"When asked about activities they enjoyed in school, students listed working with computers their top activity--above working on projects in a group, working on a project independently, listening to the teacher explain things, and doing worksheets."
I chose this quote because I found it very surprising. Just from personal experience, during student teaching and the long term sub job I'm in now, I would have expected the majority of students to rate working on a project in a group as their top activity. Given the choice, my students would much rather work on a project with their peers. They are always eager for group work and to do lab activities that are hands-on; students request to work in groups all the time. They get a lot out of communicating with their peers to solve problems. We also use technology for lessons and projects, but they seem less interested in that than in group work, which is why I found this quote surprising.
Additional Resource
Science is one of my favorite subjects to teach and I like the idea of being able to integrate more technology in my science lessons. I am really interested in the Crystal Island game. I found this website, which gives you a lot of helpful information about the game. There is a tutorial for how to set the game up for your class, a virtual walk through of the game, and interviews with teachers and students who have used the game. My favorite part of the website is that it gives you lesson plans for the game, with standards covered and assessment ideas.
Resource
Tangient LLC. (2013). What is Crystal Island. Retrieved from http://gamebasedlearninginstitute.wikispaces.com/What+is+CRYSTAL+ISLAND%3F
I find your quote surprising too because my experience has been the same as yours. I teach adult students who are primarily doing independent work, so a lot of their work is on the computer. I have found group work to be a welcome "break" for them and they seem to like it better than the computer. I always thought this was due to the fact that a lot of them didn't have prior computer experience and so it can be a more frustrating experience, but after reading your comment I'm reconsidering that idea. I think, if anything, its an indication that learners need a mix of different kind of learning activities!
ReplyDeleteI too find it surprising that students enjoy working with computers over working in a group. Because I think that "working in a group" would be a close second, I wonder if using working in a "cyber group" via the computer would be the "ultra student preference?"
ReplyDeletePersonally, I would rather work on a computer than in a group. However, this quote did surprise me. I figured most students would enjoy group work. When I was student teaching, it was in a computer class. In that class, students worked on computers all the time. They begged for group work. I quickly found out that usually it was because one of them did all the work for the rest of the group.
ReplyDeleteCrystal Island is a wonderful example of educators apply principles of good game design to promote science content learning! I hop you get the opportunity to use this program with future students!
ReplyDeleteThat's a great Wikki you found on Crystal Island. I'm also one of those people who would rather work on a computer individually than work in a group with others--not because I don't enjoy the social interaction, but because it is hard to manage people and make sure they participate as much as the rest. I think working in a virtual group would be easier to deter one student from slacking.
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