The Instructional Power of Digital Games, Social Networking, and Simulations and How Teachers Can Leverage Them

Article: The Instructional Power of Digital Games, Social Networking, and Simulations and How Teachers Can Leverage Them Site: http://education.mit.edu/papers/GamesSimsSocNets_EdArcade.pdf Authors: Eric Klopfer, Scot Osterweil, Jennifer Groff, Jason Haas This article discusses the advancement of digital games, social networking, and simulations in our society and how teachers can take advantage of their popularity and use them to enhance their teaching. The article shares some popular examples of games, social networks and simulations that are out there and are very popular and how teachers can actually use many of them to enhance curriculum. It mentions games and simulations, such as World of Warcraft, Civilizations, and Lure of the Labyrinth. Each of these, and many more which are listed on a link, can be used and were actually designed with education of some group in mind. Lure of the Labyrinth, for instance, was designed to teach algebraic items to students. It also mentions many newer social networking sites that are actually being designed with students and teachers in mind. Sites like Diigo and Think.com are actually designed to be used in a classroom-type setting where the teacher has control and can monitor everything that goes on. These sites can be used for a multitude of applications and go beyond the simple blog or wiki in that they can be used for entire project sharing and many other things related to a classroom. The ideas also benefit from recent research which has shown the learning process fits well into these social networks because learning is a social activity. It has been proven that most students learn much better in collaboration and through more social interaction than just sitting in a classroom taking notes. Many unique things can be done with these technologies but teachers have many issues that cause them to be hesitant. As a teacher, I know I have many things that hold me back from trying some of the things I see, even though they seem like fantastic and useful ideas. My main issue is the lack of technology available to me and my students. Even though it seems that today every kid has a cell phone and the internet, that is simply not the case. It is even very difficult for me to find computer access for my kids while in school, making such ambitious activities very difficult. We must pick and choose smaller activities that don't take much time as finding a day to use computers is very difficult. I think until schools have the funding and equipment to do these ambitious things, they will be difficult to incorporate for many. Also, the lack of technology seen in our testing procedures also hampers what we can do. Very little technology of any type is used or even considered in any type of testing. It is hard to justify to parents or administrators spending time on projects that are not very similar or directly tied to getting good scores on these tests. The testing methods also need to adapt themselves to the 21st century if this new way of teaching is going to take off.

Embracing Classroom Technology

Embracing Classroom Technology by Bridget McCrea

http://thejournal.com/articles/2010/06/17/embracing-classroom-technology.aspx

This article talks about a teacher who was tired of doing things the old-fashioned way.  Velerie Gresser wasn’t satisfied with the way her students were learning in that ‘old-fashioned’ manner, all her students gathering around the lone computer she had in her room. So she took it into her own hands to make learning in her classroom up to date and in the 21^st century. Valerie knew there were better tools out there, and she knew that tools like SMART boards, interactive whiteboards, digital cameras, and document cameras would go a very long way in her classroom, now she just had to look for ways to turn her vision of a 21^st century classroom into a reality. She was informed about a $20,000 grant through CCS Presentation Systems, and decided to write up a plan about how she could use the money to create an up to date classroom for those 21^st century learners. Well, Valerie won the grant! She won projectors, electronic whiteboards, document cameras, interactive electronic tables for data input, and entry-level cameras for student use! Gresser worked hard to get what she wanted for her classroom. She spent a lot of time learning about the technology and figuring out what would benefit her classes the most, but she worked hard and fought for what she wanted and it paid off!

Why Integrate Technology into the Curriculum?: The Reasons Are Many

http://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration-introduction


This article was interesting to me because it gave several good reasons to use technology in the classroom setting. I know this graduate course we are currently taking has helped me in a lot of ways expand my use of technology and resources for where to find specific educational sites for students to use that are engaging to them.
I liked how the article talked about four key components of learning - active engagement, participation, interactions/feedback, as well as real-world experts. These were all very true of using technology in the classroom. I believe it encourages student interactions, not only with other students, but in the whole class setting. By giving students real world examples and pictures, they get to see examples of those real world objects and make connections to what they are learning in the classroom setting.
The article also talked about how technology helps students to stay more engaged on the lesson and on what is being taught in the classroom. By giving students pictures, videos, and real-world experts that know about a particular topic that the class is studying, it can really help students to make those connections and stay engaged on what is being taught. When students are engaged on the lesson, they are less likely to cause behavior issues in the classroom and more likely to stay on-task on the lesson. I know that when I was in school, I loved when the teacher would play a clip or video on a particular topic we were covering in the class. Often times, students need a visual or another learning technique other than the teacher just standing in the front of the class lecturing. By keeping students engaged in the lesson with the use of technology, students are more likely to make connections and understand the material, as well as participate and provide feedback during classroom discussions.