Hello. I'm back for an additional entry this week to talk a little about a book I read this past weekend for the CTEP book club. The book is The Children's Machine, Rethinking School in the Age of the Computer by Seymour Papert. I didn't even realize it until after reading it, but the book was written in 1993. This is interesting because a lot of what he talked about is being used or at least tried in some way today. The book is about how people learn, and how this can change in the age of the computer.
The book was rather interesting because he talked about a variety of situations where computers could change how we learn different thing, and just how people learn differently in general. There were a lot of stories and examples of how computers might help in the classroom.
He also talks about how people learn, and how current standard education might not be the most effective way to teach kids. I can definitely understand this. Sitting in a classroom and listen to someone talk endlessly about something and write things on the board isn't exactly the most interesting way to learn. I always learned the best from hands-on classes, or if the instructor could relate the material to real life, or just make it more interactive and/or fun. Computers and multimedia have really helped classrooms more interesting, but at the same time made students even less interested and willing to sit through a traditional classroom setting.
A couple other ideas I really liked is how he talked about multimedia, virtual reality, and gaming as interactive ways of learning. The virtual reality could be an interesting way to learn about something or somewhere the student might not be able to normally see. Video games are also very interactive, and aren't just a simple kids game. There are lots of complex strategies and techniques students can learn from video games.
One final thing that was interesting and true is how students actually maybe learn more outside of school sometimes. This is also true to a point. People are taught to learn key things like reading, writing, and and other subjects, but students also learn a lot more just by socializing and doing things outside of class.
The book was pretty interesting overall, and maybe a little more so since it was written in 1993. It's interesting to see some of the things he predicted, and think of how they relate to what's actually being used today.
The book was rather interesting because he talked about a variety of situations where computers could change how we learn different thing, and just how people learn differently in general. There were a lot of stories and examples of how computers might help in the classroom.
He also talks about how people learn, and how current standard education might not be the most effective way to teach kids. I can definitely understand this. Sitting in a classroom and listen to someone talk endlessly about something and write things on the board isn't exactly the most interesting way to learn. I always learned the best from hands-on classes, or if the instructor could relate the material to real life, or just make it more interactive and/or fun. Computers and multimedia have really helped classrooms more interesting, but at the same time made students even less interested and willing to sit through a traditional classroom setting.
A couple other ideas I really liked is how he talked about multimedia, virtual reality, and gaming as interactive ways of learning. The virtual reality could be an interesting way to learn about something or somewhere the student might not be able to normally see. Video games are also very interactive, and aren't just a simple kids game. There are lots of complex strategies and techniques students can learn from video games.
One final thing that was interesting and true is how students actually maybe learn more outside of school sometimes. This is also true to a point. People are taught to learn key things like reading, writing, and and other subjects, but students also learn a lot more just by socializing and doing things outside of class.
The book was pretty interesting overall, and maybe a little more so since it was written in 1993. It's interesting to see some of the things he predicted, and think of how they relate to what's actually being used today.
posted by Jesse Anderson at 11:24 AM
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