Class 6 Reading Response

Is Social Networking Changing the Way People Relate to Each Other
by Sherry Turkle

Sherry Turkle brought up some pretty good points about communication, and how social networking with technology has really shaped our society. People are spending so much time communicating with each other either over email, instant messaging, texting, blogging, etc. that face to face talking or even talking on the phone has begun to decline.

I thought her comment about having to pick up a phone in order to feel something, or I have a feeling, I need to pick up the phone is perfect. Can one manage being alone and function by him or herself these days. I guess that is the question, especially for teenagers growing up in the new millenium, when they have so many contacts and ways to get in touch with someone for help.

Young adults these days don't have the responsibility like kids did even one decade ago. But I think it only applies to young adults. As older adults communicate more frequently with social networking technology, the question is, is their life changing in terms of relying on others for feeling and a sense of comfort?

I thought this article by Turkle captured very important points, however, I also thing this topic could bring in the topic of good parenting and that as a parent, making sure that your kids learn responsibility and learn to rely on oneself can still be attainable, despite the daily use of technology.

Week 5 Reading Response

Myths and Realities About Technology in K-12 Schools

I really enjoyed reading this article. It seemed to capture a lot of opinions and truths about teachers in today's society and trying to incorporate technology into the classroom effectively. I definitely agree with the response to myth # 1.

Myth # 1 Putting computers into schools will directly improve leanring; more computers will result in greater improvements.

The reality according to this article is that all this expensive technology will yield little educational progress unless schools and districts meet the needs for professional development, technical support, which I deal with a lot at my site, the availability of grade level software, etc.

Inorder for technology to benefit teachers and students, or education in general, a few basic needs have to be met. Knowledge is the key to educating all. Teachers have to be knowledgable with these new technologies inorder to effectively teach his/her students. But if teachers are to be expected to teach these new technologies and involve students with new programs and applications, then teachers need the resources to do so!

Chapter # 6: Community Building With Technologies
David Jonassen

Community building goes beyond just the classroom and school site. I always thought I developed good classroom community within my own classroom, but I guess I haven't really made that expansion to the outside world, meaning different classrooms around the world or even Arizona. I think this might be something I could try to do! I have writing penpals in KS, but it would be cool to incorporate collaborative/socializing technologies like: wikis and blogs to communicate back and forth. I think it is still important to teach students how to handwrite letters, but to increase student engagement and to also make sure students are learning and keeping up with new software technologies, incorporating various mediums to accomplish the same task is critical. The greatest question/goal is to find the right balance in teaching using the old strategies (paper-pencil) ways, and the new (virtual world) ways of teaching to our state standards.

Class 4 Reading Response

Teaching with New Eyes by John Snyder discussed education and technology as a whole; working together to accomplish curriculum standards, not as two entities that are taught separtately. Snyder came to the realization that technology really needs to be woven into the curriculum for today's students. Technology is an integral part of their lives, and by teaching with technology alongside other skills will only benefit today's students.

I believe technology should just be incorporated into our daily teaching. Not only teaching students how to use technology, but allowing various tools of technology to aid with learning other curriculum standards and skills.

This article exemplifies how important making technology a curriculum tool is and that technology is something that should be added to the daily routine of educating our students. K-12 students do need to learn computer skills, but they should also be used as a vehicle for learning across the curriculum board in general.

"To adults, computers are something to marvel at. To kids, they're just a part of the fabric of their lives." I really thought this quote from the article was appropriate on how today's society views technology with the generation and technology gap between kids and adults of the 21st century.

As a fourth year teacher, I even feel as if I have a lot to learn with technology. Sometimes I think, I should know more about technology. But when I look back on my education at the elementary level and middle school level, that was really the time when computers were just emerging. And it was a huge deal if one of my classrooms had a computer for my classmates and I to use.

Schools have to be willing to support this technology rich world, by supplying teachers and classrooms with the tools needed to teach and incorporate technology. Even today's classrooms suffer; not having functioning computers, printers, and other technologies that are essential for our society to stay up to date with our ever-changing tech. world.