I believe the class where we were introduced to bloglines, del.icio.us, and blogs was had the biggest impact on me. I knew about blogs but not to the extent that we went into them in class and del.icio.us was something I knew nothing about. I never new you could bookmark and carry your bookmarks with you. Since then I have discovered that Google has the same thing and it is on my Google toolbar along with my Google mail feed. I use it everyday and I have the Google toolbar on every computer I use at home and at work.
Another big “Aha” moment for me was Second Life. I was really impressed with Second Life and its capabilities. I know they have a long way to go to get some of the bugs out of the system but it has great potential for future use in education. I think the thing that I thought would be greatest in an online setting was being able to use the movie screen in Second Life to work math problems so that students would be able to see how it is done.
I probably will not use my educational blog anymore until I start teaching psychology or sociology. I probably will start a personal blog and keep what I have in the educational blog but just not add to it.
Monday, May 7, 2007
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Empowering Teachers with Technology: Final Thoughts.
I believe Romano’s guidelines/concepts are realistic because they are guidelines that can be implemented. For example, in chapter 7 Romano outlines a curriculum with technology interwoven within it that would satisfy the most critical teachers who are scared of loosing their jobs because of technology taking over. It is the technology enhanced curriculum rather than the technology taking over the teacher’s job curriculum. Romano’s scenario with the technology enhanced curriculum is a perfect example of how technology can increase learning for students and even to the point of demanding higher grades from them. Wow, this is exactly the type of technology enhancement we need for our schools both K-12 and above.
I believe that teachers can begin to make changes in their classrooms by using some of the technology Romano has suggested without the whole school having to adopt a specific program. Teachers can begin by using DVD’s in their classrooms that show actual historical footage which would go along with whatever subject they are teaching. They can use short pieces of movies to illustrate some subject matter they are trying to teach. The can stop the movie and explain things to their class and then start it back up again. I use this type of technology in my psychology classes to show some concept in psychology that movies have portrayed very well.
I am not sure that Romano’s suggestion of a whole school technologically enhancing the curriculum will work any time soon. There are just too many individuals still at the administrative level who say it has been done this way all these years why should we change it. We need to change it because it “ain’t” working.
http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Research/NECC_Research_Paper_Archives/NECC_2004/Park-Sung-Hee-NECC04.pdf
The above is a research project where three teachers were studied as they implemented a technology-enhanced problem-based learning approach. All three teachers were social studies instructors.
I believe that teachers can begin to make changes in their classrooms by using some of the technology Romano has suggested without the whole school having to adopt a specific program. Teachers can begin by using DVD’s in their classrooms that show actual historical footage which would go along with whatever subject they are teaching. They can use short pieces of movies to illustrate some subject matter they are trying to teach. The can stop the movie and explain things to their class and then start it back up again. I use this type of technology in my psychology classes to show some concept in psychology that movies have portrayed very well.
I am not sure that Romano’s suggestion of a whole school technologically enhancing the curriculum will work any time soon. There are just too many individuals still at the administrative level who say it has been done this way all these years why should we change it. We need to change it because it “ain’t” working.
http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Research/NECC_Research_Paper_Archives/NECC_2004/Park-Sung-Hee-NECC04.pdf
The above is a research project where three teachers were studied as they implemented a technology-enhanced problem-based learning approach. All three teachers were social studies instructors.
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