Quote: "The problem for many students is their focus on the power of the technology rather than the power of their stories. Some students are engaging the medium at the expense of the message, producing a technical event rather than telling a story."
Response: This is really very true, I remember back in elementary school when we had to make powerpoints. We all got so caught up in the spinning of the letters, the way the slides came in, the colors, music, and flashing lights that you could not really tell what the presentation was about because there was so much going on. It may be possible to make a very professional and dramatic story come to life with the power of a powerpoint but most children don't see its potential. The article mentioned a little girl making this elaborate and dramatic story about their life with this sort of technology but it honestly takes a very mature and serious person to make such a presentation. Lets face it, most the children in the 6th grade are more concerned about playing around than their school presentation and will most likely throw it together last minute.
Citation: Ohler, J. (2006). The World of Digital Storytelling. Educational Leadership, 63(4), 44-47.
External resource:http://www.ehow.com/how_8669389_teach-powerpoint-children.html
Citation: Hooser, T. V. (n.d.). How to Teach PowerPoint to Children | eHow.com. eHow | How to Videos, Articles & More - Trusted Advice for the Curious Life | eHow.com. Retrieved September 13, 2011, from http://www.ehow.com/how_8669389_teach-powerpoint-children.html
I think you're exactly right about young students, and really students in general. Not many would take a project as seriously as the little girl in the story. I think the hope of incorporating new and different technologies into the the classroom is that it will get students more interested and excited about their school work.
ReplyDeleteStudents do get too caught up in the technology of things and don't worry about the assignment itself. Offering different is a great way to get them more involved, though. Nice Job
ReplyDeleteThough it really is a bothersome issue for us to apply technology successfully in class especially for kids, we have no choice but to face it, because their naive hearts need our guidance.This, in my point of view, will be number one priority in our teaching life in the future.
ReplyDeleteYes, students do get caught up in the technology. However, if you present the assignment in phases, and require the content to be created first and approved by the teacher, then give them the opportunity to jazz it up with technology.
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