Chapter 3 Software and its Best Use in Education

Learning software is nothing new. I remember playing math based games on school computers in early grade school, and to the credit of this software's developers, it makes a great difference for many students.

THE CHANGE

I distinctly recall my feelings changing about such games as I grew up, finding them less appealing and more childish, but this is perhaps where other software steps in to take its place. I have found through experience in the teaching position, that simulators and the like are wonderful tools for aiding in teaching high school physics and chemistry. This sort of software can really help students to visualize what might otherwise be too abstract a concept for them to completely understand.

VR and How it Would be Great

This is a very interesting topic that is much more on the new side of things than the former. With more advancement in this technology (preferably to make it more affordable if nothing else), students could be presented with numerous scenarios in which the material they are learning can be of use. This could all be done safely within the classroom, and could be infinitely more immersive than anything we currently have at our disposal, save for hands on experimentation!

Now and Yet to Come

Currently, there is a lot to look into as far as educational software goes. We are lucky to have been born into a generation that, as teachers, have so much at our disposal to aid us in our endeavors to educate students. Even more importantly, this is just the beginning! Technological advancement over the years has proven to make drastic improvement at a rate several orders of magnitude higher than that of any other example (political, cultural, etc.) in our world today. In short, not only can we be grateful for what we have now, but we can look forward to many more wonderful improvements and inventions in the future! As was mentioned earlier in the book, this is a field that just keeps on growing, so it is important that we keep up to date, and always have an eye out for what may be useful in our endeavors.


References:
Roblyer, M. D. (2016). Integrating educational technology into teaching (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

Chapter 2 Thoughts and Agreements, Concerns and More

After reading through chapter two, there are some things floating around my mind...


A Constructivist at Heart

While it is clear that most people are some combination of both directed and constructivist approaches to learning, I can't help but feel that I lean more toward constructivist tendencies myself. I feel that it is important for students to be allowed some measure of creative freedom to show what they have learned, and that standardization and the testing that has accompanied its heavy emphasis currently do more harm than good. It is important to hold both teachers and students accountable for students' education, but there is so much attention and emphasis placed on this that I can't help but feel like it is getting in the way of true learning more often than not. Too frequently is there such great emphasis placed on memorization, and "test taking skills," rather than exploring a subject and actually learning something that students can take away from class and use.


Non-use of Technology

This is something to carefully examine both before and after implementing new technology in the classroom/school setting. It often seems like, both in the place of students and teachers, that the user of a new technology being implemented in a school district is being forced into that role. Of course both groups will be resistant to change in any case, but after implementing a new piece of technology, if those being put to the task of using it regularly find that it is inferior to other methods (provided that they are using said technology correctly of course), it should be reviewed as to whether or not the new implement is actually bringing any benefit. It might even be in implementers' best interests to survey the group that is going to be presented with the new device first, to get their take on it before possibly forcing something that is not particularly useful just because it's new or trendy (among other reasons).


Benefit vs. cost analysis

Here is another vital part of technology implementation, only this one perhaps does get the attention it needs since so much hinges on money when it comes to school programs and equipment. However, it still sometimes seems like schools occasionally purchase new technology without weighing the benefits versus the prodigious cause of new equipment. Similar to the ipads mentioned in the text, I was previously at a school doing a technology update wherein they purchased ipad for all of the teachers, then began purchasing them for the student body, when district focus was drawn to google and the new chromebook. The ipads that had already been purchased were stored away to be disposed of later, and within a couple of years, the teachers' ipads were also taken in lieu of given them chromebooks instead. I can only guess hat ultimately happened to all of the ipads, since I don't believe it was ever publicly announced, but I would assume that they were thrown away.


References:
Roblyer, M. D. (2016). Integrating educational technology into teaching (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

Some Highlights and My Thoughts From Chapter 1

The heading says it all. These are some of my choice initial thoughts on chapter one. If anyone has something to add, I would love to hear what you have to say!


I was surprised to learn in this reading that people had created working, free, college level courses through the internet! The text seemed to imply that they were ruined because someone wanted to "make a buck" though...


I agree that the planned use of technology is important and it is never a replacement for well planned education, but rather a resource to be used in education.


Older technology is not necessarily bad, but can still be a useful tool:

I feel that a perfect example of this is a previous district I was in, where there had been a district initiative set in place to remove all desktop computers from classrooms. Teachers were expected to transfer all of their materials to cloud storage and work from chrome books along with students, even though these more portable computers were incapable of meeting some teachers' needs. The chrome books were to be used in conjunction with Sharp TV's, but this matters little when teachers don't have the necessary materials.

References:
Roblyer, M. D. (2016). Integrating educational technology into teaching (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

Introductions

Hello, and welcome by my blog!

I've created this blog as a part of the summer session II Teaching with Technology class that I and several others are taking.

I can't guarantee that I will always have the most interesting or original thoughts, but you are always welcome to read along and see what I have to offer.

As a brief background, let me include an introduction:
I graduated Middletown High School in 2007, and went on to the University at Albany to pursue a college education. I finished my undergraduate degree there in 2011, and graduated with A bachelor of science in Chemistry, a minor in Physics, and the crazy idea that I had enjoyed tutoring and studying with and helping others, and I wanted to be a teacher. Fast forward a couple of years of finding a job, having a crummy job, and moving on to substitute teach when I found that I had the education required to do that already, and here I am now. I'm in the summer after my first year in the masters program for adolescent education here at the mount, and so far I have learned much more than I had ever expected I would.

Stay tuned for thoughts involving more of the class assignments and less of my personal history. I hope those of you who stick around enjoy it!