Video Posts - Kids with video games

I'm not sure if both of these will be able to be viewed but as a parent and an educator I thought I would share a bit of my personal experiences with video games and children. The one quote that struck me from the Educational Arcade piece is "for our youngest generations - technologies are shaping the way we think, work and live". That toddler with the Nintendo game or on a parent's iPad will be doing video scientific simulations in elementary school. High School students are already creating their own i-phone apps. Someday, the college application process including the interview will be all virtual or online with a portfolio of work possible including something that is digital technology project learning based. What is wrong with pairing X-box Warlords 3 (that is a simply made up game)with a social studies unit on the famous war battles like Normandy, invasions of Iraq or Afghanistan to help teach tactical war maneuvering and the social and scientific elements of being in battle (ie casualties, loss of life, predicting enemy movements, etc.). Add on a retired military general or Navy Seal and you put a human face to what it is like to be in combat in real-life. For some reason, and it somewhat goes against my parental instincts, but as educators, we may have to initiate more of a give & take relationship with students have more engaged learners in the classroom. Then I think everybody wins!

Updated research on using technology with very young children

Nice overview of recent findings and recommendations on using technology (esp. iPad/apps & the like) with babies and toddlers on the MacArthur Foundation website.  This article mentions that the NAEYC is coming out with an updated set of recommendations for PreK-3 year olds graders this week.

PLAYBACK: A Nuanced Look at Technology use in Early Childhood

Additional thoughts on using cellphones in the classroom

More thoughts on cellphones in the classroom, via WNYC / NY Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/schoolbook/2011/10/28/to-ban-or-not-to-ban-cellphones-mixed-signals/

(listen to the audio stream for radio story ... educational aspects of cellphone use starts around 9:35)

Digital Gaming

As I have mentioned a lot throughout this course, I believe that the massive use of technology could be harmful to children since they become obsessed with it in their personal time. On the other hand, though, I believe when used appropriately in school it can have many benefits. As Klopfer has stated in the article, “The Instructional Power of Digital Games, Social Networking, Simulations and How Teachers Can Leverage Them”, “these technologies afford us the ability to convey concepts in new ways that would otherwise not be possible, efficient or effective, with other instructional methods. In other words, these technologies don’t just help us teach the old stuff in new ways- they can also help us teach new stuff in new ways”. As the years continually pass, new technology continues to develop. Inventions such as the smart board and educational Ipad games never existed until somewhat recently, which are now two of the largest forms of loved educational technology.

In this article, it also states how it has altered our cognitive abilities in many ways, including it allows us to process information very quickly, to process information in parallel, a way of accessing information through imagery and then using the text to promote further understanding. While these are just a few examples, digital gaming provides many aspects of learning that traditional gaming would not. This will all be further shown in our group presentation that we will show later in class!

It happened on Facebook. . .

In 1995, before Facebook, Myspace, Ning, Think.Com, etc, Robert Putnam wrote a book titled, “Bowling Alone.” In great detail, Putnam described and explained the decline of social capital (the connections among individuals) in US since the 50s. He described the reduction in all forms of in-person social intercourse upon which Americans used to found, educate and enrich the fabric of their social lives. Perhaps most importantly, Putnam described the decline in civic and civil engagement. I thought of this book after reading our assigned readings because I think it would be interested to know what Putnam views are on social networking and how it is effecting social capital and societies contribution to civic engagement. Furthermore, should we now view and modify the definition of social capital because of social networking.

Among my students’, there is a lack of civic engagement and thinks like volunteering and community service are viewed as punishment rather than a contribution. Perhaps this is a generational issue or the way we teach our young people about civic engagement and civic responsibility. I am not too sure. However, I found that the best conversations starts were the ones that began with, I saw this on Facebook or my friend posted this on Google+. Those phrases grasp their attention and draw interest. From there, we have had fantastic conversations about our government, laws, rules, politics and current and community events. Also, when I invited students to participate in a day of community service and high school exploration forum via a Facebook invite, more than 70 percent of our 8^th grade class participated. In pervious years, less than ten students attended. Unfortunately, within my school, social networking sites are blocked. Both students and teachers have limited access to websites and browsing networks. Although it has been proven that social networking sites such as Facebook spark attitudes and behaviors that enhance public life and civic action, help young people develop as individuals (identity), enhances communication and interaction and allows for collaborative learning and exploration, many people continue view it as a negative and distracting contributor to learning. Perhaps students and those in favor of implementing social networking into their curriculum and classrooms’ should make a Facebook page saying otherwise.

Sharon

Digital games

The subtitle of Klopfer’s et al. article, “How Teachers Can Leverage Them”, is a succinct summary of the authors overall message. Klopfer et al. advocate for harnessing students immense interest in digital media. Particularly they advocate for using digital games to supplement the curriculum.

While I was not surprised by the advocacy of digital media and games, I was surprised by some of the games they suggested using. World of War Warcraft is a game that my brothers played incessantly as teenagers. The suggestion that this online multiplayer game teaches “critical higher order thinking skills” would have been laughable when my brothers and I were teenagers.

However, the authors make it clear that digital media and games have a place within the classroom. The teacher examples they provide give an idea of how digital games and social networking sites and simulations can be implemented in the classroom.

It is my belief that Klopfer’s et al. paper presents a somewhat distortedly positive view of the use of technology within the classroom. The authors appear to address only the positive aspects of digital media, while spending little or no time on potential downsides. While I agree digital media provides tremendous educational opportunities, I think there is also a strong potential for misuse and abuse. Klopfer does not stress the role of the teacher enough in supervising students. My fear is that students will be given a game such as Civilizations and simply left to “play “ the game. These digital games are only useful as supplements to the overall curriculum, they should not be the curriculum itself.

Digital Media and Learning

As I read the MacArthur Foundation Report on Digital Media and Learning, I kept thinking about the Common Sense Media video where the teenager didn't mention he was under 18 on blogs where adults would talk about a specialty he was interested in. For this teenager, he felt a sense of pride in being able to "fool" everyone into thinking he was a mature young man becauase of his educated comments on the blog. I see how a blog like this would boost this young man's self esteem and interest, it deals with content [i believe it was a music blog] that is most likely not easily accessible in his immediate area and his expertise is on show for everyone to see, except they don't know his age. It is important for parents and schools to be involved and to accept that our children are deeply immersed in technology and that although it may seem foreign to us, it is necessary to shed that fear of the unknown and walk side by side with our children. They are gaining knowledge, like this young man, he is learning about music from a place other than a school and the information is valid. It's not like he's getting this information and it is incorrect or someone is feeding him lies. There are many "experts" out there that can be helpful to children's research and it would be better if we helped them find these resources.

I personally would like for young people to learn to be responsible about social media. As a facebook member, an older one, I see how my younger facebook friends and family members express themselves and share infomration that is at times too personal. It is clear to me that they are not truly aware of the tracks they are leaving behind. I would like to help my students learn to be responsible citizens in this digital world.