Digital Blog D Chapter 5

After reading Chapter 5 in our text I noticed how much online technology there is out there to assist us and our generations in the future. I especially liked how they talked about search engines and how many there are now out on the internet. I personally think the search engines are one of the best things created for students and everyone else. I just think about what it would have been like to not have things such as Google, Ask.Com, or even Siri on our own phones now! Those things have become such a cornerstone in our society, I couldn’t tell you the last time I’ve gone without searching something on one of those.

Another thing that I enjoyed learning about was proper website evaluation, and how much evaluation actually goes on by the majority of people who use them for resources. I’m guilty of using a few websites that probably weren’t the most reliable in my day, but when I got to college and was taught the correct way to use, cite, and determine if the website I was on was creditable and valid. I realized that just because it says www.facts.com, doesn’t mean there’s going to be nothing but facts on there. This chapter touched on finding out who published the information, if the source is legitimate, the date the information was published, and if the information was backed up by citations. Needless to say, I feel I’ve gotten a lot better at choosing valid websites in my college career.      

Resources: 

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Hurley, B (September 24th, 2015) Nothing But Facts created with Piktochart

Digital Blog Post C

     After reading Chapter 3 I noticed that this chapter spoke a lot about the science that goes into learning and how there are four different learning theories that teaching is built around, and how technology is now a big factor in helping students with problem solving.

                 One concept I liked a lot in this chapter was teachers learning to teach in new ways using technology, I thought this was really unique because growing up we just had the standard learning methods. Now that technology has advanced so much are teachers have the opportunity to build their lesson plans to fit their student’s generation. They can go outside the “teaching norm” and integrate new methods with computer software, new tech-boards, and tablets. This can result in better test results and grades because it appeals to this generation’s modes of learning and understanding.

     Another concept I found interesting while reading was how this generation of students need to be more “internet literate”, without having the knowledge to decipher what is factual and what could be nonfactual, students could make the mistake of using information that isn’t valid; even worse would be if they started to believe the facts they read that aren’t true. I can’t tell you how many times I see kids on Facebook that will share an article that’s just outrageous and not true, but believe it and post it for all to see.

      The last concept I enjoyed was the student centered learning concept, I thought to myself how cool that would have been if all my friends and I got to pick a lesson for the year and do together. I think that would have given us a little power in the classroom and allowed for more interest to be expressed, other than the daily routine and lesson plan you go through. It seems exciting to go outside the box and try something a little strange. I think it would also help with creative purposes for the students, to have to create a valid lesson plan for them to learn and study for.

Resources:

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Verdun, K. (2015, January 2). Technological Advances in Today's Classrooms. Retrieved September 21, 2015.

https://magic.piktochart.com/editor/piktochart/7996533#

Chapter 2 Blog Post

Chapter 2: Understanding Educational Technology Issues And Trends

           After I read Chapter Two: 'Understanding Educational Technology Issues and Trends', I thought about some major advancements that technology has on our education systems and A few problems it holds also. One big plus I noticed with the advancement of technology in our classrooms is the clarity and new learning tools it gives to our students. Leaning from computers and new software give our society an edge, because the technology can solve small problems that without it might take a long time to figure out, just to get to the finished product. A big disadvantage that technology brings, isn't necessarily the technology itself, it's more of the cost of it. I was very lucky to be in a school district that had excellent funding and state of the art learning equipment, but there are a lot of other counties that can barely stay above water with their expenses. If we could figure a way to make these new software's, computers, and tech-boards more affordable, we could help a lot more people. 

photo credit:Tech&Science

     While those positives and negatives can impact technology in the classroom, I think there is always going to be some sort of barriers that will hinder the use of technology in the future. One big problem that occurred to myself while I was a high school student was when our class got introduced with a new tech-board and our own teacher didn't know how to use it. It was as she was plucked from the street and put in front of this big board and was told to make us learn off of it. The training with all this new technology in our schools should be on the top of the list for incoming and veteran teachers. It must be difficult to change with the technology but I think it's necessary if we continue to being in more and more into our schools.

Resources: textbook- Malov, Robert, Verock- O'Loughin, Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park

(2013) Transforming Learning With New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.