Mark Beckwith ED 205

My third blog response can be found here.

 Hooray for Nintendo!

I recently came across a rather disturbing Martin Luther King Jr. site at www.martinlutherking.org .  Based on the name (and the .org ending) one may think this to be a reputable site, but it turns out to be far from it.  The first thing one notices is the unprofessional look to the site.  Everything is poorly laid out and has a general look of being unprofessional.  Another troubling point about this site is that there is not listing of the authors, the credentials of the authors, or any organization that this site is affiliated with.  There are also no sources listed or references, which makes one wonder about the validity of the claims made.  Since there are no authors or references listed, you can’t check them on a site like Google to see the validity of the reference or more information on the author.  This lack of proof for the claims made and lack of responsibility for authorship should be a big red flag to students and teachers.  Another red flag that is hard to systematically check for but is still present in this site is a clear author bias.  Obviously the author of this site has negative views of Martin Luther King Jr. and is using this site to persuade people to share that view rather than inform them in an unbias way. 

Based on all of these warning signs against this site and the clear racial bias, this site is definitely not appropriate for use in schools, except as an example of why you can’t trust every site on the internet.  This site clearly shows the necessity of informing students how to check for the validity of a site and how to not believe everything that is on the internet.  Perhaps this site could be shown next to a valid site so the students can learn the difference.  The methods that we discussed in class for pointing out untrustworthy sites should also be taught to students fairly early in their internet use. 

Another troubling note about this site….  When I searched “Martin Luther King Jr.” on Google, this site appeared as the sixth entry.  This goes to show that just because a site is high on the search result list doesn’t mean that it can be trusted.  Perhaps it is this high in the search results because the words are a perfect match in the URL and the description of the site.  But Google and other search engines only search for word matches, not reputability in a site.  This is another point that should be made to students, that just because a site appears near the top of the search results does not mean that it is a reputable site.

Here is my second comment on an ed tech blog.  It’s starting to get interesting to find all of the different topics and ideas people are posting while looking for a blog to comment on.

Here is what I feel are the most important software applications for students to be taught in school…

1. Word Processors – I feel that this is both the most basic and most important software on a computer. Students will definitely need to know such programs for the rest of their school career (e.g. writing papers) and throughout their professional careers, whether it be writing a letter or typing up a report. Because schools and businesses use this program so much, it is important for students to learn this program above all others.

2. Presentation Software (like PowerPoint) – Another type of software that will be used extensively in school and help in one’s career is something like PowerPoint. There are a number of projects that students will be asked to create a PowerPoint for, and they need to be prepared to do so. PowerPoint presentations also help in future careers. Presentations become much more professional once people know hoe to properly use a program such as PowerPoint. It is ranked below word processor only because there are ways to get around using PowerPoint in a presentation, whereas people are likely not going to accept hand written reports and such.

3. Excel – This one is specific to Microsoft Excel. Spreadsheets, while they may not seem important in high school, have numerous applications in the real world. Microsoft has created a highly powerful spreadsheet program in Excel, and that is why I feel Excel should specifically be taught. There are many functions of Excel that can help people do taxes, manage personal finances, or organize information, but many people don’t realize the full potential of these aspects of Excel. This program should probably be taught later in high school since it has more applications outside of school than in school.

4. Educational Games – This is an application that is beneficial early in a student’s education, but loses that usefulness later on in life, so that is why it is rated at number four.  When students are learning to explore a vast array of subjects in first through fourth grade, educational games make a great way for them to explore these subjects and have fun.  This is not to be confused with drill and practice software, though.  Educational games create a more interactive and exploratory learning environment, whereas drill and practice is redundant and rote memorization.  Educational games lose their appeal as learners mature, so their usefulness is limited later in life.  But at young ages they can be greatly beneficial.

5. Foreign Language Instruction Programs – This type of program is very different from the others and is on the list mostly because of personal bias (but hey, this is my blog).  Foreign Language Programs could be taught as early as elementary school and  prove useful throughout life.  Learning languages is something that is lacking in America (in comparison to other countries), and learning a foreign language helps create a better understanding of language in general.  Computers assist in the acquisition of language in a highly multimedia fashion, from using pictures of vocabulary to playing audio of native speakers.  Learning new languages is beneficial, and the use of computers and software makes this process easier and more fun.  For those reasons I feel language software should be introduced to students at an early age and continued throughout schooling.

The following information is from the article “Can Assistive Technology Help Us to Not Leave Any Child Behind?” by Weikle, Bobbie, Hadadian, and Azar in the journal Preventing School Failure (Summer 2003, Vol 47, Issue 4).

 This article mainly focused on the uses of technology (both multimedia and “low” tech) can have in ensuring that no child with disabilities is “left behind” in their reading abilities since there is so much more integration these days.  It is argued that multimedia based reading programs help to boost the student’s performance and interest in his or her reading, and this claim is supported by research done by Heimann, Nelson, Tjus, and Gillberg (1995).  Another type of technology that is discussed is “low” technology.  The article presents ideas for inexpensive technological routes for parents of students with disabilities to use, such as tape-recording a child reading out loud and playing it back for them.  This use of “low” technology is supported by research from Buggy, 1995; Charlop & Milstein, 1989; Kehle, Clark, Jenson, & Wampold, 1986 and others as well.  With the demands of integration from No Child Left Behind it is important that students with learning disabilities keep up in their ability to read (one of the essential skills from NCLB), and thiws article presents ideas and research to support uses of multimedia technology to assist disabled students.  The article also suggested ways of introducing the parents to the technology, such as a “parents’ night out” to go to the school and try out the technology, which I found to be interesting and beneficial.

Here’s a link to the first comment I’ve ever left on someone’s blog…

My Comment

I’m so proud.

It seems as though I am surrounded by technology whether I am at home, work, or school.  At my home there are currently five computers (two functional laptops, one semi-functional laptop, a desktop that serves as a nice foot rest, and our original PC from 1995).  This abundance of computers at home serves as both a gift and a curse.  On the one hand, the technology in my house has allowed me to communicate more easily with friends, participate in hobbies like movie-making, and enhance my general education.  But on the other hand, it seems like the computers always have something wrong with them or I’m not using them to their full potential. 

This love/hate relationship exists with the technology I deal with at work.  I’m a projectionist and the theater I’m at is working on installing digital projectors.  So I’ve been having to learn how to operate them and fix any problems that do arise.  The digital projectors are great because it’s a lot less work for me and a much better picture for the audience.  But, just like the computers at home, I hate the thing when something goes wrong because I only know a little bit about trouble-shooting.

Technology was used in much the same way at school; it was great when it worked and was utilized properly, but frustrating and boring when it wasn’t.  I was fortunate enough to go to a school district that had lots of computers.  I remember there being at least one computer in each classroom from 3rd grade on and a couple of computer labs.  In elementary school the computers were mostly used for learning to type.  Every so often we would be allowed to play a Math Blasters type game on the classroom computer as well.  It wasn’t until high school that I remember being taught to use the computers for something more than internet and typing, and that was when we learned PowerPoint.  And that was all we did with it, PowerPoint and typing.  I don’t think this helped us learn much about technology.  If anything, it made me sick of computers.  Every presentation we did we would have to make a PowerPoint and write a paper to go with it.

It wasn’t until my AV class in high school that I really realized the full potential of technology in the classroom.  The AV students had six different Macs to edit their movie projects on, along with many digital camcorders and audio-systems.  This abundance of technology helped many students to unleash their creativity and want to learn more about the technologies, which my teacher was always willing to do.  My teacher taught us how to bring our projects to their full potential and how to work through any complications that may arise while using the technology (as opposed to just calling the library aid like my other teachers).

My experiences in AV made me realize that when technology is used to help students find creative and interesting ways to learn about the subject, it can be a great thing.  But when the technology is used to throw in countless PowerPoint requirements and to watch pointless movies in class, it quickly becomes a nuisance.  In this class I hope to not only learn how to use the technology in a productive and interesting way, but also to gain a better understanding of how to fully utilize all the technology has to offer so that I can better assist my students with learning.

Based on all of this, I would have to say that educational technology is using the technology and all that it has to offer in order to allow students to pursue interesting, creative, and informative ways to gain an education.

Check out Ed Tech Journeys, another educational technology blog.