Digital Blog Post #A

     The first concept I would like to discuss from the textbook, Transforming Learning With New Technologies, is the claim that technology simplifies the teachers job of creating learning materials. In the book it says "No longer are teachers obligated to spend hours searching for teaching materials." Upon first reading this statement I agreed that technology makes finding teaching materials much easier, however, as I continued to reflect on the subject I found that I was dissatisfied with the statement. The Internet allows for teachers to quickly search for lesson plans and can indeed be a quick and easy process. While it is acceptable to use these lesson plan ideas, teachers have a duty to ensure that each lesson plan is the best possible for their particular group of students. While a teacher may get lucky and find the perfect lesson plan on the first try, planning out and preparing to teach a lesson to a class still takes a significant amount of time. Therefore, I would not say that preparing lessons for a class takes less time, but instead say, the Internet opens up teachers to many ideas and suggestions they may not have come up with on their own.
     A major topic discussed in the first chapter of the textbook is how technology affects students in and out of school. After reading about all of the way students can learn from technology in textbook I felt like one important thing was missing from the list. Increase in visual skills. This includes hand-eye coordination, awareness of surrounding, and reaction time.  Previously these skills were only enhanced through gym classes or after school sports. According a study, children who regularly use technology to play games are able to process visual information quicker and are able to track thirty percent more objects at one time. This means that students who play compute games are more likely to see things such as a child running toward the street or a someone about to fall from a latter before they hit the ground. The video below is an experiment done by a fourth grade as a science project. It shows that children who play video games have better hand-eye coordination then adults who have not played video games.

   The final topic that I wish to reflect on is the part of the 21st century literacies definition that discusses the need for students to be able to solve problems collaboratively. I strongly believe that the ability to work as a group is one of the most important things that can be taught to a child and is going to be increasingly important in the coming years. I personally have always chosen to work alone over working in a group, however, I that is because I believe that most people have not been taught to work in a group, and do not know how to do so properly.  Recently, colleges have begun to shift from individualized learning to group learning. This means that students are broken into small groups in order to complete most assignments. These colleges have found that students who work in groups are more engaged and more likely to learn and retain information. You can learn more about group learning as well as find way to apply it to your own classes here.

Sources: 

Callejon, Shubham [niloymalini]. (2016, January 16)  Ninjump - Playing video games increases hand and eye coordination - Experiment by a 4th grader [Video File] Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UJa46HGlFQ

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming 
Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc

Roach, J. (n.d.). Video Games Boost Visual Skills, Study Finds. Retrieved May 28, 2003, from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/05/0528_030528_videogames.html