I have enjoyed the class this semester. It has taught me of many new programs, as well as different and creative ways to use them in the classroom. It also shown me how dependent a our society is on technology, with how it is used so much and in so many different ways.
Moving forward, I want to bridge the gap in the digital divide between what students use personally and what mediums teachers use to educate with in the classroom. I feel that this will incorporate more students' minds into the material, and hopefully will help them learn new ways in which they perceive how technology can be used.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Yellow Group Post #2
I think there is a definite disconnect between the technologies used in the classroom and ones used personally by students. Other than in my previous blog, about how one teacher used a video game to teach students about the Normandy Invasion in WWII, I have not had a single teacher who attempted to bridge this divide.
I think the divide is so present simply because most teachers cannot think of a way to incorporate it into their curriculum. Other than Math Blaster, which is designed for children under 10, how else would a teacher incorporate video games into a high school geometry lesson? There is only so much you can do with a medium, and then there is also the problems which may arise by multiple students using it (different computer types, glitches, crashes, ect).
Personally, I think it comes down to the lesson being taught and the teacher's own creativity, which, hopefully, will both be available to me when I enter the classroom to brighten young minds.
I think the divide is so present simply because most teachers cannot think of a way to incorporate it into their curriculum. Other than Math Blaster, which is designed for children under 10, how else would a teacher incorporate video games into a high school geometry lesson? There is only so much you can do with a medium, and then there is also the problems which may arise by multiple students using it (different computer types, glitches, crashes, ect).
Personally, I think it comes down to the lesson being taught and the teacher's own creativity, which, hopefully, will both be available to me when I enter the classroom to brighten young minds.
Technology in my Life (Yellow Group Blog #1)
While most of my childhood was spent using technology in the form of video games, high school made me use the computer for everything from writing papers, to building websites, or creating PowerPoint slides. Perhaps the most interesting way I saw both of these worlds combined was in my senior year of high school for a history class.
Usually, when the World War II period is reached, most teachers put on the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan or part of Pearl Harbor (which really has only one good part: the only action scene and not the two hours of Ben Affleck talking). This teacher, however, took the class down to the computer labs where we played a First Person Shooter game named Call of Duty.
The game was authentic with everything from the clothing of the soldiers, to the guns we fired with our character, and the maps we played on (which were modelled after the actual towns where battles took place over in Europe). The students were organized into teams, and we were to use the actual tactics the soldiers back then utilized to defeat the other team.
While some may argue the merits of this lesson, our class was able to take to it quickly. It was combining something I enjoyed thoroughly as a child with a subject usually confined to a dull lecture. Its something I have never forgotten, as it transcends the usual walls of what teachers and students consider to be schoolwork and learning.
Usually, when the World War II period is reached, most teachers put on the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan or part of Pearl Harbor (which really has only one good part: the only action scene and not the two hours of Ben Affleck talking). This teacher, however, took the class down to the computer labs where we played a First Person Shooter game named Call of Duty.
The game was authentic with everything from the clothing of the soldiers, to the guns we fired with our character, and the maps we played on (which were modelled after the actual towns where battles took place over in Europe). The students were organized into teams, and we were to use the actual tactics the soldiers back then utilized to defeat the other team.
While some may argue the merits of this lesson, our class was able to take to it quickly. It was combining something I enjoyed thoroughly as a child with a subject usually confined to a dull lecture. Its something I have never forgotten, as it transcends the usual walls of what teachers and students consider to be schoolwork and learning.
Technology in the Classroom
Whenever Technology in the classroom comes up, it had varying results for me. Sometime I have had teachers utilize it in wonderful way, with interactive presentations featuring various movie clips, funny pictures, or interesting information. I have also sat through a forty-page PowerPoint slideshow which was crammed to the max with definitions and phrases the teacher simply repeated verbatim.
In a past ISTC class, we met online twice a week. There, the students and professor posted back and forth on BlackBoard, as well as fulfilling other obligations via the web. It was more or less successful, with the only crutch being the constraints of BlackBoard and its tendency to hiccup or crash. By the end of the course, we compiled all our work up to that point in an online porfolio, which was posted on the tiger.towson page.
I enjoyed using different mediums for the class, such as SharePoint and Excel for homeworks and projects. I thought it was a great way for all the different ways of accomplishing a task on the web to be shown to people who may have not used them before, and it also challenged us as students to think about how we may utilize these mediums while teaching.
In a past ISTC class, we met online twice a week. There, the students and professor posted back and forth on BlackBoard, as well as fulfilling other obligations via the web. It was more or less successful, with the only crutch being the constraints of BlackBoard and its tendency to hiccup or crash. By the end of the course, we compiled all our work up to that point in an online porfolio, which was posted on the tiger.towson page.
I enjoyed using different mediums for the class, such as SharePoint and Excel for homeworks and projects. I thought it was a great way for all the different ways of accomplishing a task on the web to be shown to people who may have not used them before, and it also challenged us as students to think about how we may utilize these mediums while teaching.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Technology Today- PTE
Today we have technologies like the Internet, television, movies, computers, and video games. This technologies allow for people to enjoy themselves and get distracted from problems in their lives such as those caused by the economic recession. These types of technologies are affordable to most people allowing for a large amount of people to take advantage of them.
Entertainment Today
Country Music
Television
IPod
Wii
Xbox
Guitar Hero
Facebook
Twitter
Computers
Cell Phones
Computer Games
More Country Music
Concerts
Nature
Coutry Music Concerts
Movies
TigerFest
Alcohol
Television
IPod
Wii
Xbox
Guitar Hero
Computers
Cell Phones
Computer Games
More Country Music
Concerts
Nature
Coutry Music Concerts
Movies
TigerFest
Alcohol
Technologies "lift Americans"
Technologies today such as the television and internet can lift our American spirits. For the internet, you can keep in great contact with friends. It is nice to be in touch with people you can't visit or dont see day to day. For the television, new sitcoms have been very popular because of the increased drama and excitement.
Laura/Ashley Blog
Internet- facebook/twitter...other social networks and email allow people to communicate with others
Radio- Music, talk radio allow people to keep up on current events, affordable
Ipods- not necessarily affordable, but music is a big thing that can lift people's spirits
Television and Movies- allow people to zone out of real life, an escape from reality
Radio- Music, talk radio allow people to keep up on current events, affordable
Ipods- not necessarily affordable, but music is a big thing that can lift people's spirits
Television and Movies- allow people to zone out of real life, an escape from reality
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