Reflection on Integrated Unit Plan

   I think that the lesson that we presented to the class went well overall. The challenge for Petya and I was to find the appropriate technology for the students, that will also be interesting for the 4^th grade class that we planed it for. I think that our choice of Brainpop was appropriate. The school that I work has a Brainpop subscription and we use it all the time. The students enjoy the movies and the activities that fallow them. I incorporate Brainpop in my teaching because presents the concepts in a way that is easy for the students to understand.

   I think presenting the lesson brought out a few points that I need to work on. It was hard for the students who are not familiar with Brainpop to follow the directions. I think that more detailed directions can be posted until students are familiar with the site. Also, to keep students engaged longer I have to think of more interactive way for them to do a summary of the movie and outline the key ideas.  

   I think our lesson presented students with opportunities to use technology in a meaningful way while learning about The American Revolution. I believe that online worksheet was interesting way for the students to work on an assignment.

Reflection on "Key Findings" of Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-year

   The results that were presented in the study Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-year-olds did not surprise me. I think that one of the reasons for the increase in media exposure time can be found in the changing school culture. I work in a school where the students did not had a school project this school year that did not required the use of computer. We did not expect the students to do a book-based research. In our school we do not have white boards. Every classroom has a Promethean board (interactive whiteboard), so our students are in front of the screen 6 hours a day just in school. The students homework is posted on the teacher’s website. So when we send them home they are in front of the computer again. We ask them to have a power point presentation for every project that they have to turn in. Every day in Math they visit a math technology center where they do math problems on the computer (IXL program). After reading a book the students are required to take a comprehension test on the computer.

   The reading also suggest that the parents have to set limits for their children. As a parent I strongly agree with that but is very hard to do it. Part of my daughter’s homework has to be emailed to her teacher. A lot of her homework assignments have to be typed. Yes, she spends time on Facebook and texting her friends but not as much as she spends on the computer for school related work.    

   By no meaning this is a bad use of our time. I think that with the use of technology in school we can prepare our students for real life. As a teacher I think is very important to limit the use of technology in the classroom only to assignments that enhance learning process. 

Post # 2 Oppenheimer, Tech Tonic, and NETS

   When I started reading the Oppenheimer’s The Flickering Mind I was a little surprised by the stand that the author was taking. I think that when we have a new “invention” and we try to implement it in our life there will be people that will be very enthusiastic about it and people that will be very pessimistic about it. Following the history of technology Oppenheimer focuses on the unfulfilled dreams that people had about technology fixing all the problems in education. After the publishing of the report The Nation at Risk a lot of educators looked at the technology as a savior and started using it without being ready for it. In the first chapter Oppenheimer says “Noting is more ridiculous than the idea that this technology can be used to save schools” When Oppenheimer talked about the connection between increasing test scores and technology during Clinton time he pointed out that the test scores rose a year before the computers actually arrived in the school that he visited. The answer is actually “smaller classes and longer periods; new books and extra time for the teachers to prepare their lessons…” Oppenheimer also pointed out that technology expands the gap between “students of color and white students and students high- poverty and low- poverty students” 

   In conclusion I think that Oppenheimer  wants to make us aware and careful about how we use technology in our schools.

   What I like about the Tech Tonic reading is it that has more optimistic point of view than The Flickering Mind. It gives more ideas for solution instead just point out the problem. The authors of this article pay more attention to the positive side of using technology in school. In chapter four the authors also state that technology can be helpful if honors developmental needs of the children.

In chapter eight the authors suggest that the use of technology in the classroom has to be carefully evaluated before implementing it and it has to have meaningful use for the students. 

   I think NETS.S outlines the main purposes that we should look for when we implement technology into the school curriculum. Technology has to be used to increase the students’ creativity and innovation; it has to teach students how to “use digital media” and how to communicate and work collaboratively; improve their research skills; build critical thinking skills in solving problems and making decisions.

   I think these three articles have very close relations. As future educators we have to be aware of the pros and cons of using technology in school and what is the main goal that we want to achieve with it.

Personal Philosophy of Education and Technology

  

   My personal philosophy of education is that education and learning is the willful study of someone else’s experience. This point of view for learning makes me a Pragmatist. The pragmatists believe that the knowledge comes from a considering experience in the real world. I believe a child knows about matter only through experience and that a person reflects on that experience with her or his mind. The students have to know how to use that experience and their intelligence in order to resolve problematic situations. I, as a pragmatist, believe that the process in which the experience becomes knowledge is divided into five steps. Step one is when an individual comes to a problem or a situation that temporarily restrains his or her progress. Step two is when the individual takes measures to diagnose the situation and to come to grips with the precise nature of the problem. The third step involves listing the possible solutions. Step four is reasoning the possible solution and evaluating the consequences if accomplished. The fifth step is testing the most reasonable hypothesis. If the hypothesis works then it is true. 

   As a future educator of the twenty- first century I believe technology can play a great role in the education of young children. In order to provoke student’s critical thinking we can use technology to accomplish any of the five steps. We can create a problematic situation and present it to the students with the help of the computer. The technology can make available endless sources of information to the students so they can evaluate the problem and come up with possible solutions. Different software programs can provide students with opportunities to test their hypothesis. I think technology is a great tool to enrich student’s learning experience and their education.