Ch 1 & 2

CH 1

I find it interesting that political campaigns, businesses, etc. are a lot quicker to adapt to new technology and use it to their advantage than the field of education. I think businesses are motivated by the ability to make more money if they reach more people through technology, and politicians are motivated by the ability to get their name and message out to more people and thus get more votes and get elected. There may lack some motivation on the part of educators, because we have been teaching with the old methods so long, which has always worked, so why take the time and energy to learn about the ever-changing technology available and change your lessons to incorporate it?

The book mentions that students’ way of communicating and learning is changing due to technology, and if teachers ignore this, they won’t be as effective in getting through to them. For example, if you have been teaching for 10 years, the students you taught 10 years ago are a lot different than today’s students, so you must adjust your teaching methods to accommodate them. It is said that students today, who use computers and technology constantly, have acquired a different way of thinking than students did in our time, when technology was much less advanced and computers, cell phones, etc. weren’t such a big part of everyday life. Students today have “developed hypertext minds. They leap around. It’s as though their cognitive structures were parallel, not sequential.” (pg.7)

CH 2

Blogs have become very common on the internet today. They are easy ways for people to get their thoughts out there. They can be used to discuss and debate politics, or they can serve as a personal journal. Two new blogs are being created every second! The number of blogs that exist must be astronomical and growing rapidly every single day. Blogs have use in the classroom as well. The curriculum can be moved to an online environment. Blackboard is used at UofL, but weblogs could be used to accomplish the same thing at a lesser price. Some teachers at the high school at which I substitute teach have already begun using a type of weblog for their classroom. One technology teacher puts her classroom assignments, homework assignments and grades online for students to access at any time. When they come into class, they sign in and mark their attendance. The site tells them what they are to do for the day, and what the homework will be. When she grades their assignments, she posts that to the site. This is similar to uses he talks about for classroom weblogs on pages 21-23.

On page 38-39, all of the uses of blogs in the classroom, by both teachers and students, are listed. I think this list would be very helpful to give you ideas about how you can incorporate blogs in your classroom!