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This article discusses the role that computers play in the school and in children's social, emotional, and physical development. Technology is on the rise and as the year's progress, computers are being provided for students in the classroom. The question is does using technology in school raise students achievement. For the younger students computers were most effective on student learning when the teacher would use them for high thinking skills. Computers used in 12th grade history reported the more that students used computers outside the classroom their performances were higher on test scores. This study suggests that schools that provide technology applications should provide training for students to use these applications. In conjunction, schools should provide basic computer skills for students so that they can improve in their content areas.

I like the idea of providing technology training to students. It amazes me how many of my students don't have basic computer skills. I usually spend a lot of time just teaching them how to use a program.

Web video created and narrated by educational maverick Sir Ken Robinson. In it, he explains, in a student-centered way, why it is crucial for teachers to embrace technology in the classroom.

I think Sir Ken Robinson's ideas about the curriculum were right! One thing he mentioned that stuck out to me was about the divergent thinking being the essential capacity for creativity. He stated that there were several possible answers instead of just one. He used the example of the ways to use a paper cup to support his ideas. He explained how knowledge deteriorates over time when students become "educated". He says that what is considered as copying or cheating is referred to as collaboration in the environment. I think society is constantly changing and some aspects of the curriculum may need to be modified to meet those needs but not completely. I think with the changing curriculum, students and teachers are so overwhelmed by the emphasis placed on standardized testing that it is difficult for learning to occur in a fun, relaxed environment, except in lower grade levels where the students are still excited about learning. I agree with Sir Ken Robinson in saying that we can meet the future by doing the past, when the stakes weren't so high and so many students weren't being medicated, learning could occur in an environment that wasn't divided!

Joshua, I am so glad you posted this video! I think that all educators need to watch this video simply because it is real. Technology should be essential in the classrooms today's simply because it is what the students see and use when they are not in school. Think about how many students have cell phones, Ipad's, Ipods and video games, we should be taking into consideration these things to strengthn education. I agree with Jessica on the divergent thinking--we sometimes forget that no 2 students are the same so their perspectives on learning and life will be totally different. I think a lot of times we do want the "perfect" classroom but the truth of the matter is we have to consider all learning styles. Students learn best from each other and group work is something that Sir Ken made a point in his presentation. In this course we talk a lot with each other SO that we can learn from each other so why not implement this same learning style into the classrooms?

This article discusses how interactive notebooks can enhance student learning. It also gives several good examples of how they can be used to assess student progress and understanding.

This video shows the importance of cameras on school buses and how they hold everyone accountable, help the driver focus more on driving rather than constantly having to monitor children through the mirror and how the cameras act as a silent witness in observing and reporting student behavior on the bus.

I think it is an awesome idea to put cameras on school buses because just like the driver said in the video, it is impossible to properly monitor the students while trying to watch traffic as well. As a child, there was always something going on in the back of the bus and when the driver asked what happened, no one saw anything! Therefore, I think cameras on the bus is a great idea to help ensure student's safety.

You can't go wrong with cameras on a school bus. The summer following my freshmen year in high school, I would ride the bus to summer school everyday. The bus picked us up from what was considered to be one of the worst neighborhoods in the community. Everyone that rode that bus got along with one another very well, however there was still bullying going on. The bullying was not student to student, it was student to bus driver. That poor man endured so much harassment from the students that after about 2 weeks he quit. Students would throw things at him while he was driving (paper, candy, you name it). I don't see how he got us to school and back alive with so many distractions. No one got in trouble for the way the bus driver was treated because there were no cameras on that bus. After he quit they sent a new bus to pick us up, it did have cameras. That was the end of that. I think this video was short and straight to the point. It is much more safe for everyone to have cameras on the bus.

This article lists all the benefits of attending a private school versus attending a public one.

I really enjoyed this article and definitely agree that students benefit from a private school education. I taught private Kindergarten for two years. The curriculum I taught was on a 1st and 2nd grade level and with the small student-teacher ratio (I had 10 kids max), I was able to work with students one on one and focus on each students weakness area to improve it. Also, at the end of the year, the students had benchmark tests they took and scored well above the percentile compared to other students their same age in the areas of math, reading, social awareness, etc. If financially feasible, I think students especially younger ones greatly benefit from private school. Great selection of article.

According to this article, regular use of computers has an effect on student performance. In this study, they used 986 fourth graders from 55 classrooms in nine Massachusetts school districts. Most of the students only used computers to write their papers. However, they found that students that used their computers for fun and games had a negative effect on students reading scores. As long as students used the computers for writing purposes this had positive effects on their test scores.

This article talks about the characteristics of pbl, the reasons to use pbl, examples of pbl, and more. It serves a a great framework on how to get started.

I just took on the position of a 7th/8th grade math lab teacher and the person before me spent a lot of time using packets to teach the students material. I very quickly realized that this method only left the material in the students' mind for a day or two. So for the past week i've been trying to figure out exactly how to use methods of instruction like project-based learning. PLB is an amazing method that more teachers should be aware of, the only issue is that there seems to be a lot of planning up front for this to be a success. I've decided though, that if all that time of planning up front would help my students to KNOW mathematics, then it's worth it.

Reading the article and being a 7th grade math teacher I have realized that their are alot of teaching stratgies that could work if we had more time to actually focus on mastery and understanding. Alot of teachers are placed on calenders on what has to be taught. With the Texas curriculum being so data driven it has become hard for us to really use those fun teaching stratigies.

The article starts out by asking the question when professors send students papers to a database, are copyrights violated? This article discusses electronic tools being used to determine student plagiarism. Turnitin.com is a common electronic tool that professors and teachers provide for their students to turn in their papers. In the United States, 400 colleges use this website. Lawyers detect that this is an infringement on students copyright. The founder of turnitin.com apologized for violating student's rights and advised professors to advise students that copies of their papers will be checked and kept in the database for plagiarism. Then they discuss success stories of how professors and schools are not concerned with lawsuits.

The purpose of this study was to address cyber ethics to fifth and sixth graders to get to know their knowledge and understanding on fair use and copyright. This study started with a lesson to a homeroom class. The lesson addressed the concerns of making copies of a CD and distributing it to others. The purpose of the lesson was to introduce to students how to Play it Safe in Cyberspace lessons. Parents participated in this study; and a survey was provided to them asking how they feel about students learning cyber safety copyright and fair use laws. The survey produced positive feedback from the parents. Further, in the study students were asked to write a letter to the principal or to someone other than the principal about what they had learned about software theft. In these letters, students wrote about the cyber ethics of what you should do and not do and how to take precautions when using certain websites.

Great article. 5th and 6th grade seems so young to even be able to grasp all of this! It is great to start them out young while they are just really starting to use the web for school. That way when they start doing more complicated projects when they are older they will know how to do it right.

Student enrollment, types of courses, technology used to deliver, district monitoring and policies are some of the topics discussed in this research article.

This article gives statistical data to back up the research that distance learning students had no higher GPA compared to face-to-face students. The research indicated that further studies were needed.

This website basically breaks down all the information that student athletes need in order to be awarded an athletic scholarship. It shows how parents can get involved and help as well as how students can prepare themselves academically and athletically.

This video explains that standardized testing places pressure on students, causes teachers to teach to the test, doesn't allow critical thinking by the student, and it is not a good tool to measure students' actual abilities. After explaining some of the disadvantages in the video, the creator makes some suggestions on how the standardized test can be improved to best meet the needs of the students.

This just like all the other articles on Athletic scholarships states what exactly goes on behind the scenes. Even though it is a very short and brief article it does not sugar coat and sale anything to the athletes. It shows what the realities are and what one needs to be aware of. It is better to be informed of the reality than to let your dream live on what you think something is. Knowledge is power, in this case it is also going to alleviate stress and headaches.

Wow! This is another good article. I found the whole website interesting. I actually have a teenager that is about to graduate within the next year. He runs cross-country, and he is pretty good at it. He is top two in his school. We have been discussing colleges and scholarship offers that are available. After reading this article, it really had me thinking about the scholarship offers that are even available for my son. As a business teacher, I enjoy discussing college options for my students as well. This article gave me some helpful information that enlighten my knowledge of divisions and which sports usually get a full-ride. It is important to have a backup plan and not to rely on one school. Students should always have a plan B. Sports are not everything without a good GPA.

The article was a good read. I think working with the coaches and athletes you have to understand it is a business but in the same breath. It also depends on the sport your child is playing. Basketball. Basket, Football are the most grueling sports when it comes traveling and practice times. So, just research the school and what are the practice times if you have a focused student then they can come out with the right degree.

This article can benefit anyone who is an educator. We will all have students in our classroom with a disability and this article gives way to vary instruction and incorporate ways to make sure the student is learning the same as any other student. Reading IEPs thoroughly and knowing ways to modify curriculum for the student with disability is key.

This article explains how technology in the classroom changes the role of the teacher and students. Technology increases the students' motivation and self-esteem while allowing them to learn technical skills. In addition, the article explains how technology allows students to aaccomplish more complex task and work collaboratively with peers.

Vocational Education meets Research in the dynamic classroom of Linda Darling-Hammond, 2008. The students are doing the research, teaching and learning. They control their own destiny and they are taking the world by storm! They are not waiting to be taught, they are teaching each other and themselves as teams of researchers. Darling-Hammond, L. (2008). Powerful learning: what we know about teaching for understanding. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

I read this book and what the author says is really revolutionary. She has students work in teams as researchers and collaborate while doing research separately. She says students are scientists and classroom homework is research. They should be teaching the teachers, she thinks. Especially, they are beyond us in technology knowledge!

In a research done by Sarah Thuele Lubienski and her husband Christopher, they found that once they controlled for a family's socioeconomic background, students who attended public school actually outperformed private school slightly.

I enjoyed this article! I enjoy the debates of whether public or private schools are better. I like that the writers pointed out that many public schools are doing better than private schools. There are so many factors that come into play when dealing with topics such as these. For instance, parental involvement. There's more than what meets the eye, many people need to see that rather than set their hearts on one type of school that is "correct". Good stuff!

I totally agree with ending of this article and how children do in school.(its truly up to if students like their teachers). What happened to that parental support so that with any teacher a student can be successsful. Every time the debate comes up I really wonder how much control the students have over US teachers.

This article provides a simple overview of copyright laws for educators.

In this article not only does it list all the things that teachers should avoid from doing but it also has information for the students. It list how the classroom can use the internet appropriately without breaking any laws and the reasons why these laws even came about.

This is an interesting article. Since my content area is business education, integrating technology in the classroom is a huge topic. As an educator, I have to know what is legal and illegal. Especially, when communicating copyright laws to the students. I think this article is a useful tool for educators to use in the classroom. I like how the article mentions that the rules that apply to students apply to teachers as well. We as educators have to abide by copyright laws just as students should. I also like the fact that this article outlines the guidelines that educators should follow in the classroom so that they can use as a reference.