Final Reflection

Throughout this semester I have learned a wide variety of technology that will be useful for me as a future teacher. One example of this is the delicious account. With this website I gained the ability to readily save specific websites and tag them which allows me to recall the website with ease. Another technology that I have gained is Google Earth. I enjoyed this project and could turn this into a great learning tool for students by having the ability to show them different aspects and environments of the entire world. Another technology tool that I learned is with Microsoft Word. With deeper exploration of this program in class I have learned how to create a newsletter and incorporate many things such as smart art, charts, and tables. This new knowledge of these tools will help me be more organized and allow me to insert visual aids to help my future students learn more readily.

My voki

Using Blogs in the Classroom

I feel the use of blogs could prove to be either a great learning tool, but also could be detrimental if not monitored frequently. The positive things that blogging could bring into the classroom are things such as the students being able to form independent ideas on topics and engage in a deeper thought process about the topic. Another positive thing is that if they were to comment on other students blogs then that allows for more student collaboration throughout the classroom. This could potentially allow students to come out of their comfort zones and interact with more students that they may have normally not interact with. Classroom blogging also allows students to work on their reading, writing, and grammar skills. One final positive aspect that blogging has on students is it provides them an opportunity to practice compiling their thoughts, (pun intended) and placing their thoughts in an organized manner into a written format.
The negative that blogging may cause is that if it is not monitored it may provide an opportunity for cyber bullying. If caught soon enough the impact this could cause could be altered. For instance, in most blog settings there is an option that has all comments go through an administrator, whether the students whose blog it is, or even the teacher as an administrator. This option could catch the comment before it is publicly published. So all in all, as long as the blogs are closely monitored, then they can be a very useful learning tool in the classroom.

The impact of multitasking on teaching, learning and thinking.

The ability to multitask is critical in the world of educating. This is because a teachers going to have a group of students, typically around 20, with whom are different and unique when it comes to learning. The teacher then must multitask to be as efficient as possible in order to appeal to as many students as possible. The educator must be able to keep track of where each student stands on their understanding of the material, so they must know when to advance some students to the next and also reiterate lessons for the students which are lagging. For teachers with classes whom rotate such as in the upper grades, they must also keep track of entire separate classes and their standings compared to the other classes. The goal of multitasking is to do as much as possible in as short of time as possible. This is what makes juggling all of the above things listed possible with having a positive reflection onto thinking and learning as well. It has a positive impact on thinking and learning because it creates extra time for the students to think on their own and gather their own thoughts on lessons which has also been proven to help students learn. Therefore, multitasking is a necessity for educators.

Future of reading and writing

It seems that many speculate that the future of reading and writing is doomed to a dark unsophisticated future. The main accessory that they link to this apocalypse is cell phones and text messaging. The ever rising of acronyms and short-hand is said to eventually replace all the grammar and vocabulary that was being taught and seen traditionally. Some researchers feel that that this generation will benefit from being able to use both the traditional grammar and vocabulary and also the text messaging "lingo" as they would open the door for more creative thinking. Other researchers feel that with this battle of linguistics, only one will prevail; seemingly the new short-hand.
 I however feel that there will forever be a split in the literacies. I feel that there will always be those whom chose to constantly present themselves as educated intellectuals, and also those whom could not care less on how their writing presents themselves. Another reason I feel that both literacies will forever co-exist is because there will always be a need for books, whether they are electronic or printed. I use the term"books" broadly in the fact that in that term I am including textbooks, scientific journals/articles, and encyclopedias. Due to the nature of these items, it is crucial for them to be written in correct grammar and vocabulary because of the need of accuracy when presenting and understanding the material being written. For example, a scientific journal would lose a lot of credibility and also a lot of accuracy if an excessive use of shorthand and acronyms with poor grammar and vocabulary were applied. This is because there is not a base understanding within the general population of all the shorthand terminology that is seen today. Therefore, repetition of such experiment may prove to be impossible.

Blog Reflection 1

Education and technology seem to go hand-in-hand. I say this because there are many advances in technology that often get integrated into the class room. These technological integrations ranged from computer labs in schools and all the way to iPads being issued to each student to follow along on power points. Some may say that these advancements in technology create more of a distraction more than anything, however I feel that if the technology is administered and monitored sufficiently, than the educational opportunities are limitless.
Some personal experiences I have had with facing new technology started when I was in the fourth grade and had my first computer class, which at the time was in a very small computer lab on the old box-like apple computers. As time went along the computer and technology placed within far exceeded any body's previous expectations. For instance by the time I reached my senior year in high school, teachers were using smart boards (which are basically giant touch screen computers mounted on the wall, replacing old projection screens), and students were given iPads with applications to follow along with the teachers power point right at our own desk. These advancements helped me as a student because the amount of educational information that was now easily accessible to me was astounding, which in turn supplemented my overall learning.