Week 7 Assignment

1. I think educators should definitely try to match the technology used in the classroom to technology that the students use. This could help students not lose interest in what is being taught. Just reading from books is not something most find interesting, therefore, they may not pay as much attention.

2. Of course online chats and instant messaging have value in the classroom. I think that there should be a set amount of time that it is used. This being because if students are always chatting, they will inevitably become distracted. It is important that kids have face to face interaction with peers in class, but could maybe talk to other students that are across the country or even across the world who may be learning the same content.

3. Of course, being able to go to a discussion board and seeing other's responses and getting other ideas than just that of your own and also being able to research a topic further before responding would be benefits of asynchronous, text-based communications.

4. Use of podcasts, to me, seems like it would be useful to those students that can't always be in class. This would include student athletes and others that travel for school related activities. Otherwise, I think it is just a newer version of passively delivering information.

5. I don't think that video games help improve children's studying. I do think that the video game-like games that are out there for younger children that are geared toward learning. As a parent, I would not let my child sit in front of video games all day. Not because they make you dumb or give you an unrealistic view of the world, but solely because I believe that a child who sits in front of a tv playing video games all the time will not learn social skills. This, in turn, will hinder their learning skills.