Inspiration 8

Just to expand a little on the last post...The program Inspiration 8 is a really neat tool. It's main function is creating a flow chart. It is so easy to do and can be personalized however you like it. There are a ton of graphics you can insert into the flow chart to represent ideas. My favorite function is the option to take any text on the my flow chart and hyperlink it to a webpage. I can see so many potential uses for this in my future classroom like faculty planning, brainstorming charts with my class, or using it to create a web page that has links for parents. Currently I hope to use it for the photoshop project by creating a flowchart for a 2nd grade math curriculum with links to pictures that demonstrate different concepts.

Level II web page

Today in class we learned how to make a webpage. My page lists all my classes for level II and the required assignments with links to webpages I need to access for homework. I am really excited about using this on future projects like a family history page. We made a flow chart in the program Inspiration 8 and then exported it to the web. Link to the site

Blogging

I still don't feel like a blogging pro, but I am enjoying the experience. I can see advantages and disadvantages to using a classroom blog in my future teaching career. Having a blog would allow me to share the projects and activities my class participates in through regularly updated posts. Pictures and videos of their children would be available for parents to download onto their home computers. Most parents would be able to view these posts immediately after the event. However, the negative side of using a classroom blog is that not everyone will be able to view it. Some families may not have access to computers or internet.This would create a technological divide in the classroom.

Digital Natives Approach vs. Digital Immigrants Approach to Education

I remember sitting in a human anatomy and physiology class in high school staring at a white sheet of paper that contained a black and white illustration of the internal human body. We were expected to memorize various parts of the body and their functions and label them on vague lines protruding from the illustration. My mind wandered and I found it hard to concentrate. Instead of listening to my teacher's lecture, I found myself dreaming up a realistic digital tour that would take students through the different organs and arteries as if a small camera were traveling through the human body. I wondered why such a resource hadn't been developed for education. It seemed a more logical approach to learning.
Like many of my peers I feel very dependent on technology. I am very much a "digital native". I use technology for research, socialization, and entertainment. I recognize that if a completely "digital native" approach were used in schools, students would get information quicker and in a more entertaining way.
However, I recognize the disadvantages of letting technology consume our students' lives. Exposure to technology creates the need for constant rewards and instantaneous gratification. The lure of cyberspace can create a false sense of reality, loss of social skills in the real world, and waste hours of time. It is important that we use technology wisely and with caution.
I feel that a balanced curriculum should be developed for future education. Students should be expected to learn the step-by-step logic the "old" way, but educators should use technological models to illustrate and reinforce the logic during the learning process.

Mac Conversion?

Up until this class I have been a PC girl through and through. Playing around on a Mac for this class has started me down a rather reluctant path of conversion. I am finding that the simple pleasures of adding widgets and flipping through my spaces has caused a small, forbidden Mac seed to planted. We'll just have to see what happens...