Internet: all-in-one

I had a ton of work to complete this weekend along with two doubles at work, so I did not have much time to watch the NCAA tournament or opening games for the baseball season.  What I did have time to do was procrastinate while typing a paper and set up my delicious account and add a bunch more sites to my list.  I have decided that the name is wierd and has little to do with the functionality of the site, but that I love it.  I have all types of information available to me in one place.  I have all of my sports teams and sports related sites in one folder and I have some local and national news sources in another.  I also have a folder for entertainment for money for education and the miscellaneous folder.  I was able to check all aspects of importance to me in about 209 minutes and I didn’t have to waste a tone of time searching and getting distracted on the web.  I do not get the newspaper at home, due to being busy and checking the web to get the news, and now that I have (with come help) discovered Delicious I am not sure if I will ever need another magazine or newspaper. 

     I also found all of the highlights and a several shows that I missed from Thursday- Sunday, that I was able to watch on the Internet.  I think instead of buying newspaper and magazines or paying for cable for my fancy big screen TV, I think I am going to buy a new and better computer and save money over time and have more at my disposal.  The Internet still baffles me and drives me crazy at points, but it is amazing and the amount of freedom and information that is out there and easily grouped with Delicious is Delicious.  I guess the site does have a good name.

Are Research Paper’s Good

     I think I am taking a chance writing this blog prior to having my 10 page research paper graded.  The reason it is chancy is because the professor will most likely also be gazing at this post, since it is a graded part of the assignment.  All that aside, I think Dr. Ransom will appreciate my critical review of the research paper, as long as it’s done in a well organized and well argued blog post.  So here I go….. 

     I just completed a 7-10 page research paper.  This seems like a relatively normal task for a college or graduate student, and in many cases it is a short paper.  The issue I have is that the class is a Technology in education class.  I feel that I did learn alot of valuable information about technology in the classrooms and in-particularly about technology in science.  There were many other advances that I did not have room to mention in the paper such as microscopes that plug into computers and work with the Internet and other software.  There are also computer programs that help calculate and store data for chemistry experiments.

       I think technology is always expanding and changing, therefore a research paper on technology seems to go obsolete quicker than it took to write it.  I wish we could have researched a topic in education and had presented it to the rest of the class by utilizing a technology we have learned or are going to learn in the class.  This would have allowed for all students to learn a little about each subject that was researched, and it would have given each student a chance to utilize a new technology.  I felt the rest of the assignments in the class have been challenging and fulfilling because they have facilitated  the use and understanding of many of the key ideas and technologies at our disposal.  

     I feel regardless of my negative attitude and exhaustion after completing the paper that I did learn alot about the topic.  I do see that technology is available and rapidly meshing itself into the educational framework of the world.  I noticed that for technology and this transformation to be successful many teachers need to be better trained.  Teachers need constant and up to date training on how to effectively utilize and implement the newest technologies into their curriculum and classroom.  I also came across many articles, websites and blogs that focus on the controversial aspects of technology.  This frustrated me becuase it seems everyone wants an opinion, yet many don’t want to work towards a compromise and a solution to the issues at hand.  I also noticed that much of the test data is showing improvement in area in which Technology is being implemented and utilized.  I guess I’m not sure why this is not proof enough for the doubters to get on board and work to better education for students.  I think it is the age old issue of out with the old and in with the new, and many people still are scared of change or of the unknown.  This is ironic to me because this country was founded and inspired by change.   This is also the country that has placed itself and its ideals at the top of the world, yet now we are slowly loosing our grip as the all-powerful, all-knowing super country.   The way I see it is simple.  The technology is here, and we use it and love it in our everyday lives, its time to learn it, teach it and master it.  I think mastering it might be impossible, but avoiding it is no longer an option.  So, its time to get on the train of technology or our students and our future might be left in the past.    

   

Easter break and more confusion

I spent most of my Easter break trying to get my house clean, so that when family arrived they wouldn’t think that a tornado hit the inside of my house.  I also spent some time catching up on sleep and picked up some extra shifts at work to try and pay some bills while getting my masters.  I also attempted to not procrastinate and get a head start on some of my upcoming projects for grad school.  That didn’t go great.  I find myself surfing the Internet and spending large amounts of time and energy trying to sift through worthless information to find the information I can use.  I worked with the ERIC system and was able to find several articles, but many of them are not retrievable through ERIC and I am not sure if their are other sites or other ways to get these articles other than through ERIC or going to a college.  I found doing the research for my technology paper on technology in the science classroom to be very interesting, yet I found it hard to sift through alot of irrelevant information for decent information.  I also ran into many sites that appeared free, but once I tried to access other areas, I was informed I needed a membership.  I wish these Internet sites would allow for a pay for the time you are on the site, rather than a flat fee, as I might need the site for an hour, yet I will have to pay for a year and never use it again.  So, I feel like it has been another week of procrastination, leading to frustration in that I always bank that I will be able to turn to the world wide web to bail me out in the end, yet I often spend more wasted time on the web than I do anything else.  I still love technology and the vastness of the avenues on the Internet, yet I miss the old fashion look it up in a book and write a paper, although in a topic like technology in a science classroom, the Internet is the best place to find up to date data.  The grasp of the Internet over my existence grows daily, I am just glad I am trying to learn the tools and the ins and outs to make the Internet my tool, not the other way around. 

     Hope all have a great Easter and think of me next week when I am stressed out and staying up late because the Internet dragged me in yet again.  I will eventually learn, but I guess it takes a few all nighter to really let it all sink in.   

My weekend of reflection- Have I become techlogicaly dependent

This blog entry is late for my assigned deadline, and like every other  person who has ever been late, I also have a good excuse.  My excuse is the topic of the blog. 

  The issues all started when I started to write a post about last class and was struggling through it, when the power went out.  I initially was frustrated because we live in an old house and the entire upstairs is on 2 circuits.  This is usually only a problem when my wife uses her blow-drier.  The first piece of technology that drives me crazy.  It combined with any other electrical appliance turned on on 75% of my outlets cause instant darkness.  This was not the case on Saturday, rather a large portion of town lost power, and we did not get our power restored until after midnight. 

     It was at this point of realizing that I lost my blog, that was almost coming together, and that I now had 3 hours before work.  The issue was I didn’t know what to do.  my wife decided to take a nap, while I wandered around the house in the semi darkness looking at how much I had that I could do, yet I was unable to use these objects that I normally take for granted due to the power outage.  The first thing I did was go the the fridge and grabed a water and as soon as I opened the door, I thought, “shut it quick dumb-ass, the electric is out and it might be out for a while, and the fridge isn’t magically cold, it uses electricity”.  I than thought, I will get on my laptop and finish my blog.  Got my laptop and my water and got comfortable by a window (needed light) and when I went to get on the Internet I realized that our wireless modem is also not magical and uses electricity.  I ended up cleaning out a few junk draws and put away some laundry.  These are both tasks that I had been avoiding and always had a better or more stimulating excuse.  What amazed me next was that I went up stairs to find my wife awake and text messaging a few of her friends.  This is when I realized that technology might be holding us prisoner in many ways.  This lead me to start thinking about teaching and how excited I am to utilize the technology we have to inspire and extend learning.  I also realized I am going to inspire children to utilize and not overestimate the imagination and the fact that quite and slow or a little good old fashion hard work is good and needed in school and in life.  I realized that the struggle might be harder to keep the old ways than it will be to incorporate the new.  I look forward to the challenge and until then, I decided I am going to go buy a gas generator.  I told myself it was so the food wont spoil, but I think I might have a few other reasons.

My first lesson plans

     I always knew that teachers had lesson plans, and that if I became a teacher I would one day have to write them, but I didn’t realize how difficult it was going to be.

     I have my first two lesson plans due next week.  I have a topic for both lesson plans, and I have an idea on how I want to teach them.  The issue I am having is using the template that we are given at Nazareth.  I think the purpose of the template is to get new educators/teachers to cover all areas of a good lesson.  The problem I am having is I am hearing from many current teachers that what I am learning will never be used.  This is where I have a huge problem.  I want to teach and to learn things that are relevant and will be useful in my future, but yet I might be being educated in a way that is counteractive to this.  so, this is what I have decided.  I am going to complete the lesson plans as instructed, but I am going to make sure that I question and try to expose any flaws or weaknesses in the function of this template.  I feel that education needs to be based on function and usefulness and if educators are being educated in a way that is not useable than that seems ridiculous and very counterproductive.  I realize and have seen in the classroom how important a good lesson is, but it seems that organization and the ability to analyze and adapt to the learning style of a classroom along with good classroom management is just as important.  I realize that many of my statements might seem rash and pompous, due to the fact that I have little to no classroom experience, but I do feel that I know how I felt and how I see children react in classrooms and something has got to change.  That is where I think the technology and the ability of a teacher to appropriately utilize and incorporate technology into the classroom will help change the function or the rigidness of the Naz lesson template.  I think for now I will stop with my complaining and take the next few days to complete my lessons, and then maybe some of my initial issues or complaints will subside or will change in nature. 

To be continued…..