Educational technology, when used appropriately, helps the teacher and the students to create a caring, creative community of learners. -- Joan Riedl, The Integrated Technology Classroom: Building Self- Reliant Learners

Modern computer and communication technology is becoming commonplace in a growing number of schools. The presence of hi-tech does not mean that it is being used wisely, however. One of the properties of most technologies is that they are as capable of perpetuating paradigms of the past as they are of setting the stage for the future.

Consider classroom computers, for example. When these tools first came into our schools, many of them were used to present math drill to students who simply moved their practice from a four-dollar workbook to a $2,500 computer. The ultimate altar to the Skinnerian gods was the "Integrated Learning System," comprising a laboratory filled with instructional computers that replicated the full-frontal approach to content delivery. Tragically, many students who had previously failed to learn through this approach when it was applied by a human teacher now had the opportunity to replicate their failure with a computer instead.

Proven pedagogical models, such as Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences, provide educators with concrete strategies for addressing the needs of every learner. It is important to recognize that, just as students may have their own dominant modalities of expression and learning, teachers do as well. This is where technology can play an increasingly valuable role.

This does not mean, however, that any program filled with rich media elements is automatically valuable. Our task in education is to engage, not entertain, the learner. Our new tools provide the capability to do this, but the art of software development still requires careful thought about both the pedagogy and curriculum.

One of the more exciting areas today is that of student-generated media. When computers become commonplace, we can free students from the constraints of the linear, purely word based report, and allow students to express their mastery of a subject through multimedia creations of their own. These pieces can incorporate a rich panoply of visual and auditory devices, as well as provide numerous pathways through the material using the medium of "hypertext." Multimedia creations using tools such as Hyperstudio, for example, may represent the new illuminated manuscript -- sensory rich documents that can become part of each learner's portfolio.

Add to this the multimedia capabilities of the web, and students literally have the world of information at their fingertips, with much of this information available to them in ways easy for them to grasp.

As new media are used by students both as their source of raw information and as the tools through which they express their mastery, the role of educator changes. Instead of teachers providing "content" to students, they now are freed to help students find "context" and meaning in their studies. T. S. Eliot's poem "The Rock" addresses these issues when he asks:

Where is the life we've lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we've lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we've lost in information?

Modern technological tools let us work with information in ways that honor the unique learning modalities of each student. The educator's role in this new era is to help run Eliot's lines backward -- to help our students find the knowledge in the information, to help them find the wisdom in this knowledge, and, most importantly, to help them find the life in living.

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Main Game Membuat Cerdas?

Oleh : Team Andriewongso

Bermain game memang mengasyikan. Di sela-sela kesibukan, bermain game sering kali menjadi alternatif utama untuk menyegarkan pikiran. Semua penat, terutama rasa capai di pikiran diharapkan dapat hilang sejenak. Tapi, tentunya jangan keterusan. Apalagi, jika salah pilih jenis game yang justru menambah keruwetan.

Nah, jika ingin memilih game yang "aman-aman" plus dapat menambah kinerja otak, kini muncul beberapa jenis game yang dirancang untuk memahami kebutuhan para pekerja. Game jenis ini selain bisa menyegarkan otak, juga bisa meningkatkan fungsi utama otak di antaranya memori, konsentrasi, bahasa, logika dan alasan, serta kemampuan visual.

Salah satunya yaitu yang diberi nama Fit Brains ini. Game tersebut dikembangkan oleh Vivity Labs. Dalam game ini, pemain dapat mengetahui fungsi otak bagian mana yang perlu ditingkatkan dan bisa mendapatkan feedback dari tim Fit Brains. Tim Fit Brains pun siap memandu para pemain secara online.

Menurut Michael Cole, pendiri dan CEO Vivity Labs, Fit Brains adalah jenis game yang dapat dimainkan oleh siapa saja dan keunggulan dari game ini adalah pemain dapat meningkatkan kecepatan berpikir dan mengasah ketajaman otak.

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For children, the ability of using the computer is becoming fundamental in nowadays, so learning to type is must for them. But most children get bored with any repetitious task and give up or whine and even want to stop, parents or teachers always feel nothing else bother them more than when children face the keyboard and have absolutely no idea where the keys are or how they go about typing. They just "play" with the keyboard. This is a waste of time for them and, worse, children get into the bad habit of typing with two fingers. So parents or teachers have to face how to solve this problem.

As parents and teachers know, whether children want to learn a thing or not largely depends on whether they are attracted by it. Based on this, the typing tutor must be easy-to-use, fun colorful and appealing to children. Once children love and develop interest in it, they will learn to type on their own initiative. Generally, children naturally like to play games, because when playing games, they are always attracted by the colorful interface and pretty music in the games, and above all, they're able to learn something quickly under no pressure. Apparently, the problem for children having no interest in learning to type is solved, they can learn to type when playing games.

There are many advantages of using typing games for typing: First, Games are a welcome break from the usual routine of the typing practice, thus help children learn typing more easily. Second, Typing requires a great deal of effort. Games help children to make and sustain the effort of learning. Third, Games are highly motivating since they are amusing and at the same time challenging.

There are lots of interesting typing games which also help to make typing fun. GS Typing Tutor is just one. The aim of this program is to make typing fun whilst increasing accuracy and speed. The feature-rich typing software supports 5 typing games: Rats in the garden, attacks of the alien, help, balloon, and card. The typing games each include 23 basic typing lessons. Taking the basic lessons, children can learn to type from the home row keys to other basic keys. The basic exercises also help them to be familiar with the keyboard layout step-by-step.

Each game is easy-to-use, fun colorful and appealing to children:

1: Rats in the garden Children mission is to eliminate the rats in the garden. Then they should type the letter before the rats escape. If children type the wrong letter or type slowly, the rats will escape under their nose. So they have to type correctly and fast in case the rats escape. The game is fun!

2: Attacks of the alien Children mission is to stop the alien fleets to attack the earth. So they must type letters before the alien fleets through the galaxy into the earth. By playing the game, children type the letters, and can be familiar with the keys. With children accelerating the typing speed, the alien fleets fly rapidly, so they have to type quickly in case the earth is attacked by the alien fleets.

3: Help! A bad man has held a boy under duress. So children must help the soldier to rescue the boy by typing the letter. If their typing speed is slow, the boy's life is under danger. Once children succeed to rescue the boy, the boy will laugh loudly for thanking.

4: Balloon Falling Letters are ruining the balloons. Save the balloons by typing the letters before the balloons land on the ground. Lots of fun! The more children type the more score they get.

5: Card The letters are arranged random based on the keys children choose. Type the letters on the card. This will help them to know well the basic keys.

With playing typing games, the typing program helps children easy master a skill needed in today's computer oriented world

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