Creativity in the Classroom

Technology is an amazing thing.  In my technology class, we have been learning different ways to use programs to be creative.  There is so much out there that makes it possible to do basically anything you want to a photo or presentation.  This can help any discipline of teaching.  Being creative can help students understand concepts in a different way that they might relate to.  With students these days being so technologically savvy, being creative through technology is a great idea.  Using programs such as PhotoShop, Captivate, and Prezi  are great ways to making learning new, fun and creative.  Students will be more engaged in what the teacher is saying if something creative is being used.  It draws the students' attention, because it is different and not just the teacher lecturing.  However, teachers need to make sure that technology does not become a replacement of teaching.  It is a great idea to incorporate into the classroom.  The teacher needs to be able to use technology in a creative way as a tool.  Some students may learn best by listening to the teacher.  However, other students may be visual learners that some form of technology would be a great help in teaching them.

Does Technology Help Prevent Inequality?

In technology class this week, we are suppose to decide if online classes would eliminate inequality in districts.  Honestly, I am not sure what kind of inequality we are suppose to discuss.  There are many different types of inequalities such as gender, age and race.  Inequality could be that one type of student gets more help than another or a teacher grades one student easier than another.  This can be frequent in a classroom setting.  The teacher can see the student on a regular basis and can begin to pick favorites with-out realizing it.  An online class is much different than regular school.  Everything is done online so the teacher never actually meets the students.  I do not think that this prevents teachers from picking favorites.  Gender, age and race may not be known for certain, but teachers have a general idea about what the student is like based on their name and work.  Online classes do not eliminate inequality completely.  It may appear that students have a better chance of being treated equal when the teacher does not actually know them.  In reality though, it is not the type of school, in class or online, that matters; it is the teacher.  Technology cannot fix people and their hearts.  It is up to each and every one of us to treat others with equality.  Technology may help with online classes, but that may be due to the fact that teachers simply do not know their students then.

Gender Inequality and Technology

I think technology has made some great advances since I was born almost twenty years ago.  Today, technology is beginning to be used more and more in the classroom.  This will help students learn more at a one on one bases.  When there is one teacher for a large class, many students do not get the help that they need.  Many times, the teacher cannot tell that the student needs help.  With technology, every student will be able to use different techniques to help them learn.  Also, this helps the teacher know where each student is at.  With these large classes, a majority of the questions the teacher asks will be directed towards male students.  Most of the time, the teacher does not realize that they are directing it one way or another.  However, it is still a problem.  With technology, a teacher may become more away of one student who needs a little more help or give the entire class equal opportunity by using technology such as the clicker.  Many students are keeping quiet and moseying through school.  In general, girls are more talkative than guys, but more questions are directed towards the guys.  Guys try to keep quiet in hopes of not being called on.  However, most teachers do not call on girls for two main reasons.  First, society looks at males as the leaders so they should "know" more.  Secondly, once a girl starts talking, it becomes difficult to stay on task.  Guys are more to the point so them answering gives more time to teach.  Technology could help solve all these problems.  

iSchool. The future of the classroom.

Many people do not realize the cost of supplies for a school.  Books, paper, pencils, etc. can cost thousands of dollars each year.  Imagine how much money could be saved in each school each year if we did not have to pay for these costs.  This would make more money available to pay teachers and keep programs.  By being able to pay teachers, it would help keep classroom size down in turn being able to benefit students.  School programs can help students become a rounded person and more prepared for life after high school.  A great solution for this is iSchool.  iSchool is an application for Apple products such as iTouch and iPad.  With this new touch screen technology, Apple Products have made it possible to take notes, read textbooks, and interact with learning tools that could eliminate books, paper and other costs for schools. You may be thinking right now "the iPad costs too much money for each student to have one." The school would only have to buy one iPad for a student for their entire school career.  Whereas now the school is paying for books for each student each year and other supplies.  It can save a huge amount of money that is much needed elsewhere in the school system.  Along with the cost benefits, the iSchool can make learning more hands on for students.  It can get students more excited about learning which is always a plus.

Mark Henry Making Video Easy

In class Thursday, Mark Henry spoke to us about video and audio.  He discussed the best way to use these tools when we will need them for student teaching.  Henry gave an easy way to remember the four rules of videoing by SCAR: space, camera, audio, and record.  When you are first setting up the camera, you want to make sure that you have the entire field of view and that there are no windows in your picture.  There are five things to remember about the camera: (1) tri-pod, (2) full battery, (3) empty memory, (4) format, and (5) audio on full.  There are different types of audio to choose from.  All cameras have a microphone built in.  However, the camera will be far away so the sound will not be that good.  Henry recommended using a secondary audio such as a lapel microphone that went to a recorder.  This way the microphone is right next to you and will pick up everything you say clearly. The most important step is record.  Since he suggested using a microphone separate from the camera, you will have to synchronize the video and audio.  Henry recommends starting the recording to the video and audio and clapping so the sound will be picked up on both.  This will give a point that will be easy to synchronize so that the audio matches the rest of your video.  Henry broke it down to help up remember the essentials.  He wanted us to find a compromise between simple and good.

Could Students Achievement In Life Be Based On Use of Technology In The Classroom?

In society today, technology is continually evolving and growing.  Technology is being used in every job today one way or another.  Since school is supposedly preparing students for jobs, should technology not be a part of their education?  As Sam Roberson says in Defying the Default Culture and Creating a Culture of Possibility, “—schools as we now know them are becoming increasingly irrelevant.  One obvious reason for this irrelevance is that schools are failing to change with the times.” (p 886)  Roberson is setting an expectation for education to use technology in a way that will prepare the students for its use in society and culture.  He goes on to discuss how the classroom has not changed much in the past century with the teachers still at the front of the classroom lecturing.  More student involvement and use of technology needs to occur.  It is evident that Roberson feels this way from the quote:   “If one of the traditional purposes of schools—to prepare students for the outside world — is valid, then it seems reasonable that educators should be on the look-out for changes within the larger environment and mirror those changes within the school.” (p. 889)  This will help prepare students better to fulfill the requirements of the Framework for 21^st Century Learning which Roberson also includes.  Roberson also states that “adhering to outdated educational  practices and ignoring the demands of the world outside the school, schools are retreating into irrelevance rather than charging full face into the challenges and opportunities of the future.” (p. 886)  Since there is an expectation put onto education by the use of technology in society and culture that is not being met, some think education is becoming irrelevant.  Over all, if more technology is incorporated into the classroom, the more prepared a student will be for the real world.  This could greatly improve students achievement.

How Teachers Can Use Technology

There are many different types of technology.  In class this week, we discussed how different classes could use different types of technology.  I never thought of all the different ways that teachers use technology especially in a History or English class.  I liked the ideas about using video cameras for projects in English class and using Google Earth for History class.  Those ideas really stuck out to me.  As a math teacher though I do not really see the need for such tools in technology.  I came up with some ideas of my own that I think would work great in a math class.  One piece of modern technology that I think would be most beneficial is the Smart Board.   It is a great, easy way to put math notes and problems in front of the class and makes it capable to save them for multiple class periods.  The only thing about using technology is you want to make sure that you have a back-up plan if you have technical problems.  Some ideas that other people had that I could use are using programs such as LaTex to create math work sheets or tests.  I think it is important to make sure that technology is only used to help a student learn and not to hinder the learning of math concepts.

Technology and Math Do Not Always Mix

Hello everyone out there! :) My name is Hayley Studebaker and I am a sophomore at Cedarville University. I am originally from New Carlisle, Ohio which is just north of Dayton. I enjoy spending time with friends, attending Young Life, playing intramural soccer, and cheering on the all-girl squad here at school. I graduated from Tecumseh High School in 2010 with Honors and as Valedictorian.  I am studying Math Education in hopes of one day being a high school math teacher. Going from a high school student to a college student, I experienced a lot of differences in teaching techniques.  One of the most obvious is the impact that technology has had in the classroom, professors and students.  Technology has grown in importance to the point that it is impossible to avoid it.  So for all you anti-techies out there, it is time to dive into the world of technology that continues to grow around us. In the classroom is one of the most obvious ways that technology has changed.  The days of chalk boards was replaced by white boards, projectors, and smart boards.  Technology has even gotten to the point where you do not have to attend class, but solely have to log onto the Internet.  As a future high school math teacher, technology will be knocking at my classroom door. I think technology is an important tool for teachers to use, but there are certain techniques that do not involve the newest technology that I feel work better for math classes.  Math lessons are best learned when written out on a board and if the students copy the notes down in a notebook.  The real magic happens when the thought goes down your arm and onto your paper.  The only thing about writing the notes on the board is it can be very repetitive for the teacher if they teach multiple class periods of the same subject.  A Smart Board is an excellent resource of technology for a math teacher to use.  It makes it possible to write on like a white board, but it is connected to a computer so you can save the writing if desired. This cuts down on the repetitiveness of rewriting the notes every time on the board, but gives the same environment of the students writing the notes.  Some may think that using PowerPoint would be as affective. However, math is much easier to write than type.  I think that technology has advanced in a very positive way, but for a high school math classroom sometimes the newest forms of technology are not the best.

Oh Cedarville!

Oh Cedarville
How you make me go to class
Oh Cedarville
How I study all day long
Oh Cedarville
How you help my faith grow strong
Oh Cedarville
The good and the bad
Oh Cedarville
How I am glad that I came back!