Natalie+Davis



media type="file" key="PhotoStory2_2.wmv" width="300" height="300"

Christensen, C.M., Horn, M.B., & Johnson, C.W. (2008). //Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns.// Chicago: McGraw-Hill Professional Publishers.

Christensen writes a very affective book with an easily applicable theory. This book discusses the use/need for computers in the classroom and the strategies to best implement them into the already existing curriculum and method. Christensen tells of how computers have been around for many decades and how they have enhanced the world around us, except in education. He later discusses why this might be and how to change the current situation. Yes computers are in the classrooms but they are sidekicks in education, not the main educator, and this is what needs to change. He discusses ways to let the computer do the teaching and assessing and thus leaving time for the teacher to best individualize themself to each student on the level that each student needs instruction. The main foucs of his book is in the title, //Disrupting Class//. A term used to change the norm and comfort levels of the education system. A way to alter the past as we have all known it by simply letting the strength of each child's brain (whatever their learning style may be) and the quickness and the power of adaptability that a computer posseses to enhance and differentiate instruction. In this book, he also discusses the "old fashioned" school system and the need to update it to its full potential. The teacher is simply thought of as the "guide on the side, not the sage on the stage", as Christensen writes. The teacher is not responsible the teach everything, but they are responsible for the knowledge learned by each student so in a school with computers as the teachers the teacher can get a baseline as to where the student is and use this baseline to create a lesson that will best teach that student, since it is almost impossible to teach each student to mastery; although this is where each student //should// be taken in the field of education.

This is a great informational, catchy, easy to read book that I highly recommend for educators. It truly does change the way one thinks of learning and teaching and I believe it is the future of public education. The past is a hard thing to change, but if we, educators, keep our minds open to other opportunities we can offer our students I believe we can be the ones to make the much needed, much anticipated, highly debated change.

Bauerlein, Mark. (2009) //The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or Don’t Trust Anyone Under 30).// New York: Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

The Dumbest Generation is a book that is filled with multiple research studies, multiple examples, and multiple arguments about the degeneration of children's minds in our society, well, anyone under 30. Bauerlein begins this book by showing numerous statistics that research studies have found that support the idea that the generation of digital natives is only getting dumber, no matter what the global idea is about technology and the enhancement of knowledge and the advancement of education. The beginning of this book is very wordy, he states the same idea in about a million different ways, although good information, it is very drawn out. The second half of this book was an easier read. He begins telling stories from perspectives of people over 30 and includes reasearch studies that back the idea that even though technology has come so far, the intellegience of America has halted. And that it began slowing down about 30 years ago. He makes good arguments that the youth of today are too involved with the social scene and that many youth are very egocentric in their thinking. They do not care about societies that do not involve them and they do not care about the world view or anyone else in it. Bauerlein shows and cites many studies that reiforce the fact that the internet and other sources for learning and discovery are very beneficial and handy to have at our fingertips, but he counters with more studies that suggest that when a youth sits in front of the internet, they are not going to "google" something new, just to learn. They are most likely to read about something they already know interests them, or they find their friends online and just chat. He also makes a strong case for what learning is, by definition, and how the youth of today are not learning, could not be learning because in order to learn one has to go a little into the unknown, zone of proximal development, and struggle a bit with new information, make it their own, then hold onto the information in their heads for retrieval later. This is not happening. The youth are merely finding what they need to write a paper or prepare a presentation, reciting it, then tossing it out, it never stays in their head for further study or future use.

This book is very informational and full of statistics and studies that defend the argument that technology is dumbing down our kids. I would ask readers to read this critically and question the other side of the research and the motives behind the research. Besides being a very wordy and repetitive book, it gives true accounts of information not backed by theories or prejudices, but backed by research conducted by true scholars.

Prensky, Mark (2006). //“Don’t Bother Me Mom – I’m Learning”//. St. Paul, Minnesota: Paragon House. Mark Prensky presents a very modern day look at children and video games. He introduces the difference between simple games and complex games and talks about how video game programmers include game play (scaffolding) for all that play. It keeps the child at the instructional level, where the game is never too hard or too easy. This book is very informational for parents, as well as educators. He enlightens the reader about the importance of video games and why children are so facinated with them. He tells of many accounts where successful people in our society have gained knowledge and skill for a very technologically advanced future. The opening line of the book discusses the importance of video games and surgeons. This book has many strong arguments for educators and parents and it opens adults eyes to the difference in how children view games and how adults view games. Prensky also does a good job about educating adults to the difference in the new generations mind and brain differences and explains why video games are so beneficial. But on the other side of the spectrum, Prensky presents his arguments with a lack of empirical evidence and only states the arguments that persuade the reader to agree with him. This book must be read critically and the reader must question what he/she already knows about children and learning. Towards the end of the book, Prensky almost takes the curriculum out of education and advocates for the children to educate themselves from what they find important to learn, to stay in-doors and socialize via networking rather than getting out and socializing with peers face to face.

The beginning of this book is strong because it discusses how gaming can be intoduced to enhance curriculum and that if children like video games so much already it should only enhance our educaion system by meeting somewhere in the middle. The end of the book strongly advocates for parents to "get-in" on the games and talk to their children about what they find so facinating and enticing about them. He does a good job with talking to parents about how they can get involved with their children and video games and how they can educate themselves on what the child is learning, if anything, while playing a specific game. He offers many websites for parents to see the games as the children see the games and to learn how they can talk with their children about their games. This book highly speakes of the benefits children have at learning mentally and cognitively but it does not advocate for children learning physically, visually, etc.

This book is a good read for adults that do not see any benefit to video games, but it should not be the only book one should read about video games. One should get a wide range of information prior to making a judgement.