Week+-+1+-+January+11,+2010

**General**
Key information/ideas I encountered this week is that times have changed. I need to become more aware and more current with todays technology in order to be an effective teacher. I realize that change is taken place and that this change will be reflected in the classroom. the old way of doing things is no longer effecient. Some ways of incorporating technology into the classroom includes have a class website and having an online forum where students can interact with one another. I also learned that material needs to be presented to students in a way that is similiar to what they are use to. We were use to books so we always have hand-outs written like pages of a book. Students are used to multimedia and need information presented to them in a visually appealing way with graphics, colour schemes and interesting layouts. I also learned that most students are visual learners.

Reading Response - Understanding the Digital Generation I
TTWWADI: This article talks about "Thats the way we've always done it". It humourously explains that spaceship design is impeded by the fact that two horses' asses were so wide 2300 years ago. This example is used to highlight how todays world is impeded because we continue to do thing the same way because thats the way we've always done it. The point of the matter is that todays school systems are designed for the old generation. The way we teach is not effective for the new digital age. This is not the first time I have heard this. During my practicum some of the teachers were talking about how the school sytem needs to be changed to address todays youth. I also found it interesting that this chapter points out the fact that nothing is taken OUT of the curriculum. More and more stuff is added to the curriculum on top of what is already there. This creates stress and pressure on both the teacher and the student. Less time is spent on important subjects. Students are so overloaded that only a minimal of information and skills is learned. NEUROINFOMATIONS: The author explains that childrens extensive exposure to the digital world has created a different generation of students. Their visual memory and processing and learning skills are being enhanced. I have always thought videogames were a waste of time. However, this chapter shows a different view. It says that visual processing skills increase with as little as10 hours of gameplay. I learned that visual memory is at a high rate of 93% whereas 10% of oral material is recalled. This tells me that as teachers we need to show our students what we want them to learn, not just tell them. I also learned about the use of colour and how students are turned off from black text on white background. I found it interesting that they respond best to blood red or pink followed by neon green and then burnt orange with blue or black backgrounds. Our generation would never pick this because we have always used black on white. It is what we are used to. However, the important aspect is what students respond to. I think now, as a teacher I will try to use different colours. DIGITAL LEARNERS LEARNING STYLE: This section explains the difference between the way we learn andd the way student's today learn. There are 8 differences pointed out. Looking at these differences helps us to see why students are experiencing problems in todays classroom. It asks the question: Are the students the problem or are we? I firmly believe that the school system has failed many of our students. I have four very bright and knowledgable siblings whom are all high school drop-outs. The school system failed them. They all have unique abilities but these are not the abilities that are being measured in the schools. While I can think of ways to change my own classroom I hesitate to do so because evaluation measures, such as standardized testing, remains the same. Do I teach my students in a way they understand to help them in this new digital world, or do I teach them in a way that they can pass the standardized testing and graduate? The answer is standardized testing needs to change. How do we do this?

PERCEPTUAL BLINDNESS: This section explains an interesting video where viewers are so focused on counting that they miss a huge gorilla. The lesson is this: What are we missing in our students lives? I think my English prof explained it best when he said that our focus needs to be on the students. We need a student based curriculum. However, it is hard to do this with obstacles such as the curriculum and standardized testing standing in our way.

**Image: http://www.wikispaces.com/ **
Wiki is a community building web tool that has practical opportunities in the classroom setting. Wikispaces is a great way to create a classroom website. Teachers can use it to post homework, readings, interesting videos, or anything else that they want their class to see. Students are more and more interested in technology. They want a classroom website that they can use outside of the school. These sites are also useful to parents who can see what their children are working on and what they should be doing. Wikispaces is user friendly and can be used by even the computer illiterate.