Project Classroom Makeover By Cathy Davidson

In this new age of technology, information is becoming more readily available to practically everyone. This revolution has raised one major concern for the students of our generation: that we will not be able to think at all. That this generation will rely so heavily on the ability to access information immediately that we subsequently lose the ability to think for ourselves. This will not happen, however. Although many believe the internet is spoiling our generation, the fact of the matter is that the internet actually enriches our education and aids us in coming up with more educated solutions.

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

In earlier times, the acquisition and spreading of knowledge was not used to improve society. Instead, it was used to have control and to exclude certain groups. It may have been agreed that there needed to be a change in the way that the education system was set up. In her essay, “Project Classroom Makeover”, Cathy Davidson discusses how the “one size fits all” model of learning hinders students from learning in a new and modernized way. She suggests the notion that using technology to teach and learn can be effective in many ways. Davidson shows that using technology presents the opportunity for a traditional classroom to become more inclusive and creative. The “democratization of knowledge” is the improvement and modernization of how information is taught and learned. Having a modernized and advanced learning system is a vital point for students because they gain insight and experience with what is considered a society dominated by advanced technology. Since technology has become a dominant resource in the 21st century, it should be used as a teaching tool in order to produce educational, professional and overall success.

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).

This technology revolution sparked a debate on children’s use of technology. Children are constantly using iPads, iPhones, tablets, and other computerized devices. By over exposing children to technology, they are being robbed of the mental stimulation that comes from doing real, non computerized, activities. It has gotten to the point where one can see a two-year-old navigate an iPhone with ease but struggle to speak. Sixty-nine percent of children aged two to five can use a computer mouse, but only eleven percent can tie their own shoelaces (Generation Tech More Kids Can Play Computer Games than Ride a Bike). Also, children are at an all time low in the creativity department

Change takes on the course of a gradual shift away from the traditional and into the modern. Such a process can take on the identity of many forms but in the end, they all contribute to the advancement of society. Throughout “Project Classroom Makeover,” Cathy Davidson explores the need for such change in America’s educational system as it lags years behind the modern standards. Technology serves as an impetus to change and reform this antiquated system through facilitating new means of learning not previously available. While technology does have its benefits in the classrooms, it cannot alone replace the interactions between students and teachers because there are limits to the extent computerization can recreate human connections.

Technology connects people from all corners of the world. Inventions like the web and the internet has been heralded as the greatest inventions of man. The twenty first century is a fast paced world, with information available at a person’s fingertips. With this new drastic change in society, advocates of education reformation, like Cathy Davidson, pushes for education to be more modernized. In her essay “Project Classroom Makeover”, she points out the outdated education system, and the benefits, technology can have on the failing American education system.

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).

With the recent advent of social media we are now more aware to the plights of the less fortunate. Former Vice Provost of Duke University Cathy Davidson, author of the essay “Project Classroom Makeover”, discusses the rise of our interconnected society through the use of social media in her essay. In tandem with Davidson is Maggie Nelson, whose essay “Great to Watch” explores the violence that is so entrenched in our society. The advent of the internet created social media platforms for previously unheard of connection. Giving everyone an equal voice, this platform was prime for being used for activism. However it is not that simple, being an activist for human rights will expose a complex world of parallel and sometimes contradictory ideas. Well used is social media for activism, and for good purpose, it is the most powerful tool for exposing the oft overlooked humanitarian issues of our world.

According to the experts at http://www.innovativereading.com, “The hard truth is that technology is too powerful for kids to handle alone, and they will always choose the fun, highly stimulating option over any other activity unless parents give firm guidance.” This proves without limitation and guidance, kids can go overboard with technology. Still, the parents in The Veldt chose not to make rules, and in return, they were killed. Yet, one teacher encouraged her students to try something

Students are routinely connected with technology participating in social media and games where they acquire and apply their knowledge collaboratively. Their time is being spent more in social networking sites, multimedia, and virtual environments that are highly engaging and many times encourages creative thinking and problem solving.

Just as society is becoming more interconnected, Davidson realizes the pressing need for education to match society’s change, and the iPod was just the right tool. Duke University students broke free from conventional classroom learning, and paved the way for an interactive education, more befitting of a technological generation. Davidson does not put emphasis or significance on letter grades, instead, she believes it is more crucial for students to learn how to improve intellectually, by working and collaborating with other students. By sharing ideas, and being exposed to fresh and new discussions, students can grow academically. However, Turkle claims merging education with technology has the potential to limit the student’s way of thinking. She warns “As we’ve seen, such relational artifacts do not wait for children to ‘animate’ them in the spirit of a Raggedy Ann doll or a teddy bear. They present themselves as already animated and ready for relationship” (Turkle 470). Toys such as the Tamagotchi or Furby respond to children interaction, however, Turkle criticizes such relationship, by drawing attention to the children’s increasing acceptance of robots that can feel and be alive. A robot that has a tiny of autonomy over its actions prevents children from projecting their own ideas onto the toys. With a Raggedy Ann doll, children are able to choose the dolls actions, which requires creativity and thinking. Even though a piece of technology like the iPod is not

In the video “A Changing Culture of Creativity” by Howard Gardner, Gardner discusses the evolution; one could also say the possible devolution, of creativity in the world today and why we need to change the way we analyze. He points out that many young people have become followers in todays ever-changing technological world as opposed to the pioneers of creativity, like those we have seen in the past. Creativity needs to be nurtured and it must we must harness the use of the technology that connects us to do so.

One day, a first grade teacher witnessed a boy in her class was coloring a picture using bright shades of red, green, blue, and yellow. She walked over to the area he was working, and was about to ask what it was he was drawing when, to her amazement, he began scribbling over the entire surface of the paper with a black crayon. As the teacher approached the student prepared to punish him, she asked him why he had done this. He turned to her and smiled with a brief reply, “It’s a garden at night.” The quick assumption she had made that he ruined his drawing is one example of misunderstanding creativity, and the natural appalling view towards it clarifies how unaccepting teachers

Children learn from a variety of activities such as reading, conversation, play, outside classes, volunteer work and apprenticeships” (Home-schooling In Technology). There are many ways that home-schooled kids can fulfill their educational requirements. In today’s world where the internet is literally a mouse click away from getting practically anything you want, kids can go online and access such programs, projects, and field trips suggestions to be practiced in their homes. The only difference is that the projects will be graded by their parents rather than a teacher.