This week, I have been reflecting on how to motivate students to love using technology in the classroom.
I have been using some technology such as Google doc., Inspiration and Compleat Lex tutor to teach academic writing. During my one-to-one conference with my students I found out that there are about four of them who prefer using technology for entertainment and not for academic work in the classroom. I have been looking for ways to help them come to appreciate technology not only as a tool for entertainment but also a tool for academic work.
I have come to realize that learners bring different perspectives to the technology based classroom. While some are highly motivated, others are very passive about using technology in the classroom and still others do not want to use technology for academic work, especially in the classroom. I think that all three groups need to be motivated. Those who show high motivational intensity towards using technology to study in the classroom will have to be helped to maintain their level of motivation and those who are less motivated require careful guidance from pedagogical applications to this approach.
Making students aware that learning through multimedia technology demands new learning strategies and self-directed learning is a crucial first step.
Do you have some ideas on this?
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4 comments:
Richmond,
Your post is very interesting. Why students wouldn’t want to use technology in the classroom, I ask myself. It is surprising for me to hear. I think that maybe one possible strategy could be pairing highly motivated students with low motivated students. This way, maybe the latter will get some motivation from the former.
I will be happy to hear more about it tonight in class and try to think of more ideas.
Anat
Richmond,
I think that many times students don't see using technology as "school work". As teachers we should find ways to use academically appropriate technology that we can incorporate with our teaching. That's a fun part of teaching. I have seen kids get so excited to use technology. They are enjoying it and also they are learning new things too. Teachers who are afraid to try technology need that extra push and the resources to get started. It's good to have a resident "techie" in a school that can encourage teachers to try new things.
I have this same problem when I take my kids to the computer lab. All they want to do is "play" on KidsPix or someother software and when I tell them I have something planned they all groan and gripe. I have done this - I plan a 20 minute lesson and the kids complete it and then I let them have 10 minutes of going to whatever approved web site we have on our technology page. It seems to have worked out well. What I have found happens then is that they keep doing what I had planned because they find out that any work on the computer is fun but they like knowing that they have those 10 minutes whether they use them or not.
Good suggestions provided from your classmates! You pose a very interesting and realistic question to ponder. In reality, all students are not motivated to use technology - although most research states that the majority will be. So that is a good thing! However, there is a lot of discussion right now on informal learning opportunities --- what about gaming technologies, how can those benefit students for academic preparation. I still think it does go back to our initial planning as teachers. What are we having students 'do' with the technology? Is it meaningful to their learning and engaging? It's not easy, but we can continue to work on it.
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