Blog 8

I believe that because the Internet is such a huge and important part of many people’s daily lives, it is critical for teachers to instruct their students on how to properly use it. The Internet is like many things; it can be easily abused and used for the wrong reasons, or it can be used in ways that enhance a person’s daily life or used in ways that expand a person’s knowledge base. However, I think that even with proper instruction, there will always be students who find it funny and wish to abuse the Internet and access websites and other places on the web that are inappropriate. For this reason, it is also important for technicians at schools to block adult content and other dangerous and inappropriate websites that students do not to be accessing. It is also possible that a student may be researching for a paper and accidentally stumbles upon a website that he/she did not wish to view. It is important to protect today’s students from the dangers that are out there on the web.

Furthermore, nowadays, pirating illegal content off the Internet is a huge problem. Many people do it, because it is easy, quick, and free. However, as an educator, I think it is also important to raise awareness that downloading content such as movies, music and books, for example, from the Internet without paying for it is very much like stealing from a store. Not only should they know that it is unethical, but it also has repercussions for the creators of the content that the students are downloading; in a way, music artists and actors lose money every day and are cheated out of money, because their hard work is available for free to everyone in just a few clicks on the Internet. In addition, I believe this kind of behavior goes hand in hand with plagiarism. Students need to be made aware that it is unethical to steal written content or any type of content on the Internet (or any other place) and claim that it is their own.

Lastly, it is also important to teach students how to search properly for material on the Internet. As we went over before in this course, not all material and information on the Internet is valid. Students must be made aware of this and taught to be skeptical of the web pages they run across online. They should be taught what to look for on a website to make sure it is valid and reliable.

Blog #7

I started using a computer in my parents' home when I was about the age of 8 or 9. My dad gave me an ancient computer that I used to play Disney games on. It wasn't until 7th grade that my parents gave me any access at all to the internet, but even then I had little interest in using the computer. Back in Junior High, the idea of social networking was really unimportant. If I wanted to talk to a friend, I would call them or go to their house. Social networking became pretty heavily popular towards the end of my High School experience. I began using e-mail, chat programs like AIM, blogging websites like Xanga and MySpace, and I also took part in some online games, which I thought was amazing, because I was able to get to know people from all around the world. I think I had the same or more access to the Internet as my peers did during my K-12 experience. My dad worked for IBM for quite a long time and had several computers in the basement for my sisters and I to play on. I think because of his interest in computers, we were pretty spoiled when it came to using technology and the Internet. I think because of how much I used the computer as an adolescent/teenager, I was at an advantage over some other kids who weren't as experienced with navigating around a computer and with using the Internet, but I don’t believe their lack of experience with the Internet or computers caused any issues for them academically. I knew my way around a computer and knew how to properly use the Internet and its search engines very well by the end of 8th grade; however, in High School, it really was not very important if we as students had Internet access at home. Most of our research was done right in the computer lab at school, and usually our teachers gave us sufficient time to finish our work. I think back then teachers took into account that some students may not actually have access to a computer or Internet at home. It wasn’t as necessary at the time, but now it seems to be that it is almost assumed that everyone has at least one computer with Internet access at home.

As a teacher, I do feel responsible for bridging the gap between the students who do not have access to the Internet and those who do. Nowadays it is very important for students to be able to navigate the world wide web. Because some families may not have Internet in their homes, I would give my students plenty of time in the computer labs right in the school to do their research and work (just as my teachers had done for me), and I would make sure a skilled librarian or I was around to answer questions.

Blog 6: Media Literacy Skills

I found this presentation very interesting; it had several good points. I do see a connection between my life and the amount of media that I consume, but I also feel like because of my college education I have been able to break out of the social constructs that the media have created for our society. When I was a kid in elementary school, I did not care in the least what I was wearing. I think the media is very quickly becoming a bigger part of our lives, because nowadays kids are wearing trendier shoes and clothes at earlier ages. I recently observed a fifth grade classroom and very quickly noticed how stylish the kids were. I did not start feeling the pressure to wear trendy clothes until Junior High. Kids are being "sucked into" media messages at earlier ages, because the media is just about everywhere.

One thing that makes me personally so irritated is how women and men are portrayed in the media. I have girl friends who are such twigs and they complain all the time about how fat they are. The media teaches women to be as skinny as they can be, and many women end up having eating disorders and becoming extremely unhealthy. On the other hand, guys are taught to be strong and almost emotionless human beings. I know so many guys who were taught not to cry and not to talk about their feelings. The presentation made a good point: who is behind these ideas? In my child development course, we talked about the similarities between boys and girls as kids. It isn't up until they are told how to act in society that the differences between them start to emerge. I think more people need to realize that many of what we see and hear in our society is just a social construct made from the media. We need to question what we hear and see instead of blindly taking the messages in and accepting them.

It is absolutely outrageous the things that are shown in music videos, for example. In many rap videos men are surrounded by half-naked women, and these women are portrayed in sexual, negative ways; it's very degrading. Many song lyrics have hugely misogynistic messages. They sing about hating women, violence against women, rape, et cetera, and there are people who listen to this and support this kind of music. Because some people accept messages from the media without questioning what they are being fed, some of these individuals also pressure people around them to accept it as well; they do not use their critical thinking skills. I have male friends, for example, who are mocked and ridiculed if they do not watch pornography. Many of my girl friends accept that their partner watches it, because they believe that it is normal nowadays. For some reason, men are pressured into believing that looking at pornography is a masculine activity and that it is perfectly okay. The media just disgusts me.

All in all, I think it is extremely important for parents to teach their kids from a very early age to use their critical thinking skills to question the media. Media literacy skills are very important to acquire, otherwise many kids will grow up being naive and blindly accepting what they hear and see. It is really sad to see people grow up bound by the social constructs of the media. Many women and men do not feel happy with who they are and what they look like, because we are taught almost everywhere how we need to act and look like to be accepted.

Blog #5

I don't think it is a good idea for traditional teachers to be replaced by computers. A computer cannot offer the same feedback that a living, breathing, knowledgeable person can. Yes, kids of today are more visual based learners, but I don't think that all classes should be taken online. The experience can be very interesting, but it is not nearly as interactive as a traditional classroom learning experience. If today's kids were to learn on computers alone, they would be missing out on extremely important experiences that all kids need to have to develop in a healthy manner. I believe that kids of today do not get enough time socializing with other people and being around other people, because so many of them spend time on the computer or in front of a TV at home. I think traditional based classrooms at least offer a well-balanced, all-around healthy experience. Kids not only learn class material in classroom settings, but also life lessons, social skills, et cetera.

I do think the reasoning by Kaplan, Kahn, Jukes and Taylor is a potential "game changer". I don't think the ideas of all of these people will completely change the classroom, however. The Kaplan University commercial made a good point that so many of us today as digital learners are a bit ahead of the "game" so to speak; we were brought up using computers and other technology, and this is what we are used to. I think that because many of us today are proficient with computers and other technology, we as students could also be even more proficient in our learning, et cetera, if more technology were to be introduced into the classroom. Digital natives thrive in the technological world. Digital learners may excel faster in their learning experiences if they were not simply lectured AT all day long. They need a more interactive, fast-pace experience, and technology is there to offer it to them.

I don't think that my job description would be much different in three to four years down the road in comparison to what it would be today. As we covered in this course, technology used in the classroom should be integrated transparently into the class. Even if there is new technology to be used in my future classroom, I believe I will always have to teach the same material. The way in which it is taught may be slightly different, but I don't think that the classrooms of today are changing so drastically or quickly enough that they will be much different down the road.

I don't think every student can be reached successfully through online courses. Not all students are visual learners. Not all students thrive by reading directions through text alone, and not all students excel by watching their teachers give directions through a video. I hope that classes will never completely be moved to an online setting. As I said before, the traditional classroom at least offers live help. Students are able to ask questions and receive answers in the moment they have them. Online classes can be extremely frustrating if a student is stuck on a problem and has to email his/her teacher for the answer. Traditional classrooms at least offer a more interactive experience. A class like "art" for example, would be very difficult to teach successfully online. The student would not be able to get the same feedback on his/her work. Teachers in the traditional classroom are at least able to walk around the classroom and see how the students are doing so that he/she can give proper feedback.

I think that students should adapt to educational environments. The biggest reason for this is the fact that students are always changing. It will be extremely difficult and most likely costly to cater different standards to each new generation. College professors would constantly have to change their approach in how they are teaching their students to become successful teachers. I think little adjustments to the classroom would be beneficial, but I truly think it is a bad idea to constantly transform the classroom.

Yes, there is a bit of flexibility when it comes to taking an online course. The student can "attend" the course whenever he/she wants to throughout the day; the student may not have to actually leave his/her home, et cetera, but as I said before, a computer is, in my opinion, not a teacher. The student will not have the same well-balanced, interactive and social experience that they would have in a real classroom. On top of this, an online experience does not cater to all of the different needs of each student. I think online courses could be very frustrating for students who are struggling in the course material.

Blog 4: Information Literacy

The methods I use to research a topic depend completely upon whether I am researching for personal interest or for a class. When I am at home and am interested in finding out more about a topic, I normally go to Google and type in keywords that might bring up corresponding webpages. The 'Information Literacy' presentation brought up an excellent point about the validity of webpages found online; some websites may look credible, but in all reality they are not scholarly sources. Many past professors of mine have completely disallowed the option of research information found on websites because of this problem. Therefore, when I am researching for a course, I use more discretion and find books at the library or search through the databases available on the GVSU website (JStor, for example). Wikipedia is a great source of information, but because anyone in the world can edit its pages, I would not recommend using it for a college research paper or regarding it as a scholarly source.

Furthermore, in the 'Information Literacy' presentation, I identified myself only in a few of the problems that some students are experiencing when researching online. When searching for information in a database, I almost always feel overwhelmed with the dozens of journals and articles that I find. Perhaps I need more practice with databases and knowing which keywords to use. Sometimes it is also rather difficult for me to synthesize information when an article is terribly long; I often find myself spending a great amount of time trying to pick out the most important points, which I think is an effective way to go about it, but it is still quite overwhelming. When I was in High School, I was definitely at times a student who would simply regurgitate ideas, just as many of us were; for this reason, college was a bit of a shock in my first year, and I needed to do a bit of adjusting when it came to thinking abstractly and originally.

I found the 'Electronic Constructivism' article interesting, because the author pointed out that a simple change in how directions are stated on an assignment can almost completely eliminate the paraphrasing and regurgitating of ideas issue. I thought the author had a neat approach to researching historical figures; instead of stating directions for an assignment in a way that allows the students to simply resummarize information found in an encyclopedia, for example, the author explained that there are several different and more creative approaches the teacher could take. For example, if the teacher thinks a little more abstractly and helps the students step into the shoes of the historical figures, they will no longer see them as "...just static characters described in black and white text" (Yoder). Being creative is a great way to promote abstract and dynamic thinking and learning.

I remember in High School being brought down to the "Media Center", or in other words, the library, to be shown how to properly use a search engine. In hindsight, I think that was a great idea, and I would definitely do something similar to help my students use their time efficiently when researching. It truly is difficult to keep searches narrow, and for that reason, it really is beneficial to know how to properly use a search engine. I would also tell them about my personal strategies; for example, as said before, when I am reading an article, I take out a highlighter and a pencil and I mark up the article so I can later reference the most important parts of it. Instead of allowing oneself become overwhelmed with a topic, it is important for him or her to step back and look at the big picture. Also, as I saw in the 'Information Literacy' presentation, I too think it is important to first think about what it is you need to learn more about. Before immediately sitting down in front of a computer and starting one's research, the researcher needs to evaluate all research tools. An almanac or another print source might be the best way to find basic information such as simple facts, for example.

Lastly, I do love many aspects of Web 2.0 websites. I find it very interesting that Wikipedia can be edited by anyone in the world; however, this has its problems. I reference Wikipedia very often, but I keep in mind that not everything stated on it is 100% factual. Aside from this blog, I have two personal blogs that I update every now and then--one blog I use solely for practicing my German language skills, and the other blog I simply post music on to listen to when I am at the computer. I also admit that I frequently facebook; it's always fun to see the comments and opinions from friends on updates that I make, and it is a great way to communicate back and forth between friends, family, and co-workers. Another part of Web 2.0 that I sometimes take part in are forums. Forums are excellent sources of information as well, especially when a person is looking for information about his or her own current situation (be it a real life situation, or a technological problem that person is having). Many people post questions on forums, because each forum normally has a specific topic and purpose that other people will pay attention to if they know anything about it or have questions they would like to post as well. In my future classroom, I think video blogs will be a great way for students to record themselves so they can truly hear their pronunciation of German words. I think it would also be very fun and interesting for the student, because other students in the class will be able to make video comments or text comments in response. All in all, I love Web 2.0, because it is a great source of interactivity and communication.

Blog 3: Digital Deutschland

Stephen Van Orden, a German teacher at Timpview High School in Provo, Utah, decided in 2005 that it was time to change his classroom into a “digital Deutschland”, as he called it. The chalkboard and whiteboard were simply not good enough tools to supplement his instruction with. He was aware that living abroad in German-speaking countries and immersing oneself in the culture was the best way to learn the language; however, not all students could afford such an endeavour. For this reason, he began asking himself, “How can currently available technology help bridge the location gap if living in the country is not an option?” Tablet PC was his answer. For a long time, Van Orden had been using the digital projector, and he enjoyed using it, but after he switched over to the much more advanced Tablet PC, he knew there was no going back. With the Tablet PC, Van Orden could “…project so much more and in such higher quality…”. With the Tablet PC, he also did not have to have his back turned to the class when he was teaching. After searching for software to use on his new Tablet PC, he was absolutely amazed when he found programs like PDF995, which allowed him to display new vocabulary words from the textbook to his students and write on them with notes or pronunciation helps, et cetera. With the help of his Tablet PC, he did not need to waste hundreds of dollars from his school budget on developing pictures of Germany, Australia and Switzerland; instead, he uploaded pictures to his Tablet PC with his digital camera free of cost. Van Orden also began using Pdictionary.com and other picture dictionaries online. As a German student myself, I also find picture dictionaries extremely helpful, because, as Van Orden points out, they “…are a great way to create context”. He also began to use his Tablet PC to show his students videos, vlogs, blogs, et cetera. In my person experience, even looking up a YouTube video with a German speaker is beneficial, and it is free of cost-wonderful!

Van Orden’s approach to using the new technology was definitely transparent. He went into the classroom knowing how to use the hardware and software properly and efficiently, and his approach also covered the many different learning styles of his students, which is not always the case when using a chalkboard. The students did not need to learn how to use any of the applications themselves; instead, they sat back and soaked the information in as he instructed. I would definitely like to implement something like this into my classroom. Using something like an online picture dictionary to help students create visual bridges to new German words would be an excellent way to broaden their vocabulary.

As Van Orden noted in his article, “The possibilities are endless.” His overall goal was to enliven the classroom and find better ways to convey new information to his students. After reading his article, I would have to agree with him that the addition of his Tablet PC to the classroom was a success in creating his digital Deutschland. In the words of Van Orden, “I believe that teachers will use technology if it makes their work easier or if it improves the quality of their work.” In his case, it did both.

Van Orden, Stephen. "Using a Tablet PC in the German Classroom to Enliven Teacher Input." JSTOR. Web. 5 Feb. 2010.

Link to article: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20479879

Extra Credit Blog: Digital Nation Response

I found this news broadcast extremely interesting. While watching it, it reminded me of how I live. As I was watching the video, I will admit that I was also doing several other things at the same time. I love to multitask; if I don't multitask, I get fidgety and lose interest in whatever I am doing. Perhaps this is something that other people in my generation experience, because technology keeps us always on our toes. A good example of this is text messaging. I feel behind the times, because I am probably the only person out of all my friends who does not have text messaging on their cellphone. I can see how with text messaging people probably feel connected with their peers at all times, because they are only a few clicks away. A person can basically carry their friends in their pocket, so to speak. My sister is always texting; no matter what she is doing, her phone is basically glued to her hand. She could be studying for an exam and texting her friends at the same time. I am not sure whether it is a distraction for her or not, because she is so used to texting all the time.

Another thing I found interesting and also true is the danger of texting and talking on the phone while driving. I honestly hope that the use of phones while a car is moving will become illegal, because it truly is so dangerous. Some drivers do not understand that in the time they look down at their phone to type out a single word, a car might have stopped right in front of them. At the very least, drivers should wait until they are at a complete stop before they start looking away from the road.

Lastly, when it comes to questioning whether the internet is addicting or not, I know from experience just how addicting it can be. I have had roommates in the past who would not leave their room for months, because they were so addicted to the game World of Warcraft. Friends of mine have had relationships go awry, because one partner spends too much time playing online video games than with the other partner. I also know a couple of people who spend time playing the Facebook application "Farmville" while at work. The internet can be a huge distraction from responsibilities and real life.