Exit slip 3, Today's new learning...

Once again, today I am leaving class with tons of new information about accessing new technologies and ways to integrate tools into early childhood classrooms. After researching various websites last week that contain false information presented in ways that convince readers that they contain truthful information, I was a bit worried on how I would actually confront this issue in the classroom. It is obvious that even adults have trouble differentiating between factual and fake Internet sources. This issue is especially pressing in early childhood when young kids don't have the ability to discriminate between fact and fiction on the web. Young children tend to think that EVERYTHING on the web is factual and policed by some cyber-cop that makes sure all information is credible. Google.com/cse is a useful way to allow children to search the Internet and not have to worry about coming across unreliable or inappropriate information. With this program teachers or parents can edit and customize the websites that appear when students enter a search about a topic of interest or study. I think this tools is very useful for very young children when explaining ways to scrutinize websites might not be appropriate.

I also learned a lot about the technology enthusiasts' approach to the effects of technology on teaching and learning. It is apparent to me that the enthusiasts focus their attention more upon older children (upper elementary through high school), but the concepts they present are relevant to create life long learners. As teachers of any grade, it is important to be advocates of technology in the classroom to promote learning. There are many ways that learning can be made more accessible and individualized through the use of technology and Internet tools. The group presentation on this topic was engaging and a lot of interesting topics were discussed. Most importantly, there needs to be a balance among the use of technology and other methods of learning in the classroom. This means a balance between using word processors and pencil/paper approaches to writing, learning from technology and learning from teachers, etc. Students should be given every opportunity to succeed which means they need various approaches to learning. I enjoyed the way the presenters related the chapter to early childhood so that the content was more relevant to our educational focus on infants and toddlers through primary grade students.

Today I learned that it is important to be open-minded when learning about new technologies and ways to integrate. We have all been in a number of real-life early childhood classrooms and have seen the processes, procedures, and methodologies that different teachers use. We are teaching students to be successful learners for THEIR future and not our present. Preparing students for a future that involves a large amount of technological interaction requires teachers to stay current and to be optimistic about making changes or integrating new things into our pedagogical approaches. Getting stuck on "traditional" ways to do things or using methods just because they have been used in the past would be unfair to students who are learning to interact and an entirely different society.

Jeff said in class today that the computer should replace the teacher only if the teacher is less effective in facilitating learning than the computer. At first I was offended by this statement! How could the teacher be replaced by a computer? Although its a scary thought, it is true. If computers could provide our students with a more relevant education than teachers then we will be replaced in time. Therefore, it is important that we become experts in the area of technology while also being experts in ways to integrate technology into other ares such as social, motor, language, and cognitive development. Computers can't offer a warm, nurturing, and encouraging teacher-student relationship and learning environment that educators can provide.