Social Networks

The social web provides a great place for people to interact and communicate with one another.  This purpose allows people to share their ideas and thoughts, which can help solve problems.  As mentioned in previous chapters, many people are smarter than one person by themselves, because we can share and expand on each other’s knowledge.  In an educational setting, this is beneficial because students can use facebook or ning to discuss homework assignments or ask questions.   Part of me feels that a teacher could use any other form of technology, such as blogs to do this same task.  On the other hand, though, I feel that facebook may be more beneficial because everyone is familiar with it and therefore will be more motivated to use this in the class for various tasks/projects.  They will already have accounts set up and they won’t have to take up more time learning how to use a different site.  Since so many people have accounts, a neat idea would be to contact other people who specialize in certain topics.  This would not only bring in new information and motivate the students more, but can give the students another resource that they could use to find additional information.  This is particularly important in today’s classroom because teachers shouldn’t just have students memorize random facts that they won’t remember when they can always just look it up.  The chapter gave an example of how one classroom that used facebook, the classroom enrollment went up.  If I can motivate just one student to come to class because of this, it would be in my best interest to use facebook.    

                As a future teacher, the main reason I would like to use facebook in my classroom is not only for the fact that they can share information, but because it could create more of community.  The students can learn more about each other, their dislikes and interests.  They will become more respectful of each other by knowing this information and therefore will be more likely to work better with each other in the classroom.  They won’t be afraid to discuss possible solutions even if they may be wrong and express their creativity.  Using facebook for this purpose would have its perimeters, though.  I would have to teach students about cyber bullying and work with them to prevent any teasing from occurring.  It would provide a great opportunity to integrate this with a health lesson too.  I feel that it is also important to incorporate facebook in the classroom because they should be shown how they can use it to share information, instead of just talking with friends.  It could also be neat to involve parents and teach them how to check what their kids are doing and how to make sure they are safe. 

Exist Slip Week 9

I learned that there are many resources available to help me create an ideal classroom.  If I have the intiative I can find a way to receive new and updated technologies or other tools that could benefit the students.  Through our class discussion, I became more aware of my thoughts on competition and how I think, in moderation, competition is a positive thing.  I also thought about how much of a work load I should give my students.  I think it is important to keep my expectations high and push them so that they have to work outside of their comfort zone.

What may be lost and what may be gained

This chapter made me think about all the new dilemmas that will arise in education and society because of our technological advancement.  Its scary to think that in the future many children could be left behind because they can’t afford the technology or individualized education.  Not only is this one factor that could develop, but without our standard education system, it will become even more challenging for immigrates and minorities to become a part of our American culture.  Our educational system is a means for students to interact with others and learn about each other’s difference.  Without this, students will begin to become more and more socially incompetent.  The chapter mentioned how more kids may develop depression because they will begin to feel lonelier without as much interaction.  This is one topic that I am especially worried about because a child’s self-esteem and motivation is so crucial to their learning and simply living to their fullest.  I feel that this also may develop because as students begin to study only their topic of interest, many will disregard even learning about liberal arts.  This knowledge helps people become more aware of other cultures and helps us understand different viewpoints.  Becoming more whole people, we can work together more efficiently as a society, with this information. 

                As a future teacher, I do think we should make strides in helping everyone have some contact with technology.  The one laptop per child movement would be great because I see the importance of having laptops in the classroom.  I would love to have students write reflections about class, post assignments/projects, and begin typing as soon as possible.  This would be very challenging without computers in each classroom or trying to share them between hundreds of students.  I also think technology could be great, in that, it could remove the competition between students in the classroom.  I feel that if technology becomes even bigger, there will be less pressure put on teachers to record grades and spend more time teaching about the more important things happening in students’ lives.  Without the pressure on students as well, they won’t feel like it is a chore to learn and can find more joy in the education.  This is especially true because without the burden of grades, teachers can complete more projects and hands-on activities that allow the students to have more fun and learn while doing it.  Another positive in that the students will be more engaged and this influences the amount of behavioral issues that teachers have to waste time dealing with.   Students will be so excited to be at school that they won’t become bored and cause trouble allowing the teacher to spend more time with the students.

Podcasting, Video and Screencasting, and Live Streaming

There are many possibilities that podcasting, video, screencasting, and live streaming can have in a classroom.  One potential that I am particularly excited for is that these technologies can allow students to become teachers themselves.  I think it would be such a neat idea to have students post their own lessons on certain subjects on the web.  Having the students interact with this, they have to gain a deeper understanding of the lessons because in order to teach it, they need to know the topic forward and backwards.  Originally I thought about having the students in front of the class, but with podcast or video, they could complete this on their own and I would have more time to teach the class.  This ties into the idea of the radio for kids, by kids on podcasts.  Not only could my students create their own posts, they could use it to seek advice when they need extra assistance on school work.  I think this is great because I feel that sometimes students can teach students better than teachers could because they may have a better understanding of their thought process and can explain information in kid terms.  This would also be useful if the student is hesitant to ask the teacher and just needs someone else’s opinion or advice.  The other topic I liked about podcasts that the chapter mentioned was how politicians use it to gain votes.  This could be a great way for students to learn more about politics and become more involved in government. 

                As a future teacher, the main thing I took away from this chapter is that I need to practice this technology first, before I use it in my classroom.  I don’t have a real clear understanding of how to use podcasts and I need to become more active to learn all of the potentials it could have in a classroom.  This may be the case for podcasts, but I’m pretty familiar with YouTube.  I think this could be useful in lessons even though there is a lot of controversy over using it in school.  I feel that students are going to be exposed to it at home if they aren’t in school and I figure they mine as well learn proper ways of using it from reliable adults, instead of discovering it on their own.  Either of these technologies will allow students to become more interactive and communicate their ideas to millions of others.  It is essential to teach students how to use these new forms of communication because that may be the sole form in the future.  Newspaper and print sources are becoming scarcer as people just read information online.   Without teaching students places where they can find reliable information they will fall behind in the way of socialization.

Exist Slip Week 8

This week I the topic came back into my mind about how much education, parents, and other factors are intertwined.  Parents greatly influence a student's motivation about their willingness to learn.  In turn, how the school communicates with parents can affect how much they become involved in their child's learning. 

The Three Eras of Education

The educational system has gone through various phases and changes and is slowly continuing so today.  Some of these changes I agree with and some I’m unsure about.  I agree that students need more one on one attention.  These days it seems to me like we are discovering more and more disabilities or reasons why some children especially need more attention.  Being in a classroom with at least 10 kids can be challenging to ensure that they are all getting the most out of their education.  The idea of standardized tests also fits in with this because since there are so many kids, using tests is supposedly the most accurate way of knowing whether they are learning.  This is one thing that I think needs to be changed because this can create feelings of failure and rankings among the students.  I’m not sure though if moving towards using computers to teach is the most effective way, however.  The example the chapter used about giving hints to students seemed to me like it would just create learned helplessness.  Many students wouldn’t be motivated enough to figure out a problem by themselves if they got stuck and would simply keep asking for hints.  They wouldn’t learn anything about problem solving or critical thinking.  The one good thing about using computers to gain that apprenticeship environment is that students can learn what they are interested in.  This is important because with all the information available a person can’t learn everything.  Even though one can learn about their interest, what about those who aren’t motivated to learn?

                As a future teacher, I will be more aware of how students rate themselves based off tests and other assessments.  To avoid any of this from occurring, even though it will be very difficult, I will keep their scores unanimous.  I will also become more aware of how I try to gain respect in my classroom.  With more and more diverse backgrounds in every classroom, I will have to be more sensitive to their beliefs and cultures.  Each child will have different expectations for me and how I rise up to them will determine their respect for me.  This will create more work on my behalf that I am more than willing to except because I would love getting to know each one of my students at an individual level and learn about various cultures.  This is one example of how the school system is changing and how teachers have to adjust to the many adverse learners.  In the book, it mentions how we try to make education fit into the school mold even if it doesn’t make sense.  I think this sums up many dilemmas that teachers face and it makes me more motivated to make changes that may even seem out there.  I feel that there is still so much we can discover about how children learn and we need to experiment with our beliefs and research.   

Fun With Flickr

Flickr has a lot of potential use in an educational setting.  For basic reasons, I would love to use flickr for communicating with parents or my school district by showing them what my classroom is learning about.  Going off this idea, to build further relationships with my students, it would be neat to always look at pictures they may post in the future or over summer break.  When using flickr in my classroom, though, I feel that the features that I would use could easily be done by a smartboard.   I feel that there is an overlap between some of the technologies and that I could just use one or two to fulfill all the things I could if I used all of them.  The smartboard could easily have students identify different parts of objects or the like, but the only reason flickr is more effective is because it actually has the content on it.  As a teacher, I would probably just paste pictures from it onto the smartboard and integrate it into a lesson from there.   Photography, however, is becoming more and more prominent in our society.  Many people are becoming their photographers and taking pictures.  It is becoming an important part of people’s communications.  I feel that it would be a fun topic for students to learn about and it would be something that they use for the rest of their lives.

  As a future educator, I will use flickr in my classroom.  I think that it provides a great opportunity for visual learners to participate more and take more from the lesson.  I also think that it will simply motivate the students in general because who wouldn’t love looking at pictures, instead of reading a textbook all day?  I am excited to use flickr in social studies to give more meaning behind the text and keep up on current events.  I think it would be a great learning experience to actually see what is happening in the world.  Students will take more away from it because it is a vicarious experience and they can relate it to.  This is especially easy because with tag words I can quickly type in an event that occurred and find lots of photos that weren’t published in papers and may tell a different side to the stories.  In a science class, it would be an excellent way to test students on parts of the body, for example.  The chapter also gave an example of how the students had to write a story about one of the pictures, which is another great idea.  Besides all the specific subjects flickr could be used for, it would be another tool for students to do research on.  They can use the pictures to analyze different topics and it could help them get their message across because a picture can say a million words.   

Exist Slip Week 7

This week I learned from class more useful information on scratch.  I think it seems fun to play around with this program, but even more I love the idea of the potential use of it.  I can't wait to create my own lesson and one day use it in my own classroom.

The Seeds of a New System of Education Chapter 5

There were quite a few topics brought up in chapter five that could influence the educational system.  The first topic mentioned was homeschooling.  Although this is gaining ground, I feel that it isn’t going to have as big as an influence as some think.  I feel that a lot of parents, for one, won’t be able to home school their children because they have to work and secondly, I feel that some parents wouldn’t care enough to teach their kids in our complex society.  I did find it interesting, however, that children who were home schooled did better on standardized test than most publicly educated students.  This information made me think about my role as a teacher and how I should be more of a coach.  Some teachers will give answers right away as if they want to show their students that they are smart, but I think kids do need to struggle on problems to learn how to think through them.  One other topic I found interesting, was the idea that children who are home schooled will become naïve to other cultures and personalities.  Their parents are going to instill in them values that they like and without the social interaction they would get at school, they won’t be able to understand others as well and maybe even disrespect them.  Learning centers was another big topic that I think will help the educational system for the better.  Some students need more one on one time and learning centers are a means of achieving this.  Not only will students develop academically, it is a great opportunity for them to heighten their self-esteem, become motivated, or simply a means of developing a friendship.  Another topic that was presented in this chapter was internet cafes.  My mind wandered about what the future may hold in this aspect, specifically the role libraries will have in the future.  Our society is beginning to rely less and less on text and more on the internet.  I believe that students will never need to learn about how libraries work and how to check out books because they will realize how much easier it is to just look information up online. 

                As a future teacher, it will be important to learn ways of gaining students’ attention.  This will be more difficult considering how much time they put into playing video games and internet activities.  Students would be thrilled if a teacher incorporated some type of video game into a lesson.  Although there are some benefits to this, such as immediate feedback, I feel that I will stray away from this and incorporate exercise with my lessons so it is more hands on.   I think that it would be beneficial, however, to create some games so that when kids go home they can play these educational games versus non-educational ones.  This will prevent the problem of kids learning unhealthy habits from television or video games.  The other topic brought up was lifelong learning.  I will encourage students to continually read and look up information and teach them proper strategies so they can carry on their thinking throughout their whole life.

The Social Web Chaper 6

Twitter and social bookmarking affects education because they are slowly creating a shift from individual learning towards collaborative learning.  They both encourage socialization with others and, in fact, won’t be effective unless there is communication between other people.  Teachers are going to have to reconsider how much they stress individual work and homework assignments in the classroom because it may be that in the future, our students will only be communicating in their careers and never have to complete projects alone.  Twitter is one tool that I could foresee students taking advantage of when trying to find information or answer questions.  They will simply pose a question on the site and from there read any responses they may get.   I also really liked the idea of keeping in contact with distant family members over twitter.  To relate this to a school setting, I feel that it could be useful in staying up-to-date with other teachers.  Whenever I have a question about a behavior problem or need an idea for a creative lesson I could always twitter with other educators.  As we have already learned about in class, social bookmarking is a very useful tool for multiple reasons.  One of the biggest advantages is that it is an easy way to keep track of numerous sites for references.  This will come in handy as a teacher when I want to find ideas for lessons plans or other information and all I have to do is go to my delicious account.  It is also a great way to share information.  If I can’t find any sites about a particular topic, I can look at other people’s accounts and learn from them.  Lastly, social bookmarking would be very useful in organizing information and all the various websites I like.  The tags allow me to quickly click on a topic I am looking for information on.

                As a future teacher, I’m not sure how relevant this information will be for younger age children.  However, if we show them the general concepts of how it works, they will be able to use it more effectively in the future.  This information will especially be useful in high school and college when students are learning more about their careers and can connect with people of the same interest.  It would never harm someone to communicate with others online and teach them about safety.  I feel that as an educator, I will for sure use these tools.  It will make life so much easy when I can just go to one site to find information and find other sites that other teachers recommend.  It will save lots of time relooking everything up and finding information in general.  This will allow me to concentrate on more important issues occurring.

Exist Slip Week 6

Today's class brought up to my attention about the importance of being clear and precise.  Students need to know what their expectations are and how to go about completing their assignments or discussion.  I'm also really excited to learn how to use Scratch.  I think this is a program that I will use in the future and can help the students interact more with the lesson and become more engaged.