Using Classroom Technology to Learn Media Literacy -- and World War II History
There's been a lot of commentary on the Times' A1 story about an Arizona school district that spent $33 million on fancy high-tech toys, like Smart Boards and educational software, but saw test scores stagnate. I agree with Robert Pondiscio's common-sense take: "Maybe the medium is not the message"--in other words, the what of learning (curriculum) matters just as much, if not more, than the how (via a laptop vs. a textbook).
That said, I've been giving a lot of thought lately to media literacy, and I think it's incredibly important for schools to use technology to teach young people how to find information sources and determine whether or not they are reliable. Before I describe a high school social studies lesson I oberved that did just that, a quick anecdote: Over Labor Day weekend, at a restaurant in a well-heeled Hudson Valley town, I