21st Century Teachers with Technology

The big talk is about how we should become teachers for the future. Meaning that we should be picking up tricks and technological uses for our students once we graduate. Big talk on how about a GOOD 21st century teacher has to use technology in their classroom. There are some ways that I agree with this and some ways that I don't agree with it. There are some technology that I approve of such as an overhead or the computer to be used for writing papers at home and what not. On the other hand, we don't need new top priced merchandizing. Our society is coming up with new types of technology all the time and if we want to stay current then we would be buying new technology services every year or every other year. There are so many different types of new technology that can help us in our world of teaching, but I think that a lot of them can be substituted in others ways in which we don't need to use technology. Blogging for example is in comparison to writing journals, and you could easily do it either way depending on what views you have as a  teacher. I find that technology is what is going to make us better teachers because it is what is "in" now, and will just be upcoming also. "Teachers who use technology frequently report greater benefits to student learning, engagement and skills from technology than teachers who spend less time using technology to support learning." (http://www.waldenu.edu/News-and-Events/36572.htm)

There are so many other types of technology that are being created just for the use of being able to use it in a classroom and to have multiple purposes such as the ISCHOOL.





With all of this technology, we really don't know where we are going to go from here. We know that it is going to keep growing and it is never going to be stopped, but figuring out how to keep it and integrate certain things into our classrooms is a different story.

Photos credits to:
http://media.photobucket.com/image/mac+laptop+/IzzyMattapan7/Mac-Laptop.jpg
and
http://www.hitechsphere.com/2010/07/

How should Schools Handle Facebook?

       One of the most popular social networking sites out there, as well all know is facebook. Everyone has it, whether it be for bullying, updating their status', finding old college buddies, or just being IN with the crowd. The question is, why is school getting involved and making fake accounts to check up on kids on facebook? How far can the schools go?  What constitutes their right to go into students personal lives? All of these questions have come into play with facebook in schools and with students.
      There have been a lot of problems with facebook in schools. Parents would call schools telling them that their child is being bullied on facebook. They are telling the schools to do something about it. When do schools step in and say that is a parent responsibility?  (http://schooleducator.wordpress.com/2009/04/18/facebook-follies-schools-need-to-help-parents-and-students/)
These things are happening outside of schools and I do not think that the school has the right to punish a child for something that has nothing to do with them. Parents think that schools should punish other children for this and I don't think that is right. I also know from experience that schools actually HIRE someone to make fake facebook accounts to try and find students drinking and doing things that they are not suppose to be doing. When did schools go from educating our students and helping them learn turn into controlling their lives even outside of school? Yes, I understand that high school students should not be drinking, especially athletes, but that does not give you the right to go out and spy out on them. I really wonder about how some schools think now-a-days.
       Another question that comes into play is teachers having facebooks. Do schools have the right to control those? I know teachers that actually add their students when they have a facebook. Is that wrong because they do that? I don't ever see teachers getting into trouble with having a facebook, or schools trying to

control their lives outside of school, especially if they have pictures of them drinking on it. That is not school appropriate, especially if you are friends with your students. There are so many holes in the education system with the problem of facebook.
      Now there is the other spectrum of facebook. When students know that teachers, administrators, and other people can see your facebook, why would you put pictures up of you breaking laws, drinking, or acting completely idiotic? Some might say that they are just dumb teenagers who are trying to act cool, but who knows. No one can even think of what a teenager is thinking at the time. They don't even think that their school is going to try and look them up on their facebook to try and get them into trouble. The people that your suppose to trust the most, and the place you are suppose to feel the safest is the place that is trying to bring you down. Kids think that blocking their facebook from outsiders is going to help them not get into trouble, but then don't realize that these people that the school hires are professionals and can hack into that too. They also don't think about their future and realize that future employers can be looking at that page too and decide not to hire you because of what is portrayed on your facebook. There are a lot of things to think about with these so called harmless, fun, enjoyable networking sites. 

There have been a lot of "problems" with this networking site, more problems than I can talk about here. There are still no answers to all of these problems, and I don't know if there will ever be. There are just some things that I think need to be handled by parents, and they need to take their responsibility. If it is getting that bad, delete your child's facebook.

Photos By:
http://www.flowtown.com/blog/social-media-insights-from-the-big-lebowski (ethan Block)
and
http://gadishamia.wordpress.com/2007/11/08/facebook-market-segmentation-and-a-discussion-mark-zuckerberg-never-had/attachment/47/

Cell Phones In School

The use of cell phones in school has been a big debate in our world today for many reasons. There are many pros and cons to kids having cell phones in school. The question is which one out weighs the other, and which one is the answer.

I am first going to talk about the pros to having a cell phone in school and how it can be beneficial. The family education website tells us:

• You can be in touch with your children, and know their whereabouts.
• Your kids can reach you in the event of an emergency, and vice versa.
• If in danger, your children can reach the authorities or a medical provider.
• Phones can be silenced during class or study periods, and active only in appropriate places.
• Cell phones create a convenience that was previously unavailable. With cell phones, you can easily reach your kids for any reason: to ask them questions, change plans, or to simply say hello.

(http://life.familyeducation.com/cellular-telephones/school/51264.html)
I think that having a cell phone in high school is a good thing. Although I am not 100% for it, I am mostly for it.  I grew up with the dilemma of having the cell phone in the classroom and being yelled at for having it on me while I was in school. Our school tried to make sure that our phones were in our lockers and turned off while we were there. I thought that this was a good try, but really, we are going to have out cell phones on us all the time if we want to. What they did wrong was not really punish us if they caught us with it. They would just take it for less than an hour or tell us to put them away. Having them let us communicate with our parents when we wanted to especially because a lot of us were athletes. If we were not aloud to have them in schools at all, then what would happen if something happened at the end of school, or something dangerous happened in the school and we wanted to get a hold of our parents. I think having cell phones in school are risky, but if implemented right then they could work.

Here are some of the cons that are provided by the family education website:

• Students often forget to turn off their phones in class, and ringing noises or text-message alerts disrupt learning.
• Even if set to silent, cell phones can still cause distraction, since text messaging has become a high-tech method of passing notes in school.
• Students have been known to use cell phones to call in bomb threats to schools, to avoid or condense class time.
• In the event of a widespread crisis, rampant cell phone use can overload communication systems and render them inoperable.
• Student cell phone networks add to the spread of rumors and misinformation, which can be harmful during a widespread crisis.
• Phones can be used as cheating devices during exams.
• The long-term physical effects of cell phone use are still undetermined.

(http://life.familyeducation.com/cellular-telephones/school/51264.html)

The reason I also agree with not having cell phones in school, is the age factor. There are so many little kids now that have cell phones. Me, nor any of my friends could picture getting a cell phone at 8 years old, or even younger! What do children need cell phones for? They are not old enough to go somewhere after school unless its to a friends house, and if you are that young you would think that you planned that ahead with both parents. Kids have no use to cell phones in school or out of school in my opinion. It is a a tragedy what our kids have to come these days with technology. Don't get me wrong I am thoroughly involved with my cell phone, and I know more than I should be, but I don't even see kids playing outside half the time because they are so enriched with the computer, video games, cell phones, and the television.

In the end, I think that having cell phones in a productive and appropriate way is completely acceptable especially since our world is so technology friendly now. The reason I do feel like this is because HIGH SCHOOL age children could use them in many beneficial ways and you would rather be safe than sorry. Elementary school children need to back off, and parents need to stand up and tell them no!

Photos By:
http://www.w-cellphones.com/
and
http://tinyurl.com/256h2b8

Moving to 1-to-1 Computers for students

There has been a lot of talk about moving on to 1-to-1 computers for students. I have always had a strong opinion about being opposed to this. I have seen computers do more bad things than good (for the most part). In my high school we had accessible lap tops and kids would play games more than try and work, and that was in high school. What do you think that middle school kids, or even elementary kids are going to do. Our school tried to block all game websites to avoid that problem, but we knew how to get into all the proxy servers. Once they blocked all of those, we would find or create more. It was a never ending cycle of not wanting to do out work during that time. I just feel like there are so much more productive things that could be going on outside of the computer.

Children these days are all about technology. Yes, I admit, I don't know what I would do without my technology, but I remember when I was younger and use to play outside everyday. Before cell phones (for young kids), computers, internet, and everything else that is taken advantage of these days. I rarely see kids outside playing freely without something attached to their hip, like a cell phone, before the age of 10! I would never think that I would have had a cell phone before 15, and that was even pushing it. Besides the cell phone, it is all about video games and computer games. These things already consume a lot of kids lives at home, so why continue it at school? I guess my point is, I am just for a standard classroom, and I feel as if it is my job to make it enjoyable being a teacher, not counting on the computer to do it for me. I am not opposed to using them, but 1-to-1 just seems like a bad idea. Although, many of my ideas could come from the computer, I would rather teach them, then a computer teach my kids.

Another thing that is said that could be a problem is the fact that the teachers have to do a lot of work to make sure that the computer is implemented into the classroom in an effective way. I would rather take that time to make my lesson plans that I learn from and that I could teach. The teachers get to chose what time the students get their laptops. Why do that when you could just go to a lab in the school? That is what we did in high school and middle school (unless you checked out the portable laptops). The other problem is what if a laptop breaks, drops, or needs to be fixed? Is the school going to be paying for the fix or the repair? If so, where is all this money coming from? In out economy today, schools are firing good teachers because of budget cuts. Do we really want to keep firing teachers so we can use some of that money for computers for 1-to-1? I would not want that. I know that they are completely different budgets, but it is still money that is coming to the school.

These are some reasons why I think 1-to-1 should not be implemented into these schools for children.

Now, between Monday October 25, 2010's lecture and some things that I have read (website below), there is a lot of good things that are said to be implemented because of the 1-to-1 computer to student ratio. I can't sit here and state my opinion and not acknowledge that is helping things such as graduation rates. If I had to chose to have the 1-to-1 ratio, it would only be in high school because those are the only kids that could maybe handle it (although I don't think so). Little kids are too immature and careless to be running around with a laptop. You can't always keep them at school. What if there is an assignment and it is being done on their laptop. how are they going to finish it? As I said before, I know a good things have come from this, but I think the negatives FOR NOW out weigh the positives.


http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/07/26/are-computers-for-every-student-a-wise-investment/

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/02/16/11-programs-only-as-good-as-their-teachers/

Photo by:
http://assets.motherboard.tv/post_images/assets/000/005/925/20081118-xo-kids_large.jpg?1281447918

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