ISTC

This class has been a great learning experience for me. I have learned all kinds of things that will help me not only with teacher but with any general task that i have that includes technology. I have learned about websites, blogs, wiki's and all kinds of other technology that can be used effectively in the classroom. When I started this class the only technology i ever thought was useful in the classroom was powerpoints. Now I know that there are many other kinds of technology that are more effective although less frequently used then power point.

Reflection on ISTC 301

In ISTC 301 I learned how to effectively integrate English into technology. When I first started the class I thought I was only going to be able to use PowerPoint in my classroom, but I was shown another perspective on educational technology. I appreciate that there are many forms of software available and that there are creative ways to use it and reach out to all types of learners.
I enjoyed making the digital story the most out of this semester. It taught me how to be creative and hands on, I think that if it is available I would love to use this program in my own classroom. Learning about the different type of learning styles and how it's integrated into teaching was informative. I hope to continue to learn more about technology in the future, there are still many different programs that I would like to know about and become more familiar with. To further my knowledge I will continue to work in a setting that has computer's available and use them to teach my students. I now know that I do need technology to be an effective educator, at first I took technology for granted and this class showed me otherwise.

end of semester

Well this semester has been a long tough one especially for me. In this class i feel like i learned alot but i also feel like i could have learned more. Some things in here were fun like the digital story telling, but i dont think we got enough time to actually play around with it and actually do a good job. I did like learning about the different google applications that can work well with group projects. Another problem I saw with this class is the fact it wasnt set up to help everyone no matter what major of education they had. This class was hard with being a special education teacher because it made everything twoce as hard. The "My Bookshef" was something interesting that i think should be used with special ed children and those who have trouble reading or who dont like it so they can possibly learn to like it. Otherwise i feel like i am pulling a good amount of information in this class, I jsut think there is alot of information fit into such a small amount of time and hopefully that will get better as time goes on..

Great Job though with this being your first semester here...and thanks for helping me!!

end of semster

The technology we used i liked best was windows movie maker. I feel like this application could be used to create very fun interesting lessons that as a history major I could use for my classes. I love how easy it was to use the program and make transitions and display the information oyu want while adding auditory and visual pieces.

The technology I disliked was the wiki I feel like it was just one more thing to use that was not necessary.

I hope to take away a better skills to use technology that would be applicable in my teaching. So I could use these skills to create more effective lessons hopeing to reach all different kinds of learners. Myself I feel having lessons that have more things going create higher levels of stimulation that will improve how much students will learn. I feel as technology has advanced the way take information has to. This is why I feel the way we teach needs to be updated for future generations to learn effectively.

end of the semester

There was so much information jammed into this class this semester! I did learn of some new applications, such as Google calendar and Delicious. I also learned about a neat assistive software (My Bookshelf) that I will definitely use in my classroom one day. This information I will more than likely keep with me. Other information, such as digital storytelling, I will more than likely forget by the start of next semester. It was just too much in such a short period of time. I don't think we got enough time to really learn and digest a lot of the information.
Something big I learned...this class is not well tailored for the special ed major. Many of the projects were twice as hard to work around my major.
There was so much to this class. It's disappointing that I know I'm not getting as much out of it as I should be. I hope that down the road students have a better opportunity to really apply their learning in class. I especially hope someone thinks about how to better incorporate special ed majors.

ISTC Reflection

I feel that I have gained knowledge in two different aspects of teaching through this class.  At first, I was a Secondary Ed. History major and learned about different ways to integrate technology into the high school or middle school classroom.  But just recently I changed my major to Elementary Ed. and Special Ed. so my technological focus had to change.  These two areas are worlds apart from each other.  With Elementary and Special Ed. you can do so much more with the kids and there are so many more resources that are available to use.  Plus the kids are still at that age where they think this stuff is cool.  With high school and middle school you really have to wow them with the technology you are using or you will lose them in the first 5 minutes.  This class has broadened my horizons as far as what I will use in my classroom and what I will be looking for in the classroom has I continue to pursue my degree and career choice.

reflections

I have enjoyed this course and it was very interesting. This an important class to take because we as future teachers must be able to intergrate technology wit out lesson plans to help or students learn better and prepare them the future. Dr. Lohnes helped us think of ways to incoporate our lessons into things such as power points, videos, or even web pages. I loved that class allowed us to be independent and construct our knowledge about our desired subjects. If I could learn more I would become more familiar with other forms of technology.
My view of technology integration did change as I became more interested.After completeting this class I learned many ways to incorporate technology without using the typical power point, but to take it a step further with movies and website design. The desired goal of this course was definietely fulfilled. we all know that ther is a strong need for technology and plenty of different ways to integrate it into the classrooms.

Reflection

I definitely learned alot in this class. Coming in I was nervous about technology because I felt as if I had only used it for communication, everyday things such as editing pictures, and to write papers. Not only did I learn how to use alot more technology through this course, but I learned that the technology I have been using for a long time has applications in the classroom as well. I think the technology become comfortable with will help me reach students of the Net Generation.
As an aspiring English teacher, I was afraid there would not be many applications appropriate for my subject. I now know that there are many programs that can enhance the English classroom, including Inspiration, Movie Maker, Visual Thesaurus, and Publisher.
Going forward, I am excited to integrate Web 2.0 technologies, such as Wiki, blogging, and new applications into my future teaching.

Semester's End Blog

First, I would like to say that I am sorry that this is late. I forgot to do it yesterday.
Anyway, I am going to take a lot away from this semester. This class has taught me a lot about how to use technology in the classroom. When I first started this class I was nervous because I do not have the best luck with technology, but as I am finishing the semester I feel more confident with using technology in the classroom. It was not something I would have thought about using, but now I think it really is a useful tool to use in the classroom. Technology is a way to keep students focused on learning, but it allows them to use the tools they know and love to do so.
In the future I would like to learn more about how to really use technology in my social sciences field. I am interested in how teachers of the subject use technology in their rooms. I feel like our class kept the technology on the simple side, but we could have went much deeper. Seeing how current teachers are using technology in their classrooms would be very helpful to me.
All in all, I think that this class was a good class to have to take. I am glad I took the class because I feel it contained a lot of useful information!

ISTC wrap up

I've learned a lot through this course. I feel even more comfortable the closer I am to my educating career. Now I know the different technologies that are out there I am going to be more capable of integrating it into my classroom.

I also know that it will be challenging to do it successfully but now I feel like I am up to the challenge.

There is really nothing more I want to see in the course because I think we were educated enough on topics. This is a challenging course to teach in one semester and for the topics needed to be covered in a certain time limit it was done well.

Class Reflection

I think that I am taking so much new knowledge away from this course. I went into the class this semester with no understanding of what was going to be expected. All I knew was that this was a class about integrating technology into the classroom. I thought I knew how to integrate technology because teachers had always made us, as students, use PowerPoint and Word to complete projects and work. I learned that there is a much bigger world outside of Word and PowerPoint that many teachers and students never explore. It never crossed my mind to consider iPods and cell phones as technology, but I have learned that there are so many different items that we use everyday that can be successfully integrated into the classroom. It is so amazing to see how technology, when used correctly, can completely transform the classroom experience. Through reflection, I have come to see that teachers did not always use technology in the most appropriate ways. PowerPoint and Word may have been the easy solution, but they were not always used in the best context. Looking back on my experiences with technology in the classroom, I have realized that I need to learn from the mistakes I think my teachers made when it comes to technology. I think that it is so rewarding to have the opportunity to go through school for almost fifteen years as a student and then turn around and take on the role of teacher. For me, it makes me remember what I did not like as a student and it makes me want to create a classroom that is enjoyable and productive for my students. I have learned that students need to be challenged and there are so many avenues of technology that can be used to bring out that creativity.

Even after learning so much, I still want to learn more about two things. The first thing that I want to learn about is incorporating technology into the special education classroom. I know that I will have a class once I enter the program in the fall that specifically deals with assistive technology, but I feel as though this class was geared more towards the regular education classroom. It was so difficult to really understand how to incorporate technology into my particular content area because there is always going to be such a variety of needs. I think that I picked up some ideas along the way but, for the most part, I feel as though I am walking away with no clear idea of how to incorporate technology (such as iPods and computers) into my classroom without relying heavily or completely on assistive devices (i.e. switches, adapted keyboards). I also want to learn more about designing web pages. I have had such a great time putting together my portfolio, but I feel like I only have the basic of how to design a website. I want to spend more time learning how to put together something that has a little more substance.

Reflection on the Semester

I really got so much out of this semester that I did not expect that I would have learned at all. There are so ways to integrate technology into the classroom, and I have definitely experienced it in this class. The creativity of the use of technology is simply amazing in order to bring the students attention. Of course, we use the computer for everything nowadays to help us communicate with other people and to help us with useful information, even with its flaws from the internet. Even before coming to this class, I already knew that power point was beneficial for teachers to use when they lecture. However, after going through this class, it isn't effective all the time; some teachers don't even know to use it to draw students into understanding what the teacher is talking about visually.

I have learned that there are many ways for teachers to use. Having short clips of videos can help students visually learn in the classroom. However, I have come to the point where students should get interactive in the classroom, more of a constructivist approach. Providing online tutorials and practice problems could really help students gain so much knowledge out of what's being taught instead of just hearing the teacher lecture the whole time. Also, to make things more "fun", students should play some online games related to class. For teachers, they should promote blogs for students to write their opinions and thoughts, just like what I am doing right now. Software programs like Inspiration is another good tool instead of Power Point to help students with their thinking processes, having a general outline of what is being discussed. Furthermore, I believe that the different Web 2.0 programs are useful tools in the classroom. Finally, as I leave this class, I really am looking forward to being exposed to more of a variety of programs to use to will have students learn best as technology is integrating and being more advanced. I am more excited to teach students to the best of my ability for their own future endeavors.

I feel as though this course has helped me by teaching me many skills and enlightening me to many ideas. It taught me about various methods of instruction like Constructivism and the direct method. Because of this I feel as though I better understand many articles I read on educational issues. I picked up many different skills in technology I can incorporate in a classrooms. Things like Microsoft Front Page and Inspiration were technologies I never tried using before and now I feel as though I have a much more solid base in these technologies. I also learned things about technologies I already used that I didn't know. I am much more adept at Microsoft Movie Maker due to the Digital Media project. I also feel as though the course got me thinking about various ways to apply technology to my teaching. When I play games of any sort I consider how can this be applied to teaching? I also learned how to better cite my sources on papers.

Going forward into teaching I would like to see if I can find more technologies that are known for their effective application in the classroom so that I can incorporate them into my own teaching.

End of class reflection

Overall I enjoyed this class. It was fun to work with different pieces of technology and get some ideas on how to use them in a classroom setting. One of my favorite was the digital stories. I had worked with movie maker before, but it had never occured to me to use it in an educational way. I think this could be used in many ways in the classroom and I think students would enjoy it.

I think this class could have gone much longer though. I would have liked more time to use different technologies and explore all the ways that you could use them in the classroom. I think there were quite a few things that we could have spent more time on though. I would have liked to do more with the websites, as well as look some more at some of the google applications and the inspiration software.

I think this class will leave me thinking more about how I can use technology in the classroom as well as looking more into using some of the technologies that we looked at in this class.

Overall, I really liked this class a lot. Coming into this class, I really didn't know much about technology and I wasn't very familiar about how to incorprate technology into the classroom. This class has really helped me learn how to use technolgy to help students' learn and how effective it could be. I really enjoyed learning how to do digital stories and learning how to make an online portfolio. I feel as if I could use these things to incorporate in my classroom. Up until this point I have never been introduced to these things. I feel as if these things are very important to know about, in becoming a future teacher. I am really learning alot by doing this final project and thinking of more creative ways of teaching students. Before this class, I would of just done a powerpoint, but being in this class and hearing other students talk about previous experiences with technologies, I realize you have to be more creative if you want the students' to pay attention. 

I would like to move forward from this class by looking at more technologies that I could use in the classroom. Also, I want to learn more about the technologies we were taught in class. 

last blog

I enjoyed this class very much. Learning new technologies is definatly something I needed to do in order to better myself as a teacher. Coming into the class I knew how to use word, PP, and excel, but other than those applications I didn't really know much. Now I have learned how to be profeicent in frontpage, movie maker, as well as learning the art of digital storytelling. I would recommend this class for every upcoming teacher because it prepares you to use technology in the classroom. I can't remember many of my highschool teachers using much technology in their everyday lessons. I can't wait to use the technology I've learned to help better my students.

Something I would have liked to learn more about is web pages. We did our portfolio's using frontpage and I gained a lot of valuable experience from that. However, I would have liked to learn more about creating and designing web pages. Overall, I loved the class and really feel more prepared as a future teacher. Thank you for all your help this semester professor I really enjoyed this class.

Course Reflection

In spite of the reservations I held coming into this course, I have learned and hope to apply this information more than anything I have studied this semester.  

From tangible resources to theoretical frameworks, this course has easily blended informational technology into the classroom I will teach.  The final project should be a satisfying endcap in which to spring forth into the future.

Each class was well organized, although more time should have been considered for potentially elaborate day projects.

Time was enjoyable and well-spent with instructor and collegues showing breadth, then depth.  

The application to real world scenerios will be detrimental.  The course even showed me there are endless posibilities in technology-based teaching and assistive technology.  

Greg 

  

Yellow Group -Everyday Technologies in the Classroom

I can't really think of any ways to use cell phones inside the classroom, and it seems to me that the distraction would outweigh the benefit. I do believe students should be able to keep phones on them in case of emergency but do not think texting in class should be allowed. I think cell phones can be valuable tools on field trips. You can now go to the Baltimore Museum of Art and have a narrated tour via cell phone.
I think video games definitely have a place in the classroom, since computer games have been used in class for a long time. Some video games can be just as educational as computer games.
You Tube could be used to introduce students to different cultures or performances. My son's 7th grade language arts teacher shows them Shakespeare performances on You Tube to help them comprehend the plays they read. He also let his students videotape him doing a silly dance and put it on You Tube as a reward for completing a big project in time.
I don't know about using social networking sites in school. They are all blocked from access at my son's middle school. I can imagine students communicating with or learning about students from another culture on a social networking site, but I think it would be hard to ensure the other students are who they say they are. I think it would be safer if only the students enrolled in a certain school were networked on a certain site, with access to outside members blocked. There could possibly be some academic applications in that case.
Blogs should definitely have a place in the classroom. Group projects could be collaborated on via blog, students could log observations, and books could be discussed.

Yellow Group

I do not tend to incorporate those forms of technology when we are asked to because I am not sure how it would work. I, like most people, have never experienced the use of those technologies in the classroom. I do not necessarily think that I am scared to use them in the classroom setting, but I am nervous as to how things would turn out.
I do not think that they would be useful in the classroom setting because I believe the cons outway the pros. It would be extremely difficult to monitor the uses, but I also think that education should be seperate from personal things as well.
Allowing students to use these in the classroom could pose some problems. One I can think of relates to the use of cell phones. Most schools have policies that prohibate the use of phones in schools, so I would not want to go against the policy. Also the social networking sites pose a problem because the students use that for their own personal use, we shouldn't expect them to have to worry about other classmates or teachers looking at their sites.

Yellow Group- green group

I feel as avid user to technology for entertainment it is hard to incorporate gaming technology and other personal technology into a teaching setting. Many of the games I have played in the past and present have close to no elements that could be applied to a class room setting to teach elements we have discussed.
However, these games and the technologies they use have not gone without making an impact in all training aspects. The gaming engines and graphics that most the games I have played have been adapted by the military for their simulation purposes.
In school learning though I believe it best to keep personal technology separate from class technology. I have A.D.D. and I I have a hard time keeping focus when things are incorporated that can loosely be used for other purposes. If we used youtube or social networks in class feel like 80% of the time I would spend wondering off doing things that have nothing to do with the class room. To incorporate these technologies in the class I feel with younger students would not end well. Eventually, leading to more of a distraction then a benefit in the classroom.

Green group

The technologies that we as students use in everday life should not be incorporated into the classroom. Such things like facebook, myspace, and cellphones are more entertainment techologies in nature. I'm not saying it would be impossible to use these in the classroom; in fact I think it would be pretty easy. I feel that using these would have a negative impact on learning and technology use. These coud provide distractions for students who have them and also for the students who don't. As for the negative impact on technology use, I know that I do not like using a technology outside of class that has been used for class purposes. Maybe if powerpoint had not been introduced into the classroom; some kids would use it for entertainment purposes.

green group

Well as i am a sophmore here at towson university and only 19 years old bringing in facebook, cell phones, etc would be very distracting. I know i text some people now during class and if i was allowed to have a cell phone out i would do it then as well. Items that students use on a daily basis as a form of fun entertainment shouldnt be introduced to the classroom for a regular activity. It is more of a distraction rather then a learning tool. You also have to look at the fact of the underpriveledged students, the one'e whose parents cannot afford the internet, a phone, unlimited texting, etc. how are those students suppose to complete a project without the needed supplies to do so.
Another thing, students use these tools like cell phone, video games, facebook, etc to get their mind away from school alittle, to relieve some stress if we were to incoorperate these items then i think more students may just turn away from school completely because then they will be using these items in a way that doesnt coinside with school.
Also in addition sites like facebook and myspace and some other social networking sites are a place for students to be themselves, a personal space for them; yes they shouldnt have extremely vulgar information on there but who would want a teacher let alone other students and parents that they dont really know invading in their privacy?

So basically i do not think these things should be intergrated into the classroom. I mean teachertube could be because that is something we dont use everyday and making a video with classmates will probably be fun but you have to have it as a inclass assignment as again there are underprivalged students out there who may not have the ability to use video recording material. So watch what you use in the classroom and make sure what you chose doesnt invade someones personal life and that every student, even the underprivagled, have access to the tools needed.

green group

I find it hard to think of technology that is used primarily for entertainment as having a place in the classroom. I think students have a lot of trouble focusing on the task at hand as it is. If, as a teacher, I were to incorporate, say a cell phone in my curriculum. Who is to say the student is doing what they are supposed to do with that phone? I have no way of knowing if they are doing the task provided, or taking that time to text friends. Also, not all students are privy to technology. Some may not have certain things, such as cell phones or PCs at home. This could be due to their families economic status. Or maybe their parents don't want them to have these things. I know a lot of parents that don't allow their children on social networking sites. Or parents that just can't afford text messaging on their phone plans, if cell phones at all. Is that fair to incorporate these things into your lesson plan if it will single out certain students?
I know I sound like a broken record. I bring up the same things in class. But I bring them up because these situations are there. I think there is a place for technology in the classroom for sure. Maybe every classroom is different. But I think there is such thing as too much technology in the classroom as well. I guess it's up to each teacher's discretion. But I play Devil's Advocate for a reason. As a teacher, you will have parents and administration that will throw these same things at you.

Nov. 9th

Technologies that we use everyday can be more useful then most people think when it comes to educational technologies. Cell phones can be a great use to communication between teachers and students as well as between students. Video games could also play a big role in educational technology if video games are used in a way that enhances the learning experience. Youtube and social network sites can also become very useful for teachers because they can both be used to better serve their students.
I don't think these technologies have been considered educational in the past because educational technologies were not as big as they are today. With the advances in technology we are experiencing today, we are able to use softwares such as these mentioned to enhance learning for students. I would love to incorporate these technologies into my teaching and will probably do so if given the right oppurtunity. I think they are an untapped resource and could prove to be very beneficial.

Green Group Technology post

When I think of using personal items such as video games in school I think
that they wouldn’t be approved for the most part. I would probably recommend
games that I thought were educational, but for the most part I’d let the kids
decide to play them of their own accord. For instance I find that most Sid
Meier games (Civilization, Spore, etc.) are very educational, but they are
also time-consuming. I’d recommend them to kids and incorporate them by maybe
offering extra credit if they could write me a paper about some things they
learned from the games. For YouTube I would use any video that I thought was
educational, reinforced a concept, or aided in my teaching. I think that
attempting to use social networking sites to help in teaching would be
frowned upon by the powers that be. Could they be helpful? Definitely, but
they’re usually blocked by school firewalls and then some parents don’t let
their kids use them. Cell Phones are frowned upon in school, not all kids
have them, and I don’t think the board of Education would be comfortable with
using cell phones in school, but it would definitely cool for a higher
education class. Blogs I would highly approve of. It would be an interactive
method for kids to write their opinions and thoughts on varying subjects.

When I think of personal technological use applied to education I think it
could help but it would be blocked by the political aspect of education.
Since getting things like video games, social network sites, and cell phone
use would probably never get approved we have an attitude of “why bother? “
When we think of educational technology we try to think of other things that
would satisfy the political aspect of education and facilitate learning.
This, I think, causes the disconnect when thinking about the application of

Teaching and Everyday Technology

I think that technology is a huge asset to teaching and that most technologies should be considered to be used in class. Even with students using a wide variety of technologies at a much younger age, some of those technologies should not be used in the classroom such as cell phones, social networking sites, and sites like Twitter. In my opinion, cell phones would pose too much of a distraction for students with the ability for them to text anyone during class and allow them to put their attention there instead of what is being taught. Social networking sites and sites like Twitter would pose a similar distraction to students unless there was a group created on one of the sites that required students to either view or post materials on. Some video games that are specifically designed for teaching basic skills could be useful at a younger ages, but generally at a certain point the games become boring and more of an annoyance to students than helpful. In class, sites such as Youtube would be a huge distraction for students allowing them to view a wide variety of material that does not have to do with the class and could be inappropriate for school. Youtube could be very useful outside of class though for classes like sign language where students could post speaches or even work in a drama class where a student could post a skit to share with the rest of the class.

Personal Technology

I believe that there is a line to be drawn when intergrating technology into education, because every thing should contain boundaries. When it comes to everyday technologies that we use such as cell phones and social networks, I dont believe that they should be used inside the classroom. Even I have trouble staying off my cell phone, let alone a young child. With text messages and possible phone calls from parents, can pose many distractions. I agree that blogging is a great idea, but incorporating social networks such as you tube and facebook could be asking for trouble. A teacher may assign classwork to have students venture out and meet others within the school through facebook, but what if they venture out and make contact with the wrong crowds. Even if a teacher wants her students to make a video and post it on you tube; you are exposing peoples children to millions of potential crazy people. So yes, I believe that intergrating technology is a wonderful idea, but with many restrictions. That is why I have been reluctant to mention my personal technologies because, personal should remain personal.

Blue Group - Technology Integration

To be honest, technology such as cell phones, video games, YouTube, and other social network sites are not used to be incorporated in the classroom. First of all, cell phones are not used because they are not complied to what's being taught and learned in a classroom. I believe cell phones are distractions and should be only used for emergencies, which I have mentioned in the previous blog post. Video games should not even be mentioned for classroom use. That is used for someone's free time. Nowadays, YouTube is used for students to learn visually. Blogs are beneficial because students are able to see what other students feel or have opinions on a particular topic and can receive feedback. Some other video sites should not be used because they conflict with personal technology use... some videos might be explicit to be shown in the classroom if a teachers wants to portray something to the extreme that will catch the attention of students.

As a future teacher, I would definitely use the technology that has been used in this classroom. They have been effective as I've learned about various uses of technology in the class. Like I mentioned before, blogging is a good way to communicate with other students and to be able to provide thoughts, comments, etc. Power point is always useful if the teacher uses it correctly. I will not be the teacher who will read off what's being shown slide after slide, but I will put up the main points and explain those points in detail. In addition, since I am going to become a math teacher, I would like to have class participation to answer questions by using clickers, possibly... if the school is able to provide them for students. Online games and tutorials are great for students to become interactive, and they could enjoy learning through the games and tutorials. I want to use technology that will help students learn better and be able to apply them in the future.

Red Group- Technology in the classroom!

I've never really thought about applying the technology we use everyday to the classroom. A lot of the technologies we use in our everyday lives, we can not assume that everyone can afford them. The technology devices that are out today are rather expensive. If you made it mandatory to use a cell phone, i-pod, video games, and etc. to use in a classroom, I think a lot of students would not be able to purchase them. I also don't think that the school would be able to purchase all these technologies for every student in the school. I really don't think that these technologies are something you can learn over night, most people (I know myself) would have to take it home and fool around with it a bit. I've had a cell phone for several years and I still don't know how to use every program and thats not to mention that technology is expanding everyday. With that being said, the kids who can't not afford these different technologies will not be as advanced and familiar with the different devices. So the students that can afford these different technologies have a bit of an advantage over the kids who can't. In my opinion, that is not fair to everyone. 

I don't think using the technology that we use everyday is useful in the classroom at all. The reason I feel so strongly about that is it could be a distraction. If the class were suppose to look up youtube video, how do you know they are doing the actual assignment. They may be looking up videos for personal enjoyment. The whole idea of using cell phones is not very realistic because most of the students would be texting their friends instead of doing what they are suppose to be doing. It is very easy to get distracted and go off task in a regular classroom setting without all of these technologies and would be much more easier if we could use cell phones, youtube, and i-pods. I think most kids would probably be listening to music on there i-pod, rather than doing the required assignment. I think that the technology that we use in the classrooms now are very efficient and gets the job done. I think that using technologies that are more controlled is the better way to go, for example; different softwares, wiki's,and blackboard.

Red Group

OK, I'm going to get on my soapbox here. I do not think it's fair for us as educators to assume that all children have access to the technology that we as college students are privileged to have mostly handed to us. I can say from personal example that i only received a cell phone out of necessity and not till i was 14. My iPod and other luxury devices I purchased myself with money I had earned on my own.

Especially in today's economically harsh world, will all parents have the ability to provide these luxury items (cell phones, iPods, computers, internet) to their children?  Or is it the responsibility of the public school system to provide these technological advantages for all it's students. The same school systems that sometimes struggle to provide enough books for its students. It's just not practical in today's society. There will always be a divide between the have's and have not's.

As an educator, I wouldn't like to see this technology made mandatory in my lesson plans. By taking that aspect away, children who don't have that particular technology aren't singled out. I'm going to rely on personal experience again. At one point, my sister, due to health related circumstances could not attend regular school. Instead she attended online courses through a program called Home & Hospital which brought instruction to students through chat rooms. Unfortunately these were not her regular teachers. These lessons ensured she was up to par with her peers when she returned the following term. Instead of severing ties with a student, I would record my lessons and upload them as Podcasts on a class website. This way students who might be out of the class for extended periods of time can stay caught up and some students can use it as a study aid if they don't take accurate notes. The rest of the site could contain downloadable worksheets, and possibly a class forum where students can ask each other for help.

Using Everyday Technology

I guess I never think about using everyday technology in the classroom. I never used these things as a student (until college that is) so I guess it seems weird to me to use them in the classroom. And many of these things I didn't have or didn't even come out until I was in the later part of high school, so they seems so seperated from my younger school days. Where as now kids grew up having cell phone, using Wiki, reading blogs, having an iPod, etc. I guess in many ways I kinda want to keep learning the same way that I am familiar with. I'm fine with using computers and power point and such, but iPods and cell phones just aren't something I think of using when it comes to classroom technology.

I think that these pieces of technology could be, in fact, very useful in reaching todays kids. They are so use to these things and love them, and would probably love to get to use them in learning. But I also think problems would arise. If you allow cell phones in class, how do you know that students aren't texting their friend's and doing the assignment instead. Or can you be sure that your students are listening to the podcast and not the lastest and greatest from the Jonas Brothers? I could see where some kids would be happy they get to listen to their iPod for homework. But there would be others who would say that it's an iPod and no way are they using their iPod for homework.

I think I would be far more comfortable having kids blog or keep a class Wiki before I used things like cell phones or iPods in class. These are things that kids are familiar with but yet are not personal items. I think that there would be less missuse with these things as well. But over time I think if I saw more teachers using them, and reaching their students with them, I would be more comfortable using them. Right now, it's kinda uncharted territory.

Red Group - Integration of Everyday Technology

I think that I tend to not think of everyday pieces of technology (cell phones, blogs, video games, etc...) when asked to incorporate technology because I have never personally used any of these technologies in my own classroom experience. I have never had a teacher that incorporated cell phones and wikis into the lesson plan. Many of the teachers that I had in high school and at the college level were older and barely enjoyed using the computer/Internet to complete work. There was no way that they were going to try to understand how to use iPods and wikis to integrate them into the lesson plan. As I mentioned in my last blog post, I think that it is very comfortable and easy for us as future teachers to rely heavily on what our own teachers did. They were and still are our models of what we consider good and bad teachers and we tend to want to pick up the habits of the teachers that we believe are "good" at their job. Because even the teachers that I considered to be great did not use these particular technologies, I guess I just assume that they cannot be integrated into the classroom. I also think that some people may be hesitant to use technologies such as iPods and cell phones in the classroom because we are always being harped on to not use these technologies in class. Students are so used to hearing "Keep all electronic devices away until the end of class or until the end of the day" that I think many of them just assume that there cannot be an academic advantage to using them in the classroom when they go onto becoming teachers themselves.

I generally believe that the technology we use in our everyday lives can be successfully incorporated into the curriculum. In an increasingly electronic and technology-driven world, I think that it would be almost foolish of us as teachers to not take advantage of the opportunities that are right in front of us. I can fully understand where some teachers may be critical of using such technologies as cell phones, iPods, and social networking sites because there will always be students that use these technologies in an appropriate manner for the lesson. I just think that the possibilities are endless in how teachers can integrate this technology into the curriculum. I think that many students, myself included, often become bored with constantly using Microsoft Word/PowerPoint or the Internet at its most basic level to facilitate learning. So many children today are enthralled in their cell phones and video games that we, as teachers, should take advantage of. We should show our students that they can use these technologies to advance their learning. I think that many students would enjoy the learning process so much more if they could use technology that interests them. I think that it would be quite amazing to show students that the iPod they rely on for music can be used to download podcasts and YouTube can be used to find videos that relate to a given subject or topic. I believe in the philosophy that you can't knock something until you try it and I think that its worthwhile to see where these pieces of technology could take our students in terms of their learning.

yellow group blog post

I feel that when one uses technology in the classroom, they must be ready to use it fully and correctly. During my second course in physics that I took here at Towson, my professor used many of the same technological devices that my first professor had used. But in my eyes, he used them inappropriately. He used PowerPoint to give us notes and examples of the subject he was teaching. While this was helpful, he disregarded our need to copy down the notes he provided on the slides and moved too quickly. He went so fast that I was unable to fully copy down the notes he thought he provided us and he disregarded our requests to slow down. While this professor provided a technological resource in the classroom, he did not use it correctly. I felt that PowerPoint is a great way to allow your students to have notes on the subject being taught and still lecture so that visual and auditory learners are able to benefit from the lecture. In this instance however, the professor did not allow the visual learners to fully understand what was being taught.
As I said in my technobiography, it wasn't until I came to Towson did I have a full exposure to technology in the classroom. Once I took more and more classes with technology being used to teach the students, I saw how vital it is to teaching. When used correctly it helps all types of learners and students to understand the material. At first I was wary of technology and couldn't understand how to use many devices. Over time and with the help of my peers I have become a more frequent user of technology and I will implement it into my own classroom one day. This differs from my technobiography, because at first I was scared and intimidated by technology. Now I feel more comfortable and have adapted to this prevalent way of teaching.

My Views on Classroom Technology

I think my experiences with technology have caused me to look forward to the possibilities of utilizing technology in my future classroom. My elementary, middle, and high school experiences with technology (or lack thereof) lead me to believe the earlier students use technology in the classroom, the better. I really don’t see technology as detrimental as long as it is being used properly. I remember an extremely bright student that I went to middle school with being yelled at incessantly about his poor handwriting. No matter how well he wrote, some teachers would rip up his work. On a few occasions, I volunteered to transcribe his final draft as he read it aloud. I think now what a blessing a computer would have been for him. While it’s often blamed on laziness, I believe some students truly do have poor fine motor coordination that keeps neat handwriting (especially cursive) out of reach.
Students today have grown up in a ‘wired’ world and are adept at retrieving information from online sources and sharing their thoughts with online communities. This can only enhance the Language Arts classroom. I think there are many appropriate uses of technology in my subject area. Writing a paper can begin with using Inspiration to brainstorm. Drafts can be typed, proofread and polished with word processing programs. Students can peer edit each other’s papers on computers. Student presentations in class can be accompanied by PowerPoint. The teacher or a student can videotape speeches for constructive criticism. Modern day video interpretations of Shakespeare’s plays can be watched to compare to the original. Digital storytelling can be used for creative writing. Thumb drives can be used for students to easily transfer their work from school to home and back.
An inappropriate use of technology of would be cutting and pasting papers found online. To avoid this problem, I think it would be more efficient to have students turn papers in electronically rather than hard copy so that I could utilize an anti-plagiarism program such as TurnItIn.com to verify originality. I am not sure if this is yet possible in all schools.

Yellow Group - Jenna

I definetly think that my experiences with technology have had an impact on my views on technology in the classroom. I have had classes where technology was used and my view was positive, but I have also experienced teachers who did not use technology appropriately. When it wasn't used in a good way, it made me think it may not have a place in the classroom. Maybe we should wait until technology can be used appropriately consistanty before we include it in the classroom, is what I found myself thinking during the negative experiences.
When a teacher uses a form of technolgy, like PowerPoint, in a bad way, it can make me become discouraged with technology use in the classroom. When a teacher does this, I just want to run. I find it boring and not very inventive. Because I have seen teachers use technology in this way, it makes me want to use technology in the classroom in a better way than they did.
I find that teachers who use technology in a bad way often inspire me. They inspire me to use technology in a way that actually helps the students to learn. When a teacher uses technology in a good way, it shows me ways that I can use technology in the classroom.
All in all, I think that my experiences with technology have helped me come to the conclusion that as long as we can use it appropriately technology should have a pressence in our classrooms.
In both my technobio and my classroom post it is obvious that I have experienced technology throughout my life, but not everyone is given this opportunity. We need to keep this in mind when it comes to using technology in the classroom. In some school systems the students do not the same access as others do. As teachers we will need to find ways to work around this. We will need to learn and adapt to the environment, as well as using what we have available.
The differences between the two would include the fact that I have had bad experiences with technology throughout my education, but it has not influenced my thoughts on it, in the long run. Yes, when I was going through those experiences I was wanting to give up on technology completely, but I didn't. I have always come back to the fact that technology can be used in the classroom, if done right. The differences between my experiences have helped me to see that students need to be exposed to different forms of technology, and I will have to do what it takes to make sure they experience it in the best way possible.

Green Group

My experiences with technology deeply affect my opinions on the application of technology in the classroom. My experiences as a student color my perceptions more than anything else. For instance, I find that PowerPoint being used to help organize my notes, and highlighting the points of things, is a very appropriate use of technology and greatly helps in my learning. However when an instructor uses PowerPoint as the lecture itself it is hard to follow and pay attention, merely because I could read exactly what he is saying. This is an inappropriate application of PowerPoint. Another example is that I learn really well on my own so I find that research projects which encourage using the internet to find reputable websites for research, referencing them, and writing a paper or making a presentation to be an effective application of technology. Both my technobiography and my post about technology integration both involve me using the internet as a tool for information. I believe that technology could also be used to encourage creativity in students. Like giving them a project involving pictures or other types of media.

I consider myself to be an average joe when it comes to computers. I didn't have access to the internet till about 10th grade. I learned how to use it fast but only after a period of computer stupidity. The fact that all students don't have the same amount of experience with computers is important to keep in mind as an educator. Everything should be user friendly.

Simply put I find that if the technology actually aids in the learning of the student, and isn't used as a crutch for the educator to lean on, then it is an appropriate application of technology. It should develop skills in the usage of technology, as well as aid in the learning of the subject matter.

Green Blog-Shanika

I usually tend to speak about technology that would help the type of students that I work with. Which are students that have visual impairments. There is a lot of technology for those that have vision as oppose to those without. I like to feel like I have a voice for them. Like I said in my techobiography I would like to create something for them that would improve independency in their lives. For example, Jaws is a program that blind student use that speaks to them. Some students understand the voice command and some don’t. I would like to create a clearer more recognizable voice so that students can cruise the internet without getting lost by the sound of Jaw’s voice. My attitude towards creating adaptive ways of learning for them increases when I see them achieve it on their own. There are so many great usages of technology and there are some inappropriate ways of using the technology in the classroom. I think that not engaging yourself as a teacher with your students are inappropriate uses of technology. Anything that you are trying to teach the class you should be doing as well. Some teachers will lecture the class and tell them what do as opposed to modeling the technology with the student.The similarities I have with my technobiography and classroom technology is finding ways to create independent living skills for the visual impaired. The classroom and the homework given to them should be in their medium of learning. They should never be given homework in print if they can’t read the print, and vice versa for Braille. A lot of times visual impaired teachers do not have the equipment in the classrooms to give that student what he/ she needs to be successful. I always say that a student who isn’t blind should not be given homework in Braille so why does a student who is visual impaired some home with homework in print?

green group post

Throughout my lifetime all the technology have experienced I feel has made me realize what is good and bad technology. Especially in college I have really seen some teachers misuse technology. I have seen what is appropriate and what is inappropriate, like you cannot teach an entire lesson with a power point; as I said in my technology in the classroom blog you need to do different activities in the classroom. You do not have one type of learner; you have many different levels of students especially in the special ed department where I will be teaching. Also you need to think about a child’s attention spend, yes we know we cannot teach all interesting information but we need to try and find the most interesting way to teach it, to keep a child interacting with the lesson. If we just have them hosted in front of a computer all day every day how do we expect them to learn?
There are some similarities between my two post in the way that, I didn’t use computers all my education career and I don’t think my students or your students should either. For example you go into a grocery store with a certain amount of money you leave your calculator, you paper and pen at home, so how are you going to keep track of the total? You need to use metal math that cannot be taught by sitting at a computer. Our students need to learn some things without a computer, whether its math, science, etc. I mean yes dissecting things was sometimes gross by I think doing that, looking under a microscope helped me understand things a lot better then on a computer. Yes a computer view and a real live view are both visual ways of figuring the info out but as I said before you have to have different ways of teaching and different ways the students can learn so they can make it though this tough ol' world.

green group - appropriate/inappropriate tech in classroom

I think technology can have good and bad uses in the classroom. As far as technology being a positive aspect in the classroom I believe it must be able to be access at all students when necessary to use. While leaving room and time for the teacher to instruct the class. I like the use of developed power points that use different multimedia to explain and emphasize notes. I have had teachers use power points effectively while others do not and they will just stand their and read off their slides. That is why I feel using that technology a teacher should take time to take a step back to explain and discuss the information see if the students comprehend. I don’t know even maybe challenge them and see if their listening or if you lost them listening to your own voice.
I also feel most students rely heavily on grammar and spell check which do not perform a very thorough job. I know I personally lack grammar and language skills because it was never emphasize to me and more and more people rely on these programs. My younger brother can barely write but has no problems typing on a computer.
I feel it is great to have technology at your fingertips and be able to use it in the classrooms. But teachers need to make sure their students are really learning the information and not just looking at it or hearing it. The real question is do they comprehend the lesson when use present it while adopting the technologies you use to teach them?

green group - appropriate/inappropriate tech in classroom

The only technology that I've every really come across in the classroom are your basic presentation material; Powerpoint and Word. Lately I've dealt with Blackboard to retrieve assignments. I think those programs are beneficial in the classroom, but there should be limitations. I've noticed many people, students and teachers alike, don't really know the proper way to use Powerpoint. Putting too much info. on slides and just reading directly from them is just boring. I can't speak for other students, but I know I tune out. So while that's a great classroom tool, it's ineffective if used the wrong way.

That's really all I've come across in my own classroom settings, except maybe in this class. While I agree that technology can be a benefit in the classroom, I also feel like it can be a deterrent. Having everyone sitting in front of their own computer is definitely a distraction. I've noticed people just can't keep themselves from messing around on them, even when we are supposed to be listening or participating. If students in a college classroom can't concentrate fully with a PC in front of them, how can we expect students in a K through 12 setting to? Sometimes technology in the classroom can be more distracting than helpful, which I feel complicates the learning process even further.

Green Blog Group

I guess you could say that there is some similarity between my view on appropriate and inappropriate use of technology in the classroom based on my personal experience with technology. Due to the fact that technology and I are not on the best of terms it does in some way influence how I would potentially use technology in the classroom.

My personal technological experience is relatively mediocre so I feel that I would not use technology extensively in the classroom. This also has to do with the subject matter I plan on teaching, which is the social sciences. Even from my personal experience as a student there was not an extensive use of technology in my classrooms. This I think is not detrimental to the educational process.

In my case I feel that if I am not well versed in the using of technology then I should not use it in the classroom because if (and when) it malfunctions it will only detract from the lesson. Overall, technology for me will most likely be used in a basic sense in the classroom to make sure that my lessons are not being detracted from.

However, I will also work to stay up with technology as much as possible to ensure that the kids I teach will have some way to relate to me. When the need arises I will learn new technologies and also integrate them into the classroom where approriate. I feel that my philosophy on technology in the classroom greatly reflects my personal use of technology and how I feel it should be used in the classroom.

Blue Group

I think that my early exposure to technology and growing up in the silicon valley where my teachers had access to good technology has effected my view on technology in the classroom and the potentials i can see it having to create a great class. I think that I probably have a larger dislike of in class essay's that need to be handwritten because I have always had computers in the classrooms so most teachers didn't have us hand write things. Because I had fine mooter skill problems as a child it is easier for me to use a computer then to make a teacher or myself try to understand my handwriting. I believe that every person is going to have a dirrect connection between their experances as a student useing technology in the classroom and how they will feel about it as a teacher. There are deffidently similaritues between my posts because I had mostly good experances with technology in the classroom as a students so I am mostly opptimistic about using technology in the classroom as a teacher. I am however slightly leery of powerpoint because I have seen powerpoint used incorectly and infact harm a class that a teacher is teacher.

blue group

Growing up I had nothing but good experiences with technology, both in and out of the classroom. Because of that, I think that is why I seem to lean more towards the use of technology in the classroom. I think technology is a great tool for learning in and out of school and teachers are just beginning to scratch the service of appropriate uses of technology in the classroom to help their students learn. Good uses of technology in the classroom is anything that enables the student to learn while using technology. Yes, there will always be students who manipulate the technology to create a distraction and that will be something to worry about. However, in my opinion there will be distractions with just about any kind of technology used in the classroom. That doesn't mean we shouldn't use it because like I said before technology is a great learning tool.

There are similiarites between my techno bio post and my classroom tech post. In both posts programs used in the classroom such as powerpoint and word are mentioned because they helped me learn, especially powerpoint. I can't think of one history class I've taken in high school or college where powerpoint wasn't used. It helps the student stay up with the lecture and retain the information. Technology in the classroom is an important tool for teachers to learn how to use and hopefully the technology we see today in the classroom is just the beginning.

Blue Group

Coming up in school and using the technology there and having some technology at home has helped shaped my views of what ways technology can be used appropriately in the classroom. By having a television in my home when I was growing up showed me that it could be used for fun, but that it could also be used to learn through different educational shows for kids that were on during the day. Through having it in the classroom, it gave myself and the rest of the students a chance to learn in a different way by seeing material that pertained to the lecture at hand and gave us a new way to learn.
The chance to learn how to use a computer in school came from a good teacher who taught us how to play the math games and type so that it could be used as a valuable resources later in my education by using it to type papers. Later on teachers taught me how to use the Internet as well as power point a few more resources for school work. When I finally got the Internet at my house I expanded what I was taught in school and advanced my research abilities with it.
In my techno biography as well as my technology in the classroom post I described using computer programs such as Power Point to make slide shows for class and other events. Also, the use of the Internet for research was mentioned in both posts.
In my post about technology in the classroom, I didn't mention the use of instant messaging which could be appropriate in school if it is used to further tutor students when a meeting time is unable to be ironed out.

Blue group

I believe that my experiences with technology in and out the classroom has shaped my views on the use of technology as an instructional aid. With time consatnly changing I think that it is very important to intergrate technology in the classroon, I guess the question that I have is when do we draw the line? My technobiography and my views of technology in the classroom are very similar and both reflect a positive outlook. In fact in both prompts I implemented the use of computers and their benefits to me as well as my peers. Growing up the computer was always a critical tool used by teachers to allow us to utilize technology while learning at the same time. As a future teacher I plan to use the computer as a critical learning tool. As stated in my use of technology in the classroom, through use of computers we were able to complete assignments, interactive labs, and keep track of our grades. In the future I predict that every classroom will have a computer as well as projectors. I can appreciate the use of projectors to display power points, I feel that this method enables the student to take better notes and visualize what is being said to them. As far as the use of cellphones or mp3 players,and even extensive web search should be prohibited. With the text messaging craze and obsessions with ipods I believe that students will become highly distracted and lose their sight of focus. Without an extensive lesson plan to use with the internet I believe that teachers will find their students on inappropiate websites, and not completing the assignment. As a future educator I can appreciate the use of technology but I strongly support a line being drawn. Technology has advanced education so I believe that I should keep up and maintain a positive attitude about it the subject. As stated in my technobiography and my personal experiences with technology I recommend it to all schools to intergrate technology, it's for the advancements of our potential students.

Blue Blog Group

Through my experiences with technology, there are many uses that are suitable in the classroom and many other uses that aren't. The computer is a valuable source of technology in the classroom. Microsoft Word, Power Point, and Excel are useful tools on the computer in which students can use for writing a paper, having a presentation made, etc. The Internet is also useful as well for researching and communications; however, it can be a dangerous tool on the computer with spams and malicious viruses and websites. Overall, the computer is definitely appropriate and beneficial to be used by students working on their school studies, which is I felt when I wrote my technobiography and my thoughts of technology use in classrooms.

Also, I feel that the usage of clickers are effective in classrooms. All of the students in a classroom can get interactive and participatory in answering questions related to the lecture. For example, I have my own clicker in which I use for my physics class in answering questions. The program that is used for the clickers are for the professors to know if the students do understand. It is a great tool to in the class and I think more classrooms should have it, even in classes of middle school and high school.

I believe that having music by providing a radio or a television set for teachers is an option. It is essential for visual and auditory learners to grasp the teacher's lecture through watching a clip or even while working on classwork, students can concentrate better through listening to music. I wouldn't personally mind either listening to music or watching a movie. Technology in classrooms should be used the students' attention in order for them to succeed in the class. Hence, I believe students have an option to bring their MP3s or their IPods with some guidelines on when to use them.

There are other sources of technology which I consider inappropriate. There isn't any need to have cell phones, cameras, or anything that causes distractions in the classroom. Cell phones should be used only for an emergency, which should be the only purpose for a cell phone to be necessary in a classroom, not for lecture purposes. I feel that cameras are inappropriate as well; many students waste time taking pictures in the classroom, which I have experienced in the past. I believe it's a waste of time and they won't get anything out of using cameras. However, only when the proctor asks them they need it to post one online, then it's acceptable. Furthermore, technology used today has been benefiting students in their learning. More restrictions and other accessibilities can be made, but based on my own experiences, technology that I have used has helped me in my classes.

Red Blog Group

Honestly I think that technology in the classroom should be used with caution.  Yes all of the ideas that we put on the Inspiration web are good ideas and could probably work in theory, but in reality and a classroom setting, I doubt they would work every time.  You really have to tailor your teaching style to your kids, which also includes what technology you use.  I personally like the traditional classroom and as I stated in my technobiography.  I really enjoy the "old school" feel to teaching a class; maybe that is the History major in me, but thats how I feel.  I would use the powerpoint presentations in my lectures and I do like the Inspiration software to connect different areas or events in history, but thats about it.

This post is not very different from the technobio and my last post about technology because it is what I believe is the right way for me to teach in my classroom.  I understand that in this class we are going to be learning how to use new technology and that is great, but honestly I wont be using a lot of the technology we have talked about; its just not my style.  In other classrooms I am all for the use of technology.  I think that using it the right way should happen, but I do not think that it should be forced on students.

I do think that there are some similarities in my technobiography and how I view technology being used in the classroom. When I was in school we did not have much of the technology that kids have today. Until high school I never did research on the internet, created power point presentations, or even typed papers. I think because of that, I feel like, in a way, kids should still be expected to do things the way I did them. I also think my continuing run in with teachers who use technology will make me think twice before I use it in my own classroom.
But then again, I can see the benifits from using technology. I think it can allow for more creativity and better learning, but only if used in the right way. I think it's so cool how kids can take virtual field trips, or research thousands of journals in a split second. But I also think something is lost. I had to thumb through tons of books to do my research, now kids google and their done. There is I think a loss of discipline, I guess, in having to take out time to do book research.
And things like power point, they are so misused! Makes me wonder if I will ever use them in my classroom. I feel like teacher use and abuse things like power point so much their value is lost. They also seem to like to use it like some excuse, like "Yeah, I use technology." But sorry, when that's all you use, and you just read from it, that's not using technology.
I think there can be great gains by using technology in the classroom. I know I benifit from using technology in my everyday life, so there has to be some benifits to using it in the classroom. I think what we need to figure out in the secret formula of technology perfections. Just the right amount is great, but use too much, and I think we will do more harm than good.

Red Group

When I look back at my technobiography, and think back to my career as a student I can only feel limited by what technology had to offer me. When taking classes that offered technology as a main component I always fell behind because I did not have the technology at home like other students did. It made me feel dumb. In school we often used videos, Powerpoint, or Publisher to supplement lessons once I made the transition to public school. Public school offered more to me when using computers. Teacher and librarians were always around to help when we had questions with software. Teachers, knowing not all students had access to these programs at home made all of the projects classwork assignments. You always had the option to take it home, but usually everything was finished in the school's computer lab.

Video was most likely the best material we were able to use. In 9th grade we got to watch video's on Shakespearean English and slang. We got to compare literature to visual interpretations. We had Beowulf narrated to us, and were able to watch Macbeth staged while following along in the text. We also got to create a video soap opera as our response to the Civil War in American history. Even in college, my professor was able to show us video clips of accurate stagings of Greek drama, masks and stage position all accurate to when the plays were first staged. Video clips were probably the most effective way of SUPPLEMENTING my education.

I all caps supplementing for a reason. Because that's all I think technology should be, a supplement and tool to make the teacher's point get across to a broad range of students.Power point lectures only bore students and allow them to tune out because all the information has been put down for them. 

Oh yeah. Read a book.

As an English teacher, its acceptable for me to say that. Maybe it's old fashioned with the rise of new media, or maybe I'm just strange. The smell of the pages of a book is such a strong experiance to me. I want my students to appreciate the roots of the literature that they have to read. Modern translations, visual interpretations, and audio readings can only help them. But it shouldn't take the place of the text. By looking at the text, it's easier to teach literary devices and to interpret them. You'll also get in in the proper context, not an edited for television version adapted by so and so on such and such's novel. It's not a bad thing to hold the canon sacred.

While I enjoy all the technology I have, I believe it is not always appropriate in the school setting. A student with no learning disabilites does not need to take notes on a laptop while a child with dyslexia would. Technology is situationally appropriate. Maybe there should be a technology class. It would teach students how to use the technology they have in the school setting. Like how to use Word to type papers, and Powerpoint for projects. There could be lessons on how to use the internet properly when researching. Classes on online safety. Students can explore graphic design and movie making. Instead of setting up the whole lesson reward system that i was faced with that only caused distractions. This class could help students use technology professionally. Maybe then, teachers will feel more comfortable using technology when they know students won't abuse it.

Red Group: Influences on Good/Bad Uses of Technology

After reviewing my post about technology in the classroom, I think there are many positive, or appropriate, uses of technology in the classroom. However, there are some bad, or inappropriate, uses of technology in the classroom as well. Technology is useful in the classroom because it provides additional sources of learning for students. Technology, such as laptops, the internet, powerpoint presentations, blackboard, etc, helps to enhance students' learning environment by making useful resources more readily available to aid and enrich the learning process. For example, as mentioned  in my previous post, blackboard helped me become more organized and prepared for class, in addition to providing supplemental information to make the subject matter more clear and to provoke more thought and discussion about various topics. Another example of an appropriate use of technology is the use of powerpoint presentations by students and professors. Powerpoint presentations are useful because they help visual learners by giving the professors the option to teach students with videos and/or pictures. Students can also give presentations in a more organized way. 

Despite the appropriate uses of technology, there are also some inappropriate uses of technology. Technology gives students the option of conducting research via the internet, and, although this contributes to the learning process, it opens the door to plagiarism by allowing students to copy the work of someone else's without truly learning the information. Laptops can also be very useful in the classroom, but it is often easy for students to misuse their laptops during class time. For example, instead of taking notes on his/her laptop, a student may choose to surf the web or chat with friends using instant messenger or Facebook. Lastly, spell check can cause students to overlook grammatical errors and lead to less proof reading and more reliance on the actual word processor. 

My reaction to the technology integration scenario was mainly influenced by professors and the classroom. It was influenced by professors because in college I was introduced to blackboard and powerpoint and was given the option of taking my laptop to class. From classroom experiences, I learned that blackboard and powerpoint were positive uses of technology. On the other hand, I learned that laptops could sometimes be distracting during class and hinder the learning process. Also, from personal experiences I have learned that plagiarizing can be easy to do and it is often easy to rely on spell check too much.  

Red Group - Appropriate/Inappropriate Uses of Technology

I truly believe that my attitudes about and experiences with technology in my life have shaped what I consider to be appropriate/inappropriate uses of technology in the classroom. As mentioned in my classroom blog, I have had many run-ins with inappropriate use of technology in the classroom. For me, repetitive misuse of technology makes me not only inclined not to use it in my academic and personal life, but it also makes me weary of using it in my own classroom. For example, based on my own experiences, I believe that PowerPoint is not used in an appropriate manner in the classroom nine times out of ten. Typically, I see PowerPoint being used as a replacement for the teacher. The teacher will display a PowerPoint presentation and then will either just read directly from the notes or just tell the students to write down the information and leave it at that. I never want my personal experiences to take anything away from my students, but I cannot help to think that there will be moments where I will not want to incorporate a particular piece of technology into the lesson because I remember the inappropriate use of the technology when I was in school.

As I stated in my technobiography, I grew up without the luxury of watching television or movies all day. It was instilled in me at a young age that you cannot get anything productive out of sitting in front of a television all day. This mindset stayed with me as I grew older and I always felt uncomfortable watching television or a movie in the classroom because I never felt that it was appropriate to incorporate such technology into a learning environment. I feel very reluctant even now to incorporate television and movies into my own classroom even though I do believe that it can have potential benefits because I just cannot shake that mindset that was instilled in me at such an early age. I really think that my upbringing has and will continue to shape the way in which I view the integration of technology into the classroom. My unique upbringing is such an important part of who I have become today and it can only be expected that some of my upbringing will correlate into how I use technology in my classroom.

I certainly think that there are appropriate ways to integrate different pieces of technology into the classroom, but we as teachers need to recognize how to incorporate this technology in a way that enhances the students' learning. I think that spellcheck and laptops and PowerPoint are all terrific programs that tremendously have the ability to do good in the classroom. There are, however, always going to be pitfalls in every piece of technology. Spellcheck is a great way for students to correct their grammatical errors, but students do not realize that they need to go back and check their work because spellcheck will not detect every single mistake. Laptops allow students to take the learning from the computer lab right to the classroom. Laptops allow students to explore so many different aspects of the world. There is the concern, however, that students will use the laptops in a way that is not appropriate. Students can access websites that are not conducive to the classroom environment and they can easily get off-task. PowerPoint is a great way for students, especially visual learners, to take in information, but very often, teachers try to use PowerPoint as a replacement for actual teaching. It is so easy for teachers to incorporate technology into the curriculum, but it becomes very easy for that technology to be used in an inappropriate manner. I think that for any teacher, their own personal experiences with technology will influence how they incorporate technology into the curriculum for their students.

Classroom Technology Integration

In 10th grade I went to the computer lab with my World Civilizations class. I had to do a research assignment on a historical topic of our choice. I chose Louis XIV. We had to find reputable websites online and reference them as sources. Once we gathered all our research we had to make a PowerPoint presentation or write a paper. The schools computers certainly were not fast, but they were sufficient to get the job done. The teacher had to devote some time to keeping order and helping the kids that had less experience with computers.
This is an effective application of technology because kids learn to make presentations and papers which are skills they will use in the future. They also learn how to use the Internet as a source of information and reference it in a bibliography. This would also help the kids learn to use computers and type.
The technology catered to the students preferences because if they preferred to not do a presentation, they could write a paper. This application allowed kids to accrue experience with computers, while studying a historical topic in depth.

Technology in the Classroom

Since we live in a technological society that is only increasing in its use of technology, I believe that the use of technology in the classroom is not only worthwhile, but needed. Not everyone has a computer in their home and teaching students how to use a computer or other technology (e-readings, web videos, etc.) is a useful tool.
Using a powerpoint slide show can help emphasize the teacher's lesson plans or using a web page that has math games, language arts games can help build skills needed in those subject areas.
As someone who uses the internet for various life needs such as online banking, shopping, communicating, research, directions and trip planning, it would be helpful to teach these added skills in the classroom. By teaching students to use Word, they already have a skill that can be used in the workforce. By teaching how to find internet sites can spurn added research into an area of interest or give the struggling student tutorials by having them play games based on a subject area.
If a teacher has a web page, parents can check on assignments due, upcoming tests and easily communicate concerns with the teacher rather than play phone tag. Technology in the classroom is not only useful, but required in this day and age.

Technology in the classroom is a very important learning tool that should be used to the advantage of both the teacher and the students to learn easier. There were many times that technology was used to help me learn. One of these times was when my first teacher used a power point presentation with videos feeds and with music and pictures. The subject being taught was Introduction to Computers. Basically it was a class needed to first get your Associates Degree. It was on the second week and we were learning the beginning of computers and how they evolved to the way they are today. Each slide had pictures, data, and videos to help me understand more about computers. If the teacher just put up an outline on the overhead and just briefly talked about the subject I really do not think I would have even stayed awake. The other students all enjoyed it as well as when I looked around the classroom each student was awake and paying attention. I believe that this was a great way to integrate technology into the classroom because it definetely got me interested. Also in this same class the teacher did have a blog and made each student write a blog post of what they learned from the beginning of the computer age and then what the computer is like in present and what we think the computer will be like in the future.
So this was a very goo way for the teacher to integrate technology into the classroom to better the learning environment and make a subject such as basis of computers actually seem interesting to each student in the class and then have each student discuss likes/dislikes and then predictions.

Technology in the Classroom

When technology is used in the classroom it can be either a positive or a negative.  The positive side of it would have to be that students these days need a fast paced learning environment to compliment their fast paced lives.  So when technology is used to keep the class moving and it keeps the information flowing at a high rate that the students are used to, then in my eyes you have used technology in the classroom to its full potential.  On the other hand, I think that technology takes away the "old school" aspect of actually working to find the answer.  The internet and other information retrieval tools can get you the answer within seconds and all a student has to do is either copy and paste it to their work or just copy the answer down.  What happened to actually looking for an answer and learning the topic instead of just skimming the text for the answer and throwing it into your work?

I do like the idea of using powerpoint presentations.  I had a professor at a community college that used this technology and it helped everyone in the classroom.  She had a powerpoint presentation for each lecture and gave us the complete presentation stapled together so we could follow along and notes where we thought appropriate.  The only catch was that only the people that attended class that day got every piece of information; the students who skipped or missed class did not get everything that was involved with that topic or lecture.  So she used technology to her full advantage.  She still had that old school feel by making students come to class and use their books and follow along with what was happening in class, while also using the technology in the appropriate way.

Technology In The Classroom

Technology is in its most natural form when being used for leisure or as a gateway to producibility. Technology in the classroom has become a valuable tool that is, however, often misused or overused. Instead of asking students to complete an assignment on a computer, where they are free to roam cyber-space when the teacher is not looking, ask them each to document how they used this resource in completing the assignment as well. This allows the student to confront the resourcefulness of the computer/internet and respect its capabilities as well as completing the assigned task.

A number of teachers can often overuse technology in the classroom. These instructors instead let the computer take on their role as leader of the class. Even if their students feel comfortable with this shifting of power because of their gravitation towards technology, it must not occur. It is a dangerous path that can be realized only through the overuse of technology.

iPods for music classes
Touch screen Blackboards for various classrooms
A computer lab for computer technology-based courses

All appropriate uses of technology that can do wonders for the student as well as the teacher and their proscribed lesson plan.

Classroom Tech.

Technology has become a large part of the classroom. I can't think of many classes I've taken at Towson where the professor did not use some type of technology as a visual aid. I am a history major and in almost all my classes the professor would have a powerpoint slideshow ready to go along with his or her lecture for the day. Having this tool helped me learn better because I could see what the teacher was talking about rather than just hear it. Seeing the lecture on the board made it easier for me to remember the information. The other students in the class felt the same way. I can also remember having a history class where the teacher did not use a powerpoint to aid the lecture and I remember my classmates complaining. That just goes to show how big technology has become in the classroom. Students are use to it and expect it.

I believe that using technology like powerpoint to help aid lectures is a very useful tool. It improves learning and becomes a guide for the students during a lecture. It also helps visual learners remember the information better. Overall it is a great way to integrate technology into the classroom and should be used by teachers in any subject, not just history.

My Technobiography

I become facinated with Technology over the past 5 years. I knew that it was something that I wanted to be apart of for a very long time especially when i started to work with a special group of children. I work with kids who are blind and some are even disabled. One of my students asked me a very important question one day, she said "Ms Shanika is technology a need or a want" It was very hard for me to answer that question right away. It puzzled me and I had to really think hard. For some blind kids their technology is indeed basic a necessity. I know when we think of needs we think of water and other things that we need for basic survival. For the visually impaired technology is how they survive. If they don't have there braille writers or other assistive technologies they are unable to do basic things such as read and learn. To me that is a need for them not a want. I guess you can be the judge yourself.

All I know is that the visially impaired have a harder time doing basic things like grocery shopping or finding the right store that they need. I want to be apart of making software or equipment that allows them to be just as independent as a person with vision. Imagine going into a store and having to shop with the lights off with no way of knowing what is what. Well, this is how they have to shop. Nothing is brailled,nor is it auditory for them to hear. It should be a way that the world should be adapted so that independent student who are blind can walk into a grocery store and shop without having to solicit helt. Believe it or not some of them do not want the help. However, they have to ask for the help because there is no technology for them to shop independently. To develop a technology for the blind is my passion and I hope to see advanced technology for them in the near future.

Technology in the Classroom

I think that technology in the classroom can be very effective if you used in the correct way, however if it is used improperly I believe it can infact be a hinderance to the classroom. The most popular use of technology in a classroom from my experience is power point. Power point is just like every other technology is an aid and supplement for the class but it can't replace the teacher. For example if a teacher relies only on a power point and only reads from it, that is not an effective use of technology because it is not helping students to just have them copy from the slides, however if the teacher decides to put two of three key terms on a slide so that the students can see the main points and then take notes of the elaboration that the teacher says on each term they have to use their own words to take notes and should therefor be more effective.

This is true for all technology. If a teacher uses technology to supplement and engage the students it can be helpful. A very effective thing I have seen teachers do is to show a tv show or a clip from a tv show that is popular with the students to explain what they are talking about. For example I have seen teachers show things from the simpsions and southpark for use in science, history or political science classes. This was effective because the students actually want to watch it and then having a discusion afterwards on what was actually true from what we saw on tv is way more engaging then just listening to a teacher talk at you.

Technology in the Sociology Classroom

Sociology was one of the classes I took the first semester I returned to college after a 10 year hiatus. My sociology professor at CCBC-Essex was very big on integrating technology into the classroom. She also taught online, so she integrated WebCt/Blackboard into all of her face to face classes as well. She did not "lecture" very often. She preferred to set up panel discussions and let us choose sides to debate a current sociological issue. While I had trouble finding my voice in class at first to express my opinions, I had no trouble doing so in the required WebCt discussions.
We were assigned alot of group work in this class. After the Professor presented the first 5 chapters in the textbook, student groups had to work together to present the following 10 chapters in groups of 5. We had to make it interesting and engage our classmates. My group incorporated video clips from the "Godfather" and "Varsity Blues" to demonstrate ascribed status roles.
For our final project, the groups had to present a social issue. My group tackled Arranged Marriages in India. With the help of You-Tube, instead of blandly listing the facets of the wedding ceremony itself, we showed a video clip featuring dancing, music, and cultural traditions. We recorded an interview and showed it to the class. We presented the facts and figures through powerpoint instead of monotonously speaking. Using technology actually made it easier to work as a group, since we kept in touch through Blackboard, posting our information gathered.
While this was really my first experience creating PowerPoint presentations, I quickly learned how engaging they can be versus writing on a chalkboard.