Hey everyone! So this week’s reading was all about Digital
Natives and how in today’s day and age all youth know is the Internet, e-mail,
and video games. Reading this article
brought me back to the days where I would be on the computer for hours upon hours
tuning everyone and everything out on instant messenger and e-mailing. Today I still am always on the computer, but
for different things like homework, e-mailing professors, and researching
different subjects for school. By using
digital natives such as the Internet, I have gained a lot of knowledge on
different subjects like history, politics, and the education system. The Internet can be a great place for
children to explore and gain other knowledge that they might not get in school.
As a
youth worker and knowing that youth are prone to always being on the computer
and playing interactive games it would be natural that a child would unsuspectingly
come across Neuroplasticity games. My
dream job would be to work with children in preschool through grade 2 in a
school setting where they can learn and grow.
Technology could help me teach youth about the world in the sense of
states, countries, Mathematics, Science, and History. As seen in the You Tube video, The Machine is
Us/ing Us, by Wesch, interactive maps and games can be a way for children to
learn about the countries and places that they live in. Many interactive games can be equipped to
expand a child’s knowledge, such as interactive Internet games like Luminosity, that are equipped to
challenge children and adults, but there are those that can fail at providing
knowledge. According to Marc Prensky, “…if
some of these games don’t produce learning it is not because they are games, or
because the concept of “game based learning is faulty. It’s because those particular games are badly
designed.” When a game is designed to
produce learning it will but when it is faulty the game is not to blame, but
the design is. I hope to use technology
in a way to increase knowledge and instill confidence in the youth I work with, so that they can know that they can learn and have fun at the same time.
Here is an article showing 12 ways to use technology in the classroom:12 Easy Ways to Use Technology . These 12 ways show how to make learning fun and interesting for the youth we work with.
Here is an article showing 12 ways to use technology in the classroom:12 Easy Ways to Use Technology . These 12 ways show how to make learning fun and interesting for the youth we work with.
How times have changed from when we are the youth playing and spending all our quality time on the computer for AIM and emailing, to now using the internet as adults helping us research. Digital Natives are constantly expanding as they grow with age. We not only start using technology for our own pleasure but we learn to use it in our everyday professional careers. Technology has definitely grown in the education field. Students today are learning their spelling and sentence structure through online educational games. This will not only expand youths' learning but also their skills with technology.
ReplyDeleteIncorporating technology with children up to grade 2 would be fun! I'm sure there are a lot of activities you could incorporate while teaching children at a young age, like you said in math and learning the states. I did volunteer work in a kindergarten class and the teacher used Ipads. The Ipads were used to help the children learn the alphabet and numbers. I think it would be great to help them learn by using technology.
ReplyDeleteI feel that I also use technology for more resourceful ways then I was as a teenager. For usages such as school work and research rather just social media and un-educational games. I also couldn't agree more about how certain games are badly designed and gives video games in general a bad rap. In my blog I wrote about the new sensation of the video game Minecraft and teachers are putting an educational twist on the video game. This allows students to be more engaged in their work since the teachers are connecting on their level.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the article you posted at the end that gives suggestions of how to use technology in the classroom. Many of the suggestions could also be adapted for youth workers who work with youth outside of the classroom. This is very important because I think the majority of us can agree that as technology increases and becomes more and more prevalent, technology has to be utilized in working with youth.
ReplyDeleteI've heard so many mixed things about young children and technology -- some people say it's a great thing to expose children to, others say keep technology (like sweets) away from young kids while their bodies and brains are developing. As a parent, I found I had to find a balance -- too much of anything (technology, sweets, tv) is a bad thing, but in moderation can be useful. I'm not sure most experts would agree with me, but I found that worked for my family. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteI feel as if the Internet and Television should be monitored and used in moderation. Now a days some children sit behind a computer all day as their source of gaining knowledge, but that coupled with the knowledge in books could help children be even more well rounded. I have also heard the saying, " too much of anything is a bad thing," this goes to show that children just have to be engaged in what they are learning and how they learn. If learning is used with both technology coupled with reading both sides of the "Digital Natives" and "Digital Immigrants" will be able to work well together.
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