Video Reaction

I recently watched the video Pay Attention! which all educators should watch as a reality check, asking us to pay attention to our students and their needs, skills, and interests. Today's students exist in a technology dominated world and it's our job to reach them by using the tools they are familiar with to make learning engaging and meaningful. This video reminded me to a similar video and discussion from a previous graduate course, in which we discussed the jobs that this generation of students will be applying for in the future. It would be a disservice to them to ignore the advances and importance of technology. These students know and are familiar with tools like cell phones, Facebook, Twitter, and ipods - why not assign homework or give pop quizzes that must be completed via text message? Or ask students to create Facebook pages for characters in books they are reading? Or use podcasts to communicate with them? Though each of these ideas may not be ideal in every school setting, the point is that the old ways of lecture, note-taking, and cramming for exams is becoming less effective and we need to understand the world our students live in to create the most effective learning environment.
The video also points out that we always talk about and encourage our students to read more. However, they are composing and reading thousands of e-mails and text messages a year. This is literacy! It's time to take advantage of their knowledge of these tools and create a link to learning.

I found this website interesting and useful. Pay Attention: Ideas for becoming a better teacher