After taking the class...

See the updated technology biography...

Reaction: Chapter 9

Chapter 9 is the concluding chapter to the book. It attempts to answer the question of "what is all this technology going to mean for the classroom?" I think it is important to keep in mind, and the book alludes to this, that the internet is getting bigger and bigger, and students will be able to use it more for their education. The book mentions where before, students would have to research in libraries and books that would require large amounts of time that they would not do anyways, now students can simply Google whatever it is they want to look up. This is an interesting time in education. Technologies like blogs and podcasting mean that not only will students be learning, but teachers and people outside of the classroom can learn as well from what is being posted on the web. Classes will become more of a collaborative effort between students and faculty. It will be interesting to compare education in 1989 to education in 1999 and then in 2009.

Chapter 6

Chapter 6 is about social bookmarking web sites. The main web site mentioned in the text is Furl, which I must admit I never heard of, but then again I had also never heard of social bookmarking. It is an interesting idea however. For example, if I am doing a research project on dolphins, I can use the site to look up what web sites other people have bookmarked on dolphins as well. So instead of working alone to find information, I can use the help of other people as well. It seems like it could be a good tool in the classroom to help make research that much easier.

Chapter 8: Podcasting and Screencasting

With the marketing of the ipod, it is amazing how it has all taken off. If you go into any electronics section of a store, you will see ipod inspired everything. Even items not even associated with ipods are named i-something. Podcasting reminds me of q-tips, it could be called audiocasting just like q-tips are cotton swabs, but the brand name stuck. Like RSS feeds, it seems like podcasting is becoming more popular everyday. The main idea I can see that holds educational value with podcasting is the fact that classes can be recorded and the podcast can be posted online for students that would like to hear the lecture again or if the student missed, they could listen to it. Screencasting is a new idea to me, in which audio can be added to computer video. This could be used for some good things as well as with podcasting.

Digital Articles: Reaction

Synching up with the iKid and Adopt and Adapt are two articles that deal with using technology in the classroom. Essentially the idea is that technology is here and nothing can be done about it. The students that we will teach in school have grown up with technology and it is like they are hardwired differently than previous generations. There are people who want to stick to the old ways of teaching, but they have failed; using technology in new ways in schools has had some success. They are interesting articles to read. There are even people in the education field that have varying feelings on how technology should be used, whether it is having a totally wired (or wireless) classroom with no books to having just one computer and going from there. Maybe more technology is not the answer, but it appears to help students become more interested in school, and thats something to take note of.

Reading Response: Chapter 4

Where would the world be without Wikipedia? Chapter 4 is all about the use of wikis in the classroom. Personally, I like the idea of using wikis in the classroom. For example, have the students work on a project, say on George Washington, and they could continue adding information or editing the page. In essence, the students could use the wiki to work on a group essay if you will. Wikipedia is a great tool to help students with research, as long as they use it as a springboard to other things.

Parallelogram

Parallelogram
Originally uploaded by paceythebull79

This is an example of a parallelogram in the real world. Now, go out into the real world and find 10 examples of geometric shapes in real life. Then, post them to your Flickr account and use the 'Add Note" feature to tell us what the shape is. If you click on the picture of the parallelogram, it will take you to my Flickr account with several other examples of real-life geometric shapes.

Reading Response : Chapters 3, 5, 7

A discussion in chapter 3 is about using weblogs and how to go about this. The tip is to start small and model for the students how to use them. Once the students grasp the concept and are able to use them for items like retrieving homework or checking grades, then move on to more complicated tasks like using blogs to encourage class discussions. Most of the discussion focuses one Blogger.com, but other educational web sites are mentioned. Chapter 5 was about RSS feeds, something I knew absolutely nothing about. RSS stands for Real Simple Syndication. It is a way to receive updates from web sites or blogs and you would not have to visit the site itself, it will come right to you. This would be good for education if you have students that use blogs; the RSS will send you any updates on the blogs. Chapter 7 is about using Flickr. Flickr is a photo sharing web site and one that can be used to store photos to use in blogs. The educational application is that pictures of classroom activities can be stored on flickr and then used in blogs.

What Strategies do you use in Research?

I think this depends on what it is I am researching. If I am working on a large research paper, I may use scholarly journals and search through them using JSTOR or EBSCOhost. Also, I may use books from the university library. If I am using the internet to find information, I may use Google to look up web sites about my topic or I may use Wikipedia to get a brief overview of a topic.

Reading Response: Chapters 1 & 2

It was interesting to read a little bit about the history behind the internet. Also, as someone who knew nothing about blogs, it is interesting to see the history behind them as well. I had no idea Howard Dean used a blog to such an extent in his presidential campaign. I had never heard of the phrase "Digital Natives". I guess I would be considered just old enough to miss this designation; I know someone whose daughter was four years old and used the family's computer. The Toolbox section on page 8 is an excellent glossary of technology terms. At one point in the text, the writer mentions that using a blog or a web site where a teacher can put links for educational web sites, post homework, and provide a forum for students to react to readings. It is a great idea. Although I am sure I have read blogs before, I am just surprised by how big the blogging community is. I have used the internet for at least 10 years and it just seems like recently blogging has become popular. And as long as I have used the internet, I guess there is always some more surprises out there.

Technology Biography

Technology is a wonderful thing. The first time I used a computer was in elementary school playing learning games like Oregon Trail (left) and Number Munchers. That was what we did in the computer lab; we never did any spread sheets or typing of papers, just educational games. It was not until middle school that I saw people using computers or other things. In fact it was a requirement that you had to use a computer to type papers. My grandmother thankfully bought my first computer for me (a Packard-Bell) and I was hooked. I always tinkered around with it trying to figure out what it did. A friend of mine got the internet before I did and we spent so much time on AOL 3.0. It seemed so cool to be able to talk to people across the country and to look online about movies and music and the like. As I got older, I learned more about computers. I would say that I am not a novice, but I am not an expert by any means.

Aside from playing the educational games in elementary school, most of my experience with computers in school was using word processors to type papers. I did take a class my freshman year of high school in which we worked with a version of Microsoft Office, learning to use Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. I still remember coming up with a PowerPoint in which we had an intergalactic battle between Twinkies and Ho-Hos (don't ask). My next foray into computers was my sophomore year and taking a computer programming class. It was by far the toughest class I have ever taken in my life. I couldn't understand anything we did in that class and I had to ask for help from everyone in that class. Anytime I read the book I fell asleep (no joke) and whenever I asked for help from the teacher, she would show me a programming error, fix it, and move on and not tell me what she did or what mistake I made. Needless to say, thats when I decided computer programming was not for me.

As someone who has had good and bad experiences in the classroom, I think that overall, technology is good for the classroom. Technology is always changing and improving on itself. Programs like Blackboard and websites like blogger.com are just examples of technology that can be used to help students outside of the classroom and a point of reference for students and the teacher. Students need to use technology in their lives; it is our responsibility as teachers to incorporate technology into the classroom.

Update:
After taking this class, I feel I have a better understanding of some of the new technologies out there. I mean, I never knew what a blog was. The class also gave me a more open mind to all the possible applications for using technology in the classroom. I feel more confident with technology and I would definitely like to use something like blogger in the classroom.