Students Love Technology

After reading both of these articles, I'm not sure my position on technology in the classroom changed much. I've always felt that technology is an important aspect of any classroom and a great tool to capture the attention and therefore the minds of our students. As Christine Greenhow points out, "using computers was the one activity that all ethnicities...liked best in school" (Greenhow, 2008, p. 17). The fondness by students towards lessons rich in technology has been proven and must be used to help students enrich their educational careers. Any technology found in my future classroom I plan on utilizing for instructional purposes, as this has been shown to be most effective way of reaching students. I understand that economic conditions keep many people from owning computers and I intend to create assignments that are not dependent on outside technology (such as computers). If they are dependent on technology then I will make time in class to complete such assignments. None of my students will be punished for not owning a computer. I would like to assess all of my students during the first couple of days to get an idea how accessible computers are outside of school and use this information to help build assignments that wont put any of my students at a disadvantage.

The Future of Cell Phones

It' s hard for me to listen to Josh Allen's argument against cell phones in the classroom, when he completely dismisses the idea of children with Blackberrys. When I checked the publication date it made since it was written in 2007. Seeing how it is now 2009 and two years is a lot of time in the tech world, many things have obviously changed because more kids have Blackberrys and iPhones than adults it seems (at least the adults I socialize with). These days new cell phones act like laptop computers that fit in your pants pocket. Too be honest I actually quit reading Allen's article due to his lack of foresight. We all know that computers and phones are outdated within months of being released, so why wouldn't phones continue to evolve into minicomputers. We wouldn't ask our students to stop using their computer would we? Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating the use of phones in classroom for social communication, but rather what Liz Kolb describes as the ideal purposes of cell phones in school, "Cell phones can be audio recorders, digital video camcorders, still cameras, note-taking devices, calculation devices, scheduling and man- agement tools, phone conferencing devices, Internet researching tools, faxing and scanning devices, blog and Web page editors, or even audio assessment recorders" (Kolb, 2007, p. 9). The amount of uses and applications that phones have coupled with their small size and availability make them an ideal tool in a classroom. I don't think that I am quite ready to start creating cell phone based projects but that time isn't too far away. Give those that are behind the technology curve time to catch up (such as myself) and as phones continue to become more capable, it will be possible to turn the normal classroom into a computer lab just by asking our students to pull out their cell phones. *My phone policy will be strict in that they will only be allowed when prompted and will be taken away if they ring or cause a distraction.

The Most Efficient Way to Speak English

Before I read the articles on chatspeak I had already made up my mind. Just like Greg Monfils' argument, the first thing I thought about regarding this topic was how students are taught spanish without concern that their grasp on the english language will suffer. Monfils makes a great point that you can despise chatspeak while still understanding that it is an important aspect of your students' daily lives. No one will be able to successfully crusade against chatspeak and remove it from the dialect of students; the best we can hope for is to accept it and move on. As teachers I think it is important to recognize this type of conversational/casual language but we cannot allow it on classroom assignments (unless the assignment calls for it). By having this precedent, students will understand where and when it is appropriate to use chatspeak (mainly with friends outside of class). As a teen and still to this day, I try to control my use of vulgar language around my parents and my efforts have been mostly successful (with the occasional slip up). With written language such as chatspeak, I think students are more in control of what they write and can easily recognize what type of language is acceptable depending on the setting. Another great point that Monfils makes is that "we’ve standardized grammar, spelling, and so on since Chaucer, but kids live to challenge standards" (Monfils, 2007, p.9). In order for kids to challange standards, like Monfils is proposing, they must have some idea what those standards are and I think they do. He also brings up the point that students may be motivated by rebellion and the desire to separate themselves from older generations, and I couldn't agree with him more. As a youngster I can still remember the use of pig latin to speak in code or a secret alphabet to send coded letters. Neither of these activities seemed to have any impact on my scholastic work, yet alone writing assignments. Let kids be kids and enjoy a language that they are helping to develop. It is our job to let students be creative, at the same time we should teach them that chatspeak isnt always the best form of communication (esspecially at school and work). To the h8ers of chatspeak all I can say is ocusfay onway away iggerbay oblempray (focus on a bigger problem).

Boring Lessons Cause Distractions, Not Technology

With or without technology in the classrooms, students are going to have short attention spans. For most students, even those interested in the lesson, it is easy think of ten things that they would rather be doing than sitting in an uncomfortable chair in a classroom. This desire to be doing something other than school work is what drives the short attention spans, not the increase in technology. Technology does make it capable for students to become instantly distracted, but that is only due to the large amount of information that is just a click away. The bigger problem is teachers who do not understand the distractors in a student's life and how to use those distractors in an educational way. Using cell phones, video games, or iPods to teach or aide instruction are some examples of technology that might otherwise have been prohibited (at least in the past) but are now being promoted in schools for their educational value. With these and other technological tools "students are given the freedom, creativity, and ability to problem solve while using that technology on a daily basis" (David Son, 2008, p. 9). How can you argue with technology that allows students to expand their creativity, exercise thier freedom, and teach valuable problem solving skills that will be so valuable throughout their lives?

I have a gut feeling (just an uneducated opinion) that makes me weary of completely going away with anything tangible and replacing it with digital representations. My biggest source of concern has to do with writting and using our hands to assist education. Tangible learners use many body movements to aid in retention and it is my thought that this ability is reduced when solely using computers. Also, there is an artistic element to handwriting and I think there has been a general decline in asthetic quality and legibility throughout our society due to word processing capabilities on most computers. My hesitation to completly switch to all digital may go against my digital native upbringing, but I think a well rounded classroom is one in which many forms of technology are used, not just the lastest and greatest (i.e. pencils and paper used to take notes on a PowerPoint presentation).

References:
David Son, J (2008). Is Educational Technology Shortening Student Attention Spans. International Society for Technology in Education, Retrieved July 27, 2009, from http://webct.cu-portland.edu/webct/urw/lc9140001.tp0/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct?JSESSIONID=q9HhKzJQzN3XphgGCS5TTMKsLnCmVVpTx9tFZTnS3VF51MrNRXRN!-544224791!newwebct.cu-portland.edu!80!443

PowerPoint Blog

Congrats to our section of EDU 532 on some awesome PowerPoint presentations!! Having to present on something other than ourselves was much more creative and stimulating of an activity, and something I don't think the other section could handle. The designs and slide layout on all of our presentations made them easy to read and the images were very captivating. Even though we only had a short amount of time, the presentations remained informative and should translate easily into our own classroom one day.

My favorite item from today's presentation was the use of animated text during Ben's presentation. He had letters that looked and sounded as if they were being made by a typewriter, giving his presentation on Theodore Roosevelt an antiquated feel (even with the use of digital media). This is one feature I plan on investigating and hope to master like Ben has.

I think the greatest area of improvement is to improve on timing. This project was difficult because the 5 minute time limit was not enough to go through 8 - 10 slides. I know that during my presentation, I spent too much introducing the topic and ran out of time before I could get to the end. It seemed like other people had similar problems of timing, maybe not during the intro like me, but at other points too much time was allocated for a certain slide, forcing other students to rush through portions of their PPT.

The source of improvement for my next presentation is in becoming more comfortable with PowerPoint. The reorganization and addition of many tools on the newest version of PowerPoint has taken me some time to get used to and I know I must invest much more time to be as comfortable as I used to be. I had a problem saving the file, and ended up losing much of my formatting and images but this was my fault and something caused by rushing. As someone who owns a Mac I made most of my presentation from home, but ran into a few compatibility issues when I came to school to make additions (no major problems arose, just extra time wasted and headaches created).

I think PowerPoint presentations are an effective way to give a lecture or any other time when you are combining a lecture and media (or just looking to spice up a lecture by adding video or images). One of the major pros of using PowerPoint are that you can quickly create a visual aide/supplement to any presentation, making it more stimulating and engaging for all in attendance. One major con with PowerPoint is the tendency to add detail and images until all empty space is filled, making the visual presentation cluttered and distracting the viewers from the main message of the presentation.

Copyright Law

In my copyright blog I will be answering the following questions:
What are some new things you learned about copyright that you hadn’t known before?
Do you believe that copyright laws are fair as they are currently written? What specifically do you believe to be fair/unfair?
Tell me what you must do to make sure whatever you are using in your classroom will fall under Fair Use protection.
How will you enforce copyright within your own classroom with your students?

What I learned from this assignment is where to look for guidelines on copyright laws. I was surprised by how intricate and therefore confusing copyright laws are, so knowing where to find answers on fair use questions is extremely important to avoid copyright infringement. The copyright laws seem fair but at the same time they are very strict. It would be nice if some of the restrictions were reduced if the copyright protected piece is used for educational purposes and not for profit by someone other than the creator. To make sure I don't violate any copyright laws I will turn to online resources (sites like what you provided in class) that outline the rules. Knowing where to find the answers is as good as knowing the answers, so keeping a list or bookmarking internet sites that outline the regulations will be extremely advantageous to protecting me from infringement of laws. In my classroom, I will make sure that students have access to the same resource guidelines that I have and do my best to accurately interpret the rules to my students. I won't go so far as to report students to administration for violation of copyright laws except in extreme examples (stealing whole documents is one such example). It is my belief that most violations by my students will be out of misinterpretation of the rules, and not from the malicious intent to steal and profit from another persons work.

Cyberbullying

One definition of cyberbullying by Glenn Stutzky of Michigan State University is:
"Cyber bullying is the use of modern communication technologies to embarrass, humiliate, threaten, or intimidate an individual in the attempt to gain power and control over them" (Stutzky).

1. During my youth and still currently, I have come into little contact with cyberbullying, neither as perpetrator or victim. My stance has always been that if I didn't get along with someone, I don't feel any need to converse with them in any capacity, especially not through email or any other electronic medium. Don't get me wrong, I have had moments where I was unkind to others and regret my actions but these hurtful gestures were never in an online setting. The possible reasons for my lack of cyberbullying experience may be rooted in my lack of interest in social networking, that I'm not mean enough to be so hurtful to others (I hope this is the main reason), or I'm just too old to get down with hip technology.

2. Schools have major problems protecting students from bullying because it usually happens off campus and with a personal computer. It is very difficult to tell if a student is a victim of bullying if they keep it concealed. Some signs include switching classes (if possible) or skipping many days of school.
For schools to step in and try to regulate bullying is a slippery slope. I think that schools should look into allegations of cyberbullying then report the info to the police (if there is an online task force, that is who should handle such assignments. And if there isn't a division for Internet-related crimes, it should be created immediately).
Schools should be focused on student education, not enforcement of criminal behavior. By letting the police handle the matter the punishment and possibly reduce the rate of cyberbullying.

3. My classroom plan for cyberbullying will be both pre-emptive and reactionary. I will have strict rules in my classroom that prohibit bullying and hateful behavior in my class or outside of it towards any student in the school. I plan on having discussions or sessions where we look at the consequences of cyberbullying and ways to prevent and then stop the behavior. If pre-emptive measures are ineffective and cyberbullying ensues, I will report the guilty party to administration for corrective action.
I want my students to be knowledgeable about cyberbullying and the dangers of such action, because that is the best way to prevent it. Creating activities or assignments that allow students to empathize with a victim of cyberbullying and make potential bullies think twice before engaging in such hateful activities.

Resources:
Stutzky, G. CYBER BULLYING INFORMATION. Retrieved July 27, 2009, from Institute for Public Policy and Social Research Web site: http://www.ippsr.msu.edu/Documents/Forums/2006_Mar_CYBER_BULLYING_INFORMATION_2006%20--%20Provided%20by%20Mr.%20Glenn%20Stutzky.pdf