Changing Paradigms by Marc Prensky

I found the article Chaning Paradigms by Marc Prenksy very interesting and thought that it highlighted some important points. My thoughts are below:

In this article Prensky discusses the idea that education today, in today’s technologies, is utterly removed from that of the past. Students of all ages do not want to be lectured to, they want to be able to find information out for themselves and use it in a way that is appropriate to them.

I think that in order to be able to teach in the twenty-first century we don’t need to focus on which technologies we are using, but rather how we and the students can use them. I feel that there is so much concern about giving didactic lessons on how to use certain computer programs when what we should be doing is focusing on the task rather than the equipment. We need to treat computers and other ICT equipment as we treat pens and paper; it’s there, we all use it and it’s going to remain in our society for a long time.

Engaging the children and motivating them to want to learn is the most important aspect of teaching and if we continue to read out our PowerPoint presentations then we are doing neither of these things and the children will become bored.

I agree with Prensky in that we need to devise challenges for the children which give them the opportunity to investigate, share and discuss with their peers. I feel that education is no longer about simply telling the children something to remember in order that they pass the exams, children need to learn to investigate and solve problems for themselves and they need to use ICT to do that because, let’s face it, it’s what they do best.


I don’t agree with Prensky when he comments that the demise of the classroom isn’t far away, I think that classrooms won’t be used as we use them now, but that they will become more of a meeting place for groups of children embarking on investigative work, and undoubtedly they will eventually be filled with numerous examples of ICT equipment.

Final blog

So, here it is, the final, in reasonable length list of blog entries. When we were first told that we were to create a blog which would be updated regularly I have to say that I was a bit sceptical and not particularly interested in doing it. However, after quite a few months of frequent blogging I have actually enjoyed the experience and often looked forward to composing my entry.

I have found this blog site very easy to use not only in writing but also for attaching photos and weblinks. I have created a few hyperlinks in this blog as a whole and this is a very useful skill which I will definitely take with me long after the blogging has stopped.

I doubt I would ever blog again merely because I don't really have anything to blog about and I'm not sure exatly who would be interested enough to read what I might write, but I can see how useful it is as a form of communication and have actually added the blog of a famous write/actor/presenter to my favourites, and yes I do read it often!

In a school context I think blogging could be useful in KS2 for the children to write about the topics they are currently studying or even to keep up with school work while on holiday or ill. For them to have access to other people's blogs, say at a school in a different country, would be beneficial as there is much they could learn and the information they would be receiveing would be coming straight from the source. I think then that blogs are useful educational tools also and I hope that I see them used in schools.

On the whole this has been a useful exercise in that it has introduced me to new aspects of ICT and if I do feel the need to creat a blog again in the future then I have the skills at my disposal.

It has been a pleasure.

Third week at school

This week I was able to use the IWB with powerpoint. I was doing a number quiz with the class as a starter to a maths lesson and they thoroughly enjoyed it. I think it worked much better than simply reading the questions and it seems to me that the children are a little more motivated in their work when they have technological stimulus. I'm not sure if this is because they are used to most things being fast paced or if they simply enjoy the graphics which can be used on the computers, either way they all tried really hard in the quiz!

Aside from that I taught my second ICT lesson which involved teaching them how to use the shift key. The vast majority of the class knew that they had to press the 'arrow button' to make a capital letter but they didn;t know what it was called. The ICT lessons are only between 15 and 20 minutes and the children are always eager to demonstrate what they have learnt.

Second week at school

I have had a little more contact with ICT during my second week on placement. I showed a short film of The Three Little Pigs during a literacy lesson, The film was used as a discussion stimulus in which the children asked and answered questions about the setting, characters, colours and language. The film was approximately 10 minutes long which meant that the children didn't have too much information to take in nor were they watching the television for too long.



The TV time they have during the teachers' PPA is spent watching videos relating to the topics they are covering in other subjects. I have not yet participated in the TV time but I hope to before the placement ends. I asked the children what they think of this time and most of them said that they found it boring commenting also that too much TV is bad for you. When I mentioned that their TV time is only 15 minutes a week they pointed out that they watch a lot of TV at home so they don't want to watch it at school as well, many of them said they would prefer to do something creative like painting or collaging during this time. I found this interesting as I had (wrongly) assumed that they would enjoy TV time.


The children have access to digital cameras occasionally and really enjoy using them to film each other. I assisted with a lesson in which the children were hotseating characters from The Three Billy Goats Gruff in pairs, and these 'hotseats' were filmed. The children enjoy making and watching these films and I hope to have an opportunity to use them in one of my lessons.

First week at school

During this first week at school I have not had any contact with ICT. The IWB has been awaiting repair and I have not observed nor taken part in lessons using ICT. However, the children in the class (year 1) have access to 3 computers which they can use once they have completed the 'must do' jobs that day. Many choose to use the same programme which offers a range of activites from drawing to practising maths. The children are eager to use the computers and often work in pairs so that most of the class can gain access.

During PPA time the LSAs take the children for half an hour to watch TV. I've not yet observed this part of the day but I hopefully will this week as I am eager to see exactly what they are watching as they all seem extremely excited to go.

I am hopeful that the IWB will be working this week so that I can incorporate it into my lessons.

The Use of Discussion Boards

I don't feel that using a discussion board to analyse the graphs was particlarly useful. As we were partnered with somebody in our group I think it would have been better to look at the graphs together and talk face to face then post our thoughts, rather than going through the discussion board.

I'm not sure how I would use discussion boards in school, the only way I thin they could be really usefule would be for discussions between schools.

Flabbergasting

I know this is probably not ideal for a blog entry but I literally have no words to describe this video other than flabbergasting!...

Brainwaves control computers