We cannot teach today's children the way we were taught even when we were in school. Technology has been an important catalyst for that change. Today's children are surrounded with technology. They use it every day. I remember when my family first got a color TV, a clunky desktop computer, and a modem to access the Internet through AOL. I am a digital immigrant. I did not grow up with technology. My kids who are in their 20s did grow up with computers and technology. They are digital natives. They are comfortable texting instead of sending e-mails. They access the Internet on their iPhones. They "speak the language". I came to know it second-hand. How many of you are like me? How many of today's teachers are like me? (Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, Prensky, 2001)
It's not about catching up. It IS about being willing to take risks, to try something new. It is also about changing from being teacher-centered to being student-centered--to coaching and facilitating rather than lecturing. It is about recognizing that learning is a social endeavor. We learn best when we share the experience. New technologies such as blogs, wikis, YouTube, Facebook, etc. are about creating and sharing knowledge. How can we tap into that phenomenon? I look forward to reading your reflections.
Please post your comments regarding what kind of pedagogy do we need in order to meet the needs of today's children. How does being a digital native/digital immigrant affect this pedagogy? Make sure you refer to the videos in your response. I am not wanting a discussion of the merits of technology. I am wanting a discussion of learning theories and instructional strategies. Please make sure you click the comment button to respond. Do not create a new post.
A Child-Driven Education
It's not about catching up. It IS about being willing to take risks, to try something new. It is also about changing from being teacher-centered to being student-centered--to coaching and facilitating rather than lecturing. It is about recognizing that learning is a social endeavor. We learn best when we share the experience. New technologies such as blogs, wikis, YouTube, Facebook, etc. are about creating and sharing knowledge. How can we tap into that phenomenon? I look forward to reading your reflections.
Please post your comments regarding what kind of pedagogy do we need in order to meet the needs of today's children. How does being a digital native/digital immigrant affect this pedagogy? Make sure you refer to the videos in your response. I am not wanting a discussion of the merits of technology. I am wanting a discussion of learning theories and instructional strategies. Please make sure you click the comment button to respond. Do not create a new post.
A Child-Driven Education
It is important to be able to adapt to all these evolving technologies but it is also important to make sure that we emphasize the content more than the technology. Technology can be a lifesaver for people with difficult schedules but it also can be an obstacle for people who are not familiar with such technology. There are some people who live and die with technology and there are some people who can function without technology such as former Supreme Court Justice David Souter, who does not have a computer or cell phone. There are thousands of technological resources that make our lives easier whether we want to admit or not but it is essential that we find out which ones work and which ones do not when it comes to learning.
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ReplyDeleteTechnology in the classroom is important. Today’s children are in a new age, an age of technology. Teachers need to understand how to use technology and incorporated into the classroom. Children learn when they are motivated by things that interest them and today’s children are not like their parents were as children, they are indoors on computers, using iPods, cell phones and video games, etc. Children today are learning about technology and how to use it without the help of adults. Teachers who embrace the new age of technology give each child in their classroom the resources to reach their full potential.
ReplyDeleteAfter Reading "Top Ten Things We Learned From K12 Students.doc" the most Important thing that stuck out to me was - "the Free Agent Learner"
ReplyDelete"Free Agent Learner believes that he or she must be responsible for their own learning destiny..."
This is a fact no matter what your doing.
This is something school is failing to teach. Many students still see learning as something they must do rather than they want to do. In the real world if you don't want to be there then your fired. Learning cannot be forced upon someone. (With maybe the exception of Pavlov's drooling dogs method or Drill Sgt's. It's amazing how motivated someone can be when you take away Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.)
Playing is the easiest and most enjoyable way to learn. Technology is a way adults and children can play together to learn.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteCertainly technology has always impacted both students and teachers in the classroom. In today's world, technology is constantly changing to an improvement in every thing. Technology lets people improve the way they live so that they can preserve their own personal energy and focus on the really important factors in life. But students today carry around cellular phones that are smaller in size! Often many of these technologies, cellular phones, mp3 players and psp game systems are seen as distractions in the classroom. New technologies and innovations became our necessities and we cannot live without them like for example: cell phones and computers, we can not imagine now life with out these items once they have been introduced into our lives. Invention is a burst of creative destruction, and those bursts lead to changes in the economy and then in society. Old inventions are being replaced by new inventions that are supposed to be easier to use and that are safer.
ReplyDeleteTechnology is very important in today's world. Almost everything we do now involves technology. I think a lot of teachers are still set in their ways and are scared of technology. I don't think it's in fear of their students not being able to pick up the material but the fear of them not knowing the information theirselves.I think I am a student center teacher because I find out what my kids like and are interested in and I find ways to incorporate what they like into the class to get them to learn certain material. I know that at FTCC, we have to be connected to our students emails and follow suit with the schools website because they have gon paperless. A lot of businesses have become paperless as well because it helps the environment and they have more space in their offices as well. This also helps their issue of losing their clients files. The only con of this is if their systems crashes they don't have a way to back up anything.
ReplyDeleteI did not grow up in a world full of technology. When I was in high school we had to take a computer class but it was mostly about typing. I remember getting my first cell phone, they were much bigger and they were just a phone. It is amazing these days what we can accomplish with just the touch of a button or should I say the touch of a screen. With technology in the classroom our children can experience so much more without even stepping foot out of the classroom. I was recently introduced to www.googleearth.com in which you can put in an address and visit anywhere in the world. In introducing this to the children in the classroom it was wonderful to see the amazement and excitement in the children. They were all talking and wanting to know more. This is what teaching is all about.
ReplyDeleteThe 21st century pedagogy is very different than what most of us are used to. Whereas employers were compelled to hire more experienced, “seasoned” teachers many are now realizing that new risk taking innovative technology based ideas are what captures our students. The video from TED ideas really pulled on my heartstrings. The accomplishments that the children experienced without any instruction was phenomenal. It proves that education does occur when students are interested. The students of the 21st century are interested in technology so we need to join them in order to lead them.
Using technology in the classroom can be challenging and difficult for teachers who have been teaching for years. Integrating the new technologies while insuring the teaching curriculum is met, may seem to be a very daunting task. But In order to compete with other countries our teaching styles are in need of an overhaul. Technology has to began in the classroom even at lower levels of learning the integration is paramount. The world will not wait on us to catch up. Like the author said, we are going to need to find a new DNA to technology.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up as a child I did not have access to alot of technology. We did not get a commputer in our home until I was seventeen. It is my belief that there are many people like myself.It was a luxury to have a computer in your home. In today generation almost everyone have a desktop our laptop. Having a cell phone has now become a need now more than a luxury these days.Teenagers have cell phones that they can not only text and talk on but also parents can find out where they are just by the location of that phone. instant messgaing and texting is now second nature verses bavck in the days.
ReplyDeleteToday we also have social networking websites such as twitter, facebook, myspace, etc. that helps us keep in touch with people that are not able to be face to face. You can have the use of technology whether through your smartphone or computer and be able to tap into this phenomenom, however, I do feel that there are still may teachers and educators that are still not good with technology.
I am a digital native; I grew up with technology in my life on a daily basis. How do we become familiar with the online knowledge phenomenon? We simply learn to speak the language. In learning about technology and what will be useful to our students we tap into that knowledge and learn what we can teach to our students. We teach students what will be helpful to them in the future. Our teaching styles need to include all four of the theories of education; rewarding students with good grades for their efforts, teaching to memorize, helping students to complete task, and helping students to connect with others. I think being a digital native helps teachers because we grew up with technology. Digital natives have an understanding of technology already and digital immigrants have to take the time to learn things that the natives already know, it gives natives the upper hand.
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ReplyDeleteI found the second video to be the most interesting and agree with the speaker’s finding that “children will learn to do what they want to learn to do”. If they’re intrigued, they’ll want to discover more. I think the larger reason for the speaker’s success with his experiment is the fact that it relied so heavily on, essentially, the connectivism theory. In other words, the more the children could discuss, challenge, teach and show off with their peers, the more they took in and learned. This goes out to the larger form of connectivism that is the Internet. The simple example of using the Internet as a translation tool shows just how much knowledge children everywhere can tap into if given the time and tools.
ReplyDeleteI definitely feel that even without the use of the Internet, students learn best in small groups rather than individually. It allows them to learn how to word their thoughts, reflect and adjust their ideas as well as see and hear the problem from another’s point of view. If schools don’t have the resources to allow students to have access to the Internet, small groups would be my ideal teaching method. It also helps prepare them for a career collaborating and working with team-members.
However, as the first video mentions we need to start introducing students to the long list of ways to use technology to help them learn. If we don’t, we’ll only continue to fall farther behind. Even though every teacher isn’t necessarily comfortable with newer technology, we need to teach our students about pushing beyond their comfort level to learn by demonstrating our willingness to do the same.
I focused more on the second video because I come from a third world country. I strongly agree with everything that is on the video because I had experience before. The Kind of pedagogy that we need in order to meet the needs of today’s children is a combination with the old instruction and new instruction. I feel this way because there is always a reason why a typical subject starts the way it does. The second video show that technology helps a lot, at the same time children are going to learn what they are really interest on it. At the middle of the video it shows that bio technology was one of the subjects that cannot be taught by internet because there is so much information. I think the old instruction was made for those subjects that you need someone knowledgeable enough to do it. Internet is so popular around children that they are able to do their homework online at an early age. Adults we have to keep in mind those children learn better in a small group because they can stay focus more.
ReplyDeleteBeing a digital native/ digital immigrant affects pedagogy because not every country is at the same level of either one. Some countries might be in advance of other because of what is more important in their country. It will be helpful that some really interest on these issues will do something about it nationwide because children are not responsible of how the country is about their pedagogy. If countries stay the same way as of today date, pedagogy will remain a big issue and technology will stay the same. There is nothing wrong to be open minded about new stuff like ways to surf the internet because there could be never be enough technology in the world.
It is vital that we teach students what they are going to facing when they go out into the real world we have to consider economic circumstances and workforce demands. Technology is the basis for the advancement of all things. The generation of our students have an increased emphasis and workforce need for technological intelligence, it is important to consider the most effective educational methods for producing competent students. Learner-centered learning and constructivism, which proposes that student use prior learning to construct new learning building on what they already know,will help enhance the learning experience by combining the old and the new.
ReplyDeleteMissusc,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the second video as well. It was very heart warming and it jsut goes to show how amazing children are. I think that often times teacher do not realize that they are selling the students short when they do not have high expectations and have a student-centered type classroom.
In this day in time technology plays a significant role in the classroom today. When I grew up we had computers in every class. Around the age of ten technology began to influence my life significantly which I believe made me a digital native. Computers played a major role when our teacher wanted to display activities or slideshow at the front of the classroom. From what I can remember about 40% of my teachers I had in elementary through middle school have been teaching for five years or more which would be double that amount by now. The older teachers usually demonstrated that they weren’t open to speed with the latest technology that was being introduced. Can you really expect a teacher who was brought up on just pencil, paper, and an overhead to understand it easily? I wouldn’t. The video the 21st century pedagogy states the idea of a new DNA. I believe this is a great idea but I don’t think it will be simply to distinguish. It’s a thoughtful idea because if we do begin a new DNA knowledge of up to date technology will be instilled into current teachers it will carry on to future generations. The Grandmother Technique as stated in the “A Child-Driven Education” is a great strategy that will help the needs of today’s digital natives, digital immigrants, and children. When you admire the child and what they already know, question what they are doing and what they don’t understand, praise for new information they have learned. Using this technique will benefit digital natives’’ progress forward and not backwards in the direction a digital immigrant would. Digital immigrant will be affected significantly because they will be introduced to newer and up to date technology and advances.
ReplyDeleteFruity Pants,
ReplyDeleteI agree that a lot of teachers are afraid of technology because they do not know how to use it. As an instructor we must have a well thought out plan. If we are not prepared it shows and the children do not get out of it what was intended. When it comes to not having a paper trail and saving material with technology. A way to avoid lost material would be by creating a google page where you can save your material. You can choose to share it or not. That way no matter where you are all you need is a computer and you can access it.
Maybe it is human nature to not be forced into anything. Maybe an idea of an instructional strategy would be to give students some what of a "free reign" in the classroom. Perhaps a teacher says "ok, we have to hit these targets, you need to know what this, this, and this is. Have at it." You would say that they can use cellphones, have several computers in the room, some simple audio/video resources, even textbooks. Maybe something would happen. The teacher offers praise, advice, and makes sure they stay on task. Other than that, the students are educating themselves. (Isn't all education self education to an extent in the first place?)
ReplyDeleteThe primary difference between a immigrant/native is probably less to do with the techonology (finding facts in a book vs. finding facts online) is less to do with format and maybe more to do with empowerment. Folks who did not grow up having so many resources to answer any questions had to wait until a)an adult told them or b) they had some kind of direct experience. Think about a fifth grader's knowledge about "the birds and the bees" in the 1950's and a fifth grader's knowledge now. Couple that with societal changes like a lack of adult supervision and being left to their own devices a lot of the time and it is no wonder students have the attitudes towards adults that they have. Maybe the ultimate instructional strategy for this crowd is to give them the resources and not instruct them at all unless they ask.
Technology is always steadily advancing. Every time I turn around I see that there is something new coming out or something new to learn. Being a digital native has really helped me because I have grown up with technology. I am not just stepping into the middle of it like digital immigrants. There is so much to learn about technology it can be hard or confusing. Incorporating technology into a teacher’s instruction can really help any student out. We as teachers can use it for projects or assignments.
ReplyDeleteNo one has related what you learned in the How People Learn Module and in Chapters 1 and 2 of your textbook. When we talk about a 21st century pedagogy, what are we talking about. We are not JUST talking about technology. We are talking about how we teach our digital students.
ReplyDeleteNelly talked about a combination of the old and the new. What do you mean by "old" and "new" pedagogy? What do we need to take from the old to combine with the new? What instructional strategies still work?
With the way technology is today there are many learnng tools that we can have in our classroom o teach our children, not only children but adults also. I am just learning how to use a computer and now I am lerning about this blog. It is also a learning tools for writing. As I see the way te children are writing I always tell them that they should write the correct way they were taught because one day you are going to need it. Another thing about technolgy is the cell phone we store the numbers and just pick the phone and dial but when an emergency arise and the cell phone is dead. DO you know the person phone number. This new system they have out now I am not sure about it. I like the old fashion way
ReplyDeleteToday’s pedagogy is student centered and, with the help of technology, based largely on the constructivism theory of learning. Students can take a subject that has piqued their interest and expand on it using a variety of media. Saying that current pedagogy requires a student based classroom is to say we must meet students where they are to prepare them for where they will be or will need to be. Students will be entering a world where they will likely compete for jobs rich in technology and be required to not just integrate it into their jobs but use it as an absorbed substance. If today’s students are inclined to respond best to flashy images and instant feedback then that is what we must give them. Fostering our youth requires more than forcing students to memorize facts. Today’s pedagogy allows for the fact that many of our students will consider themselves experts on areas that generations prior were only introduced to in school. Now, thanks to videos on demand and technology such as Leapster, we have preschool students telling us what games they should play to help them with their ABCs! In embracing a pedagogy that celebrates student centered classrooms, educators are embracing teaching styles that involve more collaboration among students in the classrooms. The TED video shared an example of allowing students to not only work in groups but to copy work from other groups in an effort to problem-solve. The results were that the students did, indeed, retain information. This is fascinating because the teacher inside of us that wants to think the children will only learn the material properly if they learn it OUR WAY is telling us those children should not have learned anything this way. Gone are the days when educators can insist children be seen and not heard. This is their life, their education, their future we are supposed to be preparing them for. While most educators are not so medieval in their teaching strategies, it’s hard for many to accept that students really can learn best in groups, with gaming activities, or even by they themselves determining what their next step should be in researching a project. In their defense I don’t think this is a matter of their being intolerant of technology or putting learning into the hands of their students. Because it involves newly researched ways of maintaining the classroom and of preparing lessons for many educators the ever present threat is, “What if I fail? Monitor 25 students as they roam from center to center and walk one another through a program that GIVES THEM THE ANSWERS? What if I appear lazy?”
ReplyDeleteAdding to today’s pedagogy requiring we meet students where they are is a key the “How People Learn” Module pointed out. We must learn how to make our students’ knowledge visible. During the fall my daughter would walk out of the house and exclaim that it was fall. We established that it was winter but then we got snow and it soon melted. We walked out one morning to see some leaves were again visible and she went back to exclaiming that it was fall. I knew then that she only believes it’s fall when she sees leaves on the ground and it’s only winter when there is snow. I can take this visible knowledge and expand it because I know what her misconceptions are. We all have preconceived notions and until we can articulate them we may never learn better. In order for this pedagogy to work it must be one where instructors accept that they will possibly learn something new about and from their students because they are just as capable of looking up material as we are and that students will learn best when they are learning something that is relevant to themselves. For this to occur the environment is based around the students own discussion, application, research and curiosity. In some ways being a digital immigrant (new to technology) is helpful. The students can share some expertise with the instructor and the instructor can quickly note which areas and technology media are going to be the most effective/challenging for their students whenever they take on a new unit.
I did not grow up with computers, cell phones, or the internet, therefore I am a digital immigrant. Where I work, at a local elementary school, I think about half of the teachers did not grow up with computers or similar technology.
ReplyDeleteTo tap into the phenomenon of new technologies, teachers can create class websites, use email and Facebook to connect with parents, and find educational videos on Youtube to make classes more interesting. They can also use computers the way suggested in the TED video, by grouping students at one computer and giving them problems. The teacher can then observe the students and guide them where needed.
The pedagogy that will meet the needs of today's children and use technology will be a student-centered strategy as described in Chapter 2 of the text. The 21st Century Pedagogy video suggests that the role of teachers is changing quickly because of technology. This video also talks about a student centered approach to learning.
Children today are digital natives. Many of the teachers are digital immigrants. Teachers need to stay open minded to the idea of a student-center teaching approach and the use of technology.
Demonstrations are a good pedagogy to use with children. They can be recorded and played back by means of media such as video. Children can view a real or lifelike example of a skill or procedure. They benefit by seeing something done before they must do it. A teacher can also guide a group of students to complete a task in this way.
ReplyDeleteA computer software program that could also be beneficial to students would be the Integrated Learning System (ILS). This is a form of instruction offered on the computer. It is a tutoring session. The computer determines where the student needs to be. It doesn't move on to a new section until the student is prepared to. It will review previous material until they are ready to move on.
To benefit each other's learning potential, a teacher might want to use Cooperative Learning. As in one of the video's we saw, there can be three to four students at each computer and the teacher can give the children a question or an assignment to work on. With the children helping each other on the computer, they can learn a lot.
These examples would be very easy for a digital native to do, and a digital native can teach the digital immigrant how to do them.
I think that technology is a way we can learn from all one way or another. I know my mom is one of them. Another way is using technology in our classrooms to teach technology as well as our lesson for the day. How students learn is a question teachers have faced for years. Technology could help make a child learn clearer especially if they are a visual learner. Myspace, Facebook, you-tube, and wikis are fun ways to adapt to a student centered environment. Making a video on you-tube such as "how Christopher Columbus found land" can be a fun yet learning experience for the children. Followed by a worksheet of questions or questions even on the computer. You can have groups or you can have them solo.
ReplyDeleteDanielle Keller, Nelly, MissusC: Thanks for your insightful comments. Your postings reflected your readings and viewing of the videos. They discussed pedagogy--i.e. the teaching of children--rather than just how we can use technology in the classroom. As I stated: I am not wanting a discussion of the merits of technology. I am wanting a discussion of learning theories and instructional strategies.
ReplyDeleteJB: Are you saying that students will know what to ask? Can we leave them without facilitating and guiding? Are we looking at efficient and effective ways to learn? The Discovery method is a proven way to learn.
ReplyDeleteToni: Demonstrations are an instructional strategy. They are not a pedagogy. Both demonstrations and Integrate Learning Systems are teacher-centered. The Cooperative Learning, if done right, is student-centered. What learning theories do these strategies fit into? How do they foster 21st century skills?
ReplyDeleteIt important that we rose for the successful teacher preparation programs because we ask much more of teachers today than even a decade ago. Teachers are asked to achieve significant academic growth for all students at the same time that they instruct students with ever more diverse needs. Teaching has never been more difficult, it has never been more important, and the desperate need for more student success has never been so urgent. The 21st century knowledge and skills like critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and technology literacy. Recognizing new opportunities and making changes required to respond to the needs of 21st century learners. What students needs to come together around a new common definition of what students need to know? The native/immigrant analogy can help us understand the difference between those who are comfortable with technology. The starting point for understanding the gap between the technology-immersed generation and the rest of us, it is a generalization.
ReplyDeleteAs I watched the video PEDAGOGY it talks about this new DNA, which is our younger generation. I feel like the earlier we introduce our generation to technology better chance they have with keeping up with technology. The children in the video were very engaged in learning and seem very interested in learning off the computer.
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing seeing the effect that technology has on our new generation. The video was an eye opener to me. It helps us all understand what our new generation feeds off of. If I were a teacher I would want our new generation to learn all they can about technology because they will need it more than we have ever needed technology. I was at the library and thought it was so fun how the children could use the computer better than I could. A child finished their school assignment with in a few minutes, and I couldn't finish in an hour. As we learn more it seems that children know more than we do about technology. It excited me when I am stimulated through technology, so I know the new generation gets really excited. In due time they are going to use a form of technology for everything. I hope I am able to stay up to date and current with all the changes in technology.
ReplyDeleteGreg Whitby from the 21st Century Pedagogy video said it best (I paraphrase): “If we don’t change our DNA, we are in danger of condemning the next generation of teachers, because we haven’t change the foundational blocks of how we are to function.” He spoke of how it is essential, if not necessary, for us to incorporate into our pedagogy a new DNA for teaching. I see it is important for us to make this a fundamental block in our own professional development and personal education, because if we do not, we are in danger of standing out as “digital immigrants”. I speak from a personal viewpoint, for even though I am learning daily of what is available to the public and I am adapting as I am able, there are old habits that die hard. I still reach for pen and paper to take quicknotes, correspond with some folks by e-mail, and need to make hardcopies of syllabi and schedules just so I can read them.
ReplyDeleteWe as teachers need to hear what the instructors, educators, and other vital supporters in our field are telling us. Marc Prensky said, “Today’s students are no longer the people our education system was designed to teach.” From the video “A Child-Driven Education”, Sugata Mitra quoted someone as having said, “A teacher that can be replaced by a computer should be”. He pointed out the truth we should consider of ourselves, and that is we will learn to do what we want to learn to do. So we need to see how to adapt in a world that is functioning more with technology than we are prepared tp participate in.
I believe strongly in what I had mentioned in an earlier assignment, and that is this: the teacher will assist the students with the fundamentals of education, (what would be termed as ‘legacy’ content) while at the same time immersed themselves in the ‘future’ content so they can prove their relevance and gain their student’s trust in teaching them. If we can incorporate such proven theories as the MI theory and produce a classroom that is teeming with both cognitic and connectic elements in them, then we have a learner-friendly environment the students can learn in the most effective manner available. I can see using music in a games program to help students learn multiplication and matrices, or operating manipulatives in PE (?) to learn different topics in science. Even having a combination of videos and experts on a subject matter in social science speak volumes of possibilities. Teachers then can have prepared questions for open-end discussions that can lead to cooperative learning and/or problem-solving sessions which will promote stimulations on a broad scale.
It all adds up to this: how much are we willing to die to old methodologies so we can prepare this next generation for what the future demands of them?
I am definitely a digital immigrant and as I tried to complete this assignment I felt like my computer was a digital immigrant also. For some reason I kept getting the message that I needed to update my Flashplayer, in order to view the videos. I cannot describe how frustrating that became after several attempts and locking up my computer. As a teacher with a different background I feel my lack of technology experience has proven to be helpful. Being amongst digital native is a humbling experience because often I am the one that is learning. As a teacher I understand that I am constantly learning new things everyday and sometime my source of learning may come from one of my students. I believe it is extremely important for “Digital Immigrants” to be knowledgeable of the advancing technology however it is okay to take the backseat and let the “Digital Natives” lead the way.
ReplyDeleteAs a grandmother helping raising a grandchild it amazes me to see the work that my grandchild brings home. Today’s children are expected to do much more a lot sooner than my children or I had too. What I think is difficult and should be taught at higher levels is being introduced to the children earlier and they can do it. The technology is assessable and the kids are going to use it. Digital immigrants that are in the teaching fields must jump on board and embrace technology. If they continue to ignore the change they will risk being weeded out or getting in the system.