Growing Up Digital Part 3

1. The 3 most important criticisms Don Tapscott makes are:
1) There is no  concrete evidence to support that technology makes kids stupid
2) Students are not paying attention because they can't, it's because they are bored. Teachers need to change the way they lecture students because the "old traditional" method is no longer working.
3) Data and evidence is misleading. According to Tapscott, technology is developing young adolescent brains that are more appropriate for our fast paced, complex world.

2. I agree that we need to change “the relationship between student and teacher in the learning process” because the current method of teaching is no longer attracting the attention of the students. Teachers need to interact and meet the students demands because with all the technology, adolescents learn and grow by interacting and by trial and error. Teachers reading straight out of the textbook or students copying notes are no longer appealing. In today's complex and fast growing planet, adolescents are the only one's who can keep up-to-date and receive numerous sources of information better then most adults and teachers. Teachers must meet the students demands, if they want to keep the attention flowing.

3. The second article we had to read greatly understands the technology, and the way students interact with technology. In this article, there were numerous statistics that defy our generation. Ex. teachers changing their way of teaching to keep students interested is needed because with all this interaction on the internet, adolescents are developing their brain much faster then any previous generation. This article not only understands our generation, but it is directed to those who "think" without any scientific proof, that in fact internet and multitasking is making us stupid. Those who think this are greatly mistaken.

Article Response-Teachers Views on Technology in the Classroom

The video about using IPod touches as an educational tool I believe is a great idea to pursue at Mackenzie. I believe this because the IPod touch has thousands of educational applications such as Shakespeare apps that allow you to understand the symbolism and hidden meaning within each line of Shakespeare's books. English classes would benefit from using this technology because many students have trouble understanding Shakespeare, so with the Shakespeare application students will understand more. Also, students use technology on an hourly basis, so it would be beneficial to the students to use technology because concentration will improve if there is a technological tool to assist students. For this idea to work I believe we would need to just buy the IPod touches and program educational applications onto the IPod that will benefit the student and improve concentration.

The video about connecting your school to another school somewhere else around the world, I believe would be an amazing use of technology. We can connect to other countries; we can study their country's economy by having a one on one conference with another school by using a program called Skype, which allows you to video conference. International business classes, Economy classes and world issues are possible candidates that would greatly benefit from this program. By using this technology they will be able to study and understand a countries economy, history or anything else that will provide the students with knowledge that can not be given from reading a textbook.

Article Response- Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction

·  Does technology amplify your personality? I would like to think that it doesn't affect my personality because I don't want technology to control the way I feel or how I develop mentally. I would like to think that I do use technology more than I should, but I do try to limit the amount of technology that I am exposed to so that I am not dependent on technology, and so it doesn't alter my personality.

·  In your own experience, do you think gaming affects your sleep patterns or your ability to retain information? Well, in my opinion I don’t believe it does, I think of games as a way to relax, a hobby that allows me to do the things I like while relaxing from school work. As for if it affects my sleep patterns, I'm not entirely sure, I don't often play games before I go to sleep, but when I do finish playing a game after a few hours I feel the affects on my eyes because they become very dry.

• Should schools be embracing more technology or do the costs of technology (not just financial costs) outweigh the benefits? Schools should be embracing more technology because in a modern age such as ours, students and everyone are dependent on technology, because at this time, it is the way the world moves. I think schools would be benefiting from integrating more technology into the schools considering that without technology you will be behind on the modern world, so the cost for the benefit of all students shouldn't even be considered even though that some teachers believe that students should stay away from technology at a particular level and focus more on school work. This is why some schools don't want more technology in the school. Students use technology on an hour-to-hour basis. By removing technology from student’s lives, you are putting a road block in front of them, but due to the mass production of technology, students will still keep using technology even if it is not available in schools. So instead of fighting students to use less technology and focus more on schoolwork teachers and students should meet halfway.
• Are the students in this article a realistic depiction of your life?  Does the writer of the article have a good grasp of technology use among teenagers?  In a sense I can relate to those in the article, but I feel that those mentioned in the article are more dependent on technology than I am, therefore I can relate to them in the sense that I understand why they are dependent on technology. I believe that the writer has a good grasp on technology among teenagers, because he not only offers his points on why technology should be limited to teenagers, he also offers points on why teenagers need technology. The writer benefits both the teenagers and those parents or teachers concerned with students spending more time using technology then focusing on school work, thereby pleasing both sides.

Teacher Placement

1) What did you accomplish last week in your placements?
     Last week Aaron, John and I learnt how to use Diigo and Windows Movie Maker because that is what the teacher we were placed with asked of us. We set up appointments last week to consult Mrs. Elso-Ponzo, but due to some circumstances we couldn’t meet up with her until today, November 1st.
Today, we talked with Mrs. Elso-Ponzo and we learnt on how much she is progressing in her class by incorporating Diigo and windows movie maker. We understood that the students already had some experience with using Diigo, but Mrs. Elso-Ponzo suggested that she would like another tutorial for Diigo since they currently need it for the beginning of their research project that has already been started. Mrs. Elso-Ponzo also has no experience with windows movie maker so our group decided that we would either make a tutorial video for her class or we would personally go during second period and give a quick demonstration on how to use windows movie maker. We also came up with a plan that will be taken place within the next weeks, but Mrs. Elso-Ponzo will give us her final thoughts and suggestions this week on Wednesday November 3rd.

2) What do you need to do this week?
This week we already consulted Mrs. Elso-Ponzo and we are meeting up with her on Wednesday to finalize what she needs for her applied history class. This week my group and I also intend to make a tutorial for windows movie maker and possibly Diigo.

Placement Blog Post

1.       Developing innovative classroom lessons using technology: I’m the best suited person to come up with lesson plans

Finding ways to incorporate technology into existing projects: I am pretty good at coming up with ways to incorporate technology into projects

Designing and developing websites: I have very little experience in web designing

Teaching teachers and students to use technology and software: I am somewhat good at teaching others about technology and how to incorporate it into schools project, and I’m somewhat good at teaching about software programs

Finding online resources for teachers: I am interested in this but I have never done this type of assignment before

Teaching video creation and editing techniques using movie maker: On a previous assignment I had to learn and present to the class about windows movie maker, so I’m experienced and conferrable with working with Windows Movie Maker

2.       Responsibility: 7/10 I think this because I am responsible but at times I am very forgetful

Web Design: 3/10 I have very little experience

Developing action plans: 6/10 I am good at coming up with plans

Teaching other people: 7/10 I am pretty good at teaching others what I know

Meeting deadlines: 8/10 I always meet my deadlines other then the occasional time I can’t meet a deadline

3.       I am conferrable leading a group of students to the point where the numbers aren’t over exaggerated and I have another person with me, I get to shy when I lead alone.

4.       I prefer to work in a group, but with just one another person is also good, but I have a hard time working with a group of students alone

5.       Geography: somewhat comfortable

Media: Not comfortable

Business: very comfortable

English: somewhat comfortable

Biology: not comfortable at all

Pursuing Prezi

I say to pursue my idea because all that is required is the internet so it is very easy to learn the Prezi program. I suggest working with any of the business classes, preferably a business class that does and works more with presentations. As for the teacher I don’t know which teacher specifically teaches the business classes, although if Mr. Stoffman or Mrs .Gram is teaching, any of those 2 would work, or any other business teacher.

Enriching Technology

Idea: Incorporating Prezi into all presentations instead of the traditional basic PowerPoint presentations

Subject Area: All subjects can benefit, however, I believe business classes can benefit the most since they will learn and utilize Prezi into their daily lives based on the amount of technology at their disposal.

Details:  Business classes (or any class) can present their projects using a new flashy and attractive way, discarding the traditional method of presenting using PowerPoint. Prezi is the new way of all presentations that is fun, attractive and more beneficial to you and those watching your presentation

Technology needed: Internet access to download Prezi

Pros:
Ø  It’s fun to use

Ø  Prezi comes with many attractive features such as zooming or rotating the screen to expand and emphasize your points

Ø   Its new and more beneficial than the traditional PowerPoint

Ø  Your viewers are more intrigued and interested by your presentation

Cons: 

Ø  You need to have access to the internet to create an account on the Prezi website

Ø  You rely your presentation success based on whether or not internet is working

Ø  Takes time to learn how to use Prezi properly

What Needs to Happen to Make the Idea Work – Who is Responsible:

Ø  You need to talk to the teacher first to see if your teacher will allow a presentation method such as Prezi

Ø  You need to have access to internet

Ø    You need to learn how to use Prezi effectively

Windows Movie Maker

Windows Movie Maker is a basic editing program that allows you to make your own videos or edit videos already made. Windows Movie Maker contains features such as effects, transitions, titles/credits, and an audio track that you can incorporate into your movie. Windows Movie Maker also allows you to edit your music such as fading in or fading out. Another feature of Windows Movie Maker is that you can clip out sections of your movie, if you feel that parts of your movie are inappropriate or if you just feel the movie would look better without certain sections.

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Pros of Windows Movie Maker: It’s very easy and basic to learn compared to other software editing programs, it allows you to create your own movie starting from the title screen all the way to finishing credits, and it also allows you to incorporate your music of choice along with special effects

Cons of Windows Movie Maker: Sometimes windows movie maker crashes as you’re making a movie which makes you start from the beginning, it can’t save huge movies you edited, and the video quality is basic, and often when you’re creating even a basic video, windows movie maker freezes a lot.

Windows Movie Maker is a good program to start with for making short basic films

Some suggestions I have based for educational purposes include the history and science classes. For the history classes, for example, if you’re showing a war movie and some parts are to violent for students to watch, with windows movie maker you can clip out sections of the movie that you don’t want, and with special transitions already included in movie maker, it will look like those deleted scenes never existed. For the science classes, especially biology, if you want to show a quick movie on the anatomy of the human body, then with windows movie maker you can add effects, pause the movie when you want, add transition slides to emphasize what you want to say and you can emphasize, for example, important sections of the human body through special effects already installed in windows movie maker.

Windows movie maker is very simple to use, but if you’re ever having trouble then this tutorial will help you learn the program in less than 10 minutes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZXK68NS7gU

This link is from you tube and it’s a step-by-step tutorial that is easy to understand and learn.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/moviemaker/getstarted/default.mspx This link is directly from the windows movie maker website and it’s an inquiry and answering page that answers any questions you may have. This website also has step-by-step tutorials for any question you may have on windows movie maker.

Blog Number 7- I Thought I Posted This

For this contest I don’t have any ideas on which original song we can make a parody that demonstrates or envisions the use of technology in the classroom, but I do have ideas on how we can make the video. One aspect of the video can be how we made surveys on the benefits of using netbooks in classes to help students create and learn more effectively. This is a good idea because we can possibly create lyrics for this.  Another aspect of the video can be how our classroom has a smart board, and how students are learning how to use the smart board to teach the other classes in our school. We can talk about how the smart board could be used for personal use to enhance one’s school presentations. We can also break up into groups and get teachers feedback on the video, or possible suggestions that will enhance the video.

Blog Number 6- Future Shop Contest

I think that this contest will work against us, because when reading the application it seems like this contest was created to help “schools-in-need” which can’t afford computers of their own, instead of asking to make a video of how our school would use a new renovated computer lab. I think that this contest is the one we should consider last for applying. One idea however, I think, that would assist the IDC class in completing this application is by showing the judges how our school is currently using new technology, and how we can improve and motivate others by being more involved in learning, if we had a bigger fund for proving the students with more technology to use at their disposal. We should also talk about how we have high academic standards, so the technology would be a privilege and an opportunity to increase our academic standards

Blog Number 5- Staples Contest

I’m not too sure on what you mean by brainstorming ideas, but if you are asking how the essay should be written and what criteria we should put on it, then I think that instead of every student writing the same essay on the same topic, the students should break up into groups and write an essay together consisting on how our school is environmentally responsible. We can talk about how one of our own teachers hosts the switch club which provided us with solar panels on top of our school, along with how we have courses at Mackenzie teaching the students about the damages and pressures humans have put on the earth, and how to change them, along with writing about our gardening club. I also think that by entering in this contest we will have the opportunity to upgrade our computer lab, although on aspect of the contest is to write about how we influenced the community, and I personally don’t see how we influenced our community around us. We will however I think be successful with environmental attributes and school and student leadership portion of the essay. Out of the three contests I think the Staples one is the more successful one.

Blog Number 4- I know Im late

My first choice in project selection is: In Depth Software Development
My second choice in project selection is: Netbook Cart Team
My third choice in project selection is: Web 2.0 Tools

I ranked the projects the way I did because I personally like Depth Software Development. I like working with software and experiment with different programs and teaching myself those programs.

I ranked Netbook cart team second because I like working with groups of people and like working with hardware and setting up programs but I just don’t enjoy it as much as depth software development

I ranked Web 2.0 Tools third because when reading the description it was the topic that least got me interested on working in this particular task.

Blog Number 3

I think that “doing old things in new ways” is more suited for schools at this time because this way you can integrate technology into he class room and work environment. Technology is rapidly being innovated each day and if schools don’t keep up with future and current trends in technology then the school system will start to fall behind. Students need technology incorporated in to their school lives. And teachers should include technology in school lessons which include: videos that students can watch to understand concepts that are taught in the class. Students can also email their teachers for further help or submitting work online. Teachers would contribute more to the education of their students if they used online activities to educate the students.

Blog Number 2

Although the course is starting off slow, I really am enjoying working on group projects along with meeting new people i haven`t met before. I also really like how different groups were established to work on different tasks that are all working towards integrating netbooks into the school. I really do hope we have more projects like these ones; however I would enjoy working directly with technology (ex. the netbooks) instead of going around class to class surveying groups, even though I do enjoy that aswell. At this time I do not have any suggestions on how the course could be improved.

Blog Number 1

I was part of the ``Netbook Surveying Group`` and we concluded that the grade elevens in language classes will benefit the most from the netbooks.

Completion of Task: 4 out of 4
I helped create the survey along with going to different classes gathering information based on our survey and then tallying up the results. I also helped create the powerpoint along with Sasha.

Cooperative Participation in Group: 4 out of 4
Everytime there was a problem in our group we would come together and come up with a solution. We all worked well together and I always put my best effort into the assigned task.

Creativity and Critical Thinking: 3 out of 4.
Although i offered my ideas whenever needed and gave my group members my opinion in order to solve problems, in this task however, I was not very creative, and did mostly what i was told instead of help create an idea that would organize our data efficiently.

Initiative: 3.5 out of 4.
I always completed the tasks i was given and I always used my class time effectively aswell as complete my share in my groups final product, but there were times however, that i would finish early and not know what else to work on.