I've been reading parts of an interesting book by Todd Oppenheimer. The title is The Flickering Mind: The False Promise of Technology in the Classroom and How Learning Can Be Saved. I almost passed it by in the library, but decided to have one resource that I felt was probably in opposition with what we'd been doing in class.I haven't read the entire book, but basically he's warning school systems to use technology (and spend money) wisely because at the end of the day, it's less about the technology, and more about what you do with it. He also warns against losing the personal touch and helping students enhance their ability to relate to one another.
So it really is in line with thinking about what 'new literacies' really are and, as Bill said, it's not always about technology.
This sounds like an important book, Karen. I think you're right...technology can add the bells and whistles to attract and engage kids, but at the end of the day, the content has to be there. Technology without a good lesson plan is pretty worthless. I think I'm going to look into this book.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I felt was so important about Jeff Pellegrino's presentation. The clickers are the latest craze around here it seems, but he showed how they can used well!
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