This article is about the distractions children today face. It talks about a boy who doesn't know whether he should do his summer reading or going on his computer. He chooses to go on youtube to complete his summer reading because of the instant gratification. The issue at hand is how is this generation of kids going to differ from those in the past? Kids brains are not being rewarded by staying on task, but by multitasking. This raises a huge concern. An English teacher says in the article that she has to have her students read aloud rather than independently because they lack the attention span. She also feels these students will not become good writers by watching YouTube, texting and emailing in abbreviations.
Do you think that computers and cellphones are becoming more of a stimuli to students? Do you think students should be able to have these devices in the classroom? Do you think using this technology in the classroom is hurting the students more so than helping?
I totally understand how these kids feel. I am totally addicted to my phone. I look at it all the time to check facebook updates and check emails. Its so hard to resist that instant gradification. I feel that we can either punish our students for feeling that way or gear our lessons to harnish this fascination with technology. I think this is the cross-roads now. I am interested to see which road our education takes!
ReplyDeleteI believe that computers and cell phones are becoming a stimuli for students. However I think that we do need to have technology adapted intoo the classroom. That being said I feel that if they are used as resources there would be a better outcome. For this to happen teachers and students need to get proper training on how to use technology effectivly in the classrooms.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely believe that cell phones and computers are a stimuli for the students. There is no getting around the fact and these devices should be utilized as such. That being said, if student engagement and student achievement can be increased then why not use them in the classroom. It may hurt students in the sense where the teacher says they will not become good writers. Penmanship wise, ok. However, students can use computers to write complete sentences and I'm sure there are software programs out there that help them diagram sentences. Personally, I think I became a better writer using a computer. Shift+F7 was always how to use the Thesaurus. I can't begin to tell you how much this actually expanded my vocabulary. Finally, if it engages the students and they can learn the material, then use it. Make learning fun!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Tim that word processors give students tools like spell check and thesaurus at their fingertips that used to take much more effort and time to use. On the other hand, I read an article recently that said that some English teachers feel that all the constant texting is actually making the students into more creative writers, even if their punctuation and grammar are poor. Perhaps the use of technologies to spark creativity is more important than learning proper grammar and sentence structure by rote. After all, the word processor can help them fix all that after the creative processing.
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