Teaching+With+Technology+-+Week+1+Report

"Today's students know that they are tech-savvy and report that their schools are not" (Solomon, & Schrum, 2007). Students today feel like they are stuck in a paper-based classroom, with textbooks, worksheets, and poster board projects, when they are living in a digital 21st century creative environment in their "real worlds." Today's students are more connected than any other group of learners before them. They have 24/7 access to digital media, including current, up-to-date information and ongoing social interactions. The education world needs to meet our students where they are. We need to move into the 21st century digital world where our students reside. This week's readings, videos, and discussions have focused on three different approaches to teaching and learning that are geared towards this movement to the 21st century's digital world, the constructivism theory, the connectivism theory, and the cyborg theory.

The first theory we looked at was the constructivism theory. One of the key components to the constructivism theory is that no two people bring to any situation an identical pattern of previous knowledge, and therefore the learning outcomes are very different, and personal, and reside in the private domain of each individual. This makes learning an active process as well as a reflective one. What each individual brings to an experience will determine how they process and filter new information to determine its relevance and purposefulness.

The connectivism theory focuses on the fact that the ability to learn how to learn more is more important than what you know. Seeing connections between different fields, experiences, and situations is key to the connectivism theory. Twenty-first technology skills play a key role in the connectivism theory in that these tools provide the network for gathering new knowledge and experiences; learning becomes a social event that involves others. "Using technology and making connections are linked" (Solomon, & Schrum, 2007).

The final theory we looked at this week was the Cyborg theory. This theory merges the digital world of computer chips and the human nervous system. It leans toward the thoughts that super-humans, or enhanced-humans will be able to communicate and learn using imbedded computer chips to communicate in a non-verbal way. Kevin Warwick, researcher and Professor of Cybernetics at the University of Reading, England states in his video Cyborg Life, that "within the decade we will have the ability to have a chip that you can implant in your brain that you can have improved communication or enhanced memory" (Warwick, nd). He believes that with this cyborg life we will be able to communicate and learn at a higher level.

These three theories are similar in many ways, yet each contains their own personal take on the direction education is going, or needs to go. I agree that the educational environment needs to change. We need to keep up with the rate of information that is available to us as educators as well as our students. I am not sold on any one of these theories as a whole, but believe that each of them brings to the table features that we as educators need to look into in greater detail and learn from. I agree with the statement Robert J. Marzano made at the conclusion of the Forward he wrote for the book Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, "[Technology] helps teachers help their students hone skills and knowledge that will serve them for the rest of their lives. That is the ultimate goal of education" (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007).

** Resources: ** Pitler, H, Hubbell, E, Kuhn, M, & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Solomon, G, & Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0: new tools, new schools. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.

Warwick, K. (nd). Cyborg life. [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RB_l7SY_ngI