I had
something of a revelation over the last two weeks with this module. I am
taking this course concurrently with EDTECHJ 536, Digital Games for
K-12 and thus am in the process of designing a game using the program
GameSalad. Like any course, we’re required to make a proposal for the
game we’re going to design. Like any techno-geek, my mind ran the gamut
from World of Warcraft to Halo seeking to convert each of them into a
teaching tool. I didn’t have a great deal of success, but then I thought
about my own learning experiences and what had served me well over my
entire academic career and decided to create a game based on flash
cards.
In my younger years, my mother spent hours drilling me on my multiplication tables. (I eventually go up to 20 x 20) While she thought it a waste of money to actually go out and buy the cards, she would invest the time asking me things like “nine times eight” and then would give me only a short amount of time to respond. As a result, to this day, I barely think when doing arithmetic. While others will look for a calculator, I simply look for a bit of scrap paper and pen.
As I was designing my game, it struck me that, although the delivery methods are changing, the basic teaching methods have not changed for centuries. We, as educators, can dress it up any way we choose, but in the end, it still comes down to a student memorizing and then committing to long term memory that 3x5 equals 15.
Enter the Mueller/Oppenheimer study that indicates that students learn better when they take notes by hand rather than using a laptop. This concept was introduced to me during a training workshop last month, and I must admit that I was not surprised. As a touch typist, I can easily transcribe anything a teacher is relating, but there is absolutely no absorption. I’m no more than a “Dragon” program, typing what I hear. However, when I physically take notes, I am forced to synthesize the information, processing it to a form that is convenient to take down. I am allowed to add emphasis on the fly with underlines and asterisks. In short, I am thinking about that which I am writing.
In my younger years, my mother spent hours drilling me on my multiplication tables. (I eventually go up to 20 x 20) While she thought it a waste of money to actually go out and buy the cards, she would invest the time asking me things like “nine times eight” and then would give me only a short amount of time to respond. As a result, to this day, I barely think when doing arithmetic. While others will look for a calculator, I simply look for a bit of scrap paper and pen.
As I was designing my game, it struck me that, although the delivery methods are changing, the basic teaching methods have not changed for centuries. We, as educators, can dress it up any way we choose, but in the end, it still comes down to a student memorizing and then committing to long term memory that 3x5 equals 15.
Enter the Mueller/Oppenheimer study that indicates that students learn better when they take notes by hand rather than using a laptop. This concept was introduced to me during a training workshop last month, and I must admit that I was not surprised. As a touch typist, I can easily transcribe anything a teacher is relating, but there is absolutely no absorption. I’m no more than a “Dragon” program, typing what I hear. However, when I physically take notes, I am forced to synthesize the information, processing it to a form that is convenient to take down. I am allowed to add emphasis on the fly with underlines and asterisks. In short, I am thinking about that which I am writing.
At times in this program, I think
we get too wrapped around the technology portion of educational
technology. I know, for myself, I enrolled in the program because I had
the tech portion of it mastered and thought that it would be a great and
easy way to earn a degree. What I am taking away from these courses is
so much more. I am learning to think like an educator. I am learning to
use all the wonderful things I can do with a computer to teach the
future. Honestly, that is such a wonderful thing, and those of you
involved with the education of children are incredibly lucky to have the
opportunity to try and shape them. Oh, and for those of you who are
interested in the game, it’s going to be called, “Flash Kaard & the
Chalice of Algor. I’m going to be publishing it in Android and iPad
formats. Please email me and I’ll send you a link to the game when it’s
finished.
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