YOUR "A" IS ONLY A CLICK AWAY!

We already knew that kids learned computer technology more easily than adults, It is as if children were waiting all these centuries for someone to invent their native language." - Jaron Lanier

I bought a Droid 2 cell phone yesterday, and today I am struggling with how to use it. I can’t believe how complicated it is to simply answer a call, find an app, know how to use it, etc. I am, of course, speaking for a generation of adults who grew up with radio as a the main form of entertainment, and test patterns along with Howdy Doody, the main visuals on TV. I finally learned how to text (though slowly), and felt a certain level of smugness at my ability to keep in touch with my kids. I thought I'd come a long way since I wrote an article on texting in April. (Who Said America's Kids Aren't Bilingual?) But there is an old saying that seems to apply: Pride goes before a fall.

Considering myself “with it” in using the computer, surfing the net, and trying to keep up with the latest technology, I now am facing a sad reality. I am falling behind. As a mostly "A" student in all of my past classes, I strongly suspect that I am losing the technology battle when it comes to learning.

Today’s Seattle Times had an article called “Clicker Keeping Students On The Ball” by Trish Wilson of the Philadelphia Enquirer. It surely takes the educational cake in student accountability and involvement and innovative teaching and learning!

This high tech learning tool forces students to participate in classes where it is a supply list requirement. The cell-phone sized clicker, which costs between $35 and $45 seems best suited to large lecture halls where attendance and student involvement are difficult to monitor. It works like this. Students register their clickers on line so that every click can be traced to them when clicked. In the classroom cited in the article, 7% of the final grade would be based on class participation and grades on clicker quizzes.

The instructor presents content information, poses questions and monitors responses instantly, which are projected so that all students can see the results. It opens up dialogue and can allow inaccuracies or misconceptions to be corrected immediately. As a teacher in the article put it, “If I ask a question and half the classs gets it wrong I can work on that right away instead of waiting for a test.” Forcing everyone to respond is another plus, as very often a large number of students sit silent and uninvolved, not willing to share their answers or ideas.

All I can say is “Wow!!!” It sounds absolutely amazing and a real boon to learning. But, can a lady of indeterminate years, who can’t even program her VCR (which is already obsolete anyway), hope to take future classes in a lecture hall where everyone is happily clicking away to make the grade?

It's a little scary, but, like the Little Engine Who Could, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can. However, first I need to master my Droid. It will have to wait, for a couple of weeks though. We're headed for Scandinavia and Iceland tomorrow. I think I'll check out the "clicker" situation in Sweden, Denmark and Iceland while I am there. I'll keep you posted.