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.