JosephPsotka.(2013).EducationalGamesandVirtualRealityasDisruptiveTechnologies.

JournalofEducationalTechnology&Society,16(2),6980.Retrievedfrom
http://www.jstor.org/stable/jeductechsoci.16.2.69

Type:
TheoryintoPractice

Summary:
Inthisarticle,Psotkaarguesthedeficiencyofthegovernmentinimplementing
gamingtechnology,particularlyVirtualRealityimmersion,ineducation.Psotkaproposesthat
thebrickandmortarschoolisoutmodedandthateducationshouldbemovedintovirtual
settingsaccessiblefromavarietyofmoreconvenientlocations,likehome.Hecriticizestheslow
paceatwhichschoolsareadoptingnewtechnologiesstatingthattechnologyisforcingschools
tochangeratherthanschoolsdemandingtechnologybedevelopedtoimprovecontentdelivery.

Postkagoesontoprovideahistoricalreviewoftheimplementationoftechnologyinthe
classroom,beginningwithfirstuseofcomputersintheearly80sinwhichtheydidlittlemore
thanprovideaccesstodigitaltexts,thentothefirsteducationalgamessuchas
RockysBoots
and
CarmenSandiego.
However,asvideogamesbecamemorecomplexandmorepopular,
educationhasdonelittletoimprovegamesforeducationalpurposes.

ThepotentialofVRsettingsintheclassroomliesintheirabilitytoallowstudentstovisualize
abstractconcepts,accordingtoPsotskastudentscanwalkamongtheconcepts.Theefficacy
ofusingVRsettingsineducationisevidencedbythemilitarysuseofVRtechnologyintraining
pilotsandsoldiers.

PsotskaconcludesthattheUSgovernmentshouldcreateanationalcertificationsystemthat
allowscoursestobepresentedmodularlywithstandardizedassessments,ratherthanasa45
yearsequencepresentedthroughaninstitutional,facetofaceclassroomenvironment.

Review:
Ifoundthistobeanengagingarticle,andIpersonallyfoundagreementwithPostkas
ideathatschoolsneedtomorerapidlyadoptandadapttechnologiesthatwillfurtherenhance
education.ItbroughttomindtheAlcoholAwarenessmodulethatIwasrequiredtocompletefor
GeorgiaSouthern.WhilenotaVRexperience,itcertainlypresentedcontentinanengaging,
interactiveformat.Furthermore,italsopresentedPsotskasideathatcontentshouldbe
modularizedanditpresentedhisideathatcontentshouldntbeboundtoaphysical
environment.Theideaspresentedaretargetedtothehighestlevelofeducationadministration,
suchasStatelegislationormorelikely,nationalreform.

Ibelieveoneoftheproblemswiththispaperisthatthebiasisevident.Isawnoreal
examinationofthechallengesthateducationalinstitutionsfacewhenadoptingVirtualReality
classenvironments.IbelieveifPostkaaddressedthecostofdevelopment,thechangingroleof
teachers,andthefateofthebrickandmortarinstitutions,thearticlewouldbemorebalanced.

Asalibrarian,IthinkitwouldbeagoodideaformetodevelopthemedialiteracylessonsthatI
currentlyteachfacetoface,intoalessonpresentedindigitalenvironment.Iwouldbeableto
reachabroaderaudience.

McKenna,M.C..(2014).Literacyinstructioninthebravenewworldoftechnology.
ThePhiDeltaKappan
,

96
(3),813.Retrievedfromhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/24375936

Type:
ProfessionalPractice

Summary:
Thefocusonthisarticlewasaconsiderationoftheslowrateofadoptionof
technologyapplicationsbytheLanguageArtscurriculum.WhileSTEMcoursesreadilyadopt
technologyapplications,andalwayshave(likeprogrammablecalculatorsinthe70s),the
LanguageArtshastraditionallybeensteepedinprintmedia.Thearticlegoesontodiscusshow
technologycanandshouldbeadoptedbyLanguageArtsteachers.

Themainargumentstheauthormakesare1)Increasingly,wearecommunicationindigital
environments,therefore,LAclassroomsshouldalsobeusingdigitalmodesofcommunication.
2)DigitaltextsrequiredistinctskillsfornavigationthatshouldbeexplicitlytaughtintheLA
classroom.3)Digitalapplicationsmakesdifferentiationmucheasierforstudentsthatare
strugglingwithlanguageandliteracy.4)Multimodalwritinginwhichtextiscombinedwith
graphicsisbecomingthenormand,therefore,shouldalsobecomethenorminLAclassrooms.
5)Technologyhasproventobehighlymotivatingforstudentlearning.6)Researchonthe
effectsofdigitalapplicationsonstudentlearningistooslowincoming,therefore,teachers
shouldpushahead.

Review:
Whilewrittenin2014,Ithinktheideasinthisarticleareprettywellestablished.Idont
thinkanynewgroundisbeingbrokenhere,butthevalueofthepieceisthattheargumentsare
presentedconcisely.IthinkthatitwouldbeagoodarticleforthestuffyoldLAteacherthat
seemshellbentonhavingstudentswritethetraditionalessayinclassonthetraditionaltexts
thathavebeenreadacceptedforgenerations.Anytimeateacherbemoansthelackof
engagementbetweenhisorherstudentsandthetaskgiven,theyshouldconsiderthatthetask
maylackauthenticityandshouldprobablyreachawideraudiencethanjusttheteacher.Ithink
thisiswherethisarticlehasitsvalue.

Iappreciatedthattheauthoralsoconsideredthechallengesofincorporatingtechnologyinthe
LAclassroom,particularlyregardingthegreaterprevalenceofplagiarism,andthearticlepoints
toaseparatearticlethataddressesthechallengesingreaterdetail.Ifeltthatthefinalargument
inwhichresearchwastooslow,therefore,teachersshouldplowaheadwasabittoooffhand.
Ivereadsomeresearchonthemindsabilitytorecalldetailsmorereadilywithprinttextthan
digitaltext,andIthinkthishassubstantialimplicationsfortheLAclassroom.

Oneoftheargumentsthathaveparticularsignificanceformeasalibrarian,isthebenefitsof
digitaltexts.Oneofthemajorgoalsofalibrarianistoincreaseaccesstothecollectionandthis
canreadilybedonethrougheBooks.

Daniel,D..(2012).TeachingStudentsHowtoResearchthePast:HistoriansandLibrariansin
theDigitalAge.TheHistoryTeacher,45(2),261282.Retrievedfrom
http://www.jstor.org/stable/23265922

Type:
Research

Summary:
Thearticlereviewsastudydonein2003byagroupofhistoriansinwhichthey
observedthemethodsandtoolsusedbystudentswhileresearchinghistoricalinformation.
Theirfindingsbroughtuptheconcernthat,whiletechnologyhasallowedavastlysuperior
accesstohistoricaldocumentsandinformation,studentsstruggledtonavigatetheresources
available.

Theauthorthengoesontoconsidertheimplicationsofthatresearchonclassroomteaching.
OneobservationDanielmadebasedontheresearchisthatlibrarianshaveanincreasingly
importantroleinhelpingothersnavigatethroughtheoceanofdigitalresources,andthat
historiansseemreluctanttoallowthemtodoso.Danielstatesthathistoriansshouldfinda
middlegroundinwhichtheyallowlibrarianstonotnecessarilypresentthestudentwiththe
perfecthistoricalresource,butallowlibrarianshelpstudentstofilteroutthemyriadof
unacceptableresources.

Finally,theauthorconcludeswiththevalueofafirmpartnershipbetweenlibrariansandhistory
teachers.

Review:
Ithinkthearticlebroughtupavalidpointinthatteachers,notjusthistoryteachers
either,oftenhavedifficultyinturningoveranaspectofhisorherclassroomtosomeoneelse.I
personallyfindoneofthemostchallengingaspectsofmyjobasalibrarianistoapproach
teachersandconvincethemtocollaboratewithmewhencreatinganassessmentthatinvolves
research.Often,theyseemmorecomfortablewithsupervisingtheresearchfromtheirown
classroom.

Danieldiddiscusseffectivewaysinwhichlibrarianscanmaketheirvaluetothehistoryteachers
moreapparentandencouragetheirinclusion,however,acriticismIhaveofthearticleisthatit
tendedtobelaborthepointmadebytheresearchfindings.Therewereseveralgraphsand
tablesoftheresearchfindingsthatseemedunnecessary.

Asalibrarian,Ineedtobeawareofthedigitalresourcesouttherefor,notjusthistorians,butfor
allsubjects.