Chapter 3 Rethinking Education

I believe that the biggest reason why there is such an argument against having technology in the classroom is just peoples fear of the unknown and how it will change the school atmosphere. I also believe that a lot of adults are afraid of their children learning technologies that they themselves are not fluent in and they fall further behind. Just as the beginning of the chapter started out, there has always been change within the classroom and there has always been resistance and fear that went along with it. Simple things such as using paper rather than slate boards and using disposable pens were big issues in their time, so it is no big surprise that some people are up in arms over big budget items such as computers and SMARTBoards being integrated into the classroom.
On page 39 it talks about classroom management and I honestly do not believe that braking the class up into groups and having them work on different things at one time and rotating to different stations is an problem. I have seen this done first have on numerous occasions and actually find it to be a great way to keep the children interested in what they are doing and able to stay on task. By doing this it is also not necessary to have a 1:1 ratio of computer to student as it states on page 37 since the children do not need to be using them all at the same time. So not only does this keep the children focused but will also help with the cost issues that may arise from incorporating the new technologies into the classroom as well.

Exit Slip 9-23-2010

I liked that we went over how to calibrate the SmartBoard. I know it is such a small thing to know how to do, but since it has been such an issue so far in this class already, it is such a relief to know how to do it now! I had looked into the Smart Exchange website before class and after finding out more about it during class I am really excited about being able to use it in my classroom. I think that the possibilities are endless and could really keep the kids interested and help maintain an interactive environment.

Chapter 2 Rethinking Education

I thought that this chapter was very informative and helpful as it broke down the different ways that children learn with different technologies and how they can be incorporated into the classroom. I found a quote that I thought really summed up everything extremely well as far as why technology in the classroom is a crucial part of education.
"Just as reading was made necessary by the printing press and arithmetic by the introduction of money, so computer technologies are changing the very way we think and make sense of the world." (11)
I feel that this is very true and therefore we need to prepare our students for the world that will expect them to be aware of the technologies that they will face in their lives outside of school. Not only will this help prepare them as far as being aware of the current technology, it will also wire their minds to think technologically, which is the mindset of the current world.

Reference: Collins, Allan and Halverson, Richard. Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology. 2009. Teachers College Press. New York.

Chs. 1-3 of Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts

The reading helped to open my mind as to how different technologies can be utilized in the classroom. I particularly like the idea of blogs and think that the children would really enjoy that idea also. I do think that different technologies are more appropriate for different age groups and therefore it is up to the teacher to make the decision as to what would be best for their classroom setting and situation.
I will do the best as I can to incorporate technology into my classroom as I see fit for the situation, but I will not just use certain technologies just to use them even though they will not be very beneficial just because someone says that I should use it.

Growing Up Online

I found this story to be very interesting but not at all shocking. Being a member of facebook myself, I have seen many profiles that are similar to the ones that are talked about in the video. Being a mother, when I connect with my friends on facebook I would expect to see their picture albums to be full of family pictures from different vacations and family evens like mine is, but it seems like so many of them are becoming more and more self involved and are just becoming websites full of pictures promoting themselves and not at all the way that I know them offline. This doesn't just happen to the teenagers that are talked about in the video, and I think that a lot of adults are setting bad examples for the children.
I also was not shocked what-so-ever about teenagers spending so much time on facebook and myspace. Many times I have been in class and will be next to a student on their laptop pretending to be typing notes but is actually on facebook. I personally can't fathom why this would be more important to them at this moment than learning what we are in class to learn and what we have paid good money to be their to learn.
I think that a great way to help monitor our children online is to have the household computer in a common area and not allow them to have computers in their bedrooms. This way they are less likely to look at risky selections and or post risky things about themselves online as they may be caught easier. This is in no way fool proof of course,  but it is a strategy to help detour some of the behaviour. I do think that the one mother of Cam is somewhat overboard at times, such as the concert story. Of course some things that happened at the concert happen, and just because their is documentation of it doesn't mean that everyone there was involved. I don't know exactly how I would have handled it but I do feel that she was out of line to contact all of the parents.

Exit Slip 9-16-2010

I found it interesting how broad of opinions we had in the class regarding the same issues. It was also nice to see that we have people that feel the same way we do and share some of the same view points.
I really liked the Prezi website and found it to be really interesting and a great alternative to doing a PowerPoint presentation. I like that it is on the Internet therefore we don't have to pay for the program and can find our presentations on any computer that we are on.
The bit.ly website was also really interesting. I have never heard of a URL shortener and I think that it is really nice to be able to shorten a URL in a presentation or a wiki page as to not have to take up so much room for the link.

Website Credibility

I think that it can be extremely difficult to know if a website is legitimate or not, especially for younger students. The biggest thing that I can think of would be to see if the information on the site correlates with information that you have found from other sources. You need to always check the facts with more than one source. I also would dive into it more and see if the site seems to be bias or is ran by an organization that is biased to the material. You may be getting more of an opinion than the facts if the site is biased to someones views. There is no sure fire way that I can think of to tell if a website is credible. The best think to do is to have several sources, check your facts against each other and make sure that they all match up to each other.

With the websites that we looked at it was obvious to me as an adult that the MLK Jr. website was extremely biased, and as I looked deeper found that it was connected to a blog ran by a white power group. This would be more of an opinion site to me and not based on historical fact and therefore not credible. This would be difficult for a younger child as they would not have as much information about him and therefore it would be very important that they had more sources to cross reference to make sure that they have accurate information. The website about explorers looked great and extremely credible but the information was full of errors. This was found by having cross references as well. I still believe that the best way to get accurate information is to always have several sources in which to reference and make sure your information correlates.

Chapter 1 Rethinking Education

This reading I found to be really interesting. I have always had an internal fight about how much technology should be used in a classroom and how much of it is needed and or warranted. After reading this section I still do feel somewhat of a struggle but do feel that there is a huge place for it and that we are not just sitting our children in front of computers to learn all day long. But integrating different technologies into the classrooms, not completely replacing the ways we already do things, we are progressing into the future but yet maintaining a lot of the values of just learning and teaching in person. I know that I will continue to learn about the newest technologies as they become available and see which ways I cam implement them into my classroom. I never want to feel that the students are not able to have access to current media that would help them in their futures. I do however want to always make sure to have a lot of personal time with the students and not just have them learn from the computers. I do feel that this is achievable and will only help the students in a very positive way in their currents lives and their futures.

Exit Slip 9-9-2010

I feel like I learned a lot today. I have never heard of Social Bookmarking before and I think that it is an amazing resource! I have always been frusterated by the fact that when I am not at my home computer I can not get to my "favorites" that have been bookmarked on my home computer and by being able to access these bookmarks on any computer is a great resource to be able to have! It is also really great that we can share them with others and also search through other peoples delicious accounts and find other resources that can be helpful to me. The discovery of this website alone today was really great for me and will be an amazing resource for me to have in my personal and professional life.

Digital Autobiography

http://animoto.com/play/7O0nE5GDVlRAzudSa0oAkQ?utm_content=challenger#

I honestly didn't have to put a whole lot of effort into this assignment. I knew what event I wanted to do the assignment on right away. It was just a matter of deciding which pictures to use and finding the right music. The music was actually the hardest part of the assignment as I wanted something that really fit the mood and I was not familiar with any of the songs available.
I think that there is a lot of value in completing this assignment. I have already shared the video with several of my friends and family and received great feedback. It is a great way to share special moments in life and add a different element rather than just looking at the pictures.
Completing this task has made me aware of products that I did not know existed. I look forward to using this in my classroom and making short videos with pictures from field trips and other special occasions in class that the students will really enjoy reliving through the videos.

What is Technology?

1. Technology is a word that is really difficult for me to define. When I think of technology I think of new ideas in the way we do things whether it is the way we perform surgeries or the ways in which we broadcast television or listen to our music. It is continuous and on-going and the process never ends.


2. Technology integration is when you integrate the latest technologies into the classroom. Examples of this would be the use of a SmartBoard™ or a computer while teaching. You could also teach the children to use these items in their classroom assignments.