EDUC 630 Module 7 Blog 4-Personal Use of Technology in Daily Life
This is something that can be hard to balance
to maintain. Technology is such a blessing and provides that opportunity to
access information almost instantaneously and the opportunities for entertainment
are almost endless. With all this access to technology, it has lead to reliance
upon it. There are days that I cannot imagine not having access to my phone,
computer, or tablet. I am not sure of how much of “demand” technology has
placed upon me or my family. At this time it is just me and my husband and I
haven’t noticed a demand that has been forced on us. If anything it is
something that we have allowed and even come to rely upon. I think a more
appropriate word would be distraction. I think that there needs to be a balance
between the benefits of technology and the distractions of technology. The
potential for technology to entertain us through video games, mobile games,
videos, movies, music, etc. is tremendous. We live in a culture that demands we
be entertained. So, like most things, we have to put the distractions and the
potential into perspective. We must always understand what is important and
what is expendable. As hard as it is to imagine, even with all of the potential
that it presents, technology is expendable. So to answer how you balance the
natural demands technology places upon me and my family and the benefits that
it provides, I try to continually place my priorities on my family first and
then on everything else.
EDUC 630 Module 4 Blog 2
-Web-Based Resources Blog
In the world we live
in today there are new resources that are of great value to educators hiding around
each corner. One of the best resources I’ve
found for ideas that are helpful in the classroom is Pinterest. Other teachers and educators are able to
create boards and add pins that relate to all types of aspects that affect the
classroom. I have found numerous ideas
that are useful for bulletin boards, lesson plans, science experiments, and
various other things. Another great
resource for educators are the numerous blogs that other educators have written
about what practices they follow in their classes, which have worked as well as
what practices they have found that do not work. New teachers especially should make a point
to read the blogs that are out there written by other professionals. They can serve as a great teaching tool for
beginning teachers to find ideas that have taken other teacher’s years of
experience to learn. Along with websites
that are useful for the teachers, there are also lots of great websites for the
teachers to allow students to learn. A great website that I like to use for
math is a virtual manipulatives website.
The teacher as well as the students can choose what kind of manipulative
they need to work with and use them as if they were really handling them. This site is great for students who are just
learning math concepts and need some hands on practice to help them grasp the
knowledge. The math manipulatives website
that I really like is http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html,
but I’m sure there are other great sites out there as well.
EDUC 630 Module 3 DB 2- Death by PowerPoint
This is something that can be hard to balance
to maintain. Technology is such a blessing and provides that opportunity to
access information almost instantaneously and the opportunities for entertainment
are almost endless. With all this access to technology, it has lead to reliance
upon it. There are days that I cannot imagine not having access to my phone,
computer, or tablet. I am not sure of how much of “demand” technology has
placed upon me or my family. At this time it is just me and my husband and I
haven’t noticed a demand that has been forced on us. If anything it is
something that we have allowed and even come to rely upon. I think a more
appropriate word would be distraction. I think that there needs to be a balance
between the benefits of technology and the distractions of technology. The
potential for technology to entertain us through video games, mobile games,
videos, movies, music, etc. is tremendous. We live in a culture that demands we
be entertained. So, like most things, we have to put the distractions and the
potential into perspective. We must always understand what is important and
what is expendable. As hard as it is to imagine, even with all of the potential
that it presents, technology is expendable. So to answer how you balance the
natural demands technology places upon me and my family and the benefits that
it provides, I try to continually place my priorities on my family first and
then on everything else.
EDUC 630 Module 4 Blog 2 -Web-Based Resources Blog
In the world we live
in today there are new resources that are of great value to educators hiding around
each corner. One of the best resources I’ve
found for ideas that are helpful in the classroom is Pinterest. Other teachers and educators are able to
create boards and add pins that relate to all types of aspects that affect the
classroom. I have found numerous ideas
that are useful for bulletin boards, lesson plans, science experiments, and
various other things. Another great
resource for educators are the numerous blogs that other educators have written
about what practices they follow in their classes, which have worked as well as
what practices they have found that do not work. New teachers especially should make a point
to read the blogs that are out there written by other professionals. They can serve as a great teaching tool for
beginning teachers to find ideas that have taken other teacher’s years of
experience to learn. Along with websites
that are useful for the teachers, there are also lots of great websites for the
teachers to allow students to learn. A great website that I like to use for
math is a virtual manipulatives website.
The teacher as well as the students can choose what kind of manipulative
they need to work with and use them as if they were really handling them. This site is great for students who are just
learning math concepts and need some hands on practice to help them grasp the
knowledge. The math manipulatives website
that I really like is http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html,
but I’m sure there are other great sites out there as well.
EDUC 630 Module 3 DB 2- Death by PowerPoint
A bad
PowerPoint detracts from the content the teacher is trying to get across and
has no visual appeal. To me the ideal PowerPoint
has a few different features that make it a valuable asset to a teacher’s
lesson. First of all, the power point
should not contain word for word what the teacher is lecturing about. I believe that it should be used in addition
to and as a supplement that enhances the students learning but does not cause a
distraction. The words on the power
point should be large enough that the students can read it easily if it is
being displayed, and it is a good idea to use a clear and easy to read font. Animations and pictures should not be used to
fill space. They should be used only if
they are relevant to the slide. Chapter
six of the book Tech Tactics by Carolyn Thorsen addresses several principles that
should be followed when creating PowerPoint’s.
Some of the principles include:
limit colors used in the slides, limit fonts used in the presentation,
keep text lines short, and organize the screen.
There are numerous other principles that are important when creating PowerPoint’s,
but these were just a few.
Microsoft
PowerPoint is a great program, but there are other products and software that
can be used in the same way. The online
program Prezi is much like PowerPoint, but can be used a little differently. It offers viewers a bit more movement during
the presentation. Some may think that it
makes it more active and interesting; some viewers find that it can be a bit
distracting or make the viewer dizzy due to all the movement. At the present time I prefer to use
PowerPoint, but I believe it is probably because I am more familiar with it and
have had success with the program.
Resource
Thorsen, C. (2009). Tech tactics for technology for teachers. (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Pearson.
Technology
use in the classroom is dependent on several different things. Some of the barriers that affect its use are:
teacher buy-in, cost, and time. If
teachers are not willing to integrate technology into their classrooms and make
an effort to use it consistently than it will not have any effect on the students. It would also be a waste of money to some
degree for the school district if they provided the teacher with new technology
that does not get used. Many teachers do
not incorporate technology into their lessons because they are unfamiliar with
the different forms or they are uncomfortable using new things in their
lessons. Some teachers are unwilling to
adapt to the changing faces of education.
The barrier of cost is probably one of the largest factors that influences
the technology used in the classroom.
School budgets control the types and amount of technology that can be
added to the school each year as well as maintaining that equipment. Each additional form of technology typically
adds a substantial burden to the finances of the district. Time is another aspect that can be a burden
and setback for the introduction of technology into the classroom. Technology requires district staff to
research affective strategies to implement in the classroom as well as how to
use them. Many teachers may need to go
through training to effectively be able to use the technology.
Technology
will become heavily integrated in the classrooms over the next five to ten
years. As technology continues to progress, it will be continually imperative
that students are able to learn with and use technology that is current. It
will be vital that they are able to use technology that they will be expected
to use in future workplaces. The students must continue to stay current so that
they are relevant to the rapidly changing technology. If they cannot stay
relevant with technology that employers are using then they will not be
employees that are desirable to hire. With that in mind, classrooms should
continue to advance and incorporate different technologies so that students understand
current technology opportunities and limitations and remain relevant.
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