Journal #8: "Virtual Success"

"Virtual Success" by Julie Young, Pam Birtolo, and Raven McElman

This article was about using technology as a substitute for face-to-face interaction in the classroom. The article itself seemed a little bias and almost like an infomercial for Florida Virtual School (FLVS). Looking past this though the article had some interesting ideas and facts about this new form of education. The idea is to have a completely online education that allows students to work at their own pace and at their own time. The students could essentially communicate with teachers at any time during the day and made them feel like every teacher was taking a unique interest in them. The idea of running a school with no face-to-face interaction is fairly revolutionary seeing as how this has been impossible in the past.

What are the drawbacks of having an online education?

One problem would be social skills. Interacting in person is different from interacting online. With such a stress on the online aspect students may lack in social skills and abilities like making in person presentations.

Would I consider teaching at a school like this?

I think I would, it would be a new and exciting experience. I think I would definitely be different but it would also allow me to work at my own pace and at my own time like the students. Teaching also would be a little more personal with each students as we would constantly be communicating via email and having intimate conversations. While I wouldn’t be seeing them in person I would still gain a good understanding about all my students instead of just some.

Journal #7: "Turning Lurkers Into Learners"

"Turning Lurkers Into Learners" by Jason Alley and Karen Greenhaus

This article discussed how to run a forum or online discussion with your class effectively. The goal of the article was to offer good ways to keep the students engaged and actively posting in the online community. It started with good examples of how to start the community, games etc. It finished with describing how to get people who don't often post to post instead of "lurking." The article itself had an interesting writing strategy as it used a grand metaphor that followed the idea of having the forum is like fishing for students.

What ideas would I might use for my classroom?

I think a lot of the posting advice was quite useful to me. I really liked the game ideas that were offered in the article. I thought the anonymous information one where students were encouraged to try to pick out which student each information sheet represented.

Will I be using the discussion forums in my class and what use are they?

I think I will use them. They are a really convenient way to unite the class and have them all posting on the same thing. It also is a really easy way to collect assignments from students and collect information from each student. I think it is also important for students to be continual writing in the class and practicing their writing abilities.

Journal #6: Mapping student minds

“Mapping student minds.” By Ariel Owen

This article describes the use of a casual mapping tool, in a classroom, to describe a local creek the class had been researching. The class took a field trip to the creek and recorded data they would later use to create a casual map and find information about the creek. The mapping process helps the students illustrate the scientific relationships of the creek in an easy to read and visual way. The more factors involved in a students map though makes the map more complex. One thing the students must be aware of is making it too complex because the process can become simply daunting. The process also allows the gifted children an opportunity to go further into the map and the other process of the river than what is typically possible in a course.

Could I use this idea of concept mapping my class?

I think I could, I don’t see this idea of mapping being a science specific technology. I think it could be used to diagram almost anything. I thought from the description of the article the program was a lot like the Inspiration program we used in class. I think the possible uses for it are limitless and are more dependant upon the imagination of the instructor.

What benefit would mapping on the computer have over pen and paper?

The computer makes the whole process a lot more dynamic. The user is able to make adjustments on the fly and change their map fluidly. This kind of flexibility was impossible in the past. The map can also be easily be printed out or emailed and so transfer and making copies is a very quick and easy.

Journal #5: Can you hear me now?

"Can you hear me now?" by S. Turkle

This article discussed how technology has become a part of ours lives and has embedded itself into our daily lives. It talked about how during a presentation at a technology conference people were more interested in their own pdas and cell phones and their online network of people than they were interested in the speaker at the conference. This is an interesting point because people travel miles to attend these conferences then they don’t even pay attention to the speakers and then are more interested in doing something they can do at home. The article went on to outline other ways as to how people with new technology are ignoring people in the real world and paying more attention to people in their virtual online world instead.

In the classroom should I be worried about a technological overload for the students?

I don’t think this will be an issue in today’s classrooms because of budget issues etc but also because I think at this point a typical class should not be completely technologically dependant. Students though are likely to have their own cell phones be connected to their friends on myspace and facebook. These things are just so common among today’s youth it’s more abnormal for them to not have these kinds of things. I think as a teacher it is important to be aware of this but to also teach of when it is appropriate to use these technologies and when it is rude to use them. I think its fine for students to be active participants in online communities but when a student enters the classroom they should become devoted to that community and give it 100% of their attention.

Will robots take over the Teaching industry?

It is an interesting proposition because robots have been designed to do so much. As far as I can tell though in the near future this is unlikely but technology like online classes is certainly the first step towards phasing out the teacher. The teacher is still necessary but the face to face interaction is not there any longer. It’s amazing how technology has revolutionized so much, like teaching.

Journal #4: Moderating and Ethics for the Classroom Instructional Blog

"Moderating and Ethics for the Classroom Instructional Blog," by Paricia Deubel

This article was interesting because it provided some guidelines for running a blog as well as some of the perils associated with one. One of the interesting points made in the article was the sheer amount of work on behalf of a teacher that surrounds running a blog. Reading 75 paragraphs per class per week is a lot plus you need to post the original questions and provide responses. The article also made the point that there are some ways around this like having different students aide in moderating the blog etc.

Would I use a blog in my class?

I’m not sure in what form I would use a blog myself. I feel I am fairly technically savvy so I think I would definitely have a website for the class but whether the site is used in the blog form where students have discussions, I am not sure. Like the article said running a site where one must moderate posts can become quite a project and I’m not sure I would be ready to handle something like that, especially in the first few years of teaching. Plus, there would also become concerns about whether students have access to the blog and technology.

What learning tool would be the most useful in a blog?

I think in a blog the most powerful learning tool is the ability for the teacher to get students to write short thoughtful responses and posts. I think that one of the powers of a blog would be to get students thinking on a subject and forcing them all to respond to it instead of having the two or three more outspoken students dominate any discussion. Blogs allow a safer avenue for students to respond where they do not have to worry about being publicly embarrassed and I think students will feel they have more control over how their posts will be received.

Journal #3: Too cool for school? No way!

"Too cool for school? No way!" by Mishra, P., & Koehler, M.

This article was about technology and how to include technology in the classroom. The article defines technology then gives 3 examples of how technology can be used in a classroom. The first example was that of microblogging with a class. By using twitter to accentuate the core course content the professor hoped to help the students learn. The article made clear though that this cannot happen in a vacuum but must be an addition to core teaching principles. The next example was using specialized search engines to aide learning. Search engines that used pictures would help the students make associations easier. The final example was “DJ Software” which helps students learn mathematical concepts like ratios, fractions, and percentages. This article made clear that a teacher these days needs to be willing to work with technology that may or may not help in the classroom.

Would I use any of the tools described in the article?

I really don’t think I would use any of the examples shown in the article other than maybe the specialized search engines. While I think they are only useful in limited situations I think there are some times when being able to use a picture based search engine would be useful in a classroom especially with younger kids where pictures hold more meaning.

Why would I be unlikely to use the other technologies?

Twitter was one of the other examples of a technology in the article and I think it would only be useful on a college campus where you can assume all of your students have extended access to technology. On a high school campus though many students only have limited or no access to technology thus twitter becomes useless. “DJ software” on the other hand, does not apply to my focus, English, and would therefore be useless to me.

Journal #2 -Social networking for the K-12 set

"Social networking for the K-12 set" by J. Klein
This article was a real proponent of including Web 2.0 technologies in the classroom. It had a lot of neat ideas in it, like having students participate in creating their own pod casts and having teachers have their own informational blogs for both the parents and students. One of the most interesting ideas was the idea of creating a strong community within the teachers and students over the web. This enables people from across the world to be connected with each other and to communicate new ideas regarding teaching. Utilizing technology in this fashion is something that has never happened before in history, the instantaneous communication of ideas across the world.

1. What tools described in the article would I utilize in a classroom?

I think one tool that I will definitely use will be having a teacher run website that both the students and parents can look at and interact with. This sounds incredibly useful to me because it will enable students and parents to always be aware of what is going on in the classroom and what assignments are. It will also be useful to me because it will provide a forum where common questions will already be answered as well as an easy place for me to receive questions and assignments.

2. What drawbacks are there from using all the technology?
One drawback I see is becoming completely dependant on the Web 2.0 utilities. This can be bad because if the technology is not available to a student for whatever reason they will be at a disadvantage. Also, if the school that I work at isn’t fully integrated with technology it can become difficult to run a website and update all the Web 2.0 applications that I want to use.