I remember, when I was in second grade, we had different
learning stations that we would put our color cards in (we were separated by
color groups and that was determined by reading ability) the slots next to the
station we wanted and later in the day we would spend thirty minutes and the
station that we were able to get. I also remember that there was one station
that was more popular than any other station and that was the computer station.
Keep in mind, this was in 1990 and so the computer’s abilities were very
limited but I do remember one particular game that helped us with our math.
There would be an addition or subtraction problem above two frogs and you had
to work it out before the computer did. If you did this you got to swallow the
fly and the point was to have more flies than the computer at the end of the
game.
That was a long time ago and technology has advanced to the
point where anyone who has ever watched the movie Terminator has to, at times, wonder when Skynet will become
self-aware and computers will take over the world. However, technology has also advanced to the
point where it is so easy to use that it is a wonder why some schools are still
not incorporating technology in the educational process.
Some people may say that it has to do with a comfort level
that teachers have with technology and yet, according to an article put out by
the National Children’s Bureau in Great Britain, many adults feel a sense of
safety with at least one form of technology, the cell phone. But, in the United States, we spend so much
time and energy in a losing fight of trying to keep students off of their
phones during school hours. I am a Youth Director and there are several times
throughout the day that I look on Facebook and see something that my youth has
posted on Facebook via their phone. Phones are a part of society now. So much
so that parents and kids use them to communicate. It may not be their main form
of communication but there are times that they are used to broach difficult
subjects. This shows a certain amount of comfort that kids have with computers.
Admittedly, we have other forms of technology that can be
used other than cell phones. Also, I admit that children are able to pick up just
about any technology at an incredible rate. But, if Allison Gopnik is correct
in her TED talk about the way that young children think and, culturally,
parents and children are comfortable with cell phone use, then it seems that it
would behoove us to adopt them somehow in our education. I bring up the way
children think because I think it would be smart to focus the energy on one
form of technology.
Education is about spreading the wonder of the natural world
around us. It is hard to do that anymore with children whose attention span is
thirty minutes at the most. Traditional forms of teaching need to be rethought
because it makes no sense to try to get a child to sit still and pay attention
when they are just not going to do that. It is not the teacher’s fault it is
just that the minds of children now need a multi-sensory learning experience
and because technology has become so portable this is a valid option. I like
the idea of using smart phones due to the comfort level that so many people have
with their phones.
However, I do admit that not everyone has a cell phone and
not everyone would be able to afford a smart phone or the data that it would
cost to implement the use of cell phones in the learning experience. There is a
digital divide in this country but more and more people are actually obtaining
the equipment needed to bridge the gap. This has led to a redefining of what
digital gap means. Bridging the digital
gap now indicates the fact that, while many people do have technology, those
who produce content that is consumed is done so along the same socioeconomic
scale that used to separate those who had technology and those who did not.
This is an interesting issue because, with the increase of technology, it is
very easy to create content and produce it on the internet. So, the question
becomes, what can be done to encourage and enable our children to use
technology to supplement their education?
The answer, I believe, is a mixture of teaching style and
the right technology to encourage the imagination of a child. In his TED talk,
chemistry teacher, Ramsey Musallam talks about how one of his student’s
curiosity took her to a new level. He made the point that teaching had to allow
for mistakes. He also makes the point that if we put technology before a
student’s inquiry then, as teachers, that can actually rob teachers of a great
tool for learning which are students’ questions. That means that whatever technology that
teachers use in the class room has to not only encourage curiosity but also
allow for questions.
In the TED talk mentioned above, Allison Gopnik pointed out
how, when we are young, we naturally use the scientific method to figure things
out. This is important because what the scientific method does is allow us to
make wrong assumptions in order to finally get to the correct answer. So, if
that is the case, then it would make sense that whatever technology is used to
help supplement learning should also allow for the use of incorrect assumptions
by the students. It would seem that we naturally learn by first ruling out what
is wrong. In schools today we are more concerned with the idea that the
students just know the right answer rather than also know what the wrong
answers are. Technology is similar if we look at the internet and the use of
Google in school. People “Google” to get the right answer rather than having to
suffer the inconvenience of going through the wrong answers. This is not
conducive to learning.
I suggested using phones in the classroom because of
students’ comfort with them. The idea that it is important for students to feel
the ability to be wrong is okay is what drove my thought that cell phones would
be the ideal technology to be used in a learning environment. If students feel
comfortable with a particular piece of technology then perhaps they will feel
better about making a mistake with that same technology. At least then they are
with something they feel safe using.
References
The Role of Mobile Phones in Family Communication- Kerry Devitt and Debbi Roker, Children & Society, Volume 23, 2009. pp 189-202
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