Thoughts on technology

Its amazing at how far technology has come since I was in school. I have only been out of high school for 13 years but technology has changed so much. From cell phones to internet to video games, technology is no where near where it used to be. I feel like my parents telling me about how they had TV in black and white and thinking that was so "old school".
We didn't have cell phones when I was in school. I felt special when my parents got me my own phone line so I didn't have to use the phone in the kitchen with the long cord that could stretch half-way down the length of the house. And then a few months later caller ID became available. Cell phones were very expensive so only a few people had them. My friend Melissa had a pager in 1998 when we were in college and I remember thinking how cool she was, but no one my age owned a cell phone, those were mostly owned by professional adults. Now days most high school kids have cell phones, and many middle school kids also do. I have become so reliant on this technology. I can't leave my house without my cell phone.
Another technology we didn't have is texting. If we wanted to communicate we wrote notes in class and gave them to our friends or boyfriends in between classes. Now days people are texting and using all kinds of acronyms and other lingo that I cant even keep up with. This convenient technology has made people become so dependent on instant communication between another individual.
When I was in school, Internet was new and only a few people I knew actually had it on their home computers . We did not have it at home. In fact, we did not own a computer. If I needed to type a report I used an electric typewriter or went to my friend's house to use her computer. Internet at that time was something you paid for by how much you used it. And it was very slow. I remember feeling special when I got married in 1999 and my husband and I had the internet on our computer, AOL dial-up. Most students today have the privilege of having their own computers, printers and internet access at home.
If I needed information for a report the only option was to go to the library and look for the information in books. I didnt have the luxury of being able to look up anything I wanted from the convenience of my own home computer. Now, my answer to everything is "Let's google it". When my kids want to know about something that happened in history, or how something works we are fortunate to be able to go right to our computer and find the answer in a matter of seconds. Students today have an easier time researching with the Internet right at their fingertips.
Students today are so very fortunate to grow up with all the great technology available. I am excited to be able to learn about all the new technology out there and share it with my students. Technology is always changing, and I am looking forward to seeing how much technology changes in the next 13 years.

Plagairism and Copyright

This week in class we learned about plagiarism and copyright, what you can and can't use, and the limitations. I was surprised at a lot of the information I read! I think I have done a lot of unintentional plagiarism throughout my life. I want to make sure that my students know of the limitations set on different mediums. Also, they should know how to credit each source properly so that they are not being accused of plagiarism.

Class Jump

I recently met up with an old friend who is a high school English teacher. We got to talking about using technology in the classroom and she informed me of a great website she uses called ClassJump. ClassJump is a place where teachers can create a website for free. It is very simple to set up and use. One advantage of this site is that teachers can manage multiple classes on one site. ClassJump allows teachers to:

• post homework
• upload documents to share with the class
• post an upcoming event to their calendar
• post articles of interest and links to resources
• receive documents uploaded by students
• start a class message board
• create photo albums

One thing I like about ClassJump is that teachers can join groups of teachers with similar curriculums. There, the teachers can share ideas and resources with each other.

I also like the idea of being able to post pictures. I think this would be a fun way to showcase previous class projects or activities.

While I was browsing through the site I was amazed at how many schools use ClassJump. I even discovered that my old high school uses ClassJump. I was able to browse through each teacher's web page and see how each utilized their site.

ClassJump is an amazing tool for teachers. It is easy to see how useful it is for both teachers and students. I will use this once I am a teacher.

Powerpoint and Google Docs Presentation

I recently learned how to use PowerPoint in my Educational Technology class. This is a great program that I can see myself using as a different way to display information to my students. I love all of the features of PowerPoint. I like that you can use different animations on each slide. You can also place pictures or videos or sound bites on the slides. There are so many possibilities with PowerPoint. I think that teachers could keep their students more engaged with using a PowerPoint presentation over just using a overhead projector to display transparencies, or simply reading the information out of a text book.
I also learned how to design a presentation in Google Docs. The nice thing about Google Docs is that you can upload your exsiting PowerPoint or create a new presentation. You can then invite anyone you want to view (or even edit if you wish) your side show. While I like the idea of having my presentation online for anyone I want to view, I prefer PowerPoint over using Google Docs. One reason is because Google Docs does not let you link pages within your presentation, making it a lot easier to navigate within a slide show. I also Like all the different formatting options available in PowerPoint.
Creating presentations in both PowerPoint and in Google Docs was a lot of fun. I learned so much that I did not know. I am very excited to be able to use presentations in the future in my classroom.

WebQuests

Last week we learned how to create a WebQuest. A WebQuest is a learning activity where the students find most or all of their information by using the internet. I learned so much creating my WebQuest. I think this is a great learning tool for the students to find information somewhere other than their textbook. WebQuests offer a different, more dynamic approach to teaching the value of research. The World Wide Web has so much useful information available to students that can be found easily and quickly, making it ideal for students to use it for their research. I really enjoyed creating my WebQuest and looking for great websites for the students to use for their research. I am definitelty going to use WebQuests in my classroom.

My thoughts on class so far

I have learned so much from this class already. I never thought about using a blog in the classroom until I read the article, Digital Discussion: Take Your Class to the Internet. What a great idea! Now I have many ideas for using a blog in my classroom. I have also learned so much about the features of Microsoft Word. I really enjoyed the last project, the back to school brochure. I felt that I did a really good job of making the brochure, and I was proud of the end result. I could see myself using it for my own classroom. I am really excited to find out what else is in store for this class.