Education and Technology Trends in 2011

The article is filled with lots of technological jargon and on the surface appears to be difficult to read. However, looking closer you can see that it was written that way on purpose to further the goal of the company to pat themselves on the back for all of the progress they have made. They make very small things that they have done appear larger than life. Technology trends are hard to follow and keep up with I am sure. I think their hearts are in the right place in wanting to further the ideas that people have told them they wanted and they make the necessary personal connections having the user be personalized. My complaint about the article is that is dances around the subject rather than just straight shooting. Get to the point and stick to the point! Dee

Teachers losing jobs due to Facebook postings

After reading several articles about teachers losing their jobs because of Facebook, there are some definite points that need to be addressed. First, Teachers do have a right to privacy. I would be upset if I was told I could not have a Facebook page. If it were not for Facebook, I may not have reunited with my husband. Although I believe that teachers have a right to privacy, there has to be a level of professionalism that a teacher must attain. When we become teachers we become public figures that are trusted instantly and looked upon to be role models in society. There are certain boundaries that should not be crossed and having students as friends on Face books is not a wise decision. I chose not to have students as friends on Face book not because of what I might say or do, but what others that I am friends with might say or do. I do not think it is ever a good idea to mix home and work. I do not even have my colleagues as friends on Face book because of this. I will not avoid Face book but I will always be careful about what I say and do and pictures that I post. I do believe you can avoid negative consequences but keeping your private life, private. I do not even think Face book should be used for assignments. I recently did create an assignment to have students post on a blog but I have to say, it scared me. I worried what kids would write themselves ans how they would respond to each other despite the rules of blogging. There will always be some teachers and students though that will cross the line unfortunately. Dee

The Power of Words

The message in Power of Words is just that. Words can be designed to evoke emotion from its reader. Once emotion is evoked the passersby that read the sign become much more generous because they can empathize. They can imagine themselves not being able to see the day they are participating in. Words can change lives and they way they are used even more so. I already do try to choose my words carefully but it has definitely made me more conscious of what comes out of my mouth. Dee

The Worst Professor Ever

This man should not be teaching. His basic questioning skills lack skills and depth. His accent throws me off too. I had to really listen to understand him. His directions are unclear and his explanations lack the potential for understanding. I will admit that at times my questioning skills, are lacking, it is usually when I am trying to wing it. When I am prepared, my skills are pretty good. Learning in a visual way is a good thing, but not all people are visual learners, so it leaves out other populations of students. He should hang up his hat, and play golf! Dee

Digital Dossier

There are both advantages and disadvantages to having a digital dossier. If a child were to become lost, it would be easier to track them today then it would have been years ago. Having this dossier is also a time saver since many programs save your personal information for future use. As a teacher having a digital dossier could help if you live a good, clean, legal life; however, if you were to get into trouble, it would be very easy for that news to spread. Having a digital dossier as a student could be detrimental as well. This is a prime way for predators to get a hold of personal information about the child they are pursuing. Overall this video scared the heck out of me because I have never thought about how a digital dossier begins in the womb with a sonogram. I had lots of them because of high risk pregnancies so my kids had a thick file before even being born. How scary to think that our personal information is everywhere for others to misuse ergo lots of stolen identities. I am making my dossier bigger as we speak. HA! Dee

Waldorf School Article

“Teaching is a human experience,” he said. “Technology is a distraction when we need literacy, numeracy and critical thinking.”

And Waldorf parents argue that real engagement comes from great teachers with interesting lesson plans.

“Engagement is about human contact, the contact with the teacher, the contact with their peers,” said Pierre Laurent, 50, who works at a high-tech start-up and formerly worked at Intel and Microsoft. He has three children in Waldorf schools, which so impressed the family that his wife, Monica, joined one as a teacher in 2006.

I could not agree more with the statements above. Teaching is a human experience. I love to watch students interact with me and their fellow classmates with self- confidence.  I love to watch when their eyes light up because something sparked their interest, either from the teacher to student or student to student or student to teacher for that matter. I learn from my students every day. Creating interesting lessons, which engage students fully or lessons that are tactile usually work best because kids can immerse themselves into whatever they are learning.

“You can look back and see how sloppy your handwriting was in first grade. You can’t do that with computers ’cause all the letters are the same,” Finn said. “Besides, if you learn to write on paper, you can still write if water spills on the computer or the power goes out.”

I love the honesty of the child who wants to see how his handwriting will improve. He also realizes that when power is out, and or the computer is not working you can always turn to writing.

Apple Just Revolutionized Education

I love the idea of technology driven classrooms however unless schools are ready to spend some real money, it will not happen the way it should. My school recently tried a Kindle pilot program. It sounded great and the teachers and kids were all excited at the thought of using a kindle instead of books. the problem was though that the school was only willing to buy the Kindles, not the books to go on them. Unless they were free versions, the school would not download a book in our curriculum. Working with basic level students, would make reading the original version of Beowulf a difficult task. It soon became a big let down to teachers and made teh kids wonder why we weren't using the kindles instead of the books we were reading. I realize that copyright issues can affect the process but they should have thought this through before getting everyone excited about using them

Pranav Mistry Sixth Sense

I actually learned about this technology in a previous computer class and was amazed at the sophistication of it. My favorite parts were how they can recognize based on pantomimed recognition a camera for instance. I also loved how it could work on any surface. The camera that hangs around your neck is a bit bulky, but a small price to pay for its benefits. It was great how it could recognize products and its composition and how it could even recognize a person based on everything that is about them on the internet.  Actually that part scared me a little. I know that will be expensive at first but I would definitely want to get one of those.

roll top technology video

I sent everyone the roll top lap top because I thought it was so cool. A great thing about it being so flexible is that you can literally use it anywhere with comfort. Lap tops can be heavy and bulky at times but the roll top is light weight, and easily rolled for carrying. I love how the screen blends into the keyboard although I do think it would take so getting use to. It is probably going to be very expensive but a great conversation piece.

Education and Technology Trends 2011

I think Xplana is a bit over-confident about the predictions for the future. I will say that there are trends and the  trends are predicted by the user but for anyone to say they know where we are headed for sure is impossible. Growing up, I did not have computers. We used manual then electric typewriters. How could we have know that we would be emailing, faxing, downloading etc for personal and business reasons. In one click, we can optain a job, purchase anything, find old friends and run a background check on someone. It truly blows my  mind to think how far we have come just in my lifetime. I can only imagine what life will be like for my children and grandchildren as adults when it comes to technology.

smartboard

Smartboard Presentation

I enjoyed learning about the smartboard since, although I have heard of them, I have never actually used one. I think it is a great tool for allowing students to get out of their seats and immerse themselves in what they are learning in a tactile way. I am a tactile learner so for me to learn about the smartboard, I have to touch it and play with it, so I can see what features would work best for my classroom. I particularly liked the window effect, where you could reveal information as you wished using the window to cover the anticipated information. I also liked the ability to use graphic organizers for teaching pre-writing.

Thinkfinity

Monday, February 20, 2012

Thinkfinity

I loved the presentation on Thinkfinity. I have actually thought of starting a business myself particularly geared for high school teachers. When I became a teacher, I found that there were many lesson prompts for middle school and lower but few things for high school teachers. Thinkfinity is a great culmination of integration across the disciplines and I love the interactives. The presenter was so knowledgeable and really highlighted some lessons that I may use. I was so inspired that I may take the training class to become a presenter myself. Thanks!

Technology Tools for teaching and learning

I love the second article that lists all of the techology web sites using goals as identifiers. I also like the rating scales and ease of use ratings. I am grateful to whomever put that list together since I find that is is hard enough to search for web sites that contain the information you are looking for. Since they have already been rated, it makes me feel as if it is more reliable than taking a chance on a site that I know nothing about. Although, I have to say I have not heard of most of the web sites in this article.

Review of article "In classroom of Future, Stagnant Scores

Bells and whistles look and sound nice but the reality is that it is only as effective as the teacher who presents it. Technology seems to be the push everywhere, but as seen in the Kyrene School District, test scores have not improved despite the ambitious efforts of its administrators. Using computer centric classrooms to attract students will attract state dollars; it makes you wonder about the motives of those in charge. "Hope and enthusiasm are soaring here but not test scores." Mrs. Furman. Any teacher would be excited to have a 21st century classroom, but teacher training is essential to the goals and purposes of the ideal minded decision makers.