Thursday, February 5, 2009
Blog 2- Due Feb 12
Please read carefully the latest statistics regarding kids' use of technology found above under the name BLOG 2. What statistics interest you the most and do you think have the biggest impact on you as a teacher? How does this change how you are going to teach children in the 21st century?
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The statistic that most caught my eye was on page 4. I was surprised that 48% of kids in K-12 like to play electronic games for the competition, and it seems like we are being taught to discourage competition among students. Does anyone else think that? I liked that the students are so open to games in order to learn the material. As a teacher, I will definately have to stay on top of kid-friendly websites for them to use. These could help take some of the work load off of me, and they may get more out of a lesson if there is a game they enjoy that also reinforces concepts.
ReplyDeleteThe statistic that I found most shocking was that 3% of elementary students are NOT playing electronic games on some form of device. That means that 97% of them are. That is higher than what I would have guessed. If this is what students are spending their time doing then why not cater to what they enjoy doing. If I can find kid-friendly sites that enforce the concepts through games then it will benefit the students. Of course they are going to take in the material more effectively if they are doing it in a way that they enjoy.
ReplyDeleteTera Nelson
ReplyDeleteI was surprised that 97% of elementary students are playing educational electronic games. Hopefully this means that the students are playing them at home, and that parents are buying games that are educational rather than non-educational. I am happily surprised at that number because students at the elementary level should be participating in educational games so that they are getting a head start on technology. I will investigate free games online that will offer the kids a variety of subject choices, as well as different skill levels. Another good idea would be to, if some games aren't free, suggest them to parents for holidays and birthdays. I will definately have to incorporate these games because the statistics show that kids do like to play them, and the kids need to be engaged in the subject being taught.
I found it very interesting that only 58% of parents think that technology can accelerate learning opprotunities. I would think this number would be much higher. I dont see how parents would think technology would do anything basides accelerate childrens' learning. I was surprised to see that more students saw the importance of a 2nd language than teachers. I would think teachers would always encourage the acquisition of a 2nd language, especially considering the culturally changing world we live in today. The chart on p. 3 demonstrates that with a little encouragement and background information about technology, the children of today would be more interested and very likely to work in the science, math, and techinical fields. I am definitely going to encourage my students to become very comfortable with computers and technology because these advances are going to keep comin' and kids must feel comfortable in a technology run world.
ReplyDeleteI was most interested in the gaming category. I was interested and suprised that kids spend, on average, 8-10 hours per week playing games. I was also suprised that 33% of kids from k-2 have cell phones and that they play games from their cell phones! Only 3% of elementary kids, 9% of middle school kids, and 17% of high school kids do NOT play electronic games. I think that these statistics will make the greatest impact on me as I become a teacher. I think kids will want to learn more in a way that has to do with educational games. These games will be more engaging to them and help them retain information better, I think. I think it will definitely change the way I teach my kids. I will always want to encorporate gaming into their lessons to make it fun for them. Some concepts are more difficult to teach kids and if gaming helps them, then that is what should be done.
ReplyDeleteThe difference between the importance teachers put on technology and the importance students put on technology is very interesting. I think that teachers are feeling the pressure of including technology in their classroom, but may withhold using it because they do not have the proper background knowledge to teach it. When students know more about technology than the teacher, it could be very intimidating for the teacher who needs to know "all the right answers."
ReplyDeleteI know that technology and its issues will affect me as a teacher. My hope is that I can stay updated on the advances and even ask my students to help if I don't know about a certain topic. I think technology is becoming increasingly more important to increase student engagement, address different learning styles, focus on student-centered learning, and to help develop problem solving and critical thinking skills. If students and teacher work together, than technology can prove to be one of the best things for education.
THe above comment is from me Dr. Pratt. I accidentally used my dad's account...hahaha...Amanda Press
ReplyDeleteI was surprised at the fact that 84% of administrators thought that technology enhanced student achievement but that only 58% of parents think so. It shows that people without that kind of training have no idea at the educational value of technology. Parents probably think that technology only distracts their kids and that since they didn't have it when they were in school, it won't help the kids.
ReplyDeleteI think that the gaming statistics will have the most impact on me as a teacher. I know that more and more kids are gaming and enjoy gaming, and that eduactional games will be a great way to teach them and keep them engaged and learning.
We as teachers have no choice but to include technology in our teaching! We have to make sure that we are on top of new technologies and are using them to aid in learning.
There were something’s about this article that I found very surprising and other things that I feel would be expected. I found it very surprising that 70% of children 6-12 grade only finding themselves average in technology. When I think of middle and high school student I think that most of them are very experienced in technology and would think of themselves and being an expert. I didn’t find it very surprising with the amount of students that have MySpace or facebook. I also didn’t find it very surprising with the types of technology parents, teachers, or school leaders are using.
ReplyDeleteThis article that we had to read was a very informative article that talked about the ways technology is used by three different groups of people. I found it interesting that kids in high school, and in middle school use gaming counsels for their electronic gaming while elementary students us the computer for educational gaming. I also found it interesting that girls used the computer for gaming a lot more than the guys do. I believe that the schools need to start doing more to cater to the new age of students that we having going to our schools. If that means using more technology then go ahead and get the technology and make some progress towards engaging these students to their full potential.
ReplyDeleteI thought the statistics were very interesting when I read this. I thought it was interesting to see that 33% of kids between kindergarten and second grade own a cell phone. It's amazing how times have changed so much over the years. I also thought it was interesting that only 58% of parents feel that technology will help children learn. I thought that number would have been higher considering technology is helping people all over the world with other aspects such as cars and certain jobs. Overall I thought reading this really helped me think about technology and what other people think about it.
ReplyDeleteCaitlyn Hasek
This article included so many interesting statistics. There were many of them that suprised me, but the one that caught my attention the most was that 93% of teachers use e-mail to communicate with colleagues or parents. It's the parent part that really sticks out. I guess I always think of notes going home, or phone calls made. It does make better sense though to go through e-mail if possible. This way you know that the parent is going to get the note, and the student doesn't need to worry about the note being sent. What is sent in the e-mail will be handled by the parent in the way they feel is right. A downside though could be the parent ignoring the e-mails. Unless there is a response, a teacher will not know the parents view of what was sent out.
ReplyDeleteBy the time I get into the classrooms, hopefully I will be able add different things that will both catch the attention but also educate the students through technology. The class could make their own page, or the children could have their own section of the page. They could get encouraging comments from the teacher, and then respond to the teachers comment. This could educate the children in technology without them even knowing.