Prompt #10

Content Standards for U.S. History 5-12:

History tends to be a lot of facts and information that even I find myself memorizing just for the test and then its gone. But by using the internet and online quizzes, I think it can provide information for the students that they will remember after the test. Students can visually see a map and click on areas of the map and it will tell them different facts about that region. This is very helpful for the visual learners as well as other learners too. Also, I could find videos on the internet that illustrate history so the students can have a better idea of what they are learning about. This would be very helpful if they are not good at creating and imagining their own stories when reading.

Prompt #9

Issue #15: Student Screen Time

I believe that student screen time should not be limited. Because technology is advancing so quickly, I believe that students need to learn and experience as much technology as possible to survive in the future. I also believe that students are beginning to learn better by using technology since it has become such a big part of our lives. With that said, I think that children should not just be sitting in front of the TV watching their favorite cartoon all day. I think that screen time needs to be educational and fun of course. That way the child will want to learn.

Prompt #8

Issue #8: Facebook

My answer is No, Facebook cannot replace face-to-face contact. Although it is very easy to get distracted on Facebook whether you are reading others posts or looking at their pictures, I don't believe it will be an efficient way for students to learn. I believe that students will get distracted on the internet rather then trying to learn since it would be like replacing class. Also, I am a believer that hands on learning is what really gets students to actually learn, not just memorize and regurgitate for tests. Hands on learning is pretty hard to do when you lose that face-to-face contact.

Prompt #7

I believe that the eLanguage system was very good. This allows teachers and students to share work with other teachers and students around the world. This will help enhance learning in the classroom as well as sharing information about different technologies and things on the other side of the world. Also Cellphone K12 was interesting. It brought up a good point by using a piece of technology that so many of us are familiar with to learn. I also thought it may be very helpful because it takes learning outside the classroom.

Prompt #6

Everyone knows that technology evolves over time. People may not have realized how fast this has happened. When I was in first grade I remember using the traditional chalk and blackboard. We all had our individual sets of a small, square piece of board and then our own set of chalk and the teacher would ask us a question and we would write down our answer and then hold up our board. Once I hit 3rd grade we already were using white boards instead of chalk boards. We also got the opportunity to go into the computer lab once or twice a week. Once I reached middle school we still had white boards but we also used projectors quite a bit. This way the teacher could put a piece of information on a machine and a light would project it up onto this screen. Once I hit my junior and senior year of high school, SMART Boards started popping up in classrooms. This allowed teachers to project something up on a board where you could interact with it, drawing with magnetic markers or moving the pictures around. It is amazing to see how far technology has advanced since I was young.

Prompt #5

There are many ways that a teacher could include technology within their classroom to help enhance the teaching and learning process and achieve the five educational standards identified by ISTE for teachers.
By projecting a picture, problem or story up on the board a teacher can engage the entire class into a discussion. (This story is obviously dependent on the age of the students. For high schoolers it could be a problem about alcohol and drugs where as an elementary class you may want to choose a problem such as stranger danger). First I would ask the students to tell me what they think stranger danger is (Facilitate and inspire student learning).Let's say I project a picture of a school setting where a child is waiting for his/her mom to pick them up from school and a car pulls up. The man in the car says he is a friend of the child's mom and asks the child to get in. Of course they would also be other things taking place in the picture. I would ask the students whats wrong in the picture (Design and Develop). I would then switch the screen to a story about stranger danger and read it to the class, or have the students read it (Model Digital-Age work and learning). While teaching this I could draw on the overhead or SMART Board circling what things are wrong in the picture demonstrating how you properly use this piece of technology (Promote and Model). Lastly, after teaching the lesson I would ask my cooperating teachers what they thought I could do differently to better use technology in the classroom and if there was any way I could engage the students even more.

Prompt #4

Not too long ago a piece of technology called "SMART Board" was invented. The SMART Board is an interactive whiteboard that turns your computer and data projector into a tool for teaching and presenting. With the computer image projected on the Board, you can use your finger and press on the large touchsensitive surface to control the computer.This allows you to draw and move pictures around or to simply create a visual for the students. I think by pushing teachers to use these boards efficiently, they can create a powerful and exciting learning environment. The students could also use these boards to show presentations or answer questions up on the board. It also allows students to interact with each other and attracts their interest which I think will make them want to learn.