Jonathan Tan’s Blog

          This paper will discuss and examine the range of learning technologies that students are able to learn from and use in the classroom to support meaning in my KLA of History/English. In this article I will also be making reference to several key articles that examine and analyse the need for teachers of this day and age to embrace the digital generation and technology. I believe that digital learning is a fantastic way for students to learn, create and work together with their classmates to invent their own ideas and techniques of achieving. (http://cordis.europa.eu/ictresults/index.cfm/section/news)

          Meaningful learning to me in the area of History/English means that students are able to apply what they learn in a classroom to the real world. Students who are able to relate a new concept/principle/idea to another idea or concept that they have already learned, process information and newly acquired facts much faster. Sometimes what I teach my students is simply an advancement of something they already know. Most of the time however, what I am teaching them in History/English are new concepts. This is where I hope to be able to use Web Technologies and Mind Maps.

          In the last ten years, technology has increased in its sophistication, capability and usage. The widest and most dedicated users of this technology are teenagers. From the latest mobile phones and gaming system to a new Apple I – something and a virtual apartment, technology increasingly defines the lifestyle of teenagers, say marketing experts and company executives. Teachers should make no exception in their teacher strategies to accommodate for this influx of technology users, especially when technology is able to receive up to date information and can be accessed anywhere. (http://www.eduref.org/cgi-bin/print.cgi/Resources/Reference/Statistics/Technology_Statistics)

          During my experiences at prac and in my time during this subject at uni, I was able to study the many ways in which students both at uni and at school, could use the internet to assist them with their studies. Digital video for instances allows students to create, edit and display their own digitally created videos and broadcasts. This for example occurred in Year 8 Geography when students had to create their own make believe news presentation as part of their assignment. As part of this assignment, students had to research a current international issue. Using the internet – brings students valuable connections with teachers, other schools, and students, and a wide network of professionals and amateurs around the globe.

          The main interactive way for students to involve themselves in the classroom and to gain a genuine worthwhile experience and understanding of History/English lessons is to combine all types of technology into a style that suites them. Whether this be using smart boards, or a projector, students can create their own ideas for others to view in an interactive and creative format. YouTube is a prime example of how anyone who uses the internet can connect exchange and create in a whole new way. Students can upload their interviews of war veterans or Holocaust survivors for their peers to see and review.

(http://www.searchenginejournal.com/youtube-video-usage-facts)

          The other creative digital software that students can use to enhance meaning in their learning is through mind mapping and blogging. Mind mapping allows students to brainstorm their ideas in a structured and ordered format that shows the possible links or other collective possibilities of a topic or subject. Blogging also allows students to find knowledge in unlikely places and teenagers also learn a huge range of skills in the process. Blogging also allows students to have a voice of their own.       

          In conclusion from this paper discussion one can see the many ways in which teenagers can use the internet and digital technology to create and design their own creations and still learn from the teacher. I believe that the possibilities with the continued advancements in technology are virtually limitless. Students and teenagers alike have more opportunity to share, read, learn and understand the ideas and knowledge of other twenty – first century pioneers like themselves, through the use of Digital technology.

(http://www.paulfuller.com.au/EducatingTheDigitalGeneration)

References

Green, C. & Hannon, C. (2007). Their Space: education for a digital generation. Accessed 16 March 2007 from DEMOS

Global youth, media and technology (2007). Truly, madly, deeply engaged.

Oppenheimer, T. (1997).The Computer Delusion; Volume 280, The Atlantic Monthly; No. 1; pages 45-62.

http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/97jul/computer.htm

Rainie, L. (2005) Life online: Teens and technology and the world to come. Speech to annual conference of Public Library Association. 23/3/06. Washington, Pew Internet & American Life.

http://cordis.europa.eu/ictresults/index.cfm/section/news/tpl/article/BrowsingType/Features/ID/58658

http://www.eduref.org/cgi-bin/print.cgi/Resources/Reference/Statistics/Technology_Statistics.html

http://www.searchenginejournal.com/youtube-video-usage-facts/3754/

http://www.paulfuller.com.au/EducatingTheDigitalGeneration/Welcome.html

          This article addresses the information and data collected from a series of seminars and expert interviews which allowed the researchers of this article to test their hypothesis that schools needed to respond to the way young people are learning outside the classroom. The research and study findings concluded that the majority of young people used new media tools to make their lives easier, strengthening their existing friendship networks rather than widening them. The most interesting aspect of the research was that this generation of children were capable of self – regulation when kept well informed about levels of risk and potential harm.

          School in today’s twenty – first century need to learn how to respond to their users and really respond to the interests and enthusiasm of their students. Teachers and teaching staff alike need to learn how to accommodate for the changing ways in which they teach their students. For example when is a lesson formal or informal and what are the appropriate teaching methods and strategies that a teacher can use in certain classroom instances? What are the new skills and ideas that teachers should be emphasising to their students/users?

          As we move from a manufacturing to a knowledge – based economy the skills that young people need are changing. If we fail to meet the challenges this poses then we as the mentors and educators will fail to prepare the next generation for entering the future workforce. The students of today need to be educated more about creativity, presentation, leadership, team – building and self – confidence. This generation still need to learn the basic literacy and numeracy skills, which are still seen as core requirements for acquiring a job. Large corporations are demanding that their employees have initiative as well as intelligence, creativity as well as qualifications.

          Most teacher fear using and allowing their students to use such social networking sites as MySpace, YouTube and Facebook. This is primarily because most teachers have very little knowledge and understanding of how to use these online sites and tools themselves. I believe that YouTube and other online video sites should be used occasionally in the classroom for interactive lessons. Unfortunately however I do believe sites like MySpace or Facebook should continue to be blocked from usage in schools because so many students get distracted, and for the time being they have very little educational value or use.

          This articles main focus is responding to the ever changing social and cultural shifts that are starting to become evident between the focus of teachers and their students. I believe that in order to close this gap, more focus is needed on the new strategies and methods to which teachers educate their students. For example using new interactive media technology to teach Shakespeare in English.

          In conclusion I think this article raises very sound issues and ideas as to how both teachers and parents can educate their students/children on how to use the internet responsibly and appropriately. Children of this day and age need more encouragement about how to use the internet in a way that will benefit them and not compromise their chance to socialise with their peers in an interactive digital environment. The internet is a great tool if it is used responsibly and sensibly.

          This article is a transcript of a presentation on the topic of teens and Technology and the world to come. The main issues of discussion are the generational differences that exist between students and teens of the twenty first century. Millenials as the article calls them are a lot more sheltered, confident, team – oriented, and under more pressure to achieve and aspire to new levels of greatness and success. Millenials are also a lot more team – oriented and they have greater access to information and up to date media reports.

          Millenials are constantly engaged and surrounded by a world of media, gadgets, new technology and sophisticated gizmos that allow them to travel to places further, but still maintain close contact with their family and friends. Mobile phones allow greater ease of access and communication, the scale in which a person is able to communicate and relay an event or upcoming social activity need only look at the Cronulla Riots of 2005 (http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/mob-violence-envelops-cronulla/2005/12/11) or the 2008 party of Corey Delaney. (http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/01/14)

          What this article is highlighting is the main social and cultural differences between students and teens of the Millenials age and those of the previous generation. Children of this generation are more able to multi – task and cram a lot of activities into their lives all within the space of their own bedroom. Will this sudden shift in teens focus create an enormous gap that will divide teens and their parents? Whilst technology has allowed children to overcome an enormous gap/hurdle in terms of social and cultural difference, what will happen in areas of communication between Millenials and their parents?

          This article discusses the generational shift/change between students and children of the twenty first century with those of the previous century. More and more of these students are becoming attached to technology which they believe will make their lives better, more sophisticated/advanced and a lot faster than previous technology. Most young people want to stand out and express their individuality, however they still want to feel connected or linked with other people of a similar social and cultural background. In other words teenagers of this day and age want to be heard through their usage of technology but will still submit themselves to the trends of society in order to be accepted and recognised.

          The three main channels that youth use to express themselves are through music, the internet and mobile devices. In fact the average teens of today’s society will probably spend more collective time using the internet their IPods and their mobile communication devices than they will talking face to face with their parents and teachers. Music is a lot easier to acquire for so many users that teens can create their own personalised playlists and albums. Music is now more than just something one listens to on the radio; it’s a form of identity.

          In conclusion this article is making a very brief examination and close analytical study of the way in which the Global Youth of developed and developing countries use interactive Media and Technology. The articles main objective is to research and document the ways that various marketing corporations and global corporate brands can appeal and advertise to the generation of today. More teens of today’s society are growing more focused on their images and how they appeal to the rest of society, this is the focus of this article.

Final Culminating Statement

            During my experiences in prac and through my own learning in 7 – 12 e – learning Education I have learned that students as much as they desire to be individual, strive to be part of an electronic social community. “Young people strive to feel connected with each other. Shared experiences and constant communicated create a sense of community among youth.” (Truly, madly, deeply engaged.) In the course of undertaking this degree I have come to realise that more and more of this generation of children are becoming very heavily reliant on technology. In the article (The Computer Delusion), many educators believe that children who use too much computer will only receive an artificial experience of our world.

          Children need to be taught the whys and ways of the world. Tools come and tools go. Teaching our children tools limits their knowledge to these tools and hence limits their future. I believe that ICT should be only one way I which we teach our kids, I believe that ICT and its usage should only make up 30% of our teaching structure and the other 70% should be face to face. The teacher’s role is significantly jeopardised when children rely too heavily on the internet to do assignments and class based activities (re-xs.ucsm.ac.uk/cupboard/ict/ofsted) This is because children do not question the information that they have been given. In other words children only use the internet to find someone else’s answer; they do not question what they find.

          As most of the discussion has already shown us, children are becoming more and more “wired” to a world of enormous amounts of information about their personal live and those of others. Laws protecting privacy are becoming more and more lenient as the World Wide Web reaches a whole new avenue of power and influence. The interactive online website Facebook keeps more personal information about more people than your average yearly nation wide census of Australia. Very soon the entire social life of an average teenage student will all be connected to Facebook, including their date of birth, their education background and even their relationship status.

(http://wotnews.com.au/like/companies face facts about facebook)

          If we are to raise our children into this twenty first century, we must educate them to use the internet wisely and to be careful about how much information they share with other people. In my teaching experience I was shocked at how much reliance the children as young as 13 needed on the internet to complete a simple comprehension task. Some children will very soon be unable to research an assignment without the internet, if they continue the way they currently are. With so much information available at so easy a command, our children of this day and age need further education about how and why?

           In saying all this, I do believe that this generation of e – learners are to going to be able to achieve more in terms of qualifications than their predecessors. “They’re more confident. They score higher than their elders in assessments of their trust and optimism, and they are achieving with higher school standards and accountability as the hallmarks of their schooling.” (Life online: Teens and technology and the world to come.) Children are also becoming more informed and socially and culturally tolerant of other races; this has also to do with the fact that the world has become more technologically connected and wire. This generation of children has more opportunity to travel and enjoy life.

          In my future endeavours as a Secondary Teacher of History/English I hope to be able to give my students more reason to want to look beyond the world of MySpace, Facebook or Online chat rooms. I want to give my students the opportunity to try other avenues of education and to have the courage to voice their own opinions and concerns in a typical class discussion especially as an English teacher. I still want my students to learn the joys of reading a new novel or writing their own handwritten stories by hand.  I believe all teachers across all KLA’s should encourage their students to read and to have faith in their own beliefs if they think it is morally good and true, by themselves.

References

Green, C. & Hannon, C. (2007). Their Space: education for a digital generation. Accessed 16 March 2007 from DEMOS

Global youth, media and technology (2007). Truly, madly, deeply engaged.

Oppenheimer, T. (1997).The Computer Delusion; Volume 280, The Atlantic Monthly; No. 1; pages 45-62.

http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/97jul/computer.htm

Rainie, L. (2005) Life online: Teens and technology and the world to come. Speech to annual conference of Public Library Association. 23/3/06. Washington, Pew Internet & American Life.

Hey guys hope you like my final statement

Jtan

For any of you who ever do Year 8 Geography concerning NGOs, this is a great little song to play and analyse. The song talks about conquering the poverty crisis in Africa and the things that the developed world can do to help.

Feed the World (Band Aid)

Year 8 – Geography

Global Change

Focus: The changing nature of the world and responses to these changes.

Band Aid – Do They Know Its Christmas

1: It’s Christmas time
There’s no need to be afraid
At Christmas time
We let in light and we banish shade
And in our world of plenty
We can spread a smile of joy
Throw your arms around the world
At Christmas time

2: But say a prayer
Pray for the other ones
At Christmas time it’s hard
But when you’re having fun
There’s a world outside your window
And it’s a world of dread and fear
Where the only water flowing
Is the bitter sting of tears
And the Christmas bells that ring
There are the clanging chimes of doom
Well tonight thank God it’s them instead of you

3: And there won’t be snow in Africa
This Christmas time
The greatest gift they’ll get this year is life
Where nothing ever grows
No rain nor rivers flow
Do they know it’s Christmas time at all?

BRIDGE:
(Here’s to you) raise a glass for everyone
(Here’s to them) underneath that burning sun
Do they know it’s Christmas time at all?

Feed the world
Feed the world

Feed the world
Let them know it’s Christmas time again

Feed the world
Let them know it’s Christmas time again

repeat then fade

1)       What is Band Aid?

2)       When was it first created?

3)       What is Band Aid’s goal?

Sorry forgot to attach the clips.

Here they are.

Clip 1

Clip 2

The following images are from the Year 9 Geography rubbish audit. As part of this activity the kids had to go through the school’s garbage from a typical playground rubbish bin, and do an audit of how much rubbish was dumped of a particular item. This included food scraps, paper, cans, bottle – glass/plastic, etc. Once the kids had sorted the rubbish into assorted bags, they then weighed the rubbish to see how much garbage was created of a particular item. The incursion was designed to make children more aware of the things that went into rubbish and the active practical steps that they could take in order to reduce this.