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Gabriela Medina-- Research Report

Page history last edited by Gabriela Medina 9 years, 4 months ago

 

 

Technology in Education: Multiculturalism in Cinderella

 

By Gabriela Medina Team 5: Multiculturalism in Cinderella

 

 

Technology in Education: Multiculturalism in Cinderella

            Abstract: In her book, McFarlane shows that integrating technology in a classroom is much more than just buying more computers and/or tables for students. She argues that aside from making technology more accessible for student-teachers, administrators, etc. need to study the adjustment of their role in the classroom and in a student’s education in this huge transition.

          Description: Angela McFarlane covers many of the controversial explanations individuals use to argue for or against technology in the classroom. One of the major arguments those debating against technology use is the issue of inappropriateness. They fear children will have too much freedom on the Internet. McFarlane counters that argument by bringing up the ability to censor websites. To access the web, a school would need to set up their own Wi-Fi Network. By having their own network they can require a username and password to have access to it, “this provides some security and protection for users from unwanted contact and the less-pleasant effects of anonymity that can occur in open systems” (51). This means that any activity can be traced back to the username whether the activity was anonymous or not. If it is a well-known fact that activity is watched, there will not be an issue with students wandering from their original assignment. Even then, specific sites can be censored and blocked preventing students from accessing them altogether.

          As a student, an individual has to focus a majority of learning on tests. Instead of making sure they are learning something, they make sure what they memorize correlates well with what the upcoming test will be focusing on. Strategies such as these are easy for a student to turn into a habit and actually carry with them through their life whether it be in undergraduate school, graduate school, or the work force. This would mean that even if a teacher pays close attention to how a student is doing in the class, they could still misperceive how much the student is actually retaining. McFarlane addresses that by incorporating technology, different programs can be used in which the student has to apply what they have learned in a real life situation opposed to just a test in a classroom. “This can be contrasted with a view of the curriculum that does not focus solely on familiarity with pre-defined content, but on the ability to find, analyze, and appraise relevant content, and construct coherent, justified views that could be construed as personal knowledge” (57). When a student has the opportunity to realize the importance their new knowledge can have in their every day life, they are more likely to make an effort to make sure it is something they remember, to make it something they learned opposed to something they memorized.

          McFarlane emphasizes on the importance of teachers understanding how much their role will change as an educator. In the past, and in the present, teachers are known as a source of information for a student. This would change in a new age of technology; instead educators will be seen as guides or supervisors. “Teacher expertise is in asking good questions and giving meaningful feedback and facilitating learning interaction rather than providing all of the answers” (58). They are now there to help a student when they are lost, needing clarification, or perhaps to understand how they can find more depth to what they may be learning. “They must see themselves not as passive receptacles for hand-me-down knowledge but as constructors of their own knowledge, who refine their own questions and search for their own answers through interactions with others” (58). This allows students to be more active during a lesson. They are no longer sitting at a desk being talked to, but are instead doing the research themselves, collaborating with others, or learning from one another.

          Statement of Relevance: Technology in the project of Multiculturalism in Cinderella is important because it allows for an interactive way for students to read different available versions of Cinderella. What is unique about this project is that they are not just reading them but also have the opportunity to learn the differences in cultures. PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) did studies in 2013 that proved students’ behaviors have increasingly gotten worse in a classroom setting every year. This has led to many people believing children have ADHD or that they feel incompetent in a classroom, so they act out and rebel. In reality students are extremely bored. Today most students are accustomed to being stimulated in many different ways all at once whether that be through a television, computer, and phone all at once. This is reflected back in the classroom when they have difficulty focusing on a piece of paper or whiteboard. If they are accustomed to being stimulated by technology in their everyday lives at home, then we should incorporate it in a classroom setting.

          Multiculturalism in Cinderella attempts to do this. If we were to simply give students a handout they are most likely going to ignore, skim, or half-heartedly read; if we give them an iPad or some other tablet, or give them a link they are more likely to not only read the article, but also do extra research to understand it. Multiculturalism in Cinderella is a blog site in which a sample of different versions of Cinderella will be on (Billy Beg and his Bull, The Babba Yaga, etc.) it. The twist this blog will have is a 1st person narrator on their journal entries. Aside from the journal entries from the different Cinderellas, there will be a student narrator contributing their own reflections on the journal entries. In the student narrator’s entries there will be an explanation to the cultural differences in each story. This will give a student looking at the blog site a better understanding of the cultures. Just as well on the student’s entries there will be links for the student to do further research on an event or person. This leaves them the opportunity to explore more on their own. If a student’s studies is motivated by their own curiosity, they are more likely to not only be interested in it, but learn something.

          This is where it becomes apparent how teachers will be perceived differently in this new model classroom. They will no longer be the source of the information, but the facilitator or guide. The student will be learning about the differences in culture in depth from the blog site instead of just scratching the surface in a simple verbal presentation a teacher may have normally done.

 

Resources for Further Research:

Harlen, W. and Deakin-Crick, R. (2002) A Systematic Review of the Impact of Summative Assessment and Tests on Students’ Motivation for Learning. London: EPPI Centre.

McFarlane, Angela. Authentic Learning for the Digital Generation: Realising the Potential of Technology in the Classroom. Print. 

Prensky, M. (2012) From Digital Natives to Digital Wisdom: Hopeful Essays for the 21st Century Education. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Scardamalia, M. (2000) Can schools enter a knowledge society? in Selinger, M. and Wynn, J. (eds) Educational Technology and the Impact on Teaching and Learning. Abingdon: Research Machines (pp. 5-9).

 

 

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