Tutorial 2: Approaches to teaching and learning with technolgies
What do you think about Prensky's idea idea of digital natives ?
In our opinion he is right. The kids from today are growing up in a different kind of way, than they grew up 30 years ago. The modern technological devices are part of their daily life. For that reason it is important to consider that changed lifestyle also in the used learning techniques.
Do you consider yourself to be a digital native? Why ? What impact might this have on your teaching ?
We belong to the generation Y, so we were born in 1995 or 1996. For that reason, we are „kind of“ an digital native, because we were used to use technological devices from a quiet young age, but didn ́t have access to it from the very beginning. So we got our first smartphone for example at the age of 14. The kids, who belong to the generation Z, so who were born in the late 90ies, early 2000s are even more digital natives, as we are, because they got the access to the technological devices from the very beginning.
Nevertheless, we guess that we have a quiet good understanding to understand the advantages of technologies in connection with learning. As we said we are used to use technological devices in daily life, therefore, we are also up to date with the modern technological world and modern learning techniques.
How might the teaching that you have experienced in your education be appropriate or not appropriate for the students you will be teaching?
The teaching that we have experienced was more based on books than on modern technolocial devides. So it was a „classical“ lecture. We guess, that this kind of learning will not be fully appropriated in the future classrooms. For sure there will be always some content, which is based on literature, which I think is important and good to maintain. Nevertheless, for the students we will be teaching it is even more important to integrate modern learning techniques, which are connected with modern technological devices, because these are a part of their daily life. For that reason the kids are able to identify themselfs with these learning techniques.
1.3 The dangerous idea of digital naratives
Only a small percentage of young people fit the digital narative idea, → use technology in basic ways, for faily narrow range of activities → not that big experts as we might expect it Young peoples patterns of technology use are very diverse.- they not doing the same things with the same technologies. → individual :
Where come these differences from ?
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Personal preferences
More general pattern in the ways young people use technologies → related to family background : kids from families, who are better of use technology more effectively & perform better on test ( digital literacy ), they use a wider range of technologies in a more sophisticated ways → advantage at school ! Therefore, an advantage that flows on to later in life
It is not about the money to buy technology anymore, it is about the know how to use it well
→ digital inequality never gone away, it just changed
In middle class families : technologies are often used for education and not only for entertainment
Figure 1.2 People – how they learn
China soon become number one english speaking country in the world
The 25% of Indias population with the highest IQ ́s is greater than the total population of the United States
→ India has more honors kids than America has kids
We are currently prepare students for jobs that do not exist yet
Todays learners will have 10 to 14 jobs by the age of 38
1 out of 8 couples married last year in the US met online
The amount of new technical information is doubling every 2 years
...
→ The technological development is unstoppable, there will be new knowledge all the time, which makes it difficult for human beings to stay updated all the time
For students it is therefore very important to do not stop learning about the newest technological devices and how to integrate them into their daily life. Only through that way it is possible for them to stay updated.
What makes a good teacher? What makes a good learner?
be motivated to learn new things and to get new knowledge
be aware of diversity
Bloom ́s Taxonomy
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Which areas of knowledge do you think would work best being taught or learned through a behaviourist approach?
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Which areas would would not work as well through a behaviourist approach?
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Explain your thinking and give some practical examples, perhaps from your own
experience.
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Think back over your own educational experience and identify an episode of
teaching that you think were planned using constructivism as a guiding principle.
Explain the context and the purpose of the lesson.
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What are your initial thoughts about Bloom’s taxonomy?
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Have you ever used Bloom’s taxonomy either in a teaching or learning role?
1.7 Montessori – Montessori Education
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The Montessori Method of Education, developed by Maria Montessori, is a child- centered educational approach based on scientific observations of children. Montessori's method has been used for over 100 years in many parts of the world.
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Mixed-age classrooms: classrooms for children ages 2 1⁄2 or 3 to 6 years old are by far the most common, but 0–3, 3–6, 6–9, 9–12, 12–15, and 15–18-year-old
classrooms exist as well.
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Student choice of activity from within a prescribed range of options
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Uninterrupted blocks of work time, ideally three hours
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A constructivist or "discovery" model, where students learn concepts from working
with materials rather than by direct instruction
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Specialized educational materials developed by Montessori and her collaborators
often made out of natural, aesthetic materials such as wood rather than plastic
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A thoughtfully prepared environment where materials are organized by subject area,
within reach of the child, and are appropriate in size
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Freedom within limits
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A trained Montessori teacher who follows the child and is highly experienced in
observing the individual child's characteristics, tendencies, innate talents, and abilities