Green Group 1

The technologies that I use at home are mostly for entertainment purposes. Like I said before I mainly use the computer to manage my music and other media. I have about ten thousand songs in my iTunes library which I play though a 5 piece stereo speaker system that takes advantage of HD surround sound. As you can tell music and how it sounds is a very important concern in my use of technology. Having said that I do use the technology at home for other things such as research, word processing, and school work, but my main focus remains on music. Other technologies in my life include my Black Berry, iPod, and Xbox 360. As I think about these technologies it makes me realize that most of them have little or no use in the classroom and could be even deemed inappropriate.

I suppose it’s obvious that my previous posts about technology at home and the role of technology in the classroom are completely different from each other. I believe that there are certain technologies that are appropriate for at home and ones that are acceptable for the classroom. This belief came to be shaped by the simple fact that my use for technology at home has nothing to do with my use of technology at school. They are two separate things and should remain so. When “entertainment”
technologies are brought into a school setting they only act as a distraction.

One technology that I use that serves a dual purpose is my BlackBerry. The convenience of getting my emails sent to my phone keeps me up to date with changes in class syllabus, class cancelations, or even just general information about events on campus through the daily digest.

Overall the majority of technology that I use in my life is either for entertainment or school purposes. Their uses remain distinctly different and rarely cross over.

Jon Scharff

Green Group Blog 1

I guess what it all boils down to for me is that I do think that using technology in the classroom is great. Obviously, I would be better off in today's sort of world if technology was better intergrated into my own school background. This is the way that the world is going. We are constantly adjusting to new or updated technology to keep in touch with the world. I guess, though I think that sometimes we rely a little too heavily in this modern world on the latest and greatest digital whatevers, and perhaps lose some of our basic creativity/functionality. You know, its kind of sad how wierd and out of place some people feel if for some reason they left their phone or ipod at home, or do not have access to the internet for long periods of time (that period is to be determined by each individual). Heck, if I did not have my phone, I would never be able to call up my best friend, or even my brother. I never commited their numbers to memory or bothered to right them down in a good old fashion phone/address book. This brings me back to how technology can be great this day of age. I loose a phone number, no worries, I am so connected I can look it up online, or at the very least, email or facebook message my friend to get it back.

My problem with technology is that I only use the more basic items, I find that either other uses/items are more expensive, or I am just not that into them. I have to be motivated to use certain technologies. I feel that this point is the same I would be making when using technology in my classroom. I would need to make a good argument as to what types of technology I will choose to introduce in my lessons, and what benefits my student's will get out of them. I will have to also determine how reasonable (price) the technology is, and how easy it is to manage.

I need to learn more about technology in classrooms, know whats out there first and foremost.

~~Yael S.

Me, Technology, and Education

I found this blog topic very interesting especially after the events of this weekend. On Saturday my cell phone carrier called me and informed me that I was eligible for an upgrade. I was so excited because I'm definitely a "tech freak". I always have to have the newest cell phone, Ipod, laptop, etc. So I raced to the nearest VZW store to see what new, interesting gadget I would be using to communicate with my friends and family. As I was in the store pawning over the latest addition to Verizon's mobile phone line up, the Blackberry Storm, I began to second guess my "need" for this new piece of technology. Did I really "need" to have this phone? Did I really need to upgrade to the newest Ipod at Christmas when the one I had was perfectly fine. Do I really need the new laptop I've been searching for considering the one I have is just a little over a year old? To conclude my saga I left the store Blackberryless ( if that's a word). I said all this to make the point that I do not believe technology makes children learn better, quicker, or more. I feel that it is just a perk, extra, fun, cool, new, and interesting, but not neccessary to perform basic tasks( by technology I mean the new innovative products that are created almost every day, not basic inventions like the telephone, television,stove,etc). In the classroom it would be great to have the latest ELMO, projector, and a fully equipped computer lab in the school library. I believe that technology makes education more marketable and in this current technology based era it is an asset to know how to use technology in and out of the classroom. Technology also makes learning a more hands on experience and it definitely helps to give the educational reigns over to the students, which makes most constructivists happy. As a whole technology makes knowledge more accessible for students, leaving the teacher in the role of facilitator not deliverer, and all-knowing leader. I am not against technology in the classroom, however I do not believe it helps children to learn more efficiently. I think the quality of the education still lies in the hands of the teacher, the parent, the student, and the available information whether its through technology, books, or hands-on experiences.

Green Group Blog #1

Since I have been exposed to so much technology, I think that for the most part, technology can be a huge help in the classroom. When trying to engage young children and keep their interest, resorting to educational computer games every so often is not a bad thing. I can remember being in elementary school and loving when my teacher gave me an opportunity to play on the computer. Even though I would always only be allowed to play a certain game, or do a specific activity, I would enjoy it so much more than if I had to do the same activity on paper at my desk. My friends and I would always pay attention more when using the computers, and try harder when doing the activity. Because of this, I personally that using technology such as computers to practice a certain topic, is a very good resource. Now a days, the technology of computers has changed drastically from when I was in elementary school. There are many more advanced computer programs that can be both helpful and not helpful in the classroom. I think that even though computer games may be fun for most children, there will always be those students with behavioral problems who fool around on the computer instead of learning. Sometimes, it is necessary for the teacher to continue doing a lesson without the use of the computer. Also, since the cost of computers to use in a school can be so astronomical, it is hard for school systems to provide enough computers for all these students. This leaves the students in lower income areas, without computers, to lack the knowledge of using some advanced technology that other young children are growing up with. I think technology is a good resource in the classroom, but it can not be the only resource. Students need to know how to do some things without relying on a computer, or the internet. In the classroom, there needs to be an equilibrium of technology teaching and “old-school” teaching, which should be implemented by the teacher. I plan to introduce my students to the use of technology, without over doing it.

There are many similarities in my techno-biography and my classroom technology post. Both show my background of using technology daily since before I can remember. Throughout elementary school, high school, and college, I was exposed to many varieties of technology both in the classroom and out of it. Since I have learned through technology, I find it necessary for my future students to learn through the many ways of technology as well.

Technology in the classroom

As I look back on my technobiography and posts, I realize that technology has greatly effected my life in both good and bad ways. While I believe technology has provided a lot of positives, I also believe technology can bring some negatives. Throughout my life, I have seen technology used in many different ways. I believe there is a huge difference in technology being appropriately used in the classroom, and technology being used to simply say it was used. During a discussion in class the other day, I stated that I believe in a general education classroom, technology should be used solely to help teach the content. If technology is being used to show students what is "new", I do not think it is being appropriately used. I believe specials should be used for this type of instruction. When I had classes that used technology for unapparent reasons, I was never interested. While I do use technology in my everyday life, I am not very fond of it. Daily troubleshooters that arise, such as my Internet going out, really frustrates me. As a future educator, I try not to let the fact that I am not good at using technology judge whether or not I integrate it into my classroom. Rather, I judge whether or not a certain piece of technology can truly help the children learn the information being presented.
Gina Pagliaccetti

Looking back at my posts

Looking back at my previous posts I have noticed that technology has shaped both my life and education in both positive and negative ways. I realized that my attitudes towards technology are directly affected by my previous experiences. I never really knew much about technology or computers when I was younger. They were just becoming popular and were still pretty expensive. When I was in Elementary School, I got my first taste of technology with the Apple Computers; but those never really sparked my interest.
Once I reached the upper grades in my Elementary School I got introduced to the Dell Computers which I loved. But I never really understood what a computer could do until I reached Middle School and had to take technology classes. However, once I left that class the only thing I could remember was how to type correctly and fast. Maybe that is why I am still a little computer illiterate today. I never really had the chance or interest to explore the computer and everything that it is capable of performing. Hopefully this class will help open my eyes to the all the benefits that both computers and technology can have in both my future teaching carreer and life.

Technology in the classroom.

Technology in the classroom is something that gets a little tricky. When teachers use too much technology, students seem to get unmotivated and lessons just turn into lectures. I think that using power points have their advantages and disadvantages. In one of my classes this year, one of my teacher uses a power point to go over all the notes. Normally, I wouldn't like that because when teachers do that all I do is copy and not look at what I'm actually writing down. The way that she makes it better is by having us fill in things. So instead of just handing out a ditto or having us copy everything, she gives us the best of both worlds. I think that technology needs to be integrated into the classroom because its a huge part of everyones lives now, no matter what job you have. I don't think that cell phones and ipods and things like that are appropriate for the classroom, even though I know that I'm a student who is on her cellphone during class. I think that technology should be used in fun ways like to make reports, educational games, group projects and things like that. Another thing that I like in the classroom is when we watch videos and mini clips. I see a lot of my teachers now using youtube clips and showing us portions of videos. I think that things like that are a good use of technology as long as what your showing has value to what your trying to teach.