Blog Post D

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This chapter covered information on different technology tools, searching the web, and internet information responses. This chapter really helped me come to more of an understanding of what types of technology are used for searching the internet and what information you can get by making those searches.

There were a few helpful resources that were listed in this chapter regarding the internet. Flickr, LibriVox, and Creative Commons were just a few that were listed. Flickr was explained as an online photo managing and sharing tool that many teachers enjoy using. This website allows teachers to add visual learning resources to their lesson plans. LibriVox is a website that shares free audio recordings of different published books. This would be very helpful to teachers if they wanted to do a read out loud in class with a audio recording playing in the background. Creative Commons was explained as a place online where photos and videos could be reached easily by teachers. This website is very helpful when dealing with being able to find copyright protection for authors so that the pictures and videos are more reliable.

While reading about search engines in this chapter, I actually found out what they really are. A search engine is a software program that uses networks of computers to access information from its databases. I learned about keywords and that they are words or phrases used by search engines to locate matching webpages or sources. When using certain key words thats match your subject, it's easier to find what you're looking for! Many search engines such as Bing, Ask, Dogpile, Duck Duck Go, and Webopedia were listed in this chapter along with their specialized use for each site.

Different internet information responses such as misinformation, malinformation, mess-up information, and mostly useless information were discussed in this chapter. Many managment and control strategies such as censorship, filtering software, and partitions were listed to help when dealing with false or poor information found on the web.

Overall, I really enjoyed Chapter 5 and I really would consider people who aren't too familiar with searching on the internet to read it.

Blog Post C

In this chapter it discussed parent teacher conferences, and how teachers are supposed to respond to parents during them. Many parents are usually concerned when it comes to their kids using technology in the classroom at such a young age. I think that it's okay for parents to be concerned for their kids and their safety when using technology. As long as the teachers are reassuring and throughly discuss what will be used and how they will be using it, parents will be more understanding to them using it in class. 

Some questions that may be asked are, "Why are you emphasizing so much technology in your teaching?", or even, "What can you teach with technology that you cannot teach just as well without it?". If I were to get asked these questions I would simply respond with the fact that I'm trying to get their children ready for the future with technology. I think it's a great idea to familiarize kids with technology no matter if they are considered "too young". Adding in a small technology based activity per day would be easy and understandable to parents. I would definitely reassure the parents that we wouldn't be sitting on computers or tablets all day long. 

I thought it was very interesting learning about teacher-centered approaches vs. student-centered approaches in a classroom. In this chapter it gave us a preview of a chart of the two different perspectives among both students and teachers. For example, with teacher-centered approaches they listed one as assessments based on worksheets, quizzes, and tests. For the student-centered approach they listed it as assessments based on student' projects, performances, and portfolios. 

Conroy, Katie, Teacher vs student technology created by Wordle

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.

Blog Post B Chapter 2

In Chapter 2, I read about the future teachers and the technology being discussed among teachers. I also read about teaching and how it affects students, families, employers, and society all together.

When teaching, teachers always want to give out information and material to students in a way that they'll be able to comprehend it. Teachers also have the job of reaching all students and students that might have different needs or interests. It's easier to put students into small or larger groups when introducing a new topic or activity. Lastly, teachers want to take into consideration that the students in their classroom have a life outside of the classroom. Getting students in a daily routine is usually easier on them so they grow more comfortable to their learning environment.

I also learned about The Rogers innovation curve which proposes that with every new idea there are always small percentages of innovators and early adopters, followed by another majority of followers who sooner or later will adopt new practices. When applying the Roger's model to K-12 education, teacher divide it into three ways. The first being a small group with technology and computers added into teaching. The second being a larger group of cautious people worrying about the problems and system crashes that could occur. And the last group being people who would have used the technology sooner if they knew about it and how it worked.

This chapter was very interesting with the ways technologies could be used in the classroom and how sometimes these technologies weren't able to be used because of the lack of access, or even malfunctioning. Technology can be used effectively in a classroom with trial runs and only if this technology is available or supported by the faculty.

Digital Blog Post A Chapter 1

Hello!

In Chapter 1, I learned many different things already about becoming a teacher in the 21st century! Things such as today's students and how they view technology, students being able to use tablets and smartphones in class, and students being able to learn about technology based textbooks and use them properly all really caught my attention! Overall, this chapter was a great first reading to start off the class.

With students in the classroom as of the 21st century, being able to interpret technology into daily classroom routine is ver important. It not only helps teachers understand their student's learning needs, but it also shows teachers a different approach to be able to teach their students in a more interesting way. I learned that by 2010 over half of the U.S. children under 5 years were using an electronic device to help them with learning and they were also watching 4 hours of television daily. In my opinion, this is way too much technology use for a kid at such a young age.

Learning about Tablets and Smartphones in this chapter was also very helpful even though I have my own of these two devices. I learned about how they both have apps that can be used for thousands of instructional purposes. I always knew that you could obviously download an app to teach or learn a subject to students, I just didn't realize how many that there were! The chapter gave several examples, a few being; interactive world maps in social studies, online dictionaries and poetry collections in language arts, and different calculators and problem solving apps that will actually walk you through a problem step by step until you're sure how to complete it.

Lastly, I thought that technology based textbooks were an awesome idea! With these, teachers are able to easily find online reading materials from every area or subject that they're teaching. Teachers can also create their own activities or worksheets online and put them on an online website for their students to go and view. I always have thought that was so helpful when my teachers would go online and post practice activities to what we were learning in class.