Project Classroom Makeover, By Cathy Davidson

The overabundance of stimuli that comes from technology negatively affects the traditional classroom atmosphere and should be done away with. In the article “New Class(room) War: Teacher versus Technology” by Samuel G. Freedman, Freedman brings up the touchy subject of technology in the classroom setting and how numerous students and professors differ in their views concerning the use of technology.

Technology of the past 20 years has become a focal point of teaching and learning. As a teacher, it is my job to facilitate the learning for an individual by creating an environment that not only conducive for learning, but also places the child in a position to discover and learn them for themselves. Technology has given teachers to opportunity to take learning beyond the classroom, and has begun to reshape their role in the learning process.

Cathy N. Davidson suggests an innovative education system, providing an emphasis in today’s digital era, and claiming that the existing education system needs to be renewed according to the new expectations of the digital era. Davidson states that,” In the last half century, many changes have occurred in the technology field, however, classrooms and educational methods have remained fairly steady for the past years as well in consequence students are not being prepared for the future advances of society.” That being said, it is important to improve and to give a change to the current educational methods, adjusting them to the existing demands of the era that we are living and taking advantage of the resources that it provides. “What if we continued to the lesson of internet itself,

Adaptability is one key feature that humans have throughout their lives that separates us from other animals. Many people have a hard time adapting to certain situations without any aids so the introduction of newer technologies gives more people the ability to adapt to different situations at hand. This point is brought up by Cathy Davidson’s essay, “Project Classroom Makeover” where she talks about the implementation of technology in the classroom and the power that computers have on the development of individuals. She also discusses mainly how technology has advanced with her program showing how technologies can be used in different ways. Daniel Gilbert furthers the points about how people can adapt to different situations in his essay “Immune

A modernized education is imperative because students learn better with the use of technology. In order to succeed in the field of education, students must have a sense of today’s fast paced society. With the use of advanced technology in the classroom, students will be able to apply acquired material to the real world. While the old ways of teaching

Cathy Davidson is an English and humanities professor at Duke University. She has published over twenty books, many dealing with technology and education. In “Project Classroom Makeover,” she argues that the way the United States teaches students is not preparing them for the skills needed for success in the twenty-first century. To illustrate her point, Professor Davidson presents the historical development of the educational system in the U.S. She differentiates “high standards” from “standardization” and stresses the need for education to offer rigor, relevance, and relationship (201).

Many children that sit in the classrooms and perform the tasks given by their teachers will not be able to explore their creativity as everything is given to them step-by-step and they just need to follow the teacher’s directions. However, children that use technology to guide them will be able to have a higher level of problem solving skills. Davidson says , “Their schools hadn’t changed much, but at home, online, they were already information searchers. They had learned by googling.” (Davidson, 49) Davidson explains how students are more independent at home, using technology to its fullest. The education system that is now in order, teaches

In this information age, most people have access to multiple high-tech devices and they start to become dependent on those devices. Cathy Davidson, a famous American scholar and university professor at Duke University, proposed some new ideas of technology to change people’s lives from the perspective of education. In her article “Project Classroom Makeover”, she argues how the information age has created a new model for education which further change how students learn as well as how instructors teach. The participatory model, she promotes is described as a “student-led curiosity, whose object was not a bunk of white plastics, but the very nature of interactivity, crowdsourcing, customizing and inspired inquiry-driven problem solving” (54).

As society advances and the boundary between people becomes seemingly less apparent, many individuals attempt to promote various plans based on the concept of equality. Anyhow, many so-called egalitarian plans would inevitably result in failure because their proponents blindly believe in the efficiency of equality. They neglect how people are motivated to improve and to test their limits by their instinct to compete. In her writing “Project Classroom Makeover”, Cathy Davidson proposes egalitarian plans consist of a “democratization of knowledge” (54) which depends on crowdsourcing and “working together collectively” (51). In Davidson’s perspective, problems will be solved by allowing everyone the equal opportunity to express themselves. However, Karen Ho’s research directly shows the impracticality of her plans by explicitly revealing the existence of hierarchy in her writing, “Biographies of Hegemony”. As shown by Ho’s research, no matter how alluring Davidson’s plans seem, they will not come about. Because Davidson’s idealistic plans disregard human beings’ instinct to strive and fight for what they valued. Such egalitarian plans will not be executed with hierarchy deeply rooted in our society, results precisely from human’s desire to compete with each other.

Technology has brought huge influences on everyone’s lives, and one of the influences is reflecting on education-collective learning. The Duke University brought iPod as an academic device and educational experiment to all the first-year class students. The iPod inverts the traditional role of technology, which has many new functions. Students can not only listen to music, but also use the iPod as an academic device to share knowledge with others. This concept can be seen in Project Classroom Makeover, by Cathy Davidson. In Project Classroom Makeover, Davidson introduces the use of iPod as an educational experiment, which brings out the idea of crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing is a group of people will share their ideas and solve the problem, which is one way of collective learning. In the Duke University, students will collaborate and share creative ideas together. Collective learning has played a positive role in education by regaining students’ interest of studying, improving student’s collaborate thinking, and increasing the likelihood of students to success in the future.

Every day the world is changing and things are done differently. Technology has also affected the way students are taught and in which they learn. It has changed the classroom. Technology saves us time and allows us to access material in only minutes. “The Internet and online subscription databases, even as a supplement to the printed works in the library, allow students to see, and force them to consider or reject, points of view that they might never have encountered in decades past” (Gow 4).With all the time technology produces, it also has downsides and it also may have created a less intelligent society.

The rapid advancements in innovative technology have profoundly affected the way humans live, work, and play. Numerous technological breakthroughs gave way to the Internet, mobile devices, and androids in order to create a significant impact on countless individuals in the 21st century. These innovations have enabled various alterations in human interactions, particularly for society’s education system. The outcomes of innovative technology in the classrooms have triggered many individuals to share their perspective on this subject. Cathy Davidson’s “Project Classroom Makeover” explores the essentials of incorporating technological innovation in the classrooms. Davidson’s work utilizes how the practice of innovative technology in schools will reform the education system in society. The utilization of innovation in the classroom allows for the usage of more interactive educational tools, which creates a stimulating learning experience that greatly benefits students. For instance, innovative technology in schools is used in different methods of communications such as for presentation, for collaboration, and class interaction. This will motivate students to be productive, innovative, and ambitious; which are vital skills that students must acquire as they grow and enter the workplace. With the use of profound concepts and compelling techniques, she demonstrates how innovation will enhance the learning

It seems that technology is growing, improving, and changing at an exponential rate. Technology now affects every part of our lives from the time we get up to the time we go to bed, and even as we sleep. One of the major areas that has been affected by technology is education. At one time, the only option for students to complete their education was in a traditional classroom setting. There has become a major need for non-traditional education because there has been a growth in the amount of non-traditional students that exist in our society. The advancement of technology has

As we navigate through the 21st century, technology in the classroom is becoming further predominant. iPads are replacing our textbooks, and we can research any desired topic on our smartphones. The impact that technology has had on today’s schools has been utterly momentous. Educators have now seen firsthand the numerous benefits of technology in the classroom. According to a study by IT Trade Association CompTIA, around 75 percent of educators have come to the conclusion that technology has a positive impact on the education process. Educators have also recognized the significance of developing these technological skills in students so they will be prepared to enter the workforce after they graduate (Cox). By incorporating technology in the classroom, teachers are setting our students up for a successful life outside of school. The increase of technology has even changed how teachers teach along with how

The education world has been greatly influenced by rapidly changing technology and the increasing availability of information. Schools have advanced by leaps and bounds when it comes to incorporating technology into the learning environment, however, many more advances need to be made. In all areas of the country, educators are trying to help students keep up with technology, but there are more changes that are essential for preparing the next generation for the future.