Monday, August 31, 2015

Blog Post 1

I do believe that computers are becomings a crucial part of education. They allow students to access a plethora of information, whether it be current events or how to solve homework problems. Computers are now used in everyday life so it is critical that students learn how to use them at a young age. The concerns that could be raised about the use of technology at a young age are vast. For one, it could create problems with social skills in real life situations. It could also create a dependency on computers in order to complete everyday functions such as writing and reading. While I do agree that technology is a vital tool in our society, I do not believe it to be one of the most important components of education. I still believe that the human interaction and hands on experiences enable children to learn more than by simply watching a screen.

I believe I will use computers in a number of ways in my classroom. I will use them to take attendace and award points to students for good behavior. I hope to let the students interact with computers in order to understand the concepts better themselves. I might try to upload homework onto a database that is easily accessible for my students and that will also enable them to answer the questions online in one space, if they are able to access the technology to do so. I will probably get several teaching ideas from the internet and also find advice from others who have taught before me. I hope that this class teaches me resources that will enable me to use the internet to my advantage.

I do agree that there are a select number of individuals who are digital natives today. In order to be one, one must have grown up using the teachnology and integrating it into their everyday lives. I have most certainly witnessed the difference between myself and my teachers who are not digital natives. It can sometimes create a frustration in the classroom when all of the kids know how to use technology, but the teacher struggles with how to navigate it and also understand its capabilities. I believe my students will be even more advanced than myself in technology as it is continually progressing. I'm assuming one day I will be the one struggling to understand because of how advanced we continue to get with it.

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@toria4001

Monday, August 24, 2015

Blog Post 0


I've used technology for as long as I can remember. My dad had lots of computers in the house so I started off playing basic games on computers and progressing from there. I've used them for schoolwork to write papers and even to brainstorm ideas. I use technology to access social media as well as communicate with friends who are far away from me. I use it as my way of thinking of new ideas and comparing experiences with others.

I hope to get better at basic computer skills in this class so that I can further my technological skills. I want to better understand how to create excel sheets, power points, etc. I want to be able to used technology in a way that will make me a better teacher in the future. I also want to access things, such as blogs, that I've never used before now. I want to learn how to open up new learning experiences by using technology.

I've learned that I am a reflexive learner more than an active learner, so I should enable myself to have time to stop and process what I'm learning. Writing out how I think about the subject could greatly help how I learn. I have a very strong preference towards being a sensing learner, so I don't necessarily like deviating from facts or processes already set up to solve problems. In order to understand material better, I should try to connect things to real world experiences, which is definitely something I already do when learning. I am a fairly well balanced visual and verbal learner. This makes sense because I normally need both an explanation and a picture to fully understand concepts around me. I have a moderate preference towards global learning, and the best way to help myself learn in that area is by understanding the big picture before I learn the little details. I found these results to be pretty accurate in how I've noticed I like to learn.