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Permalink Reply by Brandon Hermes on March 4, 2012 at 5:23pm

I think you bring up a good point about, whether or not, technology is becoming boring. I personally would have to disagree. I don't think technology is getting boring, however, I think what we use technology for may be what the problem is. I think we need to create more innovative ways to use technology. Kids in a classroom don't want to type a paragraph on a blog. Give them something interactive, engaging, and fun to learn using the technology. We need to create better reasons to use the technology we have.

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Permalink Reply by Donna Murdoch on March 4, 2012 at 6:18pm

Wow, this thread has gone on for 3 years!  In that many years, so much has changed.  Technology has become transparent and ubiquitous - it's merely a facilitator of learning, just as the telephone facilitates conversations.  We don't talk about the phone (unless it's an iPhone or other smartphone :)) - it's about the conversation.  So we are back to our pedagogy, engagement, interactivity, constructivism, and context based learning for students new and improved ways.  When the initial post went up, Judy talked about blogs.  Now, what's a blog?  Just a place to take notes, it's a journal.  It could be on our iPad, on a blog, it could be a Tumblr, etc.  It's about what we do with it.  Fun to see this comment come back around though.

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Permalink Reply by Joe Bender on March 4, 2012 at 7:27pm

I feel that today's students are exposed to the technology before they are implemented into most schools.  Since these students are exposed to them the content may be "old" to them.  I feel that it is our responsibility to find new and exciting technological assignments for the students that will excite the student and keep their attention.  There is always something new and most of the time the students may have seen it before we have especially since technology is is so abundant.

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Permalink Reply by cprofitt on March 4, 2012 at 8:17pm

+Dona Murdoch +Joe Bender

I see technology being used to replace drafting tables and typewriters as ubiquitous. I see the correlation of some technology to that of a phone or pencil, but I feel that for the large part computer science is not even being taught in schools.

I will agree with Joe that many students are exposed to technology prior to them coming in to the class and in some cases know more than the teachers in charge of that class. This is not the fault of 'technology' but of teachers and districts to keep current with certain technologies.

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Permalink Reply by Donna Murdoch on March 4, 2012 at 8:28pm

cprofitt, well this is what I consider the "myth of the digital native."  They can navigate FB and social media - but computer science?  Not sure they need it if they aren't going into the field.  What happens in the box, and why it happens, etc...that's the technology they haven't been exposed to.  Text messaging is #1, FB #2, etc.  Just like we watched TV and the programming - did we need to know how the TV worked on the inside?  They need digital and media literacy skills, but computer science?  Not so sure.  And often, because they are naturally self directed learners using information, they will know more than the teacher about many subjects.  I personally do not feel it is always the teachers fault for not staying current about topics - they might not be as interested in it to the degree their student is, or in the same way.  Or be able to project context in a way that will hit home with the students, even if they keep current.  I think it is more about the talent the teachers need to step aside and integrate the knowledge of the students who know so much with their own lesson plans, give them the respect they deserve, and realize that students are used to the online world where meritocracy - not a degree or a teacher-role - gives them status.  Got to work from there.  Just my opinion.

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Permalink Reply by cprofitt on March 5, 2012 at 4:49am

 Not sure they need it if they aren't going into the field.

Do kids need Physics, Biology, Chemistry, or Calculus unless they are 'going in to the field'? I think students should be exposed to the basic concepts of programming and how a computer works. You cite the TV as an example so I will run with that. Most students, and teachers, understand that if they are not getting a picture on the TV that it could be that the power is not on, the display is broken or the connection to their cable/satellite box is broken. Those same students, and to a greater extent teachers, will say "the Internet is down" when they can't get to one website. They do not know the simple possible causes. How many students can tell you what the CPU is... what memory is... what hard drive space is... those are very basic things, but many students point to their monitor and call it a computer (with some computers that is accurate, but others that is not)

How many student know that they can create a program that will quickly analyze data for them and turn that data in to graphic visualizations? How many students. I think it should be part of the math and science curriculum at bare minimum to introduce students to some easy programming tasks. Social Studies could make use of those same skill when it comes to statistics for social sciences (polls, etc).

Just my opinion as well.

I agree that Prensky was wrong about digital natives... in many, many ways.

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Permalink Reply by Mel Bruggeman on March 14, 2012 at 4:21pm

I don't think technology in general is becoming boring, but I do think that some of the technology and technology trends that have been out a while is losing it's fascination. For instance, I have had Facebook for 5  years now, and I do not utilize it nearly as much as I had the first 2 or 3 years I have had it. It's just not new and exciting anymore. But I still find other types of web 2.0 sites interesting. For instance, I just discovered the wonders of Pintrest as well as Diingo. However, I'm sure I'll find both of these sites (or types of sites) boring in a few years. It's like when a child gets a toy for Christmas. At first, the child absolutley loves that toy, but by next Christmas, that child will have most likely forgotten all about that toy.

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Permalink Reply by cprofitt on March 14, 2012 at 7:32pm

Mel Bruggeman said:

I don't think technology in general is becoming boring, but I do think that some of the technology and technology trends that have been out a while is losing it's fascination. For instance, I have had Facebook for 5  years now, and I do not utilize it nearly as much as I had the first 2 or 3 years I have had it. It's just not new and exciting anymore. But I still find other types of web 2.0 sites interesting. For instance, I just discovered the wonders of Pintrest as well as Diingo. However, I'm sure I'll find both of these sites (or types of sites) boring in a few years. It's like when a child gets a toy for Christmas. At first, the child absolutley loves that toy, but by next Christmas, that child will have most likely forgotten all about that toy.

What is really interesting... is you are still using the same technology... a technology that is really, really old in the tech world. The Graphical Web Browser invented in 1992. The World Wide Web invented in 1990 (the Internet was around longer) IPv4 which was standardized in 1981.

That seems to indicate that it is not new technology that makes things interesting.

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