8 Ways Technology is Improving Education

An article I found gave 8 ways technology is improving Education and I agree with it. Here is the list:

1. Better Simulations and Models.

These can help teachers better explain something by slowing it down or speeding up the process. It also can draw the students attention in and if they are visual learners, this will help them.

2. Global Learning

You can now go online and practice a language you are trying to learn by speaking to someone who can speak it fluently. You can find out anything about the world right at your finger tips.

3. Virtual Manipulatives.

This is used for math classes a lot. My Math for Elementary Education teacher used this a lot to show us fractions and things like that. You can figure out what the answer is and then ask for it to show you the correct answer or if you got it right.

4. Probes and Sensors.

Here is a video example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h14-sDplrww&feature=player_embedded

5. More Efficient Assessment

You can make tests online and enter the answers and the computer will correct the students scores for you! That way you never mess up your grading!

6. Storytelling and multi-media

You can find anything on You Tube now. Our math teacher used youtube a lot of times tables and counting by numbers!

7. E-books

You can find books online now and its a great way to find a good book fast, instead of having to go to the library or store!

8. Epistemic Games

These put students in roles such as an engineer. Lets them try out real life positions. I think this is the most interesting one because how do you know if you like doing something until you try it!

Here is the website with the article and the picture I put :
http://mashable.com/2010/11/22/technology-in-education/

Ipads for Kindergarten Children!

iPADS FOR KINDERGARTEN?

An article from fox news I found online talks about how a school in Maine has voted to provide iPads for each 284 kindergarten children. It will cost 200,000 but they believe it will boost literacy rates from sixty percent to ninety percent.

Here is the link:
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/04/15/ipad-form-technology-transform-education-kids-failing-schools/


As the article goes on it talks more about how technology will improve the school systems. One of the parts I found interesting is that in the United States 1.5 million k-12 students are enrolled in at least one online course.

I think this is great! Coming from a small school district, I didn't always have the best teachers. I had some of the worst teachers at times that ruined a lot of learning for me.

For a school to offer online courses gives students the opportunity to be taught by some of the best teachers. The teachers that actually care about their students and teaching techniques.

Personally, I feel like the school system is not keeping up with today's technology but if they were to incorporate more technology into classrooms, we would see not only an increase in learning but an increase in the interest to learn.

That is where it all starts anyways, with an interest. <3

Genetically Modified Foods-Good or Bad?

Genetically modified foods, from here on out I will refer to it as GM foods, was a topic discussed in my Social Problems class this semester. I found it pretty interesting, and I think you will too!

Here is a link to a website that tells a little about GM foods.

http://www.gm.org/

One of the benefits of GM foods is that with the population growing rapidly it is one way that we can assure enough produce to feed the growing population for years to come. Another benefit is that the farmers wouldn't have to be scared of an early frost before harvest. The plants would be able to withstand much colder temperatures.

The disadvantages is what interested me the most. The fact that we could possibly be introducing new allergies from these GM foods as well as unknown effects on our health.

Read more about it at this website: http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/gmfood/overview.php

Until next time,

-Ashley

Technology: the pencil and paper of our time

"Technology should be invisible. It is the pencil and paper of our time. But until every learner and teacher-learner has sufficient and equitable access to appropriate information and communication technologies, we should enthusiastically continue to make the “T” word an explicit and high-volume part of all of our planning."

I found a blog that I find interesting and so I picked out the parts I found useful, as so you may as well too. It is about Obama's blue print to rewrite the No Child Left Behind act. The issue discussed here is revolved around technology in the classroom. I feel it is very important that technology is used in the classroom. I do not feel that a lap top for each student is necessary but a computer lab needs to be of access and it is vital for a student to learn at school how to use a computer for every day life successes outside of school. I also like the idea of technology not just being added to already made lesson plans but to use technology to go further with teaching in new and creative ways that help our students learn.

In the following he says three objections but only puts two...must have been a typo!
Here is the full blog.......http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/?p=2446

There are three objections that I have to where the blue print is taking us.

1. The One size fits all approach the our promotion of the STEM subjects seems to ignore completely that even though we do need more youngsters pursuing a science, technology, or mathematics field, not everyone needs to, and we will continue to need smart and creative people pursuing the “other subjects.” When people are complaining about TV, they are not usually complaining about the picture size or quality. What they want is better stories. Engineering is easy. Telling a better and more compelling story is hard.
2. In the first paragraph, Ellen Meier describes technology as “a catalyst for all educational reform efforts for the 21st century.” On my first reading, I thought that this statement was a bit over-reaching. But now that I think about it, she is right. Globalization, economic transition, brand new industries and industries in decline… all of these bellwethers of change owe themselves to advances in information and communication technologies. In addition, because of technology, information has changed in:
   • What it looks like,
   • What we look at to view it,
   • Where we go to find it,
   • How we find it,
   • What we can do with it, and
   • How we communicate it

Because information is now networked, digital, and abundant, what it means to be literate has changed and so too has the meaning and method of lifelong learning.

Picture: http://stmaryses.org/fifthwish.html
Blog: http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/?p=2446