Cell Phones in the Classroom

Integrating cell phones into the classroom definitely has pros and cons. I’m not sure I agree totally with either side. On one hand I do believe that they can be distracting and some kids may not have them, but I do think that we shouldn’t fight technology and there could be some ways to incorporate cell phones in our lessons.

 

Cell phones are the way of the future and instead of trying to force them out of the way kids learn, it might be smart to utilize them and help kids enhance their knowledge with the tools they have on hand. I do think there needs to be supervision as they are using there cell phones texting or games may prove to be tempting distractions. One solution Lisa Kolb gives us is “set up a social contract with students defining the structure and rules around cell phone use in the classroom.”

 

Josh Allen tells us “the goal of an educational setting should be to give students the proper tools to succeed once they step into society.” I think this right here goes against his argument for not having phones in the classroom. The cell phone is a huge part of society today and if we don’t allow students to learn to use them aren’t we preparing them to be unsuccessful in society?

Chatspeak

Is chatspeak destroying the English language? I’m not sure I fully agree with either side of this argument. I agree with Linda Howard that “when students are thoroughly immersed in the culture of instant messaging, meaningful written expression may be hindered because their mindset is that of the shared culture of other students.” But I do think that if a teacher educates them of the proper English language and provides exact rules for what they expect then the students will know how they should perform. I think that students should be aware that there are times to use chatspeak and there are times to not use it. I think it’s up to the teacher to clearly define these times.

 

I think that chatspeak can be a way for students to express themselves and they have fun with it. I do think some questions come up regarding when in the classroom it is and isn’t ok to use chatspeak. And if it is a way to engage students maybe it can be incorporated into a lesson. As teachers we need to quit fighting the interests of students and work with them to help kids learn.

Powerpoint Presentations

PowerPoint Presentations are a great way to get your students’ attention. I think it can be a fun interactive way to present material. In our class presentations one thing I enjoyed was being engaged in the material. I thought practicing Spanish was a neat idea. I wouldn’t have thought powerpoints could be useful in language classes and now I can see how they are helpful. They can provide great visuals for any work. I liked how powerpoint can be used to present artwork to students on a big scale. Powerpoints are definitely an easy way to improve a lesson presentation.

 

One way that powerpoint can work against a lesson is if it becomes too wordy. There was one presentation that I thought became a bit too much about reading off of the slides. If you use a lot of text out of the book, it seems to be more sensible to just let the student read the book. A great way to catch the attention of a student is by pictures and relevant graphs. I just think that as a student I would become bored reading slide after slide so teachers need to be aware of what they need to do in order to catch the attention of their kids.

 

One way I thought my powerpoint could be improved is to add an audio interview of M.C. Escher. I thought my presentation was a good opening to what I was trying to teach. I thought it did an excellent job at capturing the attention of my peers. I just think that by specifically adding the interview to my presentation it would deepen it and would help students find a way to relate to it.

 

I definitely like using powerpoint as a lesson presenter. I think it has the potential to bring a lot to a lesson. Unfortunately as with all technology it can have complications so if a teacher plans on using it they should definitely come prepared with back up.

 

Attention Span

I agree with David M. Marcovitz’s idea that we are and “instant gratification culture.” Students these days have grown up with full access to high speed internet. Information is only seconds away via laptops or cell phones. With all of this technology students don’t have the patience, they used to. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. They are eager to learn things and aren’t interested in wasting time. With the advances in technology students haven’t had to learn the same way their parents did, they have new faster ways of processing information. I think Marcovitz’s has got it exactly right when he says “we have been trained by our technology.”

 

I think we as teachers need to stop opposing technology. We shouldn’t be scared of new ways to approach teaching. It’s an exciting time to be a teacher. There are so many new ways to get the lesson across and to engage students. We need to ask ourselves how we can incorporate technology into what we’re teaching. Educators need to quit fighting the notion to do things the old way, or the way it’s always been done. It’s time to change the way we teach. As Jon Davidson says “we must adapt our teaching styles and methods to the way our students learn.”

Wikipedia Credibility

I understand that Wikipedia is not a credible source, anyone and everyone can input their ideas into any subject. I do think it’s a good place to start research. Wikipedia can help inspire ideas and from Wikipedia, research can be done to discover the credibility of an idea or subject.

 

As a teacher I would allow students to use Wikipedia. I think that it can help give students an idea of where to start. Often times just starting a project or research can be an overwhelming task. I would however make sure that students are required to use more than one source. I would also go over the reason why Wikipedia can’t always be trusted and help the students see why it shouldn’t be used as a primary source.

 

I like the idea of having kids use the internet for research. It can really help to broaden their horizons. I do believe that students need guidance and teachers need to make sure kids are staying on track. I think using portaportal and webquests can help give students the freedom to research what they want while giving them the guidance they need as well as protecting yourself as the teacher.