Chapter 3

A few things that I learned from Chapter 3 of our text are......
1) The benefits of drill and practice are immediate feedback, motivation for students to do the practice they need, and the conservation of teacher time because teachers do not present or grade student drill and practice.

2) Simulations can very easily be misused if the concept could be just as easily demonstrated with paper and pencil.  In this case, technology is not being used at its fullest potential and is therefore not as effective as it should be.

3) Instructional games can and should be used in the classroom if and only if they are used appropriately.  They should not be used just to take up time or just to fulfill a lesson.  They should be used to enhance the students' learning and to create motivation for the students to participate.

One connection that I made between the chapter and teaching is that tutorial software can and should be used in the classroom but only if I assign them to students individually.  I learned that it would be extremely difficult to assign one tutorial to an entire group of students because they all learn so differently.  Another connection that I made is that the five instuctional roles for software (drill and practice, tutorial, simulation, instructional game, and problem solving) can all be used in the classroom, only if a teacher uses them with discretion.  Technology in the classroom can never replace a good teacher and also cannot be used to cover up bad teaching.  Therefore, instructional software should only be used to enhance learning and not to cover up a potential lack of a plan on the teacher's part.

The question that I had about this chapter was: Specifically, how can Logo be used in the classroom to enhance a student's learning experience?