EDIM 508 Unit 1 Summary Posting

Media Minds: Students Use of Media Today

Ive enjoyed reading your discussions this week. I hope that the readings have better opened your mind to the
use of digital media and technological resources in education. Id like to highlight some outstanding thoughts
from this weeks discussion.

Annjanette- I have learned that my students needed to use various forms of technology throughout
the day. Laptop rotation schedule, music playing in the background, songs to introduce topics, or movie clips to
reinforce a lesson. Whatever media was chosen, my students were most engaged when technology was being
utilized.

Brian- The reality is that many of our students are great at multi-tasking
in the classroom. We as teachers often have a hard time dealing with this because we
believe that all attention should be on whatever is going on in the front of the
classroom. The data from both articles made it clear that teachers must rise to the
challenge, evolving and adapting to meet our digital natives. How do we get teachers
that are set in their ways to change how they present information in the
classroom? The original model of teaching is no longer the answer for our students.

Caitlan- As an elementary teacher, I see the lack of regular social and emotional development in
children because of factors within the home life. Goleman talks about how in the psychological realm, we may
see the more technology that is involved, the more patients will need regular human interaction. There are
many school programs to help with social and emotional development. Teaching students empathy when
working with each other face to face can be a challenge, let alone when adding in technology, where it is much
easier to say harmful things. Therefore, students do not see the hurt they may cause.

Caitlin It is a challenging time to be a teacher because of the advancement in technologies and how
quick our students pick up on it. It does make lesson planning easier as almost everything is already created
somewhere on the web. It does help with getting students more engaged as they are more acceptable to
participating in online chats than in person. It also provides more opportunity for creativity in less time as
technology is much quicker than pen and paper. Although it is challenging, I am excited to learn and see where
the future goes and see what these students can invent in the future.

Carolyn- I feel I am ready to learn and accept the new age of teaching which is why I have started
this field of study. I try to incorporate as much technology in my classroom but it seems like the only ways I
know are YouTube videos and educational apps on the Kindle Fires. I want to learn what else is out there so I
can meet the needs of my students. We are living in very different times even from what I think is a very short
time ago. It is time that we embrace the technology around us to help our future leaders learn as much as they
possibly can with the unlimited amounts of information they have easily and quickly available to them.
 Christine- While there is an importance for understanding of straight information and facts,
students have access to this "easy information" 24/7 literally in the palm of their hand. So why are we spending
so much time simply telling the students these things? We need to challenge our students who have a new and
completely different way of thinking than their counterparts who are teaching them. Classrooms need to switch
to a more inquiry friendly model by allowing students to incorporate the tools they have grown up with to
discover bigger questions and to see the bigger picture.

Christopher- Teachers need to be willing to make their classroom more fun and engaging by
playing these types of games. I am constantly looking for online math games that covers the content I need, but
also engages the learners as well and doesnt make it seem like they are stuck in school. A good thing is that
some of the veteran math teachers are now turning to the younger ones and asking if we know of any games
online or different activities other than guided notes and individual practice problems. We are still a long
way away from total shift in teaching philosophy around practices that fully
engage these digital natives, but I think it is a shift that needs to be made.

Erin- When teaching using the old methods we are trying to

reprogram our students brains. I know that this is not an easy process and I
have yet to manage to do it in my own classroom. Like I stated before each year
I try to teach more and more lessons using new method, where some go
really well and some do not. I am slowly learning which works for both my
students and myself. I hope as the years my lesson will become more digitally
driven for my students to help them better learn the material.

Janine- The goal is to merge the legacy and future content

together. But how can teachers do this? Especially if they are so caught up in the traditional methods of
teaching? Instead of writing a paper, teachers could have students create short videos. Rather than presenting
on a poster board, have students create digital, interactive poster boards. Students no longer write out
flashcards for studying, but they put it on an online platform that provides flashcard reviews, as well as quizzes
and games

Jennifer Presentation and delivery methods are vital for piquing interest in digital natives. I know
that my school district will offer professional development for educators that have a strong accent or tiny one to
help incorporate the use of technology in the classroom to meet our learners where they are today.

Jill- The implications for teachers cause a change in the way we teach/present information but
also the way students learn, not all students embrace technology because it is out of the norm for
school. Teachers needs to begin to recognize the change and adapt, also teach students that technology can be
used for school work not just games and social media. The understanding needs to be The world is changing
and we need to change with it. The same holds true in the classroom. It takes a feeling of change to support
students in the facilitating of their learning. Teachers can do this by taking their day to day lesson plans and
using online resources, providing materials online or google classroom

Jillian- I believe I would be considered a digital native after reading the articles and dates they
referenced. However, I think theres a discrepancy between the earlier digital natives who are now nearing 30
and the younger generation of digital natives. My peers and I certainly grew up with technology, but it was not
as advanced or fast-paced. When my internet connection is slow and Im getting frustrated, I find perspective by
remembering the days of dial-up connection.

Kathryn- How can educators meet the challenge of creating lessons

that will use technology in a way to engage the digital natives? I believe that a
good start would be to take into account the different learning styles of our
students. Our school is using the Universal Design Learning model to
differentiate for our learners. There are many ways to use technology to
differentiate lessons and assignments.

Kristen- Since my first year teaching, I have tried to integrate

technology to reach my learners. As technology changes so rapidly, I sometimes struggle to keep up with it. I
have also how much more I can use through our Wilkes courses, and I want to use technology in meaningful
ways to reach my learners. I hope that this course will open my eyes to new methods. At the same time, we need
to remember that many of the students still don't have a lot of experience using technology for anything other
than entertainment. They may be digital natives, but they may not know how to use technology as a learning
tool. That is something we need to help them practice and master.

Kristen S. from my experience, I do agree that many digital immigrants believe that learning does
not need to be fun to take place. Students claiming that reading is boring will not digest dry articles well
enough to learn from them. However, that does not mean that educators need to stop assigning reading all
together either, they just need to redesign how they introduce the activities, how the students partake in the
material, and what they are asked to do with their learning.

Nancy I don't necessarily agree that kids like competition against other students, especially at the
high school level. Too often I have students who won't play games where they are compared to others in their
class. If they process slower then they fail more frequently and feel less competent to their classmates. But they
do like to compete against themselves to see if they can do better.

Shannon Anytime that we have a group activity that requires them to work together, seems to end up
in an argument over who's right. But, when I give them a task to do on their own, especially on the computer,
they're able to work effectively. This is something that does need to be addressed in schools all over the country
because we are creating a generation of anti-social and emotional human beings.
We live in a world that is constantly changing, especially when it comes to technology. Technology I've found
can be useful and harmful for us and our students. We need to keep up with the demands of Today's society and
teach our students how to be successful. As teachers, we can help our students grow and learn if and only if we
try to keep up with the current times.

Shelly I believe that we cannot have educators who are digital immigrants that are not willing to
become digital natives. Education and students are changing quickly and as an educator you have to be a life-
long learner and keep with all of the new ideas. Ultimately, finding the newest most engaging ways to teach.

Timothy Wisdom and knowledge can be found in the old and the new, so it is
wrong headed for both the digital native and the digital immigrant to not respect the
lessons that they can learn from each other, which I believe has been going on since the
beginning of time and is the essence of education. Each party comes from a different
worldview, but both can learn from one another. Lke in education, our students would be
wise to learn from immigrant teachers experiences and expertise. Teachers can change
to meet and follow their natives lead into the future.

Victoria owever, I do hear from many of my colleagues that todays students

are very different from other generations. Many say they are worse than before or cant do what other
students could. And that would be because, Todays students think and process information fundamentally
differently from their predecessors (Prensky, 2001). Although students may think differently they are able to
do many different things that other generations could not. They can multi-task, type 100 words per minute and
use the Internet to research, faster than the average adult. Instead of focusing on what this generation cannot
do. We need to think about what they can do, what they do best and what they like to do.