I think the most important thing about the different strategies and technologies mentioned in this weeks resources is that the new technologies "allow students to spend more time interpreting the data rather than gathering the data." Students still need to be a part of the data gathering process, but the more important part of the process (especially from a constructivist point of view)is the problem solving/invention/etc. portion. The suggested strategies of spreadsheets, data collection tools, and data websites are only useful as they accomplish the generating and testing of a chosen hypothesis.
So the ways that these technologies correspond with constructionist learning theories is the way that they make the student think and work while connecting what they are doing with prior knowledge and the situation in which they are learning the material.
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Hi Ben,
ReplyDeleteI agree. All of this technology allows more time for interpreting and testing, but it seems that we, in general, have lost site of the fact that data gathering still needs to take place. For the most part, it is a time consuming, but necessary, process.
Ray Rust
Hi Ben,
ReplyDeleteI agree that students still need to be a part of the gathering process. Yes technology has given all of us the ability to do things much quicker, however we still have to teach them how to do things the old fashioned way. Being a keyboarding teacher, I tell my students all the time that they have to learn the short way as well as the long way with computer commands and functions. There is nothing wrong with being versitile.