Microsoft Highschool

It seems to me from all of my research that there are very few voices on the web for moderate use of technology in schools. Marc Prensky and his ilk would have us abandon our current curriculum and focus on more technological thinking. There are other voices that value the 3R's and hesitate to change. Trevor posted the, "Microsoft Highschool" in the forum and Ryan pointed out a very important quote from this article, written by Lianne George. "A study published earlier this year in the British journal Education 3 to 13 found that kids who read stories on computers don't retain information as well because they're often distracted by sounds and pictures. Also, computers don't require children to generate images with their minds, a process that serves as an important mnemonic device. In their 2004 study, University of Munich economists Thomas Fuchs and Ludger Woessmann looked at standardized test results from 31 countries and found that while students who never used computers or the Internet scored lower than those who sometimes do, those who use computers more than several times per week scored lowest of all." It does give one pause, if we are using digital storytelling to improve comprehension and the opposite happens, should we be employing this strategy. It is only one comment, but I believe that it is best to have a balance. I'm glad that I saw this quote, since I am very enthusiastic about going back to school and trying all of my new tech knowledge out, I may have overdone it without this sign of caution.

Sonia