Group items tagged

Sexting and cyber bullying are the new "in" thing that happens on school campuses whether it be middle school or high school. Our schools cannot keep up with what is going on in our day in age with all the new technology that is going on. In my article it states that teachers and other school administrators are trying to figure out a way to keep children from doing this type of thing in school.

The study "Teacher Concerns During Initial Implementation of a One-to-One Initiative as the Middle School Level" by Loretta Donovan, Kendall Hartley, and Neal Strudler tells of how every student having their own laptop to use is becoming more and more common in schools today. This is often a challenge for many teachers. Donovan et al conducted this study to "examine one-to-one computing access in the middle school settings from the perspective of those being asked to change," (263) which most of the time is teachers.

In "using the technology of today, in the classroom of today" authors Eric Klopfer, Scot Osterweil, Jennifer Groff, Jason Haas start to give basis to the argument that technologies such as videogames and social networking sites help shape learning. They focus on how they are learning outside of school but in completely different ways than teachers focus on. They argue, "Nearly all institutions- business, industry, medicine, science and government - have harnessed aspects of these technologies for decades. Games and simulations have been a key component of training doctors and military personnel, but even businesses like PricewaterhouseCoopers used a game about a mining company in outer space to teach its employees about derivatives. Although that may seem a bit "off the wall," the fact is major corporations, the Department of Defense, and the medical community would not use these tools if they were not highly effective" to illustrate how corporations use videogames so the educational system shouldn't reject it them as a learning tool. They point out how videogames can serve as a simulation for real life just as mining in outer space can teach about derivatives. Videogames are also a highly interactive learning environment. Instead of being told information, students are right in the middle of the action and the learning. They also discuss how social networking is a new way of collaborating with other about a wide variety of subjects including school work. The authors write, "Of course, educators have long been aware that learning is a social activity, where learners construct their understanding not just through interaction with the material, but also through collaboratively constructing new knowledge with their peers" but teachers reject the use of social networking as means of learning because of the other aspects included safety or privacy. But what teachers can learn from social sites is that "'knowledge cultures' assembled in these o

This article is very rich with information that has to do with how digital games, social networks, and simulations can be involved in classrooms. With the involvement of them is more than just entertainment that children or people actually learn stuff from them.

In the article Maine's Laptop Initiative Improves Student Writing written by Anne Miller tells of a program that started in Maine's middle schools, every teacher and student had constant access to a laptop that was provided by the school. While also providing programs for the teachers to help them with using laptops in this new way, hoping to improve their students writing skills while also moving into the 21st century.

Article discusses bullies online and how there are starting so young, middle school students. Already getting caught up in feel what it feels like to not feel safe, even when they are online.

From the NYTimes: "Last week we asked readers to submit questions to James Paul Gee, an expert on how video games fit within an overall theory of learning and literacy, in response to The New York Times Magazine article "Learning by Playing." It featured a public middle school where every aspect of learning is designed to be game-like."