Ch. 10 and Epilogue of Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts

Last chapter! This chapter addresses the fact that more and more content is appearing online. I once had a friend say to me, "I don't even know why I bother going to class anymore when my professor even says that everything he teaches and more can be found online." Although slightly disturbing to the educator, the truth of the matter is that while there may be more content readily available on the read/write web, it's not going to replace direct instruction, entirely. However, we as teachers might need to adjust to this content shift. My sister is most likely getting a Kindle for her graduation present this year and is already curious to see if she'll be able to get any of her text books from online, rather than having to purchase the actual books. While I find this disheartening, as I practically have my own library, kids these days are practically minimalists when it comes to technology. They want everything in the palm of their hand at the touch of button, and that's exactly what they're getting.

The second observation of trends addressed was that web content has become a collaboration. I still have trouble grasping this concept, but it's truly awesome in the literal sense of the word. Trends like these do and will have tremendous impacts on our lives and the way we teach our students. We owe it to them to stay relevant and keep up with times, and integrate upcoming and new technology as much as possible, and when funds don't allow it, we have to reach out for them and at the bare minimum teach the concepts of the advancing technology.

As a future educator, I will be a keen observer of the trends and latest technology. I will integrate technology and teach my kids about the trends when time and place are appropriate and allowed.

Ch. 9 of Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts

Social networking sites

Absolutely brilliant and completely not at the same time. Social networking sites used in the classroom seems to be a fantastic idea, that is until you get to the part where you're not allowed to use it due to administrative policies. The theory is great. Students can interact with each other in a familiar environment and comment on threads, links, photos, comments, posts, notes, blogs, etc. However, the reality of it is just not very plausible when you have school districts such as the entire state of Texas that simply will not allow you to integrate certain technologies into the classroom, such as social networking sites.

I don't really see the necessity of using a social networking site in the classroom. Students are very familiar with these types of sites, and I think it's best to draw a line between our professional and academic life, and our personal life. When you start mixing the two, bad things happen. A. You start hating your personal life enjoyments because they become forced on you and B. Your personal life can get you into trouble in your academic and professional life. With blogs and wikis available, I believe students will get plenty of interaction on the web through those mediums.

As a future teacher, I will encourage my students to keep their personal life private. I will most definitely encourage interaction as it's a key in learning language and communication, but I don't think I'll do through facebook, myspace, ore any other social networking site.

Technology Inquiry Wiki

Creating a technology inquiry wiki was a valuable assignment. I can see a great use for a wiki in the classroom and it was good to familiarize myself with the creation of one. It was very easy to create and update. The best part is that to get it out there, all I had to do was make sure it was a public wiki and then pass along the link.

I spent a lot of time working on my wiki. I think the hardest part was the annoted bibliography, but as always a vital part of any research. I really enjoyed spending time surfing the web looking for innovative ways to use technology to benefit my ESL students in particular. I gleaned a lot of good information and concepts to use when technology is in short supply. But most importantly, I'm learning how to incorporate an integral part of my students lives into their education to make it more valuable for them.

Exit Slip 12.9.10

Ella's 10th grade Spanish class relies heavily on technology integration in the classroom to promote comfort with various types of language portrayed through the web, media, and technological world.

Here are 3 different ways that I will integrate technology in Ella's (Dr. Boyer's daughter) Spanish class:

1. Media usage- Movies, video clips, songs, podcasts for various language activities.
2. Computer and web- Research for papers and presentations. Blogs for writing practice. Presentation programs like prezi, animoto, vuvox, etc. Wikis for classroom management. Screencasting websites for research projects. Jog the web.
3. Language programs- Assist in language learning, further outside instruction.

*Good idea* (Language classes) Beginning of year, middle of the year, end of the year. Readings, audio recordings to document progress & improvements. As a language teacher, I think this is a great idea! I plan to use this for both my Spanish and ESL classes so that I have documentation of their progress as well as so they can see their progress and examine areas that they need work on.

My thinking about technology's role in teaching and learning hasn't really changed that much over the semester. I have always thought technology to be a integral part of life and society and it just makes sense to bring it's efficiencies and learning opportunities into the classroom. I have however, learned a lot more ways to incorporate technology, and how to use it in different ways to reach various audiences.

Exit Slip 12.2.10

Today we watched a video about a teacher that integrated technology into her classroom. We then dissected our list into two categories: things we could do before technology advances, and things we couldn't do before technology advances. Most things you could do before, however we identified that it's easier sometimes with technology integration and also better, although sometimes it is actually more difficult. There were some benefits of technology integration that you obviously couldn't do without technology, such as world-wide peer interaction, blogging, and computer usage.

The obvious response is to integrate technology into the classroom. So, as a future teacher, I will constantly be reviewing and evaluating my technological use in the classroom in order to provide my students with a superior education.

11.18.10 Exit Slip

Today during discussion of the final chapter of Rethinking Education (yes!) We "jigsawed". This term, although supposedly previously mentioned by Dr. Boyer, was new to me. In case you're not aware, to jigsaw is to place classmates into a group for discussion with the intent to regroup the students for further discussion with said experts. I really liked it because it forced every group member to be responsible for knowing the subject of their small group discussion and to combine the ideas and apply it. Dr. Boyer pointed out that when you do something such as a "jigsaw" you should title it and refer to it's title when you plan on using it so that you don't have to explain your intentions every time, it will become a familiar practice amongst your students. At first I didn't see the need to entitle the act, but after he explained, I agree that it's a great idea to explain the concepts and motives of their actions so they know why it's a good activity and also so you don't have to waste your time and breath always re-explaining. This I will do in my classroom.

Here's some new thinking for you...
The new 3 R's:
relevance
rigor
relationships

Ch.10--Rethinking Ed.

Rethinking Education in a Technological World

And exhale. Basically Chapter 10 of Collins and Halverson’s Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology sums up the entirety of the book. “We argue for a new vision of education” (p. 128). Finally, we see proof that this supposedly unbiased book was the whole time in fact biased; I’m not surprised, as I’ve been pointing out all along, but to see them admit it was a shocker! Anyways, the book breaks down the rethinking of education into learning, motivation, what is important to learn, careers, the transitions between learning and work, educational leadership, and the role of government in education. So we have a lot of rethinking to do.

Rethinking Learning

This was a topic throughout the previous chapters about the Knowledge Revolution and the learning for life concept. We learned about the prevalence of just-in-time learning as opposed to the just-in-case learning and how our educational needs are being met in other ways than the traditional classroom.

Rethinking Motivation

Apparently current schools do a laissez-faire job at motivating students. “…50% of high school students are bored every day in their classes. This section revisits the idea of handing over educational responsibilities to the students and fostering learning in areas of interest that pertain to them. I didn’t like that they suggested more computer-based learning than personal instruction form a teacher. They said that teachers could assist when students needed additional help that the computer couldn’t provide, and that individualized learning would help to get rid of the bad image you obtain when you don’t understand something that other students get. I think this is ridiculous because they’re trying to eliminate reality, and the reality of it is that you can’t get rid of stigmatizations just like that, and even if you eliminate in one setting, the real world is always there to slap you. And although technology can be a motivational factor in some ways, it also can be a hindrance.

Rethinking what is Important to Learn

I found it interesting that our current curriculum is based on medieval trivium, “which consisted of logic, grammar, and rhetoric, and quadrivium, which was made up of arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy” (p. 133). But my favorite part of this section was when they said, “Therefore, students’ time might be better spent in learning how to use mathematical tools to solve real-world problems, rather than learning how to mimic computer algorithms” (p. 134). This is dumb, not everyone can afford a computer, but everyone can learn math equations. Not everyone can comport a computer everywhere, but you can your memory. What happens when the tool breaks down? I see importance in both learning how to use the tools and how to mimic them.

Rethinking Careers

This section focuses on the fact that careers aren’t lifelong, like they once were. Now we have to reinvent ourselves as the times and trends of life change. This emphasizes the importance of lifelong learning and the new trend of working for a while, and then going back to school, and then back to the workforce. Hated the fact that they published we will probably end up working into our 70s and 80s.
Rethinking the Transitions between Learning and Work
This section suggests counseling offices that offer job match up services and networking opportunities. The funny thing is that we actually have these. They’re called temporary job services and whatever that job service they offer at the DMV here is called. While it’s a good idea, why can’t people be responsible for their own networking and job transitions; sure it’s difficult, but that’s what sorts out the determined and the undetermined.
Rethinking Educational Leadership
Collins and Halverson discuss that leadership in education needs to go beyond reform and basically needs to do take a stand and incorporate all of their previously mentioned ideas.

Rethinking the Role of Government in Education

Government has always been a big factor in the educational department. So, Collins and Halverson suggest that government also consider everything they’ve had to say.
The book ends by appealing to technology leaders that might be reading the book to take a stand and accept the challenges that await them in the world of education reform and equity. May the force be with them as “according to a recent survey from the Education Trust, America is the only industrialized country in which today’s young people are less likely than their parents to earn a high school diploma” (p.145).

This book has inspired me to light a fire (and burn it). Just kidding, at least it got me thinking on various levels (of ridiculousness and practicality). I’m glad it’s over and the new thinking I have gained is that it’s good to read many views, including books and articles that upset you so that you have a plethora of opinions and ideas that you can use to sculpt your own views. As a teacher, I will share such resources with my students so that they too can learn the importance of seeing through different lights and angles.

Cool Tools Screencast

•How much effort did you exert preparing for the screencast?

As with any task in this class, a great amount of effort was exerted in preparing for my screencast. I spent a lot of time analyzing my "cool tool" Livemocha.com so that I could develop a good quality script covering the essentials of the program that make it a great tool, the pitfalls, the risks involved in using it in a classroom, and ways that it would be a great tool for my students. In order to make a smooth delivery, I had to practice my script and screen run through multiple times to ensure smooth transitions and professional language.

•How does creating and sharing a screencast with your peers impact your future teaching?

Creating and sharing a screencast with my peers impacts my future teaching by giving new knowledge and resources to better teach my students. Now I don't have to waste my students' time by repeating the same instructions over and over, they can have access to a screencast to learn how to use a tool better or if they forget it's right at their fingertips to review. I believe screencasting is a really neat tool that definitely has a place in the classroom, and I'm glad to say that I can bring it my classroom for my students to use not only my screencasts, but also by allowing them the opportunity to learn and use it in their own learning for projects.

Exit slip 11.11.10

Well today, I spent most of my time in advising rather than in class. I was in the same building though if that helps any. I came back for the last 20 minutes of class, but I assume they were given some free-time to work since there was no discussion going on and people were chattering about the room looking at various projects and assignments. So, today I learned that I really value work time in class, especially since I have a hectic schedule with 2 jobs, various demanding classes, a car that breaks down all the time, and an expensive gym membership that I use to relieve the stresses of my day. I think it's important to consider the crazy lives of our students and that when we assign large projects, it may be helpful for most to have a work day or two, so they can make progress and not be overwhelmed by the depth of the assignment in comparison to all their other tasks and events that they have to attend and complete.

Exit Slip 11.4.10

Dr. Boyer emphasized that one should always set expectations first before setting the group into motion, whether that be going to a website, giving out a worksheet, or placing people in groups. The world is crazily distracting and by doling out instruction and setting expectations beforehand, you can prevent further distractions and wasting your breath on repeating instructions over and over.

As a teacher, I already know I will have to repeat myself many a time, especially since I'm teaching a language. To prevent headaches (for myself and my students) I plan to set expectations first verbally; but also, I plan to post directions, assignments, and rubrics in the classroom or online as well as give out hard copies for reference.

*** "Don't get crazy with fonts, it's called fontitus and it makes your pages looks like crap"--Dr. Boyer

Rethinking Ed--Ch.9

What Does It All Mean?
We have reached the second to last chapter of Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology and I am inhaling for a sigh of relief (I can’t exhale until next week with the end of the last chapter). Each chapter gets a little better as we near the end, and I know the best is yet to come (the end of the darn book). I do enjoy that Chapter 9 begins with a lovely little quote by William Gibson that says, “The future is already here, it’s just unevenly distributed” (p. 122). Starting a chapter with a quote gets the mind juices flowing and helps me to focus on the meaning of the chapter; so, thanks to Collins and Halverson for directing my thoughts on chapter 9. I feel that this chapter was unlike the others in that it was realistic. They begin by asking the readers to “understand the possibilities of the new technologies from the inside…” (p. 122). Even if you aren’t a technology enthusiast (or even if you are) it’s important as an educator to always consider the possibilities of every choice and action you make before you even go to make a move. How can we give our students respectable educations if we don’t reflect on our instruction methods and techniques and the consequences.

With every moment, there is an increase in the technology literacy gap. The consequences of technology use can’t be weighed if the assessor is ignorant. The authors suggest that the literacy gap begins in the home and to ease it, parents shouldn’t demean or criticize their children’s use of technology without examining it for themselves. Parents should take advantage of their child’s technological knowledge for recreational purposes and turn mindless play into learning experiences or even teaching experiences. This section also encourages parents to get their child(ren) linked into online communities with similar interests to promote learning on a deeper level, however I see risky situations arising here. A) Internet security needs to be addressed in a cyber world of nasty pervert internet predators, and B) Topic digression/false information. I think there would be need for a site moderator because even adults are easily swayed from purposeful discussion into meaningless banter that generates hearsay and fallacies; but with a site moderator, will children be comfortable participating and will they often visit the online community to contribute or will they lose interest in pursuit of other social/recreational activities? But no, they instead address literacy levels, which are important, but they only say that vocabularies can grow through video games and that it is important to think about how new technologies will affect “advanced literacy skills” beyond vocabulary registers (p. 125). However, they then direct to the more important subject of being able to command a virtual environment and its benefits in the workforce where gamers are going to be demanding more virtual aspects. I have nothing more to say here.

I do like how Collins and Halverson sum up the chapter though. They say that teachers “would do well to study the existing structures of schooling to identify the aspects of the current system that are ripe for innovation” and that “We need strong leadership from innovative educators to make sure that the new system embodies our society’s critical goals for education” (p. 127). Basically what they’re saying is that as teachers we need to evaluating ourselves, our school system, and trying to get creative so that our students can get the best possible education available. And as a teacher, I plan to reflect, evaluate, and seize opportunities for the good of my students.

New Thinking 10.28.10

In going over our podcast assignment, we discussed the importance of having a script and not winging it. This keeps coming up in my classes and as much as I detest scripts (I'm an outline kind of person), I think I have gained some new thinking in that scripting is an essential step in the teaching process. Dr. Barske insists it is critical, especially for language teachers, so that the class stays on track and so that you ensure you have covered the content and other aspects of a lesson that relate to the standards and your curriculum. Dr. Boyer emphasized the efficiency that scripting provides. By scripting, you know what you're going to say and when you're going to say it; this helps to eliminate the nuances and redundancies of spoken language.

Therefore, as a teacher, I realize that scripting isn't just an annoyance of preparation for a class, it's a valuable tool that I will use in my class for efficiency and clarity.

Ch. 8 of Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts

Podcasting, Video and Screencasting, and Live Streaming

Great, besides websites, photos, tweets, status updates, news, and data, one can also have podcasts, screencasts, and live streams delivered to their RSS. I’m not overwhelmed at all.

Let’s begin by discussing podcasts. I have a really hard time listening to podcasts. I get “Motivational Mondays” from The National Society of Leadership delivered to my inbox every week, and I listen to part of one every once in a really blue moon. It’s difficult for me to pay attention to talk radio, unless I’m trapped in my “car” without any music. I do plan on using podcasts in my classroom though for the sheer purpose of documenting language progression.

Video is just a sweet form of media. When I was in junior high and high school, we loved messing around with video projects, although we by no means did any editing. I would say it was definitely the most time consuming projects we ever did, but they were usually really fun, and I can still remember the content I had to learn and recite for them.
Screencasting on the other hand is not my favorite to produce. It has its purpose and place; and if my students want to use it, I’ll allow them the option, but I don’t think I’m going to require that from them. I think when you begin to require excessive amounts of “fun” activities, all the fun is drained from them and they begin to hate what they once loved. So I believe in options.
Live Streaming-no. When I think of live streaming, I think of music artists doing Q&A sessions with fans. Maybe if you weren’t able to make it into the class one day for whatever reason, you could have the sub do a majority of the lesson plan, but connect to a live stream if you needed to correspond with the class. I’m not really sure though, how else it would be ideal for the classroom. Richardson stated that one teacher used live stream for every class so that people could see what he was doing, which is a comforting idea, but also a little nerve-racking I guess. I just see Big Brother taking over.

It’s become rather apparent, that there are many, many forms of media and production services available for free on the infinite and glorious web. It would be a shame if I’d labored over this book learning about them and didn’t implement them into my wonderful little language classrooms. I plan to dabble in all of these methods of communication for fun, and for work, so that my students can be knowledgeable as well and have options to share what they have learned.

Ch. 8--Rethinking Education

How Schools Can Cope with the New Technologies
Collins and Halverson identify the “imperatives” that seem to be perpetuating the Knowledge revolution as “customization, interaction, and learner control” (p. 112). However, with our current education system, which desires equality and has thus implemented standards to achieve such goals, we find that the three imperatives are lost in the school setting. Thankfully this chapter is labeled as coping mechanisms for schools rather than issues and problems with the current education system, like the previous chapters. The authors focus on three areas of the education system that are to be addressed, which are “performance-based assessment, new curriculum designs, and new approaches to equity in a digital world” (p. 113).

To start with, Collins and Halverson address performance-based assessment, and they have this weird notion that we should change the school system from the general education requirements to a certification program where parents and students can choose what the student studies and is certified in based off of interests and career goals. I was worried that they wouldn’t address the issue of being young and confused, but thankfully they do realize that this system may be flawed because high school students typically change their minds a lot. I don’t agree with them at all. If I was allowed to choose all of my classes, I would never choose to be certified in anything related to math, science, history, or really anything other than languages. My education would be narrowly focused on languages NOW. During high school, for my electives I took all business classes, I really thought I wanted to be a CEO of a major marketing corporation and I geared myself for the business programs available at the universities, little did I know that shortly after I graduated I would have a huge identity freak out and decide that business wasn’t for me. What if I was only certified in business practices and then changed my mind, thankfully I received a well-rounded education so I could compare and contrast my courses and still get into college with many options available to me. Now, I agree with the idea of using computers for assessment and getting immediate feedback and assistance, but I don’t see how changing our education system has anything to do with the price of tea in china.

Secondly, Collins and Halverson address new curriculum designs. Are these guys smoking something?! I thought the point of this chapter was to mingle the old with new and not to change the entire system. The idea of placing students in curricula based on their goals and interests is ridiculous. How are small school populations suppose to accommodate the individual interests and goals of each student if they’re all different? What about the ever-changing interests of students? The problems they present with their own ideas are critical and crucial points of conflict. I guess in a utopia these ideas are fantastic, but brought to the light of reality, they just seem far-fetched and impractical. On a more realistic note they discuss the idea of introducing video games, simulations, and other technologies in the current curriculums that are difficult areas of instruction and comprehension. By using computer-based visualizations and analysis tools, students are able to relate what they are learning to something with purpose and direction.

Lastly, they briefly address the new approaches to equity in a digital world. Although Collins and Halverson have pointed out again and again that technology has created more inequity amongst the classes in education due to expenses, they insist this can be turned around. By brining technology into impoverished schools, the students can achieve higher levels of education simply by the resources available to them such as tutoring and distance education. This I agree with and I am interested to see what more they have to say in chapter 10 on the problems of equity in education.

I can't change the problem of equity in schools, but I can give my studets a fighting chance by working hard for them and requesting grants/fundraising and even getting the students involved in pursuit of technology for their own benefit.

Ch. 7 of Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts

Fun with Flickr

Following the usual format, Richardson introduces image publishing online through his favorite site Flickr. He runs you through the basics, brushes over some of the risks and safety issues and then tells you to consider that more on your own. I’m assuming this is because image publishing in the educational world requires signatures and precautions with information release. So of course, he runs through different possibilities of image editing and ways to work with the program so that it’s teacher and student friendly. I think I’m going to join Flickr, although I know I’m going to have some issues with the 90 day no sign in, lose your account aspect. I really like that you can annotate particular points of interest on your photo to promote discussion and give blurbs of information.

Another powerful part about Flickr is that you can use it in conjunction with Google Maps and find where the pictures were taken as well as other pictures that were taken in the same area. This is great for discussing other regions and cultures in the language classroom, when it would be really nice to take a virtual field trip.
I love the fact that he links everything back together. I would never think to add my Flickr account to my RSS feed. I know that seems obvious to some, but I think I’ve become very frightened by my RSS feed now. It collects so much information that I can’t keep up with it, which is horrible for my “have to keep up with everything” mentality.

As always, Richardson supplies you with an endless amount of resources for your resources. After this, I’m going to add all of the suggested Flickr “accessory” sites to my Delicious so that I have even more ideas for Flickr use.

In conclusion, what I’ve learned from this chapter is that there is more to the read/write web than just text. Photo and video are powerful modes of communication and have a purpose in the classroom and should be shared on the web. As always, it’s very important to take precautions and follow school policies when dealing with images. But I could see my class using it in the language classroom to label various photos and for presentations. I want to incorporate unique possibilities and options for my students to use, and I think that Flickr will be a great place to start.

New Class Thinking

To discuss chapter 6, the discussion guides broke us up into groups based on Dum-Dum flavors and my group fell into the category of "government in education". We discussed the role of government in education and our personal opinions about government control and its efforts to promote and improve education, as well as where we thought it was lacking. We realized that a lot of power in education is given to the people through referendums, voting, and administrators. Beyond national and state standards, I really hadn't given much thought about the role of government and how we as educators, parents, and community members can and should advocate on behalf of our students to the government for needs, suggestions, improvements, etc. The governments at national and local levels have a lot on their plates and expect administrators, teachers, and parents to look out for the education of our society.

Bam! Application time, as a teacher I will not whine and complain to my fellow colleagues wasting my breath, when I can put my words to use by appealing to the public, the government, and my own students.

Chapter 7--Rethinking Education

What May Be Lost and What May Be Gained
Finally, I say, the chapter that I have been waiting for from Collins and Halverson’s Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology. Chapter 7 should have been a few chapters earlier if you ask me; it would have sweetened the bitterness that this work secretes as one peruses the chapters in reflection. This chapter is short, sweet, and to the point. It addresses what may be lost in the age of technology and what may be gained, and although it jumps around a bit and self-contradicts, it is mostly understandable. The reason I like this chapter, compared to the others, is that it finally admits not only the wonders but also the difficulties of technology integration, and may I point out that there are more “losses” than “gains” in the chapter. Now, I do consider myself to be a technology enthusiast, but since this book has been a radical agent of all things technology beating on the school system, it’s a breath of relief to finally see some admittance of obstacles. Without further a due, with these I present thee along with my personal opinions.

Beginning with the biggest list, the losses, I find it funny that in previous chapters we discussed the endless possibilities with global connections and our ability to communicate beyond our own small communities, but now it’s brought up that we will actually lose social cohesion due to our natural instinct to group ourselves based on cultures, interests, etc. This is dumb. My interests coincide with people of other cultures, races, religions, whatever. While some of them group with people like me, no one is exactly me, and their interests lie elsewhere lapping with others, which is social cohesion. But the best part is when they say “…modern media, such as television, have had a very strong homogenizing effect on the population, which ensures a common culture without depending on the schools to produce one” (p. 106) It’s not the education system’s job to create a common culture, a common curriculum yes, but really?! Then the authors go on to say that with so many channels and the streaming of media it may have a reverse effect. Way to wobble back and forth on the subject there. I don’t see this as a concern of loss.

Another concern is that with privatized education, public schools will be left with disinterested students. I can’t see this happening unless teachers stop doing their jobs. Even fancy private schools have disinterested students. Technology doesn’t necessarily excite and motivate students; it can help, but if their only interest is in using social networking sites and downloading music, an educational –based software program won’t keep ‘em begging for more. Furthermore, the students that are on the privatized route may be under the influence and suggestion of their parents’ desire for their future career paths. Since parents are the ones shelling out the cash for all the amenities they can create narrow paths of education based on their own interests for their students, opposed to the public education’s goal of delivering a well-rounded education. This is a rational concern in my opinion.

Halverson and Collins address the digital divide of inequality. As technology increases, inequality follows suit. Those that can’t afford these technologies continue to fall further and further behind. They also address the loss of social skills that is prevalent amongst computer users who isolate themselves from friends and family. Most people have poor social skills nowadays anyways, so we’re really not losing much here (joke). I find it entertaining that with social networking being larger than life that society is losing their social skills; the internet is a whole other world with different social etiquette, it’s really unbelievable.

With all these losses, it’s a wonder that Collins and Halverson are such enthusiasts. But there is something to be said about the gains they have listed:
Learning becomes more engaging.
Commercial education market continues to grow.
Competition between students in school will diminish.
This I highly doubt. Competition is a natural instinct and there always ways to compete, especially with the use of technology. Plus, there’s no harm in a little competition, it can be quite motivating.
People take responsibility for their own education.

As an educator, I plan to foresee the obstacles of technology implementation and tailor my use of such tools to allow a powerful learning environment that will only enhance my students learning and societal functioning rather than hinder it. I plan to evaluate the technological tools and resources I use and how I use them, often in light of students and their needs.

New Thinking 10.14.2010

Dr. Boyer got a new iPad, and it got me thinking that I want an iPad. But that's irrelevant to my being an educator, so in other thinking, today we discussed Chapter 5 and the various pros and cons of:

-home schooling
-workplace learning
-distance education
-adult education
-learning centers
-educational television and videos
-computer-based learning software
-technical certifications.

It was fairly obvious that for almost every pro there's a con to these alternative types of learning. We did a lot of listening to opinions and not very much time building on and off of these ideas. As an educator, I think it's important to instigate deeper thinking, I guess I'm more of a processor and internal thinker academically, but my new thinking is that I/we need to become verbal processors and thinkers so that we can teach our students how to probe into the depths of their minds and really learn.

Ch. 6 of Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts

The Social Web

This topic is frightening to think of in a school setting. All these books about technology and our professor, Dr. Boyer, keep suggesting that we stay relevant with the youth and the technology they like to use, but day after day we see various cases of teachers getting into trouble for friending students on social networks and posting things about their jobs. Cellphones and texting have become a huge issue in classrooms across the country and although they want us to find ways to incorporate them, I have yet to see how that would work when they are banned from usage even in most college classrooms.

Richardson begins discussing his love for twitter. He teaches you how to set one up and the basic concept of the social site. He gives links to classes that use twitter with various ideas for using the social site, but I think it’s funny that one of his prime examples comes from Texas and apparently Texas has now placed a ban on teachers using social sites (see: http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/12/05/2681445/state-sets-social-media-ethics.html).

Social bookmarking seems more practical for use in the classroom, as we as a class have already practiced this. We all have Delicious accounts where we are required to add at least 5 resources a week. Richardson gets a little complex with it all. I know it’s not as difficult as it sounds, but it’s definitely overwhelming for me to think of setting up a social bookmarking site, bookmarking all of my pages, and then linking it to my RSS feed, as well as other tags to my RSS feed (oh great, more things to block up my feed) and then sharing it with my students. I feel like I need a personal assistant to do all this for me. However, I see the benefits of sharing resources and links through a bookmarking site such as Diigo or Delicious.

As a future educator, I’m not sure whether I’ll be able to use social websites such as twitter or facebook in my classroom. I’m pretty sure that the cell phone idea will be a definite no, but it’s always good to consider such options and the possibilities of using technology that so many are equipped with. I’m now an avid user of Delicious, and find it extremely beneficial for organizing the many sites and resources I have accumulated. I’m sure it will be a great asset for my students as well as me, to gain more and more resources.

Ch.5--Rethinking Education

The Seeds of a New System of Education

This chapter in Rethinking Education in The Age of Technology looks at the ways society has adapted to the current education system, which can't provide all the needs of everyone. The authors, Collins and Halverson, focus on: home schooling, workplace learning, distance education, adult education, learning centers, educational television and videos, computer-based learning software, technical certifications, internet cafes, and of course the theme of life-long learning.

I found it extremely interesting that students that are home-schooled "score significantly better on standardized tests in every subject area" and that the book attributed it to the fact that parents care about their children (p. 67). I wonder if it has more to do with the fact that it's more one-on-one and the students/parents have the freedom to choose what and when the students engage in learning through instruction, homework, or play, and when they simply need a rest from the days activities.

New Thinking 10.7

Today I learned computers are really distracting. Honestly, I was so overwhelmed by my group presentation and then having to blog a reflection about it that I didn't pay any attention in class. I just typed up my reflection and semi-listened to something about an educational video game a previous student had made for the class. So, new thinking for today is that instruction should come before computer time, due to uncontrollable distraction. As a future teacher, I will give all directions and instruction in the classroom before anyone is even allowed to log on to a computer, that way I know they'll be listening, well, at least a better percentage will be.

Post Ch.4 Presentation Reflection

My group consisted of Trefor Jones, Emma Smits, and myself. We randomly formed our group, which made me extremely nervous. 1.) I hate group work; it usually ends up being more sour than sweet and 2.) While I feel I can work well in a group, I know I am more efficient working on my own with a lot less stress. However, the group came together nicely and was really efficient in the planning process, granted we invested a lot of trust to each other to come up with our parts and be ready, since we didn't do more than an outline. I picked chapter 4 for our group, and it wasn't as delightful as a read as I thought it would be, but that's irrelevant seeing as I have distaste for the book anyways. The chapter was somewhat thought-provoking though.

I felt that the group chemistry worked really well throughout the presentation, until I had my toes stepped on and my fellow classmate started taking over my part of the presentation. This caused me to flare up, which makes it hard to focus, but of course this is something one has to learn to deal with when cooperating with others, so I tried to brush it off and reclaim my part without being too noticeable. I really hope as a future teacher that I don't have to do team-teaching in my classroom. Not to say that I can't, but simply I don't care to.

I'm embarrassed that none of us caught the fact that graded schools were addressed wrong. Durrrrrr. It would have been helpful if we divided up our review beforehand and made sure that we were responsible for that part of the review, however we did it right beforehand and I expected to be responsible for only my two. As with group work, you can never just be responsible for your part, because usually another part is deficient in some way and you have to pick up slack. Slap to my own hand.

The critique was bearable. We had a lot of positives and many things I would have considered negative weren't listed, true to self, I (in general) am my harshest critic. As far as volume was concerned, I'm not surprised that we weren't loud enough, with the exception of me. My voice tends to carry and I've always been known as a loudmouth, whether it be the room or whatever, I thought that generally my voice was loud enough, but I guess that's something to check for, although generally someone in your class will say "Speak up! We can't hear you." I hate how critical we are when it comes to interactivity. I mean come on, you want something engaging, and different from the last groups, and yeah it's a large class, and we have limited resources and space, so accommodate the criticism. I'm really anti-criticism, even though I know it can be a valuable tool.

So, what did I get from this exercise? I don't want to teach technology specific classes and I don't want to teach college kids. Yes, I want to incorporate technology and review my teaching so that I can keep refining my methods and plans to better my students' education.

Ch.4--Rethinking Education

The Development of American Schooling

This chapter looks at the evolution of the education system in America, of course with a negative tone towards our present-day education which is apparently unsuitable and pressed for change. The chapter shows how we’ve moved from apprenticeship to universal schooling and are presently facing a need for change.

I guess new thinking I’ve gained from this chapter is: as life changes, our methods of education change, but apparently our current system is broken according to the book, so this is news to me. I however, don’t consider our current system broken, so I’m trying to examine what the authors of Rethinking Education in The Age of Technology are precisely speaking of. As a future educator, I will not get stuck in one way of teaching; I hope to diversify my teaching style and methods to fit the needs of my students.

So basically the spread of knowledge fostered by the invention of the printing press, the Reformation, the American Revolution, and the Industrial Revolution lead to America’s current education system. The invention of the printing press helped to spread information and knowledge to a larger population than before. With the Reformation, religious leaders insisted that the Bible be translated for the public to read and understand on their own. The American Revolution demanded an educated population to make sounds political decisions since the government became a Republic ran by the people. Ultimately, the formal system of education is to blame at the cause of the Industrial Revolution which brought people out of the fields and into cities to work which left children to work (which child labor laws reduced), to cause substantial trouble, or to be educated. Education seems like the good choice to me as well.

So as education became mandatory, the schools evolved in different ways to resolve various issues of the rapidly urbanizing country. Attendance was made mandatory; schools were divided into grades; tests were given to track progress and sort students into grades; textbooks were implemented to help with uniformity in learning and content for teachers to instruct; Carnegie units helped to keep the uniformity in a national aspect; and comprehensive high schools offered a variety of courses for students to choose from. “But as the system became more rigid, it ceased to evolve as the society around it continued to evolve, and so in recent years, it has become more and more out of sync with the demands of a continually evolving society” (p. 56). Now, the authors suggest that our education system has failed us and that we are stuck teaching for the last century. With technology replacing people in jobs, the authors insist we must learn to use technology rather rely on the memorization of facts and figures. It seems that these authors have no hope unless there is a drastic and radical reform in education where we all get feeds implanted in our brains and strictly work from computers 24/7. The fact that I’m taking a required technology in education course can attest to the fact that the education system isn’t against technology and is working to incorporate such things to aid in the realm of learning.

“Three demographic changes have also led to the changing in pressures on schools: 1) the increase in the life span, 2) the decline in the birthrate, and 3) the increasing diversity of the American population” (p. 63). So, 1) since there are more people out of school without children in school, they don’t want to pay the taxes to support public education, which is bogus because the taxes of other people went to them for their education, so it’s only fair they pay their dues; and my favorite, 2) “…the opening of other occupations to women has meant that schools have had increasing difficulty in attracting the best and brightest women to a traditionally female-dominated profession” (p. 63). I’m not quite sure what they’re trying to say here. Is that statement flattery or blame? I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt, but I bet a large part of budget cuts in schools has a lot to do with intelligent women with degrees seeking other higher paying vocations.

Tolerance

Today in class we discussed Chapter 3 from the Halverson and Collins text. I really enjoy how offended people got over a simple "generalization" if you will. I place quotation marks there because they "generalized" about computer users being messy. Now computer users basically makes up a large majority of the middle-class and upper population, thus not really making it offensive but an opinion sort of. But I don't see how that's offensive. People are naturally messy and have to learn how to clean up after themselves. Case in point: As a child you don't have to learn how to make a mess, but you do have to learn how to clean it up.

So, new thinking I took from this...tolerance. Everyone always wants to put up a defense and I think it's important to teach students differences of opinions, what generalizations are and how they ARE used in society and then take it a step further and discuss why they are there and how we can change those. As a future teacher, I plan to teach this as a part of culture and stereotypes in my Spanish and ESL classes.

Ch.3--Rethinking Education

The Technology Skeptics’ Argument

The more I read this Collins and Halverson text, the more irate I become with it. So chapter 3 is supposed to be “the technology skeptics’ argument” but it’s more like “the technology enthusiasts’ opinion of the skeptics. I classify myself as a technology enthusiast, but Collins and Halverson seem more and more like liberal radicals as I continue to read on. Here are a few points throughout the chapter that irritated me and why:

• “…the central reason why schooling is so difficult to change is the nature of the teaching and learning practices” (p.35). Where do I even begin here, I’m not even a licensed teacher yet and my defenses are up. I actually don’t agree with this statement, for one, I’m learning in my FLED class that methodology changes based on needs of the time period and the needs of the society. So it’s not that teaching and learning practices are so difficult to change, it’s that technology changes so often that it’s difficult to adapt it with curriculum in a way that will still be useful after the course is over.

• “Students often know more about advanced information technologies than teachers and technology workers in schools” (p. 38). If this is true, and I know it is, it’s not that it’s terribly important to implement technology in the classroom to teach the students how to be successful with technology in the future but rather use what they already know (technology) to help them benefit their new learning (school content).

• “…teachers risk losing authority by integrating computers into their teaching” (p. 41). I don’t believe this at all, that’s like saying, “by integrating books into the classroom such as an encyclopedia or dictionary, teachers risk losing authority.” Now, I have had a few friends that ask why they even bother attending class when everything they ever wanted to know about anything can be found online. But you don’t see people dropping out of college like flies to pursue their learning via the internet; granted there are online courses, but those are usually facilitated by an instructor of some sort. Since anything can be posted online, it’s still very important to have teachers and experts available to decipher crap from valuable information. If anything, teachers back up their authority by integrating computers into their teaching, in my opinion.

• “…there is little room in the curriculum for adventurous uses of computers, such as to carry out in-depth research or complete meaningful projects” (p. 41). I’m not sure who exactly is saying this, but really? I feel like this book is looking at the past, I see schools attempting to incorporate computer work in their class work all the time. I had to use computers and various software programs all the time in high school and that was a good four years ago. None of the technology or programs are the same now anyways, so other than the past-present benefit (efficiency, ease, etc.) of using such technologies I really haven’t benefited greatly now in my college work.

• “School fosters just-in-case learning while technology fosters just-in-time learning” (p. 48). I feel both of these learning methods, if you will, are important. There are times when just-in-time learning is very appropriate and other times when I won’t have the just-in-time learning option and may need to rely on my just-in-case learning. So I feel this argument is null.

I really do feel that technology incorporated into the classroom is an excellent idea. However, I don’t think that it should be the central focus since it’s inconsistent and becomes irrelevant in a short period of time. As a future teacher, it is my mission to keep up the best I can with technology and to use it to make lessons in language learning more fun, exciting, and memorable.

Ch.2--Rethinking Education

The Technology Enthusiasts’ Argument

I was expecting to agree whole-heartedly with this chapter as one my life goals is to keep up with the times and technology. However, I found myself taking offense to some of the things suggested by technology enthusiasts such as follows:

• Being “…stuck with 19th century technology, such as books, blackboards, paper, and pencils” (p. 9).

o I found it ridiculous that they made it seem that books, paper, and pencils were outdated materials that we are stuck with. Even though I hear marvelous words about Kindles and electronic “books”, and I wouldn’t mind owning one, but I feel that nothing can permanently replace a book. I can see a glitch happening and never being able to recover my electronic books, but by having a copy of a book, I can mark the pages and fold the pages over, port it around without having to worry about my battery or whether my Kindle is going to be killed in my bag. And I don’t care what kind of technology comes out, the paper and pencil will always be relevant.

• “No one will be able to solve complex problems or think effectively…without using digital technologies” (p. 11).

o This was insulting. People created our current technology and it can be destroyed. It’s a little disheartening to hear that we’re screwed if something should go wrong in the wonderful world of technology. Yes, I agree it is an immense aid in problem solving and that the data available is beyond what one human without technology would be capable of compiling, but I don’t think that we couldn’t think effectively without using technology, perhaps not efficiently, but effectively yes.

• “…children using word processors write better, because they can read their typed words, whereas they cannot easily read their own handwriting” (p. 19).

o Perhaps the case here is that the students need practice with their handwriting so they can read it. Yes, it’s a lot nicer to read type written text, but in the event a computer isn’t available, I would like to be able to read my students handwriting and have them be able to read their own...I’m not knocking the importance of being able to type and communicate effectively, but I don’t believe anyone should have an excuse for illegible handwriting.

Fortunately, these were the only few things that struck me in a bad way. The authors Collins and Halverson made many points of what technology enthusiasts believe, argue, and assume, but I will summarize and comment on the few I thought were most impressionable and that I would like to use in my future classroom.

• “Enthusiasts argue that integrating just-in-time strategies into school curricula will loosen the rigidity of the traditional curriculum and create a legitimate space for learning technologies in the classroom (p. 15)”.
o

• “Enthusiasts believe that customization offers great possibilities to enhance people’s learning” (p. 17).

o People learn best when they want to learn the content. By adapting and customizing curriculum to the student’s individual interest, you’re opening a portal to better understanding and comprehension.

• “Enthusiasts point to how technologies create access to external audiences that can provide legitimate contexts for students to learn from how others perceive their work” (p. 26).

o This goes beyond peer editing in class where students may not give a damn about what their peers are writing/working on. By subjecting their work to external audiences, students can get valuable insight and criticism to better their work.

• “Enthusiasts favor a constructive approach to learning, where students, rather than teachers, do most of the work” (p. 28).

o Hey, as a future teacher, I’m game for this! Teaching is a time-consuming effort, but it’s very rewarding. I truly believe when you teach something you solidify it in your own mind, so by allowing the students to take on responsibility not only do you allow them to fully grasp the content, but you allow them to partake in the reward of sharing their knowledge. Plus, the more participation students have in the classroom the less boring class is and the more ownership they have.

Ch. 5 of Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts

RSS

What in the world is an RSS feed? I’ve seen the acronym everywhere, but I couldn’t have told you before I read this chapter. Really Simple Syndication. The name sounds inviting, but the concept is terrifying at first. The last thing I want to do is sit down to a webpage that has collected data and content on the hour from all the websites I have subscribed to. Information overload. Forget about going to the gym or having a social life, might as well permanently plant my bum in front of the desktop.

I like that Richardson realizes the scariness of an RSS to the inexperienced. He then instructs you to take it easy at first and learn the ropes. He reassures that with some time and use it will become a very valuable tool for the teacher and the students.
What would we do without free Google services? We would have to pay for complicated programs. After easing some fears, Richardson takes you through the steps of setting up an RSS feed. He also warns you to stop subscribing at 10 feeds if you’re new to the set up so you don’t become overwhelmed by the information collection in your aggregator. But it’s really fascinating how you can just type words that you want the aggregator to collect information about. My only fear here is that some words are going to lead to some questionable content that may or may not have been intended to be collected by the student and or teacher.

At this point, I’m amazed at where the technological world has come to, but I’m a little disgusted by it. It’s become a sick addiction to be constantly connected. This book even suggests downloading Google gears so that when you won’t be able to be connected you can take your RSS fee with you. The point of getting away, say on a camping trip is to get back out in nature and rough it. Not bring your RSS feed with you so you can sit under a tree or in your tent and kill your eyes. Although, it is handy to know that you do have that option.

So how is this handy for the classroom? That’s what I want to know. I never thought about adding students’ blogs to the feed. I wonder if that’s how Dr. Boyer manages all of our blogs. If so, I apologize right now for all my blog tardiness, and how does that work when I change the dates and times? That’s something I’ll have to play around with and see later. I wish I would have known about the powers of an RSS a long time ago. RSS makes research so much easier. Instead of having to search for your research, an RSS feed can just bring it to your front door step. He goes on to explain the various uses, I can’t believe vanity feeds. That’s just kind of creepy.

I really enjoy Richardson’s humor throughout this book. He sates on page 83, “Remember: resistance is futile”. I guess that means, I’ll go and develop my RSS on Google Reader now, so I can find ways to implement it in my class. That’s part of being a teacher, always learning more and new things, even if you’re sick of it, so your students can benefit from it.

New Thinking 9.23

Today was the first group presentation and we discussed the "technology enthusiasts'" perspective, we discussed the quote from Chapter 2 of Rethinking Education in The Age of Technology that states, "...trying to prepare students for the 21st century with 19th-century technology is like teaching people to fly a rocket ship by having them ride bicycles" (p. 10) While I find this quote to be true, I don't think it relates well to the current technology we would use in a classroom. I'm sure rocket ships are enhanced and change, but I can't believe as often as classroom technology does.

After the presentation, we discussed positive aspects on one hand and the changes that could be made on the other. I personally am not a fan of this type of critiquing after I have put forth a lot of effort in front of my peers, but I can see the benefits of letting the class scrutinize your every move, word, and choice/idea. I decided that as a future educator I won't give direct public criticism in class without making it a generalization.

Ch. 4 of Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts

Wikis

Now here’s a breath of fresh air: Richardson acknowledges the prevalence of Wikipedia in student’s lives and research. This chapter was actually very interesting to me, because truthfully, before I had Dr. Boyer’s technology class, I had no idea what a wiki was. I had no idea what Wikipedia meant other than it was like an encyclopedia that teachers insisted I couldn’t site or trust. Whatever, I still used it and just sited other sites. The whole concept of Wikipedia is really fantastic actually. I can’t believe that our perverse and distorted world can actually produce accurate facts and data when open to the public for editing without personal merit or credit. I was surprised to learn that Steve Jobs has been quoted saying that Wikipedia is one of the most accurate encyclopedias in the world. It’s amazing to me that the work of vandals and spammers doesn’t last long in the Wikipedia world as the pages are constantly edited. Dr. Boyer presented a screencast in class one day about a Wikipedia page on some German metal band, I believe, and the pages evolution over a span of time. It was vandalized multiple times, but fixed within minutes. This was some obscure band mind you, and the fact that someone was there to correct the page in such a short time period was mindboggling to me. It made me feel lazy to say the least, because I know if I saw a vandalized or inaccurate page, I would probably just scoff at the content, deem the site unreliable and move along. I wouldn’t fix it. Now I’ll think twice about my non-contributions.

Of course, the chapter gives real life examples of teachers that use Wikis in the classroom and various examples of ways to use the many available wiki services. The wiki concept is a great idea, but it scares me a little for classroom use. Wikis are fairly easy to create and navigate, but sometimes having a hundred online places to go is overwhelming. I never know where to look for what. Where did I save this? Where did I save that? Is it on my wiki or blog? Which wiki? Which blog? Ahh! I like the ideas of wikis; I’m just not sure how I want to incorporate them into my classroom yet. Integrating technology is important, but my Spanish or ESL class can’t become a technology class, I have to do some language content in there too.

The good news is that I feel better about letting my students use Wikipedia. As a future educator, I will share with my students the facts about the creation of Wikipedia and its upkeep. Perhaps they will b inspired to create their own wikis on their own time and/or contribute to the wiki world out there.

Growing Up Online

Interesting video. The Frontline video very much struck a chord when it showed various kids leading their virtual lives a little differently than their real lives. The virtual world, allows for people to be anyone they want to be, do anything they want do, and have little worry as to who's going to call them out. More than anything, I believe people say things online that they would never say in person. Stuff like this, leads to online bullying and other dangers that most people don't take into consideration until it's too late.

On the other hand, since students have become well acquainted with the technological world of computers and the internet, it's important that we learn to integrate this world into our own classrooms. Obviously, it's critical that we address the issues raised in the first part of the video so that we can overcome the battles with the world wide web and begin to use it for it's potential in the learning environment to engage students in their work and learning.

As an educator, I will for sure use internet and technology in my classroom without a doubt. But this video helped me to remember the seriousness of the effects that the virtual world can have on students and cause harm. Therefore, it's essential to go over netiquette and how to use the web in a respectful academic way.

◦How does this video impact your thinking about technology's role in the lives of young learners?
◦What will you do differently as a future teacher as a direct result of this new thinking?

Teaching for the Future

New thinking that I took away from class today:

My professor Jeff Boyer said that if we intend to teach the way we were taught, we are teaching students to live in our past. I think that this statement is very powerful. I often feel quite irritated by my parents' and grandparents' technological ignorance, and I wonder why it's so difficult for adults to keep up with technology advances. However, now it's becoming quite apparent that in my few years out of high school, I have fallen behind myself. Classroom equipment has been refreshed. We have SMARTboards instead of chalk/marker boards and ceiling projectors instead of overhead projectors wheeled out on carts. There's new software and computers are constantly being updated. It's no wonder that adults fall behind; there's no possible way I could afford to keep up financially with all the new stuff on my own; but fortunately has a teacher, I will have access to new technology via the school and it's my job to put that technology to use in my classroom and teach students to adapt as the world around them changes, after all the stuff I teach them will be outdated in a matter of a few years.

Website Credibility

Although, there's a lot of valid and valuable content out there on the read/write web, you can't always be sure what you're reading and/or seeing is credible. Some ways to search and screen a website to find out whether it's credible or not are as follows:

-check the extension--while this is a start, it should not be the end all, be all. Sites listed as .org, .edu, and .gov tend to be more valid than sites that can be purchased by anyone such as .com and .html-which is always very questionable. However, a lot of websites that end in .org or .edu can actually be nonfactual and very unreliable, so this is simply a beginning place.

-check the author--one can find out a lot simply by checking to see who the site creator is and what their background is. The more information you can find about the site author, the better. Someone who has credentials is obviously has more credibility than a random internet stranger without any professional knowledge.

Ch.1--Rethinking Education

"How Education is Changing"

This chapter briefly discussed the way technology is changing our methods of education. With the rapid increase in the use of technology support and products, many people are forced to take their educations beyond the classroom to keep up. We find many students in “…homes, libraries, internet cafés, and workplaces, where they can decide what they want to learn, when they want to learn, and how they want to learn” (p. 3). Many schools now have computer labs and specialized courses that offer basic instruction, but the point of the chapter was that teachers aren’t maximizing the potential of technology in their everyday classrooms. Since technology has become such a big focus in the everyday life of students and adults alike it’s almost ridiculous that it’s not more incorporated into the general curriculum, and this makes students look for educational opportunities elsewhere.

The chapter highlighted that America is in the midst of the Information or Knowledge Revolution that is gearing Americans towards “…life-long learning” (p. 8). We have passed from the times of apprenticeship into the public schooling sector and are now moving beyond to a new age of education where we prepare for the rest of our lives rather than a mere vocation. This social revolution of the Knowledge Revolution is the onset of “life-learning”, thus the onset of change in the education system.

Collins and Halverson note that all of the changes produced by this new Information Revolution are not all beneficial or unbeneficial. There are issues of finance not only for fund-depleted school districts but also the underside of the ever-increasing economic gap. It is clear that those with more buying power are at an advantage in keeping up with the newest technologies and enriching their personal educations. The authors, although they claim not to be in favor or against the new technologies (they’re totally in favor), make clear that their aim is to document the changes of schooling, learning and technology from a historical and observational perspective.

The authors “…argue that we need to rethink schooling in light of the new technologies” and although I agree with them, I wonder if it’s so bad that people venture outside of the school system to learn something new (p. 7). Public schools have had a monopoly on education and learning, and this new Information Revolution has kind of broken it up. I know I enjoy learning outside of the general classroom. However, as a future educator, I want to engage my students in the classroom and incorporate new technologies. With short class periods I believe this to be a somewhat difficult feat, but one worth dealing with if it will benefit my students and keep their interest. Plus, it’s my goal to stay as relevant as possible with technology so I don’t experience the frustration that my parents and grandparents often do with new software and electronic devices. I look forward to what this book has to expound upon the challenges of the revolution and how to intermingle it with the public education sector.

Chs. 1-3 of Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts

Here we begin our journey through Will Richardson’s book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. Wow that’s a mouthful. The first three chapters focus on the blogging world. Before I ever picked up a book about blogs, I was a blogger. To be honest, I’m really sick of these books telling everyone what blogging really is. Nothing really is concrete in this world anymore; everything evolves and morphs with time. So my mindless journaling online IS blogging, and I won’t let a text tell me otherwise. It may not be academic or scholarly blogging but it is a weblog. For Pete’s sake, blogging use to be listing websites you had visited.

Now that I got that out of my system, I can focus more on what each chapter had to offer about the blogosphere. Chapter one introduced us to the read/write web. Once upon a time, the web was a read only sort of atmosphere with little civilian interaction. Hard to believe since nowadays the web is giant publishing industry where millions of people litter their thoughts, ideas, opinions, and facts. With this being said, the chapter discusses the impact the read/write web has had on society, journalism, and education and how it will continue to affect various areas in our lives as technology and the web continue to grow and change.

Chapter 2 focuses on the pedagogy and practice of weblogging. The chapter gave many helpful insights on how to implement a blog in the classroom and the benefits of doing so. I like that specific examples of educational blogs were used and actually be checked out online. It’s one thing to read about a blog versus actually exploring one. I like that the author is straightforward about presenting the facts, as opposed to Collins and Halverson who I feel use a cynical view on education to scare you into technology usage, which really doesn’t work for me. The 6 reasons they provided for the use of blogging were:

1. Constructivist tool for learning-create content that others benefit from
2. Expand walls of the classroom-global connection
3. Archive learning-documentation
4. Supports different learning styles-promotes students voice
5. Enhance subject expertise-topic based blogs
6. New literacy skills-Research, reflect, organize, and synthesize

The chapter goes onto explain various ways to use blogs across the curriculum including in math and elementary classes, providing real blog links as evidence. But my favorite is when they list the English standards so that you can see how blogs fit right into 12 standards.

So chapter 3 basically helps you understand the process of setting up a blog with various software providers and hosts. They also take a few paragraphs to point out the risks and the safety precautions an educator needs to address when using a blog in the classroom. Then, they suggest blogger.com and take you step-by-step through the process of creating a blog post and the different ways you can photos and links to your blog.

Basically I’ve been beat over the head with blogs and I have developed a distaste for them, but the fact of the matter is that they are very useful, especially when it comes to a language classroom, so as a future educator, I know I will use them in my classroom, I just won’t overdo them so that my students hate it.

New Thinking

Today in class, we had to take attendance by writing our names on the Smart Board. Sounds easy enough, however the board has not been calibrated and was actually ridiculous to even try and write on. I was probably the last student to complete said task and I ended up deleting the entire page of names (embarrassing!). New thinking for today: do not click random buttons; experimenting is good when you're trying on your own but not when you run the risk of putting the work of other people in danger.

I also learned about bookmarking today, which prior to the class I had heard of the term but didn't fully understand what it meant. Now I have a whole new way of storing my large collection of websites on my favorites bar in a more organized manner on delicious. I'm not used of tagging things, but this new way of organization will definitely benefit me now and in the future, especially since I plan to use various Spanish and English websites in teaching my Spanish and ESL classes. I can't wait to start bookmarking!

Digi Autobiography

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

I really didn't expect this task to be as time consuming as it was. I figured I could just pull up some photos, type in some text, pick a song, and be done. Wrong. Picking the photos wasn't too difficult, but uploading them was quite the feat, I had to have my younger sister Katie (13) help me. I learned I need to brush up on the different formats you can save your work in (such as PNG versus JPEG which is why I couldn't find any of my photos to upload). I would say I put a lot of effort into editing my photos, logical sequencing, and my music selection (as I was limited to Animoto's music content). I've never spent much time editing my photos and I found it quote difficult to do so in Photoshop, but after some time, I was able to acclimate.

The value in completing this course task is not only learning how to work with photos in various programs such as Photoshop and Animator (my tools of choice), but also being able to do something neat with the many photos I have and share my life with others. I have a new way to introduce myself now or to tell a story/explain something.

Completing this course task will impact my future teaching by being able to incorporate my travel and learning experiences through photo in the classroom using a fun tool other than the traditional PowerPoint slide show. I feel that I can handle my pictures better now that I have experimented with the various programs and tools and now I will be able to help my students use images in their scholastic work.

Technology

1.) Technology: The knowledge, comprehension, and use of electronic devices, computing systems and programs to create efficient means of learning, production, communication, and leisure activities.

2.) Technology integration is incorporating said devices, programs, and systems into a particular setting, such as a classroom or office.