Jamie Young, Bianca Gordon, Colin Henry, Laine Skelton, Sarah Culkran, and Alexander Mann Educational Applications of Technology

 Digital Natives CAN pay attention in class but, they choose not to because they want interactive activities but teachers do not give that option to them (2-3).  Teachers are not assigning enough activities with technology to keep students engaged (2-3).  Today’s students think and process information in different ways (1).

 Student’s brains have physically changed as well as their thinking patterns (1).  The younger generation (young adults and teenagers) are called Digital Natives (1).  The older generation is called Digital Immigrants (1-2).  Digital Immigrant instructors, who speak an outdated language (that of the pre-digital age) are struggling to teach a population that speaks an entirely new language (2).

 Something that has been lost in digital natives is reflection. We need to figure out how to incorporate reflection and critical thinking in the learning of digital natives (2- 3).  Most learning games do benefit students, but some of the games do not work well with students because they are poorly designed

 Teachers need to become more knowledgeable about technology  Some teachers may feel very uncomfortable when they try to incorporate technology in their curriculum  Based on the latest research in neurobiology, there is no longer any question that stimulation of various kinds actually changes brain structures and affects the way people think, and that these transformations go on throughout life (Part 2, 1).

 In the article, Big Mother is Watching, Karin Klein writes about how parents and other adults can be experts at technology, too.  Parents can access their children’s grades online, see what their child ate for lunch, and check to see if their child skipped class or not (Klein, 17).  Parents can access a website to make restrictions on how much money their child can spend and what foods the child can buy (Klein, 17).

 Parents may be able to almost spy on their children without them knowing about it (Klein, 18).  Technology can track whether the child has brought the tray lunch or just cookies and chips (Klein, 17).  Parents can also track grades on every single homework assignment and see progress report grades before the child knows about it (Klein, 18).

 The privacy of children today is not what it used to be (Klein, 18).  There is more technology that is available to do at-home drug tests (Klein, 17).  A positive thing about this issue is that children may make good decisions because they know that they are being watched (Klein, 18).

 The article Digital Media on Curriculum will Open Marketing’s Potential from Marketing Week agrees with the Digital Natives article.  Generation Z students (ages 12 to 24) are unlikely to read newspapers, instead they use the Internet to do assignments and find out information (Fernandez, 10).  Being able to speak, write and broadcast is a valuable skill for students (Fernandez, 10).

 Some people say that the government may resort to “dumb down” the curriculum in schools (Fernandez, 10).  Twitter will become more mainstream and youths will discover new ways to share information about their lives from any locations (Fernandez, 10).  High tech communication devices should be used in the classroom (Fernandez, 10).

 The article Video Games in Education written by Kurt Squire, who points out that some educators do not prefer to use video games in the classroom.  Squire argues that cognitive potential of games have been ignored by educators, particularly interactive stories, digital authoring tools, and collaborative worlds (Squire).

 Squire suggests that there are powerful new opportunities for educational media (Squire).  Many educators have been interested in the effects video games have on players and how some of the motivating aspects of video games might be harnessed to facilitate learning (Squire).  Simulations, drills, and practice games are already used in military schools for learning (Squire).

 Drill and practice games such as Algablaster and Reader Rabbit have been popular because they can easily be integrated into a traditional curriculum (Squire).

 Fernandez, Joe. Digital Media on Curriculum will Open Marketing’s Potential. Marketing Week. 2 Apr London, page 10. Retrieved 14 Sept  Klein, Karin. Big Mother is Watching. Los Angeles Times. 2 March Los Angeles, page Retrieved 14 Sept

 Prensky, Marc. Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon, vol. 9, no Oct  Prensky, Marc. Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, Part II: Do They Really Think Differently? On the Horizon, vol. 9, no Dec  Squire, Kurt. Video Games in Education. Comparative Media Studies Department MIT Cambridge MA.