Ipads in School: Various Considerations as Future Educators

I was actually really surprised to see iPads in an elementary setting, mainly because I am amazed that schools are actually able to approve a budget to provide such expensive devices to smaller children. However I was still very glad to see this technology implemented in younger classrooms.

Some of the main controversies surrounding iPads in the classroom that were discussed in our Technology class today involved how much impact iPads really have. Does it actually have a large effect on upping our learning for the kids or is it just a shiny new toy to keep them occupied? I think that the issues that one might have in the classroom is not the technology itself, but that the technology is actually used properly by the educators. If the educators are not trained to properly implement the technology in the classroom, or are unaware of supportive applications and programs to use, then the teacher should receive more training to properly implement the technology to the classroom. 

Digital Tools Evolving to Track Students' Emotions, Mindsets: Effects of Emotion on Cognition

In the article Digital Tools Evolving to Track Students' Emotions, Mindsets written by Benjamin Herold, academic researchers are now exploring new ways to actually track a student's emotions while they are put into a learning situation. Cognitive learning is closely linked with a student's emotions and attitudes, so researchers are now looking to develop new technologies to actually read a student's emotion as they are progressing through a technological learning program. The program will then be prompted to assist them depending on their current state of mind. Therefore if a child is struggling, the program might offer the child a hint and tell them "good job" after they have successfully completed the task. There is still no technology of this matter on the immediate horizon (estimated about a decade away), but developers are currently working towards creating this type of technology in order to understand how a student might perform a certain way based on their emotions.

Herold writes this article as an informative to his audience, and does not offer much of his personal opinion on the matter. Personally I think that this type of technology potentially has both good and bad aspects to it. It could be a good tool if it is used as a tool for gathering research data, so that people can actually better understand how a student's emotions might effect their cognition (wether that is in an "in-the-moment" type of scenario or a long term issue). If teachers can better understand how their students perform under emotional pressures (ex: test anxiety) then perhaps teachers and educational policy makers can create new curriculums to better assist students to meet their educational needs.

Your Brain on Video Games: A Scientific Look Into the Effects of Action Video Games on the Brain

In this video lecture, Daphne Bavelier explains the effects of video games on the brain by showing various results from scientific experiments and tries to persuade her audience that fast shooter/action video games can actually have several mental health benefits. She uses empirical evidence based on various mental tests. Daphne Raveler is a cognitive researcher who has been studying the effects of memory, vision, attention, and various other mental capacities by those who particularly have been playing fast-paced action/shooter video games. There is a lot of conflicting information on the internet regarding whether or not video games are bad for you. Some say that it is good, and improves your dexterity and reaction time. Others state that it can be bad for your vision and that it is a distraction that affects learning and attention issues. However Bavelier shows in this lecture that fast-paced action games can actually improve one's brain in various different ways. She compared people who had not played these games to those who had, and overall the gamers had better vision, better reaction times, better puzzle solving capabilities, and could pay better attention to multitasking situations.

So why is it that people have such an issue with video games? It seems that anywhere you can look online, there is an argument for as well as against video games when it comes to mental health. I personally have played various types of games all of my life. I can admittedly say that I have played just about every type of game there is on the market...action games, shooters, role-playing games, dance games, guitar games, you name it and I have probably played it at least once. And I can definitely say with confidence that I believe that gaming has been a positive influence in my life, both socially and mentally.