Is there something that we did or read that sparked something in you.. and made you think - I could be doing something different that would make me more effective in my job, my life, or my role as a student?
There are many things that made reflect on technology and learning from section one. However, I really enjoyed reading Marc Prensky essays over digitial natives/digital immigrants as well as do they really think differently? because I was able to relate my teaching and the way that I learned when I was younger through his reading.
In regards to my teaching, Prensky presented a lot of point of views that challenged the way I view my students and my instruction, as well as how I see other educators in my school view our students. On pg. 6 he writes "Digital immigrants don't believe their students can learn successfully while watching TV or listening to music, because they (the immigrants) can't." This struck out to me because on my first year of teaching, I found myself getting in this frame of mind that because I couldn't do it, there is no way my students wouldn't be able to, and that is far from the truth. I grew up in the time that when it was time to study and learn, everything was turned off, the only thing you had was your notes, pencil, and paper, and no form of distraction. So I subconsciously tried to make my instruction that way. The students needed to sit quietly to listen, with no distractions, because it was time to learn. To me it seemed almost impossible to be really be able to learn something if you did not have your attention fully on it. But the digital age has changed that. I was surprised by the research study that Marc talked about on pg. 18, with the children who watched Sesame Street with toys, and one with no toys. It was incredible that both groups retained the same amount of information. That at such an early age these students are already picking and choosing what information to listen to, and what is important. And most of all they are showing us that they can multitask. Now, I even feel silly just for even once having this thought since I am sitting here writing this blog, listening to TV, texting, flipping through my book, and making sure that my tank of a puppy does't chew up anymore of my shoes! The amazing is that I am being more productive now, then when I sit with no "distractions." So is this my digital immigrant brain adapting and re-learning, and forming new connections.
This led me to question how it is so quick to label a student with ADD/ADHD in so many schools . On pg. 7, Prensky writes, "Is it that Digital Natives can't pay attention, or that they choose not to?" This questions keeps spinning around in my head. Especially when he writes " Their attention spans are not short for games, for example, or for anything else that actually interest them ...... So it generally isn't that Digital Natives can't pay attention, it's that they choose not to." (pg.18) As educators we really need to stop trying to label every student with some kind of excuse as to why they are not learning in our classroom, and instead find what makes them learn. We need to break free of our inhibitions of trying new technology, and just go for it. Stop making excuses, and be proactive. When I first started teaching, my school had no idea what a smartboard did, and neither did I. But it was taking up room in my classroom, so I decided to mess with it and see if I could use it, or dispose of it. The smartboard turned out to be the single greatest thing I had in my classroom, and now 3 years later we have a smartboard in every classroom. Too many times teachers also think it's too difficult to teach students how to work a piece of technology. This is true especially in the younger grade levels. That group of students is constantly being passed up on getting technology, when in reality they are the true digital natives. Interactive clickers for example, are a powerful tool for quick assessment, and offer less time spent on grading stacks of paper tests. However, some educators do not want to spend the time to learn the clickers and show the students, especially the younger students. What I found with my first graders is that they will learn it, if they are motivated to learn it. And because they clickers provide immediate results, they are begging me after the test to go back to the questions they missed so I can explain it and tell them the right answer. We have to use technology in our classroom, and if it's unknown we need to find the resources on how we could use it before we are ready to discard it. We don't have a lot to lose because we are currently losing half of our students already, so take the leap and go for it. You will be amazed at your results!
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