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Technology in the Classroom: Games or Learning Tools?
Each week, an educator takes a stand or shares an Aha! moment in the classroom in Education World's Voice of Experience column. This week, educator Kathleen Housley bristles at those who see computers in the classroom as nothing more than game consoles. Housley reflects on what her fourth graders accomplished last year with the computers in her classroom. "Game consoles? Baloney!" Housley concludes. Included: Join a discussion about great technology projects!
When I received my year-end checklist from the front office last May, the hairs on the back of my neck bristled. "Please store your computer and all computer games in your closet for the summer."
Games? Please!
Why is it that in the year 2001, folks still view classroom computers as game consoles? My students and I share a radically different point of view.
We're a Title I school in a socially and economically deprived area of the city. Our building is entrenched in literacy. We didn't forsake any of our balanced literacy program by adding technology -- we embellished it.
In our 80-year-old classroom, we have three electrical outlets, one computer hooked to the Internet, and five personally owned Macs that I've "inherited" through the years. My fourth grade students, weaned on PlayStation, Game Boy, and other video games thrived in that digital paradise.
If you want to get the hairs on the back of Kathleen Housley's neck to stand on end, just call the computers in the back of her classroom "game consoles!" Do you use technology in truly valuable ways? Help Housley refute the game console myth by sharing a technology project that really worked for you. Click here to share your thoughts on a "Best Technology Projects" message board!
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Without any prodding from me, my students formed well-balanced teams of weak and strong readers, mathematicians, and writers to take on the computer. They were proud when they aced Science Court, Math Blaster, Reading Blaster, and the Reading Blaster vocabulary builder. They started using dictionaries, thesauruses, and encyclopedias to foil the computer. They celebrated every time someone moved to a new level.
On the Internet, they explored Australia during the Olympics, determined where Bush and Gore stood on the issues during the presidential campaign, created political cartoons, participated in MayaQuest, and turned our classroom into a rainforest. We invited the second grade classes into our classroom and my students shared their knowledge of rainforest animals, climates, and native people with the youngsters.
We did not forsake books, hands-on activities, or pencil and paper. Just as most adults do in their daily lives, we integrated everything into our learning. In addition to asking expert opinions and using print and electronic encyclopedias and other resources, students researched online. They watched videotapes with captioning, so struggling readers could pick up new vocabulary and spelling. They published poems, short stories, and reports.
The students loved the spell-check feature in word processing. Before long, they started to disagree with the computer's spell checker and began using dictionaries and consulting one another about editing and revisions. They celebrated when they caught the computer or a trade book using an incorrect word or fact.
One day a violent storm approached the city. You could see it coming outside our window. It was going to be a whopper! Two of my young charges asked if they could go online and check out Doppler radar at the local TV station's Web site. They reported back to their classmates that the brunt of the storm would pass just north of us. A sigh of relief came from those who fear violent thunderstorms.
The year was a remarkable learning experience for all of us as, week after week, my students proved that technology is a valuable learning tool.
Game consoles? Baloney!
Kathleen Housley has been an elementary school teacher and an online curriculum developer since 1996. She is currently a middle school teacher at an alternative school in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
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Are you a teacher who would like to share an Aha! moment -- a classroom experience that opened your eyes or a moment of reflection outside the classroom that led to a teaching epiphany? Are you an educator with a unique opinion to share -- or one with a fresh perspective on an educational issue? If so, we want to hear from you! Send a brief description only of an idea you would like to write about in Voice of Experience to voice@educationworld.com.
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Article by Kathleen Housley
Education World®
Copyright © 2001 Education World
9/14/2001
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