Technology and Access Issues

I am not sure I believe there is such a thing as students who don't have access to technology outside the classroom. There are public libraries, libraries in schools, and after school tutoring in school with computer access. I do however, see that students who are lazy and avoid spending time in libraries or with tutors to work on computers do exist. That is their choice though.

As a teacher I will technology in the class quite often. My presentations to students will utilize power point, videos, and photographs of reliant material. My students will also be required to write papers and create their own digital works of art and information. If a few students do not have computer access at home I will still use computers in the class and with assignments. There are plenty of opportunities for students to get what they need technologically if they put forth even minimal effort.

I also think that teachers who shy away from technology are doing their students a disservice. Technology is everywhere and as teachers it is our responsibility to prepare student to succeed wherever they go. In order to be successful today and in the future students need to be technologically savvy.

Power Point Presentations

I would have to say the best thing during the presentations was Hayley's slide explaining the don't of Improve. I am not sure exactly why it stuck to me as the best but it did. I thinking maybe because she gave good examples of what can go wrong. Also a lot of times I tend to explain things as what is the right way to do things, and forget to give examples of bad. That slide was a good reminder for me and was entertaining. I also really enjoyed the use of humor in Zach's presentation.

I believe the least engaging thing I saw was an over use of reading notes. That is also what I would say some people need to improve on.

I think I did a cruddy job of presenting. I spoke to quickly and didn't make my subject very exciting. If I were to actually present this in a class I would go a lot slower and ask a lot more questions of students to help reinforce the information.

I enjoy using power point because it is very visual and helpful for people with auditory issues. I also enjoy that I can write a vary sparse outline which students can copy down as notes. I think one of the big cons is that people tend to really over use words on them. A good thing is that pictures can speak a thousand words and you can get some great pictures on a power point.

dont read notes know your material
good to use engaging media
enthusiasm for material really shows
ask questions to make it engagning
use the audience as examples

Cell Phones in Class... Good or Bad

Some people believe cell phones have absolutely no place in the classroom. Mr Josh Allen is one of those. He even goes so far as to criticize parents on their spending habits, "the discussion on why a parent bought their child a Blackberry is so ridiculous my head may explode." He also states, "Laptops are much more versatile yet uniform than cell phones. Any monies a school spent on phones and plans would be much better served with any number of technologies." I find this last statement comical. I have never heard of a school spending money on cell phones for student.

Overall I believe this guy is an idiot. My cell phone has made the use of my lap top almost non existent. Yes I still write papers on my computer but anytime I need to look information up, find directions or email I use my cell phone. Clearly cell phones are useful. I agree with Ms. Liz Kolb, that cell phones are a wonderful tool in classrooms. They can be used to research, record lecture, post on class blogs and much more. Additionally cell phones are the future for technology and students need to be prepared to use them. I used to work at a company where the marketing dirrector did almost everything with his cell phone. Many companies keep track of employees, shipments and meeting with cell phones.

I also understand that cell phones can be a class distraction. However, cell phones are a distraction that can be handled with a strict set of rules that students are held accountable to. The more I read through this article the more ideas I had for using cell phones in the class productively. It makes me curious about even more ways to use phones in the class.

Cyberbullying! Bad Stuff...

Cyberbullying is bullying with the use of electronics. This could be text messages, blogs, instant messaging or post on a social networking site. Those are just a few examples and daily there are more and more methods of cyberbullying getting tried out.

I am lucky that I have not been cyberbullied yet. My torment as a youth came in the form of face to face encounters. Because, the individuals who wanted to cause me emotional harm did it face to face I had an opportunity to defend myself. I would often become physical and thus as I got older started to deter this crul behavior I encountered. Unfortunately many students today are too scared to confront their bullies or have no means to because it is cyber.

The really frustrating part of cyber bullying is that it can happen anywhere and it is easy to hide from teachers and family. Many children are embarassed to show the aweful things classmates have to say about them online or through text messaging. This just means that educators and parents have to stay more alert and proactive. As a teacher I will have a very clear set of rules addressing cyberbullying. Students will know that if I find or suspect there is cyberbullying I will report them. All of my online assignments will have a zero tollerence policy for negative remarks. All students will read through the school bullying policy and discuss its application to electronics in my class.

Luckily schools are starting to stay up to date with technology more and more. As a result many districts are creating policies to address things such as cyberbullying. It is hard to define a line of what involves the school and what doesn't. In my own beliefs I think that the schools should be able to take action on anything that effects another students learning. For example if a students receives a text message with a death threat on the weekend, the school should be able to take action against the text sender.

Bullying is an epidemic. As a teacher I will do whatever I can to prevent any type of bullying from happening in or out of my classroom.

Googling Myself...

The Internet is a pretty crazy place with a ton of information about most people. Fortunately for me it doesn't seem to know a whole heck of a lot about me. When searching for myself in Google I found a ton of other people with my same name but nothing about me. That surprised me a little because in the past I could find my Facebook page, but not anymore. When searching for myself on PIPL I found a little bit more information. My freshman year basketball bio was there. http://www.collegeofidaho.edu/athlete/wbasketball/profiles/0304/mortensen.htm I also came across my old My Space page that I have not opened up in almost forever. http://www.myspace.com/57628031

When searching for myself I did not find anything that I wouldn't want people to see. I was however concerned about all the pictures I am tagged on. I signed into my Facebook and spent 20 minutes untagging myself from any questionable photos.

I have a hard time wrapping my brain around the issue of teachers being held to a higher standard and loosing their right to free speech. Part of me says of course teachers should be held to a higher expectation. The other side of my brain says that it isn't right for anyone to tell me what I can and can't do away from work. The part that I think really sucks is that administrators would go searching for information about their employees on the Internet. I don't think a teacher should loose their job for pictures they have posted on the Internet. I think their job should be lost when having inappropriate contact with students through the Internet, otherwise I think teachers should be left alone. Going back to the issue of free speech and talking trash about the work place, I am still undecided on the issue.

The most interesting story in the article "Have You Googled Your Teacher Lately?" was the woman who's partner had a nude artistic picture of her on the Internet. I think that situation sucks and is not worthy of dismissal. I am glad I read about it though. The best thing I think I can do for self preservation in the teaching business is to limit the amount of material that gets posted of me on the Internet. I will do my best to never let another picture of me be taken with a drink in my hand. I will always have all of my profiles on social networking sites private and I will never have students as friends on these sites.

Its scary to think that the Internet, something I don't have control over, could cause me to loose my job...

Digital Native or Immigrant

I consider myself a Digital Founder. This does not mean that I believe I am awesome with technology. What I mean by this is I have grown up alongside technology. When I was a child the internet was just getting started. As I got older so did the internet and as it got better I got better at using it. I believe this a great example of convergent evolution, and as such I think it makes it not possible for me to be considered a native or an immigrant.

My experiences in high school were with limited use of technology. I had the internet at home, played video games and watched television pretty much daily. In the last article the author states, “Students certainly don’t have short attention spans for their games, movies, music, or Internet surfing. More and more they just don’t tolerate the old ways-and they are enraged we are not better by them.” I completely disagree with this. I was never enraged that my teachers didn’t turn school into a video game for me. In fact in some ways I appreciated the atmosphere of being “powered down.” I think the rage that students feel these days is a result of their entitlement feelings. They believe a teacher’s job is to entertain and baby sit them. I think a large part of this is poor parenting.

With all that being said, I do understand that the demand that students have for classes to be their way is not going to change anytime soon. When I begin teaching I will do my best to make the subject entertaining and utilize multiple teaching methods and tools including technology. I will also not feel guilty for the times I lecture to my students and have them takes notes on an ultra archaic paper with a pen.

There were times in college where technology like the Smart Board improved the learning environment and there were also times where the technology hindered the learning experience. Looking back on my college experiences I can draw one conclusion regarding my education and power point. In classes where the professor lectured from a very complete power point, one in which no note taking was necessary because I could print the power point later, I retained very little long term information. On the other hand, classes with a power point outline were very productive. My handwritten notes in these classes were better organized that in classes based on pure lecture. I also remember a great deal of information from these classes. The author of the first group says his “preference for teaching Digital Natives is to invent computer games to do the job, even for the most serious content.” I believe this is a great idea for things people will continue to use on a very regular basis like learning how to drive. But for things like chemistry I don’t believe the quick route is going to engrain the information into the long term memory unless it is used over and over again. The idea of repetition seems like it would be just as frustrating to a digital native as being taught without technology. I don’t know anyone who plays the same video game level over and over again.

Reading these articles brought to light the issue of technology driven students that I hadn’t given much thought to before. After gaining this knowledge I don’t think it really changed my opinion; however it did show me that I will have to keep my class entertaining in order to be a successful teacher.

A Brief Introduction

My name is Elizabeth Mortensen. Most people call me Liz.

I hope to teach high school Biology and Chemistry.

I do not have a favorite animal. I like a lot of different animals. Here is a picture of a Lion.