Hi there, I'm the tuned-out kid in the back row with the headphones. "Are you going to engage me or enrage me today? The choice is yours". Bold words kid, bold words indeed. It is becoming increasingly obvious - even to students like myself who grew up in the transitional period between the Analog Age of the 20th Century, and the Digital Age of the 21st - that technology is an integral part of the lives of the students of tomorrow. Phone in hand and Ipod in ear, these kids will be walking into our classrooms, and it will become our job to keep them engaged, and focused on their work. Easier said than done.
Marc Prensky, author of the article "Engage Me or Enrage Me," believes that teachers must make the wild transition from how teaching methods have always been, and what they must become. We, the future teachers of America (and the world), will be entrusted with this monumental responsibility. We must be the ones to find out how to keep students engaged, knowing full well their capacity for learning still exists in today's society, and that it can be harnessed with the proper tools.
We must bring our students into the world of tomorrow, where technology is king, and we, the teacher, are simply the messenger. We must pass along information to our students through technological sources, utilizing it at every possible turn. Students today are interested in the instant gratification of the internet, television, and video games as Prensky suggests, and I support his somewhat controversial claims, as I have seen these tuned-out students in person, and I have seen what can happen if they are left to their own devices. These different forms of media should converge in the classroom, and be used to help foster the young, budding minds of students. To gain and hold their attention, is to have won the battle. Winning the war of engagement, however, is a different story. Once it is accepted that the teaching methods of yesteryear are quickly becoming obsolete, then the changes can truly begin. The transition will be a painful one, but it is an essential one nonetheless. So, tuned-out kid in the back row with the headphones, hello, I will be your teacher. We're going to do an activity involving finding primary sources for history research online today, so take off those headphones, quit slouching and show me what you can do.
LIBERTY AND IPADS FOR ALL
When we were at last allowed to test out the Ipads, I was admittedly excited to see what I would be able to do with them. I myself had never used one before, and I do not think that my partner, Brittany, had either. But therein lies the fun. We switched it on and went to town. Looking through the already installed applications, we immediately noticed some pretty interesting things. I was drawn quickly to the Historical Maps app I found. I scrolled through the available maps and came across a map of Center City Philadelphia from the early 1800s. That was extremely interesting to me, as I could see what the city once was, and how much things have expanded and changed over the last few centuries.
Upon closer examination of the applications, we soon found the magic piano app (I believe that was the name). Here, I quickly picked up on the downside to allowing students to have Ipads, or laptops for that matter, in the classroom. Yes they could easily be used for educational purposes, but without close monitoring of the students activities, progress can quickly break down into distraction. I found myself playing Moonlight Sonata, or at least trying to, and not looking for other important applications that could be used in the classroom. As I listened around the room for a moment I noticed that I was not the only one doing this.
With a device as powerful as the Ipad, any sort of crazy and distracting application could be downloaded to it, and then that, instead of the days lesson, would immediately grasp the attention of the student for the remainder of the period. It is very likely that by allowing students access to such forms of media, that they will be unable to resist the temptation to ignore the instructor and will spend the rest of the class period playing twinkle twinkle little star. Ipads may be impressive in the technology department, but I do not think that their introduction into the classroom would be necessarily progressive.
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