“Should Schools Regulate Offsite Online Behavior?”
By: Nancy E. Willard and Lynn Wietecha
This article discusses both sides of the question “Should Schools Regulate Offsite Online Behavior?” Nancy E. Willard thinks that schools should regulate online behavior. She rephrased the question to say “Should, or can, school officials respond to harmful student off-campus Internet postings?” She says that sometimes online postings are not harmful and parents and kids should resolve the situation, but sometimes it is a lot worse. Nancy says that their have been incidences where a girl in Japan killed a fellow student because she was angry about what had been posted. There have also been incidences where students have committed suicide because of cyber bullying. Her opinion on this subject is that schools are involved with this and should take action because it affects the school environment and the learning environment. She states ways to help fix this problem. Lynn Wietecha says that schools shouldn’t regulate this behavior. She says that schools should teach students about safety, but it isn’t reasonable to take this outside of the classroom. She feels that this issue is hard to regulate and would cause the teachers to have more responsibility then is reasonable. She uses the following example to show her reasoning. “However, although a teacher can stress the importance of looking both ways before crossing a street, it is not reasonable to expect that teacher to walk everywhere with each student and assist at all street crossings.” Both serve valid points.
Q: Which side do you agree with?
A: I agree with Lynn’s side. I think that it would be impossible to regulate every student’s online behavior. It is important to teach kids safety about this issue in school but it would be unreasonable to watch all outside activities.
Q: Is there any other way to regulate this?
A: I think that parents should be more informed of what is going on. There could be more information provided for parents so they can regulate this.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Monday, April 23, 2007
Journal #6
“Social Justice: Choice or Necessity”
By: Colleen Swain and David Edyburn
This article discusses the social implications of teachers choosing to use technology in the classroom or choosing not to use it. This article will show teachers the effects of their decisions to use technology in the classroom. The author states that “Access to instructional technology is not enough for today’s students. Students must be technologically fluent and able to use technology to solve problems with various sources of information, create new representations of their knowledge, and enhance their learning through the diverse strategies afforded by technology. Students without these skills are at a decided disadvantage in terms of future educational and employment opportunities in our global, technological, and information-based society.” This article goes on to discuss to jobs that students will obtain and how they will do so. The opportunities are endless and technology has increased those opportunities. More and more people are going to college, but if they aren’t familiar with technology they will be at a disadvantage. Locating powerful resources, making a framework for technology and understanding the framework will make this an easier process.
Q: How does technology affect college students?
A: Technology is a huge part of college courses. I would have a really hard time taking courses if I wasn’t familiar with technology. It is so important to know the basic and maybe a lot more depending on the class.
Q: What does Social Justice mean?
A: According to author David Miller, describes this be saying “Very crudely, I think, we are discussing how the good and bad things in life should be distributed among the members of a human society.”
By: Colleen Swain and David Edyburn
This article discusses the social implications of teachers choosing to use technology in the classroom or choosing not to use it. This article will show teachers the effects of their decisions to use technology in the classroom. The author states that “Access to instructional technology is not enough for today’s students. Students must be technologically fluent and able to use technology to solve problems with various sources of information, create new representations of their knowledge, and enhance their learning through the diverse strategies afforded by technology. Students without these skills are at a decided disadvantage in terms of future educational and employment opportunities in our global, technological, and information-based society.” This article goes on to discuss to jobs that students will obtain and how they will do so. The opportunities are endless and technology has increased those opportunities. More and more people are going to college, but if they aren’t familiar with technology they will be at a disadvantage. Locating powerful resources, making a framework for technology and understanding the framework will make this an easier process.
Q: How does technology affect college students?
A: Technology is a huge part of college courses. I would have a really hard time taking courses if I wasn’t familiar with technology. It is so important to know the basic and maybe a lot more depending on the class.
Q: What does Social Justice mean?
A: According to author David Miller, describes this be saying “Very crudely, I think, we are discussing how the good and bad things in life should be distributed among the members of a human society.”
Journal #8
“Virtual Schooling”
By: Niki Davis and Dale S. Niederhauser
This article discussed learning through technology. The Virtual Schooling involves grades K-12, and learning is almost done entirely with digital communication technologies. This has been done across the United States. More and more students are participating in web-based classes and distance education courses. Distance learning is defined as “a broad category that includes all forms of delivering education to students who are not physically “on site” to receive their education.” Another definition is Virtual classroom which “refers to the learning context that is established in online learning environments.” This article show different statistics of schools and students that are involved in Virtual Schooling and it discusses different States and how they are involved. This article also has a section that discusses virtual schooling systems and how to use them in classrooms. They provide a visual chart that shows the interaction between students and teachers and the class and school. This is a helpful way to completely understand an effective process. This article mentions WebCT as a online learning tool. There are so many great resources for education on the web.
Q: What does Virtual Schooling mean?
A: The definition is “all of the elements associated with learning in an online environment. The virtual classroom provides the context for learning, and online teachers and students act as participants.”
Q: Is this an effective learning tool?
A: I think it is. The web is so helpful and I think it is a great resource for learning. There are so many great sites for education.
By: Niki Davis and Dale S. Niederhauser
This article discussed learning through technology. The Virtual Schooling involves grades K-12, and learning is almost done entirely with digital communication technologies. This has been done across the United States. More and more students are participating in web-based classes and distance education courses. Distance learning is defined as “a broad category that includes all forms of delivering education to students who are not physically “on site” to receive their education.” Another definition is Virtual classroom which “refers to the learning context that is established in online learning environments.” This article show different statistics of schools and students that are involved in Virtual Schooling and it discusses different States and how they are involved. This article also has a section that discusses virtual schooling systems and how to use them in classrooms. They provide a visual chart that shows the interaction between students and teachers and the class and school. This is a helpful way to completely understand an effective process. This article mentions WebCT as a online learning tool. There are so many great resources for education on the web.
Q: What does Virtual Schooling mean?
A: The definition is “all of the elements associated with learning in an online environment. The virtual classroom provides the context for learning, and online teachers and students act as participants.”
Q: Is this an effective learning tool?
A: I think it is. The web is so helpful and I think it is a great resource for learning. There are so many great sites for education.
Journal #9
“Four Steps to Standard Integration.”
By: Vanessa Domine
This article discusses four steps to integrating technology into the classroom. The author writes about how important this is and tries to make an easier way to put technology in the classrooms. Here are the four steps and the subject each one deals with. The first says to take inventory. She says for teachers to look at the resources available at their school that involve technology such as media programs, computers, etc. She also says that “Equally valuable [are] instructional technologies [such as] manipulative, books, TVs, VCRs, overhead projectors, microphones, cameras, and audio recorders.” Once the available resources have been found the teacher can focus on the curriculum content. The teacher may need to learn how to use some of the technology, but he or she should focus on the content for step 2. This next step states to establish a curriculum goal. A goal statement will help to simplify this process. Some examples of a goal for curriculum content would be to “enhance students reading skills, develop students’ understanding of physics.” The next step is to identify teaching strategies. Some examples would be “lecture, demonstration, large/small group discussion, collaboration, team-teaching, tutoring, hands-on practice, individual study, listening, brainstorming, question-and-answer, research, or media production.” This helps to get one organized and prepared to teach. The last step is to solve equation(s). The author uses this last step to finish the process. She says that you should lay out the three previous steps and develop a Technology Integration Matrix, which is explained in the table provided in the article. This is a great way to integrate diversity with technology in the classroom.
Q: How does this relate to diversity?
A: This is a way to make the learning environment and curriculum diverse. It can also help to teach all kids this topic.
Q: Which step seems to be the most important?
A: Step 4 seems to be the most important because this helps to bring all the steps together.
By: Vanessa Domine
This article discusses four steps to integrating technology into the classroom. The author writes about how important this is and tries to make an easier way to put technology in the classrooms. Here are the four steps and the subject each one deals with. The first says to take inventory. She says for teachers to look at the resources available at their school that involve technology such as media programs, computers, etc. She also says that “Equally valuable [are] instructional technologies [such as] manipulative, books, TVs, VCRs, overhead projectors, microphones, cameras, and audio recorders.” Once the available resources have been found the teacher can focus on the curriculum content. The teacher may need to learn how to use some of the technology, but he or she should focus on the content for step 2. This next step states to establish a curriculum goal. A goal statement will help to simplify this process. Some examples of a goal for curriculum content would be to “enhance students reading skills, develop students’ understanding of physics.” The next step is to identify teaching strategies. Some examples would be “lecture, demonstration, large/small group discussion, collaboration, team-teaching, tutoring, hands-on practice, individual study, listening, brainstorming, question-and-answer, research, or media production.” This helps to get one organized and prepared to teach. The last step is to solve equation(s). The author uses this last step to finish the process. She says that you should lay out the three previous steps and develop a Technology Integration Matrix, which is explained in the table provided in the article. This is a great way to integrate diversity with technology in the classroom.
Q: How does this relate to diversity?
A: This is a way to make the learning environment and curriculum diverse. It can also help to teach all kids this topic.
Q: Which step seems to be the most important?
A: Step 4 seems to be the most important because this helps to bring all the steps together.
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Journal #4
“Toy to Tool: Audioblogging with Cell Phones”
By: Liz Kolb
This article discusses how cell phones can be a learning tool instead of a toy or interference to the learning environment. Cell phones are considered a bad thing to most educators. Teachers feel that cell phones could be used to cheat on tests or to use during class time to interrupt the class. Liz Kolb felt that way until she looked at how important communication is for students and how they use cell phones to interact with the world around them. According to Kolb “with the new audio input feature of many Weblog sites such as blogger.com and blogzy.com, students can use their cell phones to create blogs, collect and store data, and develop multimedia projects.”
Audioblogging can be used all the time and can be a fun way to learn. Kolb discusses how this can be done and what an Audioblog actually is. She says that cell phones can be used as a portable interviewing device instead of using a microphone or recorder. This can be used for many activities inside and outside of the classroom. The students can save all of their information and recording on their blog. Sites such as blogger.com are great for having students create a blog. They can put videos and other resources on there.
Questions:
Q: Should students be allowed to bring cell phones to class all of the time?
A: I think students should bring their phones only when they are being used for an assignment. Kolb states that there should be boundaries for this. Students should only bring phone when teacher says to.
Q: What grade level should these ideas be used for?
A: I think that Audioblogging would be for 4th or 5th graders and possible not until middle school. This will take a lot of boundaries and skills with technology and older students will have an easier time with this.
By: Liz Kolb
This article discusses how cell phones can be a learning tool instead of a toy or interference to the learning environment. Cell phones are considered a bad thing to most educators. Teachers feel that cell phones could be used to cheat on tests or to use during class time to interrupt the class. Liz Kolb felt that way until she looked at how important communication is for students and how they use cell phones to interact with the world around them. According to Kolb “with the new audio input feature of many Weblog sites such as blogger.com and blogzy.com, students can use their cell phones to create blogs, collect and store data, and develop multimedia projects.”
Audioblogging can be used all the time and can be a fun way to learn. Kolb discusses how this can be done and what an Audioblog actually is. She says that cell phones can be used as a portable interviewing device instead of using a microphone or recorder. This can be used for many activities inside and outside of the classroom. The students can save all of their information and recording on their blog. Sites such as blogger.com are great for having students create a blog. They can put videos and other resources on there.
Questions:
Q: Should students be allowed to bring cell phones to class all of the time?
A: I think students should bring their phones only when they are being used for an assignment. Kolb states that there should be boundaries for this. Students should only bring phone when teacher says to.
Q: What grade level should these ideas be used for?
A: I think that Audioblogging would be for 4th or 5th graders and possible not until middle school. This will take a lot of boundaries and skills with technology and older students will have an easier time with this.
Journal #3
“Video in the Age of Participation”
By: Glen Bull
This article discusses way to use digital video in classrooms. The Internet has a lot of digital videos that stream across it daily. Sites such as UTube have become very popular and well known. Teachers have used videos in classrooms for quite some time now but it has always been difficult to view a certain part or make it right for certain lessons. Technology has advanced and it has made this process a lot easier. Teachers can use the Internet to stream videos that are very clear and fairly easy to use. National Geographic has videos of animals in Africa so kids can see how they live in the wild. The videos are so clear that they feel like you are actually there. “Pete’s Pond” is a site on UTube that shows live animal footage. These videos are great for students to learn about wildlife and how they are in the wild.
There aren’t really any standards set on how to incorporate digital video into the classroom so it is up to the teachers to figure out what videos are educational and productive. The Discovery Education site helps with this by connecting videos to lesson plans. Different sites and web services are working on this new technology. In the future there will be easier ways to incorporate videos, but for now it is up to the teachers to use this great educational tool.
Questions:
Q: Should students be allowed to look at all types of videos on the Internet during school time?
A: I think that students should be given specific sites that they can look at and others should possible be blocked. There are a lot of videos on the Internet that aren’t appropriate for children.
Q: Are videos a helpful tool on all subjects such as math and social studies?
A: I think that videos can be used for all subjects. There are so many different topics of movies that can be found. Kids like visuals to look at when learning and they like to watch movies, so this is a great way to learn.
By: Glen Bull
This article discusses way to use digital video in classrooms. The Internet has a lot of digital videos that stream across it daily. Sites such as UTube have become very popular and well known. Teachers have used videos in classrooms for quite some time now but it has always been difficult to view a certain part or make it right for certain lessons. Technology has advanced and it has made this process a lot easier. Teachers can use the Internet to stream videos that are very clear and fairly easy to use. National Geographic has videos of animals in Africa so kids can see how they live in the wild. The videos are so clear that they feel like you are actually there. “Pete’s Pond” is a site on UTube that shows live animal footage. These videos are great for students to learn about wildlife and how they are in the wild.
There aren’t really any standards set on how to incorporate digital video into the classroom so it is up to the teachers to figure out what videos are educational and productive. The Discovery Education site helps with this by connecting videos to lesson plans. Different sites and web services are working on this new technology. In the future there will be easier ways to incorporate videos, but for now it is up to the teachers to use this great educational tool.
Questions:
Q: Should students be allowed to look at all types of videos on the Internet during school time?
A: I think that students should be given specific sites that they can look at and others should possible be blocked. There are a lot of videos on the Internet that aren’t appropriate for children.
Q: Are videos a helpful tool on all subjects such as math and social studies?
A: I think that videos can be used for all subjects. There are so many different topics of movies that can be found. Kids like visuals to look at when learning and they like to watch movies, so this is a great way to learn.
Monday, March 5, 2007
Journal #2
“Breathing Fire into Web 2.0”
By: Justin Hardman and David Carpenter
This article discusses how technology is advancing and how students are becoming more and more comfortable and educated on different technology systems. The school is behind with new technology and it isn’t at the same level as the students. This article talks about ways to increase the amount of technology used in the classrooms and how it can be incorporated into lessons more. They listed ways that teachers are using technology and they also discussed what needs to be done to make it better. According to Hardman and Carpenter, “The next logical step would seem to be the creation of an all-in-one, online communication and collaboration system for schools that leverages the best of what Web 2.0 offers” (Pg 1). Places such as Hong Kong have already created this all-in-one online communication system. This system uses online communication such as email, calendar for assignments, contacts and resources. Hardman and Carpenter say that there is three things that teachers need to do to develop this vision. They need to enhance communication and collaboration for themselves and for students to support activities that they work together on. They also need to provide curriculum mapping and serve as an online portfolio management system to support student and teacher interaction.
Questions:
Q: How important is it to increase technology usage in the classroom?
A: I think it is very important. As technology advances, students need to be up to date with the new systems and applications so they can be successful later on in life. If they learn it at an early age they will have an easier time using it later on.
Q: Should technology be used for everything in the classroom?
A: I think that technology should be used a lot but not is every part of the classroom. Just students should complete some parts. They should use their minds and imaginations.
By: Justin Hardman and David Carpenter
This article discusses how technology is advancing and how students are becoming more and more comfortable and educated on different technology systems. The school is behind with new technology and it isn’t at the same level as the students. This article talks about ways to increase the amount of technology used in the classrooms and how it can be incorporated into lessons more. They listed ways that teachers are using technology and they also discussed what needs to be done to make it better. According to Hardman and Carpenter, “The next logical step would seem to be the creation of an all-in-one, online communication and collaboration system for schools that leverages the best of what Web 2.0 offers” (Pg 1). Places such as Hong Kong have already created this all-in-one online communication system. This system uses online communication such as email, calendar for assignments, contacts and resources. Hardman and Carpenter say that there is three things that teachers need to do to develop this vision. They need to enhance communication and collaboration for themselves and for students to support activities that they work together on. They also need to provide curriculum mapping and serve as an online portfolio management system to support student and teacher interaction.
Questions:
Q: How important is it to increase technology usage in the classroom?
A: I think it is very important. As technology advances, students need to be up to date with the new systems and applications so they can be successful later on in life. If they learn it at an early age they will have an easier time using it later on.
Q: Should technology be used for everything in the classroom?
A: I think that technology should be used a lot but not is every part of the classroom. Just students should complete some parts. They should use their minds and imaginations.
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