screen: the learning, the reading, downloading and listening to music, writing, designing and most importantly: communicating with the world. And if everything teenagers do is through the screen, why then is there so little taught through the screen??? It's time for a change, it's time to blog!......." -Elmine Wijnia "Unfortunately for our Digital Immigrant teachers, the people sitting in their classes grew up on the "twitch speed" of video games and MTV. They are used to the instantaneity of hypertext, downloaded music, phones in their pockets, a library on their laptops, beamed messages and instant messaging. They've been networked most or all of their lives. They have little patience for lectures, step-by-step logic, and "tell-test" instruction. ." -Marc Prensky
Useful Software and sites (All Free)
Reference "Investing in Technology: The Learning Return." WestEd August 2002. 14 Mar 2006 <http://www.wested.org/online_pubs/po-02-01.pdf>. Hoachlander , Gary , Martha Alt , and Renee Beltranena . "Leading School Improvement: What Research Says ." March 2001. 14 Mar 2006 <http://www.sreb.org/main/Leadership/pubs/LeadingSchool_Improvement.asp>. Rivero, Victor , and . "What's Ahead in Ed Tech ." American School Board Journal (2006). 14 Mar 2006 <http://www.asbj.com/2006/01/0106technologyfocus.html>. "Teen web use nearly ubiquitous ." e-school news online 28 July 2005. 28 Mar 2006 <http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showstory.cfm?ArticleID=5794>. Honey, M., Culp, K., & Spielvogel R. (2005). Critical issue: using technology to improve student achievement . North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, Retrieved Mar 07, 2006, from http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/methods/technlgy/te800.htm#issue. Prensky, Marc. "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants." NCB University Press Vol. 9, Num 5 October 2001 |
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