Technology Inquiry

This assignment required the most work out of any of the assignments in this class. I am not sure if it is because I did it across a couple of days or just because it required a lot work. I found websites that pertained to my topic, wrote an explanation as to how it helped my inquiry question and formed an annotated bibliography for each one. This project took me awhile to complete because there was so much extra research that went into it. Creating links for each website was also something extra that had to be completed as well as taping a screencast. I thought the program for making the screencast was fairly simple and did not take long at all. I had to start many different trials until I chose to use my final copy. The value in completing this task was to learn how to complete a screencast. Before doing this assignment, I did not even know what a screencast was. This project impacts my future teaching because I learned a lot with my topic that I will definitely use in my own classroom. I also learned how to do a screencast so I will be able to use this technique when teaching.

Scratch Reflection

After completing this project, I feel very relieved. I was a bit scared before starting this assignment because of all the hype about it. I did not think it was as hard as I thought it was going to be, but I did have some difficulty during the process. I was not sure what to do when I wanted to have a sprite become a link to the next page. I found out that broadcasting was the way to complete this correctly. It was challenging to draw sprites and the background with just a mouse pad. It took me a few times before I was happy with what I drew. I was satisfied with the way that my project turned out in the end. It took me a few hours on several different occasions combined to finish everything. I started by drawing the background, the sprites and then adding words and sound. I took into consideration the suggestions of my classmates so my project could be improved. I enjoyed doing this project because I have never done anything like it before. I am happy that it is finished and I will probably use it in my class one day!

Exit Slip 4/5

Chapter 9 presentation- parents who play video games with their children should be spending time with them doing other things. Video games are not the best option or activity to promote within the household and time spent doing this should be used for more educational activities.
What careers have been changed with technology?
- Pilots, Teachers, Doctors, Waitress, Architects, Mediorologist, Military
Goals of Education: social cohesion, lifelong learners, etc

Chapter 10 Presentation- teachers need to motivate students in their classroom to want to learn. Teachers should motivate students in subjects that they are not as interested in by figuring out ways to integrate subjects into activities and make connections for them in these topics. The local governments are in charge of the school systems. The federal government could help equalize the balance of the education system.

All of the cool tools were websites that I had never been to before. These include: Flickr, googlelit, drawanywhere, and gabbly. I learned something new from all of these sites but I am not sure that I would use all of them in the classroom. It was interesting listening to all of the contemporary issues presentations as well and learning about issues that I would have never thought of. Technology is interesting because of all the issues it brings up. Teachers and parents need to be careful when using it around students and children.
*Last class.. I enjoyed the semester!

Chapter 10 Reflection

The book is completed! Learning takes place both in the classroom and outside of the classroom everyday. This is what we call lifelong learning- it can happen throughout life all the time. Teachers need to be motivators for students and keep them interested in learning by pursuing their interests. This will keep the students more engaged in learning. Teachers need to prepare students for a more technological age of learning. Currently, the educational field needs people who can promote technological devices to inform schools about them. They need to learn to integrate schooling and technology to provide us with more resources, knowledge and capabilities in the classroom.

It is very important for the teacher to be a motivator in the classroom. I remember teachers I have had in the past that have been very motivating and encouraging and made me excited to learn about different topics. I have also had teachers who have taught for many years and it seemed like their excitement died because they were not interesting at all. Teachers need to incorporate technology in the classroom to help prepare their students for the real world. In the years to come, technology will take over, it happening slowly but it is just a matter of time before it happens. Teachers are the center to learning and students need to be around enthusiastic leaders.

Chapter 9 Reflection

Technology is a part of life that is not going to go away. Those of us who do not embrace it now must understand the possibilities of the new technologies from the inside, if we want to guide the future of education. It has been said that for the first time in history, children are more comfortable, knowledgeable, and literate than their parents about an innovation central to society. Typically, kids know much more about devices such as television, games, computers, instant messaging, and cell phones. Video games provide the clearest case of the technology generation gap. Parents see one side to the story which includes addiction and corruption of the youth, while kids are developing sophisticated problem-solving and communication skills in virtual worlds beyond the experience of many parents. Virtual communities are places where people can find others who share their liking for certain things. It is a place without any involvement in schools and with little adult involvement. Once again, parents view this online time as more time that kids are not reading books.

Technology has created new jargon such as hip-hop slang, instant message conventions which make technology more desirable. This is the time for technological visionaries to act. We are now in the same stage in the second educational revolution that we were in during the last decades of the 19th century. We need strong leadership from innovative educators to make sure that the new system embodies our society's critical goals for education.

Chapter 8 Reflection

Imperatives of the technologies that are driving the revolution are customization, interaction, and learner control. Schools need to embody more individual support and choice in how and what students learn and engage children in more challenging and realistic tasks that reflect the uses of knowledge in the world. I find it interesting that kids today spend over 6 hours per day interacting with technology. This turns out to be more time than they spend in school and almost as much time as they spend sleeping. The book talks about setting up national credentials that can be administered on computer or by trained professionals at any school or learning center. I do not think this is very beneficial when talking about schooling. I see this approach as a way to broaden one's horizons and learn diverse topics. People should not be able to choose their own course of learning like this.

Also, computers are revolutionizing how we measure what people know. With the variety of different standardized tests that are being used on the computer, there are more and more people are being tested this way. The book argues that computers will capture the kind of knowledge and skills required for learning in the professions. Students will be able to create a portfolio of assessments to be used for employment or college applications. I still believe that this is no way to educate citizens. If this approach was taken, it should be during or after college. It should not be so heavily focused on people choosing what they learn when they are so young. My theory is that they will change their minds often because they are immature and have to take many different courses over the years which will just set them back with their personal education. Although students will be encouraged to stay with a particular curriculum for a long time, I just do not think this is realistic.

Exit Slip 3/29

6 major ways that technology is included- Accreditation, Epistemic frames, topics in schools that teachers have trouble teaching, commercial video games, course management systems, technology as an equalizer

Contemporary Issues:
Using calculators in class=practicing tedious computations can potentially decrease attention spans. Students should know how to use the calculator for reinforcement purposes but should also know how to how to compute equations themselves. A lot of students have become dependent on calculators to do quick math. I think that students should have calculator skills to use as a backup to check their math after solving the equations.

IPad= touch screen product that is very similar to the iPhone, can be integrated into curriculum because it is relatively affordable.

Teachers with social networking websites= Teachers are still humans with lives outside of school. There is most definitely pictures and information that should not be posted on these websites because teachers are public employees. Teachers need to be careful because others are able to look at their pages and judge them.

Cool tools=
Kadoo.com= file sharing website, can upload pictures, only your friends can see your pictures but you can only upload one at a time
Woome=this is a dating website so it is not good to use in your classroom
oovoo.com= a website that is kind of like skype (can video chat, add a status, and communicate)

We also went over the directions for editing scratch as well as discussed our inquiry question project.