Part V: The Continuous Journey
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The road to technology's endless possibilities
Aside from improving understanding of history and identity, this technology vision of using adaptable computers as a platform to access enriching tools has several other positive impacts. With the increasing integration of technology, worldwide communication, and online collaboration, students will need to be equipped with the skills for continuous lifelong development. Using this digital platform each day will prepare students with the necessary skills to meet this demand. Assignments will develop skills such as online collaboration with Wikis or Googledocs, analysis of reliable web information, technical trouble shooting, and locating helpful digital tools. Combining with all of these skills is the growth of student digital creativity.
Continual connection to internet resources permits students the opportunity to observe ideas produced by the entire world. When students are exposed to all of these ideas they get an opportunity to combine classroom information and their own creative background with ideas from the rest of the world synthesizing new creative material. As a result students can creatively combine all of this information into mediums such as videos or sound recordings. Furthermore the class framework will cultivate student’s responsibility as an ethical digital citizen. As a responsible digital citizen students will learn online behavior such as appropriate language use for communication while holding discussions through social media outlets such as Facebook. Students can also learn how to engage in civil dialogue with people across the world via blogs or forum boards. Also students learn how to give due credit for the use of internet resources so that there is no theft of any intellectual property. By creating lessons that show students the process of searching for appropriate use sections of websites students can learn how to determine an ethical manner to use the vast stores of information the web offers. This group project required students to compile pictures, videos and quotes that illustrated a Vietnam topic. Layered with the visual resources are pieces of music written about the Vietnam War. Due to copyright the audio track has been disabled.
Students with different learning styles greatly benefit from having computers each day in the classroom. The ability to access a diverse array of resources allows for an opportunity for students to find the stimuli that construct understanding for them. Whether a student is an audio, verbal, visual, textual learner there is something that internet databases can easily access. Even more importantly, the students will learn how to access resources online that help to address their particular learning style creating a sense of independent problem solving.
Another great advantage of a computerized classroom is that students spend more time working toward an objective instead of trying to keep up with note taking. Students become more involved with the learning community and gain an opportunity to work at their own pace. For example some lessons using the internet may lead students through a webquest that culminates with a quiz. Instead of having a teacher talk the students through key points they can click through to experience video, text, pictures, or audio at their own pace allowing for them to digest information at their own rate. Instead of feeling rushed by the class the student will work to complete objectives at their own rate. Another peripheral advantage to the one to one computer has to do with my own personal motivation. Technical capabilities are developing at an ever increasing rate. Having computers in the class will push me to keep up with the latest tools that will enhance the students’ learning. This will be accomplished by exchanging ideas amongst staff at my current school as well as through the following of colleague blogs from schools throughout the country. Perhaps the one arena of development that many teachers overlook has to do with students. I can learn alot by holding conversatiosn with students about what they might know from their own personal experience from scouring the web. This is great because it involves students in a community of develpment that they can carry wtih them outside of school. Road to the FutureA one to one computer ratio is the key for enriching social studies education. With these powerful tools in the class students will be able to develop numerous skills that will prepare them for the future. In regards to history, students will take the great tragedies and stories of of the past as a means to build a personal concept of human nature. As a final result students motivation and understanding will improve because they will be active participants in developing skills and knowledge for the road to the future from humanity’s wealth of history.
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