IMPORTANCE OF MINDTOOLS...

EDUCATOR COMMENTS

By now we should have learned that toolishness is foolishness. Showering fancy equipment and toys on classrooms without smart  planning is unlikely to produce gains in student performance. It is not that all new technologies must fail.  Achievement of learning goals with new technologies requires a blend of powerful professional development, program development and discernment.  There are  many dumb ways to use the new tools that will create no changes worth noting.  There are other smart uses that promise to sharpen the  analysis, interpretation, inference and synthesis skills of students.

          McKenzie, Jamie. (May, 2002). "Tech Smart: Making Discerning Tech Choices." From Now On: The Educational Technology Journal. Retrieved October 20, 2002: http://www.FNO.org/may02/discerning.html


 It’s always been my belief that good school library media programs use technology in a very wise way: as simply a
 necessary tool for solving problems by locating, accessing, and creatively communicating information in a variety of
 formats.
        Johnson, Doug. "All that Glitter: A Response to Fool' Gold." Doug Johnson Articles and Hits. Retrieved October 20, 2002: http://www.doug-johnson.com/dougwri/foolsgold.html

Mindtools are computer applications that require students to think in meaningful ways in order to use the application to represent what they know.
        Jonassen, David. (2000). Computers as Mindtools for Schools. New York: Prentice Hall.


 
 

STUDENT COMMENTS

The following direct quotations are from: "The Digital Disconnect: The Widening Gap Between Internet-Savvy Students and Their Schools," Pew Internet and American Life Report. Retrived October 23, 2002:
http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/pdfs/PIP_Schools_Internet_Report.pdf

"I think most of us are just accustomed to using it. I mean we just think that it is there for us. And, I'm not sure if I'll phrase this right, but it's like we're...addicts. We need it and when you take it away it's not...it's a little bit harder to live without it"--High School Girl

"We use the Internet at school just because our teachers tell us to. Mostly, I use the Internet for school in history, because our teacher gives us worksheets."--Middle School Girl

"Our teachers usually...don't really know what to do with it."--High School Boy

"We'd all have to go into the library and use the Internet. Like, it would be so much simpler to us an encyclopedia or book. I mean that sometimes the teachers just want you to use the Internet because it is the Internet--let's integrate it into schools..Sometimes teachers just don't know...when it's easire to read a book and when it's easier to use the Internet."--High School Girl

"When I go to school, it takes a long time to get online, and by that time, the project you are trying to do is already half over...it's no use anyway."--Middle School Girl

"We learn so much just from the click of a mouse."--High School Girl


 
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