Week 4 Articles

In the first article, "Synching up with the Kid" by Josh McHugh, I thought what he said was very true, but discouraging at the same time. I believe we have been trying to lengthen the students attention spans, but what this article is saying is we should change our teaching style to accomodate them. I think the part that mentioned the LeapFrog company and how they design products that change every 7 seconds is interesting.
I went to a AECT Conference (Association for Educational Communications and Technology) in Fall 2005 and that was the topic of one of the sessions I attended. The presenter talked about the new generation's familiarity with technology and multi-tasking ability. The presenter included all children born in 1980 and after in this group, but I was born in 1980 and I don't think this generation was born until 1984 or 1985, based on experience with my younger siblings and the students that I have taught since 2003. He spoke that teachers shouldn't expect students to concentrate on one topic at a time. We should throw many things at them because that is what they are used to and comfortable with. It is going to take me a while to figure out exactly how to challenge the students in this way. I think having them do blogs and other technology applications will offer students a way to learn that they understand.
In the second article, "Adopt and Adapt" by Mark Prensky, he discusses how we are not using technology to the fullest extent. We are using technology to do things we normally did without technology such as organizing and filing lesson plans. We need to move beyond and see the full capacity of the uses of technology and not only how much time it can save us, but how we can be more effective teachers with technology.
I have always agreed that technology needs to be integrated into the curriculum, and I am trying to do that a little with my class website. Students can turn in assignments via email and check the webpage for information when they are absent. I hope to do more integration with blogs and RSS aggregators in my class next year.