Technology Final Essay

Teaching I have grown a lot from this course in the short amount of time we had. When I first entered this class I knew very little about technology and was very hesitant to use it in my classroom. I also did not really believe that technology added much to a lesson. I knew technology was important and I would have to teach my students how to sue technology, however, I thought that I would teaching students how to search the internet, type, and make presentations. I never knew that there was so much out there for students to know and learn and so much for teachers to know.

One major think that this class taught me is that technology should be used to facilitate learning and make learning more entertaining. Technology is a aid and is only useful when it is used in a conjunction with a lesson that helps add creativity and meaning to the lesson. Just like anything else, when technology is just thrown in the a lesson to make use of it confuses children and can actually take away from the lesson. Before a teacher decides to use a piece of technology is a lesson a teacher must think about not only how to use it but whether or not it is appropriate and meaningful to the lesson.

Another major thing that I released form this class is the amount and variety of technology tools that are available for school and teachers. I never knew that there were so much technology out there that could eb siued for education. Most of the technology tools that I have come in countere with I could not see any sue for teaching, however, this class showed that if you think hard enough anything can really be very useful for teaching at any grade level and in any content area.

These forms of technology can even be used to help young children. There are lots of videos and on-line books for children and they can even engage in Facebook and blogging and other forms of technology as long as they have the assistance and guidance of their teacher. It might also be helpful o do these kinds of activities as a whole group lesson with younger children. Technology can also be used to help create real world connections for students and meaning. Technology is such a part of our world today that most students, even elementary school students, know how to use computers and the internet and various other forms of technology.  Using technology in a lesson help the students see how the lesson related to their life and they will be more engaged in the lesson so they will get more out of it.           

Technology can also help teachers as well;. There are many links to on-line lesson and curriculums so all an instructor has to do is search the internet and they can finds everything they need for a lesson. Also, teachers can record students’ progress and have ongoing conversations with other instructors who are teaching the same thing to discuss lesson and idea.                                  This class has taught me that it is not scary too use technology in the classroom. All you have to do it use it meaningfully and not be afraid to play with it and see what you can do. Teachers are supposed to be learning new things every day from their experiences and students so why not learn new forms of technology. If the teacher does not take the appropriate amount of time to learn to sue the various forms of technology it can become a waste. Schools do offer informational sessions about new technologies that they purchase, however, that is not enough time for a teacher to become familiar with the piece of technology

The textbook we used helped me understand a lot of the material and information from this class. I liked how the book separated the arguments dealing with technology into the skeptics and the people who are for technology in the classroom. I would definitely say that I am for technology in the classroom. I feel that the skeptics argument was kind of weak. They mostly focused on the cost and the time it takes to learn how to use the piece of technology. I mean, there is no denying it technology is expensive but the cost is worth it. Technology adds meaning, life, and entertainment to a lesson and will really help the students learn the material.

This class has definitely helped me become more comfortable using technology and shown me how to use it in my technology.  I will definitely be more willing to sue the technology in my classroom on a regular basis due to this class.

Diigo

Diigo is an on-line organizati0nal took that allows you to bookmark important websites that you like to revisit. You can also upload notes and, data, and documents to Diggo. You  can alos collaberate on a project through the networking discussions and bookmarks that this site allows you to do.

This is a great motivator for students to work on the internet and saves time. A teacher can bookmark sites or highlight important information and then the students can just go onto the site and view the material for themselves. they can also collaberate with other studnets and work on a project.

In ordeer to you this all you need to do it set u an account (for free) and have a computer witrhinternet access. The teacher would have to know how to use the computer and work with the studnets to knw when it is approprate to use this tool and when it is not.

This site links to the new style of teaching in thsi century because it helps to narrow down information to make research easier.

On-Line Books

My chose to report on the "100 apps," and I chose to to focus on on-line books. The "100 apps," site gives a link to on-line books. These books can be viewed if you sign up with an account.  Soem texts cannot be viewed ion full lenght and the amount of texts available on thsi site in limited.

This is useful for teachers and students because they studnets will not have to purchase the book themselves. The students can simply view them form their computers. Thius site also allows for a discussion on the bookos so the students/ teachers can pose questions and comments to each other and engae in a converstation ont he book when they are not in class.  

In order to use this site teacher will need to take in upon themselves to learn the site and sign up. They cannot just say , "I visited the site, I know how to use it." The teacher should also be m,indful of the fact that not all studnets have a computer.

This site definelty depicts wehre our society is going because book used to be in print and know more and more books are available on-line for free.

Podcasting

A podcast is an audio casting on-line through the podcasting network.  It is especially great for education because teachers can post a podcast for their students to watch at home for homework, or a lesson when the teacher might be absent. It also allows the students to communicate with each other very easily. The students can pose questions to each other about a reading or an assignment that they have been assigned. The only drawback of this program that I have found it that it seems to not give the user a visual. You can see the person you are chatting with or the person who has posted a podcast.

To be able to use this form of technology the teacher would need to have an computer in the classroom and one for every student preferably.  Not all students have computers at home so if they teacher wanted to students to view a podcast at home that might be difficult for some students.

There is little prep or proofing for podcasting and you can easily view them, however, it is hard to cast a podcast.  

Thinkfinity

I really enjoyed this activity because it gave me a chance to explore some tecnology that I would otherwise not know of. I also enbjoyed working in groups because it allowed us to bounce ideas off of eachother. For our tool my group studies Thinkfinity. I really liked this cite because it allows you explore lesson, activities and tool related to every content area.

We decided to look at histoy. In terms of the information that they provide dealing with history they focus on american history and do not provide any informaton that deals with European or world history. Their history section has links to games, lesson plans, trip ideas and much more. YOu could have the students explore this cite and play the games plus you could also get some interactive lesson from this cite. Studnet and they teacher are left up to their own choices so it is easy to have students pcik and choose what they would like to work on and study.

In terms of teachinmg from this tool the teacher would need to know how to work the cite and how to make meaning out of an on-line game, tour or lesson.

1/25/11

Today people learn a lot outside of the classroom. Children learn through their peers. Social interaction with peers allows children to learn from the world around them and those in it.  Social networking sites allow children to easily find people to talk with that they have common interests with. AS children grow up they enter into an age of “hanging out” which means that they spend more time with their friends and “hang out” This hanging out teaches children practical real world experiences and how to coupe with troubles and their peers.

Today learning is greatly influenced by technology. People can go on-line and look up facts at any moment with the internet and cell phones/I-pods that are now internet capable.  Children can even use internet sites to help them with homework or find a book on-line or on their nook and read it and never have to buy the actual printed book.

Teaching should be an ever changing study that focuses on educating our youth for the world that they are living in. Teacher should ebb seen a as source of knowledge and be there to help t heir students and assist them. Technology should be an aid to learning in today’s world because technology is becoming such a part of people’s everyday life. Student should learn from the word around them not just from the school. 

January 20th

One of my favorite teachers was my sophomore year (of high school) English teacher. She made her students want to learn through showing passion, and enthusiasm. She would always come in with some story for us and she knew how to relate to her students. She also wanted to know what we were interested in and get our input on the material. We also got to use the computers, internet, PowerPoint and other forms of technology to present information to the class. . She used to always comment that our school needs to get with the times because he had old projectors and we did not have smart boards

I consider great teachers to be the teachers that are passionate not only about teaching but their students as well. Teachers never stop learning because they are always gaining new insight and knowledge from their students. If the teachers uses this knowledge in her classroom that is what makes her a great teacher. Teaching is also something that needs to change with the times. New information and found and as times go on students need to not only focus on different material that will be more prevalent to their lives but a teacher needs to present the material in a way that the meets the needs of the time. Teaching with smart board and computers is very important for this day in age because we are a technological society and the students will need to know how to use the computers and internet appropriately. I think this presents challenges for students and teachers because things are moving and changing so rapidly that the students need to learn so much and teachers have to finds a way to teach all of this new material and fit it into their curriculums. This leads me to my question for learning and educating today, “Is all of this material and new technology taking away from the