Week 9 -Read & React

From my personal experiences and knowledge, I basically think that social networking, game and virtual worlds can have infinite potentials and possibilities for education especially for iGeneration education. They have been basic tools for young children to communicate, interact and entertain, therefore iGeneration are definitely interested and familiar with those technologies rather than traditional tools for education. In addition, these technologies could promote effective teaching and learning through utilizing realistic information which simulates teachers and students’ sensory and thinking skills.

“The more the educational curriculum can model reality, the better we will learn. More realism leads to more interconnected brain areas, which results in more strongly formed memories, which leads to more effective transfer to real world situations. The key is realism, and this is where technology comes into play.” (Rosen)

In terms of that, I believe educators should have the tools to create more immersive educational curricula that incorporates current technologies which fascinates young students. I especially strongly agree with the idea that social networking should be broadly utilized in classroom because social networking as an educational tool makes various opportunities. It could not only provide educational curricula, educational channels of communication between students, teachers, and parents and engage the students but also offer unlimited access to information source through internet. It could certainly support traditional learning and teaching process and make up for its weak points. 

“Social networking can and should be a strong, effective educational tool for the presentation of material in a variety of multimedia formats that can be viewed and reviewed at any time, and for extensive social interaction that facilitates collaborative projects. It is also important to note that teachers may have the benefit of other educators who are already working diligently on creating lesson plans and reproducible, adaptable models for using social networking as a teaching vehicle.” (Rosen)

Social networking seems like the most prevalent technology; however virtual world seems like more future technology which will be much more advanced and popular in future than in now. While I think positively about social networking as an educational tool, I somewhat tend to be skeptical about virtual world even if I recognized its importance, educational strengths and limitations.  

To be honest, I feel somewhat scared of the changes virtual world could bring in future. As many experts including authors of our texts point out, virtual world could bring so many changes to education. In my opinion, it might be possible for students not to be in school for education or there might be no needs to have teachers for education in future. Would it be too much exaggerated? As machines and technology have substituted human labor and roles, new technology might be capable of reducing the role of school and teacher too. 

I personally believe that any high technologies could not perfectly substitute the value of face to face interpersonal interaction and learning process because it is the way human being has developed our whole society, keeping humanity and building democratic society. Therefore, I support the idea that we could bring and actively utilize technologies but we should critically think about various limitations of technology and try to keep our original way of learning and teaching and value of humanity.     
 
“Are virtual worlds the classrooms of the future? No one knows the answer to that question yet. However, it is fair to say that virtual worlds are impacting how students approach learning-this is enough reason for educators to familiarize themselves with these rapidly evolving online environments. “(Brooks-Young)