Week 7: Technology with Writing

     I actually like some of the writing activities with technology explained in the book.   I would like to use the synchronous setting to have my students work on group projects together.  I feel like many times when you assign a group a paper to write that only one of the students does the majority of the work.  This way I feel like they can all contribute equally to their project.  I also like the concept map, it would really help the students to figure out exactly what they wanted to include in their paper and how much they really want to use.  The concept map I feel would be a very effective way for the students to work together in writing their paper and feel like they have a more active role and this I feel would make them more prideful in their work.

     There are several things one can do so not to have a distracting PowerPoint.  For one I would stick to the 7 by7 rule for PowerPoint’s.  Which is no more than 7 words on 7 lines a slide.  I feel like this keeps the audience engaged more because they aren’t really trying to read all of the information on the slide and they are paying more attention to the speaker at hand. I also do not like it when a presenter reads me everything that Is on their slides, I feel that you should just put the main points on the slide show and speak about the details this way the audience feels more engaged.  I also think that too many pictures and sounds can distract the listeners.  If they are focused on what your pictures look like then how can they be focused on what you are saying?  I think that I can follow the pitfalls from the textbook, they are all very good points and they have helped me to realize what I have done wrong in my past presentations. 

     Technology is a very good thing in the classroom and can help us to help our students get things done in an orderly manner.  PowerPoint presentations can be very helpful in teaching students more about the lesson and can even provide a visual aide to help them better understand.  PowerPoint scan also be helpful to the teacher because it allows them to teach a lesson in a more efficient way and allows them to use less tools and space for one thing.  I believe that if we utilize these technologies in the classroom that we can better teach our students. 

References

       Jonassen, David, Howland, Jane, Marra, Rose M., Crismond, David. (2008). Supportingwriting with technology. Meaningful Learning With Technology. pp. 62-79, Columbus,OH: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Week 6 blog

     PDAs are personal digital assistants, or small handheld computers.  PDAs are becoming more and more available in the classroom and are a very useful way to help students get that hands-on experience needed to help them learn.  PDAs are very effective in helping calculations, emails internet access and many more useful features.  I have used these in many of my classes in high school.  One that I remember very well is the calculators that hook up to the promethean boards.  Everyone in the classroom would get a calculator and then we could see on the board what we were putting in our calculators. 

     We use online surveys to help us figure out data and reasons forwhy you may or may not like something.  I believe that using them in the classroom is a very effective way to make sure your students are very engaged and have paid attention to the task at hand.  On the other hand I don’t believe we should take what the students say to heart every time because kids are not always rational in their reasoning’s behind something.  I believe the two main rules should be not to ask the same questions over and over because they might not take it seriously, and to make sure the questions are simple and easy to understand.  Both of these help to avoid misinterpretation and make the questions seem more serious. 

     I think that teachers are taking way to much initiative in thinking about what their students want to know instead of focusing on what they need to know.  Technology is a great thing in the classroom and using online surveys and PDAs are very good ideas but I still believe we are focusing way to much on the technology usage and not enough what is actually being taught. 

Jonassen, D. Howland, J. Marra, R. M. Crismond, D. (2008). Maeningful Learning With Technology. Upper Saddle River, NJ. Merrill Prentice Hillon