I’ve been looking forward to this Math / Science course for the past few years as I have started to use technology more in my lessons hoping to engage and motivate my ‘Digital Age Netgener’ students. The ‘Digital Age’ is also known as the Information Age / Era, Generation Z or the Computer Age and is characterized by the use of the computer from the 1970’s and the internet in the early 1990’s. Netgeners are students growing up in the Digital Age of the internet, born after the advent of the internet in early 1990’s. This generation has grown up with the internet and computer technology from day one. To them, the days of going home from school not knowing the answer to a question is a thing of the past. If there is something they want to know, they Google it. If they want to watch a video, movie or TV show, they download or stream it. As a result, these Netgeners have become more demanding, active and participatory engaging in the digital world in every aspect of their lives. Tapscott (2004) describes this context extremely well: “They are not viewers; they are users and they are active. They do not just observe; they participate. They inquire, discuss, argue, play, shop, critique, investigate, ridicule, fantasize, seek, and inform.” These students have incredible opportunities at their fingertips; their imagination and interests drive their learning. As a result they are often self-absorbed, highly critical, but socially interactive especially with each other and the Web. Further, these are all attributes that point to a more collaborative approach to learning where these students can build their skill-set through communicating and self-educating using digital technologies and the affordances of the internet (Tapscott, 2004). Accordingly, as teachers, we need to take advantage of students’ interests and motivations afforded via technology in the 21stcentury in order to engage and empower their learning (Dalsgard, 2006). Technology is no longer a luxury, it is a way of life and there is no better approach than constructivist methods for teaching this demographic of students (Jonassen, 1999). The use of computers for practice and drill is already outdated in the 21st century, but the idea of using hands-on activities is still applicable today. Children are still using technology and computer to build their intuitive knowledge and logical thinking in content that had previously appeared intangible and abstract. I think we as educators have been caught in a very slow moving caravan while technology is flying past us in a blur. Education changes VERY slowly (if at all) and if we don’t rethink how we design our instruction to allow for the integration of technology in a more meaningful, deeper level than we do now, we are doing a disservice to our students who need the skills to determine which technology is beneficial to society and which is not.As a math teacher, I’ve been exploring for the past few years how technology is used in a math classroom. I am beginning to see how restricted teachers are based on the resources available to them. As a former science teacher, I think about the science supply room at our school and it is a dismal picture. And, I picture the dismal math supply closet at our school and I shake my head. Although my school has SMART Boards in all classrooms and most students have their own graphing calculators, I am wondering how to engage my students in meaningful and authentic learning experiences using technology to support conceptualization through visualizations, simulations and such. This Net Generation has access to a global classroom anytime anywhere thanks to the internet and digital technologies.I’m very eager to further my understanding of these Digital Age students so that I can encourage and motivate them to engage in the learning process of the necessary content. I’m also looking forward to enhancing my skill-set so that I can make the prescribed mathematics learning outcomes come to life in my math classroom via authentic and meaningful activities.My educational belief system tends to lean towards the constructivist viewpoint, where my role is one of facilitator and the students tap into prior knowledge and experiences when accessing new information, thus creating a combined schema.Therefore, for learning to become intrinsic the instruction and learning activities young children are exposed to must be active in nature and carefully planned.
| I’ve been looking forward to this Math / Science course for the past few years as I have started to use technology more in my lessons hoping to engage and motivate my ‘Digital Age Netgener’ students. The ‘Digital Age’ is also known as the Information Age / Era, Generation Z or the Computer Age and is characterized by the use of the computer from the 1970’s and the internet in the early 1990’s. Netgeners are students growing up in the Digital Age of the internet, born after the advent of the internet in early 1990’s. This generation has grown up with the internet and computer technology from day one. To them, the days of going home from school not knowing the answer to a question is a thing of the past. If there is something they want to know, they Google it. If they want to watch a video, movie or TV show, they download or stream it. As a result, these Netgeners have become more demanding, active and participatory engaging in the digital world in every aspect of their lives. Tapscott (2004) describes this context extremely well: “They are not viewers; they are users and they are active. They do not just observe; they participate. They inquire, discuss, argue, play, shop, critique, investigate, ridicule, fantasize, seek, and inform.” These students have incredible opportunities at their fingertips; their imagination and interests drive their learning. As a result they are often self-absorbed, highly critical, but socially interactive especially with each other and the Web. Further, these are all attributes that point to a more collaborative approach to learning where these students can build their skill-set through communicating and self-educating using digital technologies and the affordances of the internet (Tapscott, 2004). Accordingly, as teachers, we need to take advantage of students’ interests and motivations afforded via technology in the 21stcentury in order to engage and empower their learning (Dalsgard, 2006). Technology is no longer a luxury, it is a way of life and there is no better approach than constructivist methods for teaching this demographic of students (Jonassen, 1999).The use of computers for practice and drill is already outdated in the 21st century, but the idea of using hands-on activities is still applicable today. Children are still using technology and computer to build their intuitive knowledge and logical thinking in content that had previously appeared intangible and abstract.I think we as educators have been caught in a very slow moving caravan while technology is flying past us in a blur. Education changes VERY slowly (if at all) and if we don’t rethink how we design our instruction to allow for the integration of technology in a more meaningful, deeper level than we do now, we are doing a disservice to our students who need the skills to determine which technology is beneficial to society and which is not.As a math teacher, I’ve been exploring for the past few years how technology is used in a math classroom. I am beginning to see how restricted teachers are based on the resources available to them. As a former science teacher, I think about the science supply room at our school and it is a dismal picture. And, I picture the dismal math supply closet at our school and I shake my head. Although my school has SMART Boards in all classrooms and most students have their own graphing calculators, I am wondering how to engage my students in meaningful and authentic learning experiences using technology to support conceptualization through visualizations, simulations and such. This Net Generation has access to a global classroom anytime anywhere thanks to the internet and digital technologies.I’m very eager to further my understanding of these Digital Age students so that I can encourage and motivate them to engage in the learning process of the necessary content. I’m also looking forward to enhancing my skill-set so that I can make the prescribed mathematics learning outcomes come to life in my math classroom via authentic and meaningful activities.
My educational belief system tends to lean towards the constructivist viewpoint, where my role is one of facilitator and the students tap into prior knowledge and experiences when accessing new information, thus creating a combined schema.
Therefore, for learning to become intrinsic the instruction and learning activities young children are exposed to must be active in nature and carefully planned.
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