Socially just use of technology

I feel that the use of technology in the classroom is a given these days. Kids must get used to referring to technology for multiple purposes -- not only for the workplace, but for life in general (communicating with others, being informed about what's going on in the world, and even pragmatic tasks like finding an apartment). And for this reason, kids who may not have access at home, must learn to utilize what is available to them in the community --libraries, universities, school computer lab, etc.
As a teacher, I will make sure that every kid has equal opportunity to use technolgy for assignments. I like the idea of doing a survey on the first day of the course to find out what they know and have experience with. Also, if students need class time to work on an assignment in the computer lab or need help from me after class, I will make it happen. And so I don't foresee any problem using technology in my class. I do think it would be a disservice to all of my students if I do not use technology. As I am finding out from this and other classes, technology opens up a wide world of learning opportunities -- through games, information searches on the web, videos, library databases, etc. It creates a much more dynamic classroom and it also prepares kids to be dynamic learners. They will be better prepared for work and college if they are technologically savvy and excited to learn from technology.
To make sure that disadvantaged kids have access to technology, I will give them the time and place for to use it in the computer lab or classroom. All students will have equal access to technology for assignments and activities. I will also teach them how to find access to computers and other technology by teaching them, for example, where the library is or where the nearest college campus is.

Power Point

I enjoyed listening to power point presentations on Monday. From what I remember from school, I honestly found that I would usually check out during PP presentations. For a lot of students like me, it's a time for daydreaming, and some people can't really help not paying attention. But my classmates showed me how power point can be really interesting, if used correctly.

I liked the presentations that used a lot of visuals. If only text is used, it's hard to see the purpose in using the medium at all. I liked how text was used sparingly and gave information very to the point -- people, for the most part, avoided adding unnecessary words or phrases. I also enjoy visuals and videos that the presenter can refer to as they are talking - this is good for the visual learners who need to look at something while they are listening.

What I found difficult was that certain more complicated topics require a lot of time and thought to putting together visuals and texts that flow and make sense to the listeners. I happened to pick a topic that could involve a huge amount of information (Mexico City) -- I probably should have narrowed it down a lot more -- so it took me a long time to put it together, and I never felt satisfied with how things were laid out. I felt it could have been a lot better and more understandable with text divided up on different parts of the page. Power point can be like putting together a good documentary or designing pages in a magazine or book...it's an art to a certain degree, but shouldn't be too fancy either....and it has to be understandable while the presenter talks. So I think power point should be used for the right kinds of presentations: that require lots of pictures or videos, and text prompts that help give a very general understanding of what students are looking at and listening to, so that the presenter can refer to it while talking. It should be very simple and elegant and each page should focus on one main idea. I like how power points allow for use of graphs, and texts that can be spread through the pages in categorized bullets, and like I said before, visuals and videos. And I think my classmates did a really good job of using these features.

Chatspeak

Linda Howard says that she fears for the newer generations because kids are becoming more privy to writing with “shortcuts and acronyms that make instant messaging, text messaging, and online chatting so popular” and this has “no place in academic, business, and other formal writing settings where it is essential that all individuals involved are using language that is clear and concise.” She also says that “good writing skills are essential as school students go on to college in traditional settings or online, and they will need to fully express their opinions and expound on subject matter in a way that compels them to think and engage with others on a deeper level.” Though I agree with these points, I do not agree that so called chat-speak will hinder kids’ ability to engage with others on a deeper level. If there is a lack of ability in that realm, I would not blame it on chat-speak itself, but much larger cultural and societal changes – like the argument that kids’ attention spans are shortening due to an emphasis on multi-tasking, and other similar affects of technology.
I agree more with Greg Monfils, who says that chat-speak is just like another language or dialect. Learning one langauge does not hinder how one expresses oneself in the other. He would even “go so far as to say that [kids’] command of chat-speak is directly proportional to their awareness that the fashion of chat-speak subverts traditional rules of written English.” If kids know how to shorten a word or sentence, they probably know how to write it in full. “We don’t fear that a Spanish class will diminish a student’s command of English. And a teenager experimenting with a sprinkling of profanities in her conversation with peers will not suddenly forget how to converse properly with her grandmother.” Again, I agree that there is a connection between knowing a foreign language, and jargon, colloquialisms, slang; chat-speak is just another in this category. Our language changes every day, goes through cycles, and new words are invented constantly. And just because there is a new way to get a message across in this technologically ridden society, doesn’t mean that clearly written, formal, concise language will disappear.
Greg also says that “if [kids] deny that they know how to write full words and sentences, it is because “they live to challenge standards. It doesn’t mean that they don’t know what the standards are.” Kids love to rebel. It is natural to them and part of their growing up. But every kid should be able to understand that clear, good writing is important to know in certain careers and settings, and always will be.
Whenever I think of how language alters through the years and is affected by technology, I remember George Orwell’s 1984. I remain accepting and even invigorated by change in my young age, but there is always a doubt in the back of my mind about how much of a negative affect changes in our language and way of life will make. Will deeper reflection and expression someday become obsolete because of our shortening attention spans and need for instant gratification? Will we ever become too lazy to be creative, careful and thoughtful about our words and expressions? I think it’s a great hyperbole on my part, but I always wonder. I think in our core, we need to express full thoughts and feelings in writing and speaking, and that need will never go away. But it is interesting how words and languages change with the advancement of technology and the resulting changes in how people think and communicate.

Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is nothing new. I think it started with Internet chat rooms, where people could first attempt to harass, threaten, and intimidate while maintaining their anonymity. I remember this, and I remember not taking it seriously...and feeling interested for maybe a week. I was just never interested in participating. But for others, there’s a certain power in being able to “feign his or her real identity” or just remain anonymous. But now that there are so many different technological mediums to “inflict harm or damage to a person and his or her reputation, life, or even computer system,” I think it has become more prevalent and there is much evidence that it has gotten quite out of hand. I am not familiar with cyberbullying personally. I honestly can’t think of any time that I was bullied on MS or cell phone, or any other medium. I tend to avoid technology and if there is a problem, I disengage – I don’t text back, I just call them or wait to talk face to face or ignore it. I never experienced being affected emotionally through any sort of text.

But I can see how it could be perpetrated in schools today. And I can see how it can be extremely hurtful and damaging to a young high school or middle school student because of how others are able to be much braver in how they use their words through technology and can be unusually harsh and dramatic. Also, since written word is open to many more interpretations than face-to-face interaction, I can see how students could overreact, get really upset, and feel the need to retaliate. And this is where the problem gets worse. “There’s seemingly no escape from the rumors, insults, threats.” And a response will just instigate more bullying.

The legal issues, as I understand them, involve whether school staff have a responsibility to intervene when much of the cyberbullying happens when school is out and off campus. Teachers should take responsibility for disciplining students when what happens outside of school affects the school environment during school hours. There is also the issue of free speech. “A school may only restrict student speech that causes substantial and material disruption of the school activities because students do not shed their constitutional rights, including their right to free speech, at the schoolhouse gate.” The solution seems to be a well developed school policy and “school officials proper action in accordance with those policies.” So informing students about the problem and rules to prevent it is part of the solution, as is responding when it is obvious that cyberbullying has occurred. I think it will be obvious when cyberbullying occurs because students involved will show distress.

My plan for dealing with this problem would be to follow the school’s policy and procedures very carefully. I also think it is important to prevent the problem from the very beginning by laying down the ground rules for the students. Just like classroom rules, where students are not allowed to use profanities, and cannot make disrespectful comments regarding someone else’s sexual orientation, appearance, grades, religion, or ethnicity, etc., I will enforce those for all mediums of communication in my classroom. Anything that comes into my classroom from the outside should be dealt with as well. Ongoing threats that are causing problems and stress outside of the classroom will surely make it into my classroom, so anything that I observe happening that affects my students and my class will be given attention.

 

Digital Native or Immigrant?

I feel I am a digital immigrant. I remember my first year of college, when instant messaging became popular, and I was having conversations with people down the hall of my dorm on IM. I thought this was ridiculous and I imagined the extreme – will we all become totally antisocial and too lazy to communicate through anything but technology? Will we all become inane, robotic, digital geeks, with our faces glued to screens most of the day? But actually, I now have a hard time seeing myself living without it. I read the news online, use Skype to talk to friends far away, check my e-mail sometimes several times a day, and use the internet to find out about anything and everything I want to know—movies, books, facts, cultural events, travel, etc. One thing that makes me nothing near a digital native is that I just don’t understand the gaming culture. I am totally uninterested in even trying to understand it, but it looks like I might have to anyway. And it might turn out more interesting than I think…I hope.

“Today’s students think and process information fundamentally differently from their predecessors.” As Prensky delved deeper and deeper into this thought, I started to think about how students of my generation “thrive on instant gratification and frequent rewards.” I will have to be a more entertaining, dynamic, experiential teacher because of this, and that’s fine with me because I relate to it. I don’t have as much patience as people of my parents’ generation have, for instance, for reading through instruction manuals and encyclopedias. When I wonder about something, I want to find out right away --I have little patience when I have to wait for instructions, materials, or information. And whatever it is, it has to be interesting and entertaining.

Prensky also says that “[students] have little patience for lectures, step-by-step logic and tell-test instruction.” Prensky point here made me most uncomfortable in that I feel that this will create the divide between me and my students and I will really have to work to bridge it. It makes me nervous to think that students’ brains develop differently because of their constant interactions with technology.

Overall, I think that technology enriched my educational experience as a high school student and even more as a college student. The Internet gave me access to such an abundance of information and this new phenomenon was exciting for me as a high school student. Later, as a college student, I became more active in my search for knowledge. It was so easy to get the information and find the books and articles I needed in the library and on the web, so I became trained, over time, to remember to look things up more actively and more often. Now, it’s almost become an obsession—I have to know things as soon as I wonder about them and it has become a hobby to find out multiple opinions about issues and events. I know more facts and I know more about what's going on around the world now than I ever imagined as a high school student reading the Oregonian.

I think I will definitely incorporate blogs and Internet searches for projects and videos and visuals into my classroom. I think blogs are a great place for students to convene with their thoughts and share information with each other. I do like the idea of using games to learn language as well, but I will have to warm up more to this idea in the future, I think. I am very much worried about how or if technology will effect our social interactions negatively. At the moment, I much prefer face to face interactive games to computer games.

Introduction

Hello and welcome to my blog! My name is Annette and I am from Portland! I have posted a picture of my favorite animal, which is a kitty, though dogs are just as adorable.
What do I want to teach? Spanish and ELL and maybe language arts as well. I am especially excited to teach language -- Spanish or English, either one.