A New York Times business article, Inflating the Software Report Card, does a sounding out of the impact of digital education. ... because no one can quite hear that tree falling in the forest.
This article corresponds with my viewpoint on the sudden rush into e-learning for schools. I'm hesitant to say computer technology is a useful tool in every instance, all of the time.
There are some applications on the iPad that are interesting to me for math and English for my elementary aged daughter, but not truly a whole lot. I've spent several years of searching for internet based or computer based games/tools for teachers and students. Very few measure well against my expectations of learning, which funnily enough, I thought were simple: be engaging, be effective, be truly educational. I found scores of shoot-em-up or blast-em games masquerading as "math games" and another legion of "reading games" which were alarmingly expensive. Eventually, I found a few useful ones.
One of my best examples is TimezAttack. It's based on what is the best, very common approach to learning the multiplciation table: repetition, repetition, repetition. Its form of repetition is the best, too. It starts small, and then slowly brings in a new multiplication fact. Students also get a chance to review specifically those facts which elude them the most. Another bonus is there is a visual display (dots on a wall) of groups to explain the numbers concept. It's also boring...eventually. But it will always be effective. I don't know if an actual teacher is involved but I strongly suspect there is.
Another good example of a good tool is SpellingCity. The games are fun, engaging, but... the graphics are rough, unsophisticated. The games are based on actual tools teachers have used to diversify their teaching strategies in language: missing letters, draw a line, use in a sentence, listen as the word is sounded out, etc. No surprise the site was designed by a teacher. He just needs to hire a better computer graphics design person. Currently my students are highly interested in "being on the computer"... but after awhile, it will lose that appeal. But the technique is still sound, and students will still learn. There's also a paper version of some of the activities so it can address the needs of those students who still need to hold a pencil and paper. An added plus is that the games are free. If you are lucky enough to purchase the Premium Membership then the teacher has access to "instant" paper versions of quizzes and tests and activities, which are handy in case of power failure. You never know.
I'm certain once the smoke blows over, there will still be some heat on this topic, but I wouldn't crowd to the head of the digital learning line just yet. It will take a smart person or team who respects the intelligence required to run a good classroom to start focusing in on actual pedagogical methods and translate them to an e-method.
Now I, too, can get sucked into an unholy reliance on technology to 'do my teaching' for me. I was recently reminded of that when I left my projector's cord at home. I wasn't able to show my masterful powerpoint presentation on appositives. However, I leaped into the "old fashioned" way of teaching by using the white board, having students diagram sentences on the board, and working in teams to bust through the lesson. In hindsight, that grammar class was a tad more exciting than some of my latest classes: beacuse the students were physically involved and moving around and talking with each other. It was a good reminder that most technology doesn't appeal to the most underserved groups of our student population: the intrapersonal, the kinesthetic and tactile learners. Those students still exist. Say... wouldn't it be fun if Xbox Kinect came up with a way to "Samurai Sword" through a sentence?
Hmm. Now that's interesting...
This article corresponds with my viewpoint on the sudden rush into e-learning for schools. I'm hesitant to say computer technology is a useful tool in every instance, all of the time.
There are some applications on the iPad that are interesting to me for math and English for my elementary aged daughter, but not truly a whole lot. I've spent several years of searching for internet based or computer based games/tools for teachers and students. Very few measure well against my expectations of learning, which funnily enough, I thought were simple: be engaging, be effective, be truly educational. I found scores of shoot-em-up or blast-em games masquerading as "math games" and another legion of "reading games" which were alarmingly expensive. Eventually, I found a few useful ones.
One of my best examples is TimezAttack. It's based on what is the best, very common approach to learning the multiplciation table: repetition, repetition, repetition. Its form of repetition is the best, too. It starts small, and then slowly brings in a new multiplication fact. Students also get a chance to review specifically those facts which elude them the most. Another bonus is there is a visual display (dots on a wall) of groups to explain the numbers concept. It's also boring...eventually. But it will always be effective. I don't know if an actual teacher is involved but I strongly suspect there is.
Another good example of a good tool is SpellingCity. The games are fun, engaging, but... the graphics are rough, unsophisticated. The games are based on actual tools teachers have used to diversify their teaching strategies in language: missing letters, draw a line, use in a sentence, listen as the word is sounded out, etc. No surprise the site was designed by a teacher. He just needs to hire a better computer graphics design person. Currently my students are highly interested in "being on the computer"... but after awhile, it will lose that appeal. But the technique is still sound, and students will still learn. There's also a paper version of some of the activities so it can address the needs of those students who still need to hold a pencil and paper. An added plus is that the games are free. If you are lucky enough to purchase the Premium Membership then the teacher has access to "instant" paper versions of quizzes and tests and activities, which are handy in case of power failure. You never know.
I'm certain once the smoke blows over, there will still be some heat on this topic, but I wouldn't crowd to the head of the digital learning line just yet. It will take a smart person or team who respects the intelligence required to run a good classroom to start focusing in on actual pedagogical methods and translate them to an e-method.
Now I, too, can get sucked into an unholy reliance on technology to 'do my teaching' for me. I was recently reminded of that when I left my projector's cord at home. I wasn't able to show my masterful powerpoint presentation on appositives. However, I leaped into the "old fashioned" way of teaching by using the white board, having students diagram sentences on the board, and working in teams to bust through the lesson. In hindsight, that grammar class was a tad more exciting than some of my latest classes: beacuse the students were physically involved and moving around and talking with each other. It was a good reminder that most technology doesn't appeal to the most underserved groups of our student population: the intrapersonal, the kinesthetic and tactile learners. Those students still exist. Say... wouldn't it be fun if Xbox Kinect came up with a way to "Samurai Sword" through a sentence?
Hmm. Now that's interesting...
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