Thursday, May 28, 2009
kids are always bored...
After reading the article I thought to myself, maybe kids have always been bored in class. Before, there probably wan not a way to escape the boredom. Nowadays, due to the number of technologies and types available there are so many ways for students to escape boredom in school settings. I think teachers are doing their jobs, however, they need to take note of these technological distractions. In my opinion, instead of viewing these inappropriate uses of technology as a distraction or threat, but rather overcoming it. I think that teachers could use this effectively in the classroom in minor ways to begin with. For example, a cell phone, these days is most common. Most students own a cellphone, and for that reason they have become a distraction in the classroom. While teachers are teaching the curriculum, students tend to send text messages, play games, or surf the internet. The teacher can engage the student in using the cellphone by asking an educational question, and asking the student to come up with an answer using his or her cellphone. i think this concept will catch the student off-guard and if anything encourage the student to learn outside of the traditional school system boundaries. This is just a thought, similar educational boosters can be used with other technologies such as ipods, cameras, ect.
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I agree with you, teachers need to find ways to spice up their lessons. After all, who will text a friend or surf the net if they are doing something engaging like theme park's ride?
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, we may also need to understand that nowadays some students can multi-task. They can really keep up to the lesson while they are texting. To me, whether students are distracted are not the keyed. I would focus on whether they are learning in a classroom. Distraction by technologies is only a concern to me if students' understanding is affected by it.
Tullia brings up a good point. Most students are adept at doing multiple things at once. Even I can check email, msn, and take notes at the same time. It might not be the most efficient means of my times (especially when I must read something) but I can get things done.
ReplyDeleteIt makes sense that we must abandon our us vs. them mentality of cellphones, ipods, etc. If we can use them to our advantage it might help engage students more so =)