Saturday October 29th, 2011
Teacher : Miss Bramwell
Analyze an Argument
Teachers and other educational facilitators have failed to recognize the importance of interactive methods such as computers and smart phones as a technique for stimulating students with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). According to the BBC news published February 2011, it states that one in 20 students are affected by Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder ( ADHD ). Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with poor grades, poor reading and math standardized test scores, and increased grade retention.Sometimes it can be hard to analyze whether a child's behavior is normal or the sign of a behavioral disorder. Unless it is recognized teachers may assume that the child does not want to learn rather than being affected by this debilitating disorder. It is important to establish the nature, severity, and persistence of these school difficulties in children with ADHD as one may assume that electronic devices are the cause of diminishing students attention. However, there are a few examples that I would like iterate one being that the IPod touch has transformed the learning experience for fourth-grade students at Central Elementary School in Escondido, California. These students are excited about learning and have seen its potential as a learning tool for students to improve their fluency and comprehension. In a six-week period, students’ reading fluency increased at six times the rate considered normal for that period of time. After six months, students gained almost two years of reading comprehension. A growing number of schools across the nation are embracing the IPad as the latest tool to teach Kafka in multimedia, history through “Jeopardy”-like games and math with step-by-step animation of complex problems.
The learning environment coupled with the uneducated staff highlights different aspects of the schools in its efforts to provide the optimal learning experience. The classrooms are socially and culturally organized environments for learning. Students learn in many ways- by seeing and hearing; reflecting and acting; memorizing and visualizing and drawing analogies. In the same breath, teaching methods also vary. Some teachers lecture, others demonstrate or discuss; some focus on principles and others on application; some emphasize memory and others understanding. Elementary school cchildren need both visual and auditory information that provides an optimal learning experience. How much a given student learns in a class is governed in part by that student’s native ability and by the compatibility of his or her learning style with that of the teacher’s teaching style. Most of the learning and teaching style components parallel one another. Making the learning style more fun and engaging with the use of technological gadgets. Patuxent Elementary, in Maryland is one such example. This was once a school where the roof leaked, technological advancement was lacking, the carpets were moldy and pupils had a bad reputation. Test results were poor and Patuxent was in danger of being officially designated a struggling, "focus" school - a process that could have meant the state education authorities taking over and, ultimately, its closure. As part of an ongoing rebuilding programme, teachers were given individual classrooms - replacing open areas where up to five teachers had once had to shout to be heard and sent to workshops to improve teaching methods and also computer equipment to engage its pupils for faster learning. With the implementation of these computers and a more comfortable learning environment, the results were remarkable; student’s grades improved and they could focus more on learning new things.