Technology Downfalls

Ok, so I love technology in the classrooms. They make teaching and learning more interesting, they make a lot of the work quicker and easier, and it's fun; however sometimes I feel like it is just not worth it when things go wrong. I have experienced a frustrating situation with my second project example. I worked on it in the lab and could not save it (no disk drive on the computer), I couldn't print it because the computers weren't hooked up to a printer, and my email attachment that I sent to myself and professor from that computer wouldn't even go through. So now I'm stuck. Sometimes I think that technology is only good if you have all the parts and access to everything. There are particular programs or websites that won't run without computer programs like flash, if your computer doesn't have the program that you worked on another computer in you can't save it to your own computer, and there are so many types of computers apple, dell, ect that it feels like every time you sit a computer you have to learn everything all over again because it is so different. Maybe it is just me, but I feel like in this class I have learned a lot about technology, and it is frustrating that I can't figure things out, I just wonder what people that are less knowledgeable about technology are doing. There has got to be a way to fix this problem. Whether it is standardizing everything or just making a standard program that is transferable to many other types of programs I'm not sure; but I do know that when situation like mine occur people are less likely to choose to use technology because there is no guarantee that their hard work will work out.

To the Future Home Ec Teachers

Now I know that I'm not a home economics teacher but I do teach a cooking class at BYU in the Home and Family Living department. Lately I have been playing around with powerpoint and I came up with this wonderful idea for a class project using powerpoint. It's a technology cookbook. You could separate the class into groups and have them choose a particular category to come up with recipes to contribute to a class cookbook. An example could be: a poultry section, casseroles, family meals, kids recipes, etc. They can be totally creative. Then each person in the group needs to come up with a recipe that they have made or that is a family recipe and the group can create their own powerpoint slides for that category. Then at the end of the semester the students could choose one recipe from their category and make it for the class. When each group does this they could present their section of the cookbook with their recipe and the class can have a huge potluck dinner. The teacher could take all of the slides and create cookbooks for each person in the class with every groups categories in it. It would be fun and educational for the students while implementing technology into their presentation and learning.

Webblogs in Classrooms

I was reading Brother West's blog today and was intrigued by the examples of classroom blogging. When I was reading the examples I was thinking about ways that I might use webblogs in my own classes in the future. Some of my ideas include:

1. Groups: At the beginning of the semester I would assign the class into blogging groups (similar to what we did in class) and have them share thoughts and study tips throughout the semester. The requirements would be they had to set up their own blogs, they have to blog once a week, and they have to comment on each other's blogs once a week. They can talk about class discussions, upcoming assignments and tests, or anything else they want to.

2. Blogging on the net: This is where they would have an assignment of looking at other people's blogs outside of our classroom and evaluating/reporting on what they found. I think that this will show them the good aspects of blogging and let them see other people and their interests. The students might even find information for reports or projects that could be useful.

3. Connecting to Internet resources: If the class is doing a research paper they can look on my blog and discover resources that I think are appropriate that I found on the net. If they look at my blog they will have an upper hand in the research project.

4. Communicating with the teacher outside of class. I think that blogging is the most effective way to express concerns with the class and allow other students to comment on the same concerns. That way I won't have twenty students asking me about the same situation.

These are just a few ideas, and I'm sure that there are lots of other ways. If anyone has other ideas I would love to hear them if they want to comment on this post.

Blogging Info

I am actually shocked at how many people actually use blogs. I was going through some of the blogs on the internet outside of our class and I just can't believe how many people blog and all the different issues they use their blogs for. It is each individuals' own webpage without having to go through all the steps to create an actual webpage. Before this class I had never even heard of blogs. I guess it just shows that blogging is a very good idea and can be used in many situations. Problem though. . .if I did do blogging in my classes as a teacher in the future I would be worried about some of the stuff that is posted on blogs. It's just like the rest of the internet and how some information should not be seen because it is not appropriate. I can see why teachers and parents hesitate to use the internet in their classrooms and homes because it is hard to monitor even if you aren't looking for inappropriate websites and webpages. Maybe I am just naive but I never realized what a huge problem the unedited info is, and it is a large problem.

Survey Results

I have to admit that when I began taking this technology class I thought that it was going to be a total waste of time because I was pretty confident in my computer skills and I just thought the class would be more of a hassle than actual help. But as I was taking the end survey I realized how much the class has helped me. I have learned a few new programs like inspiration that will be very helpful for me and fun for the students in my classes. I also learned more about programs that I already had experience in like excel and photoshop. Overall I think that this class is a very good idea but I have a few recommendations to make the class even better.

1. I really liked the individual projects because it gave each student a chance to learn a technology that they were interested in and therefore would probably use in the future. I only wish that there were more of them. Maybe one more, because it gives the student a chance to learn, at their own pace, and be creative in their assignment.
2. It is sometimes difficult to teach technology because everyone is at different levels. I think that it would be beneficial to have one more TA to assist in explanations of technology and give more one on one help.
3. In the beginning I think the instructor should make sure that everyone understands blogging maybe by setting up blogs in class so that nobody gets behind from the very start and therefore gets frustrated. And make sure that the students understand the importance of checking the teachers blog often because that is where most of the information is obtained.
4. It was frustrating that the lap tops in the classroom didn't have all of the programs on them like photoshop. And a lot of times not every student in the class even received a laptop.
5. I think that it would be beneficial to explain the differences in computers at the beginning of the semester and what particular computers are better for ie. apples vs dell.

Overall I think that this is a good class for every teacher and maybe even every student to take because it modifies not only your teaching techniques but also your personal knowledge about technology and how it can help you.

Interactive Learning

When I was reading Brother West's blog today I was intrigued by his latest edition concerning split learning between actual classroom teaching and online classes. I have really enjoyed the aspect of the online class this semester because it gives the student the freedom to complete the assignments on their own time while discovering new technologies as they go. However, this idea only works if the student is self-disciplined enough to complete the assignment on their own. Many middle and high school student don't have the technology or the enthusiasm about learning technology like college students do and so the key to interactive learning is to get the student interested which can be difficult at times. The other problem is that technology can sometimes be very unreliable. I know that assignments get lost or sent to the wrong place and then what do you do? Can the teacher always trust that the student actually did the assignment because in most cases you have to give them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe this problem could be solved if you give the students a deadline but they can turn the assignment in before the deadline and should receive a confirmation that their assignment was accepted. If the student chooses to turn in their assignment on the day of the deadline they are choosing to run the risk of having it be late. Overall I really enjoyed exploring and receiving information from the classroom and outside the classroom.

2nd Lesson Plan Overview

This project is directed toward high school students (9th grade and up). The students will be creating either an anti-smoking or anti-drug advertisement using the internet and photoshop. This project is in the Utah Cirriculum under benefits of living a healthy lifestyle, specific illnesses that are diet related, and my personal lifestyle. The students will need to create an advertisement, and include statistics, origin of drug, and effects (direct and indirect) that they will hand in with their advertisement to ensure there is no false advertising. Some ethical issues that teachers shoudll be aware of with this project include copyright laws on phrases or images that are already used for anti-drug campaigns as well as students copying each other's ideas. The students may brainstorm together but they will each need to create their own projects. I will provide an example of what a finished advertisement should look like and some information on the drug I did.