RyanCollins.org

Placeopedia.com allows users to connect Wikipedia entries with their geographical location. What a great way to see what landmarks/historical entries are located near your home town. It allows anyone one to place entries on the map, so if your area is blank you can search Wikipedia for local landmarks and place them on the map yourself. And if the local landmarks are not in Wikipedia, it would be a great start for your students to research, edit, and then publish their entry on the landmark in Wikipedia.

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In the article Teachers ‘risk failing computer-literate children’ professor David Buckingham argues that teachers are beginning to fail their computer literate students.

Research by the University of Bristol earlier this year found that teachers were happy using computers at home, but would not take the risk of getting it wrong in front of a class of pupils. Some 30% of teachers surveyed failed to make good use of computers in the classroom - despite the government’s £1bn investment.

I believe some teachers are afraid of failing in front of their students, while others are ignorant to how the technology can make their teaching better and lives easier. Just simple things like setting up a template for their lesson plans, or create tests on the computer. I still see teachers write out their quizzes and tests.

Offering professional development is a start. Unfortunately, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. It must begin with good examples, and go from there. I encourage sharing as much as possible, because when it comes from another teacher it seems to have more weight than from me!

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This Wired article brings up some very good points on how video games are teaching students today. Not how to carjack and shoot people, but how to manage a group of beings to solve problems (Pikmin), carry out intricate missions (Metal Gear Solid 2), and micromanage resources (Warcraft III).

How did videogames become such successful models of effective learning? Game coders aren’t trained as cognitive scientists. It’s a simple case of free-market economics: If a title doesn’t teach players how to play it well, it won’t sell well. Game companies don’t rake in $6.9 billion a year by dumbing down the material - aficionados condemn short and easy games like Half Life: Blue Shift and Devil May Cry 2.

The games teach the players how to play the game. The players are rewarded by applying what the game has taught them. There is also anecdotal evidence that playing some of these games are helping youngsters as young as 4 to read.

Are videogames a replacement for teachers? NO! We overlook that things should be done in moderation. A class that only plays Pikmin might learn how to manage an army of alien beings, but will it help them in History?

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In Parents Fret That Dialing Up Interferes With Growing Up - New York Times, parents are worried that their kids spend too much time on the computer:

In interviews and surveys many parents say that their children spend
too much time in front of computers and on cellphones. Some parents
worry that long, sedentary hours spent at a computer may lead to weight
gain, or that an excess of instant and text messaging comes at the
expense of learning face-to-face social skills. Some complain of having
to compete for their childrens’ attention more than ever.

Anything in excess is mostly bad for you, so parents should not be afraid to limit their children’s online activities. Internet addiction is real.

Children need to learn how to do things in moderation, hedonism is alive and well in today’s society. It reminds me of the 1980’s, where the motto was me, me, me, and if it feels good, you should do it.

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