Bad Example
Not only do you have to understand what you need to teach your students, but it's always wise to learn about and gain experience with the students that you hope to teach. The current generation of students is referred to as Digital Natives or Digital Kids.
These students differ from previous generations in several key ways. They have grown up with many forms of technology all around them: computers, videos games, mp3 players, cell phones to name just a few.
According to the United States Department of Education (2005), these students are:
| the most diverse generation yet | have strong ties to family | value education / achievement-oriented |
|---|---|---|
| regularly using a wide variety of technologies | have substantial economic influence | grew up with technology |
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"Growing Up Digital"
Donald Tapscott, in his paper ''Growing Up Digital," http://www.ncsu.edu/meridian/jan98/feat_6/digital.html Links to an external site. says these students are "embracing interactive multimedia such as the Internet, social media, and video games." They are "exceptionally curious, self-reliant, contrarian, smart, focused, able to adapt, high in self-esteem, and have a global orientation. Not only are they, demographically-speaking, the greatest challenge to the cultural supremacy of the baby boomers, but technologically-speaking, there has been a change in the way children gather, accept and retain information."
Each year Project Tomorrow conducts Speak Up, a national research project, to collect data and stimulate discussion about K-12 educational technology.
Tommorow.org Report Links to an external site.
http://www.slideshare.net/ProjectTomorrow/learning-in-the-21st-century-2009-trends-update
One key finding I want to point out is how teachers feel about their preparedness for teaching. Look at the table below for the results of barriers to implementing online courses.
| Questions | Percentage of Total |
|---|---|
| Not comfortable with tools | 18 |
| Not comfortable with teaching online | 17 |
| Reluctant to try it | 14 |
| No expertise to develop | 14 |
In this course, we are going to look at ways to create those interactive experiences with tools that are available. It would be great if we take all of the required curriculum and turn it into an interactive video game. That may be part of learning in the future, but for now we will focus on what is practical to create learner-centered experiences that integrate technology.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMy1zO8m8sM
Links to an external site.
Don't end up like Marty with your technology use in the classroom!