Belief about Technology 1/28

• I believe that there is a fine line about technology in education because I see some definite advantages, however, there are disadvantages in my eyes as well.
  
• I will try to bring technology into my classroom in the future in the best way that I can, making sure I do not make any of my students feel uncomfortable because they don't have the latest devices that will make it so they wouldn't be able to complete an assignment.
• I will use technology as a form of communication between myself and the parents to avoid confusion.
  

Blog a

After reviewing and reading the assigned websites, I found it very interesting to hear what each one had to say. I started by watching A Vision of Students Today. This short film was very powerful and hit home as a college student. I felt very fortunate that I was part of the minority for most of the statistics. I was shocked to see how many students actually attend a college where their professors don’t know their name. For me, I felt it was very important to have contact with a professor, and that is why I chose a smaller University. The perspective I gathered from this film was that more and more students spend time online, but it may not be websites that are benefiting them. In some situations, technology can really benefit a lesson, however, I feel that after watching this film it should be part of a lesson. Lessons should not solely depend on technology. The same goes for students in lecture. I feel that there are better alternatives than bringing a laptop to class to take notes. This is an invitation for distraction. Sure, there may be an appropriate time or day for a laptop to be necessary, but to me in order to keep a class involved in the material a teacher or professor is presenting distractions have to be kept to a minimal.
The Machine is Us/ing Us was also a very interesting film showing how easy it was to create your own ideas and also replace others. The set up of this film directly impacted me, the viewer, because I saw how quickly replacing a word or the whole entire thought or statement could change a thought or statement. I do believe there are benefits to using technology, however, I saw how this could take the direct contact away from communicating with others. To me, the fact that there are no restrictions as to what may be posted also concerns me. This would lead me to wonder if what I was reading was faulty information.
The short film, Pay Attention, quickly caught my attention. I feel that this was a very powerful source and it wouldn’t have had the same impact on me if I were to have just read what it had to say. The fact that the words were put to music and in a slide show format really kept my attention and made this film something I could directly relate to. I saw a different approach to technology and education in this film. This showed how to connect children and technology to what they were learning in education whether it is through pod casts or even text messaging. Instead of trying to win the war against certain technologies in the classroom, this was showing that if they are incorporated in a unique and affective way, it could actually benefit the students.
I felt that all five of these websites had similar and yet very different approaches to the use of technology in education. I do have my personal opinion about technology in the classroom and where I would draw the line as to what to use, however, I am now starting to see how when looking outside the box, there are many different ways that technology can help further the education of students and also help teachers or professors advance in their careers.

First Post!!!

FIRST POST!!!