Robin+Garza

media type="custom" key="4874197" References

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Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns by Clayton M. Christensen, Michael B. Horn, and Curtis W. Johnson.

Clayton M. Christenson is a Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business school. He has authored or coauthored five books. He is well know for the bestselling books //The Innovator's Dilemma// and //The Innovator's Solution.// Christenson's latest book is //Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns (2008).// Christenson introduces us to some of the issue's facing today's schools by taking us through the trials of a new principal of Randall Circle High School. I found this real world story embedded into the more technical aspects of the book a very intriguing way to explore the issues of today's schools. Christensen provides us with a very convincing argument for student centric learning. He brings his theories on disruption that he developed in the business world to the world of education. Christensen makes a convincing argument for how changes should be made in education. Research in education is discussed, including shortcomings in current research methods. I found this forward looking book very interesting and convincing for the need for new methods in teaching. According to Christensen, teaching should be individualized to the students as much possible. I did find it disturbing that Christensen suggests that students from similar backgrounds and circumstances should attend schools that will fit that particular circumstance. I fear that this will lead to segregating students. Who will be responsible for deciding into what category the students fit? I think there is danger there. I do like many of Christensen's ideas on student centric learning and teaching. This was my favorite of the three books we have read and reviewed. I could easily imagine what the world of education will looking like 10 years from now. I recommend this book to anyone open to new ideas on teaching.

The Dumbest Generation by Mark Bauerlein a Book Review Mark Bauerlein is a professor of English at Emory University and has written //The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future; Or, Don’t Trust Anyone Under 30// (May, 2008) (www.dumbestgeneration.com). Bauerlein introduces the book recounting the attitudes of students at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland. Whitman students are high achievers, not satisfied by imperfect exam scores. Bauerlein considers the drawbacks of working only for the grade instead of for the sake of learning and gaining knowledge. From here Bauerlein launches into his argument for the declining intellect of people under the age of 30. Most of his argument is based on his belief that the younger generation does not read literature. At times Bauerlein seems angry and loses sight of the positive aspects of technology. Some sections of this book drag along as Bauerlein reveals statistics to support his claims of a generation with declining intellect. He used excessive verbiage while making his claims, restating the same ideas over and over again. The last two chapters of the book were much more interesting and I believe Bauerlein made some good arguments for the causes of the "dumbing" of America's youth. I believe this book is worth reading, but keeping in mind a degree of skepticism for some of Bauerlein's arguments regarding technology's effects on learning.

Cons The first half of the book was very slow reading with too many statistics, that could have been presented in a more organized manner, such as a table. He also restated the same ideas over and over again. I felt like he could have been much more succinct. He made some big assumptions when giving reasons for what he sees as a declining intellect of people under the age of 30.

Pros The second half of the book was more interesting with some realistic viewpoints about the lack of adult direction guiding students to read literature. The last chapter recounted an engaging story about Rip Van Winkle, who slept for 20 years, missing the American Revolution. The story was a good parable demonstrating what happens when people are culturally isolated.

Don't Bother Me Mom-I'm Learning by Marc Prensky a Book Review

Marc Prensky is a prolific author of game based learning books, blogs, and articles. //Don't Bother Me Mom-I'm Learning (2005)// is his second book on the subject. His first book was //Digital Game-Based Learning (2001)//. Prensky is also a game designer of e-learning games. Prensky coined the terms digital native and digital immigrant. In his book //Don't Bother me Mom-I'm Learning//, Prensky gives a comical description of the "accent" of the digital immigrant with which I can identify. The book is divided into five parts. Part I introduces us to the ideas of why games are good for our kids. Prensky gives anecdotal evidence of the good experiences parents and kids have had with video games. Part II details the digital natives and really brings across the message of the wide divide between digital natives and digital immigrants. In Part III Prensky explains why todays games are really different from the early digital games. He describes the difference between the simple mini games as he calls them, to the complex games that require hours of play to win. Part IV goes into what the kids are actually learning with these complex games that require hours of play and multiple tasks simultaneously. The last part of the book, Part V has some ideas on how parents and teachers can help kids get the most from their games and also ideas on how to use them in the classroom.

Overall, I think this was a very informative book about the digital native and really opened my eyes to a generation that hasn't known a world without computers and cell phones. I felt like some of Prensky's ideas on the benefits of some of the games such as Grand Theft Auto fell short. Spending hours playing Toontown does not seem like the benefit of learning cooperation out ways the time spent in the game. There are better ways for children to learn cooperation and have a fulfilling experience of spending time with friends. Prensky gave some very good advise on how parents can connect with their children through video games. Prensky has some very good ideas which he goes into in the last part of the book with several links to websites for further research. I would recommend this book to all teachers, especially those teaching the digital native.