In the article, "Lessons from Costa Rica," Arlene Borthwick and Irina Lobo share about their experience in Costa Rica. Rather than travel there for vacation or sight seeing, the authors traveled to explore the teaching infrastructure in Costa Rica. Costa Rica is very advanced in technology despite it's vast rural living environment. The education systems are thriving and are based upon incorporating high end technology into their classrooms.
The authors went to observe several schools in Costa Rica and were able to witness students excelling in their computer based programs. Specifically, CREATE Together was a wonderful multimedia program that was being used throughout many Costa Rican schools. The authors witnessed that the computer lab fostered a learning environment where both cognitive and social learning were taking place. Students were interacting amongst each other and were engaged in high levels of thinking.
I feel that Costa Rica is an excellent example of how incorporating technology into the classroom is very beneficial. The students are learning efficiently and show that they are genuinely interested in learning. Technology opens new doors for students and allows them to interact with more resources. Having technology in the classroom enables students to explore different ideas and concepts that they wouldn't necessarily be able to research in depth otherwise.
1. How long has technology in Costa Rica been very prominent? The surge of technology began around 1988 with FOD.
2. Will the U.S. be able to incorporate as much technology into their classrooms as Costa Rica? Yes, I feel that the U.S. is heading in that direction and will soon have much more technology.
Journal: S'Cool Tools
-
"S'Cool Tools - 5 Great Tools to Perk Up Your Classroom and Engage Your
Students" written by: Maureen Brown Yoder
As a teacher we are always looking for th...
14 years ago
Thanks for bringing up this article! I tend to just focus on the U.S. and never even thought about other places around the world and how advanced they are in technology. You mention in your article CREATE a multimedia program that I am completely unaware of. I personally feel that technology engages the studenst and is highly beneficial. I think that the U.S. is equal to Costa Rica or maybe even more when talking about the incorporation of technology in the classrooms! Interesting article, thanks!
ReplyDeletethis is so true, technology has made everyones lives easier. and it allows us to connect with others around the world and see what they are doing. i could never imagine that we were going to be so into technology as we are now. imagine what we are going to be able to do in the future. all the kinds of programs that we will have to assist children will be even better than they are now. thanks for bringing up this article about people around us.
ReplyDeleteWow, great article - I'd be interested in looking this one up again. Having been to Costa Rica before I was pleasently surprised by their advances with technology. However when I was there I was in more of the rural and rainforest areas that had little to no technology, so it's interesting to here that other areas were so advanced within their educational locals. I wish I could have seen some of this when I was there, it would be interesting to see how it worked in the educational system and how it could better how we looks at technology in education here in the states. sounds like a good article - good job!
ReplyDelete