Many teachers, and parents, realize that in the 21st Century teaching and learning has changed. The principles of content will no doubt be enduring however the mediums in which we teach them are changing.

Technology is more apparent in our everyday lives both in and outside the classrooms. Technology in the classroom has been argued by some as being ineffective and distracting. I wonder if they have talked to a child who has used technology to learn to read, or improved their math skills playing with educational software. Have they seen the quality and variety of data a child has been able to source for a project by using the internet? Have they witnessed the dedication that children will put in to mastering a game online or on a games console? Harnessing that passion to educate our children must surely be the way to developing their skills and knowledge. But we must ensure we are providing them with the right content not just mindless games.

We also need to make the distinction between teaching using the technology that is available to engage our young learners but also about teaching them how to use the technology. It is not just about using the internet to research a project in isolation but the wider application of the skills used such as collaboration, developing problem solving skills, working on real world problems and working as a group. For teachers to move forward we need to embrace the 21st Century by teaching using technology and teaching about how to use technology. Read the rest of this entry »

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Educators compete for kid’s minds every day. What does it mean to compete for kid’s minds? Well, kids have many things they can think about throughout the day. Students constantly make choices about the thoughts they prioritize. Just like the old days when we were in school, students can spend the day thinking about basketball practice, cheerleading practice, paper football, the big game this Friday, the new skateboard that just came out, or perhaps even academics.

As mentioned above, there are similarities between the choices we made during the old days and the choices kids make today. However, times have definitely changed. Students have many more things competing for their minds each day. Many of the new things educators compete with in order to capture the minds of children are directly related to today’s technologies.

Kids embrace technology products. They use them. They think about them. They love them. Sometimes, they even obsess over them. If you have ever seen a student walking around with a cell phone, an MP3 music player, a backup MP3 music player, a set of bluetooth wireless headphones, a couple USB flash drives, a laptop computer, and a portable handheld game system then you know what I mean. Some kids these days look like walking talking electronics stores.

It may sound like I am suggesting that this is a bad thing. Perhaps it seems that I am pointing out how distractive these electronic devices are as they keep students from focusing on academics. That is not what I am saying. I am really just pointing out the realities of the times in which we live. Kid’s love of technology can actually be a very good thing if we use it to our advantage as we strive to educate them. Read the rest of this entry »

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