Friend or Foe?

Do you remember your childhood? What did you and your siblings or friends do for fun? My brother and I would be outside from the time we got home from school until dinner was ready. We would make up games to play, ride around on the tractor, make tree houses, play pass among so many other activities. When I was growing up we had a computer and internet. But my brother and I never used it... for awhile anyway.

When children today look back on their childhood, they will remember Facebook, Twitter, Skye, email, instant messaging, video games, cell phones, hand held video game devices, iPods, Mp3 players among so many other things dealing with technology.

So what does this mean for children learning in the classroom? Children's interests have changed. It is the job of an educator to take notice of their students interests and strengths to decide what the best way is going to be for them to learn. So what do we do as educators? We make sure we are update with all the new technology. Does this mean we include technology in the classroom? YES! It sure does!

If students are bored in class and are not engaged... are they going to learn? No.
If students are enjoying class because it's using something that they are GOOD at, or KNOW about, or the teacher is including technology in learning activities... are the going to learn?

If there had been one of these in every classroom I had going through school... I probably would have done better and been a lot more active in my learning experience.