As a third grade educator, I must admit I ask my students to memorize some concepts that can be easily accessed utilizing technology—i.e. multiplication tables. However, I feel that the more information that is in the brain, ready to be used, will only lend itself to a quick return. Imagine if students solely relied on calculators for math, dictionaries to spell, or the Internet for knowledge. Overall, we need to help students see the purpose for what they are learning (so educators need to be prepared to give this purpose) in order to ensure that they will be prepared for the world they will enter after leaving the walls of the classroom.

I think we need to remember there are two sides to reading/writing.

One is decoding/mechanics the other is understanding/thought

By grade two most kids understand how to decode reading and the mechanics of writing, but thinking…that’s a process that starts in the early grades and is continuous (or I hope it is anyway).

That is the high order skill I think we need to be teaching. Now one could argue (and I do) that the way in which we read is changing in the 21st Century. Yes we still need to decode words but we must also understand how to read hyperlinked text. Do we teach that?

And writing, have we added writing for mass audiences to the curriculum somewhere? The mechanics of hyperlinking can we/should we be teaching that in 2nd grade as well?

All great questions that I wish schools would take time to try and answer or at least reflect on.

Do you think most people would agree?

The article tells otherwise; in fact, by this age, readers are only half way through their development toward being fully-matured. The article suggested that even high school teachers must be teaching reading skills.

What most interests me is this: how has our definition of the “basics” in school changed due to a restructuring of information and boom in technology? Aren’t reading and writing defined in new ways by technology? Our students brains are adapting to this new way of thinking/reading/writing–how should instruction meet these changes? When, in light of all of this change–not to mention the change to come–would we define a person as being fully equipped or fully literate?

1/2 × Perimeter × [Side Length]
+ [Base Area]

and also check out some of the sites we blogged about or this one too http://www.mathsisfun.com/geometry/pyramids.html
but most of all…get some sleep
Mrs P
after doing a quick surf…all over in a matte of minutes.
I know what Matt Moyer means when he questions how we qualify knowledge but I also agree that we must at least question the content of what we are teaching on a daily basis to our students who do have this immediate access to technology which will only increase with time.
Anyway, better get back to proving if I use tech regularly or not!
Kimbra

Before I begin ranting and raving, are grade 5 students asking this question or are you asking this question?

This is an interesting post. I am familiar with that show and watching people try to answer 5th grade questions is intreeging. I have never thought about using technoligy to answer those questions and I might try it next time I turn to that show. Some of the questions are actually hard and I think the people on the show wishes they had technoligy there so they could win the million dollors. On another note this idea of using the computer to find answers shows how much we have grown technoligy wise. I think that people should not take the computer for granted becuase many people in the world dont have one. Using it a lot, like for this ” Are you smarter than a 5th grader” idea , is good becuase then you become more familiar with technoligy. Soon enough things like textbooks and real books will be gone becuase computers will take over. So for the people that do watch this show they should try this idea, maybe not for the reason pf finding answers, but for the reason of using the computer more.

Berek