Chapters 1-3 Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts

From chapters 1-3 in out text “Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts” I learned not only the importance of introducing my students to new technology, but also educating them in ways that compliment their new metal structure as a result of technology.  I have heard many times in this class already that it is important to help my students understand safety precautions, evaluate websites, and learn to efficiently use technology for learning.  I know that I must learn and keep up to date on the major advances in technology because my students surely will.  But, in reading the text, I realized that I must also change my style of teaching, even when not educating about technology-specific topics.  Students are constantly using texting, IM, Facebook and many other technologies to stay socially connected.  A student could be talking to someone online in a chat, on a separate tab have Facebook open writing on a friends wall, all while involved in a texting conversation with his phone sitting on his desk next to the computer.  In that situation, the boy is switching conversations so quickly, and must sort all the information separately in his mind to not confuse the conversation topics.  Also, consider the websites that children explore, all the links to and from, and changes pages within the site helps the children “develop hyper-text minds. They leap around.  It’s as though their cognitive structures were parallel, not sequential.” (Prensky, quoted pg 8)  I need to make sure as teacher I keep up with their rapid moving minds and challenge their different minds.  I need to stay up to date on technology to know how it feels to develop a web-like mind.  I need to be able to relate to my students and consider how they learn/retain information best, which, considering the differences, is not how I would prefer to learn it.  For these students, a book for every subject is too slow and boring, all in linear, chronological order.  I need to find new ways to reach their unique needs and technology is the best avenue to accomplish that.  My students will find learning the fundamentals of using technology to be applicable, valuable life skills because it is something they use outside of class daily.  They will also benefit in learning the traditional information of math, English, science, etc, in this new way because it will compliment their cognitive structures.  Therefore, as a teacher I want to utilize interactive websites (examples saved to my Delicious account), experiment with the whiteboard, supplement material with podcasts or my classroom blog.