So, I get that students today are constantly connected to technology (mainly the Internet), but are such videos dumbing down this generation? Don't get me wrong, I understand that the use of technology in the classroom is a good thing, and I am fascinated by such use and support it 100 percent, but what is so wrong with a chalk or dry erase board? Are students today so technologically stimulated that anything short of a You Tube video or Facebook profile will bore the heck out of them? Personally, I don't think this is the case, but I do think such videos make today's student look like they all have ADHD or something. Take the students who held up signs that said they read only eight books a year but thousands of Email pages; it makes an impression to me that today's student isn't interested in learning but in being technologically social with their friends. Have students lost interest in school because school is not technologically savvy enough, or have students always been less interested in school and more interested in entertainment and socializing whatever the platform for such activities are for the current generation?
I think incorporating technology in the classroom is a great thing. I love teaching in classrooms on campus that have computers and audio/visual aids in them. However, I think that using technology will not keep today's student entertained. Take the student in the video that mentioned he was only interested in a small amount of what he read. There is one word for that: authenticity. It doesn't matter if students have to Email each other for a class or read an article on the Internet--I still believe students will be reluctant to do so because it's still school work and not personal or interesting to them. The ways in which we learn may be changing, but I think students are students whether they are learning with slates and chalk in rural pioneer times or surfing the Internet for a class today. They will always rather talk with friends, get in some entertainment, or turn to Facebook like the student said she does during class. Forcing students to use such applications, in my opinion, will not keep their interest if they are not using it soley for entertainment purposes. Unless, of course, one is using it for a web-based class with web-based content such as this class, right?
5 comments:
When I'm teaching in a regular (ground) classroom I still use the chalk board - and actually prefer it. It is nice to have technology available in there (for example, to show a video or listen to a speech), but when I want the students to know something is important, I prefer to write it down - and it usually prompts them to do so as well. When they are reading something off of the screen, they don't tend to write anything down - instead it is as if they are in a trace at all the pretty colors and images. [Image that comes to mind is a PowerPoint presentation.] As a student I too used to find myself wandering off when looking at something off of a screen, as opposed to looking at what's written on a chalk board or dry erase board.
Some students are audio learners and some are visual learners. In my experience there are more visual learners who prefer receiving their information via a video, game, or 'snazzy' presentation. It does make it seem like all students suffer from ADHD - and maybe we all do to some extent.
Well, I think you hit the nail on the head when you mentioned authenticity.
What is authentic about the majority of what students are asked to do in a traditional classroom?
For example, what is authentic about a teacher-directed topic about which a student could care less nor find out more about?
Where's the connection to their lives and their frames of reference that might result in the motivation (exigency) to learn?
Just because a student admits that he/she isn't reading books doesn't mean that student isn't reading; that's a common fallacy tossed around by educators.
There is evidence that immersion in an environment with constant exposure to "stop and start" or "twitch speed" stimuli physically alters the brain (neuroplasticity), thus altering the method of acquiring information and the way one learns. Therefore, the rise in "ADD" or "ADHD" may be a result of constant exposure to quick-moving stimuli, but hey, it's easier to throw a pill at something than figure it out.
And yes, there is plenty of evidence in the literature that suggests technology can be used to keep the attention of students.
The challenge is incorporating technology intelligently, something that educators who believe traditional methodologies are the living end are not so willing to do.
You hit upon some interesting points that I wish I could have put into words myself. It's amazing students could read only 8 books but surf through thousands of pages of email. If you don't have enough time throughout your day for everything, like the kid with the sign about having 26+ hours in a day, then why don't you cut down the email or facebook. Of course, I know I don't always have the opportunity to read a lot, but I do read a lot of articles and news online. Sometimes it just makes things a little bit quicker.
The SNS really has become the new way to socialize and I think you were right on target when you basically said that students will always be reluctant towards school work would rather hang out and socialize instead. After all, who wants work before play? Lol.
Seriously though, even when I don't feel like doing work, I'm quite guilty of playing around on the internet or whatever else I can find. It's like, anything works as long as it distracts me from my school work! Incoporating technology in the classroom can definitely be beneficial but it isn't going to fix the "classroom problem."
The comments from Rebbeca about ADD and ADHD are very interesting. My mom always refused to put me on medications for stuff like that--always said I needed to learn how to sit still and control it. I mean, I guess it comes from how I grew up or something. I played video games by the age of 3 and I was ALWAYS up and about doing something or another.
I think that just as business marketing departments cater to certain demographics, teachers also have to cater to their student. They are learning in a different time and I think it's important to incorporate technology. I don't think the disinterest or boredom is their fault when they grow up with technology all around them. They are used to it.
For my field experience in Elementary Education I have been to classrooms at all greade levels to observe. It seems many teachers still use the chalk board occasionally, but not as a primary tool like when I was in elementary school (early 90's).
I had a Professor who said we have been conditioned for shorter attention spans due to television. Most of the things we watch are interrupted by commercials. After watching little bits and pieces of a show, we are then given a break. He said he was convinced that television, year after year after year of being watched, has condtioned us for short attention spans.
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