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The link above links to a story of a House proposal to eliminate funding for the Enhancing Education Though Technology Initiative. Republican Representative to California Duncan Hunter proposed legislation that would completely eliminated portions of the ESEA or Elementary or Secondary Education Act. Although it is good to cut needless spending, the cut to the EETT could actually jeopardize the American education system because it will severely hinder students who will need the technical knowledge to survive in our global economy. This will prove to be exceptionally problematic when students in low-SES schools currently are not getting the adequate technical training needed to obtain low-level jobs in our country.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Suggestions for Linking Gaming to Education
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/2985-Gamification
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/3167-Gamifying-Education
I found two interesting links on Gamification, how it can help students learn, how it can hinder people, and suggestions for how to start gamifying our way to better education by people that are experts in the video game world. The first video talks about what Gamification and its pros and cons. It talks about how we can get integrate elements of our "play lives" and our "work lives." It also talks about how Gamification as a con is starting to seep into society in the form of Monopoly games in McDonald's or leveling up for credit card expenditures.
The second video talks about suggestions for how teachers can start gamifying their classrooms through the use of Alternate Reality Games (ARGs) and Plot Your Route Game (similar to the "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" Game). The narrator also talks about the pros and cons of both and assumes that teachers need to keep within a budget and not take up too much time. These game implementations seem very interesting and can help to improve student performance.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/3167-Gamifying-Education
I found two interesting links on Gamification, how it can help students learn, how it can hinder people, and suggestions for how to start gamifying our way to better education by people that are experts in the video game world. The first video talks about what Gamification and its pros and cons. It talks about how we can get integrate elements of our "play lives" and our "work lives." It also talks about how Gamification as a con is starting to seep into society in the form of Monopoly games in McDonald's or leveling up for credit card expenditures.
The second video talks about suggestions for how teachers can start gamifying their classrooms through the use of Alternate Reality Games (ARGs) and Plot Your Route Game (similar to the "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" Game). The narrator also talks about the pros and cons of both and assumes that teachers need to keep within a budget and not take up too much time. These game implementations seem very interesting and can help to improve student performance.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Can more access to information through the internet curtail creativity?
http://campustechnology.com/articles/2011/05/02/educational-sites-provide-ample-fodder-for-plagiarism.aspx
There was a study that came out that talked about a possible downside to a wider, faster access to information. This study, done by iParadigms, looked at the root causes for minor and major plagiarism and found that the majority of plagiarism issues do not stem from plagiarism websites or online "instant papers." Rather, most of the information came from sites like Wikipedia. This study could be a more recent version of the reading of last week, which talked about how teachers should begin to really dial in on how to use technology in more advanced and creative ways in order to prep our students for the modern era.
There was a study that came out that talked about a possible downside to a wider, faster access to information. This study, done by iParadigms, looked at the root causes for minor and major plagiarism and found that the majority of plagiarism issues do not stem from plagiarism websites or online "instant papers." Rather, most of the information came from sites like Wikipedia. This study could be a more recent version of the reading of last week, which talked about how teachers should begin to really dial in on how to use technology in more advanced and creative ways in order to prep our students for the modern era.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Video Games and how they can help autism patients.
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/studies-show-new-video-game-helps-children-with-autism-learn-skills-for-independence-120698319.html
I saw an interesting study being done in North Carolina for autism patients. This study is utilizing the learning benefits of video games to teach autism patients the common habits we learn to live independently. The example they brought up was the idea of handwashing and how after showing them the steps and how to do each step, the game would reward them for performing each step flawlessly. It is also good to hear from this article that they also got a grant to research other behaviors that can be explored in this medium.
I saw an interesting study being done in North Carolina for autism patients. This study is utilizing the learning benefits of video games to teach autism patients the common habits we learn to live independently. The example they brought up was the idea of handwashing and how after showing them the steps and how to do each step, the game would reward them for performing each step flawlessly. It is also good to hear from this article that they also got a grant to research other behaviors that can be explored in this medium.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Military Model for Tech Education may be the future.
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/military-model-works-for-913910.html
In an interesting article I read for this week, it chronicles the how the military teaches soldiers, specifically high-school graduate-age students of various intellectual backgrounds to successfully utilize and repair advanced avionic computers and million-dollar nuclear submarines. This article looked at the National Association of State Boards of Education's (NASBE) report on how the U.S. Military teaches and trains its soldiers and students (ala JROTC and ROTC) on the math, science, and technology curriculum needed to operate the advanced military tech that is being used in the defense of our nation. I found it especially interesting that the military model utilizes technology that can assess a student's performance so that the teacher can adjust their curriculum or teaching methods to better fit the preferences of individual students.
In an interesting article I read for this week, it chronicles the how the military teaches soldiers, specifically high-school graduate-age students of various intellectual backgrounds to successfully utilize and repair advanced avionic computers and million-dollar nuclear submarines. This article looked at the National Association of State Boards of Education's (NASBE) report on how the U.S. Military teaches and trains its soldiers and students (ala JROTC and ROTC) on the math, science, and technology curriculum needed to operate the advanced military tech that is being used in the defense of our nation. I found it especially interesting that the military model utilizes technology that can assess a student's performance so that the teacher can adjust their curriculum or teaching methods to better fit the preferences of individual students.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Video Games as a catalyst for learning and curiosity
Vid on Video Games
In this excerpt from my subscription to FORAtv, this commentator named Peter Williams is arguing that the usefulness of video games in exploring and researching history and art. He cites the video game Fallout 3, a game set as an alternate history 1950 where the Cold War caused a nuclear meltdown in Washington D.C. He talks about how playing a game like this, where 1950s music, fashion, etc were prevalent in the game, encouraged his son to research into the Cold War and time-period pieces such as the music from that era that served as background music from the game. This is interesting because it reminded me about how I took an interest in WWII. I learned more about World War II history from playing video games and my interest in the subject matter influenced my curiosity in that portion of history. I've done research, watched documentaries, and even willingly took classes on the cultural, socio-political, and military aspects that influential part of history.
Learning Debt using Animal Crossing
This video talks about how the speaker's five-year old son learned about debt and mortgages from a game called Animal Crossing. This video was really interesting to me because this man talked about a seemingly mature idea - mortgage and debt - with his five year old son. This speaker shows two really hot ideas in Education today - the fact that children are smarter than they look and the fact that video games can educate children about complex ideas.
In this excerpt from my subscription to FORAtv, this commentator named Peter Williams is arguing that the usefulness of video games in exploring and researching history and art. He cites the video game Fallout 3, a game set as an alternate history 1950 where the Cold War caused a nuclear meltdown in Washington D.C. He talks about how playing a game like this, where 1950s music, fashion, etc were prevalent in the game, encouraged his son to research into the Cold War and time-period pieces such as the music from that era that served as background music from the game. This is interesting because it reminded me about how I took an interest in WWII. I learned more about World War II history from playing video games and my interest in the subject matter influenced my curiosity in that portion of history. I've done research, watched documentaries, and even willingly took classes on the cultural, socio-political, and military aspects that influential part of history.
Learning Debt using Animal Crossing
This video talks about how the speaker's five-year old son learned about debt and mortgages from a game called Animal Crossing. This video was really interesting to me because this man talked about a seemingly mature idea - mortgage and debt - with his five year old son. This speaker shows two really hot ideas in Education today - the fact that children are smarter than they look and the fact that video games can educate children about complex ideas.
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