Technology inside and outside the classroom

After reading the two articles I still hold pretty firm on the idea that technology in the classroom is very important. Unfortunately, for some students the use of computers and other technology comes at a minimum outside of the classroom because they come from low-income families where paying rent and putting food on the table is far more important than purchasing a computer for the household. Perhaps it's the resources surrounding the students outside of the classroom that don't allow them to adequately use technology. In many areas, libraries and especially wi-fi hotspots are luxuries not available to the lower class which makes it difficult for students who want to succeed in school but have no access rather than in school. For these reasons, that is why I think it is still important for teachers to use technology inside the classroom even though it may be difficult for some to find technology elsewhere. Students still need that tech-education and for many, class time will be there only opportunity to become familiar with the ever changing technologies of our world.

One important piece of information I took away from the article "Who Are Today's Learners?" is the piece about how teachers need to get to know their students and what technology resources they have available outside of the classroom. Greenhow brings up valuable questions to ask your students to assess their technology levels and uses of computers and other modes of technology too. Some of the questions Greenhow brings to the table are: What technology devices do you own? Where do you go to get online? (Home, school, library, etc.) and how often do you get online? I think these are important questions to ask as a teacher becuase it will give you a good measurement on the types of content and homework you could assign outside of class without there being a disadvantage to some of your students. For example, if only one or two students struggle finding ways to get online then perhaps you can give them suggestions or allow them more time in class to work.

I think it would be a big disadvantage for all of the students, even those who find it difficult to use computers outside of the classroom. By not filling these students with technology education I feel like they will not be as equipped as many other students who are living in such a digital world. Furthermore, we are seeing more and more that the traditional ways of education are being moved aside for advanced, digital, and entertaining curriculum. In order to satisfy the minds of our students we need to incorporate some type of technology to supplement our tradtitional ways of teaching.

In order to create opportunities in technology outside of the classroom for those students who are disadvantaged I will have to find out their needs and resources. Do they have a computer, do they have access to the local library, do they know how to use a computer and/or other digital devices? If they have no access to a computer besides what they get at school then I would look into the school or school district possibly checking out or renting laptops. But even with that, the student would need access to wireless interent if the curriculum required it. However, if it was just for word processing purposes, this could potentially work out fine. Those who are disadvantaged may need more access to computers or the library at school and as a teacher I want to make the playing field as even as possible. This is an interesting topic and discussion because many of us take the things we have for granted (like internet and computers) becuase they have always been there and always will be. But we need to step outside our box and figure out what is going to help all of our students achieve.

Video Games

After reading the articles and watching the video regarding video games and education I not only became more aware of the purpose of many video games but a greater role they can play in education and learning in general. I find that there is no problem with using age-appropriate and content-appropriate video games in schools as long as they compliment the instruction and do not take the place of it.

Throughout my life and education I have played many video games, some that I initially thought had no learning involved and others that dealt a lot with problem solving, making split-second decisions and completing tasks. In my early education days during our 'computer-time' we had the opportunity to engage in a couple challenging educational computer games. For example, one of my favorites was called, "Swamp Gas." In this game, the player would choose subjects in geography where they would have to answer a number of questions correctly and then would be rewarded by playing a mini-game with less educational importance to gain overall points. Again, this game was age and content appropriate and a way to move away from traditional learning. As far as "edutainment," I don't think you can go to far. In our last course, Professor Lichau mentioned on numerous occasions that entertainment is a very important aspect of any learning experience. Not only does it make it fun for your students but it can also boost retention of lessons and increase test scores. Similarly, the Dr. Fox Effect shows that lectures with high entertainment with high content produce great academic achievement.

In the article, "Good Video Games and Good Learning," Gee brings up many valid points that connect video games and education. He finds many ways to demonstrate how video games may be a great source of learning. For example, Gee states, "Good video games incorporate good learning principles, principles supported by
current research in Cognitive Science" (Gee). He backs this up by saying if video games didn't incorporate learning and problem solving, nobody would want to play them. "challenge and learning are a large part of
what makes good video games motivating and entertaining. Humans actually enjoy
learning, though sometimes in school you wouldn’t know that" (Gee). There are two points Gee makes that really resonates with me. The first of which is point 4: Risk Taking. He mentions that in school, we leave little room for risk taking, failure, and exploration in general. How can we expect to produce responsible, eager, and brave individuals if we are constantly reaffirming the idea that risk taking is not worth it and failure is the end. When in fact, I believe it should be an important stepping stone in a child's development. Just as Gee says in this discussion, risk taking can produce a number of learning opportunities and thought provoking ideas like: what did we learn by taking the risk, why did it not work, and how can we do it better next time in order to succeed? The next point I will discuss from the article is Gee's point number 16: Performance Before Competence. I would say this is very similar to a widely used educational strategy: a pre-test. Why not find out how we proficient our students are in a subject before diving straight into it. This will allow teachers to discover what areas need more work, what areas need less work and to which students the content comes easier and those who need more practice. Gee argues that performance before competence is not always how it works in schools, "[Schools] often demand that students gain competence through reading texts before they can perform in the domain they are learning" (Gee) which may not always be the most effective way.

Just a I stated earlier in the post, I think good video games can provide a legitimate and positive gateway for learning away from more traditional strategies, yet still be educational. After reading the articles, I will use many of Gee's ideas in my classroom but mold them to fit appropriately into the content. If I find a purposeful way that a video game will provide a better learning opportunity than traditional teaching than I will work it into the lesson plan. I think it all goes back to the idea of edutainment. I want my students to be rich in knowledge but I want my classroom to be rich in entertainment as well and if video games can be one of the many connections between the two than let's 'save and continue.'