juliannrosizky

Current Mood: creative

Chapter one hits upon a really strong and important message right on the first page.  It states “In order for students to learn meaningfully, the must be wilfully engaged in a meaningful task…tasks that require intentional, active, constructive, cooperative, and authentic learning processes will result in more meaningful learning” (p. 2).  I believe this is a very true statement, as I have experienced in my own placements, that children who are engaged in work, in which they are thinking about, and that is new to them, learn a lot more than children who are placed with busy work in front of them.  The children who are working from worksheets are far less likely to experience meaningful learning as if they were engaged in some sort of manipulative activity that taught them the same lesson/outcome.  In my placement right now, I am in a grade one-two split class.  My teacher does not like to use the computer in her classroom, as she finds that the children spend way to much time in front of the T.V and computer at home.  I find myself that they are always restless, and always need something engaging to do.  With this being said, I try, myself, to stay away from any computer activities, and try to make up some activities in which will allow the children to participate in hands on activities which will have a meaningful outcome.

            I believe that technology/computers can be a great resource for children to learn from in school.  As the text book states that educators have almost always tried to use technologies to teach students the same ways that teachers has always taught (p. 6), I believe that computers can teach children, but not the same way teachers teach.  Teachers have the advantage of allowing the children to learn with manipulative, and not sitting in their desks the whole time.  Where as, computers allow children to navigate and play educational games, the child is still just sitting in one spot the whole time.  I think that the use of computers in a classroom is important for children to experience, however the amount of time a child spends on the computer should be monitored/watched so that the child is not spending the whole class period sitting in one spot…in front of the computer.

            After reading this chapter, I finally got the understanding that technology can support meaningful learning when students lean with the technology…not from it.  I do not believe that teachers (especially in a younger grade level) should relay on computers or technology to teach a full out lesson to their classroom, however to use technology in a way to help foster and aid children’s thinking, problem solving and reasoning.  There are many constructive ways to introduce technology into a lesson…however it is up to the teacher to figure out what works with the lesson and what is appropriate for his/her classroom.

Word Count: 483