Have you been paying attention?
How do your students learn ?
are they…
interpersonal,
logical,
spacial,
linguistic,
musical,
naturalistic
or
bodily kinesthetic learners
Yes !
but mostly they’re Digital Learners!
here’s why…
Today’s average college graduates have spent over 10,000 hours playing video games… over 10,000 hours talking on cellphones… and roughly 20,000 hours watching TV
Today’s children and teens spend 2.75 hours a week using home computers. 70% of our nations 4-6 year olds have used a computer. In any given day 68% of children under two will use a screen media, for an average of just two hours (2:05)
Why?
“Richness.”
How much Richness does your curriculum provide? Do your students remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate and create ? What do your students create?
“These teens were born into a Digital World where they expect to be able to create, consume, remix, and share material with each other.”
Are you reaching your students? “we have learned to ‘play school’ We study the right facts the night before the test so we achieve a passing grade and thus become a successful student.”
“It’s not attention deficit – I’m just not listening!”
Are you engaging them?
“When I go to school I have to ‘power down’.”
One researcher claims that,on average, students in class only get to ask a question once…every 10 hours! Why don’t we pause for the next ten hours and see how that feels?
Do any of your students use Google? Did you know that there are over 2.7 billion searches performed on Google each month. To whom were these questions addressed B. G. (Before Google) Why not use the technology that our students love to create more effectively? to engage more effectively to teach more effectively. Did you know that our Digital Learners have sent and received over 200,000 emails or instant messages… by the time they graduate from college. We accuse them of not reading… but 200,000 written messages sure seems like a lot of time spent with the 3R’s!
Rigor Relevance & Relationships!
How are you using the new WWW to reach your students?
WWW= whatever whenever wherever
Consider these ways to use the internet in teaching…blogs, Wikis, podcasts, online collaboration, online learning, online testing, web-cams, GPS, Geo-caching games, GIS, Google Earth, Web Quests, E-Portfolios, Virtual Manipulatives, Virtual Pen-pals, Virtual Tours, Writing, Reading, Reflection and ….those evil cell phones? Did you know that over 1.5 billion people, all over the world , are walking around with powerful computers in their pockets and purses?
“When you lose your mobile, you lose a part of your brain.”
“Phones have become a interesting enabling tool. Invented to connect us all together, it has become something much more…” Since your students already know how to use this technology, why aren’t you using it to teach? Think of the ways you could use cellphones to teach…language, poetry, literature, public speaking, history,math, storytelling, geography, writing. Text messaging (sms) alone could be used for…pop quiz. student polls, Spelling Bees, math experiments, science experiments, book reports, peer tutoring, class presentations. Imagine giving your class this assignment:
“Class, you’ve got 10 minutes to receive a text message from anyone outside of school…”Please find out: 1. What they had for breakfast 2. What the weather is like where they are. 3. The one thing they last purchased. Bonus points will be given for messages received from people in other countries…
Using languages other than English, talk about acquiring useful data This data could be then be used in nearly any class… to teach a wide variety of essential skills! Graphing Data, food preparation, predicting economic trends…cell phones to teach? Absolutely! Did you know… only 28% of the 12th-grade high school students believe that school work is… meaningful. 21% believe that their courses are interesting… and a mere 39% believe that school work will have any bearing on their success later in life.And these are the opinions of students that will actually graduate! How do the nearly 50% of our nation’s students that don’t graduate feel about the schools they once attended? Engage them don’t enrage them! Perhaps they wouldn’t hate school if they could use their Ipods in class!
There are nearly 90.000.000 ipods out there! (Surely you’ve noticed the little white buds hanging from your students’ ears)
ipod + Podcast = Anytime Learning
Did you know that there are over 90,000 unique video and audio podcasts currently being served to over 1.6 million subscribers. If you can’t reach your students by speaking directly to them…teach them via podcast! Why not, when there are already thousands available for you to use… in every subject imaginable…even basket weaving! ” If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em!”
In conclusion, hopefully you’re seeing the point…”How do we turn our classrooms into learning engines? Pay attention to our children’s intensely rich information experience,” If you are not using blogs, email GPS Wikies, Webquests, the internet, cell phones, podcasting, technology to teach, you should be! But then again you already knew that…and your students did to!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEFKfXiCbLw
to learn how you can become a better teacher
transforming
teaching
through
technology
