technology

I was able to listen to the presentation of “Classroom in the Cloud” with John Kulgin. He is referring to the web based programs that allow easy access to all students boosting their abilities in the classroom. Kuglin said “Student achievement is the bottom line.” These web based programs create an environment of achievement for each of the students, allowing teachers and students to interact in ways that the traditional programs do not allow. Some of the different web based programs he presented were Buzzword a word processor, Sliderocket a presentation program, Square space webpage designs, Prezi an revolutionary presentation program, and Google voice. Some of the programs were free others have cost involved, usually with a discounted education price. This knew wave of computing brings huge quantities of processing power and storage capacity within easy access of the classroom.Click here to read more »

      Over the past decade or two a term has been generated and  passed around the educational field.  Teachers are noting their students can run computers, and all computer "things" at a very young age and seem to live, eat, and breathe technology.  The teachers themselves may feel at a loss, or even stupid, by comparison.   Thus,  a belief has been growing and it is that the children entering and passing through our schools now are technological superiors and the educators inferior.     Also, many educators assume that education must be reformed to suit the current generation's penchant for all things digital.

 My definition of instructional technology is it  is the things-methods, tools, gear--teachers use to teach students.  The more        these things apply to our students' lives the more engaged they are in learning what we have to teach.   I define educational technology  the same way.  Technologies in education are the tools and methods we use to instruct our students: these can be gear and such but also concepts such as multisensory learners or  cooperation learning.  They may be different in the way that educational technology is used in formal education settings whereas instructional technology is used more in any kind of sharing of information.  However, the actual methods, tools, etc are the same. 

These (philosophies) are very much a work in progress.

I see teaching as a mode of instructing, guiding, and assisting a student in attaining, retaining, and applying new knowledge, ideas, and skills. I think a key idea here is that the teacher is in a position to help or enhance a student’s learning in a way they (the student) could not as effectively (learn) on their own.

I expressed this somewhat in the previous paragraph but I believe essentially that learning is to attain new knowledge, ideas, and/or skills. The level or effectiveness of learning can vary greatly, and I think that is best measured in the way that the knowledge can be retained and applied.

Knowing what technology actually means, denotatively speaking, will allow me to approach this program differently.  I used to assume that technology was limited to anything with computers or electronic devices.  My dad builds amazing sound systems with huge amplifiers and subwoofers and such.  Though I could always appreciate what he was able to build, I never liked it because it all looked so complicated; as a kid, he would tease me and say that I could grow up and do the same thing he did.  He was fully aware that I wasn't interested.  Well, I always thought that that was what technology was, any thing electronic and complicated.  And because I knew I struggled with it, I thought that this was the perfect program for me to lean how to cope with technology.  Now that I know what it actually is (any set of newly designed system, or craft or order that will allow an animal or human to better "control" or "adapt" toClick here to read more »