There are very few computer programs or educational media set up to really work with students and teachers in the elementary classroom. There are plenty of educational resources available, but very few that actually are there to help teachers use technology to teach students. Although it is unreasonable to assume every school has access to computers, it is common now that every elementary classroom has its own computer.
In the classroom I am currently in, we have eight computers for students to use to research topics, type papers, and use educational computer programs. Most of the educational computer programs out there do not hold a candle to the graphics and technology present in mainstream computer and video games. Elementary students need to be drawn in to learning through technology, but it often ends up that few students and teachers take full advantage of the technology available. Even though the classroom I am in has eight computers, the teachers almost never use them as resources and there are few students ever at them. The technology needs of elementary school teachers and students is large, and centers around the fact that educational software is seldom user-friendly and straightforward like their video game counterparts. Educational technology for elementary school students needs to change, because it is not reaching the students it is made to teach.
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I agree about the lack of quality user friendly elementary programs. But the problem is much deeper. It lives in the way we view the computer. What we are doing with the technloogy is thinking of the computers the same way we think of a game on the shelf or a book. They are tools that we dust off and use for a specific purpose. We need to think integration and connections. The units from “Journey North” where the curriculum is built into a blend of online tasks, e-mail and connections to the larger world is a start. We seldom use the power of even the slowest desktops to give an analysis of student understandings. The development of diagnostic assessments online would be a huge step forward…where they tell the student and the teacher what the student needs to focus on in terms of content or process skills. Connections to other adults who can help the student practice, refine and develop conceptual understandings is another arena that is seldom utilized. Of course, the management of such a system is a big issue. We put all that on th shoulders of teachers and require that they do that while they are managing a group of 30+ rowdy and rambunctous elementary kids…a tough task even without the management skills necessary to put together an online and a face to face curricula. So, it is time for a think tank of seasoned elementary educators to be given time to tink outside the box and look at the power of the computers and see what tasks they could delegate to the “32 idle machines in the room”.
I tried to add your site to my sidebar in Vista, but it keeps coming up with errors. I can do that with your feed, right?