Introducing the Book

That was a very funny video and was accurate in depicting the ignorance one has with anything new. If we think about it - everything that is old in the world - that is - man made inventions were once very new to people. With every new invention - the wheel, fire, ...paper....computers....smart board...and on and on - people had to adjust - they had to investigate, learn and master and then accept.

This video of course portrayed a great parallel between the "book" and the lap top - I think it was well down. The part I really liked was when the man asked the assistant if he wanted water - how contemporary was that!

Connecting Student Learning and Technology

The information in the website http://www.sedl.org/pubs/tec26/flash.html is extremely informative and supports including technology to support traditional lectures/experiences. It is stated that "Computers can support the variety of ways learners construct their own understanding. Students who gather information from the Internet can be self-directed and independent. They can choose what sources to examine and what connections to pursue. Depending on the parameters set by teachers, the students may be in complete control of their topics and their explorations". I support this methodology and have used computers for this purpose when I taught 6th, 7th and 8th grade math in a math lab. Computers became "the other teacher" through the use of interactive math web sites which allowed differentiated instruction to be implemented with ease. This website and the websites that Dr. Luongo posted under the F2F blog complement each other. Reading the information on these websites reaffirms how I feel about technology in the class room and distance learning for undergrads but does make me more receptive in certain areas. Sometimes "ignorance is bliss" because not knowing does not warrant any additional action - then something triggers your interest and you need to explore what's out there so you can, once again, fine tune your opinion and thoughts. So many times, Dr. Luongo thanks us in our blogs for making her think about something - but thank you, Dr. Luongo - you are making me think...I mean re-think!

If We Didn’t Have the Schools We Have Today, Would We Create the Schools We Have Today?

This is a tricky question -not a trick question, in my opinion. This article has many good points but there is alot more to this than meets the eye - we can also ask if we didn't have the big American businesses and corporations which employ many Americans in buildings on Wall Street or Madison Avenue - would we have them today? Would we pay rent and high salaries to American workers or would we use technology to out source some more American jobs? How many Americans are losing their jobs because technology made it possible? How many people lost their jobs - educated and have many years experience in their professions because it is cheaper to get help in abroad? Please see http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1887779,00.html and find out what IBM has done to its United States employees. IBM - one of the biggest computer/technology companies in the world is beginning to fail its American employees.

What will the consequences be for the new generation of Americans if we eliminate schools as we know them? What should replace our schools - our building filled with classrooms and children interacting with one another and getting a good sold education? Well - we can replace our schools with condo's and have everyone educated in their own homes on their lap tops. We can have a society where no one interacts in a classroom environment - where each student logs on to a computer and your teacher comes up on your screen via video conferencing. There will be no formal assessment, limited social interaction and if you have to answer a question - you must change your color tab to yellow or red. There will be no verbal discussion - just alot of typing - students will not learn the art of handwriting or how to spell - they can type and use spell check.
Are we setting the stage for a future implosion ?

I am not, in any way, against technology - and I understand it is here with much more to come - I am very capable of understanding most aspects and worked in many years in the computer industry but I tend to wonder about the pros and the cons. I am enjoying this course - where there are limited in class meetings - but this course warrants this type of teaching - it is a technology course where much is done independently on the computer. However, I don't think this an online course would have applied to any of the computer science courses - programming courses - that I took for my undergraduate degree - I actually needed interaction with my professors.

Granted we should infuse technology into the curriculum, include more hybrid classes, etc. but when and where is the line drawn? I don't know any of these answers - I just wonder what will be in store for our children and grandchildren! Yes, technology is here to stay and its effect on our lives is not measureable - but at what point will it's effect be detrimental?

School Web Page

I asked if we are able to use the Scholastic Web Page and we are in the district I work for. I asked why no one uses a website, like Scholastic, to post individual web pages, and some of the teachers stated that it is really a lot of work to maintain the web site and after doing it for a while some of them stopped. I can understand this happening - keeping your web page up to date is alot of work and if it is not maintained properly, one leaves themselves open to much criticism from administration and parents.

A few years ago, I was the web site administrator for the school's web site that I was working for. If this site was not updated immediately with school emergency information such as snow day or sports information like basketball games, the parents complained. Some of the veteran teachers were opposed to maintaining a web site as they were not interested in learning something new - many felt that a web site was not necessary and they also complained.

Although I sometimes do not agree with some of the comments regarding usage or over usage of technology in the classroom, I do believe that a web page is extremely informative and helps parents, students and teachers equally.

WebSite Evaluation

Just a reflection - having done the web site evaluation when this course began and really thinking about the questions posed to us by Dr. Luongo, I felt that I was in a better position to recommend web sites on "my web page". I actually thought about what makes this website a good website before putting the link on my web page. I am going to find out if I can use my web page tomorrow....I hope so!

WebPage

A few years ago, my husband who has been working for IBM since 1981 donated much time and software on behalf of his company and created a great web site for a local parochial school that I was working for. We not only set up a web site, but a complete computer lab comprised of 30 computers networked together. This computer lab was also my math classroom where I taught math for grades 6, 7, and 8 and basic computer applications to the entire elementary school. In the math class, I had total access to the computers and was able to incorporate technology into my daily lesson plans whenever I wanted to. This allowed for much differentiated instruction in math class.

I was also the school's web site administrator and this was almost a full time job in itself. I had to make sure that all teachers' web pages never became stagnant and were all up to date as well as keeping school new up to date.

In class, tonight, Dr. Luongo had mentioned that parents will complain if information is not kept current and this is very - very true. I remember the web site was a big hit - it was the first time that this school had a web site and we kept a tally of the number of "hits" the website received daily and it was amazing. Parents and students alike canvased the website for information on sports, academics, news and notes, announcements, etc.

Now I work for a public school district and you are not at liberty to have a web page without consent of the district - there has to be conformity across the district and this is regulated by the technology district supervisor. Even so, creating this web page under the Scholastic utility was alot of fun. It was extremely user friendly and would benefit many of the students, parents, and teachers in our district. This is definetly a tool worth using and I will introduce it to our school's "computer teacher". Thanks to Dr. Luongo for letting us explore this utility!

Point and Click

According to http://www.library.jhu.edu/researchhelp/general/evaluating/ (John Hopkins University) "The World Wide Web offers information and data from all over the world. Because so much information is available, and because that information can appear to be fairly “anonymous”, it is necessary to develop skills to evaluate what you find. When you use a research or academic library, the books, journals and other resources have already been evaluated by scholars, publishers and librarians. Every resource you find has been evaluated in one way or another before you ever see it. When you are using the World Wide Web, none of this applies. There are no filters. Because anyone can write a Web page, documents of the widest range of quality, written by authors of the widest range of authority, are available on an even playing field. Excellent resources reside along side the most dubious. The Internet epitomizes the concept of Caveat lector: Let the reader beware. This document discusses the criteria by which scholars in most fields evaluate print information, and shows how the same criteria can be used to assess information found on the Internet."

It is great to have our students using the WEB to find information - what better resource - that is - if we are using resources which are based on fact and not someones opinion. We, as educators must remind our students that when they back up their opinions in their papers on what they have researched they have researched from a reputable source. It is great to point and click and cut and paste and retype in one's own words - but we need to teach our students that they must be using sources that are reputable. Our students do provide the web sites they used but do many teachers check that the web sites are viable. Do we go the full distance to make sure that the information is valid or do we just check that they do not plagiarize and supply the web site to support their findings?

Did You Know?

The Did You Know video was extremely informative. A few of the points that I found very important were that "today's learners will have 10 to 14 jobs by their 38th birthday" and that many of today's college majors did not exist 10 years ago.

I tend to wonder why our learners will have 10 to 14 jobs by their 38th birthday - is this symbolic of a "throwaway society" or is it an example of that if one is not gratified instantaneously, one picks up and leaves in a quest of something which is more appealing? I often wonder if our learners will be ready to handle the real world and real problems because solutions to problems may not always be a keystroke away.

I don't want to come across as one who disagrees with technology and its place in the classroom - I support technology in the classroom, innovative tools which enhance our quality of life, etc. but I sometimes wonder if there has to be more of a balance of both. Our learners hunger for technology - the question is why - is it easier to get an answer with the stroke of a key or think for yourself. I have three of my own children. They all have computers, ipods, cell phones, and at times I see them reaching for the key board to find an answer rather than looking in a book - it is easier to use google than to look it up!

One of the other points (and there were many great points in this video) that I found interesting is that many of today's college majors did not exist 10 years ago. The fact is many of the jobs that our kids will have are not yet even "invented". Currently, scientist are experimenting with spider DNA and injecting it into cows to see if spider webs can be produced from cow milk. Some spider webs have been made from DNA injected cows but the technology to perfect this is still evolving!

It is believed that Kevlar - a light weight product produced by DuPont and is used for bullet proof vests, is the strongest material on earth - stronger than steel - but the truth is " spider silk is one of the 7 great wonders of the animal kingdom. That a small animal, often less than a millimeter across can make a substance that we humans with all our technology are unable to reproduce, a substance that is tough, stronger and more flexible than anything else we can make is surely a humble reminder of the fact that Nature created us and not the other way around"(http://www.earthlife.net/chelicerata/silk.html)

"Spider silk is extremely strong -- it is about five times stronger than steel and twice as strong as Kevlar of the same weight. Spider silk also has the ability to stretch about 30-percent longer than its original length without breaking, which makes it very resilient." (http://www.howstuffworks.com/question87.html)

Isn't it amazing that our learners will be scientists producing spider webs from cows milk. The material produced can save police and military lives. These are jobs that we would never imagine but are just around the corner!

This image was uploaded from www.gifs.net

Web-Based Educational Resources

One web-based educational resource that I was introduced to, early on, in this course was Ask Dr. Math. Ask Dr. Math is different that many of the other math web based educational resources as it is not a "fun" site - it is very "matter of fact" and gets right down to the informative answer. This web site was one of the web sites that we were asked to do the web site evaluation and is a great resource for both math teachers and math students alike. This web site offers many things - it offers grade appropriate explanations for basic math skills as well as in depth answers to open ended difficult, at times - somewhat mind boggling questions. The site handles questions from the elementary level to the college level. There is also a blog area where teachers pose questions, answer questions or discuss experiences. Students can also Ask Dr. Math a question. This site is a terrific educational resource.

Another web-based educational resource that is appealing is Brain Pop. This site provides many math topics and presents these topics in a manner that is appealing to the student. This site is both fun and formative at the same time. It may be a site that students are more apt to visit in comparison to Ask Dr. Math because it is more appealing to their senses.

Blogging

I really never paid attention to what blogging is and who "blogs" until coming to Dr. Luongo's course. I remember hearing all about Rosie O'Donald's blogs about one of her co-workers on the View and I was immediately turned off to blogging. I quickly thought this was another mechanism to exploit someone. Years ago if one was angry at someone, they may argue or tell their friends about the problem. If the people were celebrities and worthy of national attention, it make get a 10 second spot on the news, but if not no one knew of someone else's problems. Now the whole world knows that there was a "situation" and the blogging is biased. The person or situation being blogged about has to respond to make it right from their perspective if they care to re- inform the "world". Prior to this course that was my idea of "blogging".

With the advent of technology, a whole new world is open to us and this world is expanding every day. Yes, technology --- like computers, the Internet, new medical technology, etc has brought us so much good. Technology gives us a platform to "speak" - one we have never had to this magnitude before.

Blogging allows us to share our ideas with those who are interested in what we have to say. We can collaborate with professionals in our field who live in other places of the world that we have never met. We can constantly exchange information and learn from each other.