Discovery Education Speakers Bureau
Supporting the most effective use of technology in classrooms and schools
Supporting the most effective use of technology in classrooms and schools
The Media Evolution
The Media Evolution There is no doubt that media plays an influential role in our student's lives. In fact, most children spend an average of 6 ½ hours per day exposed to media. However, students today are no longer satisfied simply passively consuming information; instead they want to be active participants. From participating to producing, this session will explore the role media plays in today's classroom and examine the research that supports its inclusion. Thinking Big as the World Gets Small The cameras in their cell phones make them citizen journalists. The web is their personal library and media center. They communicate in real time with the ends of the earth. But can they convince their teachers to let them learn at school with help from such powerful tools? Beyond the "wow," technology provides nearly limitless potential for connectivity and education. See examples of how today's technologies -- from calculators to the web, from music files to video-on-demand -- can (and should) engage and teach a new generation of students. Where the Digital Heart is: Human Technology For only a sliver of time in human culture has learning meant decoding the written word. Learning means assimilating information in a way that matches our wiring: responding to the terabits of information in motion and sound. Technology brings education access to the transformative visual tools of an image-based society--- a move closer to the way we truly learn. Follow with a veteran the 30-year path of projects from film to Internet2. Learn what this technology means for your school and what a commitment to simple truths can mean to education. Holy Toledo! or How this Millennium is Starting out Exactly like the Last One (Give or Take a Century) Being part of the "Millennial" generation and the Information/Technology Age is nothing new. It happened before, in the few hundred years surrounding the beginning of the last millennium. This difference now is that our society and educational community are going through that same information upheaval in less than a generation. From the Moors' invasion of Spain to the printing press to Web 2.0, let history help you steer where we might be going.