Reaction to Chapter 5 Modeling With Technologies

As I began reading chapter five what immediately stood out to me was the connection that was made between what computers should be used for and what the students should be instructed to do. I like that it point out that computers are better at memorizing and retrieving information; what that says to me is that we should be teaching out students to just get information and memorize it but for them to do more. Students should be conceptualizing, organizing, and solving problems. How I would use this in my classroom is to rethink my lessons and make sure the content is not just asking for students to regurgitate what it is they heard but to show understanding. When students teach the computer what they know they get a chance to show what they understand in a different form. It like writing notes in class then going home to type them up. The students are allowed to revisit what it is they already have seen in order to refresh their memory, I think that this is a very helpful study tool. They also learn more about technology because they have access to a number of different tools that they can use to display their understanding. Also through using computer programs students can externalize their internal mental models. They are given a way to express their understanding or knowledge they may have. When putting it down in to different models students are forced to organize their thoughts and either show better understanding or gain better understanding. Using mindtools students get to teach the computer instead of the other way around, in this manner students are challenging their own thought more than the computer would have if it was vice versa. Mindtools require deep thinking on the students behalf and cannot be completed without doing so. After looking at the visuals for the different tools used in for understanding I see that there is a major thought process required to get these done, there are many connections and subsections and relations that make students think very deeply.
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Reaction to EME Class 02/23/10

Todays class was really informing. I was glad I got through my cool tools presentation alive. I feel alot more comfortable to start on my podcast and I am excited to try the new tool!! =)
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Reaction to Chapter 4: Supporting Writing With Technology

What I was looking for as I began reading this chapter was ways to get students to enjoy or at least not dislike writing. I figured that this chapter should be rather interesting since the connection of technology can get students into doing a lot of things. The last chapter talked about how to involve writing with the quests or tasks the students would have to do in simulations so I am interested in seeing what other ways there are. Unless I am not getting the full understanding of what they are fully capable of, I really don’t see the use of the computer based semantic maps. I feel that if students are interested in it then it is more because of the fact that they are just using the computer. The program should offer more than what can be given on a paper, other than its visual effects. I feel as if a lot of the explanations given in the chapter are just of concept maps in general, all things I feel can be done on regular paper. I agree with all of the ways students can present writing and I think that they help encourage students slightly but I actually expected more from this chapter. When I began reading this chapter I was expecting technological ways to help support or aid students in their writing. I thought that this chapter would represent ways or programs that would peek students minds and make them think of new creative and innovative ways to say things. This was not delivered in the text of this chapter. What I did appreciate in the powerpoint section was the mention of things that may distract students from their writing or their work in general. It reminds us as teachers to point these out or at least look for these as our students work so that they are not distracted. As I continued reading I found out about “The Pigman” and I think that that is a great idea, and is something that we should try doing in other forms. That is just the tip of the iceberg but I feel that there are more ways that technology can contribute to students writing creativity.
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Reaction to Chapter 3 & Its Presentation

This week I had to present Chapter three to the class. I really, really like this chapter and all the ways it showed technology/ games in the classroom. The simulations, quests, games, etc. were all interesting and the ways they can help in the classroom. I always knew that they could be helpful but I never knew there were so many programs and so many ways they could help. Quest Atlantis peeked my interest and when I went to look at the things it offered I was fascinated. I saw how it encompasses history, science, math, language arts, and just about every other area that can be focused on in school. One way I would like to use this in my lesson is to get ideas to do within my classroom and also i would LOVE for my students to become apart of this quest. The ten principles were there to explain the different things to look for in an educational game but it taught me that games ACTUALLY CAN offer these things. I didn't know that such advantages were available in games. Things like SimCalc, SimCity, and BioBlast are all things used to teach specific concepts. I would use these things for students that may be struggling in SPECIFIC areas instead of using something like Quest Atlantis to explore everything at once. After this chapter I actually became interested in changing my College of Education specialization to Education Technology. I am not interested in becoming an Ed. Tech. teacher but I feel that with this background I may be able to offer my students more in a classroom setting since there is such a shift towards technology. This chapter helped me realize how much of a role technology plays in education now and how much it will in the future.
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Reaction to EME Class for 02/17/2010

I learned alot about my presentation skills. Getting in front of the class and using alot of "Um's" and "Uh's" encouraged me to be more prepared. Overall I think the presentation with cool though. I liked the webquest we did for Chapter 2 and although it seems fun and interesting im glad that I was forewarned about how long it takes.
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Reaction to Chapter 2: Investigatin With Technologies

As soon as I opened up to this chapter I paid close attention to the things that education and technology are moving from and where they are moving too. Moving from narrow-band to broad-band, from plain text to multimodal rich connectivity, from wired to wireless, and from users adapting to the technology to the technology adapting to the user. The one that stood out most to me was the technology adapting to the user. Specifically the chapter says "Emerging and rapidly changing technologies demand individuals who are prepared to experiment, adopt or discard technology tools as they appear, evolve, become successfully entrenched, or fall by the wayside." Since society is changing to become so dependent on technology we may be more forced to encourage students to think ahead. What this means to me is that we may be creating world of more critical thinkers. I see the shift into technology as bringing on a positive change that is needed to be the new face of education. Another section that stood out to me is the "Searching for Information" section. I would aim to do as the chapter explained by having the students "searching for information, evaluating the worth of the information, and then organizing the information to make it more readily useable." Im pretty sure that this will require some trial and arror runs, on my and my students behalf.
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Evaluating Website Credibility

I learned about how to evaluate the credibility of a website through the "Meaningful Learning With Technology" text. Before reading I knew to look for when the site was updated as well any biases the site may express. However; before reading the text I never thought of looking for a bibliography, organization affiliations, or authority in the field. Also, some of the evaluating questions seemed to be the best tactics to ensure a reliable website. When looking at the "Save The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus" I think of the visual presentation to verify its credibility. At the top of the site the words are off centered and the presentation is not professional. Also, if you look into the question and answer section there is opinionated answers, the answers are not logical, and the site accepts donations then states that your money is not needed. There are a number of disconnections with the information given on this site, also questioning its credibility. The Martin Luther King sight starts off unprofessionally by referring to Dr.Martin Luther King as just "King". The color schemes make it hard to read some things, and some of the links are not related to the content of the site at all. The things written were not in poor grammar but it uses profanity which is not professional. There is no way of knowing who published the site or the last time it was updated; there is no bibliography nor is there a clear intended audience. The "Dog Island Free Forever" site starts off by having a link that is not related to the content; the site is about dogs and there is a link about weather and "cute kid of the year" on the first page. Next, while the audience IS clear,it is not realistic. The site invites the dogs themselves to sign up for an account and not the dog owner. Something that the site shows that tells me it is unreliable is the fact that they would ship the dogs in a closed in crate where the dogs cant breathe. I dont know how much more I would trust a site, that "cares about dogs", that ships dogs in crates that they cant breathe in. The DHMO website is a .org website but the first site shows signs of the forms of payment they accept so they may be more interested in getting your money than giving you information. The RYT Hospital site starts off with a disclaimer on their site which tells you that their information may not be reliable. There is no showing of who posted the information, the last time it was updated, and no other organization support the site or the information. After looking at these sites and the information they gave I hope to teach my students about this early enough so that they dont have to learn about the inaccurate information provided.
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