Digital Blog Post D

https://play.kahoot.it/#/k/9f152bf1-c8fd-46f1-b59e-1f31adfbe18     Google has become the most popular Search Engines world wide. Not only does Google provide the ability to search anything at any time, but it provides a series of services. For example I use Google Drive, Slides, and Docs. Google basically provides a free word processor to those with a Google account. With Google's search engine, you can choose to use an "Advanced Search" to remove anything not related to what you are searching from the results. "Advanced Search" can be very useful to students who need to really hit the topic of their essay prompts. I really enjoy Google for various reasons. I don't have any reliable place to save photos, documents, or forms other than Google Drive. Drive lets me save anything I would like and my items are completely protected.


Google Service Poll!

     Growing up, Wikipedia was the one website I was NOT allowed to use for research. Wikipedia can be very resourceful and handy, but it can also be edited by anyone. The fact that Wikipedia can provide altered information from anyone on the internet is the reason I was not allowed to use it. My teachers did not trust Wikipedia and they thought I would learn facts that were false or facts that could harm me in my essay writing. At one point I was very confused, because some of my teachers loved Wikipedia and others absolutely hated it! Personally, I loved Wikipedia, but only for the sole reason of looking up familiar TV stars and see what other TV shows they appeared in. I rarely used Wikipedia for any school projects.
     In middle school and high school, I always had trouble citing my information in and out of text. Even now I still have trouble with citing my information! In high school, I was always accused of plagiarism, but in fact I just didn't know how to cite or make a bibliography. I don't think I was ever really taught the correct way to cite. Plagiarism is when you copy information from someone else's work and claim it as your own work. This goes hand in hand with cheating...if you try to pass off someone else's work as yours that is definitely cheating! I never plagiarized in high school or middle school, the moment I found out it was illegal, I was scared straight!

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Digital Blog Post C

When it comes to teaching, of course there are different actions and steps Educators take to instruct the best way they can. The textbook mentions “Teacher-Centered Approach” and “Student-Centered Approach”. These are methods of teaching and while they are different, they are both very effective. Teacher-Centered Approach is more hard facts, and teaching the same thing to every student so they all understand the same way. This approach is more instructing, and giving out the information.This is a more broad, all across the board type of teaching. No special tactics for different types of learning

    The Student-Centered Approach is more of extending the content and giving the students a way to engage and connect to the content. This method of teaching is more likely to be fixed or altered according to the group of students. When the students find a way to connect to the information given to them they tend to remember and keep that information stored in their head. The Student-Centered approach also helps the students find other ways of learning and they begin to think creatively

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Teacher-Centered Approaches	Student-Centered Approaches
A view that learning is hard.	A view that learning is a natural process.
Learning happens best when content is broken down into small units of instruction.	Learning is best when content is integrated into real-world, problem-solving tasks and activities.
Whole-group instruction.	Whole-group, small group, and one-on-one instruction.
Seatwork by individual students.	Cooperative learning and group projects.
Discussions focusing on factual-recall answers.	Discussions stressing many possible solutions to problems.
Assessments based on worksheets, quizzes, and tests.	Assessments based on students’ projects, performances, and portfolios.

Watch this video on Teacher Feedback!

          Teacher feedback has been going on for years! Students submit an assignment, their teacher writes a comment or two, and is then handed back to the student. Students can either ignore their teacher or learn from their teacher. Feedback is one of the very effective ways students have gotten the opportunity to learn from their mistakes! The modern way of turning in assignments has made giving and receiving feedback a lot easier. Students now turn in their essays, or any other assignments online and they can have access to contacting their teacher without having to see them face to face. Teachers can now edit their students’ papers and e-mail the paper back to them on the same day.

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Digital Blog Post B

One section of the textbook talks about "Identifying Groups of Technology Users", the groups are actually kind of funny. I never thought about categorizing people based on their technological understanding. I like to think of myself as Digital Collaborator, this means that I have "online and mobile technology always ready to share information with others." I am always accessing some type website or photo to share with my family members. My mother on the other hand, claims she is an expert with her iPhone, but in reality she is a Desktop Veteran. My mother loves to use her Desktop computer for work, emails, online shopping, and Facebook. When its comes to her phone...texting and calling only. After reading this section I've been looking at the people around me and trying to figure out what category they fall under. If you're curious to see what category you fall under, look at the slideshow below!

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/10r-nfdjRjcxXO-vok0lxJ8XIGGnElCHnLTjc-EHUzeU

In the book, I read something that I always noticed in high school. My classes that were usually 90 minutes long always involved cutting the class into two sections. First section was learning material, and my teachers lecturing. The second half involved us using laptops or going to the computer lab to put what we used into practice. My shorter 45 minute classes were always more auditory and visual learning. The teachers lectured, or showed us videos and PowerPoints.  The teachers with shorter class time value the small time they have. They do not want to waste the little time they have with having to deal with technological issues. I remember my teachers always got so angry when a laptop didnt work, because that meant not everyone could participate or turn in a certain assignment. Basically, their time was wasted and they called themselves "Temporary Tech Support".

 Another form of categorizing people based on how tech savvy they are is dividing them into Digital Natives or Digital Immigrants. People born before 1980 are digital immigrants. They are immigrants in the technology world, because they are used to different means of communication or means of getting information. Whereas, Digital Natives are people born after 1980, these people were born into the world of instant messaging and interactive websites. I am obviously a Digital Natives and my parents are Digital Immigrants, recently learning the new cultures of instant messaging and web searches. I always have to help my parents fix something on their phone or the desktop computer. Technology comes almost as a second nature to me and to people my age.

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Cabrera, M (2016, September 11). Identifying Groups of Technology Users. Created with Google Slides www.google.com/slides 

Digital Badge #A - Chapter 1

  In recent times, most families have various forms of technology in their homes. These families most likely have at least a single computer and probably more than one TV per household. The advances in technology have really made an impact on children, therefore giving them "digital childhoods"(Maloy, Verock-O'Loughlin, Edwards, Woolf, 2013, p. 3). Watching TV has been a regular activity for kids for quite some time now. Networks like Nickelodeon and Disney Channel have TV shows to help kids develop useful skills. Nick JR which broadcasts in the morning on weekdays has shows like Blue's Clues and Dora the Explorer for younger viewers. When I was younger my first language was Spanish, but the more I viewed English television the more prepared I was to enter Kindergarten speaking fluent English. Although watching Dora explore unfamiliar lands with her sidekick "Boots" was fun, is it more helpful to learn from the TV or by being taught from a parent or a guardian? Would learning and education mean more to a child if it were embedded into them by someone close to them?
 The video shown below talks about parent's involvement in their child's development and how TV and current technology could harm their development.

  The idea of a Technology-Based Library sounds fun, and helpful. It is incredible to know that there are databases out there on any subject I would ever require as an educator. The issue of "harmful information" that was stated in the book still stands. Not all information on the internet is reliable and teachers will need to use other online tools and resources to assess the information given (Maloy, Verock-O'Loughlin, Edwards, Woolf, 2013, p. 8). False information is not the only problem with receiving information or lesson plans from the online libraries. In high school many teachers handed out worksheets printed off of the internet. This led to students searching the exact name of the worksheet and finding the corresponding answers to the questions given to them on said worksheets. Some students were caught and others walked away free, BUT this still affected the class negatively and caused the teachers to believe that the students are understanding. This was the students' way of going around learning to just get a decent grade.
  One thing I did notice while being a middle school and high school student, is that in certain classes the access to technology is required and some students do not have that access. The completion of some assignments or tasks that are being asked of them can be nearly impossible. Lower income families are not able to connect to high speed internet access, giving us a "digital divide" (Maloy, Verock-O'Loughlin, Edwards, Woolf, 2013, p. 4). I struggled to complete various tasks teachers asked of me because of the lack of technological resources in my home at the time. Schools and their teachers should show their students their different resources available (like the school library or public library) to help those students who aren't so technologically advanced due to their income. The link below gives a more indepth look at the digital divide involving low income families.
Digital Responsibilty

Maloy, R. W., Verock-O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S. A., & Woolf, B. P. (2013). Transforming Learning With New Technologies (2nd ed.). Pearson College Div.