Group items tagged

The chapter "The Computer and Active Learning" from the book The Vitrual Classroom by Starr Hiltz really grasps the use of computers in the classroom. "Whether in CIA or in the Virtual Classroom, the student is forced to actively participate" this is one of the main ideas to this book and especially this chapter. Students who use the computer to learn are actively participating by answering questions after they are on the computer. The chapter also develops the idea that computer education works, but teacher and student communication is important, "it appears to be effective only if there is also significant communication between teacher and student". The article holds computer to a high standard by defining computer use as "an active learning situation", instead of taking a quiz later on what a student learned, they get to take a quiz right after they read it online. They response as they go, making computer use active learning. It also develops the idea of the computer as a social process; "this social process of developing shared understanding through interaction is the "natural" way for people to learn". The author believes that responding to peers work creates a process of learning that is never seen in the classroom. All of the ideas are great examples of why technology in the classroom works, and can be used to our advantage as teachers.

In the book, In Mind in Society, Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky, a Soviet psychologist in the beginning of the 20th century, talks about the role of play in child development.

This article talks about the pros and cons of using technology to help children learn in their classroom and how different technologies affect the developing minds of young children, whether good or bad.

This article talks about how teachers are uncomfortable with the advancements in technology, and how long it could possibly take them to get caught up.

In the article Myspace, Facebook promote Literacy, Debra Lau Whelan talks about how social networking sites can help you gain more than just friends. Social networking sites offer e-safety, "Staying safe, keeping personal information safe, protecting yourself and your belongings, making sure that we don't participate in bullying or other antisocial behavior, and helping out other people who might be affected by these issues, is a key part of digital citizenship." Responsibility becomes a central role on these sites because their safety is at risk. Kids are able to control childish behaviors or prevent themselves from making rash decisions by using safe tactics on the internet. These sites broaden horizons for the users, letting them talk to people they may not have talked to otherwise, creating a variety and diverse web culture, driving away from cliques on school playgrounds. "Collaboration, discovery, and becoming a team player are all encouraged because these sites promote working, thinking, and acting together." Social networking sites allow users to create groups online to help find other people with the same interest as you. This allows communication on a topic that many people all over the world share a common interest in. Diversity brings new ideas and helps these users see things in a different point of view. These teens are not trapped in just with their classroom but they can't interact with people all over the world. Teens messing around on the computer on social networking sites is not just leisure time wasted, "Being able to quickly adapt to new technologies, services, and environments is already regarded as a highly valuable skill by employers, and can facilitate both formal and informal learning," Computer skills are adapted from using these sites, making it easier for teens to perform computer tasks in the future at work. This article gave me a new outlook on Facebook and social networking sites. I always thought that these sites w

In Yasmin Kafai's article Playing and Making Games for Learning, Kafai claims that if one individual were to write a history on the development of child education, they would be forced to include the impact video games have made on child learning. Kafai writes that teachers have picked up on the fact that video games capture children's attention and have tried to use this to their advantage by incorporating video games into their teaching style. There are many ways to incorporate video games into the classroom, but Kafai generalizes that there are two main categories of thought when it comes to teachers integrating video games into the curriculum: instructionalists and constructionalists.

The article "Using Instructional Technology in Transformed Learning Environments: An Evaluation of Project CHILD," by Sarah Butzin, claims that students are able to learn more and are more motivated when they are able to use technology and implement the Computers Helping Instruction and Learning Development (CHILD) project. Butzin studied the effects of technology by comparing two schools that were both technology-rich. One school implemented project CHILD and the other school implemented a more traditional design. According to the author, the CHILD method involves a cluster of three grades that are broken into smaller groups and remain with the same teachers throughout those three grades (K-2 and 3-5.) The more traditional learning style still involved the use of technology in day to day learning, but every year the students changed teachers and only worked within their grade level. The CHILD implementation makes it so that children can learn at their own pace and switch stations that include bookwork, one on one or small group time with the teacher, working with technology, and hands-on experience. Butzin claims that this style of learning showed positive outcomes for testing scores, classroom motivation, improvement in behavior, and increased parent involvement.

"How Standardized Testing Damages Education," posted on, http://www.fairtest.org/facts/howharm.htm, the author talks about how standardized testing in schools today is damaging to students. The article talks about how the tests are biased but schools are still using it as a measurement of whether the student is ready for school or if they can go to the next grade. They also talk about how the tests have an emotional affect on the students. If a student is not able to go to the next grade, because of a bad test score, it's going to have a negative emotional affect and not necessarily improve their knowledge capabilities.

The National Center for Fair and Open Testing in regards to how they believe that standardized testing has damaged our education system. They begin by discussing how school use the tests the determine if students are ready for school, track them once they are in school, and help to develop and guide our schools curriculum, even though they are incredibly biased and are limited in their ability to measure achievement or ability in the students whom they are testing. They continue by arguing that these tests are very inaccurate when it comes to determining if a student is ready for school because they are 'overly academic and developmentally inappropriate in primary schooling.'

COOOOOL article--loved it.

"The entire educational community must share responsibility for the development of literacy skills for the older student. This requires a paradigm shift from common practice where literacy instruction has been viewed as the sole responsibility of specialists instead of general educators. "

In the article; "Digital Literacies" a 12th grade project about digital literacy is described. Elizabeth Boeser decided to develop an online role-play scenario for her students. The role-play was centered on the sites that were blocked by the school. Students made online avatars and discussed the pros and cons of blocking certain sites from students. Posts were being discussed after and before school and showed that the use of Ning (the website) showed students a positive way to use the Internet for school. It allowed for instant sharing of ideas. The author then goes into the importance of online identity where students can work with students by replicating, adding, and engaging in information. The four important digital literacy's are also mentioned; multimodality, connectivity, hyper linking, and collaboration.

In an article co-authored by Starr Roxanne Hiltz and Murray Turoff, distance learning is viewed as a revolution in education where if you do not adapt, you will become extinct. Universities nationwide must substitute "face-to-face interaction and teacher-centered pedagogy" with "hybrid courses using student-centered pedagogy"(2) Emphasizing the fact that a good percentage of students prefer distance learning, the authors call for new and innovative developments for the online course systems offered today. Hiltz and Turoff end with a very appropriate quote from Charles Darwin about the importance of flexibility and ability to adjust to changing times, ""It's not the strongest of the species that survives, not the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change."

This article on the CARLA website is about where to find the results of a 1994 questionnaire that was mailed to 140 immersion schools in the U.S. to collect information about the language immersion program, language use, the big picture, developing curriculum, learning in non-school environments, and expressing cognitive operations through the language of immersion.

The article I chose talks about how our learning strategies developed, and how there was more of a need for "hands on" learning. It goes on to say how one of the first objects that were used for more visual learning was the chalkboard; the chalkboard was one of the only technological advancements in classrooms for over 100 years. Because our technology has advanced so much in the last decade, things like Ipods and mobile phones are now being useful tools in the learning process also.

In Teachers Discovering Computers: Integrating Technology and Digital Media in the Classroom by Shelly Cashman discusses how teachers are able to bring benefit students learning by the use of technology within the classroom. This book, analysis's every part of technology and gives the reader many definitions of terms and literacy's that are needed to use technology in the classroom. Cashman "explains the difference between computers, information, and integration literacy", as well as points out why 21st century skills are needed to be incorporated in k-12 curriculum. In the first chapter she points out how teachers themselves can improve their "professional development, productivity tools in the classroom, and integrate technology and digital media in their instrumental strategies, lessons, and student-based projects.

Sharon Pitcher's "The Literacy Needs of Adolescents in Their Own Words" discusses the problems that youth in today's classrooms face regarding reading comprehension. She examines these problems and seven case studies of students and their particular situations. Throughout her article, Pitcher argues that without classrooms' recognitions of when they need to modify their teaching techniques to its students' needs, the students will not fully develop the reading techniques that they need.

The article was about a study done by an Irish doctor that noticed that children would do better in math and reading if they made the same movemnts they made while they were in the womb.Children who were having issues in learning and understanding subjects in school were now doing much better after attending several Primary Movement classes. This article is very much related to the subject for my research memo in that I want to investigate about the impacts that children have while they are in the womb and whether children who are read to have a later advantage in their reading, writing and math skills while they grow up opposed to those who arent.

In 1983, Howard Gardner developed the multiple intelligences theory. There are supposedly eight different styles of learning and they are all independent of each other. It is said that the theory "has never been empirically tested" but this raises the question as to how you can possibly test such a thing. Another part of this article talks about IQ tests.

Using digital technology to help kids with physical disabilities develop social skills.

Sarah M. Butzins article, Integrating Technology into The Classroom: Lessons from The Project CHILD Experience, claims that Project CHILD helps students learn to be independent workers and how to work effectively in groups by developing skills to help themselves and each other when the teacher is unavailable. Butzin realizes that it is uncommon for teachers to want to learn how to implement technology into the classroom and curriculum, but by having three main teachers who each specialize in one subject- reading, math, and language arts- they are able to become experts in utilizing technology and software into their area of expertise.

The article presents an analyis of the prevalence of piracy in music trade which has affected global sales of CDs. It points out that technological developments such as file sharing, MP3 players, and CDRs have increased music piracy. Accordingly, most common forms of music piracy are Internet piracy and compact disc (CD) piracy. It discusses the association between music piracy and organized crime, which is defined as profit-driven illegal activities motivated by profit maximization. It explores the vulnerabilities of music trade which include the nature of the product, degree of law enforcement, and pricing. It suggests that it is necessary for music companies to change their business plan through music online marketing in order to minimize the incidence of music piracy.