Dave Neal, Week Two, Chapter Four Reflection

Three ideas from our reading that are of interest to me:
1. Standard I covers the basic operations and concepts. Sometimes I am surprised at how much children already understand the basic concepts. I find that kids have so much access to computers at home that often the role of teaching technology is turned. It is not uncommon that a student is showing me a basic operation of a program, or that I hear from another teacher that a student taught them how to do something new on the computer. It is getting harder and harder to stay on top of the advancement of computer programs.
2. The section under standard II made me laugh when the authors discuss the ethical behavior of teachers using copyrighted material, and how wrong it is. Of course teachers shouldn’t make copies of copyright materials, and of course we never do this!! (wink, wink). That is something that as an educator, in my opinion, is an excusable law to break. Send me away to jail if you think I am wrong.
3. The third standard on technology and productivity is something that my students are really grasping right now in my classroom. They are in the process of learning how to use PowerPoint along with my course on Communication (where they learn to present in front of an audience). The first presentation was focused around PowerPoint, and then I let them decide whether or not to use PP for their second presentation. The class quickly learned that PP provided them with a much more efficient, creative and dynamic way to create visual aids in comparison to the good old fashioned poster board.

Two ideas for integrating technology for student learning in my own classroom/content area:
1. My class is involved with pen pals from Kenya right now. They created bookmarks for them and wrote them letters. This is a great activity, and one that I would not replace for anything, however I think it would be good to have another project where my kids could communicate with another school in America through a digital medium. Perhaps through a blog like we use in the classroom. This would of course hit standard IV.
2. I find that sharing appropriate information with my students and explaining the way schools and education work to them fosters a great relationship. I explain why we do certain things, why we have to take standardized tests, etc. If they do not understand why they have to do a certain thing in school, or why they are learning something…then they should ask for an explanation. If a teacher cannot explain why…then there is a problem. I try to explain as many different aspects of their education as I can, and I believe that they feel more empowered. Standards are something that I definitely explain to them. It would be interested to introduce the technology standards to them and have them come up with examples of how teachers (myself, and past teachers throughout the years) have met them. It would be interesting to see the standards and how well we are meeting them from the eyes of my kids.

What is my one main concern about integrating technology for student learning after reading this chapter?
1. I wonder about the correlation between the advancement of technological literacy and the downfall of manual writing and editing skills. I often see students create beautiful essays and projects on Word or PowerPoint, but then they turn around and turn in sloppy, misspelled, grammatically incorrect handwritten papers and projects. I often ask myself if mastering the ability to create beautiful, grammatically correct digital projects should compensate for a student’s lack of ability create them with pen and paper. Obviously, I want my students to be able to spell correctly without a computer underlining the words for them…but times are changing, and education is changing with them.