Emerging Technology In Education

"Teaching will become a job, not a profession. Young people will typically spend a year or two as teachers, then move on to other, more rewarding careers. Federal and state policy will promote online learning, and computers will replace teachers. Online class sizes will reach 1:100, even 1:200; the job of monitoring the screens will be outsourced, creating large economies for state budgets." 

-Diane Ravitch

     When I first read the quote above, I felt saddened and afraid. I felt afraid because if this scenario would come to fruition, I would lose my job. Also, when I thought of some children growing up without teachers, I felt sad. Teaching is not just bossing kids around and lecturing to classes. Mentoring and creating positive relationships with students is a large part of teaching. Many people forget that teachers offer much more than content area knowledge. I was fortunate enough to have parents that cared, made sure I did my homework and made me feel that I was important. Unfortunately, all students do not have parents who take time out of their day to do those things. These students need teachers to take interest in their lives so they are more likely to succeed. Teaching and mentoring go hand and hand, and they are much more genuine and effective in a small classroom.

     Technology should not be seen as a threat to teaching.  The two need to work together. Additionally, the two need each other in order to be relevant in the 21st century. Teachers need the speed and eminent amount of information technology offers and technology needs teachers to teach digital citizenship and facilitate learning.

     In the very near future, I think we will see all students with an ipad or small lap-top throughout the school day. Many classes will spend over half of each class on the ipad or computer because they will replace books.  I think that classes that integrate technology will be collaborative, project-based and better prepare students for the work force. Lastly, making teachers irrelevant is a disservice to the students and will ultimately hurt society. Technology and teachers are not enemies and neither of them are going away. We need to learn how to combine the two for the benefit of students.

Video That Teach Problem Solving Skills...Then and Now

Part I

Below you will find six games and two articles.

I played the first three games as a child. I spent hours in front of a computer screen because these games were fun.  Little did I know, these games were teaching me problem solving skills.  My parents did not see it that way...they thought I was just wasting my time.

The second three games also teach problem solving skills.  As I played them, (for research purposes) I realized that they are not too different from the games I played as a child.  Not only are the games fun and have much better graphics, they are readily available to the public and increase problem-solving skills.

The last article shares problem solving games that are not video game based.  While computers and video game consoles can be great learning tools, it is important for students to be mobile and not become zombies in front of a screen.

I hope you have a couple of hours to enjoy all of the games and articles!




Part II

For this part of my project, I took a trip down memory lane.  I chose to play the original Super Mario Brothers and write my experience below.  Enjoy!

According to my research into video game based learning, Super Mario Brothers is a "complex game."  It is not trivial, it requires multiple skills and takes hours to master. It is similar to Sonic the Hedgehog (actually Sonic is Sega's Mario) in that it is a "cultural model" because you are  the good guy defeating the evil Bowser.  Lastly, my research tells me that Mario Brothers in not a "serious game" because it does not take on any serious issues like how to lead an army or build a town.

Super Mario Brothers is a side scrolling game in which two Italian plumbers avoid, jump on or throw fire balls at mushroom shaped bad guys, square spikes with faces and mean turtles.  The goal of the game is to save the princess from the evil turtle shaped, spiked back, two leg walking, boss named Bowser.  All of this sounds ridiculous... and it is, but Mario and Luigi was the first of it's kind and they are still the most popular franchise in gaming.

As a child, I played and watched my siblings and friends play a lot of Mario.  I played it on the regular Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Game Boy, Nintendo 64 and on the Wii.  The main reason I selected the original Mario Brothers game for the assignment is nostalgia.  I can still remember waiting for my turn to play and playing with my friends for hours and hours.  I also chose this game because I want to know what Mario taught me.  I played Mario and other games for fun and because it was a social event. Little did I know all that I was learning.

I learned to play by watching my older brother play.  He and his friends played a lot and occasionally would let me in on the action.  When I did get to play, I learned through trial and error (mostly error).  The game challenged me because it was nearly impossible to beat.  The quickness of the game challenged me.  As a youngster, I had to learn how to keep up with the fast paced turtle shells and the jumping hammer brothers.  That challenge contributed to my competitive nature.  I believe that competition helped me with my school work because I wanted to be recognized for being good at things.

Through this activity, I learned that I spent a lot of time as a child playing video games, and I enjoyed it very much.  I also learned that video games contributed to my good hand-eye coordination.  I often think about how 'kids these days' are playing too many video games.  But as I look back on my childhood, I wonder where I would be without games like Mario Brothers. 

One thing that I have learned from this research on video games is how many things video games can and do teach.  The readings and my reflections have helped:

• my hand/eye coordination
• my reaction time
• expand my creativity
• my problem solving skills
• challenge myself
• teach me perseverance
• learn how to focus on one thing
• situational awareness
• collaborate with others
• me realize that video games can and will be an important part of education in the near future

Pencil Me In Book Review

This week I am going to write a reflection on Pencil Me In: A Journey in the Fight for Graphite, by John T Spencer.  

This book chronicles the trials and tribulations of a young forward-thinking teacher by the name of Tom Johnson.  It is set in the 1890's when pencils were being used in the work-place, but not in schools.  Tom's goal was for every student to have a pencil and use it in a meaningful way because, at that time, pencils were the way of the future.  Tom's older and pencil-immigrant colleagues were not fond of his teaching style at first, but they eventually warmed up to this new form of education.

John T. Spencer uses the pencil as a metaphor for the computer.  Re-read the above paragraph.  Change the date to 2012 and every time you see the word pencil, substitute it for computer.  The book is really about integrating technology in the classroom.  It has nothing to do with the transition from slate to pencil and everything to do with education moving from pencils and factory settings to computers and more meaningful learning.  The point of the book is to highlight how education is always going to change and every change is going to be met with resistance.  Although these changes can bring about problems, the pros immensely out weigh the cons.  

I found this book funny, interesting and motivational.  I liked the way Spencer took a step back and wrote about technology 100 years ago.  By doing this, he was able to comically communicate his thoughts to the reader without sounding like he was lecturing them on what was best for the classroom.  Additionally, by using the pencil/computer metaphor, Spencer calls attention to the fact that schools have transitioned multiple times. From one room school houses to larger schools as well as from slates to pencils and education has not come crumbling down because of these changes.  Soon, schools will make the transition from pencils to computers and books to e-readers and again, education will not collapse.  In approximately 100 years, education will change from computers to ________.  And when this huge change comes, there will be resistance but hopefully some leaders will look back on the change from pencils to computers and say, "you know, that change was a no-brainer and this is too."

I would recommend this book to any educator, no matter what age or subject they teach.  This book drives home the fact that as teachers, we must constantly change our teaching style to make our class relevant.  Technology is the way of the future so jump on board.  I am going to leave you with a few of my favorite excerpts from the book.  Hope you enjoy. 

"The district office classroom visitors...take notes on whether I use my SmartChart or how many students have pencils and whether or not they keep the pencils well sharpened.  I want to scream at them, 'It's  not the chart that makes them smart!  It's not the pencils even!  Yes, I love pencils, but it's their minds.  Stop for a minute and observe.  Really observe.  Set your papers down and listen to the conversation.  It's beautiful, folks.  Ad you can't see it, because you suffer from the same technophilia tunnel vision that I slip into when I'm not careful.'" page 38-39

"'Welcome to the edu-factory,' he responds. 'It's a model forged by factory reform.  We're running a faster society where some day a family of five will have to earn two incomes to fill their homes up with cheap plastic crap make by kids like you,' he says" page 52

"Yet, as long as we limit the thinking to simply 'pass the test,' we miss out on the power of the human mind" page 80