Thursday, February 25, 2010

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Technology and the Future (week 7)

Computer in the library
Richard Miller: This Is How We Dream Parts 1 and 2

This Is How We Dream parts 1 and 2”, by Richard Miller explains how technology has increased since he was first starting into his field of work. Libraries were where you had to go to do research and to find books to read for pleasure. Now books are no longer being printed and can be found on shopping sites for less than a dollar. Mr. Miller says that there are less people being found in libraries unless there are computers and other technology available to the public. In a short time, technology has advanced and are you ready? I think that I am going to be prepared with the help of my technology classes during college. To stay on top of technology as it expands in the future, I will do research and teach myself to learn for my students.

I think that technology has expanded and grown for the better. Cell phones and computers are becoming a part of everyday life. Schools have become simpler for students as well as teachers because of the use of computers in the classroom. Computers allow the students to explore different countries and cultures just as well if not better than books did.

With technology already introduced to children in this generation, they will grow with the technology today and should adapt easily in the future with advances. Multimedia should not be difficult for students to learn being raised with computers, cell phones, webcams, and social networking. Maybe with the resources at our figure tips, schools can decrease the cost of school supplies like paper, textbooks, markers, and replacing the chalkboards or dry erase boards as they get scratched.

The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler

The Networked Student”, by Wendy Drexler is a mini video about how a student uses the wide range of networking to complete and gather information for his class. Ms. Drexler explains the different technology programs like Skype and blogs that helped this student to succeed in his work. The most important thing that was said in the video is when Ms. Drexler says, “Don’t be scared to ask.” Even though classes a utilizing technology networks, teachers are still the main source for information.

All students no matter the age should be connected to the world. Ms. Drexler also mentioned that students have experts in the subject field at their figure tips. They also have the resources to communicate with other students to learn and come up with ideas together. The students do not have to be controlled by their learning. If students take the initiative and explore the lessons further than the classroom, they will be a step further in their learning.

There is networking programs out that students use on daily-bases that they never knew could be used as a learning tool. For example, IPods became a popular device that a lot of children and teens wanted to store music and movies. To get music and videos on their iPods, they would use iTunes. ITunes downloads more than just music and videos, but podcasts of broad range of topics by teachers and experts in their fields. Networking in the 21st century to students is vital. All students should take education seriously and expand outside the classroom.

Toward a New Future of Whatever by Michael Wesch
Micheal Wesch

Michael Wesch does it again. His video “Toward a New Future of Whatever” is accurate to how it was like in 1984 to present. Teens and even some adults like to use the words ‘Whatever’ when they do not know what to say next or have a brain freeze. The problem with this is those individuals write using these words. Technology devices that are able to check spelling and grammar have a tendency to over look these words. Mr. Wesch also is accurate when he mentions that real feelings of people come out when they are on internet communication sites like YouTube.

Are youth today are learning their communication buy watching videos and celebrities. Celebrities, like Alec Baldwin and Charlie Sheen, are role models to the children. How they communicate to the public reflexes in the youth. MTV and VH1 are popular youth music stations that communicate to children and teens through song. When looking at sites like YouTube, teens and younger people are making their own music videos and communicating solely on that. Whatever happened to people inviting other people to dinner and having a nice face to face conversation?

Monday, February 22, 2010

Comment 4 Kids Week 7

Traffic Sign

Divina is student in Mr. Brian Crosby’s 4th grade class. She did a post about Garret Morgan and the traffic signals. Divina did research about the first traffic signals that were created by Mr. Morgan with arms that moved up and down to signal traffic to stop or go. Then she said how the traffic signals advanced since Mr. Morgan’s first signal. Divina, did not agree that traffic signals were helpful when Mr. Morgan first invented them. This student educated herself with the information well for her post. I do think that Mr. Morgan’s traffic signals did help car traffic in the past as well as they help in the present and hopefully in the future.

Friday, February 19, 2010

Personal Learning Network (PLN)

PLN Bubble Chart

With so many different technologies and networking in the world today, it is hard to come up with an excuse as to why a person could not get helpful resources in any activity they do. I have come up with three ways to develop my personal network. This ways are podcasting, RSS and class blogs. A person does not have to physically talk to a person face to face to get the same outcome from that simple action.

Podcasting is a great resource to find creative ideas and other resources to communicate and make the classroom better. Being a special education major, I found a videocasts called ‘Special Education with Thomas Cervantes.’ Mr. Cervantes videos give special education teachers a resource to use their educational techniques without allowing other students know that they have a disability. These videos also allow teachers to put in comments and suggestions to other teachers that need more help in areas. Mr., Cervantes gives ideas for assignments and projects to accommodate the Students Individual Education Plan (IEP). Besides special education podcasts, I follow another videocast called 'Educational Technology Resources’. This podcast gives sessions that end with helpful electronic devises and tips for technology in the classroom for grades k-12.

The second networking I follow is using RSS for my EDM 310 class blog site. By adding the class blog to RSS Reader, I’m able to look and see if the class blog as had any new post since my last visit. This is helpful so a person doesn’t have to scroll down the page and possible mess a post that could be useful in the future. For example, an extra assignment given by a professor that could be do the same week.

The last network that is helpful to me is a class blog. There are two blogs that I follow on a regular base. One is the EDM 310 class blog. The second one is a elementary school blog called ‘2BC’, This blog is a great resource because it allows students, teachers, parents and anyone else the ability to see the students through video and podcasting as well as hear the students personal experiences in class. This blog gives parents the chance to witness what their child is learning while at school. An example of a video that they posted is an assignment to work in groups and solve a problem together. This is a fun educational resource and I would recommend to any teacher for ideas and inspiration.

A Vision of K-12 Students

This video is called "A Vision of K-12 Students Today" told by children and teens what they are and how they need to learn. What do you think?

Thursday, February 18, 2010

I Need My Teachers To Learn



This is a great video that shows us what EDM 310 is about for us as future teachers need to learn for our students to achieve their dreams. This videos shows still images but its the words you need to hear.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

A Commercial about bringing Technology into the Classroom by Kaplan University



We should adapt our students to technology instead of letting technology adapting to our students. This just reminded me of EDM 310

Plus this helped me practice to embed videos on my blog.

Google Earth, iTunes, iPods, Oh My (week 6)

Dr. Alice Christie
Dr. Alice Christie's Web Site

In her website, Dr. Alice Christie has helpful links and information over different programs that can help teachers in the classroom. One link that I thought to be help as a future teacher is Google Earth. What is Google Earth? It is a program that can be used in the classroom to allow students to be interactive with class lessons and make the lecture more imaginable and fun for children.

My personal reasons to interact Google Earth in my classroom are one; it gives educators support with resources to interpret technology into my classroom. Another reason why I would enjoy using Google Earth is that it can allow my students to learn in a visual experience. This web program allows me to take my lessons and turn them into fun way of interacting students as groups or as individuals. If my students are able to understand information and facts through pictures this is the site to help.

iTunes University

iTunes U logo
iTunes University is great of students to use because it is free for all to download as much material as they want. It is a resource that can be used by both teachers and students. University is used by the program iTunes that gives free information and resources in the educational field. Books, videos, and podcasts are available and can be accessed in the classroom or at home. The material that can be found ranges from history to math. This gives teachers Varity of different techniques of introducing new subjects to their students.

There are thousands of videocasts /podcasts that illustrate different techniques used by people around the world. Some people add music in their podcast as an extra effect. There are also teachers that post their students podcast for educational purposes. iTunes University is a great resource for teachers to share their ideas to other teachers and find new ways to interact students into groups

iPods
iPods
IPods can be useful in education not only in grade schools like middle schools and high school but also in universities to interact technology and academic subjects together. An example university is Duke University. Researchers at Duke University posted an article about iPods in the classroom and how it has increased in just one year. It also said that the university has courses that require the use of iPods. The university’s Center for Instructional Technology (CIT) says that over 1,000 students in 42 courses will use the iPods to expand class materials and lectures.

IPods are also used at Hilton Island Middle School for students who have Learning disabilities with little English comprehension. Teachers at the school interact with the technology device to allow students the ability to learn how to read. Another part of the middle school uses iPods for ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages). Teachers commented that students get excited to use the iPods because they are familiar with the devices.

Wiki


This Wiki space is designed and started by Dr. Strange. Dr. Strange took a question that was asked in 2007 by author Karl Fisch of The Fishbowl ans a director of technology in a high school in Colorade. His question was Is It Okay to Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher? An answer that Mr, Fisch said was “If a teacher today is not technologically literate- and is unwilling to make the effort to learn more-it’s equivalent to a teacher 30 years ago who didn’t know how to read and write.”

Dr. Strange also gives his own questions to ask and tries to get a discussion dealing with Mr. Fisch’s question from three years ago. I think this is a great idea to have a place like Wiki that you can go and chat with others about their ideas on the matter

Monday, February 15, 2010

Comment 4 Kids Week 6

Twilight,New Moon
Nikora is a student at an English school in Auckland, New Zealand; her project was to tell of an event during her holiday break that she enjoyed the most. This student talked about a family trip by train to go to the movies to watch Twilight, New Moon in a movie theater. The class also had to show short slides of a drawing from their experience. Nikora showed an illustration video of her favorite part of the movie when the two wolves fought.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?

Little Girl infront of the Computer
Scott McLeod' s post over “Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?” says that using computers and cell phones are unthinkable to children. Mr. McLeod suggest that with using web programs like Twitter and Facebook, it is dangerous and harmful to a students learning experience. The post several times said to stop using technology. When Mr. McLeod said, “...don't do any of it, please really 'cause I'm doing all of it with my kids can't wait to see who has a leg up in a decade or two can you?” says to me that he really says he thinks that if a student does use technology that, they will be higher up on the learning and intellectual scale then the students who does not use this technology.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Can Wicipedia be trusted?/ What I've Learned this Year (week 5)

Wikipedia
NPR article

This article explains how a college student named Virgil Griffith found a way to detect that others were getting onto an information site called Wikipedia and changing the information to make it false. When people got onto the program, it finds the “fingerprints” of the wrong doers. Mr. Griffith found out that anyone can get on the site and change information to make them truer to benefit the topic or false to turn people’s ideas about the topic. Wikipedia is used by a lot of people. Most of these people being school students, getting information about a research topic or person for class assignments and papers. But can, with this new information, make Wikipedia trustworthy for the information?

When I do papers for History or English, I try to stick to web pages that end in a .gov. This makes me think and my other professors from a previous college to be more accurate than others ending in.com or .org. This doesn’t mean that I would never use Wikipedia ever, but I will get other information from different sites as well. With what Mr. Griffith found out it is hard, to me to be considered a realizable source. When reading the information on Wikipedia I would now always question if somebody as changing the information for better or worse.

"What I've Learned This Year" by Mr. McClung

What I’ve Learned This Year” by, Mr. McClung is about a teacher that had just had his first year in the classroom and shares his experience in what he learned from that year to help future teachers on their first year of teaching. Mr. McClung gives seven main advice tips. Those are, learn how to read a crowd, be flexible, communicate, be reasonable, don’t be afraid of technology, listen to your students, and never stop learning. There were two things that stuck out at me in this blog. The first ones was when Mr. McClung said, “No lesson is ever perfect. The lesson you teach and the one you plan are always different.” Another one said, “I know my teacher cares about me as a person when he listens to what I say.”

What I take away from this blog is that I can not go into my first year of teaching expecting everything to go as planned. You never know what can happen from day to day. I will also know that all students are not perfect, just like I’m not perfect. As a teacher you have to listen to what a student tells and correspond to their needs. The biggest thing that I will take away from this post is that I can not stop learning just like a student can not stop learning. Teachers and students will learn together.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Comment 4 Kids Week 5

Willunga Primary School does team challenges every week. These team challenges allow students the opportunity to work as a group to solve problems and to work as a group to solve that problem. The school showed this week’s challenge of packing Cinderella’s suitcase with five things that they think she would need to stay out of trouble in the fairytale. Students come up with a watch, camera, extra ball gown, and tighter shoes. This activity is a great idea for team building skills. It allows the students to use both their imaginations and ideas.

Comment 4 Kids Week 4

The Million Dollar Strike
Alyssa U. from Avoca School District 37, read the book ‘The Million Dollar Strike’ by Dan Gutman. This student then commented on her blog what she liked the most about this book. Alyssa says that this book is about bowling and money. Her favorite character is Mr. Z because he is different than most characters. What made me excited about this pacific book was how Alyssa was excited about the characters that were betrayed. A book is nothing without its characters.

They Might Look Little but they have Big Media Potential/ Ms. Cassidy's Class

Media Literacy in the First Grade (Ms. Cassidy's Class) and Little Kids…Big Potential are video podcasts of first grades ages five and six showing the general public that they are able to take you to blog sites and teach you how to use the internet. One student says that her vocabulary has increased by doing this and another student says that he is able to ask better questions. It’s amazing how students as early as first grade are able to utilize technology quickly and efficiently. The apart that intrigued me was the boy that instructed how we should comment on others post. He says that like the age old saying from mom, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” That is true to comments too.

IPhone and a One Year Old

iPhone
The IPhone baby video showed how a one year old boy was able to take a standard Apple IPhone and navigate from the applications page to the photo gallery page. The little baby knew that he could move the page from left to right by just his figure. It is true how children today are able to figure out technology. For example, when my daughter was one, she was able to open and close the DVD player and was able to stop, play, forward, and rewind the DVDs. She also taught herself how to turn on and off the television. Know at two years, she is able to work more with how to bring up and down webpages on my computer. Babies are getting to smart for their diapers.

Friday, February 5, 2010

The benefits of podcasting in the classroom- http://is.gd/2cd2l (week 4)

The benefits of podcasting in the classroom, showed a short podcast that talked about podcasting and vodcasting (Video podcast). They talked to students about how they like having podcasting in the classroom. It also gives examples why podcasting in the classroom is a positive way in students learning. A couple of examples that the site gave were, “podcasting are a form of learning students of today are familiar with and therefore makes it relevant to them.” Another example is, “students can record role playing in character making their learning more memorable.” The example I liked the most as a parent myself was, “parents can see and hear what their children are doing at school.”

After watching and reading this site, I believe that podcasting or vodcasting different topics and lessons in the classroom is a good way to interact all students in a fun and creative way. This will allow them to use their imaginations and make the lessons their own. They can use music and role playing to transform into person in history and characters from a book. The teachers can put the podcast and vodcast online and if a student is out sick for more than a day, they can go online anywhere and view the lessons from that day and be able to stay current with their fellow classmates. It will also allow parents to see and hear what their child is learning and doing in the classroom.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Podcasting in the Classroom (week 3)

The podcast are pre done audio sessions done by one or more people. Podcasts are not live and can be recorded at any time then able to be replayed when desired. The KidCast podcast says that, “podcast are like TiVo for a radio.” This means that it is pre-recorded and can be accessed at any time of day or night. Podcast can be found everywhere on the internet and can be downloaded to your computer, IPods, IPhones, or to a separate blank CD so that they can be heard where ever you are go to be.

KidCast talked about when it is appropriate to use podcasting or vodcasting. Vodcasting is a visual images as well as audio. If you used the right program when recording your podcast or vodcast, you can add music to the backgrounds as extra excitement. To me, podcast are just like radio news. You can record anything from current events to books. If you were doing more than one person on the podcast you can always record one person and add others later. It can make scheduling around others easier.

EdTech Talk podcast has useful information about a professional development in the education field. In one of the episodes, it talks about information on state requirements and certification and re-certification for different states. To teachers, it gets more student interaction and makes assignments and learning fun. Podcast can involve slide shows, pictures and movies to elaborate on different topics being discussed and to have a visual guide.

Like discussed in Connect Learning podcast, podcasting is causal and easy to understand. Podcasting is also very informative. For Example, in a classroom environment, podcast can be useful for teachers to communicate with their students. A teacher can record on a podcast about school assignments that were given that day or on previous days for the students who were sick or for the students that were there that day but needed to get refreshed in the assignment. This is also a good way that teachers and parents can communicate to each other. The teachers can keep separate podcast with school information that all parents need to know like school closing. They can also, give information about the classroom, like field trips and parties for the class.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Is Technology Ruling the Classroom? (week 2)

Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today

“A Vision of Students Today” by Michael Wesch depicts the day of an average student. Mr. Wesch demonstrates that a student spends 26.5 hours a day on activities such as class time, listening to music, and studying. He further shows that the time spent in the classroom and studying is less than that spent on social interaction. Mr. Wesch also points out how an average college classroom holds 115 students in a single session. Finally, Mr. Wesch states that students bring their laptops to class and many do not use them for class work.

It is clear from Mr. Wesch statements that we can conclude the average student today focuses primarily on social interaction while studies are secondary. This emphasis on social interaction at the expense of education has lead to poor performance in the classroom. We can further conclude that the size of an average class and the abundance of social networking tools, which are now so easily accessible through advances in technology, are contributing factors to this trend.

My personal experience in recent years support Mr. Wesch’s statements and these conclusions. For example, a student in one of my previous classes sat in the very back corner listening to his iPod, never making eye contact with the power point slides. The result was that he failed exams and continued with the attitude that it did not really matter. In most of my Standard English, History, and Math classes, the size was over a hundred and set in a stadium style environment. It is not possible for a teacher to remember every name and face of his/ or her students when they have seven or eight classes such as this. Students did not get the individual attention necessary to remain focused and most did not have the self discipline to do so on their own. I have also noticed students have their personal laptops out typing during class, the majority of which are on social sites or e-mailing. This seems more prevalent in recent years as technology has become more easily accessible and focused on social and entertainment based content.

"It's Not About the Technology" by Kelly Hines

In her article Ms. Hines states that she has begun to question the direction many teachers are taking in their use of technology in the classroom. While most of her colleagues believe it is the future of education Ms. Hines believes that a more fundamental change must take place within the education community before technology can reach its full potential within education. Ms. Hines lists four things she believes every teacher must realize before determining how technology should fit in their theories on the future of education; “Teachers must be Learners, Learning and Teaching are not the same thing, Technology is useless without good teaching, and be a 21st century teacher without technology.”

Ms. Hines’ first statement is supported by the fact that new things are happening around the world, textbooks become outdated, and new discoveries are being made. Teachers have to keep learning and expanding their minds to remain effective in the classroom. I believe the second statement, “Learning and Teaching are not the same thing”, suggests that just because teachers are teaching students doesn’t necessarily mean students are learning the material. It’s up to the students to learn the material, but teachers must find effective ways to promote this. Ms. Hines’ third point addresses the effectiveness of technology with respect to the effectiveness of the teacher. I believe this emphasizes that technology is a tool in the classroom and not a replacement for a good teacher. Without an effective teacher and good curriculum the technology is useless. Finally in her last statement Ms. Hines demonstrates that most of what her piers believe should be the focus of education in the 21st century requires the use of little technology. I agree that those things that have promoted learning in the past, such as creativity and enthusiasm for the subject matter, are still what are most important in the 21st century. At the same time I do not believe that technology should be completely ignored. If used correctly it has the capacity to enhance creativity and increase a student’s interest.

Karl Fisch: Is It Okay to Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?

Mr. Fisch states that in his opinion there are groups of educators who are illiterate in terms technology, and to a certain extent proud of it. In his belief this is not acceptable. He goes further to make the statement , “if a teacher today is not technologically literate- and is unwilling to make the effort to learn more- it’s equivalent to a teacher 30 years ago who didn’t know how to read and write.” It is clear that Mr. Fisch believes that technology has penetrated so many aspects of today’s society that in order for students to be successful and compete in the workforce it is as important for them to understand how to use technology as it is to know reading and writing. Teachers must adapt with the advances in technology themselves in order for their students to gain the same skills.

I have done several long term subbing rotations in middle schools, high schools, and elementary schools giving me the opportunity to observe teachers in their classrooms. I tend to agree with what Mr. Fisch is saying as teachers seldom utilized technology and demonstrated little more than rudimentary skills. Most of my experiences were in special education classrooms, which would have benefited greatly from the use of technology. I agree that teachers must become more techs literate and the attitude of those who lack basic computer skills must change. Mr. Fisch’s analogy between safety on the internet and that of not understanding the mechanics of the internal combustion engine but still knowing how to safely navigate streets is one I find particularly true. We do not need to know everything there is to know about the technology we are using in order to do so in a safe and effective manner.

Gary Hayes Social Media Count

Gary Hayes web page shows the incredible rate at which people’s use of technology for social networking and entertainment purposes is growing. Every second of the day there is somebody creating accounts on social networks like twitter and facebook. It is clear that people are spending hours using technology to communicate and network. It is safe to assume that this trend will only continue and most likely accelerate. New technologies will come that will allow an even greater population to interact with one another at faster speeds.

I believe this will impact my future career as a teacher in two major ways. First, the ability to easily and quickly communicate with my students and peers will provide many opportunities that have not been available to teachers in the past. In order to take advantage of these opportunities I must find was to incorporate these social networking and communication tools into my curriculum. One such way would be to upload homework assignments to websites so they are accessible to students at any time. The second way that these social networking tools will impact my career is that they can be a distraction to the students. While the advances that have been made in terms of ease of communications can greatly benefit the classroom they can also have negative impacts as well. These tools are currently used mainly for entertainment and casual social communication which can detract from the effectiveness of the tool in the classroom. Additionally these tools can make cheating much easier and harder to detect.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Dramatic Facts About Schools (week 1)

Mr. Winkle Wakes

In the movie “Mr. Winkle Wakes”, by Matthew Needleman, you see that n old man wakes after sleeping hundreds of years to a world that is technology. Mr. Winkle wandered into a business filled with technology. He was disturbed by all the technology because it was new to him. He felt ill, then found a hospital to get some help and saw the computers and x-ray machines there as well. He was unable to stay in the hospital because the technology made him uncomfortable if not ill. Then Mr. Winkle found a school and went in. He felt right at home. It was just like his school a hundred years ago. He noticed that the school was using pencils and paper and the computer that was in the class was left in the back collecting dust.

My belief is, despite Mr. Needleman’s suggestion that schools should put technology to use and modernize like business organizations and hospitals, so that people depend on technology too much now when it comes to children. Yes it is good to have the World Wide Web at a child’s finger tips, but the same information can also be found going to the school’s library. Face book, for example, can be beneficial but it also can cause problems. Teens use technology too much. They fail to get outside or do not concentrate on their studies.



Did you know? 3.0

The “Did You Know?” by Kari Fisch gave me knowledge of facts that I never knew about. The fact that many things have increased in the last few years have been astonishing. Another thing that intrigued me was when Mr. Fisch said that technology coming out today can be advanced and updated by the near future. He then continued to say that the information that a freshman student in college learns about technology in school will be updated by the time that the same student reaches his or her junior year of college.

During family discussions, I heard that China and India had a lot more numbers when dealing with people population then of the United States, but it’s hard to picture these countries are much smaller in land size then ours. To also find out that China and India have so many children in cramped classrooms but are able to learn and get an education that can excel the children in the united States, that have so many resources is beyond amazing. This just tells us that every county can learn from other countries. Also, the countries that have a high number of intellectual children do not use all this high tech devices that America does.

An example of how fast technology gets updates is most video game units. By the time you save up the money to buy the unit and some games, the manufactory has come up with a new and improved unit and puts it on the market. Are we realigning on technology to much? You can’t go outside your house without seeing cell phones attached to people’s ears or computers strapped to people’s backs at schools going class to class. When all is said and done, we have to live in a world of technology that advances from one day to the next. It’s your choose if you keep up with it or not.



Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity

Ken Robinson talks and gives examples of how children in school show creativity through drawings, plays and words. Mr. Robinson also talks about how in the past before ADHD was diagnosed, they would say that if this girl wouldn’t sit still, they were a dancer. This girl went on and created musical plays that are watched and enjoyed around the world. Children use their creativity towards their imagination, and their imagination is used when they read and write. There are things that a fact that all children and adults should know is true, but when it comes to fiction and imagination, creativity should be allowed in the world and minds of every child. Creativity is a child.

I agree on when Mr. Robinson said, ‘you can’t be creative unless you are prepared to be wrong. ‘Children can make the most magnificent ideas and perception on how they see things. Schools are starting to take more creative classes, like music, art, and drama out of schools and pushing the more academic classes like math, English, History, and Science classes as the major classes. I was in school musicals and chorus from elementary school to college and the creativity that I got by this was entwined with my English and math classes. For example, to help interpret answers I used music and art to help me understand better.


Vicki Davis: Harness Your Students’ Digital Smarts

Vicki Davis talks about how she interacted into her classroom with technology and blogs so they can learn from their classmates and from other students around the world. Ms. Davis’ explains that using Google Docs can allow the accurate material to reach each student to their needs. The part of this that I enjoyed hearing about is that the students are able to learn about technology by themselves or from other classmates as they are able to learn it. It also allowed them to connect to students around the world and see different cultures and how other students in different continents use technology.

What concerns me is, are we allowing too much technology in the classroom? I understand how using certain tools to learn about different cultures right from the mouths of those other students, but I don’t entirely agree with Ms. Davis when she said that using pencil and paper does not allow students to strive. You can turn on news stations and hear them tell parents how to limit their child's computer use in a single day. To me, I think that teaching students to learn this way is keeping an excuse to stay on so long to networks.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Welcome

Hello, My name is Heather and I'm a special education major. Welcome to my first time blog.