Tony+Scallion

Disrupting Class Review
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

The one thing that the book disruptive class discuss the state of technology in the classroom and claim that the same type of flip will take place at some point in the future. Christensen talks about how and urges those working in the education field to recognize and prepare for changes. The book has a lot of good content and works on a few different levels. While the focus is on the U.S. education system, the influence will apply to the wider world as well. For example, another area of non-consumption where online learning is already making a difference is for those who have neither the time nor finances to study for a degree in a traditional setting.

The way christensen thinks of education is shown so true threw disruption applications and how computer-based learning is a possible way to reach all the learners in our schools. The paradigm shift and the change of education less student teacher interaction while making classroom irrelevent is a wake up. It should be apart of administrators guide to change their resistance to change.

Prensky, Mark (2006). //“Don’t Bother Me Mom – I’m Learning”//. St. Paul, Minnesota: Paragon House. Prensky offers a succinct and well-rounded discussion concerning the potential of computer games as learning tools. His assertion that, children are already learning from computer games - that parents and educators alike need to tap into this motivation for learning - is well supported by a wide variety of examples, from specific games to the testimony of parents and educators. The uncomplicated language makes for easy reading and the practical advice to parents is enthusiastic and practical. Prensky made the distinction between simple games and "complex games." "Complex games" are not mini or casual games that take anywhere from 8 to 100+ hours to complete. These are multiple leveled games that produce learning through engagement. Games work because of generation of 20 year olds are successful in the workforce. Prensky was asked, "If kids play, because adults can't?" He responded by saying that they enjoy their level of expertise, but it is more. The experience is more than a have / have not. Simulation is a big part of games, but not all simulations have gaming elements. Prensky does make a distinction between the two. Sims have specific content, games are about an experience. Game are the "most engaging intellectual thing we have." Will Wright's quote of games are the manifestation of a problem and finding the solutions. Gamers enjoy the problem solving and learning experience. "Learning is the real reason we play games." Prensky provided a large number of examples of serious and educational games for people to latch onto and get interested in. Those listening could walk away with potential games to play and experiment with. Games empower students. Players are "creating their own mark" and it lets them learn programming tools. He talked about game designers using good pedagogy. Focus on engagement. Don't Suck the fun out. "Kids play because they are the most engaging thing they have."

Prensky said "connection to curriculum" is a barrier, but that we are "busters" of those barriers. He talked about challenges schools face in using and applying games. Fun and learning do not have to be separate. The supporting online material is useful in assisting parental comprehension and offers some practical guidance and steps to improving personal relationships in the home. The strength of Prensky's text is through the manner in which he breaks down the nature of learning across the spaces of home and school, public and private, education and entertainment. His discussion is an educational design for the future, which deals successfully with objections to computer games, and is founded on strong research. This results in important and useful ideas and guidelines for the future of learning. If you are a parent of educator in particular, this book offers a practical and flexible first-step in the complex world of computer games and "digital natives".



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 Du////mbest Generation// by Bauerlein was a book that was hard to read for me, when I read it the way Bauerlein sees it, something new has happened to America's youth with the arrival of the instant gratification digital age. The result is, essentially, a collective loss of context and history. Survey after painstakingly recounted survey reveals what most of us already suspect: that America's youth know virtually nothing about history and politics.

The problem is that instead of using the Web to learn about the wide world, young people instead mostly use it to gossip about each other and follow pop culture, relentlessly keeping up with the ever-shifting of being cool in school. The two most popular websites by far among students are Facebook and MySpace. "Social life is a powerful temptation," Bauerlein explains, "and most teenagers feel the pain of missing out."

Bauerlein also frets about the nature of the Internet itself, where people "seek out what they already hope to find, and they want it fast and free, with a minimum of effort." In entering a world where nobody ever has to stick with anything that bores or challenges them, "going online habituates them to juvenile mental habits."

Increasingly disconnected from the "adult" world of tradition, culture, history, context and the ability to sit down for more than five minutes with a book, today's digital generation is becoming insulated in its own stultifying cocoon of bad spelling, civic illiteracy and endless postings that hopelessly confuse triviality with transcendence.

"The Dumbest Generation," there are also some keen insights into how the new digital world really is changing the way young people engage with information and the obstacles they face in integrating any of it meaningfully. These are insights that educators, parents and other adults ignore.