Digital Blog post #D- Chapter 5

The first concept I want to talk about really bothers me, it comes from the section “e-Books and e-Readers”. I strongly feel that in this aspect the technology we have is ruining the fun of reading a book. The statistics are clearly stated that the percent of students not even picking up a book has increased. I feel like picking up a book at the end of a night is one of the most relaxing things to do. For young children it is better for them to have a hard book so they can actually turn the page look at the pictures more closely than if they were using an e-Book. Yes there are some beneficial sides to using an e-Book if it is hard to find that book in stores or a library, but otherwise reduce the amount of screen time a young child will have in anyways you can. I know growing up we always had the option to use e-Books for our textbooks, but I would always opt out and use the old fashion textbook, because I had learned better that way. I feel like if they made all students use e-Books it would not benefit the students who learn better from the textbook.

The second topic I would like to discuss comes from “Becoming Fluent with Technology”. I do agree that students learn better by doing hands on rather than learning it from a book. In high school I was put into a lever 2 T.V production class. I had never been in one before or knew how to work anything in the studio. By the time I graduated high school I was the best anchor they had and knew how to run everything in the studio. In some things students would rather do trial and error to figure things out rather than go by a manual. When you do trial and error you also find knew things on your electronic to do, which you normally wouldn’t find by going by the book. It also is more interesting to students when they can figure it out by themselves.

The third topic I would like to talk about is in the section “Electronic Note-Taking”. When I did classroom observations all the students had these computers called cromebooks. They were laptops the schools gave to the students for homework, classwork, projects, and note taking. I think in the day in age we live in that students can type up notes faster and use short hand, then later go back and retype their notes the correct way. Most students spend more time on their electronics then they do actually writing so they are faster at it. This could also help minimize the teachers issues of not being able to read the students handwriting. This also allows for the teachers to keep tract of the students notes and when assignments are due. It shows how many are turned in before the deadline and if students come into class and that number rises the teacher knows they are late.

Resources:

 Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park

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

      Education, Inc.

 GoogleForEducation. "Chromebooks for Educators." Youtube. Google, 16 May 2012. Web. 25 Sept. 

      2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSbZQNJwPuI>.

  Digital Blog post #B- Chapter 2

     The first concept I would like to talk about is digital dialog 2.1. I feel like in today’s classroom the mobile computer lab is used way more than I ever got to use it in high school. Yes there are lots of benefits to using it. The students tend to stay more focused and do their work with them instead of using textbooks. On the other hand it is good for teachers to put the mobile labs away and do things the old fashion way. I remember in high school when teachers would drawl pictures on the board to help us remember things would sometimes work better then learning the things from the computer would. Also we know these students are using lots of technology outside of school. So why spend all day at school doing the same thing. I believe that when they are at school they should be socializing during the lesson (when it is appropriate) instead of having their face in a laptop. I think teachers should limit how many times they bring the mobile lab in down to once a week or every other week. Now with the being said I think how many times you bring it in should depend on how old the children are.

   The second concept I would like to talk about is What Motivates You to Use or to Consider Using Technologies in Teaching? When I was reading this section I thought about my time in high school. The gap between junior and senior year is the time I saw the most drop outs. I do agree with the textbook that it is because students get bored. At this time they just want to be done with high school and out in the real world. I think if teachers kept it interesting and involved their favorite thing technology into their class the students would be less likely to drop out. I remember even being a senior and getting excited when my teachers would tell us to meet them in the computer lab. Not much should change from when I was in high school to when I will be teaching. Teachers could also use these computer privileges as a token economy. If they used this as incentives if they come to class or do certain assignments they will get x amount of computer privileges.

   The third concept that really hit me was the digital divide. It makes sense that low income families do not have access to technology that is need for school. When you are actually in high school and assigned a group project you do not think about if your other group members have access to the technology they need. It is not always easy for these students to get to a library to work on these project or if they can the library many not have the most updated software they need. There is also not enough time in the day for the students to do it at school, because when I was in high school we were not allowed in the library on lunch. Then we had no other time during the day to go because we were in other core classes that mattered. I think a great way to solve this problem is if the teacher was able to plan for a day or two for the class to have the mobile lab or go to the computer lab so these students can work on their projects without feeling awkward for not being able to do the project for lack of technology at home. Most high schoolers do not like to admit the fact they do not have access to the technology they need and teachers know that so if it was possible to help these students out as much as they can without their classmates knowing.

 Resources:

 Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park 

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

      Education, Inc.

Norris, Brenda. Quotes Gram. Quotesgram, n.d. Web. 9 Sept. 2016.

This Is How to Help Students Combat the Digital Divide. Dir. David Nazar. Youtube. 

      DavidNazarNews, 20 Oct. 2015. Web. 9 Sept. 2016.

Digital Blog Post #A- Chapter 1  
    The first concept that I encountered was how much time children spend on social media. It shocked me at how much time young children spend playing on computers, but at the same time did not surprise me. Growing up I remember being outside and playing. We did not have access to computers, video games, or social media like children do today. It was a special opportunity to go to the computer lab at school, but now there are computers in every classroom. After reading this chapter I decided to do an observation in my classroom. Almost every student wanted to play on our computers at least once during the day if not the whole time we were in free centers. Also when the parents came to pick up their children at least 6 out of 10 parents would have the child's iPad or electronic with them to get them to go or bribe them with it being in the car to go home.
 
    The second concept I want to talk about is setting up a classroom website or wiki. I wish they had these growing up for me. Being able to post things as a student and having everyone in your class at your disposable to ask for help is great. I remember going into class that next and not always having time to ask one of my classmates for help on the homework, and I could not do it at home, because I did not have any of their information. I think being able to have a class website where each student can post questions about homework or an assignment they are doing would really help increase the grades. Also since the teacher can see what they are asking for help on if enough kids did not understand it they would know that they have to spend more time on that topic. Also if the teacher had extra notes or found a video on the topic they were talking about being able to post it to the website would be helpful to the students at home.

   The third concept I would like to talk about is how when students graduate they will go into a field that requires them to use technology. In high school I thought it was ridiculous to have to take tech classes, but once I got into the work force I realized how beneficial they are. I think it should be required for all graduating students to take the basic technology classes whether they think they know what they are doing or not. There are a lot of things I still do not know how to do that I could have learned in those classes if they were required. I also think if these high school students know how to work these computers and websites they will then be able to teach the older generations how to work these. Thus benefiting more than just these future graduates. Now if you introduce these technology classes to 4th and 5th graders it would benefit them more than the high schoolers. They would be able to show their parents how to use the different applications making it easier for the parents to help them. Also if they have these classes for the younger students then come time for high school they wouldn't have to take the classes leave more time for them to take AP or college classes.

 I really liked this video because it helped explain how using computers in a young classroom are very beneficial. It is like having another teacher in there. I even notice it in my own classroom; children are more likely to sit down at the computer and play an interactive game about counting or phonetics then to sit down with a teacher and pay attention. 

   In conclusion, I think they should keep the computers in the younger classrooms, but monitor what the students do on it. They should monitor how much time each student has the computer and make sure no one student goes over a certain amount of time. This chapter helped me to realize how much more you can do with technology in the classroom and how much you could use it for a teaching tool. I am excited to see what other good ideas I can get from this class to help incorporate into my classroom. 


Resources:
Dr. Clements, Douglas (2013 January 30). Introducing Technology to Young Children. 

      Retrieved September 3, 2016, Youtube. EarlyChildhoodVideos,

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, 

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