Additional Assignment #2

How Kids Teach Themselves

Mitra's experiment was amazing and it makes so much sense when it comes to how and why kids learn the way they do. Most children are what I like to call enthusiastic learners, I use that term to mean that most kids learn better when there is a lot involved in an activity in order to better release their energy. Motivational learners are just what is says, they are motivated to do what ever needs to be done by even going that extra mile, and though a kid may have that motivation in them; the model and guidance of an educator is still needed to continue them on the right track. Technology plays in role in this also, because with it changing so often, it always provides that different outlook every time for students, to prevent them from becoming bored or uninterested. For example in one of Mitra's experiment where he embedded a computer in a wall in India, it shows just how motivated kids were to learning and exploring new things and how their excitement about it motivated them to explore more. Another point I would like to touch on is, how do you motivate someone to learn? Well my answer for that is that you must first figure out that persons personally and discover the things that interests them the most and decide how to embed that within their learning experience. But sometimes it takes a little more than that to assist a student with their learning skills, because some of them just think that school is just work, work, work, so as an educator you should show them how working can be both fun and educational and that's where you integrate your hands-on ability with them. I give this example because that is a way that has motivated me to continue to learn new things and even use them in my everyday life. I'm not saying that I need to be taught hands-on every time, but for example in my EDM310 class, the technology that I have learned how to use has been not only knowledgeable to me, but all of it is something that I am able to apply with me in my future career as a teacher. So with doing so, it motivates me to learn more knowing that I'm not wasting my time and that I am able to take this information and actually use it! Therefore, there are many issues that we should focus on as aspiring teachers, one would be making sure that we keep up with technology in order to better understand the world and better prepare our students and another is that we must keep the students interests on with what we are learning next, because that not only keeps them motivated, but their thoughts of school being boring and hard, will have completely exited their little mind and they are continuing to be motivated about learning!