Technology is a factor that is increasingly prevalent in society, schools and education. The emergence of a heavy technological society, such as the one we live in today, is allowing people to learn differently.
With more and more students being heavily incorporated into the technological world through the use of cell phones, laptops, iPads and more, the incorporation of technology allows students to engage in education in various different ways, but at the same time can also hinder learning in the classroom.
Technology Today
From my experiences in high school, technology was being used in the classroom but not in a productive way. What I have noticed four years ago when I was in high school, and even from my placements this year, is that students are constantly on their cell phone during lessons. Technology is taking away students' attention from the teacher in most classrooms.
Believe it or not, this is not the students fault. In a society where everything revolves around quick information, it is no wonder why students get bored in class and resort to their cell phones. Google provides searches in less than a second, vines are popular because it is only 8 seconds long, and we all know if we see a video on social media that is longer than 5 minutes, we don't even open it because its too long!
We live in a world where everything is fast, even our food. Everything depends on quick information and that is because people get bored easily. We don't necessarily have shorter attention spans, but its just that we are not motivated to stay on task. We need an education that revolves around intrinsic motivation, because then students will not get bored in class and will stay focussed on the topic at hand.
Technology Tomorrow
Students are getting sleepy in current situations in the classroom and are losing focus. Prensky claims this is because of a lack of engagement, and the solution to this is found in educational video games. Educational video games would keep student’s focused because they will be intrinsically motivated to play these games, and thus engaged in the classroom (Prensky 2001).
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This is just one example of how to keep children motivated and foster learning at the same time. Games work best with little kids because they have a low attention span. Forbes also explains how video games in the classroom help students gain vital metacognitive skills and more.
The problem faced with incorporating students into the classroom is the fact that many people have myths about video games and its effects on children. Children spending too much time in front of a video game will lead to bad eyesight is a common myth that, Daphne Bavelier, debunks in her Ted talk. In short, she explains how people who play spend 15 hours a week playing video games actually have better eyesight than people who don't in two different ways. One way is that video game players are able to resolve small detail in the context of clutter, which means they will be able to read the fine print on prescription better than most people (Bavelier 2012). Secondly, video game players can resolve levels of gray much better, which means driving in a fog would be easier.
As you can see there are many myths around video games that make it seem like its just for fun and games. The truth is, video games keep students engaged and if we transfer over certain principles from video games and create good games that foster learning, it will be very beneficial in the classroom! Students will no longer see school as boring, but instead it will be a place where they can have fun and learn at the same time! A good example as to why we should incorporate video games in the classroom is presented by James Paul Gee. Here you can see that video games are not just for younger kids.
Video games can be incorporated in many different ways! It truly brings a new culture of learning, so why not let the kids have fun and learn at the same time? Society is not static, and is constantly changing. Instead of making the new age of kids adapt to old teaching methods and practices, we should instead reform the education system and take on a new culture of learning for the new type of students. It is time to revolutionize the education system and bring learning and having fun together as one.
References
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants part 1. On the horizon,9(5), 1-6.
Your Brain on Video Games In Ted Talk (2012) Daphne Bavelier.
Bevan,
ReplyDeleteGreat blog this week!
I see so much improvement from your first blog to this one, and the progression in your writing and in your ideas is very evident. The video at the beginning of your blog was an effective way to introduce your chosen topic this week, and captured my attention right away. I also thought it was great the way broke your blog up into two subsections, “Technology Today” and “Technology Tomorrow”. The way you broke up your writing into sections and small paragraphs made your blog both aesthetically appealing and easy to read. I also really liked your inclusion of Math Circus as an example of technology in the classroom! I think it’s great that all your blogs thus far have been tied together with the common thread of technology. This consistent focus on technology and important 21st skills really helps each of your blogs build off the previous one, and transfers your concepts fluidly and effectively from blog to blog. For the future, I think the addition of more photos or visual aids throughout your blog could really help bring it up to that next level. Also, your integration of hyperlinks is much better, but I think it could improve even more. Seamless integration of your hyperlinks into your sentences could make your ideas flow a little more smoothly and with less interruption.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading your blogs. Great job!
Bevan,
ReplyDeleteI thoroughly enjoyed reading yet another great blog! Your first video was a great way to start your blog and introduce your readers into the history of technology in a create way. The progression of your blogs is very evident and I appreciate you taking my past comments into consideration by embedding your videos right into the blog.
I loved you bringing your past into your blog as I too remember playing math circus and it was a great way to bring math to life. My only concern with these games is that I fear my students will only be encouraged to learn through games. And from personal experience, after playing these math games, I often would begin to surf the web and switch back to the game when my teacher would near in proximity. Therefore I wonder how I can keep my students from abusing the privilege of video games.