When entering the technology class on Thursday I was very overwhelmed by technology and am excited that this course will better prepare me for my classroom. I have not had the opportunity in my own classrooms to become acquainted with everything that there is to be offered by the new technology and therefore am confused and frustrated with everything that there is out there. I know that I need to become more aware of all the tools available in order to be an effective teacher.
After reading the book and the article I realize how much information there is and how important it is to be connected to it for the benefit of my students. The article and the book states that students today are very involved in the technological advancements that have taken place over the past few years. They are constantly texting and engaging in social networks to communicate with their friends.
It is also important to inform my students how to differentiate between useful sites as well as sites that are very misleading in their purpose to educate. This was also shown to us through examples of the Martin Luther King Jr. page that had been put up by a white supremacy group, and the site about the fictional tree octopus. These sites seem to be accurate, and it is important to know how to double check your sources for factual information.
Blogging is another way that people share their ideas with others. It was interesting to read that students become more interested in learning and doing there work when there is a chance that other people will see it.
The RSS is another useful tool that will be important as a teacher to get immediate updates with the world and with students blogs.
I will have to work at becoming more comfortable with technology, but I can already tell that this class and the materials provided will help me with this process. We are lucky to have so many sources of information at our fingertips in the social studies world such as the National Archives. These materials will help students to get a better grasp of the information which will hopefully also encourage them to engage in topics.
I agree with you about the overwhelming feelings toward technology. I am starting to feel a little less confused the more I work with it, but I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one that this stuff just doesn't naturally come to. I think the more we use it and practice these networking sites, the more we'll actually get out of it! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Elizabeth,
ReplyDeleteI feel a little overwhelmed by all the resources that are available out there. I have a facebook, myspace and my own website and even that is a bit much. Now that I have twitter and this blog, I feel "overconnected" if that makes any sense.
However, I know that being aware of the wealth of information available will prove to be very useful in the future. With all the resources out there, now is a great time to be a teacher.
-Brittany Yurkovitch
I think that new technology always seems intimidating because we don't want to use it incorrectly or be the only person who doesn't know how to use it. I agree with your statement that students need to learn how to differentiate between a website that is a good source of information and a website that is providing information that backs their social or political agenda.
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