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In Technology a Key Tool in Writing Instruction the author, Maya Prabhu, explains how a report done by the National Writing Project and College Board shows that "teachers play a critical role in driving the use of technology, to teach writing." For this report nine teachers, who were selected for various reasons, were observed by a writer for a day and then interviewed. Results showed that the use of such things like blogs, podcasts, and other software can actually increase students' engagement and improve their writing and thinking skills in all grade levels and in all subjects. These results help fuel the argument that more teaching needs to be done with technology in this new digital age. The NWP and College Board claims that there are ". . . three things [that need to] be done to meet the challenges of teaching and learning in the digital age at all levels of education." A child cannot learn or be impacted by technology if they do not have access, so therefore it is suggested that a child have one-on-one interactions with a computer or some time type of similar technology.

In "using the technology of today, in the classroom of today" authors Eric Klopfer, Scot Osterweil, Jennifer Groff, Jason Haas start to give basis to the argument that technologies such as videogames and social networking sites help shape learning. They focus on how they are learning outside of school but in completely different ways than teachers focus on. They argue, "Nearly all institutions- business, industry, medicine, science and government - have harnessed aspects of these technologies for decades. Games and simulations have been a key component of training doctors and military personnel, but even businesses like PricewaterhouseCoopers used a game about a mining company in outer space to teach its employees about derivatives. Although that may seem a bit "off the wall," the fact is major corporations, the Department of Defense, and the medical community would not use these tools if they were not highly effective" to illustrate how corporations use videogames so the educational system shouldn't reject it them as a learning tool. They point out how videogames can serve as a simulation for real life just as mining in outer space can teach about derivatives. Videogames are also a highly interactive learning environment. Instead of being told information, students are right in the middle of the action and the learning. They also discuss how social networking is a new way of collaborating with other about a wide variety of subjects including school work. The authors write, "Of course, educators have long been aware that learning is a social activity, where learners construct their understanding not just through interaction with the material, but also through collaboratively constructing new knowledge with their peers" but teachers reject the use of social networking as means of learning because of the other aspects included safety or privacy. But what teachers can learn from social sites is that "'knowledge cultures' assembled in these o

This article is very rich with information that has to do with how digital games, social networks, and simulations can be involved in classrooms. With the involvement of them is more than just entertainment that children or people actually learn stuff from them.

Annotation: Benefits of Using Multimedia in Education, and "Kids views on technology in the classroom" On this website, Benefits of Using Multimedia in Education, it states many benefits of using technology within the classroom from the professor's point of view as well as the student's perspective. It states how educators believe that "multimedia tools provide students with opportunities to represent and express their prior knowledge" and "empower students to create and design rather than absorbing representations created by others". These observations are seen through researches that have been made on other websites and are linked right next to each statement of observation and benefit. Furthermore, it shows how multimedia tools benefit students work from "four perspectives: 1) as researchers, they must locate and select the information needed to understand the chosen topic;2) as authors, they must consider their intended audience and decide what amount of information is needed to give their readers an understanding of the topic;3) as designers, they must select the appropriate media to share the concepts selected; and 4) as writers, they must find a way to fit the information to the container including the manner of linking the information for others to retrieve(Smith,1993)".

The number of educators who now welcome social media into the classroom is growing. Some go so far as to say that the use of services such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are an integral part of a 21st century education. This represents a sea change for educators. Until recently, most schools banned students from using social media tools in the classroom. But progressive educators say this represents a major disconnect with the world that awaits them outside the school walls. It's not protecting them today so much as handicapping them tomorrow.

Gives ideas on why embracing social media is a good idea. Talks about how a growing number of teachers are starting to use networking sites in their classroom.

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 the online article Zero- Thumb Game How To Tame Texting, written by Sara Bernard, directly focuses on how to use texting as a tool in the classroom. This article doesn't look at texting as a horrible thing that needs. Another main topic in this article is how comfortable students are with text talk, that it creates an atmosphere where passive students feel as if they can participate. This directly shows how students feel more comfortable to participate because they are more comfortable with the technology. So maybe this idea of text messaging in the classroom isn't such a mad idea after all, it creates a comfortable environment for almost all students, and creates a new form of teaching when to use the text talk and when not to.

In the article Mobile Identity: Youth, Identity, and Mobile Communication Media, by Gitte Stald, the author states how the mobile phone is a source of identity for the youth. The focus of the article is on the meaning of the mobile phone in young people's lives and how it somehow shapes their identity as a person. Most young people's identities are influenced by the media they use. The idea that the youth's identity is mobile means it is always changing every moment, and changing relations between friends and family. The mobile allows the youth to communicate within physical and virtual spaces always in transition. This tool (mobile phone) has become such an important part in the young people's lives and it is almost impossible for it to not be a part of their identity.

In "Classroom Technology and Teacher-Student Interaction" by Geneva Logic, they discuss how teachers can use the system called Vision on computers within the classroom and it will benefit the interaction of teachers and students. For in the article, it points out how the "ratio to public school students to instructional computers with internet access had shrunk to 3.8 to 1 in 2005" (14 percent improvement in availability over 2003). Today, in the year 2010 less than 10 percent of students do not have access to a computer. However, researchers have found it is the teachers who are intimidated by bringing in technology within the classroom. Researchers stated that "technology brings about changes in classroom organization and the role the teacher plays; providing teachers with the tools they need to negotiate these changes is crucial to their success". (Muir-Herzic, 2004) This shows that if we were to provide teachers with these tools then teachers would see how technology within the classroom "leads to qualitative and quantitative improvements in teacher-student interaction.

Social media tools are providing interactive environments for online users; these tools are causing social and cultural shifts in how users create content, interact with the content on the Web and collaborate with one another.

Criteria for people who want to create resources for education

Website that supports audio files. It looks like it will record conversations from your phone or computer.

The article, Connecting the Digital Dots: Literacy of the 21st Century, is arguing the point that the types of literacies are expanding every day, and people need to be kept up on them. The authors, Barbara Jones-Kavalier and Suzanne Flannigan, state that to be a fully functioning member of society, you must acquire and understand a new literacy; a digital one. They also state, "Today, we still seek better communication methods, only now we have myriad more choices, along with new tools and strategies and greater knowledge of effective communication". Technologies will not just be used to communicate though anymore, it is being to "create, to manipulate, to design, to self-actualize". In the New Literacy and Education paragraphs, it is stated that classrooms today are less advanced for the students who are being put in them. Almost all of these students are digitally literate, but teachers are presenting ideas in the ways they always have. Maybe, it is not just the classrooms that need remodeling, but the teachers need to attend workshops and become more accustomed to dealing with these new types of literacies. Schools who are looking to hire teachers need to look at what background the interviewees have, or require a pre-requisite for computer literacy. The authors also state that today, students are "digitally savvy". They don't believe that teachers should be re-typing overheads into PowerPoint's. There are so many different technological ways to teach things to students. It just isn't the same anymore to just use a whiteboard and an overhead projector. "As an example, now teachers can do a PowerPoint presentation with streaming video, instant Internet access, and real-time audio-video interaction, and they can do it with relative speed and ease".

Barbara Jones-Kavalier and Suzanne Flannigan in their article "Connecting the Digital Dots: Literacy of the 21st Century" state the reason the definition of literacy has gradually changed through time, will always be changed, and that the history behind why it has changed leads to the definition itself. They assert that through the technological advancements the thought processes in the humans mind have drastically changed; and in order for literacy to keep up with this rapidly changing "E-generation" Jones-Kavalier and Flannigan express that our minds need to be open to this change. They state that "vision combined with practical, recognizable goals and incentives that encourage people to embrace new digital and visual literacy skills individually and collectively" will allow there to actually be a change universally.

This article discusses how literate once meant a person's ability to read and write. Now that technology is rapidly changing, our society is learning to adjust to it. Now, literacy has a new definition. According to the authors, "Literacy includes the ability to read and interpret media (text, sound, images), to reproduce data and images through digital manipulation, and to evaluate and apply new knowledge gained from digital environments." Older generations are having a more difficult time adjusting to it than the teenage generation. Learning technology is starting to seem like learning a new language. Although, it's a priority for society to learn to acclimate to these changes in order to learn and communicate effectively.

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.

In "The New Writing Pedagogy" the authors, Angela Pascopella and Will Richardson, discuss how technology and the Web are creating a new emphasis on student's writing process. This is creating teachers to no longer fear upcoming technology, but embrace them within the classroom. Due to this teachers are using "Web-based social networking tools like blogs and wikis, YouTube and Facebook as digital spaces, multimedia texts, global audiences and linked conversations among passionate readers." Furthermore, "The New Writing Pedagogy" has many comments and quotes from professors and teachers of all levels that comment on how they are adapting to "this new pedagogy" and how we are the creators of it.

This article is about a veteran teacher who has taught in schools for 32 years all over Manhattan. He introduces a class in technology and game design. SARA CORBETT talkes about how students would benifit if teachers stepped away from what they thought was a typical classroom and focused on different approaches to reach and educate children. According to Sara Corbett, "Quest to Learn is organized specifically around the idea that digital games are central to the lives of today's children and also increasingly, as their speed and capability grow, powerful tools for intellectual exploration".

With starting kids off young have we caused a new problem with laptops in the classroom? Kathy McManus blogged on August 14, 2008 about the banning of laptops from university classrooms. Within her blog she mentioned that "The laptop--the favorite in-class tool for college and university students across the country-is coming unplugged." Have we been abusing our laptops in class? I am not going to lie when I bring my laptop my browser ends up on facebook, or youtube checking out the newest funny stunt that some kids posted. The blog talks about how when used correctly the laptop can be a wonderful resource for a classroom but teachers cant monitor every laptop all the time.

free movie making software available online

This article covers video game use in the classroom and the advantages to introducing students to video games.