Chapters 7 and 8

While reading chapters 7 and 8, I was finding myself thinking, wow this is real life information. I was not aware of programs such as Badware. I also found the Wiki to be interesting and challenging. Plus learning about a teacher and her struggles with keeping students interested helps me to realize that teaching is always a challenge.

First the text (p. 164) talked about Badware, which is a type of invasive software that fundamentally disregards a user’s choice over how a computer will be used. Known as adware, spyware, and stealth dialers, Badware programs enter people’s computers unknowingly and disrupt normal operation by allowing pop-up ads, redirecting web searches, working against anti spyware programs. I learned the hard way about Badware. Just a couple of weeks ago I received a message from a friend on Facebook. I normally use Facebook only to communicate, and share pictures with my long distance relatives. This day I decided to respond to the message that I thought was from my friend, but it wasn’t. That day alone I must have received at least ten calls stating that I had won money and they just needed a little more information from me before they could send me the money. This was a very scary situation and was just unbelievable just how much information some of the solicitors already had on me. The web is very scary and at the same time it is the future.

Secondly, the new ideas that I learned this week was about the Wikis (p.187) .Wikis is an Hawaiian word meaning quick or rapidly. These are websites that teachers and student create and edit together by reading and revising each other’s ideas and comments. This is something that was definitely new to me. It is fun and challenging to be able to interact with my professor and classmates all at the same time. I actually completed my first Wiki page. This has to be one of the most challenging but exciting classes that I have taken online. It is such a good feeling when I learn something new to someday use in the classroom.

Lastly, after reading about the teacher Michelle and her book reports (p.212) that she has her students complete. She starts off the year with the students being excited but as the year goes on they lose interest. Technology will be a good place for her to start to try to jump start the students to be excited again. It reminded me of a teacher that I worked with that had the students do weekly reading logs. It was the same concept and challenging to some of the students, but over time they lost interest. Especially the ones that didn’t like to read each day. Rather then trying to excite the students she just let the same process continue. Reading and comprehension is a vital part of learning. I can see this being a challenge to me in the classroom.

I found these two chapters to be very interesting. It is directly related to my current life and my future career goals. I feel I am learning things that are and will continue to be useful. It is exciting to continue to learn new ways of connecting with your students in the classroom.

 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.

Chapter 3 and 5

After reading chapter 3 and 5, I would like to inform you of my thoughts on the materials I have just read. I will inform you on the connection that I have with these two chapters, of the new ideas that I got from reading these chapters and of what I think will be challenging for me to do in the classroom.

First as stated in the chapter (p.59) Active learning is the name given to educational activities in which students are directly involved in the learning process. Active learning is also known as discovery learning, learning by doing, inquiry-based learning, or hands-on-learning. I think this way of learning is so important. People learn in different ways. According to Bepko Learning Center there are three main cognitive learning styles, visual, auditory and kinesthetic. I enjoy the hands on approach (kinesthetic). I remember growing up, my most enjoyable classes were the ones where we were active and engaged. Doing experiments, building something or even cooking were my favorite classes.

Secondly, what new information I gained that I thought was interesting was that political activist Eli Pariser suggests that the process of searching for information online is a much more problematic activity than is commonly assumed. The reason is because Google established a baseline of personal interests and patterns that people search for online and this help build a profile of what you most commonly like. By doing that, the technology predicts what search people will get when they try to search for something. (p.108) I was always under the impression that when we searched for something we all got the same results. It states in the text that these personalized searches mean that different people will get different results even with the same key word.  This is kind of scary to think that every time you use your computer it is gathering information on you. And that the computer search engine will give you different information than others when you are conducting a search.

Finally the challenging thing to me is realizing how many different search engines there are out there. I only use a couple of the same ones over and over. It was mind boggling to me to see just how many are being used daily. The one that stood out the most to me was the digital newspaper and magazine publishing technology called Scoop.it! (p.107). This seems like a very interactive website that would keep the teachers and the students engaged but also challenging to work with in the classroom.

These two chapters were full of information and helpful ideas to use in the classroom. Even though I am not a computer savvy person, every time I read a chapter I continue to find more interesting things that I would like to try out in my classroom one day.

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. 

Chapter 1 and 2

The three concepts I am going to reflect upon re. Chapter 1 and 2 are using laptops as a technology device, expanding the use of technology in the classroom, and integrating technology into the classroom. 

The first concept I reflected upon is using the laptop as a technology device. Their size, weight and long battery life make them a very useful tool. (Maloy, 2014, p. 7). The laptops are used at the school that I work at for research,  typing letters, and power points. I just recently took a college class that was taught at the college and not online. I realized how much my classmates depended on their laptops. Not only for research but more for taking notes as the professor lectured. I was the one in the class taking old traditional notes with pen and paper. Most of my classmates took notes on their laptops. I realized how important that typing class was that I took for granted. They were able to type faster than I was able to write which made it much more convenient. They did not have to worry about losing their work because it would be stored on the computer and not in a notebook like mine would be.

The next concept is ways to expand your use technology in the classroom. One creative way that I thought was good was creating a wiki page so that students contribute resources they find for studying key ideas and concepts in language arts, math, social  studies, or science. It also talked about letting students visit places and observe processes that cannot be seen without electronic system. (Maloy, 2014, p. 14). I think this is a brilliant idea.

I think the third concept integrating technology into the classroom is great. I am still having a difficult time understating the right time to do it so that there in a balance. The text also talks about the amount of curriculum requirements. I find it hard to integrate technology into the classroom when the state has put so many state mandated requirements on school teachers these days.I think teachers are more worried about the reflections a student state wide testing will have on their performance eval than they are concerned about teaching technology in the classroom. (Maloy, 2014, p. 32).

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.