Wow, these kids blew me away. They are very tech savvy. They are being exposed to blogging and skyping and wikis and all sorts of things. Depending on what kind of school I teach at, meaning if everyone would have computer access or not, I would like to use blogs and wikis for the students to improve writing skills as well as exchanging scientific ideas with each other since that's what I would be teaching. If computer access wouldn't be plausible, I'm sure if we had a smart board we could skype other scientific experts as a whole class.
Skyping with Ms. Kathy
She does a lot with her first grade class. And she doesn't hold back anything from her students because of their age either. She teaches them and expects them to use it. I wouldn't have expected 5-7 year olds to be able to engage like her class engages with the rest of the world by using internet tools and videos and such. And that just proves to show how ignorant I am. I guess if I think about it, children a lot younger than my nieces and nephews seemed to be just as tech savvy as they are. I have no problem admitting that younger people are way better than me when it comes to computer stuff, I just didn't realize how young all these tech savvy people could be.
Pauline,
ReplyDeleteYou bring up a very critical point ... I wouldn't have expected 5-7 year olds to be able to engage like her class engages with the rest of the world by using internet tools and videos and such. I think as a whole we all underestimate the abilities of our youth. I am guilty of it too. I have changed the way I approach teaching and try and set the bar very high for my students now when they are in my classes. I recommend we set the bar high and let them work hard enough to get over it and succeed.
Pauline, I was blown away, as well! I think that it's really awesome how much she has taught her class about technology and how to use it. I agree that I will try to implement some of these tools in my teaching curriculum, also. I think skyping with science experts sounds like a great way to teach. Depending on what subtopic of science you will be teaching, you could have your students ask their own individual questions to them. Biologists, chemists, physicists, and many more would be great resources to have. Thanks for letting me read your blog!
ReplyDelete-Kathryn Buchanan