Friday, January 25, 2013

Journal #2


Focus Question #2

Technology does provide unique assistance in the classroom. However before I talk about that let us take a look at how technology is used in the field of science. Computer technology whether people know this or not date all the way back to the Mesopotamian and Egyptian time period of early century. No date specifically exists that marks the creation of the first computer of course referring to the numeric calculator the abacus. So we as humans have always discovered innovative ways to simplify our daily lives the best we can. Even the Sextant was a marvel of its time and lead to many great discoveries such as America. Now back to the question this is how technology promotes learning. From the great minds of Phineas and Ferb on their cartoon television series the “stone-age was once the future so was the medieval period.” So now what does that have to do with just simply dealing out a few extra bucks to ensure a computer is in every classroom? It has everything to do with that to an outsider it merely looks like a computer in a classroom, but to a student it’s a library, it’s the milky-way galaxy, it’s the deepest depths of the oceans. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” to some this represents a person well to me a computer is that person it’s not what brand or company made the computer it’s the limitless ends of information at the hand of a fingertip that makes this so great. That is what Chapter two in our book is trying to convey to us and explain that when you give a kid a computer you are giving them more than a hunk of plastic that goes bzzzzoooommmm.


I have always loved and will always love the nasa.gov site it has tons of amazing features and informational interactive tools that to me no other site can compare. Although the images are not necessarily top notch like the images of history or the images we take of the deep ocean. However cut us scientists a break I mean we have only been space exploring for about 44 years compared to history we aren’t old enough to be out of diapers yet. My favorite activity from the site is the ability to explore galaxies and learn a new planet I’ve never seen before. The interactive planets are something new to me, but I hope to see more of them.

Summary of CH.2

Chapter two had great information to support their belief that technology should start being incorporated into the school’s Curriculum It talks about how computers make history come to life by allowing students to do more than just listen to history, but actually participate in interactive history boards bringing the lesson to life. It explained the three learning theories Behaviorism, Cognitive science, and Constructivism. It stated that teacher centered instruction or transmission teaching is out dated and is no longer keeping America ahead of other countries when it comes to primary and secondary TIMSS examination. So we need a solution and the technology we take for granted everyday can be the solution we need.

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Chapter 1 EME 2040

Focus Question: How do New technologies create new opportunities for teaching and learning?




Technology is defined as an innovation designed to "solve problems and extend human capabilities".
However does it really? Our book has taken the side that if teachers start to incorporate computer usage and technology into their lesson plans that they will recieve more active and involved students. The book says that "students enjoy multitasking using the internet to do school work, listen to music, and chatting on some social network site" (Maloy, Woolf, & Edwards, 2011). However although at the home that is acceptable if we apply it to a classroom situation can it produce the same results. Today Jan. 16 2013 in my Economics class we have computers in the room that students can use. Within ten minutes of our fifty minute class two students were doing homework for a different class one was shopping for shoes and others were simply browsing google. 16 students including me are in my area and only seven of us were not on the computer and left it powered off. I know it is possible for teachers to take a snap shot of all the computers in the rooms screen to see who is on task and who is not, but now a teacher needs to pay extra attention to ensure that all students are on task. Does incorporating technology into the classroom have exponential potential ofcourse it does, but it requires a sense of dignity and honor from the student and the teacher to not misuse the technology provided to them. If this basic principle is met then it can be so much faster to teach because in my experience people feel far more comfortable writting, or in this case typing, their responses than actually vocalizing them so in a sense it provides these shy students a voice to utilize, but the possiblitity of mistreatment and the possiblity that teachers can become uncaring and simply give out online assignments to be completed before class is ended. I know this is in no way a fault of the individual technology, but think of the lack of interests in books due to technology. Final point is our book even stated "Young people aged 15 to 24 read books or other print materials on average only 10 minutes a day, far less time than they spend watching television, listening to music, or engaging in computers."(Maloy, Woolf, & Edwards, 2011).  I'm sorry to say this, but where is the benefit in this situation?

Tech Tool:
I like the "7 things you should know about..." from the Educause.edu website.
7 things you should know about...

The writers type up concise papers addressing 7 topics on a given subject matter. It is a simple read not requiring an extensive knowledge of the entire multi verse of the English language. The information is useful I checked out the 7 things you should know about group texting, and collaborative Learning Spaces. The range of topics on this website is extensive and I can tell they have collected a good collection of topics to really answer, explain or pique someones interest in the new technologies.

Summary of Chapter 1:
     For chapter one I had a difficult time reading through the material I hope as I get more experience reading this type of writting that will change. For the most part I have read science publications and mathmatical journals, but this style of writing seems different and it is not really peeking my interest, but this is a new change so hopefully that will change.
     However while I was reading I felt like the book was creating a very convincing persuasive argument about why we as the future teachers we will soon be should really consider the possibility of incorporating technology in our lesson plans. It gave good statistics about the pluses and minuses and how helpful computers can be for education. I think chapter one truly asks us to figure out where we stand on using technology in our lesson plans and asks us what kind of teacher do we want to be?
     The book classifies three type of "Technology users"
-Elite Tech Users leaders in the computer future.


-Middle of the Road Tech Users who use technology sparringly




-Few Technology assets use it very rarely not to fond of it.

 
 
I am curious what I will learn in the future.

Resources:

Maloy, R., Woolf, B., & Edwards, S. (2011). Transforming Learning With New Technologies. Boston : Pearson Education, Inc.