old people are really funny! my grandpa thinks he went to the moon in a home made rocket ship. this is going to come in handy for the copy right project :)
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
Living in the technology age, we have resource we need right at our finger tips. We can find just about anything online or from our cell phone. Just the other day I showed a friend that they can use Google straight from their cell phone to find something and they thought I was just the most technologically advanced person they had ever met which was flattering, but I could not help but wonder how did they not know you could do that? In today’s day and age we can get a little behind in what is out there in technology. Stuck in the Stone Age, most of our education is based on the tecneces that teachers have been using for dozens years. We can be ignorant of what technology can do and how it should be used in the classroom. Yet some teachers choose to believe that it is not worth having in the classroom so when their students use it to cheat, they are naturally furious. But after reading David Thornburg’s idea on cheating I think I have come to the conclusion that cheating by using technology may not always be wrong.
Growing up we learned that cheating was wrong and that we should never take part in it at all. Although I agree that cheating in most cases is wrong, I do understand why we as students do it. We do it because it is easy. According to Thornburg, “In short, the Internet is not at fault. The problem comes from asking questions for which the Internet provides a ready answer.” We can find an answer without even having to think about it which gets us nowhere. As teacher, we should not just ask the question so we can get just a simple book answer, but ask a question that we can get a thought out real answer about. If all we do is ask kids to remember useless facts than they should be allowed to cheat, because the chances of students memorizing the material for themselves is slim to none. If they just need to know it to pass a test, than they should just cheat. But, if we want students to actually get what they are learning then we need to ask them questions that make them think about what they know about the subject and maybe it will make them want to learn more about the subject. Therefore, we should promote ideas not memorization.
Technology is good, but it has to be used in the right way. Kids really can get something out of technology, we just have to show them how to properly use it. This week, I have been reading a book by Seymour Papert and his thoughts on technology and children. Published in the 1980’s the book was a little out dated, but the idea was still very applicable today. “In particular, the goal was to enable children to discover geometric knowledge on their own. The computer was to serve as a powerful tool with which the children could formulate algorithms to create certain patterns and test these algorithms. The point here is that children program the computer, that the children are in control of what they do. In most educational situations where children come into contact with computers – i. e. programmed instruction, computer aided instruction – the relationship is reversed: The computer programs the child.”( Reichert, Raimond) Instead, Papert believes that the child should program the computer not the computer programming the child. We should allow kids to explore what they can do with the computer instead of what they computer can do for them. Instead of just using it to give them fact, they can use it to give them ideas and answers. So instead of using the internet to cheat, they can use it to learn. Over the course of this semester, I have learned how the computer and the internet and technology can be useful. Going into this class I had a preconceived idea of how technology could only pull our world apart instead of make it better. If you have ever seen the movie Wall-e, you could say that may ideas of where we were headed was similar to what was in the movie. But now I see how technology can be used in a better way, a smarter way. We can use it to do so many great things when it is applied correctly to our lives.
Sorry I know this is super late! I totally forgot!
Growing up we learned that cheating was wrong and that we should never take part in it at all. Although I agree that cheating in most cases is wrong, I do understand why we as students do it. We do it because it is easy. According to Thornburg, “In short, the Internet is not at fault. The problem comes from asking questions for which the Internet provides a ready answer.” We can find an answer without even having to think about it which gets us nowhere. As teacher, we should not just ask the question so we can get just a simple book answer, but ask a question that we can get a thought out real answer about. If all we do is ask kids to remember useless facts than they should be allowed to cheat, because the chances of students memorizing the material for themselves is slim to none. If they just need to know it to pass a test, than they should just cheat. But, if we want students to actually get what they are learning then we need to ask them questions that make them think about what they know about the subject and maybe it will make them want to learn more about the subject. Therefore, we should promote ideas not memorization.
Technology is good, but it has to be used in the right way. Kids really can get something out of technology, we just have to show them how to properly use it. This week, I have been reading a book by Seymour Papert and his thoughts on technology and children. Published in the 1980’s the book was a little out dated, but the idea was still very applicable today. “In particular, the goal was to enable children to discover geometric knowledge on their own. The computer was to serve as a powerful tool with which the children could formulate algorithms to create certain patterns and test these algorithms. The point here is that children program the computer, that the children are in control of what they do. In most educational situations where children come into contact with computers – i. e. programmed instruction, computer aided instruction – the relationship is reversed: The computer programs the child.”( Reichert, Raimond) Instead, Papert believes that the child should program the computer not the computer programming the child. We should allow kids to explore what they can do with the computer instead of what they computer can do for them. Instead of just using it to give them fact, they can use it to give them ideas and answers. So instead of using the internet to cheat, they can use it to learn. Over the course of this semester, I have learned how the computer and the internet and technology can be useful. Going into this class I had a preconceived idea of how technology could only pull our world apart instead of make it better. If you have ever seen the movie Wall-e, you could say that may ideas of where we were headed was similar to what was in the movie. But now I see how technology can be used in a better way, a smarter way. We can use it to do so many great things when it is applied correctly to our lives.
Sorry I know this is super late! I totally forgot!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
