Digital Blog Post #F
With the way technology is growing today, there are so many
different things that we, as technology users, should know and start getting
the hang of. One thing is to start managing information electronically. This
can be done using several different techniques. There are bookmarks and cloud
computing for teachers, social bookmarking, information alerts, e-Newsletters,
along with many more. Using bookmarks is good if you are just on one computer. However,
bookmarks only stay on that one given computer. If you are looking for
something that would keep your bookmarks for anything that you may need but are
also jumping from computer to computer, it would be better to use a cloud-based
storage. There are plenty of websites that offer this such as LiveBinders and
URList, most of which just need an account set up which consists of a username
and password. There are also types of social bookmarking. this gives people the
opportunity to work together and still get to the same information. An example of this would be Google Docs or
Delicious which are both free to join. It gives you the ability to work
privately but also share what you are working on with others or share
resources. The person that created it is the one that has to give permission
for others to see the work, edit anything, and/or share it with others.
Online learning and virtual schooling is becoming more
common now. In most high schools, it has become a requirement that you have to
take at least one online class in order to graduate. A lot of these classes do
all of their work online with students and the students do not actually have to
step on a campus at all. Other forms of online classes and schooling have mixed
curriculum and are both in class for face-to-face interactions as well as
online for the classwork. Sometimes it is just easier for people to take online
classes because of their scheduling either with kids or work. However, there
are some people that debate the topic. They say that the students taking
on-line classes have limited social interaction and less collaborative opportunities.
Less full-time teachers is also brought up as a con of on-line classes.
Technology is a great thing! That is, if you know how to use
it. Using the technology that you have successfully is a continuous learning
process for all teachers. That learning process will vary from teacher to teacher
and school to school because the technology that is actually available may not
always be the same. Sometimes there will be a teacher with a room full of
computers and software while the teacher across the hall has just one computer
with a projector. There are four different types of classrooms that can be
technology-equipped. There are the computers, hardware, software, and computer lab.
Computers can range from none, one, multiple, and one-to-one computing. Hardware
ranges from non, few, to many. Software can have few updated, many updated, or
all updated. There are also computer labs. These can have no access, some
access, frequent access, or daily access. Not all schools have new computers
either. Some can only get refurbished computers if any at all.
Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
