Technology & Learning - January 2009 - (Page 30)

FEATURESTORY sons. Students are not sitting there like little birds waiting to be fed. To create autonomous learners you must contextualize things for students as they find them or as they run into difficulties trying to fit pieces together because you’ve structured the lesson for them. T&L: So twenty-first century learning skills can be addressed properly with Fifth-Grade Singapore school students using mobile computers handhelds? tethered to desks CN: Yes. The way we learn and what we learn is changing, and mobile computers, handheld computthat is really the majority of the issue ers, in a classroom the kids are looking around twenty-first century skills. at each other, talking to each other, Children need to learn how instead of putting the handhelds in front of each what. How do I find this information? other’s faces. They’re working together. How do I determine from this Internet They’re actively engaged in teamwork. what is valid information? How does It’s a completely different flow in the this fit into everything else that I’m classroom. The way we learn and what we learn is changing, and that is really the majority of the issue around twenty-first century skills. Children need to learn how instead of what. reading? How does this merge with my textbook? It’s the how. Again, it’s helping the child take the wealth of information that’s out there, assimilate it, and determine what’s a valid source, what’s real information. ES: The twenty-first century skills are about teamwork and the “soft skills” kids gain when working and collaborating together. If you watch classrooms with big desktop computers, the kids are sort of sitting hunched over looking up at the machines. They’re not talking to each other. They’re not sharing. They’re just staring at the screens with headphones on. But when you put The smallness, the immediacy, the ease of use of these handheld devices is exactly what is needed to support the twenty-first century skills, where your dynamic workgroups change over the course of a day. If different children work with different kids on different problems, no problem! That’s what happens with these handheld computers because you’re not tethered. Scott Traylor is the CEO and Founder of 360KID, a content and technology company developing learning products for toy companies, publishers, and broadcasters. 30 | TECH & LEARNING http://www.califone.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Technology & Learning - January 2009

Technology & Learning - January 2009 Contents Editor’s Desk News & Trends Put to the Test VS Revo Group Mimio Studio 6 Software NewTek TriCaster Type to Learn 4 Pure Digital Flip Mino Video Camera Get Better With Your Tech The Future is in Your Hand Write On! A Guide to Buying Printers January 2009 What’s New What They Said

Technology & Learning - January 2009

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.