Technology Boot Camp

Hi Everyone,

I chose to read the article “Boot Camp Builds Tech Fitness” by Cristy Magagna-McGee who is a “National Board certified early childhood education instructional coach” in Wyoming and has received her PhD in educational technology (2010, 36). I selected this article mainly because the title caught my interest but, after reading it, many of the ideas that Ms. McGee shares are brilliant and feasible options to incorporate into my own classroom. She shares how this desire came when she won a classroom set of handheld computers and was given the opportunity to “improve [the students’] academics and motivate them to stay on task” (36). Ever since then, she has been working to “provide cutting-edge technology integration in the core curriculum areas” and has actually worked on creating “an all-digital kindergarten laboratory classroom” (36). In her technology “boot camp” she worked with another partner class in the neighboring school district “to build community and increase communication for both teachers and students” (36).

Ms. McGee uses these handheld computers in most of the academic subjects and an instructional coach who was assigned to her classroom revealed that “students using traditional tools to learn were on task for 10-15 minutes, but students using the technology were on task for almost 55 minutes” (36). My attention was peaked! One of the assignments that she discussed and that I would love to have my own students participate in is “chatting with virtual pen pals.” The kids use the webcams on the handheld computers to increase social skills by interviewing a "pen pal" from another school district with the same handheld devices. In the beginning of the year, the students “did not always make eye contact, speak clearly, or project their voices so that the other students could hear” but, by the end of the year, “everyone was doing a great job of listening and speaking” (36). This activity would thus help to fulfill the “Communication and Collaboration” standard (#2a) as students would “use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.”

Also, even though I believe in children spending time outside, the next activity that Ms. McGee incorporated into her classroom seems obvious and extremely appealing. That is, she uses the Nintendo Wii to play sports which helps “build coordination, teamwork, fitness, and communication while enabling them to meet their physical education standards” (36). She goes even further to include Guitar Hero, Karaoke, and Dance Dance Revolution to meet music and dance requirements (37)! These activities are so engaging and, if they are as successful enough to meet the requirements, I am definitely willing to use them in my program (along with playing real sports outside, of course)!

In essence, Cristy Magagna-McBee created an all-digital kindergarten learning environment and the results are extremely encouraging. Not only is the “green” factor a plus for the environment without books and paper but, the students “have learned concepts faster and with a greater retention level” by using the different technology methods and the parents “have been pleased that their students are using technology in a 21st-century learning environment” (37). I did not think that students would adjust so well to this technological format but they are fully capable and doing extremely well on performance screening tests (37). This is the classroom of the near future and I am overwhelmed with the possibilities. What are your thoughts?

Magagna-McBee, C. (June/July 2010). Boot Camp Builds Tech Fitness. Learning and Leading with Technology, 37 (8), pp. 36-37.

~Blessings,
Marissa