Thursday, September 20, 2007
Students and Technology
I was very surprised by some of the responses that I got from my students about the way that they use technology. One of the students had a lot of opportunities, experience, and confidence with technology. His experience included creating his own web page and spending hours at a time to surf the web and find out information on his favorite subject.....computers. He visits surplus stores to purchase used computers so that he can use various computer parts to create his own computers. He also volunteered to "fix" one of my classroom computers that was having difficulties. Imagine that. The other students basically only used technology such as the computer when it was required. They complete homework assignments and projects using the districts connect2school system. One of them has a digital video camera which is used to record family events. She is taking video production because she would like to learn to edit her home movies. The students' main interest also included computer game systems, burning cd's, downloading music and the use of the handy dandy ipod.
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3 comments:
It's good to know that your student has been as thrifty as he has been, because it shows that regardless of a person's background (and I assume that the student does not have the resources to purchase a new computer, unless he just enjoys the challenge of building his own computer), all children have the ability to achieve if we find the vehicle that motivates them to learn. It seems that this student has found his motivation.
Knowing where you teach and what you teach, I am suprised that more kids are not completely "invested" in technology. Chapel Hill seems to be on track to help their students gain maximum exposure to technology via classes like the one you teach.
As for your particular computer "savvy" young man, where did he learn his technological skills? Home? slef-Taught? Peers? School?
It must be nice to know that you have a student that is willing to go beyond the call of duty. Surely this fits right into his lifestyle at home. Bring his experiences from home into the classroom is a big plus for student interest.
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