WebLog 3: Introduction to Project Tomorrow

Research into the digital literacies of my students:

In conducting my research on the digital lives of my students, I am surprised to learn that while most students agree that technology constitutes a large part of their lives, many indicate that it shouldn't. I would like to share some of my students' feedback on the video clip entitled "A Vision of K-12 Students Today." I asked them two questions: 1) What is your reaction to the film clip? In other words, do you think that students today are digital learners? Explain. 2) How can teachers better incorporate technology in their classrooms to better suit your learning needs?

I have reproduced some of the responses that I found to be particularly startling or intriguing.

QUESTION #1 FEEDBACK RESULTS:

"I agree with this video to some extent. Digital learning is important, especially with the continuously growing technology, but the big picture is that we need hands on, engaging learning that helps students to better understand concepts, whether it's digital learning or not. If you do not thoroughly understand a concept, you won't retain the information. I think a better way for them to have made this video would have been to allow the students to orally express their feelings on the matter. After all, isn't the point to get students to think? It makes it seem as if the students have become computers themselves, only holding up statistics and not uttering a single word. That is not what the digital age is about. It's about being more engaged and formulating meaningful thoughts."

"I don't really agree with this film. As if children don't spend enough time using technology, people want to put more technological stuff into their lives? It is not going to kill them or ruin their futures to look at a book once in awhile instead of an iPod or cellphone, and they are not going to die from actually writing with a pencil and not typing on a computer. Kids don't need more technology; they already spend more than enough time with in."

"Learning is not the same as using technology to think and do for you. Technology is good when students can access more information and do more application. However, it is not good when technology takes over the learning process. We need teachers (humans) to teach us how to be part of society. We need physical social contact. We need to experience the world outside of Facebook. Gaming for three hours is not good."

"I agree to an extent. I think that we have so many options and tools available to us, so old teaching methods seem boring. But then again, I find that reading books and literature is so important! ... What I feel is best is to incorporate both methods. Reaching out to help all styles of learning is key, and what we do need to acknowledge is that our world is changing, so our teaching curriculum and methods need to as well."

QUESTION #2 FEEDBACK RESULTS:

"I think [teachers] need to take more of a creative [approach]. For example, video games: some can be educational. I believe an effective way of teaching is to teach without necessarily letting [students] know they are being taught. Blogs are good ideas... so are allowing kids to make shows and movies."

"Teachers could better incorporate technology in the classroom by playing games and doing things that help students to understand things more. There shouldn't just be a PowerPoint full of notes."

"Teachers can start off by getting the students' ideas on how to incorporate technology in the classroom. So then the teachers will see [students'] perspectives on learning."

"I think teachers can better incorporate technology in the classroom by what they are doing now. Allowing us to use computers as resources for projects is the best use. We don't need to use technology in the classroom as much as we need to use it outside of the classroom."

"If we constantly use laptops, I doubt most of us are working like we really should, but with a pen and paper we can. We have no choice but to do the work. Let us take digital pictures and add them into our story. Tell a story through digital pictures and then actually write a story to it. Let us interpret what it means."

Closing thoughts:

When discussing the video clip with my classes, I thought that one of my students shared a very significant realization. To paraphrase, she said that the students from 20 years ago are really no different than the students of today, that kids don't change, and regardless of the technology and bells and whistles that a teacher uses, students would rather be anywhere else than school. More important than technology is trying to access the deep and sometimes hard-to-access pool of student motivation. I am reminded that technology is not an end, but a means to an end. It is one of many tools that teachers can use to try to inspire student motivation.