I enjoyed reading about the three future teachers at the beginning of this second chapter. I most identified with Ava, who claimed she was interested in bringing technology into the classroom, but was wary about her students being more technically savvy than herself. This made a lot of sense to me at first, having noticed the "digital disconnect" between myself and even those who are only a few years younger than I. When I put more thought into it, however, I remembered that while I may have been more savvy than my teachers growing up, this did not stop them from using tools of which I was unaware. I then attributed it to a difference in the subject matter that we were pursuing, and this still makes sense to me. I was busy teaching myself to get around school district firewalls (a practice that managed to get me suspended in middle school) and playing games, while my teachers were finding ways to better my education. This same idea will allow me to bring things to the classroom that my students have never seen before, even if they know their way around a computer better than I do.I also got excited while reading about apps for various subjects and education levels. In addition to encouraging my students to use some of these apps, I can even see myself developing them to accomplish very specific goals in my curriculum. These apps can make the learning fun, and really "gamify" the education process, a movement which I intend to be as involved with as humanly possible.
For the third concept, I chose the digital disconnect, which is documented at the end of the chapter. To illustrate, and to practice with a new web tool, I made a short comic strip on
Toondoo. I think that I managed to convey my point to some degree, but also became quite frustrated with the lack of technical options (such as adding additional tiles). I realize that I can do much better with a bit more practice, but am mildly satisfied with my first attempt. I feel that it was a good experience, and it is something I will keep in mind in the future. Here it is:
Resource:
Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013).
Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Great ToonDoo - it does wonders for digital reading and nicely comments on your idea and perspective regarding the digital divide...in a fun way! :) You can imagine how your future students might welcome using ToonDoo as a way to convey their knowledge to you and/or how you can entice them into some content lecture by including in one of your presentations. It is all about engagement! :) Without some kind of 'hook', many students will have no incentive for learning - nice job on this one!
ReplyDeleteThe tech savvy of our students (or others in general) can be intimidating - as one who is pretty techie, there are plenty others who are way past me on the spectrum (both peers and younger students). As a lifelong learner, I have determined the best way to deal with that is to learn from them and not let it be an intimidation. I constantly adjust and re-adjust what I want to teach with new technologies - it is a bit time consuming, but oh so awesome! :)