Week #8

A School That's Too High on Gizmos

Welsh, By Patrick. "A School That's Too High on Gizmos." Washingtonpost.com - Nation, World, Technology and Washington Area News and Headlines. 10 Feb. 2008. Web. 19 Aug. 2010. .

Summary:
Recently the teachers from T.C. Williams High moved into a $98 million dollar building. Technology is flourishing throughout the school. LCD projectors line every classroom. Students have their own laptops, and are monitored by 126 different security cameras throughout the day. So what have all these gizmos brought to T.C.? One would expect a high moral and interest in the new technology gizmos and students who are eager to immerse themselves in the technology presented in front of them. Although these things sound real nice, that is simply not the case. Actually, all these fancy things have done just the opposite as planned. Teachers are no longer eager to come in and teach. Teacher guidance and instruction is so constricted that the art of teaching has left the big expensive doors of T.C. and is no longer existent. Students now find themselves playing the "online helicopter" games during class instead of following along with the current activity. Is there such things as too much technology? Has T.C. Williams High School out done themselves and created more of a hindrance than an accelerator and tool?

Reaction:
I found this article to be very interesting in the fact that most technology articles are suggesting more technology! This article looks at the very under talked about aspects of technology. Without a doubt there is too much technology. I truly believe that T.C. High has achieved this level and set the bar. I am really interested to find out how many hours and how much money was spent in training these teacher on how to use all there fancy gadgets. Also, I would like to know how many days of school they had to miss for these training classes. This whole process costs a great deal of money. I would hate to pay those taxes!! All in all this was a great article and allowed us to look at a different prospective of technology integration that we don't normally look at.

Week #7

The Great Debate: Effectiveness of Technology in Education

Deubel, Patricia. "The Great Debate: Effectiveness of Technology in Education -- THE Journal." THE Journal: Technological Horizons in Education -- THE Journal. 08 Nov. 2007. Web. 19 Aug. 2010. .

Summary:
I found this article very intriguing. The article introduction starts off by addressing the "debate" in the effectiveness of technology. The article starts out by saying, "I sometimes wonder why there is debate on the effectiveness of technology in education." In turn, the article addresses how can we just stop all technology and remove it, when technology is apart of us? So is there really a debate? The article then leads right into the definitions of effectiveness, technology, and education. The article asks us as readers to look at a broader view of using technology in the classroom and the effectiveness. Think of how effective technology would be in a country less fortunate than ours. The article then addresses what they mean by technology due to the fact that the term is so broad, and of course finally education. The article also talks about if technology has any chance to be effective it must be integrated appropriately. The technology must be a part of, rather than an add-on to the lesson. You also need to know the educational gap where you think the media or technology would be most effective. The article then says being against technology would be the same as being against food, clearly we need both. The article then makes an excellent comparison. "But to observe that it is dangerous to eat too much food, or to eat food with no nutritional value, is not to be 'antifood.' It is to suggest what may be the best uses of food." Meaning that its about how we utilize the technology, creating new worlds for the better or to worsen. In conclusion We realize that integrating media or technology just because will not realistically better education in any way, but its the way we implement the technology that moves us one step further to ceasing the "one-size-fits all" approach to teaching and learning.

Reaction:
I found this article to be quite compelling. This article allows us to take the idea of integrating technology and gives us some direction in order to effectively do so. I really liked the opening in this article it wanted me to keep reading. I believe that this was due to the fact that the first sentence and the title were almost contradicting. Here we have an article that is called the great debate, and the first sentence states why debate, there should not be one. The article then addresses and gives definitions to what they are talking about. I think this is especially important due to the broad topics that were chosen. This allowed for me to follow the article much better and allowed very little room for interpretation. The article also states that we must integrate rather than add on. I believe that this is so true. This has also been stressed in our IT classes. The technology must be integrated and there is a right and wrong place for technology as well. This was an excellent read full of ample amounts of knowledge and ideas.

Week #6

Podcasts: Where's the Learning?

Deubel06/07/07, By Patricia. "Podcasts: Where's the Learning? -- THE Journal." THE Journal: Technological Horizons in Education -- THE Journal. 07 June 2007. Web. 19 Aug. 2010. .

Summary:
What the heck is a podcast? A podcast stands for playable on demand mixed in with a little bit of broadcasting as well. Basically what it breaks down to is an audio file on the internet. You can think of a podcast more so like a radio program. You can selectively listen to one podcast on the internet or download them to your ipod and listen to them later. Podcasts can range from a college lecture to last Sundays sermon. According to Wikipedia, what makes podcasts different from other digital media formats is that they can be downloaded automatically using software capable of reading feed formats, such as RSS. A podcast is intended only for one-way interaction. A podcast is not an interactive program. The user downloads and listens to a speaker. So where is the learning then? Students develop literacy skills as they create podcasts. They become more engaged with their learning, or at least with the uniqueness of the technology itself. There seems to be no limit to ideas for learning with podcasts. In makin podcasts, students become drawn in with the project technique, which is a real-world experience. Many different classrooms are creating podcasts for various reasons such as students at Willowdale Elementary School in Omaha (NE) created Radio WillowWeb, a podcast series for kids. Third-grade students recently posted what they learned about the ear and the world of sound in Willowcast #26. Grade 5 students at Tovashal Elementary School (CA) post what they are learning to ColeyCast, named for their teacher. Their recent podcasts address interesting facts about the United States, Puritan life in New England, weather, inside the human body, and the solar system.

Reaction:

Podcasts are a great Web 2.0 feature teachers are implementing into their classrooms. This gives students a chance to have an audience. In turn, this will raise the bar for the level of work they complete and the satisfaction created by it. This will also produce work that is of greater quality. When students have an audience, especially public, they tend to become more immersed in the project itself. Although, there are a great deal of benefits as always there are downsides to podcasts as well. Many of the audio files are not complete or are of poor quality. Accessibility can be an issue too when trying to get a podcast online. Also, everyone cannot hear podcasts. Someone who is deaf and is asked to retrieve the podcast offline for a lecture will not be able to do so. I believe that the positives out way the negatives and podcasts are only becoming more and more implemented in our classrooms especially at the secondary level.

Week #5

Web 2.0: Beyond Google

Currwood, Jen. "Web 2.0: Beyond Google | Scholastic.com." Teaching Resources, Children's Book Recommendations, and Student Activities | Scholastic.com. Web. 19 Aug. 2010. .8

Summary:

This article is about using web 2.0 in the classrooms. This article makes great reference in regards to the typical lab time in the schools today, boring. It says to ditch the fifty states report research and put a little pizzazz in the mix. This is where the Web 2.0 features can come into play. Web 2.0 was first introduced a decade ago or so and is now becoming quite a trend. Using Web 2.0 in your classroom can have a positive affect on the environment of the classroom. Web 2.0 can add excitement, curiousity, and keep students engaged. So what the heck is Web 2.0? Web 2.0 are online applications that encourage group effort and information sharing and exemplify principles of user-centered design. What's really significant with new literacies and digital tools is the nature of learning and participation that they make possible. Students can work with others across time and space to learn more about themselves and the world around them. As schools work to integrate new technical stuff into the curriculum, they need to promote the new ethos stuff, too. These things can range from blogs to social networking sites.

Reaction:

I chose this article because we have been looking very closely at Web 2.0 features within our own classroom. Web 2.0 features can greatly impact the collaborative interaction between students within a classroom setting. There are many different programs that students can use. I find it simply amazing on how many different wikis are out there for students to use. Before taking it442 I thought the only wiki that existed was Wikipedia. Which brings up a point, if these Web 2.0 features are not introduced how will students know about them, because I did not. I thought another interesting point brought up in this article was the use of face book and MySpace in the school setting. Some technology gurus believe that the blocking of these websites is not necessary at school. They believe that they are only hindering the student’s use of the Web 2.0 programs and features. I believe that they should be banned from the school setting. I myself, being on face book, find no academic benefit that I can pull during my school hours. Although there are a lot of different Web 2.0 features that are useful during school such as web kiosks and things of that nature. I believe that these networking programs a great thing to have in school and also generate collaboration between teachers and students.

Week #4

Laptops for All: Using Technology to Go Beyond Traditional Curriculum

Furger, Roberta. "Laptops for All: Using Technology to Go Beyond Traditional Curriculum | Edutopia." K-12 Education & Learning Innovations with Proven Strategies That Work | Edutopia. 01 Nov. 2001. Web. 19 Aug. 2010. .

Summary:

This article talks in reference to students being able to have their own laptops in school. This school consists of grades 4-8. The school primarily consists of Hispanic students. The school is located in New York. In this piece we look at the benefits of using laptops in the classroom. Students are able to conduct a science experiment on the melting point of solids to liquid states. Of course there is your standard beaker and things of that nature in the experiment, but then this is where the laptop comes in. In this article students are able to collect data, organize, and graph it in real time. This would be very beneficial for data collection and statistic analysis. This article also addresses that there are some negatives as well. Technology can sometimes fail as we all know.

Reaction:

This article has many great points and benefits balanced with downfalls of technology as well. There are many benefits to using technology. For example, we look at how the students are able to collect, organize, and graph the statistics in real time. This is a great way to prevent human error, not too mention how much time this saves within the experiment, which can open up time for many other things to be covered. Technology is all around us today and that is clearly evident. I believe that it is a great idea to get these children immersed in the technology as soon as possible. This specific school is preparing these young learners for a successful future in a world that is so technologically advance by the time you check out with your laptop at the cash register it is no longer the newest and greatest out there. There is also a great deal of negatives to be addressed with technology. With technology things do not always go as planned. Technology can be very finicky at times and not produce or run the way you had intended. The cost of these laptops can be astronomical, from the up keep, to the initial purchase of the unit itself. It is great if every school in America could afford one but that will never happen, at least not in my lifetime. The only way I see this happening is due to federal funding and the laptops would be checked out, although that would still be costly. This is also a charter school and not a public one. In public schools this could be a much tougher experience. How can one mandate the purchase of a laptop when the funds are not there? This also becomes a safety issue when children from the ages of ten on up are walking home with a thousand dollar machine. They might lose it, or even worse someone could easily take it from them. I think the laptop integration is a great idea but is clearly unpractical and unreal.