Jaxonenglish

In the video, "Evolving Technology", created by cre8tivem, on January 07, 2009, he brings up many facts about technology that many have never even thought of. It questions your knowledge and makes you wonder about things that you didn't even know were issues or existed. It makes you realize just how fast we are evolving. (It's a good video to get you brainstorming and think about different issues you would like to do a research and has many interesting facts that are useful.)

This is a very interesting and informative article. I was interested in how texting can affect a students literacy level and this piece answered all my questions. Research has been done to prove that texting does not negate students' literacy levels. Professors all over the world accept the new form of communication and are willing to use it in the classroom

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".

This chapter was about a topic that I have actually thought about which is being able to tell the "good guy" apart from the "bag guy" and what makes them that way. The fact that there are video games in which you can choose to play as the bad or good character in the story changes the way you play it and how you are perceived, Also as you choose which character to play, in the game alone even if you are the bad guy you are still the good character. In the real world people make out the world to seem black and white, your either the good guy or the bad guy. Who determines what is to be considered bad and good and just because a person makes a bad choice does not make them a bad person. The world is filled with millions of examples of cultural models and rule they way people think and perceive different things making a model of what we should all consider to be good and if we do something otherwise then it is the wrong (or bad) thing to do. Video games can teach the player that there is more meaning to to being the bad or good character and that a gray area exists.

"Could we survive without today's technology," by Isentry; this was the video that I looked at on Youtube.com for my research. It talked about how in today's world everyone is so dependable on today's technology, that it has enslaved us. It had many great examples, as in we pretty much worship the television, because the fact that we take so much information from it, and listen to it on everything we have to do. This goes from where to shop at, to where to eat, and even where not to eat. It also talked about how many people in today's society get anxiety attacks when they do not have their cell phones, or even just their Ipods.

One question that I wanted to find more information on was what types of digital media can be used in a classroom. I found a online video clip at http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-new-media-classroom-tips that had seven different clips with six different authors who were educators themselves using technology in their classrooms. Each clip talked about some type of way to communicate to students by using technology and they explained their way of teaching in four minutes or less. It seemed like these people were trying to get teachers comfortable with the media world and letting them know that in order to have a good connection with your students you are going to have to get on their level.

They have even looked at a study called "Mistakes Are a Fact of Life: A National Comparative Study" and have found that the number of errors found in writing has remained the same for around a century. In this study Andrea and Karen Lunsford found that the number of errors was in the range of 2.11 to 2.45. The type of errors has changed though. Spelling errors have lessened and wrong word choice has taken the top spot. One explanation for this could be spell check not catching the wrong usage of nouns. Technical writing and composition professor Cindy Raisor said that the only change that she has seen is that students have stopped caring if they make mistakes.

In the article, Digital Literacy: A Conceptual Framework for Survival Skills in the Digital Era, by Yoram Eshet-Alkalai, he states that digital literacy is more than just being able to use software and electronic devices. Using digital technology includes complex skills like cognitive, sociological, motor and emotional skills. These skills cause the learner or even scholar to have a new means of communication in designing better environments. This creates a digital framework enhances the understanding the users perform using different types of digital skills.

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.

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.

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.

In The Future of Thinking, Cathy N. Davidson and David Theo Goldberg question the typical learning practices that we've grown accustomed to today. Before delving into the chapter I planned on writing about, I read a bit of the books introduction and overview, titled The Future of Learning Institutions in a Digital Age. One particular line that stuck me was "How do laptops change the way we learn? And how should they change the way we teach?"(2). Their main focus here was to discuss how technology, and our sources of information has changed drastically, but that our education system hasn't.

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

Sara Corbett's New York Times article Learning by Playing, focuses on a New York City non-charter public school that uses an educational program called Quest to Learn. The school uses video games to help teach kids and sometimes the kids make video games. Quest to Learn was created by a game designer named Katie Salen with the intention of making schools more appealing and relevant to kids today. Classes often combine multiple subjects into quests, "where the quests blend skills from different subject areas" (Corbett). Teachers do not do as much instruction as they do guidance. The article talks about how most kids who drop out of high school simply found it too boring. Schools today do not permit the use of cell phones and internet use is only allowed to do school related work, which cuts students off from the world. According to Katie Salen, "there's been this assumption that school is the only place that learning is happening, that everything a kid is supposed to know is delivered between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., and it happens in the confines of a building" (Corbett). Kids today do so much more interesting things outside of school.