"As students spend more time with visual media and less time with print, evaluation methods that include visual media will give a better picture of what they actually know
reading develops imagination, induction, reflection and critical thinking, as well as vocabulary," Greenfield said. "Reading for pleasure is the key to developing these skills. Students today have more visual literacy and less print literacy. Many students do not read for pleasure and have not for decades."
This doesn't mean that technology is to blame. The students were encouraged to use the Internet for what? I'll bet they were given no guidance and used it for whatever they wanted. No wonder they were distracted.
Adapted from materials provided by University of California - Los Angeles.
will agree here. Wiring does not improve learning. What improves learning is teaching educators how to engage students to use the "wiring" to create, collaborate, share and publish. The net and "wires" allows students to delve deep into learning and apply their research rather that sit and "git".
A useful resource for older students that takes interesting words from the news and gives a definition and extracts from news sites and Twitter.
http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/English
This web site is for people studying English as a Second Language (ESL) or English as a Foreign Language (EFL). There are quizzes, word games, word puzzles, proverbs, slang expressions, anagrams, a random-sentence generator and other computer assisted language learning activities. Even though the primary focus is for ESL, native English speakers may also find some interesting things on this site. This site is non-commercial and has no advertising. TESL/TEFL teachers may want to recommend this site to their students.