Chapter 2: Students and Learning

“Students [are] digital natives, people who live in a world where technology is omnipresent.  Parents and teachers [are] digital immigrants, well-meaning adults who have to work at being comfortable with technology.” (Solomon, 26).

            Students in today’s world are affected by technology in their lives very much on how they live and communicate, and even when and how they learn.  All the technology helps students very much stay connected and ahead of the curve in learning the new technologies.  However, this can cause concerns for parents and being able to block certain cites.  It can also cause concerns for students with potential job opportunities based on what they might be posting.  Young people are involved in social networks on-line based on their certain likes.  This allows children to feel like they belong to a certain group, even if they are sitting alone at their house. 

 

“The kind of learning students do with these laptops will define how well they will perform the rest of their lives.  Thomas Friedman points out the importance of teaching greater collaboration skills, creating sustainable community of learning, cultivating the entrepreneurial spirit in all, and encouraging synthesis skills” (Solomon, 34).

Six Cognitive Processes of Learning

            1.      Remembering – retrieving, recognizing, recalling
            2.      Understanding – constructing meaning of messages
            3.      Applying – carrying out a procedure
            4.      Analyzing – breaking material into parts
            5.      Evaluating – making judgments
            6.      Creating   - putting elements together

The Knowledge Dimension
            1.      Factual knowledge – knowledge of terminology, details, and elements
            2.      Conceptual (declarative) knowledge – an understanding of the interrelationships among the basic elements
            3.      Procedural knowledge – an understanding of how to do something, methods, criteria
            4.      Meta-cognitive – knowledge of cognition and awareness and knowledge of own’s cognition

 (Solomon, 35).

 

            Constructivism is a learning process where the learner constructs new ideas which are based upon past or current knowledge.  Students build what they learn on the knowledge they already know and collaborate on problems in order to understand.  Project-based learning encourages students to learn through inquiry-based methods and emphasizes learning activities.  The current challenge is harnessing new technologies in the ever-changing world in order to keep students interested and learning.  Digital story telling could become a major factor because it allows students to write blogs, wikis, and podcasts in order to communicate with others.

NETS • S Standard

1.       Creativity and Innovation:  I think this standard applies to the chapter because it allows students to demonstrate creative thinking, construct, and develop innovative products and processes using technology.  It also relates to the chapter because this standard allows students to apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, and processes.       

Citations:
Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0, new tools, new schools. Eugene, OR: Intl Society for Technology in educ.

Chapter 1: New World, New Web, New Skills

I thought the first sentence of the chapter was very important; ‘Think back to when you were in school; consider how different everything was then.’  Since I was in Elementary school, technology has changed how subjects are taught as well as how students do research.  Technology has drastically changed how companies run and interact with their clients as well as possible future employees.  The use of video conferences has made it easy for companies to connect around the world.  Technology is changing both how students are educated, as well as what they are educated about.  Today even isolated communities and cultures are able to connect to the internet and are learning the importance of technology in the classroom and training teachers for this change with the help of the corporation Intel.  Work and information can be shared and collected from anywhere and most information is free to anyone.  The term blogger refers to most of the population of the United States who posts and discusses things about their lives, views of issues, or anything they want to share with people.  The bloggers can also have an effect on the people who read their blogs.  Web-traffic and technology is used by corporations in order to track their customers.  Companies are also turning to the web to search and look for potential job candidates.  Being able to use the web correctly and efficiently is becoming a very important skill for students to have as they enter the workforce or higher education.

Four categories of skills:

     Digital-Age Literacy

          ·         Basic, scientific, economic, and technological literacies

          ·         Visual and information literacies

          ·         Multicultural literacy and global awareness

     Inventive Thinking

          ·         Adaptability and managing complexity

          ·         Self-direction

          ·         Curiosity, creativity, and risk taking

          ·         Higher-order thinking and sound reasoning

     Effective Communication

          ·         Teaming, collaboration, and interpersonal skills

          ·         Personal, social, and civic responsibility

          ·         Interactive communication

     High Productivity

          ·         Prioritizing, planning, and managing for results

          ·         Effective use of real-world tools

          ·         Ability to produce relevant, high-quality products

(NCREL, 2003, n.p.) © 2003 North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. All rights

reserved. Reprinted with permission of Learning Point Associates.

Students used to learn by having information delivered to them, and then they were tested on the information.  This simply taught students to follow directions and basic skills.  In the world today, students are more collaborative and discuss and share information with their peers.  This process is shown to actually be more effective and helps students be prepared to work in the workforce with others in order to reach a decision.  Studies have shown that most people think that eventually the free online web tools will replace the basic application software because they are more effective in being able to easily connect with others and have others contribute and make changes.

NETS (National Educational Technology Standard):

         ·        Technology Operations and Concepts: I think it is important for teachers to understand and be able to demonstrate how the new technology operates all of its capabilities.  It is also important to have interest and the enthusiasm to continually grow and learn the new technology.

‘To be literate today involves acquiring new skills, including those of using technology, understanding science, having global awareness, and most important, having the ability to keep learning.’

~Web 2.0, New Tools, New Schools by G. Solomon & L. Schrum (2007)

I enjoy learning about all the new technology that is around these days and it has become very essential to being ‘literate’ in the world today.  If I come across something that I do not know how to do, I turn to the internet and like being to figure out the problem.  I always enjoy learning something new.

Source:

Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0, new tools, new schools. Eugene, OR: Intl Society for Technology in educ.