1 to 1 Supports Transformation of Maine Classrooms
There is no doubt that a 1 to 1 ration of computers would give students more access to information. It's kind of like getting a new toy on Christmas morning. You're handed a lap top and told this is what you will be working on. Kids see it as a "new toy" and are much more enthusiastic to do school work.
I was very glad they talked about teacher training on how to use the new technology. There aren't very many places who take that into consideration.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Day 10 Readings
Evaluating Websites
A very important topic, that unless you have learned how to do, can be very difficult. The articles I read gave some very good points on whether or not to trust an website.
First, look at the author. Is it someone you have heard of? Is the author a leader in his field? Did you link to the new site from a site you trust? Is the site a point of view or actual information? Can you verify the details? When was the last time the site was updated? How current are the links?
Don't assume everything on the Internet is trustworthy, anyone can post whether the information is correct or not.
A very important topic, that unless you have learned how to do, can be very difficult. The articles I read gave some very good points on whether or not to trust an website.
First, look at the author. Is it someone you have heard of? Is the author a leader in his field? Did you link to the new site from a site you trust? Is the site a point of view or actual information? Can you verify the details? When was the last time the site was updated? How current are the links?
Don't assume everything on the Internet is trustworthy, anyone can post whether the information is correct or not.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Day 9 Readings
A Collaborative Intergenerational Project
This was one of the topics we discussed today in class about how to conquer the digital divide. I thought it was great of the grade school students to volunteer to help older students who live in a nursing home how to use the computer. They younger students were polite and tried to get to know the person they were working with. The different topics the seniors wanted to search was very interesting. I don't think one of my top items would be how to purchase movie tickets!
Building a School Website
Easy, step by step directions on how to build a website. She even goes into html!
Making a School Website
This is also step by step directions. It also gives you helpful hints every step of the way. Things such as
This was one of the topics we discussed today in class about how to conquer the digital divide. I thought it was great of the grade school students to volunteer to help older students who live in a nursing home how to use the computer. They younger students were polite and tried to get to know the person they were working with. The different topics the seniors wanted to search was very interesting. I don't think one of my top items would be how to purchase movie tickets!
Building a School Website
Easy, step by step directions on how to build a website. She even goes into html!
Making a School Website
This is also step by step directions. It also gives you helpful hints every step of the way. Things such as
- For your first website, keep it simple.
- Make sure you gather all information and then plan your pages.
- This will be a very time consuming project in the beginning, but won't take a lot of work to maintain.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Day 8 Readings
Recent Reports on the Digital Divide
I teach at a low income school where Hispanics make up 60% of the schools population, and I can relate to this article. All parents have the opportunity to receive a user id and password to log into the Internet and view their child's grades. The parents do have to physically go to the school to pick up the log in information, but they don't do it. I know that sometimes it is difficult to get away during school hours, but special hours are setup to accommodate these parents. Still these parents do not pick up the information, they wait until progress reports go home to see how their child is progressing in school. To me, this situation supports the articles written. They might not have a computer to view their child's grades or maybe they don't know how to use it and are to proud to ask their son or daughter to show them how. Hopefully, by getting to the children at a young age, they will see the importance of knowing how to use technology and eventually all homes will have a computer with Internet access.
I teach at a low income school where Hispanics make up 60% of the schools population, and I can relate to this article. All parents have the opportunity to receive a user id and password to log into the Internet and view their child's grades. The parents do have to physically go to the school to pick up the log in information, but they don't do it. I know that sometimes it is difficult to get away during school hours, but special hours are setup to accommodate these parents. Still these parents do not pick up the information, they wait until progress reports go home to see how their child is progressing in school. To me, this situation supports the articles written. They might not have a computer to view their child's grades or maybe they don't know how to use it and are to proud to ask their son or daughter to show them how. Hopefully, by getting to the children at a young age, they will see the importance of knowing how to use technology and eventually all homes will have a computer with Internet access.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Day 7 Readings
Fact or Folly: Authenticating Online Information
This is a topic I hadn't really thought about before this class. Of course if someone posted it to the internet it was correct and trustworthy. Could I be more gullible? I've always believed if you're going to take the time to post something people can search for and get information from, you want to do the best work possible. Since this is not the case with everyone, the article does give you some key questions to ask yourself when wondering if the site is correct.
Who is the source?
What am I getting?
When was it created?
Where am I?
Why am I there?
How can I distinguish quality information from junk?
If we always ask the above questions maybe we will be able to discard untrustworthy sites and get the correct information.
This is a topic I hadn't really thought about before this class. Of course if someone posted it to the internet it was correct and trustworthy. Could I be more gullible? I've always believed if you're going to take the time to post something people can search for and get information from, you want to do the best work possible. Since this is not the case with everyone, the article does give you some key questions to ask yourself when wondering if the site is correct.
Who is the source?
What am I getting?
When was it created?
Where am I?
Why am I there?
How can I distinguish quality information from junk?
If we always ask the above questions maybe we will be able to discard untrustworthy sites and get the correct information.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Day 6 Readings
To Filter or Not to Filter: The Role of Public Librarians in Determining Internet Access
Freedom of speech is a very important topic, but is it more important than the safety of our children? In my opinion libraries should attempt some sort of filtering. We filter the Internet in schools to protect children, why should it be any different at a public library? The filtering software can't catch everything, but at least the information would not be as readily available to our children.
The second option of filtering certain computers and not others; having a bar code determine if you are allowed to be on an unfiltered computer; or even privacy screens will not keep students from the information. If librarians have to monitor Internet use, what happens when they get busy, or just decide it's too much work to monitor everyone?
Freedom of speech is a very important topic, but is it more important than the safety of our children? In my opinion libraries should attempt some sort of filtering. We filter the Internet in schools to protect children, why should it be any different at a public library? The filtering software can't catch everything, but at least the information would not be as readily available to our children.
The second option of filtering certain computers and not others; having a bar code determine if you are allowed to be on an unfiltered computer; or even privacy screens will not keep students from the information. If librarians have to monitor Internet use, what happens when they get busy, or just decide it's too much work to monitor everyone?
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Day 5 Readings
Broad and Deep: Creating Change Through Technology
Technology definitely needs to be more encompassed in the classroom. It not only can help the students grow, but the teachers grow. The only problem I have, is training on how to use the technology. So often at my school, some of the teachers will talk about a piece of technology they were trained on, didn't end up liking it, so they didn't use it. After 1-2 years, the district does not offer trainings, so new teachers are not aware the technology exists. Take for example Smartboards. Smartboards were installed in some classes in our school. The 1st year we were all trained on how to use them. The second year, trainings were offered. By the third year the new teachers were not trained on how to use them and therefor, felt they did not have to participate in creating curriculum. Instead of information being passed onto everyone, select few are depended upon to disseminate the information. If those select few do not agree with the new direction, the line of communication ends along with the new technology.
Start with a Pyramid
The real world projects in this article are so exciting! To be able to have your class work on a hand's on real world problem would be great. The kids seem to really enjoy it and they put into effect everything they've learned in several subjects. Now that I know a little more about searching on the Internet and know it won't take me 2 weeks to sift through all the hits to find a class project, it will make it a lot easier for a less creative teacher to find information.
Technology definitely needs to be more encompassed in the classroom. It not only can help the students grow, but the teachers grow. The only problem I have, is training on how to use the technology. So often at my school, some of the teachers will talk about a piece of technology they were trained on, didn't end up liking it, so they didn't use it. After 1-2 years, the district does not offer trainings, so new teachers are not aware the technology exists. Take for example Smartboards. Smartboards were installed in some classes in our school. The 1st year we were all trained on how to use them. The second year, trainings were offered. By the third year the new teachers were not trained on how to use them and therefor, felt they did not have to participate in creating curriculum. Instead of information being passed onto everyone, select few are depended upon to disseminate the information. If those select few do not agree with the new direction, the line of communication ends along with the new technology.
Start with a Pyramid
The real world projects in this article are so exciting! To be able to have your class work on a hand's on real world problem would be great. The kids seem to really enjoy it and they put into effect everything they've learned in several subjects. Now that I know a little more about searching on the Internet and know it won't take me 2 weeks to sift through all the hits to find a class project, it will make it a lot easier for a less creative teacher to find information.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Day 4 Readings
A Checklist for Evaluating Web Quests
This article is not only a checklist for evaluating, but also a checklist on what you need in a web quest. First, the teacher needs to decide on what type of web quest they are going to have the students do; a short term project or a long term project. Would you like the assignment to last 3-4 class periods or 3-4 weeks? Once you have made this decision you can focus on the type of project the students will be completing.
A few of the requirements I feel need to be included are below:
This article is not only a checklist for evaluating, but also a checklist on what you need in a web quest. First, the teacher needs to decide on what type of web quest they are going to have the students do; a short term project or a long term project. Would you like the assignment to last 3-4 class periods or 3-4 weeks? Once you have made this decision you can focus on the type of project the students will be completing.
A few of the requirements I feel need to be included are below:
- Allow for collaborative tasks and for individual work.
- Provide a variety of activities to accommodate different learning styles.
- Give clear directions.
- Technology must be used in the final project.
In teaching freshman math, I don't have many opportunities to have the students work together on projects. This will allow them to use reasoning skills to prove an outcome, instead of just following the steps to the correct answer.
Copyright 101 for Educators
The underlying meaning of this article is copyright is a VERY complex issue. To be on the safe side always get written permission before copying anything from the Internet or any other publication. If you can't get written permission, original create all material yourself! A lot of students are not taught the difference between right and wrong at home, so the only place they are going to be held accountable is in the classroom. We need to be role models in every aspect of life.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Day 3 Readings
Searching the Internet Effectively
I always thought you logged on to the Internet, did a key word search and then went through the THOUSANDS of sites to find what you needed. I couldn't understand why people loved the Internet so much, it seemed like a lot more work than going to the library and looking up what I needed. Well, since I was searching so poorly, it was faster for me to drive to the library and look up information. I never realized there was a difference between a search engine and a directory. Now that I do watch out!
I now know that you want to use a search engine (Google.com) when you have clearly defined terms and a directory (Yahoo.com) when it's hard to define your search in a few key terms. I also understand that there are advance searches to help you filter through all those unwanted sites to shorten your research time.
The only thing that is still a little puzzling to me, is whether or not the information is correct and trustworthy. Why would someone want to deliberately put out false information? At least now, I know to verify the information before using it somewhere else.
I always thought you logged on to the Internet, did a key word search and then went through the THOUSANDS of sites to find what you needed. I couldn't understand why people loved the Internet so much, it seemed like a lot more work than going to the library and looking up what I needed. Well, since I was searching so poorly, it was faster for me to drive to the library and look up information. I never realized there was a difference between a search engine and a directory. Now that I do watch out!
I now know that you want to use a search engine (Google.com) when you have clearly defined terms and a directory (Yahoo.com) when it's hard to define your search in a few key terms. I also understand that there are advance searches to help you filter through all those unwanted sites to shorten your research time.
The only thing that is still a little puzzling to me, is whether or not the information is correct and trustworthy. Why would someone want to deliberately put out false information? At least now, I know to verify the information before using it somewhere else.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Day 2 Readings
The first article "An Internet Primer for Teachers" was great in explaining different ways to search on the web and also the need in making sure students stay within the "G" rated material on the internet. Several of the tips they gave are basic steps that everyone should know, but when you grow up before the "internet world" existed it becomes a learn as you go process. The second article "The World at Your Fingertips" addressed that very issue. Kids today know how to use all technology. I don't think it's all taught, as much as kids aren't afraid to try anything and adults are afraid of making mistakes. The internet is a great tool for research, notes and even homework assignments, but if the teacher is not trained on how to use it, how can they expect us to teach the kids how to use it? I understand that training means cost, but isn't the cost worthwhile in the long run?
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