In my personal opinion, I believe that it is more unethical to allow threats to students and schools than to deny students and teachers to some instructionally relevant web-based tools and content. In my personal experiences in schools through interning and volunteering, although there are definately many sites that are blocked from students and teachers to access, I have found that there are still plenty of accessable sites that can be used. Students are allowed access to search engines such as Yahoo! and Google where they can do research, they are able to access many educational sites to enrich learning through videos and games such as BrainPop! (http://www.brainpop.com/) and GameQuarium (http://www.gamequarium.com/) and relevant sites on just about any educational topic from sites such as Discovery Channel / Discover Kids. I feel that through the use of these available sites, students will be able to complete just about any educational activity, and allowing them to access sites such as social networking and blogging sites can be completed at home with adult supervision as homework or an at home component of an in school individual or group project.
I do believe that blocking sites such as facebook and myspace as well as other social networking sites that hold no educational value is perfectly reasonable. Also, although students can find some very useful information through the use of blogs, we must realize that blogs are not really monitored, and by allowing students access to blog pages, students may come across false and/or irrelevant statements, vulgar language or images. As teachers it is impossible for us to stand over ever students shoulder at one time and moniter their use of these sites.
Another important issue is computer safety. Although we install antivirus software on our computers, students may accidentally disable the protection and open the computer up to these risks. By allowing students to access sites that are not secure we are possibly putting our computers, as well as student information on these computers at risk to viruses or hackers. As mentioned in our text, Teachers Discovering Computers, "Schools and school districts have a legal and moral responsibility to protect sensitive information, whether it is in printed form or stored electronically on school computers". By allowing students to access certain sites that may not be approved by personal, we may be putting this stored information in jeopardy of being stolen by hackers such as student login information, grades or saved work.
However, Mary Beth Hertz makes a very good point in her suggestion: "My suggestion is to contact whoever is in charge of filtering and give them concrete examples of how these tools are being used in the classroom" (Hertz, M.B.) As teachers, I do think that if we do find the need to use any of these specific blocked sites in our classroom, as long as we have a clear and concrete reason why these sites would be educationally useful and relevant in the classroom, we should be able to prove our case to administration to have the site temporarily unblocked for use.
Hertz, M.B.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
Connectivism and Networking (RR#2)
As we learned by reading chapter 2 in our textbook Integrating Digital Technology and Media in the Classroom, "administrators, teachers, and students can access the unlimited educational resources available on the Internet and communicate with other educators and students all over the world instantly" (Gunter, 69). There are so many useful things we can do with the Internet in our classrooms. As a teacher, I enjoy integrating technology into my classroom using tools such as BrainPop! videos, online educational games like the ones found at http://gamequarium.com/, and allowing my students to use the Internet to do research for projects. We also learn how communication tools such as e-mail can be very useful in companies. The hotel I work for is very big into online communications, and is constantly using email and even the social networking site http://www.facebook.com/ to keep guests informed on new promotions and events going on in the area.
I also found the video The Networked Student (Drexler) to be very interesting. It is interesting to see the change in education as technology continues to grow and evolve. Before watching this video, I never really knew that iTunes had educational podcasts where you can search lectures on specific subjects for educational research. I also had not really been to familiar with the concept of Google Scholar, and after watching this video, decided to check it out found its features to be quite useful. It is amazing to think about where we will be ten years from now as teachers and the tools we will be able to incorporate into our teaching. To think that instructors can teach an entire college level course without even using a textbook (as seen in this video) is an exciting idea.
Another interesting communication tool that I had really never thought to use before taking EME 5050 is blogging. After being introduced to the concept of blogging, I feel that this communication tool can be very useful as both an educator and a student. As explained in the video Blogs in Plain English (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN2I1pWXjXI&ob=av3e), blogs are a useful tool to share useful information with people around the world. As an educator, this can be a useful way to subscribe to a page that shares teaching tips, lesson plans, and other useful information. Blogs can also be a great way for students to connect with classmates, peers and students from all around the world to discuss a variety of educational topics. Through doing so, students can also get a lot of practice in their writing skills.
Drexler, W. (n.d.). The Networked Student. YouTube.
Gunter, Glenda. (2010) Integrating Technology and Digital Media in the Classroom. (6th Ed.)
Boston MA. Course Technology.
I also found the video The Networked Student (Drexler) to be very interesting. It is interesting to see the change in education as technology continues to grow and evolve. Before watching this video, I never really knew that iTunes had educational podcasts where you can search lectures on specific subjects for educational research. I also had not really been to familiar with the concept of Google Scholar, and after watching this video, decided to check it out found its features to be quite useful. It is amazing to think about where we will be ten years from now as teachers and the tools we will be able to incorporate into our teaching. To think that instructors can teach an entire college level course without even using a textbook (as seen in this video) is an exciting idea.
Another interesting communication tool that I had really never thought to use before taking EME 5050 is blogging. After being introduced to the concept of blogging, I feel that this communication tool can be very useful as both an educator and a student. As explained in the video Blogs in Plain English (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN2I1pWXjXI&ob=av3e), blogs are a useful tool to share useful information with people around the world. As an educator, this can be a useful way to subscribe to a page that shares teaching tips, lesson plans, and other useful information. Blogs can also be a great way for students to connect with classmates, peers and students from all around the world to discuss a variety of educational topics. Through doing so, students can also get a lot of practice in their writing skills.
Drexler, W. (n.d.). The Networked Student. YouTube.
Gunter, Glenda. (2010) Integrating Technology and Digital Media in the Classroom. (6th Ed.)
Boston MA. Course Technology.
Friday, September 10, 2010
The Internet: A great tool for educators! (Week 2 AR)
The Internet is such a useful tool for educators. Growing up in the age of technology, I have had plenty of experience as a student and using the Internet to do research using search engines such as Google or Yahoo. I check my email account daily, pay my bills online and have a Facebook account. As a teaching intern, I have used different Internet teaching tools such as BrainPop! in the classroom as a teaching aid. However, until now I have never sat down and taken a closer look at all the various resources the Internet has to offer educators.
One site I really found to be great for use in the classroom is called Ask for Kids (http://www.askkids.com). This is a very kid-friendly, fun site where students can ask questions in a search box (I typed in 'when was the civil war' as a test question), and they will be directed to a page with links on the subject as well as a separate box where they can change/refine their search question or click on related topics (such as Robert E Lee or Battle of Bull Run). There is also a Games section including a game I found to be very educational called Trivia Archer, where students earn points by answering trivia questions in different areas such as geography, history and astronomy. Learning should be made fun and I think that this site could be a very helpful tool in doing so.
Another great site I found is called Education World (http://www.education-world.com), a site full of resources for teachers. Through this site, teachers can find lesson plans on a wide variety of topics and grade levels, get help writing newsletters, search for and purchase supplies for the classroom, download worksheets and even search for education jobs. I added this site as a bookmark on my computer, and feel that I will get a lot of use out of it in the future.
States and districts also offer plenty of online resources to teachers, and two of the sites I focused on were the Florida Department of Education (http://www.fldoe.org) and my district's site: Brevard Public Schools (http://www.brevard.k12.fl.us/). These sites both have easy to follow layouts, and provide information for teachers, parents, students and the community. As a future teacher, I focused mainly on the teacher portion of these pages. I found the district site to be a bit more user-friendly than the FLDOE main page, however both were full of useful information, links and resources. One section I found to be particularly useful was the Training & Professional Development section, which gives educators a list of different pages to improve their learning, find and register for inservices, and subscribe to educational journals in areas such as integrating technology in the classroom. Through these sites you can also access school calendars, lunch schedules and policies.
Another technology that I never really thought would be useful to me is Twitter. When I first heard about Twitter, I honestly thought that it was a silly site for people to update their friends about what they were doing (such as "I am eating ice cream" or "I just passed a big test!") much like updating a Facebook status. However, I have realized that sites like this can also have true educational value, by subscribing to groups or pages that share useful links and resources with one another.
As a future teacher, and throughout the rest of my time here in the Elementary Education program at UCF, I plan on taking advantage of the Internet and these useful sites both in and out of the classroom.
One site I really found to be great for use in the classroom is called Ask for Kids (http://www.askkids.com). This is a very kid-friendly, fun site where students can ask questions in a search box (I typed in 'when was the civil war' as a test question), and they will be directed to a page with links on the subject as well as a separate box where they can change/refine their search question or click on related topics (such as Robert E Lee or Battle of Bull Run). There is also a Games section including a game I found to be very educational called Trivia Archer, where students earn points by answering trivia questions in different areas such as geography, history and astronomy. Learning should be made fun and I think that this site could be a very helpful tool in doing so.
Another great site I found is called Education World (http://www.education-world.com), a site full of resources for teachers. Through this site, teachers can find lesson plans on a wide variety of topics and grade levels, get help writing newsletters, search for and purchase supplies for the classroom, download worksheets and even search for education jobs. I added this site as a bookmark on my computer, and feel that I will get a lot of use out of it in the future.
States and districts also offer plenty of online resources to teachers, and two of the sites I focused on were the Florida Department of Education (http://www.fldoe.org) and my district's site: Brevard Public Schools (http://www.brevard.k12.fl.us/). These sites both have easy to follow layouts, and provide information for teachers, parents, students and the community. As a future teacher, I focused mainly on the teacher portion of these pages. I found the district site to be a bit more user-friendly than the FLDOE main page, however both were full of useful information, links and resources. One section I found to be particularly useful was the Training & Professional Development section, which gives educators a list of different pages to improve their learning, find and register for inservices, and subscribe to educational journals in areas such as integrating technology in the classroom. Through these sites you can also access school calendars, lunch schedules and policies.
Another technology that I never really thought would be useful to me is Twitter. When I first heard about Twitter, I honestly thought that it was a silly site for people to update their friends about what they were doing (such as "I am eating ice cream" or "I just passed a big test!") much like updating a Facebook status. However, I have realized that sites like this can also have true educational value, by subscribing to groups or pages that share useful links and resources with one another.
As a future teacher, and throughout the rest of my time here in the Elementary Education program at UCF, I plan on taking advantage of the Internet and these useful sites both in and out of the classroom.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Are we doing what is best for our students, or what is more convenient for us?
Are we teachers doing what is best for our students, or what is more convenient for us? As a teacher or future educator, this question definately makes you stop and think. I do believe that for the most part, teachers do try and create lessons that will benefit the students as best we can, and to keep things interesting for them. However, as the Did You Know video pointed out, there is constantly new technology being created, and the way students learn is constantly changing. It can be very hard and even intimidating to try and keep up with and integrate all this new technology into our lesson plans. Perhaps as teachers we try to stick to what is convenient for us and not trying out things that we have not become familiar with in our classrooms yet.
As chapter one in our text explains: "In any society, educators have the ability to make an enormous positive contribution. Making such a contribution is a challenge, and teachers must willingly embrace new teaching and learning opportunities". There are so many new technologies available to us as teachers, that it would truly be impossible to integrate them all into our classroom on a daily basis, however I believe that it would be in our students' best interest to at least try using one or two of these methods in our teachings. Having been working alongside many teachers in Brevard County during my internships, I did notice that almost all of them have made an effort to include educational technologies such as Brain Pop! learning videos, computer review games and handheld response units used as a whole class to assess students' understanding of particular concepts. However, teachers are already put under so much stress by standards and standardized tests (particularly for reading and writing), principals and parents that trying out new technologies in the classroom is usually not a number one priority, even if these technologies would give students better learning opportunities.
In reading chapter one, I found it interesting to learn that "in education, the Wii console could be useful in helping students develop psychomotor skills and as a tool to energize students' cognitive domain of learning through interactivity". To be honest, I never would have thought to use video game consoles as a learning tool in my classroom, even though it may be in my students' best interest. With all of the standards we must meet on a daily basis, and so little time to get everything accomplished to help our students perform well on high-stakes tests, perhaps we are sticking to what is more convenient for us to get the job done efficiently and in a timely matter when we should be trying out new learning tools.
As chapter one in our text explains: "In any society, educators have the ability to make an enormous positive contribution. Making such a contribution is a challenge, and teachers must willingly embrace new teaching and learning opportunities". There are so many new technologies available to us as teachers, that it would truly be impossible to integrate them all into our classroom on a daily basis, however I believe that it would be in our students' best interest to at least try using one or two of these methods in our teachings. Having been working alongside many teachers in Brevard County during my internships, I did notice that almost all of them have made an effort to include educational technologies such as Brain Pop! learning videos, computer review games and handheld response units used as a whole class to assess students' understanding of particular concepts. However, teachers are already put under so much stress by standards and standardized tests (particularly for reading and writing), principals and parents that trying out new technologies in the classroom is usually not a number one priority, even if these technologies would give students better learning opportunities.
In reading chapter one, I found it interesting to learn that "in education, the Wii console could be useful in helping students develop psychomotor skills and as a tool to energize students' cognitive domain of learning through interactivity". To be honest, I never would have thought to use video game consoles as a learning tool in my classroom, even though it may be in my students' best interest. With all of the standards we must meet on a daily basis, and so little time to get everything accomplished to help our students perform well on high-stakes tests, perhaps we are sticking to what is more convenient for us to get the job done efficiently and in a timely matter when we should be trying out new learning tools.
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