03.17.08
Keeping up with the kids
Some teachers find it difficult to navigate their way around a computer while their students are fluent in using digital media. The article “Listen to the Natives” suggests that the teachers should be seeking students’ assistance to keep up in order to keep the students engaged in learning. But the teachers who require students’ support may find it difficult to ask. Today’s students have grown up using a variety of technology and continue to develop their skills as they learn through discovery, teaching themselves. Involving students in the development of technology based learning can result in students finding inventive ways to include digital media within the classroom – digital tools becoming like extensions of the students themselves, the article purports. Sharing their knowledge of technology, the article suggests that students can become a teacher’s best resource, advising on which technology teachers should use in classrooms to ensure learning tools are being used in the most effective means possible. Teacher-student collaboration can capitalise on individual student’s digital skills and knowledge, student’s benefiting as they can incorporate these into the current curriculum. Listening to the students, valuing and including their ideas within the classroom creates a meaningful learning experience. The students know what they’re doing in regards to digital media; teachers should be encouraged to utilise the students’ knowledge to integrate these tools into the classroom.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mimiw/1878701132/
