Badge E

Technology, in all of it's glory, can be used for problem solving and troubleshooting for situations that could be rendered unbearable without it. For example, a girl who doesn't comprehend mathematics that are presented to her in a way unaccesible to her without a computer. When the teacher tries to explain to her that Joe gives Tim three apples, she doesn't get it; but when she sees two lilypads with four frogs each, and she moves the frogs from one pad to the other, she starts to understand that one will have 12 frogs while the other will have 4 or viceversa. Sometimes, students need technology in order for information to be presented to them in a way that they can grasp it and comprehend it, leaving students who are bad at math a little less discouraged, and the utilization of technology for the common good of teaching that much more wonderful.

Maloy, Robert W.. Transforming learning with new technologies. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, 2011. Print.

The video below was made by me on the Powtoons website, and then I uploaded it to my youtube in order to make embedding it a much easier task. Please enjoy.

Badge D

I have designed a prezi for this badge.

This blog post is made with thanks to

Maloy, Robert W.. Transforming learning with new technologies. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, 2011. Print.

"Be a great presenter." prezi.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2014. <http://prezi.com/>. (not a hyperlink to Prezi)

Chapter 3 Digital Badge 3

Transformers aren’t the only thing that transform; the way that a student learns and a teacher teaches can be transformed into an element of heightened learning with the use of technology in the classroom as a tool for good. This isn’t anything new and has happened multiple times in the past. An example would be the introduction of television sets to the classroom, upgrading classrooms from having just a chalk board, but now teachers could show their lessons in black and white and wonderful Technicolor! Even later than that, there was a campaign for “cable in the classroom” in which educational television would be presentable to students in the school system. This brought even more to the classroom than what a simple VHS and TV could offer. Classrooms, like everything else, are constantly evolving for hope of better.

                (Honestly, this sums up a huge part of the chapter and I couldn’t really find much else that I could say so here’s a video)

my apologies

Chapter 2 Digital Badge 2

             There seems to be two opposing sides in the debate over technology in the classroom and it’s quick increase over the years, those that believe that the technology will teach the youth and ultimately eliminate the need for teachers, where students are all “plugged in” to their schools. We’ll call this group Neo, as they are hoping to save us from the machine that holds us hostage. There’s, also, a different group of people who see technology as a tool to use harmoniously in unison with the teachers, much like a katana to a samurai, they intend to use the technology as an extension of their being to help them teach in ways that could never have existed in the past. That group will be called group Motoko, because they believe in a teaching environment that is a step down from the extremes of the Japanese Cyber Punk Thriller, “Ghost in the Shell” (in which mankind and machine draw a dangerously fine line between one another).

                A very group “Motoko” way of thinking revolves around the concept of balance in the classroom of every aspect of a student’s extracurricular life to implement aspects of said extracurricular life into a learning setting that is quick to response to the needs of the student in a way that ranges from instant gratification on a high test score to quick access to appropriate resources necessary for the classroom assignments. In the long run, the rate at which children and toddlers are learning how to utilize technology is alarmingly on an increase, so it would be of the best interest for humanity to teach these new generations that will pop up over the next few years how to use technology in a way that brings harmony and development, as opposed to what the “Neo” group fears; the machines using them.

                On the off hand, group Neo has very good reason to be scared, as we are in a key stage of development in human history of almost evolutionary proportions, and our youth are what will decide the road that humanity travels into the future. If they’re cut off from human connection even when within a few feet of one another, and are sat in front of a monitor for many hours of the day, they’re going to have a bad time. Seeing as to how that is more than likely not the issue, given the advancements of our technology that would make more sense to enforce otherwise, it goes to show that while group “Neo’s” fear still exists, it is a declining outcome due to the combined effort of teachers everywhere to strive to educate their students, not vegetize and zombify them. 

Photo by: danielle_blue "enter the matrix.5"

Picture Inserter Test 1

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Photo Credit to:   michael clarke stuff, on Flickr

Chapter 1

1. Internet based technologies in the classroom and outside of the classroom help students gain access to a plethora of information for learning the subject material, although the largest concern involved in the use of said tool is when it becomes used in an unmonitored way. Once a student gets off track from what they're supposed to be paying attention to, they can find themselves in an ever expanding universe of information. An example would be for a student with any sort of Attention Deficit Disorder could go from researching the literary devices used by Mark Twain in his story, "The Mysterious Stranger", to finding him/herself on a slash fiction fanfic website devoted to Mark Twain x Mary Shelley fan fiction. The answer to said problem is to provide a study specific search engine for the students.

2. Another useful tool for teachers with students, or even students by themselves, is software and websites similar to (if not in particular) Lumosity. These websites and software programs provide brain teaser activities that encourage creative and critical thinking skills that help with problem recognition and problem solving. Students tend to learn more when they're having fun (I say students, because hopefully all of humanity can fit under said umbrella term), so these websites and programs are presented to the individuals in ways that feel like computer games. While fun is incredibly important to the foundation of learning, all fun and no work makes Jack a foolish boy, so these tools are good to use as either rewards or to calm nerves before big tests, while still studying for said test.

3. The introduction of certain  technologies, such as ipods, smart phones, digital recorders, so on so forth, as technologies for teaching and learning, introduces a paradigm shift to the thought process of the student, liberating them and illuminating them to the fact that everything around them can be used as a device for learning, along with their initial uses. In example, the phone can give connectivity between two parts of the world, billions of miles away from each other, or it can even give extra connectivity between student and teacher, allowing students to ask questions and hopefully understand their homework if things aren't connecting synapses in their heads. The student can even have multiple screens open at the same time, one on their phone and one on the computer, which can help with comparing and contrasting information, or writing as you think about something you're either listening to or reading. Students could be doing all of this, while listening to their favorite music on their own ipods, or generally agreeable music over speakers connected to the teacher's ipod, like Disney musicals. This would possibly open up the door for students who don't do well in classes, because they're musically minded individuals who can't focus without music.