Week 1 - Reflections on Prensky

Hi there guys!

So I've been reading up on Prensky's ideas regarding the importance of teachers incorporating ICT into their pedagogy, and I 100% agree with him. Our world is changing dramatically and rapidly in the area of technology. Every month or even week a new technological gadget is on the market, from i-Pads to dongles, who knows what's around the corner! But more importantly - who are the people most interested, most raring to try out these new technologies?? The answer is simple... our children!

With this in mind, it comes as no surprise that Prensky's research indicates students are becoming increasingly disengaged in school due to the lack of digital-based means through which they can access the curriculum. The vast majority of today's children are exposed to highly stimulating digital material 24/7 and they naturally speak the language of technology. Quite simply, their day to day life is engrossed in technology and they thrive on it!

One of the most common sayings I have heard teachers use when talking about the issue of technology in education is 'We now have to compete with computers, video games and social media sites to gain and maintain the attention spans of our learners'. But maybe that's just it! Rather than competing with new technologies as though they are a threat to our students' education, we need to be, as Prensky suggests, investigating ways that ICT can be used to support and extend our learners' understanding of the world around them.

I think in the end the main thing really stopping teachers from embracing technology in their classrooms is fear of change. Change and fear go hand in hand, and I know very few people who would leap for joy at the thought of having to change something they were quite comfortable with already! I personally am someone who finds change very hard to embrace, no matter what area of life it is relating too.

However, whilst I 100% agree with Prensky about ensuring technology is incorporated into our teaching and learning, I believe some teachers who are struggling to embrace technology could become more fearful and reluctant as a resut of reading his 'Engage Me or Enrage Me' article. Prensky is a very passionate and knowledgeable man about this subject, there is no doubt about that. However, sometimes it seems like he believes the only way the curriculum can be 'engaging' for 21st century students is if it takes the form of a video game! I don't believe this is the only way we can engage our students using technology, and it shouldn't be the single means by which children access the curriculum (remembering the idea of a balanced approach to teaching and learning). There are many, far less complex, digital resources that can be incorporated into classroom learning - and more importantly, that anybody, no matter the experience they have had with ICT, can learn to master (with a little patience and determination of course!).

Here are a couple of simple examples:

1. Year 5 History (Videoing and Video Editing) -

Students studying the topic of the Australian Gold Rush in Year 5 could work in groups to create a drama performance reinacting events such as the Eureka Stockade. Students could video the performance using the school video camera and then use Windows Movie Maker to put together a DVD to be shown to other students, teachers and parents at the end of term/year presentation evening (the majority of state and public schools in Australia should have a school video camera. If not, negotiations could be made between schools to pool their funds and purchase a video camera to share between the schools).

2. Year 2 Science (E-mail and Webcam/Skype) -

Students studying the topic of insects in Year 2 could write an e-mail as a class to an entomologist at the Australian Museum. The students could organise an online excursion using skype or a webcam to have a live chat with the entomologist, asking them questions about different insects or finding out what their job is like. The entomologist could also take the students on a virtual tour of the museum's insect collection using the webcam facility on their laptop.

Woah! That was a long post! In closing, I think it is vital for anyone in the teaching profession, whether they have been teaching for 30 years or 2, to recognise that our job requires us to EMBRACE change. Not just so that we fulfil the requirements of teaching standards or the curriculum, but for the very sake of the children sitting in front of us. I also believe that incorporating technology into our teaching and learning should not be something to be feared. Hopefully the examples above can help you see and believe that a little more :)

Talk soon guys!

Sarah

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Image Acknowledgement:

School Cartoon Blogs - http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/o/online_blog.asp

Apple and Blackberry - http://www.idlehearts.com/life-was-much-easier-when-apple-and/1167/

Change is Inevitable - http://deanlindsay.com/a/inspirational-motivational-quotes-speaker/