Digital Citizenship (Elementary K-4)

Learning to Unlearn

 

Our world is changing everyday and with new technologies, we have to unlearn our old way of thinking and learn these new concepts. Alvin Toffler said, "The illiterates of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn." I have to disagree with him, I have seen first hand that technology is effecting the way children learn and most do not know how to read or write anymore.
Several basic concepts of the digital age require unlearning. Teachers need to unlearn that learning only occurs in schools; students learn outside of the classroom as well. Connected learning allows the learner to construct knowledge through passive knowledge for, active knowledge in, and reflective knowledge of strategies. Teachers are used to the old ways of teaching and it may often be difficult to basically forget all of those different strategies of teaching. Technology is changing the way students and teachers learn in the classroom and outside of the classroom; teachers have to adapt to the changes.

Interactive Whiteboards in Today's Classroom

Interactive Whiteboards are in most classrooms nowadays. From experience, I found it to be more of a problem, rather than actually helping students learn. The IWB's were always breaking, or the teachers' did not know how to use them and were not trained on how to either. It always seemed to take up more time trying to get them to work or try to figure out how to use them. I also found that a lot of students never paid attention to the IWB's and were not engaged in the classroom. The students seemed to learn more through the teacher actually teaching the material on a chalk board or by a hands on learning experience. 

My Mom is a 5th grade teacher, and she told me that the students coming up from 4th to 5th grade, don't know how to write, don't like it or cannot read well. This is due to the fact that the Elementary School, uses technology based instruction. Children nowadays are dependent on technology and seem lost without it. I was raised on a horse farm and I spent my days outside playing or working. I notice now that children just want to stay inside and watch TV or play video games. To me, this is a concern. I think technology is more of a distraction and there are other ways to go about teaching. 






Differentiation in the classroom by using IWB's, may benefit some students, but it's not for everyone. Every student is different and some learn better visually and some hands on. If the teacher is the one mainly using the IWB's, how does that help a hands on learner? Using these technology tools can either benefit or not benefit a students learning experience. Some people say that IWB's make children learn the material better and become "smarter," when in fact it is based on how the teacher delivers the content of the material and makes it interesting.

Differentiation

Differentiated instruction is an instructional method. Teachers can structure learning environments that address the variety of learning styles, interests, and abilities found within a classroom. This instructional method, can help children in the classroom and have a better learning experience. Differentiated learning, helps students to understand a concept, effectively. There are many different learning needs and teachers are now learning new ways to give personalized and individualized instruction. Children have different readiness levels, and might need extra help or a different way of learning a concept. Differentiation learning, is a way, that all students can be included and can also be successful. 

In my opinion, I think technology can help specifically with reading and math. I had and still have trouble with math. I think if my teachers would have used technology, I might have learned better. Some children understand things better on a computer, rather than listening to a teacher lecture. I had watched a video on how teachers use differentiation instruction with math to teach, and it was a very successful learning experience for the students. 

Twitter and Me

Personally, I am not a fan of Twitter. I deleted my personal account months ago, to try and get away from "social media." I just do not have the time to be on the computer or technology in general all of the time. I have a farm and I am working all the time or studying for classes. I thought that this professional account would be different, so I am giving it a chance. I do understand how it can help teaching and communicating, but in  my opinion, I do not like the aspect of this type of social media invovling teaching methods. The way the test was given via Twitter, was alright, but not the way I am used to and will have to get accustomed to it.

The Final Frontier

Technology in the classroom is very important. It benefits students and it gives teachers a new way of teaching. Technology is a good way to use visual learning in the classroom and can be a helpful learning aide to students. In our presentation, we stated how technology can be helpful, hindering teachers, and how technology can change the way the teachers are teaching.

Our group worked very well together. We figured out who was going to do what and we started working on our presentation. We had good communication skills and finsihed our presenation with no problem at all.

Our presentation discusses all of the issues in the article. My part was about how technology may hinder teachers. Teachers may have trouble with technology or have a hard time incorporating technology into their curriculum.



All About Me

My name is Meghan Patterson. I'm 21 years old from the small rural town of Stoneboro, PA. I'm a Sophomore at Edinboro majoring in Early Childhood Education. I transferred from Mercyhurst after two years of attending there. I'm a country girl, I love to go muddin' and having fun out in the middle of nowhere. I'm also a huge Broncos fan. In highschool, I ran track and played volleyball and basketball. I love the old American Muscle Cars and I like to drag race. I am a vegetarian and have been since 1st grade; I have a food allergy to meat.

I have shown Quarter Horses since I was 4 years old. I compete in the AQHA circuit and I love show jumping. My Quarter Horse is named, Trust Te Lark and is the grandson of the 2-time Super Horse, Rugged Lark. This sport is very risky, and I have almost died many of times in accidents. It is my true passion, even though sometimes I ask myself, "Why on earth am I still doing this?!" My Dad was my coach and got me where I am today in the "horse show world." Below is a video of,Rugged Lark. It just shows how amazing the Quarter Horse is and how fun it is to watch the horse and rider connect.

I feel that technology is essential in learning. The world is changing and is based around technology now. I remember growing up and playing outside all of the time, and now children these days have cell phones, laptops and other electronic devices at such a young age. Technology is a way that students can understand and learn better. I feel that by learning more about technology and how to become more experienced with it, the better of a teacher I can be.

I believe that teaching is the essential part in a child's life. Some children might not have the support of family that teaches them anything. School is the "safe place" for children to go, have fun and most importantly, to learn. Children look up to their teachers, especially at a young age. It is so fun to watch the children learn and be excited about learning!