Everyday technolgy

I feel that i dont think of cell phones, videos, and games as technology to be used in the classroom, because most school do not even allow such things to be taken out in school. I think that for a school to allow students to go on social network sites would be pretty strange to me. I think that there is a time and place for such technologies, but not in the school setting should they be used. I think that blogs could be something that would be useful for the weekends for students to communicate with their teacher and class about any questions on assignments (or to even ask their own peers for help). As well, i think that educational games are appropriate to be used in the classroom as reward or for instruction a certain times. I also think that things like youtube would be effective to show students examples of such things. I jsut think that as a teacher you have to be careful to not allow your students too much technology freedom, because they might step their boundry and become too comfortable and think that they can use a cell phone or play with a game during class. Technologies should be up to date in the classroom, but not something that is personal technology to use while teaching.

Jen Locascio- Personal Technology Use

I think one of the main reasons we do not incorporate technologies such as cell phones, blogger, facebook, video games, utube, etc. is because most students use these types of technology for social interaction purposes with other friends and family. These technologies are often also used as well as for enjoyment during their spare time. Though, some may think we do not learn from these technologies, I think that even though they all do not necessarily serve for educational purposes, you still get the opportunity to learn a little something from each. For example, if a teacher is introducing new material in the classroom and wants to show an example to his or her students, he or she may use utube to find short video clips that are educational and will help the students understand the concepts a little bit better. Blogger for example, is a good way for students within a classroom to communicate with each other and discuss opinions on certain topics. Though most of these technologies is for personal use, I still think that to some extent teachers do incorportate some of them in the classroom. However, the only technology I do not feel should be incorporated in the classroom is the cell phone. Being a student myself, I still use my cell phone in class usually to text my friends, which I do feel is a very bad but extremely addicting habit. Knowing that it is distracting to teachers and may be distracting to other classmates, I feel that cell phones should be kept in the student's bags throughout the day and only used for emergencies.
If I were to use some of these technologies in my classroom, I think I would use social network sights, blogger and utube the most. I think each can help serve a purpose when teaching material in the classroom. If it takes those technologies to get the students to understand the material more easily being that they can make personal connections, then I think incorporating those technologies within the classroom will be beneficial.

I think that technologies such as facebook, cellphones, and others are not used in the classroom setting because they are used so frequently for enjoyment. Also there isn't any real reason for the use of such technologies in the classroom. There isn't any educational value that could benefit both teachers and students. However, I believe that a technology such as youtube can be helpful and educational for students if used appropriately. I had a teacher my first semester here at Towson who used youtube along with instruction and I loved her class. It was just so interesting and I was motivated to learn. I also believe that facebook or an even more child friendly social network site could be used in a classroom for communication purposes. All in all, I feel that some technologies that are so widely used outside of the classroom could be beneficial in the classroom; but only if that technology is used appropriately.

Red Group: Integrating “Everyday” Technologies

When I think of “everyday” technologies such as cell phones, You Tube, Facebook, LinkedIn, iPods, BlackBerry, and the like, using them in classrooms does not automatically pop into my mind. One reason is that those technologies are not everyday ones for me. Another reason is that I think of many everyday technologies as more for entertainment than for education. There is a distinction for me between how they are used at home versus at school. However, for today's children (my future students) and their parents, these personal technologies are very likely a part of their everyday lives.

For me right now, there is a definite disconnect between the technologies I personally use and the ones I expect to incorporate as a school librarian. Is that disconnect acceptable? I think it is. My future job will include knowing about information sources and technologies, but I believe I can integrate them successfully in my work life even if I don’t ardently use them in my personal life.

I can see creating lessons or developing assignments that incorporate everyday technologies appropriately. I could help students make video book recommendations for a school website. I could use a digital camera to film student reenactments of scenes from a book. I could use blogs to conduct a book club. I could manage wikis for group research and reporting assignments. Students could “meet” authors or illustrators by listening to podcasts or watching You Tube interviews with them. For students’ parents, I could communicate by cell phone, email, or a dedicated page on the school website. There are many ways to incorporate “everyday” technologies as a school librarian, and I’ll pursue appropriate ones when the opportunity arises.

Blog 2

I think one main reason why most people do not include any of those types of technologies such as "cell phones, video games, You Tube, social network sites, maybe Twitter, blogs..." is because most of those technologies have little education merit. I do not see any type of education benefits coming from a cell phone, or a social networking site, and I think it is unprofessional. I do think that sites such as Youtube can be a great asset in the classroom because it provides students with an extension of a lesson. There is a lot that can be learned from the videos on Youtube, if used correctly. I also see some educational merit in video games, but the game must have some sort of link to a lesson, and would also be worthwhile. As to why most people didn't include as an integrated technology, I think it is that there is not many ties from those technologies to education.

Blue Group Blog March 25

I think that we don't tend to think of those types of technologies when we are asked to incorporate technologies because of all the social networking that occurs with those type of technologies. I feel that teachers are afraid that the students will not gain the knowledge intended from the lesson by using those specific technologies. If a teacher assigns something like a communication group assignment that requires the students to converse back and forth using blogs, or cell phones there is the fear the students will use the technologies not for the intended purpose but for personal purposes. Although, I do think that it could be possible to incorporate those types of technologies in the classroom for learning, it may also be useful to use these technologies in the classroom to promote future jobs strategies for the students. The students may need to know these types of technologies for their future job placements, and the use of them in schools can help prepare the students.

I also can see some disconnect between personal use technologies and technologies that are going to be utilized in the classroom. For example, if the teacher uses certain technologies like blogs to keep in touch with friends or families, it would probably be wise to set up a separate blog for the classroom to not confuse the two, or to involve students in the personal life of the teacher. I can also see the teacher's opinion in not wanting to use personal use technologies in the classroom because it can get student's off topic because it may be something that they already know and use, and may want to do their own thing, without paying attention to the actual classroom reason for use of the technology.

In my personal opinion I think that personal use technologies can and should be used in the classroom because they can get the students prepared for future careers and jobs. I also think these types of technologies can be motivators for the students because they are getting to use technology that they may already have experience with and like using. I just think that the teacher needs to be the facilitator when it comes to using the personal technologies for personal uses while doing the classroom work and put a stop to that kind of activity from the start.
-Kami Bowman

Blue Blog #2 - Chrissy Cohn

I agree that there is a disconnect between technologies that we used in our everyday life for socialization and entertainment and the technologies we see in the classroom. I think this happens because of the misconception that technologies used primarily for non-educational purposes cannot be beneficial classroom, which is not true. Of course communicational technologies, such as facebook, e-mail, and the internet help with collaboration, research, and group projects. YouTube can be used to show videos relating to a wide variety of topics, and some video games incorporate academic subjects either through direct instruction of them or by including them in the background of the game. I think that these technologies could definitley be used in the classroom, if intergrated correctly. Collaboration should be encouraged through the use of communcative devices that the students are familiar with. This may encourage them to work together on a project more so than another method of communication. One problem I see with this would be students using e-mails or facebook groups to list ideas when the teacher requires an explanation of the students' plans. I don't see any problem with the students primarily communicating through facebook, blogs, e-mail, etc. and then turning in a written copy of what their main ideas are. This will help them organize their thoughts, so it would be helpful in the end. As for videos and games, I think that if they are teaching the lesson and main ideas just as well or better than traditional instruction would allow, then they are definitley suitable for use in the classroom.

I do think there is one main problem with using these technologies in the classroom, mostly with older students but recently with younger ones also. Many students abuse the opportunity to use facebook, video games, cell phones, etc. in class by using them for non-educational purposes during class. This can definitley be stressful for teachers who must monitor their students' actions while using these technologies. Another problem with my content area (elementary education) is that not all students have access to these technologies or are old enough to use them. However, if the technology is age-appropriate and is provided for use in class, then the students could definitley learn from them, and I think it would be helpful to investigate the misconception that "fun" technologies used at home cannot be beneficial in the classroom.
-Chrissy Cohn

Yellow Blog - Pamela Sorge

I feel that my experiences with technology definitely have a huge impact on what I feel is appropriate/inappropriate uses of technology. From my experiences, there have been teachers who have used the same types of technology but in different ways. Some ways were actually beneficial to my learning and some ways made me dread going to certain classes. For starters, I feel like I’ve had quite a few teachers who have used a television in some way to enhance instruction. My English teacher in high school used it to show us different movie versions of Romeo and Juliet after we had read the story. I feel that this was an appropriate use of technology just because she had us watch the movies after we had read and tried to understand the story ourselves, which really helped to clear up any misconceptions we may have had after reading the story since Shakespeare is sometimes hard to understand. I’ve also had teachers who used a television in inappropriate ways. My History teacher in high school would record shows from the history channel and then play these shows every Friday. He would have us take notes, but he wouldn’t check our notes to make sure we understood what we watched, nor did he discuss anything from the show after it was over. I feel like it was a complete waste of time and it felt like he used it as a way to give himself a break from lecturing since that’s all he ever did. I never learned anything from those history shows, and his class actually made me hate history because it seemed so boring the way that he lectured it. On the other hand, like I discussed in my technobiography, I’ve had a teacher who completed reversed what my high school teacher did and changed my views on history by his unique use of technology. Although this professor lectured during the entire 2-week cram course, he lectured using PowerPoint to enhance his lecture. Instead of using PowerPoint for notes, he used it to display hundreds of pictures to give some type of visual to what he was lecturing. Again, as a visual learner, this really helped me to make connections and finally understand and appreciate history. I feel like this professor’s use of PowerPoint was the best that I have seen throughout my college experiences. Most professors use PowerPoint in their lectures, but most of them don’t even know how to appropriately use PowerPoint. For example, I have had teachers whose PowerPoints consist of all words and LOTS of words. This is one thing I’ve been taught that you’re not supposed to do when using a PowerPoint for presentations, yet, most professors do this. By having a lot of words, it makes it hard for me to concentrate on what the professor is saying because I’m trying to write down whatever is written on the PowerPoint. I feel that my experiences in the past with technology, as a student, have really helped me realize what appropriate/inappropriate uses of technology are. I feel like I can learn from my teachers’ mistakes of using technology in inappropriate ways by finding ways to use these technologies in appropriate ways. Fortunately, no teacher/professor has made me despise and not want to use a type of technology. I’m definitely open to the idea of trying my own ways of using technology to enhance my instruction, regardless of whether my experiences with that piece of technology were good or bad.

There really aren’t any similarities from my technobiography and my classroom post. When I wrote my technobiography, I discussed items that I use on a daily basis, such as the computer and internet, T.V., cell phone, game consoles, PDA, iPod, and etc. For my classroom post, I talked more about overhead projectors, televisions, computers and PowerPoint. There’s probably this difference because sometimes I don’t really think of using everyday technologies that I use on a regular basis in the classroom, or because my experience with technology in the classroom really haven’t included technologies that I use on a regular basis. The only similarities were the computer and internet, and television. Honestly, I don’t really see how things I listed as being used on a regular basis could be integrated into classroom instruction. I don’t feel that cell phones, game consoles, PDAs, or iPods could really enhance classroom instruction. If they can, then that’s something new to me! However, although I didn’t really list it, I do sometimes play computer games and I’ve had teachers in the past who used computer games like Oregon Trail for instruction. I don’t really remember what I learned by playing that game.. but for a good while, we played it every time we went to our computer class in elementary school. Just like we’re currently discussing, I feel that there are software games that can really enhance instruction and allow students to have fun while learning. Maybe someday there will be ways to use the other technologies I discussed in the classroom to enhance instruction in new and intriguing ways!

Lisa's Yellow Group Blog Post

My attitude towards what I consider to be appropriate or inappropriate uses of technology in the classroom largely revolves around the experiences I have had while using the Internet. The internet is a vast place, filled with information that I would never have been able to just Google and instantly know during the times I was growing up in, which happen to be the 1980’s and 90’s. I have learned things since I have started surfing the Internet that I could never have imagined before. Also, I have been given more knowledge about things I couldn’t have learned in school, good and bad.
One of the good things that I have learned while being able to surf the internet is that no matter what it is that I want to know, I can find it somewhere on the internet. The only bad thing about that is that how do I know the information I find is accurate? Without knowing how to spot the fakes from the real information, I could be learning something that is completely incorrect and then start sharing it with other people.
Another good thing that I found while surfing the internet is that if I type something in the search engine box in the appropriate manner, I will instantly view a great number of links to find the exact piece of information that I want. The bad thing about that though, is that if I don’t know how to type what information I am looking for in the exact manner that it needs to be, I will end up looking at links that take me to places on the net that not only lead me away from the information I was looking for, but also to places I may not want to go, such as pornographic sights containing the same type of wording I typed into the search box. These types of experiences that I have had while surfing the net, give me some insight about using the Internet in my own classroom.
Being an English major, using the Internet to find information is something I am continually being expected to do. I have to find information for papers involving research on a particular topic that I am writing about, background and historical information about pieces I am given to read and evaluate and many other things. It is my assumption that I will be also expecting my high school students, and even middle school students, to utilize the Internet for particular topics that we are learning about in class. Since using the Internet is so important for my field of study, I believe that it will also be important for me to have the ability to access the Internet in my classroom, so that my students can learn how to use it as well.
When it comes to the question of technology that is appropriate or inappropriate in the classroom, the Internet remains a touchy subject. I personally believe that the Internet is not only appropriate in the classroom, but also completely necessary. It will only become inappropriate if it is not used properly. As a teacher, I will need to teach my students the proper ways to search for information and make sure that they understand how to be safe on the Internet. I will also need to make sure that there is proper security installed into the computer so that curious students are unable to fulfill their temptations of finding inappropriate material to look at.
When it comes to similarities and differences in my techno biography and my classroom post, I guess that I would say that they are completely different from one another for the main reason that I know so much more now about technology now than I did when I wrote my techno biography. I didn’t know much about different types of software that I could use as a teacher in my classroom let alone how to obtain them other then purchasing them myself. I did understand a little bit about teaching students about Internet safety, but I didn’t know much on how to go about making sure that curious students weren’t able to access inappropriate material. If you look at both posts, you can see that my classroom post is pretty much the beginning of a new era for me. An era filled with the prospects of technology in my classroom.
-Lisa Wojcik :)

Yellow Blog - Jenna Simmonds

Looking back on my last post on technology in the classroom I have realized that while I agree with what I have said, I also feel as if my opinions on technology in the classroom may have changed a little bit. After reading many articles on technology in the classroom and how it affects the way teachers educate their students I feel as if too much attention is being paid to incorporating technology into the classroom. I think that some teachers may spend too much of their time trying to incorporate technology that they may lose sight of the more important learning goals set for students. Although, don't get me wrong, I still feel that technology in the classroom is important, but it should be presented in a less forceful way. For example I feel that teachers should motivate their students to type their papers before they turn them in, but they shouldn't make it mandatory. Some student's and their families cannot afford a computer or other technology. I truly believe that it is important for students to be able to use a computer and other forms of technologies so I think it is important that schools present different types of technologies to their students.
There are both similarities and differences between my techno biography and my classroom technology post. In many ways it is similar because I still believe that technology has made a big impact on my educational and personal life. Without technology I would have lost touch with friends, been unable to present information, not have an immediate source to conduct research and much more. I feel that it is extremely important for children to be aware of how to use technology and how helpful it is. Technology makes student's lives much easier now then even 10 years ago. When we need a quick answer that is credible and legitimate all someone has to do is log on to the Internet and google the answer. Although it is so easy to find a good source of information, I think students should be taught the difference between credible and not credible sources. I think teachers should take a little bit of time out of their instruction to show students how to pick and choose a proper website for research, as well as how to quote the website to lessen plagiarism. A difference that I see between my first post and this one is that I feel some time should be taken out of lessons to show students the different types of technologies, but not too much. I deem that teachers feel the pressure of teaching student's technology and this affectts the way they instruct their classroom. I think technology is an extremely important tool for everyone, but when it comes to education in the classroom it should not be the most important topic taught.

Yellow Blog group 1-Meghan Wilson

My experiences with technology have definitely shaped what I think is an appropriate versus an inappropriate use for technology. I feel as though the best types of learning with technology take place when you don't realize you're learning as with my experience playing the game "Oregon Trail" in my elementary school days. I really enjoyed this game, I was getting hands-on experience with a computer for the first time, and was learning at the same time without actually realizing it. I see certain technology as beneficial in my life, such as my cell phone, my computer, the internet, and my GPS, all of which I use weekly if not daily. My overall experiences with technology in everyday life shape how I think technology should be used in the classroom in that I see the importance and growing need for technology in the classroom as it is being used more and more in everyday life throughout the world. I also view technology as something that can enhance a classroom as it can "enhance" life or at least make it easier. Technology can do many things within a classroom such as save time, reach different types of learners, create a more engaging lesson or atmosphere, and "make the impossible, possible." Technology also does much of the same thing for us in our daily lives. If our car breaks down and we become stranded, we have a cell phone to call for help (or if you have a fancy car, you might have onstar), or if we are lost we can count on our GPS system to get us back home safely. I think if we can have our students make these connections between life and technology as well as education and technology, it will become more successfully integrated within the

My experiences with technology have definitely shaped what I think is an appropriate versus an inappropriate use for technology. I feel as though the best types of learning with technology take place when you don't realize you're learning as with my experience playing the game "Oregon Trail" in my elementary school days. I really enjoyed this game, I was getting hands-on experience with a computer for the first time, and was learning at the same time without actually realizing it. I see certain technology as beneficial in my life, such as my cell phone, my computer, the internet, and my GPS, all of which I use weekly if not daily. My overall experiences with technology in everyday life shape how I think technology should be used in the classroom in that I see the importance and growing need for technology in the classroom as it is being used more and more in everyday life throughout the world. I also view technology as something that can enhance a classroom as it can "enhance" life or at least make it easier. Technology can do many things within a classroom such as save time, reach different types of learners, create a more engaging lesson or atmosphere, and "make the impossible, possible." Technology also does much of the same thing for us in our daily lives. If our car breaks down and we become stranded, we have a cell phone to call for help (or if you have a fancy car, you might have onstar), or if we are lost we can count on our GPS system to get us back home safely. I think if we can have our students make these connections between life and technology as well as education and technology, it will become more successfully integrated within the classroom.