Wow, what a semester. I have gained so much knowledge about technologies to use in the classroom, how to use those technologies, and the future of technology in eduction. I feel like I am on overload with the information I have taken in this semester. There are just so many resources available to teachers that can be used to enhance learning or to create lesson plans. One thing I learned this semester is that you don't have to use everything that is available to you. As an educator you should find a few sites and resources that you love and can easily use and become proficient at them. If you pick the right resources you will be set to incorporate active digital learning into your classroom no problem. I also learned that you shouldn't be afraid of new technologies. When you learn of a new technology you should check it out, play with it a bit, find out if it is for you or not, and don't feel bad if you choose not to use it. One other big thing I learned this semester is that teaching should always come first. Although, technologies enhance learning, engage students, and have endless possibilities teachers need to make sure they are not allowing the technology to do most of the educating. In the future all learning could be taking place digitally but I hope it doesn't. We just always must remember that technology comes and goes, work and does not work, but teachers have been here for ever and will be here for ever.
I have made great progress in incorporating the NETS for teachers that I focused on this semester. NET 1 states: faciliate and inspire student learning and creativity. I have made progess on this NET in this class but also in my Instructional Design class. In this class I learned resources and how to use those technologies to inspire learning and creativity. A few of the technologies that I learned and used this semester that faciliate student learning and creativity are: using the Smart Board with different activities, creating a website where students can comment on my blog and have discussions, and also making e-books where students can create their own books with their work from class. I also made strides at facilitating student learning and creativity in my Instructional Design class. In that class I actually taught a few lessons and each lesson had to be creative and active. I used the resources that I learned in this class as a starting point and created lesson plans around them. I then made use of said technologies to help students create as a process of their learning. In one of my lessons I found a printout for a word map from one of the teacher resources I learned in this class. Then I used the word map to have students define vocabulary words in their own ways, draw pictures of things that helped them remember the word, and write any other words they associate with the vocabulary word. In another lesson I used another printout from a online resource to have students create a persuasive essay in groups and that they debated at the end of class. Not only was I able to begin facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity through the technologies in this class I was also able to use those technologies to inspire students in teaching situations as well.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Assignment #4
I made a website using k12lessonplans.
Here is my website. You have to enter user name mrsangleton and password languageartsed to access it.
I used many of the features of the tool in creating my website. I customized my home page with pictures, a welcome message, and color scheme. I used the password protection feature so that only myself, parents, and students can view the site. I made a list of classes. I posted some announcements and assigned them to specific classes. I created some entries to my calender with some due dates assigned to specific classes. I used the download feature and uploaded a lesson plan to the site as well as a Smart Board presentation. I created a sample photo gallery, which also is password protected. I created an blog entry. I started a discussion assigned to a specific class, that has a pass code to access it. I also created an online quiz which also has a pass code. I also created another page which has links and descriptions to other sites including this blog, and a page which can be used to contact me. There is also a feature where people can join my mailing list.
One issue I encountered while making this website was that I cannot upload videos to the site directly. If I really wanted to have a video on the site I would just have to upload a video somewhere else on the web and have a link to it on my site. Also I could not put a contact me box on my homepage so I created a new page for it. There are a few other things that were slightly annoying like not being able to attach a link to an announcement or discussion. However, these issues weren't that important to me because I could add links to blogs, additional pages, and my homepage.
The other technology I used was notebook for the Smart Board. I created a lesson about structure of an essay. I uploaded this presentation to the website and it is under downloads. In this presentation I used the shade, timer, balloon pop, note reveals, and word match tools. I also customized my background.
Some issues I had with my Smart Board presentation were I couldn't apply a background to all slides so I had to do each one individually which took more time. I also couldn't get the presentation to save properly but it finally did.
Finding k12lessonplans and creating a website using this software was important to me because I thought creating websites was complicated. The software that we looked at in class for website creations were hard for me to understand and I couldn't use them. I was disappointed because I have always wanted to create a teacher website for my students, but then I found k12lessonplans and realized that I can create a website. This software is not for people who love creating website and messing with graphics because it is very basic and doesn't have cool features. However, this site allows people who are bad at creating websites and get frustrated easily the opportunity to have a teacher website as well. If the school I end up teaching at does not already have websites for teachers to use I will definitely use this site in the future. I will use it to communicate with students and parents. I can upload sylabi instead of printing them off. I can have students discuss literature. I can blog my own thoughts. I can post assignments and due dates, and with the click of one button I can e-mail all my students and all their parents.
It was also important to me to create a lesson on the Smart Board because I know I will probably be making lessons this way in the future. It took me a long time to create this lesson and I wanted to get faster at using the software and more proficient.
This project focuses on the Nets for teachers 1 and 2. Number 1 is "Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity." The site does this because it encourages students to learn through technology and other people's discussions and opinions. It encourages students to learn by creatively answering questions and responding to other people's opinion. Number 2 is "Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments." The site accomplishes this because I as the teacher designed it and it is a digital learning experience which can also be used for assessment because of the discussion and the quiz features of the site.
The project also focuses on the Nets for students 2 and 5. Number 2 is "communication and collaboration" which is accomplished because the students will use the site to communicate ideas with myself and one another and they will also use it to discuss topics and come up with conclusions based on the classes discussions. Number 5 is "digital citizenship" which is accomplished because the site teaches students to use the web to express ideas but to protect those ideas and themselves since it is password protected.
Here is my website. You have to enter user name mrsangleton and password languageartsed to access it.
I used many of the features of the tool in creating my website. I customized my home page with pictures, a welcome message, and color scheme. I used the password protection feature so that only myself, parents, and students can view the site. I made a list of classes. I posted some announcements and assigned them to specific classes. I created some entries to my calender with some due dates assigned to specific classes. I used the download feature and uploaded a lesson plan to the site as well as a Smart Board presentation. I created a sample photo gallery, which also is password protected. I created an blog entry. I started a discussion assigned to a specific class, that has a pass code to access it. I also created an online quiz which also has a pass code. I also created another page which has links and descriptions to other sites including this blog, and a page which can be used to contact me. There is also a feature where people can join my mailing list.
One issue I encountered while making this website was that I cannot upload videos to the site directly. If I really wanted to have a video on the site I would just have to upload a video somewhere else on the web and have a link to it on my site. Also I could not put a contact me box on my homepage so I created a new page for it. There are a few other things that were slightly annoying like not being able to attach a link to an announcement or discussion. However, these issues weren't that important to me because I could add links to blogs, additional pages, and my homepage.
The other technology I used was notebook for the Smart Board. I created a lesson about structure of an essay. I uploaded this presentation to the website and it is under downloads. In this presentation I used the shade, timer, balloon pop, note reveals, and word match tools. I also customized my background.
Some issues I had with my Smart Board presentation were I couldn't apply a background to all slides so I had to do each one individually which took more time. I also couldn't get the presentation to save properly but it finally did.
Finding k12lessonplans and creating a website using this software was important to me because I thought creating websites was complicated. The software that we looked at in class for website creations were hard for me to understand and I couldn't use them. I was disappointed because I have always wanted to create a teacher website for my students, but then I found k12lessonplans and realized that I can create a website. This software is not for people who love creating website and messing with graphics because it is very basic and doesn't have cool features. However, this site allows people who are bad at creating websites and get frustrated easily the opportunity to have a teacher website as well. If the school I end up teaching at does not already have websites for teachers to use I will definitely use this site in the future. I will use it to communicate with students and parents. I can upload sylabi instead of printing them off. I can have students discuss literature. I can blog my own thoughts. I can post assignments and due dates, and with the click of one button I can e-mail all my students and all their parents.
It was also important to me to create a lesson on the Smart Board because I know I will probably be making lessons this way in the future. It took me a long time to create this lesson and I wanted to get faster at using the software and more proficient.
This project focuses on the Nets for teachers 1 and 2. Number 1 is "Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity." The site does this because it encourages students to learn through technology and other people's discussions and opinions. It encourages students to learn by creatively answering questions and responding to other people's opinion. Number 2 is "Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments." The site accomplishes this because I as the teacher designed it and it is a digital learning experience which can also be used for assessment because of the discussion and the quiz features of the site.
The project also focuses on the Nets for students 2 and 5. Number 2 is "communication and collaboration" which is accomplished because the students will use the site to communicate ideas with myself and one another and they will also use it to discuss topics and come up with conclusions based on the classes discussions. Number 5 is "digital citizenship" which is accomplished because the site teaches students to use the web to express ideas but to protect those ideas and themselves since it is password protected.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Future of Education and Technology
One paper I read written by Patricia L. Hutinger entitled Technology and Education: What Will the Future Bring? addressed many of the issues that I found in a lot of places. Hutinger said that the future is of course unknown, and we really have no idea where technology is going to take the education world. However, if education is going to continue to be affective and relevant teachers need to be flexible and continually be ready and willing to adapt content and teaching styles. Hutinger said that technology should not merely be used as a tool in the classroom but that one day it will completely change the way school is done. She thinks that only do schools need to be teaching technology but they need to be using technology all the time with everything and beginning at an early age with children. Technology will soon not be a subject studied in school but will be used to learn all other subjects on every level. Some other articles suggested that some day the school building could become obsolete as school and classes could be completely attended on line.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Word/Excell/PowerPoint
These are the features that I use often.
Word: highlighter tool, spelling and grammar check, paragraph spacing, bullet points, page numbers, header/footers, bold/italic/underline, word art, insert table, insert picture, page break, text box, track changes, and full screen viewing.
PowerPoint: layouts, word art, text box, insert picture, format background, and slide transitions.
Excell: I never use Excell and the only times I ever have were required in a class a long time ago and I never knew how to use it.
To learn Word I could have students write a research paper using word. I can request a specific format which uses many of words features. I would take students to computer lab and walk through how to use these features and format their papers.
PowerPoint: have students do presentations on the topic they did research on for their paper. Could take them to computer lab and show them the different features they could use on PowerPoint and require that they use at least five features in their presentations.
Excell: have students survey each other then create tables, graphs, and other things using excell to show their results.
Word: highlighter tool, spelling and grammar check, paragraph spacing, bullet points, page numbers, header/footers, bold/italic/underline, word art, insert table, insert picture, page break, text box, track changes, and full screen viewing.
PowerPoint: layouts, word art, text box, insert picture, format background, and slide transitions.
Excell: I never use Excell and the only times I ever have were required in a class a long time ago and I never knew how to use it.
To learn Word I could have students write a research paper using word. I can request a specific format which uses many of words features. I would take students to computer lab and walk through how to use these features and format their papers.
PowerPoint: have students do presentations on the topic they did research on for their paper. Could take them to computer lab and show them the different features they could use on PowerPoint and require that they use at least five features in their presentations.
Excell: have students survey each other then create tables, graphs, and other things using excell to show their results.
Online Learning Experience
I went to k12 online conference and watched a few of the sessions.
The first one I attended was Using E-Books to Motivate Pupils Writing.
The teacher uses an free myebook account to have students create there own e-books. He also uses easy speak microphones so the students can read there works out loud, which helps them determine if it is legible and correct, and then, he uploads these narrations to the e-book. He first talks about how to use the website to view e-books. Then he went on to talk about how to create your own e-book. This was interesting to me because I didn't know that you could create books online like this to be seen by the world. I think it is a great idea to display children's work. Students are motivated to work harder on the work if it is going to be published, and parents get excited about their children's work, and can easily view what their children have been working on in school. Also for myself who wishes to write and get my work seen. The website is really easy to use; I already have started creating an e-book.
The second session I attended was Using Web 2.0 Tools to Teach "The Outsiders."
In this video an IT teacher at a school was asked to teach some girls who were struggling with English about some 2.0 tools but enhance. He had to teach them about the book "The Outsiders" that they were reading in an English class using 2.0 tools. He used Stupeflix to create a video presentation about the book and then had the students create presentations themselves. The website takes pictures and automatically puts them into a video with cool effects. He also used We Tell Stories which sort of allows you to create your own story directed form a classic story. He used google maps to determine where one of the characters from "The Outsiders" could have ran to and what they would have seen along the way, then the students wrote stories based on the google map images. Using the google map images motivated the students who didn't like to write to write lengthy stories. All this was great to show that students that might be struggling in a certain are can be motivated if the teacher gets creative and uses different technologies to interest students.
The last session I attended was Digital Writers Workshop. In this session a woman elementary teacher talked about the writing workshop she conducted with her students. The goals of this workshop was to teach students to develop their own writing in a personal way, be creative, create stories as a group, and learn and use technology to tell and create stories. First the students had to develop and create their characters. They answered questions about their characters, created masks of these characters, and drew pictures of the characters. The teacher took digital pictures of the mask which were used later for their digital stories as well as the pictures. Then the students created 3D settings for the characters. They built the settings with stone, wood, and other objects, then they made some part of the setting electronic. Then the students created the plot of their stories using the Young Novelists Workbook. She then had the students storyboard their stories using Story Top. Then they created online books with their visual and written elements of the story using tikatok. Then they wrote and recorded a theme song for their stories using Microsoft Song Smith. Then they put their stories into a script format and recorded them as podcast. The last thing the students did was create a shadow puppet show with the podcasts playing with the whole thing video recorded. I am amazed by how many technological resources and different subject areas this teacher incorporated into a simple create a story assignment. By doing something like this teachers can make simple assignments in depth learning experiences that are interactive, fun, and teach many subjects. I also liked some of the technologies she used, although she didn't give addresses so I do not know where to find a few of them.
The first one I attended was Using E-Books to Motivate Pupils Writing.
The teacher uses an free myebook account to have students create there own e-books. He also uses easy speak microphones so the students can read there works out loud, which helps them determine if it is legible and correct, and then, he uploads these narrations to the e-book. He first talks about how to use the website to view e-books. Then he went on to talk about how to create your own e-book. This was interesting to me because I didn't know that you could create books online like this to be seen by the world. I think it is a great idea to display children's work. Students are motivated to work harder on the work if it is going to be published, and parents get excited about their children's work, and can easily view what their children have been working on in school. Also for myself who wishes to write and get my work seen. The website is really easy to use; I already have started creating an e-book.
The second session I attended was Using Web 2.0 Tools to Teach "The Outsiders."
In this video an IT teacher at a school was asked to teach some girls who were struggling with English about some 2.0 tools but enhance. He had to teach them about the book "The Outsiders" that they were reading in an English class using 2.0 tools. He used Stupeflix to create a video presentation about the book and then had the students create presentations themselves. The website takes pictures and automatically puts them into a video with cool effects. He also used We Tell Stories which sort of allows you to create your own story directed form a classic story. He used google maps to determine where one of the characters from "The Outsiders" could have ran to and what they would have seen along the way, then the students wrote stories based on the google map images. Using the google map images motivated the students who didn't like to write to write lengthy stories. All this was great to show that students that might be struggling in a certain are can be motivated if the teacher gets creative and uses different technologies to interest students.
The last session I attended was Digital Writers Workshop. In this session a woman elementary teacher talked about the writing workshop she conducted with her students. The goals of this workshop was to teach students to develop their own writing in a personal way, be creative, create stories as a group, and learn and use technology to tell and create stories. First the students had to develop and create their characters. They answered questions about their characters, created masks of these characters, and drew pictures of the characters. The teacher took digital pictures of the mask which were used later for their digital stories as well as the pictures. Then the students created 3D settings for the characters. They built the settings with stone, wood, and other objects, then they made some part of the setting electronic. Then the students created the plot of their stories using the Young Novelists Workbook. She then had the students storyboard their stories using Story Top. Then they created online books with their visual and written elements of the story using tikatok. Then they wrote and recorded a theme song for their stories using Microsoft Song Smith. Then they put their stories into a script format and recorded them as podcast. The last thing the students did was create a shadow puppet show with the podcasts playing with the whole thing video recorded. I am amazed by how many technological resources and different subject areas this teacher incorporated into a simple create a story assignment. By doing something like this teachers can make simple assignments in depth learning experiences that are interactive, fun, and teach many subjects. I also liked some of the technologies she used, although she didn't give addresses so I do not know where to find a few of them.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Educational Blog
PBS Teachers has a blog called Media Infusion where a couple different educators post entries about incorporating different technologies and media resources in the classroom. The post that I commented on was called "From Pens to Pixels: Publishing Student Work". This post discussed why it is a good idea for teachers to publish students work and some resources and sites that can be used to do so. I commented about the benefits of publishing students work that I have observed from my own experience as a student. I commented on the blog because I had never really thought of the benefit of publishing work was until I read this post and then I realized the benefits it has had just in my own work. I already wanted to use websites and blogs in my classroom but I am even more encouraged to use these now to publish student work. Also, I wanted to give people some real examples from my own life showing that publishing work really does encourage students to be better.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Reflection #7-12
#7 I was watching the television show Friends. I watching season two which was from 1995. On the show one of the characters got a laptop with a printer. The laptop was big and bulky, it was loud and slow. I thought this was very interesting because this took place only 15 years ago and today Ipod is coming out with a complete laptop that you can hold and touch smaller then a piece of paper. I just can't believe how quickly the technology changes, gets smaller, and better. I can't believe how much it has changed already in my short life so far. It makes me interested in how far technology can go in the rest of my life time. If I teach for only fifteen years I will have to adapt my teaching to as much change in technology that their has been since Chandler got a laptop on friends.
#8 In Special Needs in Education our professor doesn't hardly ever use technology to teach. He has hand written notes and lectures from these. He is also one of my favorite and best teachers. I just thought this was interesting because it shows that if you are a great teacher you can still be extremely affective without the use of technology. However, if this teacher already has a great impact without technology I wonder how much influence he could have if he incorporate it. I just don't want our teachers and myself as a future teacher to become to reliant on technology that we cannot be affective without it. Maybe we should focus on our teaching skills first and incorporate technology second.
#9 I found this article on MSN entitled 16 Year-Old Accuses Mom of Facebook Slander. The article basically says that this mom got onto her sons Facebook acount posted a few things and changed the password so he couldn't use the account anymore. The mom said she did this because he was posting inappropriate things. They wouldn't say what exactly he posted because he was underage but the mom did say that he wrote on his facebook that he drove home at 96 MPH because he was mad at a girl. The mother said he had previously been warned about using his facebook inappropriately. After the son realized he could no longer get onto his facebook he went to the court house and pressed charges against his mother on the grounds of slander.
OK WOW. I just can't believe that we are having these issues today. Parents today have to be constantly aware of what their child is doing online and what they are posting. I understand the frustration of the child but also know the need to protect your child on the Internet. With kids using the Internet more and more at younger ages the need to watch and protect your child has increased. Although there are many resources available on the Internet for children parents need to constantly be wary of the junk on the Internet as well, and what their children are saying about themselves. I just hope that this son doesn't win this case else parents will have a harder time in the future controlling their kids' Internet use.
#10 I ran across this amazing video on YouTube: Math Teacher Shadow Trick During Lecture. This is a math teacher who is giving a lecture with use of a computer and projector. During his lecture his shadow on the screen behind him starts moving differently than he is. The teacher finally catches his shadow and then ends up having a little fight with it. The shadow messes with things on his computer and when the teacher tries to shut off the computer the shadow throws the shut down box off of the screen. I thought this was not only funny but also showed the great advancement of technology. How crazy is it that someone that Peter Pan did in fairy tales actually can happen now using technology. I wish I knew how the teacher did it, I am sure it must be some 3D software or something. It is just crazy to me that as a teacher I have technology like that available to me to enhance my teaching. Just think other ways that a 3D software like that could be used. I could create 3D lesson plans that students would actively be involved with who knows that might be able to interact on the board from their own seats and see themselves moving on the actual screen. It is just an amazing video and I am just baffled by the places that technology can take us today and in the future.
#11 I found this article called Study: College Students are Internet-Addicted which basically says that a bunch of students were asked to give up all Internet and technology for one day and many of them showed signs of withdrawal much like they would with alcohol abuse. The article went on to say that many students felt lonely and disconnected from their friends and family while not using technology. This article was interestingly on the web which is merely feeding the addiction (if there is an addiction). The article also told of some extreme cases where people neglected their lives and children for the Internet. Although, I agree that we as a people are becoming reliant on technology I would not necessarily call it an addiction. Many of the things the students were having a hard time with was not being connected to their friends and family and in this case I would say they aren't addicted to technology but rather they miss their friends and family. I just don't understand because we are told how great technology is and how it can change everyone's life for the better but we can also become dependent on it. I just don't know where the line is and where it is not. We just need to stay connected to our world in other ways as well. Maybe on top of texting friends we also call them sometimes, and maybe even go see them. We just need to be well balanced so we use technology for good but don't freak out if the power goes out.
#12 Oregon became the first state to switch all it's technology usage and networking to Google. The article Oregon Brings Google Apps to Public Schools says that the state decided to do this to help prepare student's for the digital world in the work place and to save money. Google is offering all of their apps for free to the schools, worked with the state to make security tighter, won't advertise on the school used apps, and will take care of all of the maintenance. Basically the state thought that it was a great deal. They save money because they don't have to pay for servers, e-mail, class sites, or IT guys any more. Also this move helps the state promote digital learning to the extreme. Oregon has done it. As all states are looking at incorporating more technology in classrooms Oregon not only found a great easy way to do this they also are saving a ton of money in the process. I just think it is genius. A public school official called it a no brainier in the article and I agree with him or her. It is so simple, so beneficial, so cheap, and Google does all the work for them. It will be interesting to see how this works out for them in the future. I wonder if they aren't allowed to use any other software but what Google provides. If they cannot use anything else that might be frustrating. I want to see if any other states follow in Oregon's footsteps and fully immerse learning into technology as they are.
#8 In Special Needs in Education our professor doesn't hardly ever use technology to teach. He has hand written notes and lectures from these. He is also one of my favorite and best teachers. I just thought this was interesting because it shows that if you are a great teacher you can still be extremely affective without the use of technology. However, if this teacher already has a great impact without technology I wonder how much influence he could have if he incorporate it. I just don't want our teachers and myself as a future teacher to become to reliant on technology that we cannot be affective without it. Maybe we should focus on our teaching skills first and incorporate technology second.
#9 I found this article on MSN entitled 16 Year-Old Accuses Mom of Facebook Slander. The article basically says that this mom got onto her sons Facebook acount posted a few things and changed the password so he couldn't use the account anymore. The mom said she did this because he was posting inappropriate things. They wouldn't say what exactly he posted because he was underage but the mom did say that he wrote on his facebook that he drove home at 96 MPH because he was mad at a girl. The mother said he had previously been warned about using his facebook inappropriately. After the son realized he could no longer get onto his facebook he went to the court house and pressed charges against his mother on the grounds of slander.
OK WOW. I just can't believe that we are having these issues today. Parents today have to be constantly aware of what their child is doing online and what they are posting. I understand the frustration of the child but also know the need to protect your child on the Internet. With kids using the Internet more and more at younger ages the need to watch and protect your child has increased. Although there are many resources available on the Internet for children parents need to constantly be wary of the junk on the Internet as well, and what their children are saying about themselves. I just hope that this son doesn't win this case else parents will have a harder time in the future controlling their kids' Internet use.
#10 I ran across this amazing video on YouTube: Math Teacher Shadow Trick During Lecture. This is a math teacher who is giving a lecture with use of a computer and projector. During his lecture his shadow on the screen behind him starts moving differently than he is. The teacher finally catches his shadow and then ends up having a little fight with it. The shadow messes with things on his computer and when the teacher tries to shut off the computer the shadow throws the shut down box off of the screen. I thought this was not only funny but also showed the great advancement of technology. How crazy is it that someone that Peter Pan did in fairy tales actually can happen now using technology. I wish I knew how the teacher did it, I am sure it must be some 3D software or something. It is just crazy to me that as a teacher I have technology like that available to me to enhance my teaching. Just think other ways that a 3D software like that could be used. I could create 3D lesson plans that students would actively be involved with who knows that might be able to interact on the board from their own seats and see themselves moving on the actual screen. It is just an amazing video and I am just baffled by the places that technology can take us today and in the future.
#11 I found this article called Study: College Students are Internet-Addicted which basically says that a bunch of students were asked to give up all Internet and technology for one day and many of them showed signs of withdrawal much like they would with alcohol abuse. The article went on to say that many students felt lonely and disconnected from their friends and family while not using technology. This article was interestingly on the web which is merely feeding the addiction (if there is an addiction). The article also told of some extreme cases where people neglected their lives and children for the Internet. Although, I agree that we as a people are becoming reliant on technology I would not necessarily call it an addiction. Many of the things the students were having a hard time with was not being connected to their friends and family and in this case I would say they aren't addicted to technology but rather they miss their friends and family. I just don't understand because we are told how great technology is and how it can change everyone's life for the better but we can also become dependent on it. I just don't know where the line is and where it is not. We just need to stay connected to our world in other ways as well. Maybe on top of texting friends we also call them sometimes, and maybe even go see them. We just need to be well balanced so we use technology for good but don't freak out if the power goes out.
#12 Oregon became the first state to switch all it's technology usage and networking to Google. The article Oregon Brings Google Apps to Public Schools says that the state decided to do this to help prepare student's for the digital world in the work place and to save money. Google is offering all of their apps for free to the schools, worked with the state to make security tighter, won't advertise on the school used apps, and will take care of all of the maintenance. Basically the state thought that it was a great deal. They save money because they don't have to pay for servers, e-mail, class sites, or IT guys any more. Also this move helps the state promote digital learning to the extreme. Oregon has done it. As all states are looking at incorporating more technology in classrooms Oregon not only found a great easy way to do this they also are saving a ton of money in the process. I just think it is genius. A public school official called it a no brainier in the article and I agree with him or her. It is so simple, so beneficial, so cheap, and Google does all the work for them. It will be interesting to see how this works out for them in the future. I wonder if they aren't allowed to use any other software but what Google provides. If they cannot use anything else that might be frustrating. I want to see if any other states follow in Oregon's footsteps and fully immerse learning into technology as they are.
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