Digital blog post #C

Maloy et. al (2013, pp. 118-119) brought up a good point on the subject of search engines. They note that “knowing only how to find information is insufficient if teachers and students are to avoid becoming immersed in biased, faulty, or useless data.” Many learn how to find what they are looking for, but how many are paying attention to who and where this information is coming from. It wasn’t until college that I learned to pay attention to .com sites versus .edu, .gov, etc. Some sites, emails, amongst others may appear to have value at the initial viewing, but then may realize that it’s just a sugar coating. There is also the problem of keeping students from seeing sexual and other inappropriate conduct, as seen when looking for pictures even of the most innocent nature. What’s out there to help protect our kids, and will it really work?

                After reading further through the text, Maloy et. al (2013, pp. 126-127) discuss resources to help with the safety of students on the web and finding appropriate material easier. They pointed out a site called Razzul, which only allows access to sites appropriate for children ages 3-12, and also Net Nanny and netTrekker, which are programs that can “monitor, block, and report data.” They also discuss associations that give suggestions and tips to help keep your kids safe. The problem that I foresee here is that these things can be inviting, and so it’s not always the child knowing that they shouldn’t, but having the conviction and the desire to not go there that needs to be present. Installing one of these programs would probably make me feel more comfortable with what my students were doing. They also mentioned giving student’s access to sites preapproved by the teacher, which would also be useful. One problem that I ran into years back after trying to test a website blocker, was that it blocked even safe sites, and so that became frustrating. Hopefully, these programs have weeded out these problems.

               Evaluating online information can be very hard, and even harder to know if what you found is actually correct. Maloy et al (2013, pp. 128) point this out with a story of a class that researched how thanksgiving came about. At first they were hit with tons of websites, many of which didn’t have what they were looking for. After digging deep they were able to find other information that was left out of their textbook. When writing textbooks, an author cannot include every detail, they must decide what they think the readers should know. I believe that this leads to the problem of potentially biased information with details left out that someone may not wish people to know to sway them in a direction that aligns with some sort of goal or agenda. Material can be presented in a manner that seems good, where as another could discuss the same topic trying to prove it bad. Without proper background, true evidence, the full picture, or even morals that everyone can agree on, how do we teach and write material that allows students to make their own decisions? Is the information that we have been taught, true? Or have we been deceived into a certain way of thinking already, but think we are ok, and teach, never really having dug deep into the material that we think that we know.

Resources:

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly

Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Short, Adam (2016). Performed by www.wordle.net

Digital Blog Post #B

Chapters 3 & 4:

Concept 1:
      Maloy et. al. (2013, pp. 67-71) bring up a valid point. They discuss how teachers tend to teach how they were taught in the grade that they are currently teaching in. For instance, if in second grade they took multiple choice tests only, then they stick to that when they become a second grade teacher. If they were assessed using performance assessments more, then that's what they tend to use for their grading.
      I agree with their points. It does seem that many teach according to the way they have been taught. I am guessing its also a comfort zone, and people don't always want to branch out with new ideas, especially when teachers have been teaching a certain way for such a long time. I imagine that some teachers have over the course of their education a teacher that taught in a different way, and they decided that they wanted to follow suit. Does this change always stem from a better way of teaching, or was it simply a change from the norm that impacted the student to desire to teach in such a manner when they became a teacher is the question I would then ask. Change can often provide enough stimulation to boost attention spans. A simple place to notice this is in a game. How many versions of tag is there? Whether it be a new name, different way to tag, freeze, task to perform to return to play, elimination, or environment, the change of the game can often be inviting.

Photo credit to Adam Short from Bitstrips

Concept 2:
     In chapter 4, Maloy et. al. (pp. 87) discuss a technology based learning environment. In this type of set up, students may continue learning through the internet. The teacher could use a website to support students learning, offer extra material and resources, discussion questions, assignments, etc.
     Having this resource open to students is a great idea. Depending on the set up and time put into the website, could pull students in and provide valuable content to them. I have seen this work well for middle school students. If they were to miss a day, they could go log in, and view what they missed, make up any assignments, and be ready to return to class fully up to date. It also helps to provide students support who may have struggled during class. The teacher can also be able to touch on things that they may not have been able to get to during class. Also, students could be able to collaborate with each other.
     Potential issues and concerns are mainly the amount of time that may have to be put in to make this useful to students. Obviously, the more time put in, the more useful to students it could be, but at what cost. Teachers also need breaks, but often with the pressures of student performance connected to their performance, leads to teachers not taking needed time to themselves. What if there were staff members hired to support this learning environment.

                                              Photo credit to Adam Short from Canva


Concept 3:
     View from Prezi.


Resources:

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly
Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.