Educating Esme

My technology class has come to an end, but I'm not sure if I am done with blogging, so I will just share some recent discoveries. I have just finished reading the book Educating Esme. It is a diary of Esme Codell's first year of teaching. When the diary was written, it wasn't meant to be published. It was simply a journal to collect thoughts, to vent about the problems and joys of the classroom. Yet after it was found by a friend, it was published to inspire new teachers everywhere and to remind others why they went into teaching in the first place. That being said, it wasn't edited before put into print so mistakes were made by Esme, and there are some situations she probably didn't handle the best, but as you may already know, how can you improve if you never admit to mistakes?

This book was great. Esme is definitely a creative, strong, and determined individual. She brings imagination into the classroom by creating such things as a time machine and the happy box. She doesn't let people bring her down, she challenges the administration when needed and makes sure that everything she is does is what's best for the children whether or not that matches the other teacher's views or the administrations. She is a fantastic teacher who knows strengths of combining creativity and uniqueness with discipline and respect.

The best part of the book is that it has tips for educators in the back, including a shopping list and advice for how to handle the current political view on teachers. It also talks about Planet Esme, a website created by Esme herself to help teachers explore the world of literature and use it if they wish in their classroom. On that website, there is also a link to esme's blog: http://www.educatingesme.blogspot.com/ where she talks about current struggles teachers are facing or learn about new books with the book-a-day setup.

I strongly recommend checking these out if you're a teacher or even if you have an interest in children or creativity, but as Lavare Burton of Reading Rainbow used to say, "You don't have to take my word for it!"

May 12th Exit Slip

Today we had one last discussion. We did an activity where we learned how people who have a lot of differences can also connect together.  Then we also talked about other jobs we could do if we don't end up teaching. We then talked about if we  had Ella Boyer in our classroom, how could we integrate technology? As a class we talked about the use of technology in reenacting old historical events in present times, or using blogs to connect with parents. I talked about the use of visual clickers for younger kids for assessment to hear the voice of each student. We talked about new things to add to our portfolio and explain specifically how we will integrate technology in our classrooms. Change standards 3-5 to say I will in. Also, remember to submit reflection paper. Long enough to cover context (who you worked with, what you did, where you did) and what did you learn (what do you now know that you didn't know before. 

Chapter 10 in Rethinking Education

Well I can't believe it, but I just finished the last chapter of this book. This is the first chapter that not only talks about the possibilities of what technology might do to society, but how it will. It provides ideas to help assist education through technology. It talks about the importance of education to helps students in the workforce. This includes providing federal funding to provide offices in high schools to include information about colleges and higher learning as well as for students who are not going to college. It talks about implementing a who cares attitude when teaching subjects to teach students about the jobs that use that information or careers that might implement them. These careers could technological based or otherwise. It talks about the importance of teaching technological opportunities. It talks about the importance of teaching transition properly. Students should be aware that just because their leaving school, they shouldn't stop learning. It is becoming more common for people to switch jobs constantly and move up in the world in other areas than their major. It's important to also have federal government be a big benefactor to the schools in order to implement technology. It should no longer be the jobs of the towns or states.

As a whole, this book raised a lot of important issues and ideas. It was still very vague about what to do. The majority of the book was to make people aware of problems, but it did little to explain how to fix them.  I hope teachers still try. I think this book has helped my learning and it is a great resource for an introductory technology course.

iRLO Scratch Project

I had a lot of fun working with Scratch. There were times when it was frustrating, but I am very proud of my accomplishments. I can now say I made my own mini video game. I don't know if I will use Scratch in the future because it is very time consuming, but I may use pre-made videos from the internet to promote interaction. I spent hours on my project. I wanted to make it look professional. I also recorded my own voice and used music to make it apply to Early Childhood aged children the best. It impacts my future teaching due to the fact that I now have a new resource to use in my classroom and a new way to engage my students in lessons.

PSA-Security Theft

It was a lot of fun working on our Public Service Announcement about Security Theft. This was a video made by Bryan Ratz, Elizabeth Sommer, Lynsey Carlson and myself. We met twice to work on this project. Each time we met for at least 2 hours. We met once to plan it, and film it, and once to edit/upload it. We tried to make it like an old fashioned PSA commercial from the 90s. We did it in black and white, and referenced people like Nancy Grace. This was a great way to apply the technology we learned in the class and apply it to a project. I wish there was a more advanced rubric for it, since we didn't know what kind of effects were wanted, but I still had fun doing it. Here it is. Let me know what you think!

May 5th Exit Slip/Peer Led Discussion Post

Today in class, Lynsey and I presented. I was weirdly nervous even though we were well prepared. It's hard to have a 20 minute discussion on anything. I'm really looking forward to next week when we can spend the majority of the time on one main discussion. I wish we could have gotten feedback, but sometime we run out of time. It was a worthwhile discussion and I'm glad I got to give it. We put a lot of work into our lesson. We met beforehand to decide what we were going to teach, and then I worked individually on the Prezi and she worked on the discussion questions. I also found a video to engage the students. This lesson helped me to create an interesting discussion from a chapter that had many choices of what to focus on. This lesson helped me to evaluate the reading and to have the class evaluate it and learn it to a greater extent as well.

Chapter 8 and 9 in Rethinking Education of Technology

Chapter 8 talked about specified learning. It talked about using tests similar to the GRE to allow children to learn about their interests. It would be a different kind of test taking. The test would customize to what each student is best in and focus strongly and teaching them those skills. It would allow students to learn subjects at their own pace. Each question would be given in response to another question. If a question was too easy, it would give you a harder question. If the question was too hard, it would be easier. While this is a great process in order to become proficient in a subject, would it be limiting since the student is only picking out what they want to learn? If students only focus on their original interests, they would no longer be well rounded individuals. While it might not be fun to learn about History if that's not what you're into, it's still important to learn about it. This chapter brought me back to the age old question: Is it better to be sorta good at a lot of things or be able to excel and one thing and one thing only? It's definitely a question to be pondered.

Lynsey and I are presenting Chapter 9 in class. It talks about how to connect to your children through education. If your child likes video games, ask them to teach you how to play. If they like Dinosaurs, show them an interactive website where they can use them. One of the websites talked about using a program called Second Life to get them interested. For my teaching topic, I am going to download Second life so I can show the class how to use it and we can talk about the pros and cons as a class.

April 28th Exit Slip

Today we talked about different kinds of learning. I think the people who taught today had the right idea, but I think they could've taught the lesson a little differently. It was hard to hear them, and they seemed bored and uninterested in what they were teaching. It was hard to have deep conversation since they tried to cover multiple things in such a short amount of time. I think next week when I'm in charge of teaching I will be able to take these ideas to make a more exciting lesson. I plan to use the computer in some way and create strong discussion with the rest of the time. I will talk to Lynsey however to add her input. Dr. Boyer also talked about backgrounds and how display tends to be different on the projected image than it is on the computer screen. The colors are darker and the contrast is much less. Something to be aware of when creating your lesson. Today was long but interesting. I think I will add more enthusiasm and exciting to Lynsey's and I's lesson.

We also talked about our portfolio homework. We can either provide evidence for each of the standards or we can state what we will do in order to gain the development we need. Evidence can include a link to something we have previously done or it can be a statement of what we have done.

Chapters 6 & 7 in Rethinking Education Book

Chapter 6 talks about how some of the subjects students learn are no longer given to them by the teachers. Students choose what they want to learn and explore it on their own through the internet. More and more students are interested in jobs where they are Web designers or mix videos for a living. Most jobs now a days must include skills in resources, interpersonal, information, systems and technology. The role of the teacher has changed as well. In the olden days, Parents were the teachers of their children. Then it was Teachers, strangers implementing them with the knowledge they choose, and now technology is added into the mix. The subjects learned have changed dramatically due to these changes.

Chapter 7 talks about the possibility of different groups taking over the education system. Whether it be more conservative or liberal, environmentalists or different races. If this were to happen it would delete diversity and less culture would be taught. People would be more isolated into their different groups and everything the world has learned about differences will be undone. It ruins the vision of different types of people being able to work together to share experiences and to explore each others' differences. There are advantages as well though. Students will be able to have a deeper focus on one or two specific subjects instead of a little bit of everything. They will get to choose what they want to learn and not learn. The question is, is that really better?

April 21, Exit Slip

Today in class, we discussed chapter 4 and 5 of Rethinking Education in the classroom. Both groups did a great job of keeping our attention and keeping us engaged. Dr. Boyer expressed how important it is to introduce new ways of teaching tops. Routine gets boring. That's something to use in this classroom as well as in my own future classroom. We also rated them in class, and talked about our homework expectations.

Chapters 4 and 5 and Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology

Chapter 4 reminded me that there was a process to getting lots of things in teaching that I take for granted. It talked about the struggle America faced to get to schools with Universal Teaching. I was reminded of the process America traveled of creating an actual classroom where children could learn skills such as read and write instead of just being taught them by their parents. I learned how classrooms evolved from the one room school house to an actual full school. I was reminded of how teaching wasn't always part of the labor force and eventually became a paid position. I learned how aspects of school I just take for granted like attendance, grading, period switches, textbooks and curriculum units were implemented. As a future teacher I will remember the history of teaching and what fellow past teachers have gone through to get to where the teaching world is today.

Chapter 5 talked about the new opportunities (or possibly threats) are approaching the teaching environment. There's been large growth in homeschool, school in the workplace, distance education, adult education, learning centers, educational television and videos, educational computer software, technical certifications and Internet cafes. The face of education is changing rapidly and we have yet to see what form it will take. I learned it is important to stay up to date on these new improvements in the world of education to be aware of what today's children and adults are learning. This chapter went into great detail about these different faces providing pros and cons which will impact how children learn and I how I should teach my everyday classroom. We need to make sure as teachers that we don't let our students think of some of these technological tools as replacements of schools but rather as helpful insights.

Final Submission of Interactive Whiteboard Lesson

I have finally finished my Interactive Whiteboard Lesson (IWB) for the Smart Board and I am glad. It was a lot harder than I expected. I had a lot of trouble with little nit-picky things. I also found out that Smart notebook, for whatever reason, doesn't work well on my laptop. It slows everything down and tends to freeze very easily. I had to redo my work at least 4 times due to this, and I also had problems with transferring my lesson between computers. It was very frustrating. I don't think this project will stop me from using Smart Board lessons in the future, but I might prefer to use pre-made ones that can be found online or from other colleagues.

PLC Presentation

Well, I'm finally done with my Professional Learning Community (PLC) presentation. We presented about Smart Pens. It was exciting to learn about them, and I feel like I learned a lot. I've shared my learned information with people inside and outside of the classroom and I feel like a smart pen specialist. (haha). I think our presentation went very well. We were very organized as a group and we each had our own insight to bring to the table. The speaking during the presentation could've been a lot better. We used an almost infinite amount of ums, and I learned that the way I talk to a crowd is very casual and I need to work to make it more professional during presentations. It's hard, because how I talk is so much a part of my personality, but I can still tone up the professional scale so I sound less like a college student and more like a future educator. This was a great project and I feel I will use this knowledge as much as I can in my teaching career. I also got to make some new friends which is always a plus!

April 14th Exit Slip

Today we had a very interesting student-lead discussion about the difference views between skeptics views on technology and non-skeptic views. It was interesting to talk more in depth on the pros and cons. We also talked about different ways to lead discussion. One group had an activity which had people stand in either the skeptic area of the room or the non-skeptic area and debate their views with the opposite group. The other group's activity had us divided in to separate groups and organizing the different values in the classroom based on importance in the technological world. It was very interesting. I wonder what the next groups will do!

Chapters 2 and 3 of Rethinking Education in the Classroom

These two chapters talk about the many opportunities technology can create for education in the classroom. Chapter 2 focuses mostly on the Enthusiast's argument. This includes how technology in education is changing every aspect of the way we learn. It affects reading, reflection of our own work, the rate at which we learn a subject, the social interaction we have and much more. Technology makes work more accessible to the common person. It allows us to meet communities all around the world to share experiences and culture. Education is no longer just shared locally but globally as well. Chapter 2 also talks about the way teaching outside of the world of technology has become very "Just in time" types of learning, in that there is no ease in to what we are expecting students to learn. We give them the big picture right away before explaining how we get there, or what is needed to learn the basics first. With technology however, we are able to give students those steps that they need. Technology creates more time and online learning by letting students work at their own pace. Scaffolding is now available due to trouble shooting guides to aid a student's help if the teacher or lesson is going too fast. This can also even be learned through multimedia and video games where not everything is presented right away and the player needs to ask questions or explore to finish the main adventure.

Chapter 3 talks about the Skeptics' Argument. It talks about why teachers are afraid of technology. Why this change can sometimes be harder before it is easier. It explains the barriers schools face such as cost and access or classroom management. It brings up important aspects that make it hard to classrooms to experience the new ideas of technology. It also reminds us that computers can only do so much and that it is ultimately the teacher's job to make the most out of technology and the changing society of education. And while this is true, I think as a teacher, it is our job to work to use technology to make the most and make the most engaging and most filled lesson plans and classroom environments we can.

April 7th Exit Slip

Students only spend 14% of their time in schools. That's scary. That's what I learned today in Dr. Boyer's class. We spent our time talking about Ch. 1 and some main ideas of it. We also talked about homework and Scratch (including any questions people might have)

Preface and Chapter 1 of Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology

This book is very intriguing. The writing got me hooked right away (I never thought I would enjoy reading homework!). It is about how technology is changing the way people view learning and education. It talked about how technology makes people of this generation to expect answers with a click of a button, making their patience less and less. Students would much rather learn things from the internet than from lectures. This can make teaching harder since the teacher has to move quicker and work harder to keep their students engaged. As a future teacher, I plan to stay updated on the technological society and world in order to apply what I've learned to the classroom. It will be hard to create lesson plans that are more fast-moving to ensure I get the students' attention, and it will be hard to find new and exciting ways to get my students involved, but I think it is worth the challenge.

March 31 Exit Slip

Today in class we went over a lot of reminders of assignments that are getting closer to being due. We also picked partners for the sharing of book chapters and signed up for what day we were doing on the class organization wiki. We also started our portfolio for 331 and went over tips for Scratch.

March 17th Exit Slip

Today in class, it was my job to write what we did today in the Class Organization Wiki. So everything we did today can be found here under the section 2 subpage. Check it out!

March 10th Exit Slip

Today we learned about the world of Scratch. Scratch is a program creating tool, you can create games and lessons and characters. As part of the A contract we will have to create a program in Scratch. Since I have never had a programing class, I am terrified to do this. I will have to download it on my computer and mess around with it to understand how to use it. We also talked about a couple SLC's we could do with Scratch which also sounds terrifying. I guess I'll have to keep looking for a SLC to do. We also have to evaluate each other's smart boards, which makes me nervous because I keep having problems with smart notebook on my computer, but I'll talk to Dr. Boyer and see how it goes..

Contemporary Issue Podcast

So the project I have been worrying about and putting off for the last week or so is finally done. I had to record a podcast about a contemporary issue dealing with technology and add in lead in/lead out music and a sound effect. It was more nerve wrecking than I thought it would be but all in all was pretty easy. I put a lot of effort into this task. It took about 7 different recordings to get it the way I wanted and the whole thing took me about an hour and a half to do. I think this podcast will affect my future teaching by making me aware of the amount of time and thought that goes into making a podcast and how easy they really are to do. I don't know if I would use them with my early childhood students, but it would be a great way to explain things done in class to the parents. I think it turned out pretty good, but I'll let you be the judge. Here it is: 

Julia's Contemporary Issue Podcast.mp3

Last Chapter of Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts

Well the time has come. We have now read this whole book for our Educational technology course. The last chapter talks about the involvement of the internet in the classroom and how to successfully apply it. It's important for the classroom learning environment to no longer be a way of talking at students, or lecturing them, but a way to have a continuous conversation. In a conversation, the other people involved are able to ask questions, share what they know and learn knew things about the other person or people included in the conversation. It is essential for the students to have questions and to be able to know where to find them; to use the internet as a never ending resource. It is also important to teach students to be aware that their assignments are no longer a one time thing. Everything that is entered into the internet stays there. It can be re-found and shared. It's not like the old days where something is done, graded and then trashed. It is also important to know that even though the internet has been here just a little while, it is still growing and it is still just a child trying to find its place in the world, trying to see, feel and be involved in every exciting thing going on.

Skype Screencast

Today I had to make a screencast for my class. We were to pick a popular technology tool that could be used in the classroom and explain it's strengths, weaknesses, opportunity, and threats in a screencast. I spent an hour on it. I had to re-record a couple times and rewrite the script. I put a lot of work into this. I think this would be a great help in a classroom and although the students wouldn't be able to use it (I'm an early childhood major) it could be very helpful for the parents in order to explain programs being used in the classroom. I hope you enjoy it, and I hope you take into consideration that it's my first one! Here it is: My Skype Screencast

March 3 Class Exit Slip

Today in class, we started out with questions. As we are in the middle of the semester, there is much more work to be done. Lots of homework and projects. After the forum of questions was closed, we started talking about our PLC group and how to research and share our information for our projects. We explored new sites like the ones listed here and added them into our delicious account. After exploring these sites, we talked about our podcast project due next week. We learned this week how to use Audacity (the Window's program for recording it). Last week we learned how to do it in Garageband (the Mac program).  We then learned how to share this information with our teacher and to upload it to D2L and share it on our blog. We talked about each thing in great length and our professor was very helpful and stressed greatly how important it is to ask questions if you need to. And that's it. That was our class today.

Chapter 7 and 9 in Blogs, Wikis and Podcasts

In Chapter 7, I learned all about a new photo sharing site. It is called Flicker. Flicker allows photos to be shared, found around the world, talked about and tagged to other things. It's like a mix of a delicious account, a blog and a social networking site. It also allows photo journalism to take place. People are able to find photos on anything and write a story about them, combine them, or simply just comment on them. It is a tool growing fast in popularity and it can even be useful in the classroom. It's like it's own little society where students can learn about different ways to see things or learn about others' ways of expressing themselves. It is very interesting, but I am afraid I do think it has some flaws. I think that although there is a filtering system, students could see images that are inappropriate, or have photos tagged of them that could prevent them from looking professional or getting a job. It's a very useful tool, but I think teachers need to stress the correct way to use it and ways in which it can be harmful instead of just jumping right into it. I'm also curious how this site can be used in an early childhood classroom. Most of the examples in the book were for older grades and the knowledge students would have to know to use it may be too advanced for such a young age.

Chapter 9 talked about the world of Social Networking including sites like Facebook and Ning. These sites need to stop being seen as threats or something we should (as teachers) ban and should be studied and applied in the classroom. Teachers need to teach students about the affect on the internet their students postings have. Imagine how great it could be if teachers and students worked together to socially share information via the internet. Homework could be submitted through these sites, or even art projects. A teacher used Ning (which is a similar sharing site like facebook) to have students express their views and art through the resources of the internet. I think it is important for teachers to know what they are up against and to check out these sites for themselves.

Class February 24

Today in class we talked about what we will be doing for our interactive white board lesson and how we can professionally label our lesson plans. We also went over garage band on how to be familiar with it when using it for our podcast.

Chapter 8: Podcasting, Video, Screencasting, and Live Streaming

There are many things about our schools and society that are quite different from the way it was for my parents growing up. A major difference is computers and with those computers comes the internet. The internet brings lots of new things, and most of these things can be brought into the classroom. In chapter 8, it talks about podcasting, and using video and screencasting to enhance one's learning. Students of all ages can use these tools to help them learn.

Elementary students can use podcasting to reenact a scene from a book they just read, or to explain how to do something they just learned. Middle school students can use them to create public service announcements and to keep others informed of current issues either in the school or in the news. High Schoolers can use for the same reasons as the last two but with music and more added effects. College students or businesses can use them to keep people informed about what is going on at their school or company. Video, like skype (which is an example of live streaming), can be used to bring culture into the classroom that may be miles or countries away. A relatively new tool, Screencasting can be used to annotate work, create internet tours, explain math problems step by step, or show your friends how to use new tools on the internet. Recently, our professor attached a screencast to an assignment telling us how to attempt/complete it. Imagine how much easier it would be too show people how to do things via the internet instead of trying to explain it in an email.

This information all seems so interesting. There are three very important things that make them possible though: a computer, some sort of video camera, and a microphone. Now I know for me, a microphone and video camera are built right into my laptop for no extra charge. I assume that all computers being sold now adays have that as well, but I wonder what it is like to do these things on the old computers? Do you have to attach a microphone and a camera?

I look forward to looking through my research to learn more about these. I think they all can be very beneficial to the classroom and I'm exciting to learn how to use them!

Chapter's 4 and 5-Wiki's and RSS Feeds

Wikipedia. It has always been a constant cringe word for teachers. Most hate it and refuse to use it as a resource. The fact that anyone could update it is what scares most people away. What about the fact that it has been proven that wikipedia is edited more by people that want to do right than wrong? In 2004, University of Buffalo professor Alex Halavais tested this by created 13 errors on various posts on Wikipedia, all of which were fixed in a couple of hours. What about the other fact, that wikipedia is well used news source that updates faster than most sites and most newscasts? For example, the Wikipedia entry created about the Indian Ocean earthquake that struck just after Christmas 2004 and created a tsunami that killed more than 175,000 people was able to turn from just a simple post, to a mass read thing able for viewing across the world for anyone with a computer or internet access. Wikipedia is just an example of a Wiki. Wiki can be edited and viewed by anyone. Great for using online to let families know what's going on in your school or in your classroom. Lots of teachers use PBwiki.com which is a site to help people get used to the wiki world.

Another helpful tool to use for a classroom teacher is a RSS feed. This allows teachers to see several helpful sites on one page (like the newsfeed on facebook that shows current statuses) and to see what is used most and most recently. This can be done on Google Reader. You can set up your own settings for what you personally want to see and how you want it to be organized. Try it out today! Just go to www.google.com/reader to subscribe!

2/17 Lab Reflection

We started out class by evaluating each other's blogs and sharing comments. We also discussed the credibility of websites today and shared our views by using polleverywhere.com. We then learned about Triangulation. Triangulation is the surveying of many different sources. This is important to do when finding out if a site has credible sources. I learned the impact learning about credibility of websites before allowing students to go on the internet. I also learned how to design a lesson for the smartboard. It will be exciting and fun!

Site Mistaken Identities and How to Avoid the Mishaps

As stated in previous posts, although the internet can be a useful tool, it can be dangerous as well. When teaching a class about the internet, it is very important to make it clear to your students that anyone can use the internet and create websites. Websites are not screened for credibility before they are put out into the worldwide web. This can cause confusion when trying to get to certain websites. Some people follow certain rules when looking for credibility such as "if it has .org at the end, it's credible." But that is not always true you see. As I read in 20 Things I Learned About Browsers and the Web, I learned about some key tips to look for when trying to decide if a website is credible or not. It is important for example to pay attention to the host name or the place where the website resides. This is the first part of a website. For example, for the link of this page: http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7378417695609754806, the host name is blogger. As you notice, there are several other components of the link, but the area where this post is held is at blogger.com. It is important to look up that host name to see if it is credible. If you google "blogger" for example, you learn that blogger is a free weblog publishing tool from Google for sharing text, photos and video.

Now, lets use this knowledge to try out other sites for credibility. We will start by testing: http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/ The site looks believable, it will tell you lots of facts about the endangered Tree Octopus. Yet how do we tell if the Tree Octopus exists? Let's check. The host name of this site is zapatopi. If you search zapatopi, you find that the description is: Website of Lyle Zapato: creator of MindGuard, maker of icons, scourge of the forces of mind control and humble servant of Lord Kelvin. Now I don't about you, but I'm pretty sure that if that is the source that is information is coming from, this information is NOT credible.

Interesting discovery? I think yes. Make sure to double check by searching the host name to see what you learn about it. Sometimes, though, sites can get sneaky and not provide a lot about their host name. So it is important to also look for FAQs or things About the Site. These can usually be found on the web home page or at the bottom of the page. If they are not even listed, they probably also aren't credible. This site: http://martinlutherking.org/ looks credible, yet when you try to look up information on where the information for the site came from, it is nowhere to be found. Another site that looks credible from the outside is: http://www.allaboutexplorers.com/, yet when you look at the About This Site you learn that this site was made by teachers to test if their students were using credible sources.

Make sure to use these tips when testing internet sites! You never know what someone might put out there on the internet!

2/10 Class Description

Today in class we became even more familiar with Interactive White Boards or SMART Boards, (which is a type of one) as most people ususally know them. We were given time to explore lesson plans with them and to learn how to use them with different age levels. We also spent a portion of the class evaluating each other's blogs and commenting on things they can improve on. It was an exciting class because I got to see things that I personally could use in my Early Childhood classroom when I am a teacher. I can't wait to use this type of technology in my own class in my own school. It was fun to get a taste of what that would be like and I look forward to more classes.

The Internet, the Scapegoat of Our Lives

I can't believe how one invention has taken over our lives so much. The average user uses 8 3/4 hours per week. Social interaction is more common in front of a screen than face to face. This invention used so frequently is the internet. Even this information that I am putting out into the world will only be viewed through the web.

I recently watched a short documentary for class called Growing up Online. It was very interesting. It hit a lot of great points about the internet that I never thought about. For example, I never thought of sites like Webkinz or Game sites with any form of chat as a stepping stone for young kids to get used to the open world of the internet and the random people or postings they could meet or use. I have always understood the worry that comes from parents and administrators with the children of this time using the internet, but I think it is important to know what length parents should try to protect or overshadow the dealings happening there. In the documentary, a woman talked about how discretion is a thing of the past. Back in the old days, people were much more private. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there were always secrets kept from child to parent and the other way around, but society was less willing to put themselves out there. To show pictures of their bodies publicly, talk to strangers, share interests and relationships. I think it is so interesting that most people aren't aware of changes in relationships or don't think to talk about them until the information is up on Facebook or myspace or some social networking site. If it's not listed, people assume you are unavailable or in some cases unsure of what sex you prefer. These sites spark conversation, on and off the web and are constantly on the minds of people these days. When people aren't on them, they are thinking about the pictures they will look at later, or how to make their statuses sound uniquely clever. 

Media is constantly flowing through society. People of this generation are used to getting answers at the click of a button, and get bored quickly when they have to wait for entertainment. Teachers now a days have to learn how to be a performer, learn how to move quickly from subject to subject so students don't loose interest. Schools should be using technologies available to them to capture that attention. There was a school in the documentary that had smart boards in every classroom and had podcasts given out as homework and sites like spark notes studied and explored. I guarantee these teachers had children's interest in the palm of their hand, much more frequently than the monotone preaching teachers I've spent my school years with.

While the internet can be very useful, it can be dangerous as well. Parents try to capture control of protection by limiting houses to only one computer and putting that computer in a high traffic area. They try to attain passwords to spy on their own children instead of asking them what's going on. Parents also need to understand that most kids and teens need an outlet, just like parents need an outlet from their children. Yes, there are stalkers and predators out there, there is no denying that, but most young adults and children know what they generally act like and what to do if they are put in that situation. As parents, I think they should concentrate less on protecting their children and more on making sure they know how to act in certain situations they encounter in life. Allow your children to have some secrets and they might be more willing to open up. 

I realize I am no parent, I am just a college student, but I feel like I was raised by great parents who I am comfortable sharing any information. As a child living in this generation of constant overload of media and technology, I have to pass my wisdom and information on the only way I know how...through the internet.

New Thinking

Today in class we learned about many things. We learned about wikis and delicious accounts and ways to use this information in our classroom. Wiki's can be used to keep parents informed about what we did each day in class and can be updated by the parents with questions or comments. Delicious is a social bookmarking account. It allows you to save bookmarks online that you would usually only save in your browser, allowing you not to lose them when your computer crashes (which it will someday). It reminds me of stumbleupon.com and how stumbleupon saves your links when you say you like them. I look forward to adding more links to my delicious account in a way that is more organized and can save more information!

Digital Autobiography

Next on my blog is assignment number 3, a digital autobiography of myself. We were given a couple sites to choose from: VoiceThread, PhotoShow, Animoto, or Vuvox. I chose Vuvox. We were only allowed to use 10 pictures. 10 pictures to describe something about us, ten pictures to define a piece of who we are. It was hard to do. I think of myself as being pretty good with technology, but it even took me about two hours to do this, but then again I'm a perfectionist. (ridiculous) I decided to chose my family to represent me. They are a huge part of who I've become and I love them dearly. I chose a song by the Weakerthans. There are one of my favorite bands and they were first introduced to me by my sister. This song is called "The Reasons". I hope you listen to the chorus because it's something I truly believe about most of the people in my life, and I think it's important for them to hear it every once in a while. I hope you enjoy it! Here it is:
My Digital Autobiography

Technology Today and its impact on Education

It's interesting to look back and to think about what the world was like without technology. People must've been much more private, not always knowing where each other was or what they were up to. But then again, that also means that moments between people maybe weren't shared as much. I know that in my family for example, we have become closer thanks to technology. In 2007, a blog was started by my aunts in order to share what was going on in their lives and know about the happenings and events of all my mom's extended family. It allowed different generations to share and to have connections with people that were leading lives so different from the ones they were leading because of the difference in age. I also feel like technology has brought me closer to my college friends. With things like Facebook and texting we can share photos between friends and have conversations that may have otherwise never occurred face to face.

In one of the books for my tech ed class (the class that this blog was made for) talked about the extraordinary changes that have occurred not just in everyday society but in the political world as well. For example, it is no question that part of the reason Obama is now president was because of his website. Supporters formed over 27,000 groups and within those groups raised money, held rallies, and got out the vote. Even the ads on Facebook made users aware of each candidate and what they represented.

It is true that technology has made it's way into many different aspects of society that at least I didn't expect it to appear in. Education for example was one of those categories. I'm excited to learn how to use the materials children use everyday and find a way to incorporate them into the classroom. I am also curious what kinds of technology this means for children of the ages I plan to teach (preschool through third grade). I am very curious how much media and technology children of that age have been exposed to. I know families where tv and technology is barely used and others where it is the primary form of entertainment. What do the teachers of today use for those age groups I wonder? Blogs, email, ipods, podcasts and skype are great ideas, but in order to make them work, children need access to expensive computers, ipods and video cameras(for skype). That being said, I still hope teachers strive to at least incorporate some form of technology into the classroom even if it is just music. Uploading, videos, mp3s, recording devices may seem like simple things but they could really impose a positive learning experience for a child. I can't wait to have my own classroom and to be able to make that influence.

Feelings of Technology

Technology should be an aspect of teaching, but I don’t believe technology should be the only form of teaching. I think it is important to use it to keep students on track and to create fun and new opportunities for learning. For me, technology comes easily and I pick up things very fast. I know however that that is not the case for everyone. I am curious how to use technology in an early childhood setting and to use it in a way that isn’t expensive or keeps kids from exercising or being creative. I don’t like certain ways technology does everything for you. I believe there are good games for children and adults to play as well as bad ones. I also am aware of the effect technology has on your eyes. I, for example, didn’t have to use glasses until after a year and a half of using the computer daily for school. My eyes do need a break every once in a while and I’m worried about that being an issue for young children.