Education by Computers - Annotated Bibliography Example

1. Alliance for Childhood.net. (2005). Fool’s gold: A critical look at computers in childhood. Retrieved Feb. 23, 2007, from Alliance for Childhood.net. http://www.allianceforchildhood.net/projects/computers/computers_reports_fools_gold_3.htm Abstract: Students should be given the opportunity to develop their imaginative capabilities. Computers, with their multimedia environment, prevent the development of these capabilities. Instead, by providing students with the text and the accompanying colors, sounds and images, they do not give them the chance to use their imagination or, as a matter of fact, to engage in the experience. Instead, they become passive recipients of information, as opposed to active and involved participants. Accordingly, the use of computer and information technologies in the classroom and the subsequent creation of multimedia learning environments will have more negative than positive educational consequences. The article continues to defend its claim through reference to a range of child and development psychologists. It will be a useful contribution to the research because it presents an alternative, or opposing, viewpoint. “Interactive multimedia leaves very little to the imagination. Like a Hollywood film, multimedia narrative includes such specific representations that less and less is left to the minds eye” (Alliance for Childhood, 2005: n.p.). 2. Buffington, M.L. (2007). Contemporary approaches to critical thinking and the World Wide Web. Art Education, 60, 18-23. Retrieved Feb. 23, 2007, from Wilson Web database. Abstract: The author, a professional educator, reports her own experiences in using the World Wide Web as a medium for education. As she argues, the key to effective education such as which engages students’ interests and motivates them to attain their full potential is critical thinking. Students learn best when they engage in critical thinking. Further believing that the World Wide Web presents a rich source of information and is an invaluable interactive educational tool, Buffington began using the Internet both as an educational tool and as a medium for inspiring critical thinking. As reported, the results of the experiment were highly successful and the article continues to explore the reasons why and offer advice on how teachers can similarly exploit the World Wide Web for that purpose. The article is useful because it presents a strategy for the integration of educational technologies, such as the internet, into the classroom and learning experience. “Teaching critical thinking skills is often endorsed as a means to help students develop their abilities to navigate the complex world in which we live and, in addition, as a way to help students succeed in schools” (Buffington, 2007: 18). 3. Frieden, J.A. and Elliott, D.W. (2007). Teach with movies: Using the storytelling power of movies to motivate students. Teacher Librarian, 34, 61-62. Retrieved Feb. 23, 2007, from Wilson Web database. Abstract: Students are accustomed to interactive, multimedia environments in which both their visual and auditory senses are stimulated. The traditional classroom setting, which tends to be teacher-centric and instructional, does not stimulate students. In fact, because they find it tedious, they become distracted and therefore, do not perform to their fullest potential or engage with their educational material as they should. The authors, therefore, propose that teachers introduce a multimedia environment into their classrooms and use movies as a medium of instruction and education. Although the article does not refer to the use of internet and computer technology as media for education, it imparts some very useful information regarding the degree to which multimedia stimulates interest and functions as an invaluable teaching tool. “With an eye toward an intensely visual youth culture, TeachWithMovies.com has launched an educational Internet resource to help K-1 2 teachers use popular films to supplement traditional classroom learning, foster social development, and teach ethics” (Frieden and Elliott, 2007: 61). 4. Fuchs, C. (2006). Exploring German preservice teachers’ electronic and professional literacy skills. ReCALL, 18, 174-192. Retrieved Feb. 23, 2007, from Cambridge Journals Online database. (Item number: DOI:10.1017/S0958344006000322). Abstract: Electronic teaching technologies can substantially enrich the classroom environment by creating a more engaging, interactive student-teacher, instructional-learning framework. However, the results of a pilot project involving preservice teachers at both the Justus-Liebig Universitat in Giessen and the Pädagogische Hochschule Heidelberg in Germany, indicated that the time was not yet ripe. While the majority of students are accustomed to interactive, collaborative environments and are both computer and technology-literate, the fact is that only a minority of teachers are. To complicate matters further, the study established great variations in teachers’ computer and technology literacy skills and further suggested that they were not, as yet, comfortable teaching within interactive technological environments. The study explores teachers’ attitudes towards educational technologies, their differing computer and literacy skills and discusses the extent to which this functions as an obstacle to the evolution of the multimedia technological teaching environment. It further explores the meaning of electronic literacy and how and why it must be acquired. This article will prove useful in the examination of the challenges confronting the adoption of education technologies in universities. “Electronic literacy looks at how people use computers for interpreting and expressing meaning and also includes the ability to read and write in the new medium as well as information literacy, i.e. the ability to find, organize and make use of information” (Fuchs, 2006: 175). 5. Howard, G.W., Ellis, H.H. and, Rasmussen, K. (2004). From the arcade to the classroom: Capitalizing on students’ sensory rich media preferences in disciplined-based learning.’ College Student Journal, 38, 492-500. Retrieved Feb. 23, 2007, from Academic OneFile database. (Item number: A12324111830). Abstract: The researchers argue that students feel at home in, and most comfortable with, a multimedia sensory environment. They are accustomed to sensory-rich environments and, indeed, within them, are alert, interested and engaged, not bored and distracted as they tend to be in the traditional classroom setting. The multimedia, arcade, environment has enormous instructional value and can positively be exploited in classroom settings. Despite this, they are rarely used and even then, not to their fullest potential. Methods for exploiting multimedia tools for educational/instructional purposes and integrating them into the classroom setting must be explored as studies have indicated that students respond best to such environments and, indeed, it maximizes their learning potential. This article will prove useful both as evidence for the positive response which multimedia learning environments elicit in students and for investigating the ways in which multimedia tools can be integrated into the classroom setting. “The world of contemporary students is bombarded with noise, color, and action; even their entertainment is interactive and high tech” (Howard, Ellis, Rasmussen, 2004: 431). 6. Jonnavithula, L. and Kinshuk (2005). Exploring Multimedia Educational Games: An Aid to Reinforce Classroom Teaching and Learning. In Uskov V. (Ed.), Proceedings of the 4th IASTED International Conference on Web-Based Education (WBE 2005) (February 21-23, 2005, Grindelwald, Switzerland), Anaheim, CA, USA: ACTA Press, 22-27). Retrieved Feb. 23, 2007, from http://infosys.massey.ac.nz/~kinshuk/papers/wbe2005_edu_games.pdf Abstract: Today’s school and university students are the multimedia generation. A substantial amount of their time was spent playing video-games and besides making them highly accustomed to multimedia environments, it has made them highly computer and technology literate. The article explores the technological inclinations of today’s students and argues that it is imperative that the educational environment and that teaching methods move along with the times. The traditional classroom setting no longer engages this generation and the customary teacher-centric approach to learning bores them, as a result of which they do not benefit as they could from their classroom experiences. Reporting on an extensive study carried out by the New Zealand Department of Education, the authors conclude that it is essential that multimedia tools be integrated into the classroom, including educational games. The article proceeds to explore why and how this could be achieved and, as such, furnishes highly valuable information on the integration of multimedia games into the teaching-learning environment. “Although Education has witnessed a large number of technology advances over the past 50 years, the concept on which the education system was based did not change” (Jonnavithula and Kinshuk, 2005: 22). 7. Kymes, A. (2005). Teaching online comprehension strategies using think-alouds. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 48, 482-500. Retrieved Feb. 23, 2007, from Academic OneFile database. (Item number: A1302411933). Abstract: The advent of the internet, its proliferation as the primary source of information and the ever-expanding use of the computer for educational purposes has redefined the meaning of literacy. Literacy no longer means the ability to read and write but, within the context of the Information Age, the ability to use both the internet and computers as educational tools and media. Indeed, as argued, the fact that the majority of universities currently boast online libraries imposes the imperatives of acquiring this new form of literacy upon both teachers and students. According to the research results, teachers must instruct students in this new literacy but, in order that they be in a position to do so, they must first acquire this new form of literacy. The article proceeds to explore the methods by which computer and internet literacy may be effectively taught and, as such, will prove useful in the analysis of the obstacles confronting the development of multimedia learning environments and how to overcome them. “As new information and communication technologies permeate classrooms and libraries, educators have the responsibility to ensure student comprehension” (Kymes, 2005: 482). 8. Limson, M., Witzlib, C. and Desharnais, R. A. (2007). Using web-based simulations to promote inquiry. Science Scope, 30, 36-42. Retrieved Feb. 23, 2007, from Wilson Web database. Abstract: Inquiry-based education has, to date, proven the most effective strategy for the motivation of students’ interests and in promoting participatory education, or a form of learning in which students contribute to their own education. Inquiry-based learning stimulates students’ interests and transforms the learning environment from a teacher-centric one into a student-teacher interactive one. The advent of the internet and computers has allowed for the greater exploitation of inquiry-based learning through web-simulations. Indeed, studies on the use of web-simulations for exploitation of the advantages of inquiry-based learning in the classroom setting, have reported considerably higher student performance levels. This article, therefore, establishes the benefits of integrating educational technologies and multimedia environments into the classroom-setting. Consequently, it is particular useful both as a source of evidence for the constructive impact of learning technologies on students and for the exploration of the means by which this can be done. “It is widely accepted that inquiry-based curriculum programs have positive effects on cognitive achievement, process skills and attitudes towards science” (Limson, Witzlib and Desharnais, 2007: 36). 9. McGrail, E. (2007). Laptop technology and pedagogy in the English language arts classroom. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 15, 59-85. Retrieved Feb. 23, 2007, from Wilson Web database. Abstract: Reporting on the results of a study conducted on the impact of the introduction of computers in English language classrooms, the researchers conclude that the experience is not a positive one. Laptop computers were introduced as the primary medium for instruction in several English-language classrooms and, at the end of the experiment period, teachers were questioned about their opinions. The majority reported negative experiences, insisting that the use of laptops as a medium for instruction and education created an atmosphere of social isolation in the classroom. Each student was engaged in his/her own work and did not interact with teachers or other students. The researchers, however, believe that this occurred largely because the teachers were not trained in the use of computers as media of education, learning and instruction. The article is useful because it explores how teachers’ own inexperience with educational technology and, even, computer and technology illiteracy can b=negatively impact technology-based educational experiences. “… state administrators and government officials have pushed computers and peripheral equipment into teachers’classrooms without engaging them first in sustained conversation about the worthy uses of technology for their specific subject matter” (McGrail, 2007: 60). 10. Shin, A. (2007). Diaper demographic. Washington Post. Retrieved Feb. 24, 2007, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/23/AR2007022301999.html Abstract: Production companies, cable TV channels and animation artists are directing their attention to an entirely new market demographic. This is the under-2 age group. Television for babies and toddlers is fast developing into a multi-million dollar industry with just one company, Baby Einstein, bringing in sales of a quarter of a billion dollars. As the article reports, the industry is a highly profitable and ever-expanding one with an estimated 43% of all under-1 year olds in the United States watching between 30 to 90 minutes of television every day. As may be inferred from the article, this is a sign of the age of videocy. Considering that, as reported in the article, there are no educational benefits to this development, one can safely predict the development of an entire generation of videots. This article is useful because it provides a glimpse into the extent to which the culture of videocy has permeated through practically all age-groups, in addition to which it gives one food for thought regarding its potential consequences. "What people meant by stimulation was talking to your baby and hanging out -- things people naturally do. Somehow the gravitas of having neuroscience tell us we have to have stimulation has been translated into beeping toys and flashing lights and computers and the television" (Shin, 2007: D01). 5.3 Q&A What is the major goal of the essay? The primary goal of the essay is to explain the nature of the audio-visual, or multimedia culture, in which we currently live. This is the culture of videocy. The author questions the extent to which this has enforced a change in the concept of literacy and the extent to which academic institutions have integrated it into their curricula, or teachers into their style of instruction. The author explains and questions the stated in order to arrive at a very important point. Briefly stated, teachers are not engaging their students and the classroom is not an interactive one in which students participate because they are intellectually motivated to do so and, quite possibly, the use of multimedia tools (as opposed to merely visual ones which display text) could correct the situation. What are the five most important claims that I make? The author makes the following five claims: Media technology has produced far-reaching cultural, social, intellectual and psychological changes. The multimedia environment has displaced the printed text and has rendered it comparatively un-stimulating. Videocy has redefined literacy. The teacher-centric classroom is not intellectually stimulating. Educational institutions and teachers are not properly or constructively exploiting multimedia tools in the classroom. What five topics need to be developed to be persuasive or more informative? The topics which should have been more fully developed are: A fuller explanation of the socio-cultural, psychological and intellectual impact of new media technologies; A more detailed definition of videocy and whether or not it is a generational phenomenon, as in its impact is focused on the younger generation to the exclusion of the older one; The intellectual advantages and disadvantages of videocy; How the teacher-centric approach to teaching may be, practically, resolved; How multimedia can enrich the learning experience and why it should be integrated into the classroom environment. What is the best evidence I present to support a claim? There are two areas in which the author presents highly persuasive supportive evidence for claims made: When arguing the way in which technology has impacted the delivery of information, the author presents it as a type of evolution or progression from one medium to the other with far-reaching consequences. The author supports his claim through reference to the thoughts and arguments forwarded by a number of theorists, thereby giving his claim credibility. When referring to the use of visual aids in the classroom and the failure to constructively integrate multimedia tools into teaching styles, the author refers to a survey he conducted on both teacher and student opinion. In so doing, he backs up his claim by establishing that his observations coincide with a substantial number of students and teachers. What is the difference between a scholarly article and one written by a journalist? A scholarly article is one which is based upon meticulous research, has a well-defined methodology and, most importantly, responds to a research question or tests a hypothesis. A scholarly article, besides often being peer-reviewed and checked for facts, contributes to academic knowledge in a specific area or field of study. In direct comparison, articles written by journalists, although they may have their facts correct, are subject to error and unqualified, or unjustified opinions. In addition to that, they neither have a research question nor a hypothesis, let alone a clear methodological approach. Indeed, one can say that an article written by a journalist reports an event or discusses an issue of current importance, while that written by a scholar contributes to knowledge. Read More