Article #5 - Challenge Based Learning

After reading the article, I feel that it could be really beneficial for students in the classroom. I like the idea of challenge based learning in general. I feel that it allows students to creatively come up with ideas or issues that they feel passionately about and want to put action behind.

As a student myself, I have come across many issues that I feel should be addressed and aren't. Doing this project associated with the IT class for challenge based learning, I feel that I will be able to interact and pose an issue that I feel deeply about. In the classroom, students will be able to come together and create ways to show how passionate they feel about their issues. I feel that allowing students to take part in challenge based learning allows them to work on so many skills at once. It could involve anything from communication to the outside world to developing social skills by working in groups. Challenge based activities also allow for students to increase their technological skills in addition to reading and writing.

Overall, I think that the idea of challenge based learning is great, and I think that all students should be able to experience challenge based learning at least once in their academic careers!

Article 4 - Literacy Learning

Reading the article was very interesting, but learning about all the apps that are available to people is what peaked my interest. Nowadays there is probably an app for anything that you can think of pertaining to learning about reading and writing. I really appreciated the apps that were available for early literacy because it could help give younger kids an academic boost before beginning school. Back when we were younger, I can remember a very small amount of educational television and learning materials (hooked on phonics, leap pad....) that assisted with literacy. As a teacher I feel that it's our job to expose these great resources to families of our students and allow them to explore the "app world" of learning; especially since 1:1 time with students is one of the biggest problems in the classroom nowadays. The major benefit to having these apps is that they are easily accessible, and can be used in both the general population AND to assist those with special needs. Within the Special Education field alone, technology has allowed many students not to stick out in the classroom. If I were to have special needs, I would definitely feel better being in the general ed classroom with an ipad containing apps to assist with my learning, compared to some of the huge low-tech items that students may have to use in the classroom. Just like with anything else, there are always pros and cons to the use of technology. You don't want your student(s) to become fully dependent on the apps and technology to the point that it becomes more of a crutch than an aid. But I really like the idea of using the ipads in the classroom. And I can see the use of learning apps in the classroom as being beneficial to the entire classroom as well.

Keeping Students Safe Online: What Works

I could agree with just about everything that the article discussed. The internet, cellphones, and social networks have dramatically changed the way that schools have to set up their guidelines and rules when it comes to technology. One of the biggest things that I took from this article is the approach that teachers must take in order to ensure that their students are appropriately using the internet. I have seen teachers that allow students to have time to research information on the internet for papers and projects; and then just let's the students go. 9 times out of 10, the students end up searching for things not related to their paper/project, and end up wasting the time anyways. Just as important as it is to structure your classroom, it's important to structure your assignments as a teacher. Create a list of resources that you want the students to use to search for information and constantly monitor students while they're working. 

As a teacher I feel that there are certain things that are unavoidable when it comes to technology though. I can't control the things my students see and text on their phones, and I can't control the social interactions that they may make on their facebook, twitter, tumblr, etc. But as a teacher, I CAN teach students the potential dangers that they may face via the internet and their cellular devices. As a student, I feel like I have appreciated hearing the stories and the personal conversations that teachers have given about the dangers of the internet more than hearing a speaker just telling me that cyberbullying is bad. Everyone thinks "oh that'll never happen to me.", but in all actuality it happens to more people around us than we know. 

All in all, I feel like the media has done a great job at exposing the dangers of the internet and use of cellular devices....so as teachers it's our duty just to protect our students to the best of our ability.

Article #2 - Transliteracy

I found it fascinating to read about the new concept of "transliteracy" and just how much it has changed our society as a whole. Over the years, modes of reading, writing, and communication have changed so much...even within the classroom.

One of the biggest things that stood out to me was the fact that they said that we live in a nation that is considered "ninety-nine percent literate". The part that I'm hung up on is if our literacy statistic is so high.....why are our children's literacy rates not matching this high percentage in schools? It seems as time passes, and we become more and more apt to technology, students are having more struggles with reading. And it's not to say that the integration of multiple platforms in the classroom is bad, but sometimes I feel that we need to stick to the basics. Kids in Kindergarten are using Ipads instead of whiteboards or paper to write their names....but what's going to happen when they have to sign they're signature on an important document? As much as I love technology and the notion of transliteracy, I feel that it may do more harm than help inside the classroom.

Article 1 - I Can't Think

Reading this article alone, I felt that I was being mentally overloaded with information. Although it was very informational, the article seemed to be doing exactly what all of the modern day sites do....overload people with information.

I do agree that nowadays, many social networks and websites allow people to get ahold of TOO much information. I have seen people do some serious detective work just by researching someone on Facebook alone. Although technology is a beautiful thing, I have always felt that there is a double standard. Technology can assist with research and information, but it can also expose you to information that you didn't want to potentially know about your neighbor next door.

In the article it states that "the booming science of decision making has shown that more information can lead to objectively  poorer choices, and to choices that people come to regret". I couldn't agree more with this statement. Sometimes we let technology get the best of us to where we get to a point that we don't think that we can make a decision without googling it first. Sometimes I feel that I should just lock my smartphone, laptop, and ipod away for a day and see just how it would be to function without it.