I feel that it is particularly for teachers to use technology in the classroom when their students have limited access outside of school. As technology becomes integrated into every aspect of our lives, it becomes increasingly important that students graduate with a thorough knowledge of computing skills. To not provide all students with equal access to these resources does them a disservice, and may hinder their ability to enter college or the workforce in the future.
I think that it would hinder all students to limit technology use in the classroom because some students do not have access outside of the classroom. In fact, I think it is particularly important for such students to have exposure to technology in the classroom, since they cannot learn at home. Of course, this means that teachers must make sure that students have ample time to do technology-related work at school.
Schools and teachers must connect students with technology in order to prepare them for college and/or future careers. This may mean seeking donations or grants to outfit all classrooms with enough computers. If that is not possible, schools could also ensure that a few computers are available for students to use outside of school hours. It would also be useful for teachers to track down information about local places where students can access computers, such as a public library, so that they can give this information to students who do not have computers in their homes.
In my classes, i plan to focus my technology lessons on using the various features of Microsoft Word to make writing and formatting papers easier. I'm hoping that my experience using multiple versions of Word and my knowledge of both Macs and Windows PCs will help me to serve all of my students better.
August 5, 2010
August 3, 2010
PowerPoint Reflection
The most impressive element that I saw during the PowerPoint presentations in our class was the jeopardy game. I have heard that they are fairly easy to make, but I have never done one before and think that they are fun. I think that I would attempt to use PowerPoint to play Jeopardy in the future, although I would make sure to have my own list of the questions and answers for reference.
The only thing that I noticed that could definitely use improvement was the legibility of the text on some slides. A few people used dark text over a dark background which could not be read easily. Thankfully, this is very easy to fix for the future. Many of the people who had this problem said that they could read the text on their laptop and that it looked different when projected. I think that this demonstrates the importance of doing a trial-run of all presentations at the location of the presentation to avoid such pitfalls.
After watching the other presentations, I think that I would improve my own by making it more interactive. I think I might include a Ms. Harrison Trivia slide at the end. I would have the students answer various questions about me (some from the presentation), and whoever got the best score would win a prize. This would get the audience more engaged, and hopefully make things a bit more fun.
I think PowerPoints are great when they are used appropriately. They're a good way to consolidate the visual information from a lesson into one convenient show. However, when they are used too much, they become boring very quickly. Also, if a teacher relies too heavily on PowerPoint, one technical problem could pose a huge problem--an entire lesson could go out the window if the teacher did not have a backup plan.
August 1, 2010
Chatspeak: Not Exactly the Grammar Apocalypse
In the point-counterpoint article on chatspeak (the initialisms and misspellings commonly used in chat rooms and texting), Linda Howard (yes side) and Greg Monfils (no side) argued over whether chatspeak is "destroying the English language."After reading the article, I have to agree with Monfils. Although I abhor chatspeak and personally abstain from it, I do not believe it will necessarily destroy the English language, provided that students are taught proper spelling and grammar as well and when to use it. Howard asserts that children are not learning these skills, but does not say why she believes that: "I am concerned whether students are learning the skills to fully express themselves through writing as they move toward adulthood."I agree with her concerns, but I do not think that they are necessarily rooted in valid information. While some younger children may not understand how or when to use conventional English, by the time they get to high school, most can make the switch from chatspeak easily. The important thing is to make sure that schools continue to teach proper spelling and grammar, perhaps even more than they have in the recent past, so that students will have the skills that they need to survive in the professional world.
Another factor I would like to point out is that there is really nothing that can be done to prevent young people from using chatspeak in their private worlds, so it seems like a pointless thing to argue about. As Monfils points out, most young people will grow out of the desire to use chatspeak all the time as they get older, but may bring with them a few innovations that will change our language forever: "Yes, we’ve standardized grammar, spelling, and so on since Chaucer, but kids live to challenge standards. It doesn’t mean that they don’t know what the standards are. As in most things, they will drop their petty rebellions and attend to the standards in time. If we’re lucky, they’ll have provided a few sensible updates to the standards as they charmingly mature into adulthood." Language is constantly evolving. There are many words which used to be considered vile slang, that are now perfectly acceptable in civil conversation. For example, in Bram Stoker's Dracula (published in 1897), one character says that to call something "a bore" or boring is slang. Most people use that word now without batting an eyelash. We can and should work to preserve the core of the English language, while still accepting that changes are natural.
The only question I have after reading this article is whether there is any scientific evidence to support the idea that students are not learning proper English. Have test scores in writing seen a serious decline? If so, we may need to redouble our efforts to teach conventional English in the classroom. Still, there is nothing that we can do to prevent the use of chatspeak in the private communications of young people.
The only question I have after reading this article is whether there is any scientific evidence to support the idea that students are not learning proper English. Have test scores in writing seen a serious decline? If so, we may need to redouble our efforts to teach conventional English in the classroom. Still, there is nothing that we can do to prevent the use of chatspeak in the private communications of young people.
July 25, 2010
Cyberbullying and the Modern School
Five years ago, most people did not know what cyberbullying was. Before social networking gained widespread popularity, bullying was mostly confined to the playground, but has now spread to spiteful and slanderous comments being left on blogs and social networking profiles A few well-publicized cases of cyberbullying have resulted in suicide and even murder, causing this issue to become a matter of great public concern.
Although I have never had any experience with cyberbullying, I have observed it happen to other people, and know the emotional damage that it can cause. As time goes on and social networking is integrated into society, teachers will encounter more and more students who have been involved in cyberbullying in some way. Schools are now faced with the need to develop strategies and policies that will help teachers and administrators to deal with these issues.
The biggest obstacle that schools have to overcome when dealing with cyberbullying is that it usually takes place off school property. Because of this, questions arise as to whether or not schools have the authority to discipline students accused of harassing their peers online. Past court cases have set a precedent that compels schools to intervene only when cyberbullying becomes disruptive to the learning environment; other cases must be dealt with by the students' families. In some cases, it will be obvious that a student is the victim of cyberbullying: a student may approach a teacher and tell them outright that something is going on. Otherwise, teachers and administrators must pay attention to students' body language, their interactions with other students, and the content and tone of their writing to discern if something is wrong.
I agree with the courts: schools should intervene in cases of cyberbullying when it becomes disruptive in school. I believe that schools should focus on prevention, because the legal system will make it difficult for them to intervene unless they can prove that the incident was negatively impacting learning. Schools need to educate families and students on the negative impact of cyberbullying, and give students access to resources that they can turn to when they are being harassed online. I think that family education is particularly important because parents and other guardians can prevent cyberbullying from becoming an issue if they are monitoring their student's online activity.
In my classroom, I plan to deal with cyberbullying preemptively. One of my major overall goals is to make my class a safe place where students respect one another as fellow members of a community of learning. I plan on working to establish this environment through community-building activities beginning the first day of class. I hope that this will allow me to create a safe environment where my students will be able to discuss serious issues (like cyberbullying) honestly and openly. I also hope that by requiring students to treat each other with respect in my class, they will develop positive habits that will influence their behaviors outside of school. I would love to be a part of a school that would make community respect the standard of behavior in every classroom.
Although I have never had any experience with cyberbullying, I have observed it happen to other people, and know the emotional damage that it can cause. As time goes on and social networking is integrated into society, teachers will encounter more and more students who have been involved in cyberbullying in some way. Schools are now faced with the need to develop strategies and policies that will help teachers and administrators to deal with these issues.
The biggest obstacle that schools have to overcome when dealing with cyberbullying is that it usually takes place off school property. Because of this, questions arise as to whether or not schools have the authority to discipline students accused of harassing their peers online. Past court cases have set a precedent that compels schools to intervene only when cyberbullying becomes disruptive to the learning environment; other cases must be dealt with by the students' families. In some cases, it will be obvious that a student is the victim of cyberbullying: a student may approach a teacher and tell them outright that something is going on. Otherwise, teachers and administrators must pay attention to students' body language, their interactions with other students, and the content and tone of their writing to discern if something is wrong.
I agree with the courts: schools should intervene in cases of cyberbullying when it becomes disruptive in school. I believe that schools should focus on prevention, because the legal system will make it difficult for them to intervene unless they can prove that the incident was negatively impacting learning. Schools need to educate families and students on the negative impact of cyberbullying, and give students access to resources that they can turn to when they are being harassed online. I think that family education is particularly important because parents and other guardians can prevent cyberbullying from becoming an issue if they are monitoring their student's online activity.
In my classroom, I plan to deal with cyberbullying preemptively. One of my major overall goals is to make my class a safe place where students respect one another as fellow members of a community of learning. I plan on working to establish this environment through community-building activities beginning the first day of class. I hope that this will allow me to create a safe environment where my students will be able to discuss serious issues (like cyberbullying) honestly and openly. I also hope that by requiring students to treat each other with respect in my class, they will develop positive habits that will influence their behaviors outside of school. I would love to be a part of a school that would make community respect the standard of behavior in every classroom.
July 24, 2010
Social Networking and Teachers
The Internet can be a scary place. We sometimes forget that things that we do on here are constantly being archived and sent to search engines. When I searched for myself on pipl.com, I got a result, but could not see anything without paying. I googled my name as well, and that search was more fruitful. First, I searched for "Lynsey Harrison,"and there were only four or five links that were actually me on the first six pages of results:
http://twitter.com/TheLynzer
This is a link to my Twitter profile, which I use to follow other people, not to post. It was cashed. My profile on Twitter was recently set to private, so even if I show up in search results, only people I know will be able to see anything recent that I have posted.
http://www.willamette.edu/dept/osa/programs/honors/index.html
This is a link to a page on Willamette University's (where I did my undergraduate work) website. my name is listed there because I received an award. I am not really concerned with people knowing that.
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/47437940/WELCOME-TO-THE-WILLAMETTE-UNIVERSITY-Soybean-Phospholipid
This is a link to the program from Willamette's 2009 Student Scholarship Recognition Day, where I presented a paper. Again, I am not worried about people seeing this.
http://www.alumniclass.com/reynoldshs/alumni-profile?id=4351386
This was a link to my profile on my high school's alumni association website. My profile cannot be viewed by anyone who is not a member, so it is not an issue.
Next, I searched for my full name "Lynsey Nicole Harrison," which only brought up one result:
http://www.facebook.com/lynsey.nicole
This is my personal Facebook profile. Most of my information is private, so people who search for me can only see my current profile picture and who my friends are. These are the settings I have chosen because I feel that they allow people who know me to find me, but keep creepy people from knowing too much about me.
The main "handle" that I use is "littllyns."When I searched for that, the main entry that related to me was the following:
http://www.sheldoncomics.com/users/littllyns/
This is a link to some stats about how much I have posted on the forum of a web comic I enjoy. There is not any sensitive information on this page, but I might delete it just because I do not use it often.
I think that teachers are role models for their students. I think this is true in any realm where they have contact with students. Teachers may be able to differentiate between work time and personal time, but students will always view them as teachers. This does not mean that teachers have to live perfect lives, but that they should make an effort to keep questionable personal activities private. Teachers have to judiciously decide what content will be available to students, and take responsibility for what is. If they have inappropriate content in a place where students can access it, they may have to answer for that.
Of course, I believe that teachers legally have a right to free speech, and should not be fired for being controversial. Still, I believe that they should be sensitive to their community and think carefully about the kind of example they are setting for their students.
In the article we read for this assignment, I was most curious about the teacher who was fired because of the nude pictures that her photographer husband had taken of her. I believe that, as long as the photos were non-pornographic, they should not have been grounds for her to be fired.
I will personally choose not to allow students to see my social networking information (Facebook profile, Twitter account, blog, etc.) until they have at least graduated from high school. Even then, I would choose students that I wanted to keep in touch with, not just anyone.
July 12, 2010
My Life as a Digital Native
Considering the fact that Marc Prensky's article "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants" was written about young people when I was only thirteen years old, it is not surprising that I closely identify with his idea of the modern young person: the digital native. I do not remember a time when my family did not have a personal computer that I could use. I found myself laughing out loud at some of his descriptions of the tendencies of the digital immigrant; the idea of digital immigrants "printing out . . . email " had me in stitches! I could probably count on my hand the number of times I have ever needed to print an e-mail in my entire life. I also recognize that where digital immigrants may be "turning to the Internet for information second rather than first," I almost always look things up online before turning to a print source. For me, it is just faster. I was recently remarking to my mother about how much I use the Internet as a resource for information; there are many kinds of information that I would not know where to find without the Internet.
The major point on which my personal experience differs from Prensky's description would have to be that "today's average college grads have spent less than 5,000 hours of their lives reading, but over 10,000 hours playing video games." As someone who spent much of my childhood reading, and who received my Bachelor of Arts in English, I have definitely spent a lot more time reading than playing video games. I enjoy playing video games quite a bit, but reading has held a more important place in my life.
My high school had very limited access to advanced technology. I do not remember ever using anything more advanced than an InFocus projector to watch movies in Wellness. Most of the computers in the classrooms were more than five years old. Once I got to college, almost all of my classrooms had modern computers and InFocus projectors available, and a few even had document cameras and SMART boards. The increased availability of technology in my college classrooms made it easier for my teachers to access information and resources that engage students. I think the ability to use film clips from the Internet has been the most helpful for me, because videos convey information visually and aurally, which is meets my learning needs well..
I do not feel that the articles that we read for this assignment specifically changed my mind about how I would use technology in the classroom. If technology is available to me in my classroom, I will make use of it as much as possible to engage my students. I plan on using film clips and other mediums to engage them in their different learning styles and to address their unique needs as digital natives.
The major point on which my personal experience differs from Prensky's description would have to be that "today's average college grads have spent less than 5,000 hours of their lives reading, but over 10,000 hours playing video games." As someone who spent much of my childhood reading, and who received my Bachelor of Arts in English, I have definitely spent a lot more time reading than playing video games. I enjoy playing video games quite a bit, but reading has held a more important place in my life.
My high school had very limited access to advanced technology. I do not remember ever using anything more advanced than an InFocus projector to watch movies in Wellness. Most of the computers in the classrooms were more than five years old. Once I got to college, almost all of my classrooms had modern computers and InFocus projectors available, and a few even had document cameras and SMART boards. The increased availability of technology in my college classrooms made it easier for my teachers to access information and resources that engage students. I think the ability to use film clips from the Internet has been the most helpful for me, because videos convey information visually and aurally, which is meets my learning needs well..
I do not feel that the articles that we read for this assignment specifically changed my mind about how I would use technology in the classroom. If technology is available to me in my classroom, I will make use of it as much as possible to engage my students. I plan on using film clips and other mediums to engage them in their different learning styles and to address their unique needs as digital natives.
Me: An Introduction
My name is Lynsey Harrison and I am currently pursuing my Master of Arts in Teaching at Concordia University in Portland. I got my Bachelor of Arts in English from Willamette University and am going to be endorsed to teach both Language Arts and Speech.
I love dogs, but, in particular, I love my Pembroke Welsh Corgi puppy, Penny:
She's a total sweetheart!
I love dogs, but, in particular, I love my Pembroke Welsh Corgi puppy, Penny:
She's a total sweetheart!
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