Monday, April 29, 2013

Gaining Access From Technology

Two educational benefits that can be obtained from technology are: in the classroom the use of positive technology to get students to be more engaged and interactive, as well as providing more resources to the students in and outside of the classroom.
Word Cloud Created By Anna Keehn
When I say positive technology what I mean is technology that will help students in the classroom such as computers, internetsmart-boards, etc, not cellphones or iPods. Having the availability and access to computers allows access to the internet as well which allows students to further their search on certain topics. For example if a student is writing a paper about someone the internet allows them to gain more information about the certain topic than they were given before. Smart-boards allow students to go up in front of the class and sort out a problem, which makes them be more interactive with the class. Having availability to technology in the classroom gives students the opportunity to be more engaged with their learning. Those that are affected by the digital divide do not have the same access to these resources as others do when they are outside of the classroom. The ones who are affected will now have equal access as others when they are inside the classroom which allows everyone to participate.
With technology providing more resources for students in as well as outside the classroom is a benefit because nowadays almost everything is done online. For example there is email and whenever you apply or sign up for anything you usually always have to give out your email. Same with jobs, applying for jobs is becoming very popular to do online as well as just seeing what jobs are even available. There are so many benefits that technology provides in and out of the classroom. People who suffer from the digital divide can benefit from this because it will help them with so many things. They can gain access to these benefits by using computers at the library, a neighbors or friends.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Accessibility

Photo by Pics4Learning
The educational technology topic/issue that I chose for my final project is accessibility. I chose this topic/issue because it is the one that seemed the most interesting to me, and one that won't be as hard to find good information on. With accessibility it is one that we have briefly discussed in my previous education classes as well, so that should also help to make it simpler to write about. This topic interests me because finding further information about it-other than what I already have in mind-will help me as a future teacher with helping students gain access to different technology needed, as well as using them in meaningful ways. My prior knowledge of accessibility is slim. I do know that it is very difficult for teachers to ensure that all of their students have the same access to technology because of the way our economy is and how many students come from a lot of different backgrounds. I also know that when students do gain access to technology in the classroom it is very important that what they are doing is important and meaningful and will help further their knowledge of the subject they are working on. What I hope to learn from this process is ways that I can use this information to further my understanding of it and apply it to my future teaching style. By acquiring a deeper knowledge of accessibility it could benefit me in the future by using what I learn and applying it to real life, and helping to use ideas I find of meaningful ways to use technology in the classroom in my own classroom someday.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Emphasizing/De-emphasizing Technology In the Classroom
Photo by Pics4Learning

I feel that emphasizing the use of technology in the classroom depends on what the uses are for and how long they will be using it. As long as the use of technology in the classroom isn't for long periods of time then it is not a problem, but if they are using it for long periods of time and then going home and spending more time in front of a screen I don't feel that is okay. It can take away from the interaction with other students.


Thursday, April 4, 2013

EDST 220 K-W-L Post

When using technology to communicate with others, I know how to...
Photo by MS Images
  • Email
  • Power-point
  • Facebook
  • Blackboard

  What I want to know...
  • Prezi
  • Blog
  • Power-points in a more useful way
  • How to use graphs and charts to show information

What have you learned about using technology to communicate with others?