Post #5

Chapter 5, Chapter 5, what to say about Chapter 5.....

Well, Chapter 5 discusses the advent of "digital media" to the classroom which, when you think about it, isn't really a new thing at all. The new wave of educational software is just an evolution of something that educators have been striving toward for years: the integration of various styles of learning into their lessons. Educational simulations and their ilk allow visual, auditory and tactile learners to internalize their lessons, all with less effort on the part of the instructor. It's the educational verison of working smarter, not harder.

As an interesting aside, here, the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation has done (well, funded anyway) a lot of interesting research into the integration of digital media into the classroom. If you had Intro to Ed. this summer with Mr. Johnson, then you already know about the "bookless" school that the foundation funded a while back. If you didn't, teachers in the "bookless" school present all of their lessons through interactive digital multimedia, allowing for a very active learning environment. Students attending the school, the vast majority of whom where pulled from low performing school districts, have excelled in their new environment. The program coasts a boatload, of course, but it's interesting nonetheless.

On the personal side of things....Warped Tour this weekend should be pretty good. Well, not this weekend, but Thursday and Friday. Back into town on Friday night to grab my copy of the new Harry Potter book (NERD POINTS), and then up early Saturday to take the General Knowledge test for my certification. Well, assuming I don't become a roadie for Bad Religion on Thursday, of course.