One idea I really took away from the readings was that technology activates a different kind of learning within students. Traditional methods of teaching with textbooks and other written materials eventually lead to the same types of cognitive processes with slight variations. To me, technology opens the door for learning in an ENTIRELY new way. As a student negotiates a new technological medium, they are not only learning about the subject they are dealing with, but also how that subject fits into a dynamic medium. Textbooks can only teach as much as the words on the page, but technology can allow for every student to have a unique learning experience, that can change and continue to challenge them. When students are engaging with material in such a free environment, they need to do more than just retain it, they need to be able to work with it - to fit it into new scenarios and truly understand how it works.
In case you haven't noticed, I'm a total nerd for the game Civilization IV, and since I have no chance of saving face at this point, I figure I'll just fully embrace my fantasy of using the game in the classroom. To me, the game provides a good example of the different types of learning associated with written materials and a technological medium. I could read a textbook that explains the evolution of language, and it would be on me to remember the various stages of the process. In the game, however, I would have to research writing, alphabet, literature, etc., and forge my own path in that evolution. Furthermore, depending on how I go about researching those things, I could see the ways that my civilization differs from others that take different paths. Alphabet, for example, allows you to trade technologies with other civilizations, so it is a valuable technology to acquire. This demonstrates how more literate societies have been the ones to best transmit their culture (think Chinese, Arabic, etc.). A student doesn't just learn that writing precedes an organized alphabet precedes literature, and so-forth. They learn the implications of that evolution and thus engage with it in a more productive way.
Wow - your second paragraph really packs a punch. It's a very powerful way to look at the potential impact of technology that I hope will open up lots of thinking in the class.
ReplyDeleteAre you playing the software version of Civ IV? You could probably get some great discussion going if you offered up your computer at lunch to curious colleagues and profs ... :)
I really like your thinking about how technology can open a whole new dimension to the learning process! My question for you, though, is while your students are going crazy, freely discovering new information and making connections, what do you see as your role in their learning process? Dewey says that though learning should be student-centered and experiential, the more knowledgable members of the community have an important role in that process.
ReplyDeletep.s. I would love to take a look at your nerdy game, too... :D
First, your titles crack me up. I look forward to seeing more of them.
ReplyDeleteSecond, do they make Civilization IV for the Mac OS-X platform? Cause I know nothing about it but it sounds interesting. You know, for the month of August when I pretend that I don't have homework. ;)
And finally, the meat of the blog, reaching every type of learner in the classroom is VERY important, something that technology facilitates. Your desire to use alternative methods of reaching students is illustrated in the Civilization IV commentary and I think if you keep up the enthusiasm about it you'll be successful. Students will love it, it'll become the more appropriate Oregon Trail. (Which I still have never ever played.)
I'll just pop in here to respond briefly to AH's comment. I think that Dewey sees the teacher as the person who, based on her knowledge of her student, helps to select experiences and contexts for exploration that will be meaningful and rich ("educative") and then guides the student in making sense of their experience. This latter step involves situating the student's experiences in the larger contexts of discipline, and of the world beyond (in ways small and large).
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