Blog #4

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Live from the First iPad Summit.

This article has to do a lot about the future of teaching with a great Apple product, the iPad. Many educators met for the first time in a group like this at Harvard to discuss what the iPad can do for the benefit of their students. This was not just a prestigious combination of peoples but, a group of educators from a very diverse background. Elementary and Secondary educators, principals, educational consultants. If its anything important with teaching children in today’s world, they were there. This summit was held for nothing else but how the iPad can be used in the classroom which was a great way to get the ideas out there if you ask me. The meeting seemed to go greatly with little takeaway on the iPad itself was that it is just a tool for teachers to use. Educators can not just give them these and expect them to learn the educators must still help them through everything; Educators need to know what they are doing on the device before they are used in school for the betterment of the students; and, they need to be something more than a computer replacement.

Q1. What is your opinion of the issue in the article? Agree or disagree?

Well I do not know what to think of this article. I mean if the setting are right with everything, there could be a major way to get to the children in an exciting way and in a way that they will stay focused, have fun, and learn something new. However, the iPad really is like a computer. As flashy as it may be for now at least, It is going to be difficult for teacher to teach using these devices because these apps they need are not there at the time. Plus with all of the training that they need for these new devices it puts more stress on the educator, when the same exact outcome of using an iPad can be achieved on a computer.

Q2. How will the issue help or hinder student learning?

I feel as if this issue will hinder my students learning. The problem is that the iPad itself is too distracting. There is too much you can do with it and not that big of a way to control it. For all we know kids could just be playing online or in other apps while I the educator are trying to better their education. It is a great idea to get the iPad into the learning community but i think it has a long way to go still.

Blog #3

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Using digital tools to make a difference

What can children do to make a difference in today’s world? Realistically there is not much that they, themselves can do. They can do fundraisers and that sort of thing but realistically their parents and parents friends are paying for that, so there is not much that just the child can do on their own. Well, even as an adult the best they can do is serve food at a homeless shelter or donate food products. But, many children have been getting into whats been called “clicktivism” they can draw attention to issues that they find important. There are things that children are getting behind such as the Ryan’s Well Project where a first grader realized that many places do not get clean drinking water like we do here so he (with some help from an adult of course) has a website now that takes donations, and with all the money that he has raised he has now been able to create more than 700 wells. There are many other projects like these that children are getting behind to make a difference in their world today.

Q1. What is your opinion of the issue in the article? Agree or disagree? Why?

I am going to have to agree with this article. As long as the student/ child is teamed up with a parent of some sort to get things rolling, it sounds like a great idea. What other ways can children get their issues across? Because realistically most parents or grown ups are not going to listen to them too much about these kinds of issues. With the impact of technology in today’s world, it is a perfect opportunity for children to get out there and spread their message of what they want to be changed, and even get lots of support for it. With all of the different websites and organizations like this there is always something out there for the children to do, and to get involved in.

Q2. How will the issue help or hinder student learning?

Realistically i would hope that this issue would help my students in their learning because they now would want to learn more, so they can do more with these organizations. The students will now want to Learn more so when they are older they know better ways to get this issue out there in the real world. A little education goes a long way, and so does begin able to know that your doing something good for this world already, at such a young age.

Blog #2

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Lesson at home plus homework at school equals flipped math classroom

In this article it describes about how in some classrooms teachers are trying to take the emphasis off classroom learning as a whole and focus more on individual. The classroom described is Ethan Anderson’s 8th grade algebra class at Dakota Meadows Middle School in North Mankato. What the teacher does is assigns an assignment to the class as a whole and the next day they come in, homework completed for it to be graded at school. If a student gets none to one or two answers wrong, the teacher hands out a more complicated math assignment for them, but if a student gets more than that wrong, they are given a different assignment having to do with the problems they were having trouble with. This allows for the students that don’t understand to get a grip on the assignment, and it does not hold back the more advanced students.

Q1. How will the issue help or hinder your teaching practice? Why?

I believe that this practice would hinder my teaching practices. Why do I believe that as my opinion? Because think of it this way, you have a class of  30 students. What happens if 10 of them are really good at math and start moving ahead? I mean thats great because they understand the concepts and everything but it also means that there is about 10 students who are doing the average amount of work and understanding, so their going along with the guidelines as they should be. But, there are those 10 students that have trouble learning math, and need more help getting through each assignment. Now you have one third of the class in different spots in math all wanting help and asking a different question. Not to mention the fact that some students feel bad when they are “behind” other students. Students today are very judgmental about things like that, which could also lead to other problems in the classroom.

Q2 How will the issue help or hinder student learning

As I stated earlier, students like to be on the same page. Like I remember when I was in eighth grade, even when I did not understand i felt better because I was going along with the class as a whole. With this new teaching method it will be easy to tell which students are understanding and which students are not, which can be good for the teacher showing where he or she needs to improve on their teaching techniques, but to the kids that could array a whole different set of problems that do not need to be brought in the classroom. Such as being known as “smarter” than one another and things like that.

Blog #1

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School libraries are still about teaching students ‘to use information efficiently and ethically’

In the article: School libraries are still about teaching students ‘to use information efficiently and ethically’ it talk about the changing of school libraries from the past to now. The role of the library has changed a lot from the past. Libraries today are now starting to make a huge transition in a large way. Libraries a few years ago were known as a place where people could go to check out books, but in schools today, they are changing more towards the digital era. School libraries are still carrying their large entourage of books for students to read, but they are also adding databases and ebooks to their selection for the students. Many schools are making this change which is causing a change in library employment in some schools. But in others that is not the case. In Northern High School they just hired more librarians. Because with this digital change, librarians at the high school say that their goals have stayed the same, and that is to help the students find out what they need with the resources that they have. Even if those resources expand to online databases and ebooks. However, now the databases and ebooks are located right on the computers in the classroom so the students dont even have to go to the library to look up information.  Even though there is a rise in digital aspects of Northern High School’s library, they say that the students are more than ever going for the old-fashioned books and the library has now become more of a place of discussion of the books that they have read.

Q1. How will the issue help or hinder your teaching practice? Why?

This issue I believe will help me more than ever with my teaching practices. Kids today, even in lower elementary school, have to get used to the world today and the technologies that are around them. It is a great way to get them online early and showing them what the internet (databases and ebooks) can do for them, even at such a young age. It is a way to expand their knowledge even more, and teaching the students how to use these databases properly can help them in higher grades and high school. Children today need to know how to use books and computers efficiently at a young age so i believe that this is a major help to my teaching practice.

Q2. What limitations or criticisms of the idea are important to consider?

Even though we have all of this technology our fingertips does not mean that as an educator i can teach my students everything at once. Their still going to be kids, not focused on school as much as making friends so its important that the educator does not push these too hard on their younger students. The students should learn from the book first then as they get older slowly be shown what they can get accomplished n the computer.