Journal # 5

Journal #5
Making field trips podtastic by Paul McGuinness is a great article for incorporating technology into field trips that could have meaning loss in transition between assignments. The interactive field trip was designed to increase student’s time at exhibits and for them to have a better understanding of the experience. A creative podcast develops a better understanding of each exhibit and allows the students many more options in ways of assessing understanding and knowledge. Ipods aren’t the only thing that can be used, PDA cell phones give students the best opportunity to take pictures, record observations and listen to meaning podcasts that can truly enhance the content of a field trip. The first initiators in the article were from the Technological centers at Harvard. They tried to keep technology withn the range of the average educator. By doing this, it makes it assessable for most to all educators to implement in the class.

Questions:
1. The first question that came to mind, is how can we get these pieces of technology to students who have no income support at home? I again thought of the fund raising of the classroom but thought maybe I could go to the board and ask for money. Maybe not..
2. My next question while reading was, what about those field trips that aren’t exhibit based? What about a field trip that is more kinesthetic? Would they be implemented then? I would think they could be, but more of a buffer before going into it. Maybe have the pod cast during the ride to the field trip or on the way back to school.

Journal #4

In Five Don’t of Classroom Blogging by Julie Sturgeon, the author discusses web etiquette. She beings by discussing the “technicaleducaphobia” of teachers inability to implement technology into the classroom. She then goes into her five main points. First, don’t just dive in (research your technology). Many teachers go into the blog without getting parental support or establishing boundaries. Don’t confuse blogging with social networking. Students need to talk to each other and help each other through assignments, but it shouldn’t be used as a way to find out where parties are, or who did what. Do not jump at freebies such as blogger because they do not offer the structure a school setting needs. I disagree personally. That is to say there are not better sites, just a teacher has a limited budget especially in California. The next point is to use blog formats based on topic rather than date because good articles can get lost. I agree with this because I have a hard time finding things sometimes. Lastly, don’t leave the blogging to the students. Basically we need to teach the skills required to use blogs properly.

Questions:

1. Throughout the article I was wondering, in what ways can I get parents involved with technology to help the students. Then I thought of creating a blog forum or discussion board in which parents, teachers, and students come together to help each other out.
2. What would be something I would add to a blog discussion? I would have said something about making the discussions and assignments meaningful so student responses won’t be superficial.

Journal #3

Speaking Math by using chat by Janet Graham and Ted Hodgson is an article that explores the use of electronic discussion tools in math classes that helps accommodates multicultural students. The basis for using this technology is through forums and online discussions. Students are assigned different parts of each chapter and are then to express the segment to the class in how it made sense to them. They will then teach the class and themselves as an online community. By using this strategy it allows an additional avenue of participation for non native speakers and others who struggle with language terms in mathematics. Besides ESL students, some benefits of the approach is the ability of teachers to formulate effective small groups which in turn alleviates confusion.

Questions:

As I read the article I was agreeing with the use of discussion boards and the ability to add personality to the answer. Also, by having the security of a computer in front of you, it alleviates the fear of speaking in front of people or asking questions. What I was wondering was a way to incorporate having lessons like this more frequently in the classroom without having to use the computer lab all the time. How can we make this everyday without going to the lab when students don’t have computers at home? I was also wondering, how can we incorporate these lessons to students who are much younger, say in the K-1 setting?
I would like to say in a perfect world, every student will have access to the internet at home and this wouldn’t be a problem, but in most cases it is not. So what I would try and do would be to have fund raisers to buy a bulk set of laptops for my classroom for the students to use. By having a fundraiser which all my classes raise, and the addition of some of my own pocket money, I could buy a class set of laptops to make these assignments an everyday occurrence. For the K-1 setting, it would be limited, but I would use websites like kidpicks to build their motor skills and computer ability and then hopefully get to the area of guided instruction in a simple discussion board.

Journal #2

Journal #2
In Jim Klein's "social networking for the K 12 set" Mr. Klein discusses the ideas for making technology more assessable to instructors by creating a technology rich environment. He wants to establish a tech supportive tech community, and create opportunities to discuss social, ethical, and legal issues. By instilling these ideals, educators will create the best learning environment for students. Some examples of how he can portray these ideals is through the creation of student community sites. These sites give ways to assist students and instructors to communicate in a better way. They also allow for students and teachers to help each other and learn and grow together. The sites are meant to be easy to read and guide through as to alleviate complications. The sites could also lead to community building and provide current technological advances in the field.

Questions:
1. What are some ways I would use these types of websites? I think I would create a community classroom website in which everyone has the ability to add to it. A good example would be to have a wiki. I think wikis create a great forum for students and teachers to build and learn from each other. It also gives students the power to create articles on the web that are published.
2. Why is technology in the classroom so important? The future of mankind is going to be hand in hand with computers and the technology we establish. There have been so many new jobs created because of the computer and technology, so I think it is the most vital aspect we will teach to our students. As time progresses and we become even more technologically advanced, I think the importance of technology will only increase.