Journal 9

Are Schools Inhibiting 21st Century Living?
By Dave Nagel – The Journal – April 2008

This article discusses the fifth-annual Speak Up survey. The survey, given by Project Tomorrow, polled more than 367,000 parents, students, administrators, and teachers on how each group perceived local schools are doing with the task of preparing students for jobs and careers of the future. The findings revealed that while most administrators believed they were doing a good job, 40 percent of middle school and high school students believe that teachers are limiting their use of technology in schools. 45 percent of the students argued that school “security” practices limited the ability to use technology for learning to its full potential. Julie Evans, the CEO of Project Tomorrow derives that “It is our nation’s best interest that we support and facilitate student usage of technology for learning.” It is reasonable to believe that certain steps in security must be made, but schools are expected to take advantage of the powerful technological tools available in education. A variety of technologies were discussed with interest. The majority of students indicated that educational games helped them understand difficult concepts. The majority of teachers believe that educational gaming benefit students with different learning styles. Both teachers and students proved to be interested in online classes. For both teachers and administrators, the top three requested technologies are laptop programs, access to online research, and interactive whiteboards in every classroom. The technology with least priority is unlimited access to the Internet.
How would I facilitate the preparation of students for future careers using technology?
I plan to keep up on current technologies and introduce them to the students as much as I can. Even the most brief exposure to something new can benefit a student when transitioning into the post-education world. When someone is not comfortable with a certain technology, it can lead to feelings of intimidation. We can help students avoid feeling intimidated and fearful of technology by teaching the fundamentals and allowing them to grow as technology grows. In return, students can further a teacher's education by posing questions and eliciting discussions.
How does one keep the focus of educational gaming on the education and not so much the game?
I think it is important that there should be a dialog between teacher and student that re-emphasizes the lesson and explains how the lesson was supported by the game. I think that games should not be used as "baby-sitters" in the classroom. Yes, they are attention getters and intriguing which are very positive traits. However, it is important for the teacher to understand what about the game is helpful to students. Then, the teacher can use that piece of the information and perhaps incorporate that feature into the lesson - hopefully making the lesson intriguing as well.