Teaching Reflection

In 1985, author Neil Postman released an article titled “Learning in the Age of Television”. The focus of the article is how technology, more specifically television, can influence and affect the education of children. Postman elaborates on these topics by bringing in facts and examples, such as the educational television show “Sesame Street”, to support his claims.

This movie, The Classroom, which was very interesting to watch, discusses all that goes on in the school system, the good and the bad. But it also shows how things at home can affect the way the student acts during the school day. This movie definitely makes you look at students that act out differently, instead of punishing them maybe we should all look deeper into the issue and find a way for the student to thrive and use school as an outlet.

My time spent in the Clinical setting, so far, has been extremely inciteful as to how to become a better educator in a classroom setting. Through the data I collected I was able to connect Borich’s Seven Variables of learning to the students. By being in the clinical setting for nearly two months, I have been exposed to new ways of thinking when it comes to structuring a classroom and instructing a classroom. Within this reflection you will find out how I would better plan an effective lesson for the pupils in my future classroom. You will also discover what I will do about certain issues in the classroom and how I will address/fix them.

Although video has become prevalent in education, some argue that the very presence of video inhibits learning. Salomon (1984) measured sixth graders’ preconceptions of the ease or difficulty when processing print or video based lessons. He discovered that lower mental effort was extended with the television lesson, perceiving television as ‘easy,’ and print as ‘tough,’ thus requiring more mental exertion. He stated, “It stands to reason that when subjects face a task they perceive to be easy relative to their abilities, their investment of effort decreases” and “no additional effort expenditure is needed to perform the task that is perceived to be well mastered” (Salomon, 1984: 694). Thus viewers perceive videos as less demanding and invest less mental effort into processing the information as a result, which negatively influences their learning achievement (Saloman, 1984). However, since Salomon’s work others have conducted research to determine what other effects could influence a learner’s invested mental effort. The category and subject matter of the content also impacted a viewer’s intention to learn from the video material. Kunkel and Kovaric (1983) discovered that learners view educational content as more serious than entertainment, and subsequently, altered their motivation to process either information. By analysing college students and their preconceptions of television shows produced for the Public Broadcasting

In my future classroom, I will be sure to keep that aspect of relating media to my students’ real-life in mind. Making connections is so important in order to make learning meaningful and to aid in student understanding. It can be so easy to put on a video or link students to an app and assume they will understand the big ideas presented in it. Making a point to discuss the media after it has been used and make connections with it will be vital to my students’

‘Reflective teaching should be personally fulfilling for teachers, but also lead to a steady increase in the quality of the education provided for children.’ Pollard (2008, P.4) Here Pollard is suggesting that reflecting on our own teaching experiences is not only important for the standard of education we provide, but also for our own benefit as it can be rewarding and very worthwhile to reflect on our practices. By reflecting on my own practices in SE1, it will enable opportunities to analyse strengths and weakness and how to improve for future practice, which will allow me to develop more as both a reflective and a professional teacher. This idea of reflection stems from Dewey’s (1910) cited in McGregor and Cartwright (2011) ideas where he suggests that there are three attributes which enables us to be reflective, them being ‘open-mindedness’, ‘wholeheartedness’ and ‘responsibility’. By taking responsibility for our own teaching and reflecting upon our actions, it allows us to be open-minded about changing and adapting to new ideas from what we have concluded from our reflections, which then allows us to fully engage with these new thoughts.

Today’s students have become accustomed to a constant stream of entertainment provided by televisions, videos, and computer games. The type of instruction that worked twenty years ago simply does not work in

To raise the ability of students to engage with a variety of media across different mediums,

In the last 20 years technology took an important role in our lives and more in the lives of our kids, even in on grownups. Video are an important tool in our lives that if we use it in a right way could help us to improve our intelligence. Base on the articles of “Watching TV Makes You Smarter” by Steven Johnson and “Thinking Outside the Box” by Dana Stevens. I will present my point of view.

The ability to use multi-media communication technologies will increase in importance the more those technologies are deployed in education. The more technology proliferates in education, the more students will need skills to critically analyze such texts for validity and applicability. If those students will be the workforce of the next generation, the workers we manage will need critical multi-media literacy skills in order to separate authoritative text from say advertising or politically biased messaging in the workforce and daily life.

Sixty-two percent of teachers say they use digital media twice a week or more and 24 percent say they use it every day to help them teach. The numbers of teachers using TV and video content in the classroom are even higher. Over 80 percent of teachers say they use TV or video to teach a lesson at least once a month and 76 percent are streaming it from the web” (par. 2).

There have been many changes in the technological scene in the last few years. This has prompted the argument on what people stand to benefit from these advancements. This is why there have been many studies and researches that are all intended to show how the electronic media assists in learning amongst children. However, there has been little attention as to what the electronic media does to the same children. The electronic media has become a favorite amongst the learners and in particular children. It is imperative to note that the learning process is not passive. This is because the children do not just heed to the instructions and assume that anything is learnt. The process of learning is active and cognitive. Therefore, the environment under which a child is in has a significant influence on the learning process. It is vivid from this argument that the media has a significant role in the shaping of the children. Electronic media is very beneficial in the learning process but it is imperative that there are regulations because it has a dominant role in cognitive development of children.

As humans, we learn to adapt in order to survive. With technology being everywhere in our modernized society, we have adapted by incorporating it into our everyday lives, including television. Over 90% of homes today own at least one TV. On average, children (8 months to 8 years of age) in the US are being exposed to 4 hours of television per day (Hamel and Rideout). What does this mean for the development of children? Instead of pushing away our TV’s because of distractions, we can use them to educate the next generation. While books have always been the base for learning for many centuries, times are changing. We live in a new era where everything demands a higher level of expertise. Kids these days need a better education in order gain the necessary skills to succeed later in life. Television has the ability to promote early learning and development in children. By introducing education earlier, through the use of television programs, kids will voluntarily engage themselves in learning without even realizing it. Educational programs and TV shows expose children to language outside of their home, overall improving their understanding of language and actions associated with it. Instead of throwing our technology to the side and sticking to the old fashion books, we should be integrating new forms of education with the changing times. TVs allow children to actively learn verbally and visually, making it more effective than any book. By altering programs to expose children

Teaching can be a challenge, you never know what to expect and each classroom will be unique. However, you will always have to be prepare for teaching in a situation you may not be comfertable with. Educating students and practicing proper knowledge on subjects such as race, class, gender, sexual orientation and disability are vital in creating a safe and respectful classroom for all. School is often looked upon as a place of security for students and it is our job as teachers to help maintain that status.

Teaching by television was long ago considered to be the next technological buzz sweeping the nation prior to the 21st century. As a result of the television, technology that was used at home slowly begin to be adapted for educational purposes and applied to educational settings. Learners like their Saturday morning cartoons, so why not create educational shows similar to that media that captures a learners attention for hours a day. Sounds great, however when creating educational curriculum many unforeseen issues and challenges arise.