Digital Blog # C chapter 3

      There was so many informative concepts in chapter 3. This chapter talked a lot about research in the science of learning. How teaching is organized around four different learning theories. How technology can aid with problem solving and critical thinking for students of all ages. One concept that I thought was something important to reflect on was Internet Literacy and its importance for students. I will also reflect on group work and digital citizenship. 

   There is so much stuff on the web these days good and bad. Having students access the web they really need to grasp an understanding that not all things are true. With information literacy and internet literacy they can do just that. Information literate students can go through information and realize the difference between persuasive Information sources, objective sources, and satirical sources. If a student can’t decipher between these they can become overwhelmed. Making it hard for them to be good critical thinkers. Internet literacy branches off of Information literacy. What many students do these things is believe whatever they see on the web. That’s why it’s so important to be internet literate. When a student is internet literate they can go through websites finding real information that is relevant to their assignment.

   Group work was a concept I wanted to talk about because I remember being in middle school and loved when we had group work. For me group work was a time to talk with your friends while getting your work done. I could easily get help on a part of the assignment I didn’t understand. It also made it okay to not understand something because if one person didn’t get it usually more people didn’t get it as well. Technology sets up great opportunities to work in groups. It takes the teacher from being the focal point and lets the students take on different roles. Collaborating with my peers was something that I enjoyed and I know many other students enjoyed doing as well. I wasn’t much of a speaker so I could choose to take notes. “Delegating authority in an instructional task is making students responsible for specific parts of their work”, sociologist Elizabeth Cohen stated. Technology allows group work to initiate a lasting learning experience among peers.

    Digital citizenship extends the concept of citizenship to all aspects of the digital experience. Broken down in 3 parts with a total of nine elements digital citizenship is now an important part of the school curriculum. When you post certain things online it’s subject to copyright protection. Just like other copy right laws of plagiarisms they also extend online as well. As a digital citizen you have the responsibility of being ethical online and rejecting material that may get you in trouble. When students access material online at school teachers have to teach students how to give credit where credit is due and then it’s up to a student to be truthful.

     I think a lot of teachers do fail to teach students the right way site sources and it has become harder for the student, myself as well to find the author or publisher of a website or of different information online. I think we as people have gotten into a nasty habit of taking things online and just putting them wherever we need them without giving a second thought of who created this image, poem, or whatever the case may be. Digital citizenship is our rights to be able to express ourselves online but we also have to have respect for other citizens online and the information they post.  Group work is something I enjoyed as a student growing up. I think with all the new technology the world haves now it’s even a better experience than before. Internet literacy I think is one of the most important concepts I’ve talked about because we as learners and educators have to get educated on online information. It’s not all real or helpful and people are becoming too gullible with research they find online. You have to research the research to make sure its real factual information. 

This was actually in our book about how The university of Connecticut and Clemson University created a website with a fake animal. If you read the comments below the video some people believe it or are confused about it. This is one of the reason its important to be internet literate.

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.

"Save the Tree Octopus." YouTube. N.p., 15 Nov. 2008. Web. 28 Jan. 2015

Digital Blog Post # B Chapter 2

              Understanding educational technology issues and trends was a very interesting chapter. It showed the impact of technology on the way Teachers teach and students learn. I think technology is going to have more of an impact on academics each year because there is so many neat teaching tools out there that can be used to help students learn. Three things that really sparked my interest was teacher centered teaching,student centered teaching, and digital divides.

Teacher centered and student centered teaching I think are two concepts that have to be discussed together. Both are types of teaching philosophies. As a teacher you will kind of have to decide which teaching style you will convey in your classroom. Teacher- centered teaching is what many adults born before 1980 had growing up. The teacher is the main focal point of learning information they are the knowledgeable ones and they give information to the student who is a novice. They use quantitative measures like test scores to determine who is receiving and comprehending the information correctly. I don’t necessarily disagree with this method of teaching, but I think it can be boring and outdated. I say outdated in the sense of; there is so many technology tools out there that we can expand on this teaching style.

Another teaching philosophy is the Student centered teaching. With this style of teaching teachers believe that making different experiences for students that they can explore and discover things on their own is the best way to teach them. Student centered teaching takes the focal point off the teacher, and gives the students a chance to ask questions, and engage in conversations with the teacher and each other. I like this style of teaching because it does give the students’ time to interact with each other and gain social skills that will be helpful in the real world. With this style of teaching you’re able to incorporate technology to be a resource in aiding in exploring and discovery of information.

Digital divides was a concept that I think effects many schools and is one problem that teachers have when trying to incorporate technology in the classroom. Digital divides is basically students not having the access to the latest technologies at home or in the school setting. According to our textbook low- income, nonwhite, urban, and rural youngsters are the ones affected by digital divides. Digital divides causes a chain reaction causing participation gaps which causes achievement gaps. I know living in Naples even for a short while I didn’t have a computer at home but I’ve always had access to computers at school, and public libraries. I know a lot of other schools in poor areas don’t have that luxury. Which is a sad thing because being educated in technology is a great skill to have and something you need in today’s society. I see so many job posting requiring for people to have knowledge in different computer software. 

Teacher- centered teaching, student- centered teaching and digital divides are three concepts that stood out to me in this chapter. I think with teaching you have to find a balance between the two teaching styles. I think bringing technology in the classroom can only be a plus to the learning experience. I think test and lectures are good every now and then. But I know when I was in computer class I paid more attention to Mavis beacon teaches typing then my actual teacher going over the keys on the keyboard. I think digital divides also reminds us that not everyone can afford a computer or the latest gadget that comes out. Not all schools are equal or have the same level of income. But I also think teachers do a great job of making sure students can access online assignments at home or making sure there is enough time to get things done in class.

Fig.2.1 pg 38 Transforming learning environments with Technology


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.

Digital Post Blog # A Chapter 1

   I did observing hours today for one of my college courses and it made me think of one of my concepts that I’m going to be discussing and that’s a digital childhood. I was observing in a high school, I haven’t been in my old high school for 9 years. Looking around all I saw was technology. Beats by Dre. Head phones, cellphone and tablets. I even saw a kid walking around with a modern day boom box.  Still shocking to see walking the halls of a high school. I remember when I was younger and although we had many of those things that I saw today, the main difference was the acceptance of the technology devices in the school. The teacher himself told me that he doesn't even try to argue with the students on putting those things away because the work is still getting done. It’s true that many of these students that are now seniors in high school grew up with a digital childhood, to them this behavior is normal, and to me I was honestly quite stunned. We were also in the computer lab so I was defiantly surrounded by technology today.  The differences 9 years make was amazing to me. It got me thinking about school when my son gets that age. He is also living a digital childhood. ABC mouse, puzzle apps and painting. My son is part of a new generation he will never know what it’s like to not have so much knowledge at his fingertips. All great but what is going to happen to books?

    Technology based textbooks, I thought I was surprised by all the use of technology in the school but when the teacher told me they no longer had textbooks my mouth about hit the floor, he said students access the textbooks online and that they do not assign textbooks anymore. To read that in our book about technology based text books and then to actually see it coming to reality is unbelievable. The school does get a class set but they only get assigned if someone doesn't have access to the internet at home. In our textbook it mentioned about “low income youngsters are less likely to have access to the latest high-speed, highly interactive technologies” (Maloy, et al (2014, pp. 4-5) .Which causes a participation gap. I know in our course book it refers more to technology – based text books as not being a core textbook but the teacher can find material related to the subject for students to read or the teacher can even author their own material and post them to keep the students engaged in the material. I think that’s great especially in subjects like poetry or math, I think sometimes fresh ideas is a good way to get a student motivated.

            Technological Pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) is three forms of knowledge brought together by teachers to give students a more engaging learning experience. This gives students the ability to use technology to understand the material. It also means teachers using different methods and ideas when teaching academic material. I think technology and education should really start going hand and hand together. I think that the generation has changed. We are now living in a digital age, I think to not let technology be a helper in the education process is not going to keep a student with a digital childhood engaged.

           I think all these concepts will be a factor on my teaching style. It will impact me as a teacher because I will have to keep up with the technology, if I don’t want to be left behind and if I don’t want to leave my students behind as well. I think homework programs and tutoring style technology is great. Students get automatic feedback and teachers can see how much time a student spends on a problem. I think that when it comes to TPACK and knowing my students are from a digital childhood, I think you can tailor your delivery of teaching differently. You can explore with the new technologies out there. I think actually being in a high school or a school and seeing the digital generation is really amazing. You can see where one might not be engaged if everything was straight out of a textbook. I can see the slow movement toward a more technological society. Below i put a hyperlink of the pro's and cons of digital textbooks and my video link is a great idea of how the classroom will look in the future.

http://tablets-textbooks.procon.org

Resources:

Maloy, R., O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.

"Technology in Education: A Future Classroom." YouTube. YouTube, 2014. Web. 22 Jan. 2015.

"Tablets vs. Textbooks - ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. N.p., 2004. Web. 21 Jan. 2015.