Is all this technology good for us?

One of my main motivations for starting the EdTech program at Boise State is to attempt to get a firm handle on how and why to use technology effectively. I enjoy technology and I like incorporating it into my classroom. But is it helping students learn? Are the "old-fashioned" ways better for them overall and are they losing important life skills by being plugged in all the time? The articles we read this week for EdTech 537 don't exactly give me clarity on the subject. I look forward to hearing the thoughts of my classmates, especially those that are further along in the program that I am.

In Marc Prenskey's article he defines digital natives and digital immigrants. I personally find myself to be somewhere in between these two. He generalizes that most teachers are digital immigrants and that students are digital natives. This is a broad stroke, but I see what he means. He says that digital native students learn differently, they multitask, they like to receive info quickly, they like random access, networking, and instant rewards/feedback. I definitely have seen this with my students, especially the random access. As a teacher, I give directions step by step before they get started. More often then not I end up frustrated when I have to answer the same question several times because that direction was not really relevant to them until they actually got to that point.

Prensky says that games (like a video game) are the answer for meeting the educational needs of digital natives. When I read that I was completely on board. I have recently delved into the idea of gamifying my courses. I tried it with my Imperialism unit this year and it was great, I saw it meeting the needs of my digital native students. After reading Prensky's article I was giving myself a pat on the back. But then I read Jamie McKenzie's critique and I wasn't feeling so confident. McKenzie criticizes Prensky's lack of research to back up his finding as well as the broad strokes he uses to the portray digital immigrants, like claiming they don't think learning should be fun. He also pointed out that we assume to much about digital natives, they really are not as tech savvy as we think. I totally agree with this, I find that many students can use technology to entertain themselves and communicate but they don't know how to use their devices for learning. Oddly enough this criticism of Prensky is what compels me to incorporate technology. Students need to know how to leverage technology for more sophisticated purposes. Relating to that, McKenzie also points to the fact that most researchers agree that too much screen time is not good for us. Students are connecting with their devices more than actual human beings.

The final article referenced research about the generational differences and tried to reach a conclusion about if we need to take them into account in our instruction design. The article seemed to reach the conclusion that it certainly does not hurt to account for generational differences. And many studies referenced gave high praise to gamifying the classroom. Perhaps this is the conclusion I wanted to reach, but I do plan to continue to question the use of technology in my classroom and strive to help students balance their use of technology with the face-to-face interactions needed for a fulfilling life.

Greetings, EdTech 537!

Welcome to my blog! I have been working at this for about a year. I must admit, that I am not very good at updating it. I started it to document and reflect on my ventures into inquiry and  flipped learning in my history courses. I chose to use the Blogger platform because I love all things Google, but in my own classroom I am having the students use KidBlog.

I have just started the Boise State University EdTech program. I have always enjoyed educational technology so I look forward to learning more about it. I'm also pleased that I can take classes from the comfort of my home in Seattle, WA where I live with my husband. I am currently two weeks away from finishing my eighth year of teaching JH and HS Social Studies as well as advising the yearbook staff and student council.

Twitter is my favorite tool for professional development, you can find me @kaelynbullock. My PLN (Professional Learning Network) has inspired me to try flipped learning (#flipclass) and inquiry-based learning (#inquirychat). More recently, I have been looking into Standards-Based Learning (#sblchat) and gamification (#leveluped). These topics will be my summer projects and I hope to use this blog to reflect on my learning and progress.