Nick Flaherty Megan Keaton Enc 1102-31 24 March 2014 The Technological Advantage

Flaherty 1

Cast: Marc Prensky, Patte Barth, Carlo Perrotta, Chris Proulx, Marie Anderson, Austin OConnor, Nick Flaherty, Librarian Nick is holding interviews for his primary source for his inquiry project at an empty table on the first floor of the Strozier Library. He has been seated there for about five minutes waiting for a call from anyone that could have possibly taken his number from the flyer he made the past week. He notices a group of adults at another vacant table having some sort of conference; their hands waving in the air looking to try and prove a point about something. Nick receives a phone call from Austin, who is in the Woodward Parking Garage calling the number he found on a flyer about an interview for a project. Austin: (Dials number found on flyer from the library). Hi is this Nick? Yeah, Im calling about the interview you were asking students to call you about. I would like to participate and Im already on my way to Strozier as we speak. Nick: Ok, awesome. Im already here waiting for other interviewees. Call me back once you get to Strozier so we can meet up for this interview. Austin: Sound good, man. (Nick and Austin meet in the library. Nick is located by the tutoring tables facing the desktops on the first floor. Austin takes a seat across from Nick who takes out his laptop ready to jot down notes from the interview). Nick: the first question I will ask is what role does technology and gadgets play in your life as of now?

Flaherty 2 Austin: Well, it plays a huge role in my life. All of my homework is turned in through Blackboard, I use online websites for math tests preps, and browse online databases for resources related to different projects. Even my textbooks are online! (A small argument brews a few tables over. Both Nick and Austin take notice to this and can hear that a small group of five people are also discussing technologies impact in schools. One man, Marc Prensky, who is dressed in an unbuttoned black suit with a coffee stain on the collar of his white shirt, gets up and heads over to where Nick and Austin are sitting. He is full of anger because his colleagues arent listening to his opinion) Marc: (In a heavy New York accent) Those imbeciles have no idea how technology is really impacting the ways kids learn today. Nick: I heard some raised voices. What were you guys arguing about? Marc: Well, I was arguing that schools should implement more technology into lessons because, through my research, students do better with lessons taught in interactive ways. (The rest of Marcs group heads over. Lead by Patte, who is the first to argue against what Marc has told Nick and Austin. She cuts off Marc and begins discussing what she believes.) Marc: Well see, Patte is Patte: Hold on there, Marc! (speaking in an aggressive yet persuasive and sassy tone) I never said I didnt believe that technology COULD play an impact on how students do in school. I was merely arguing that right this instant, it is not helping any of the students I have been documenting. Librarian: Would you all please be quiet! Either get a study room or get out of the library!

Flaherty 3 (All look with wide eyes at the librarian. Marc is the first to get up and head toward the room and the rest follow. Everyone takes a seat around the table in this order: Nick, Austin, Marie, Patte, Carlo, Chris, and Marc in a counter clockwise direction) Austin: Coming off from what Patte had just said, being a student whose school life is surrounded by technology, I have found that it has benefited the way I have learned throughout my first two semesters here. Patte: How might you prove that? Austin: Well, all of my classes use power points for notes. These power points have visuals that better help students build visual images of what we are learning. For example, in my biology class, my professor shows pictures of what different elements look like. Without these, I wouldnt know what the makeup of an H20 molecule would look like. (Marie stands up to add on to what Austin has said) Marie: well said, Austin. I have found from time spent with Stacey Roshan, an AP Calculus teacher who has used fun and creative slideshows in her classes, that her students grades have increased on AP exams from a 3.59 average to a 4.11 average. The slideshows and visuals she uses keep her students focused on lessons. Nick: I personally have found a little bit of difficulty using online homework and test sites. I was so used to doing everything on paper and turning it into my teacher that when I first came to college, I was intimidated by doing all of my homework online. It was hard for me to adjust to because I was so used to doing my tests and homework on paper.

Flaherty 4 Patte: That is what I have found in most schools that have offered technology to older students. They are not used to using computers to do math homework because they are used to using sheets of paper and pencils. (Carlo who has been seated behind everyone else gets up and heads to where Nick and Austin are seated. He stands right behind them, an arm on both of their shoulders, and begins to give his perspective) Carlo: Here is a way we could solve your problem, Nick. Giving students who are just starting grade school iPads, laptops, and other forms of technology would help eliminate the possibility of ever running into trouble using the technology for school work. Just as past generations learned how to use paper and pen for work, these students would be taught to use electronics for all their school work. Marc: (with a positive smirk on his face) And if the technology proves effective, then the curriculum could be changed. K12 study should focus on three crucial areas: Effective Thinking, which would include creative and critical thinking as well as portions of math, science, logic, persuasion, and even storytelling; Effective Action, which would include entrepreneurship, goal setting, planning, persistence, project management, and feedback; and Effective Relationships, which would include emotional intelligence, teamwork, ethics, and more. Chris: (Nods in agreement) These new ways of being taught would improve the way students would be able to work together online and with their professors. If, in the near future, school becomes completely run through technology where students dont even have to show up to class, then the teaching methods Marc stated would help improve how students will work together when they cannot meet in person.

Flaherty 5 Austin: That would be an effective way to complete group work if one was sick in the hospital or trapped at home due to a natural disaster, correct? Marc: (With a huge smile on his face) Precisely! With YouTube, for example, students can post their ideas to the world and get rapid global feedback. With tools like Twitter and its cousins, they can follow firsthand details of events unfolding anywhere in the world, from revolutions to natural disasters. With mashups and related techniques, they can combine sophisticated data sources in powerful new ways. Patte: (stands up to add onto what Marc is saying) Full-time virtual schools serve a real need for certain students. Some children are physically unable to attend school; others may have special circumstances like work or athletic schedules that make online instruction a better option. Nick: there must be some negatives if a school lacks proper fundings for the said technologies, right? Marie: (head slowly sinks) Well, unfortunately, some schools are either too poor or cannot raise enough money to buy laptops and computers for their classes. In these schools, even the teachers lack proper skills that would be needed to teach electronically as a school that could afford laptops, computers, or iPads would. The lack of a proper amount of desktops for students to use also wouldnt benefit them if they had virtual classes. Carlo: (Raises his hand and waits to be called on) A school might also run into problems with older teachers. For some of them, it might be too difficult to adjust to a new way of teaching their students. Also, they might not even know how to properly use a laptop or iPad as well as another teacher from a younger generation. This could overall hurt students if they are not being properly taught how to use the technology to their advantage.

Flaherty 6 Chris: But it wouldnt be that hard for an older teacher to learn how to use a camera on their computer to broadcast lectures. They would simply have to click on the app, wait for the class to start, and teach away. They would be able to answer and ask questions through the camera and be able to show the students formulas and equations for solving problems. (Knocking interrupts the dialogue between everyone in the room) Librarian: Im sorry to interrupt you guys, but your time is up in this study room. Im afraid Im going to have to ask you all to leave. (Politely makes a gesture towards the door) Marc: Well I hope that our expertise was able to help you in answering your questions, Nick. We are all glad that we were able to debate this topic with two students who are having first hand experiences with technology in school. (All smile and nod in agreement) Nick: without you guys making Marc mad enough to come over to where I was interviewing Austin, I wouldnt have been able to be a part of this debate. Thank you all for your time, it was much needed. (All stand, shake one anothers hands, smile and chuckle at a stale joke told by Marc, and exit the library)

Flaherty 7 Works Cited Anderson, Marie. "Technology Impact on Schools." Education. Demand Media, n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.

Barth, Patte. "VIRTUAL SCHOOLS: Where's the Evidence?" Educational Leadership 70.6 (2013): 32-6. Print

OConnor, Austin. Interview. March 8, 2014

Perrotta, Carlo. "Do School-Level Factors Influence the Educational Benefits of Digital Technology? A Critical Analysis of Teachers' Perceptions." British Journal of Educational Technology 44.2 (2013): 314-27. Print.

Prensky, Marc. "Our Brains Extended." Educational Leadership 70.6 (2013): 22-7. Print.

Proulx, Chris. "5 Ways Technology Will Impact Higher Ed in 2013." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 11 Dec. 2012. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.