Week 1 Reflection

Being a Generation X and having worked in the building industry from a very young age, technology has never been a part of my life or learning so far. Until starting this degree I had never sat in front of a computer to do any 'work' and had only used a computer for ebay and the like.  I therefore can be quickly overwhelmed with any form of technology and the extent to which it now has a place in the lives of students both in and outside the classroom.

As Sparks and Honey demonstrate in their slideshow 'Meet Generation Z: Forget Everything You Learned About Millennials'',  Generation Z are very different from all previous generations before them, they are the generation of technology and use technology as part of their everyday learning and life. This is one of the most important aspects for teachers to realise when educating Generation Z students.Teachers need to know and understand how to use technology effectively and to enhance the students learning experience.  Although technology has had its many benefits for this current generation, teachers also express the negative implications that technology has had such as short attention spans and the students lack of effort in their work.

Dr Judy Willis's YouTube clip The Science of Learning discusses how the brain works when students go into boredom mode. This information on how the brain functions is vital for teachers to understand when educating their students, as even some small changes in pedagogy such as changing their whiteboard pen colour and using signals/gestures can have a profound effect on the students ability to learn. These small but effective changes focuses the students attention, creates curiosity in the classroom environment and can allow the student to participate more freely. Another interesting point that Dr Willis points out is that it is of far greater importance to teach students application and to give them the tools for learning rather than the just the facts.

The TED talk given by Sir Ken Robinson in 2006, 'Do Schools kill creativity', made a powerful statement that creativity is just as important in literacy in education. He also goes on to mention about how subjects worldwide are seen to be considered more important than others with 'The Arts' always being at the bottom. I particularly like his Picasso Quote 'We don't grow into creativity, we grow out of it'. Being a teacher that utilises creativity as part of their pedagogy will ultimately have more engaged and participating students who are willing to learn.

The Eduptopia YouTube video 'An Introduction into Technology Integration', whilst only short still delivers some valuable messages about how although learning without technology is fine, if technology can improve your learning then it should be utilised. This is a message which I feel is very important for teachers to understand, as some teachers are from a generation where technology was not commonly used in teaching and therefore this would make it very easy to fail to see the benefits that using technology in teaching achieves with today's students.

The use of digital technology in the Manual Arts discipline is more commonly used than what people may realise and definitely that of a traditional workshop/classroom environment and when I was at school. Although it has always been considered a very hands on and skill related subject area, the use of technologies plays a very large part in any classroom and I will endeavor to have it play a large part in any of my classrooms. This will range from YouTube clips that will show, promote and demonstrate ideas and methods, CAD and graphic programs for students to draw diagrams and plans of their item to be constructed and obviously any internet research that will be done as well (just to name a few).

Although ICT and digital technologies is not my strong point I very much look forward to learning about them and ways to integrate them into the classroom of today and use them to help my students learning and experiance.