I am convinced that bound books will soon be as prevalent in literature as compact discs are in music. It's true, you can still buy CDs, but music has become highly digital. I'm curious how many people reading this blogs still use CDs frequently. Maybe there are more people than I would guess. With the amazing storage capacity of MP3 players and iPods, CDs only seems to serve the purpose of being ripped into digital form.
It seems that ebooks are moving books more and more into obscurity. I still love traditional books, but as the technology improves and becomes very affordable I find ebooks to have many attractive advantages. Prices are cheaper, purchasing is immediate and can be done anywhere, notes and highlights can be stored, words can be instantly defined, video and other multimedia can be integrated into them and all of my books can be kept in one place. In fact, it is the same place where I keep all my music, have my todo list, store my passwords, do my banking, study the Bible, play games, listen to podcasts, and budget my money.
In terms of education, textbooks are beginning to appear in electronic format from major publishers. Textbooks are very expensive and need to be constantly updated. When textbooks become digital schools can purchase them at a lower cost and pay for the updates without having to through out the old textbooks. In addition, these textbooks have the possibility of being interactive and attractive to the students.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Everyday Technology
With the rise of so many new and exciting types of technology it is easy to overlook some of the technology that has become such a part of everyday life. Often we only understand its value when it is no longer available or temporarily out-of-order. As someone who lives in a foreign country our family is constantly using our laptop computer and internet connection to connect with friends and family in the states. Facebook, blogging, and skype make being so far away from our loved ones a little more bearable. It also gives our parents the opportunity to see their grandchildren on a regular basis. When our internet connection goes out, our hard drive crashes or windows updates freeze our computer we realize how much we have come to depend on this technology.
I also use an iPod throughout the day for many different things. I use podcasts in both my personal and professional life for opporunities to grow. I also use many apps to help me manage my time. I have found it is this type of technology that actually might be more demanding in my life than it is worth in terms of benefits. I have tried a few goal setting and time management apps and have found that it is sometimes more work to keep updating the apps than to actually do the activity without writing it down. Figuring out how to use the app effectively can be difficult and time consuming for me as I can get obsessive about entering data. This is similar with financial planning programs and apps. Organizing and entering the data can be tedious and frustration so I have gone back to simple paper and pencil budgeting forms.
I also use an iPod throughout the day for many different things. I use podcasts in both my personal and professional life for opporunities to grow. I also use many apps to help me manage my time. I have found it is this type of technology that actually might be more demanding in my life than it is worth in terms of benefits. I have tried a few goal setting and time management apps and have found that it is sometimes more work to keep updating the apps than to actually do the activity without writing it down. Figuring out how to use the app effectively can be difficult and time consuming for me as I can get obsessive about entering data. This is similar with financial planning programs and apps. Organizing and entering the data can be tedious and frustration so I have gone back to simple paper and pencil budgeting forms.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Social Networking in Education
When social networking is mentioned during a faculty meeting there is usually a firestorm of comments that follow ranging from a complete dismissal of social networking sites to creating Facebook events for every minor activity. The rapid rise in use and popularity of blogging and social network sites has demanded that schools determine what stance to take with this technology. Schools also must decide if and how social networking can be used in the classroom.
The best part of social networking is that students can get information from a variety of sources and people that would be impossible without the internet. By setting up a blog on a particular topic, students have given those with the same interest in that topic the opportunity to contribute to what the students are doing. Classes can set up pages on sites like www.delicious.com and share information with each other at no cost. Sites like Facebook and twitter give students the change to directly contact primary sources and interact with people the would have otherwise never had a change to contact.
There does seem to be a lot of fear and controversy surrounding social networking sites. Many teachers have lost their jobs over things they have posted on their personal pages. The public nature of social networking makes protecting privacy and using sound judgment of utmost importance. Students use these sites as a way of life to share life, plan events and even discuss academics. These sites are a great place to share multimedia, such as google or youtube videos.
While I believe there are many possibilities to use social networking in an academic sense, as I discussed above, I find it difficult to do this in an authentic way. I feel that the best use of social networking is to maintain relationships with friends and family.
The best part of social networking is that students can get information from a variety of sources and people that would be impossible without the internet. By setting up a blog on a particular topic, students have given those with the same interest in that topic the opportunity to contribute to what the students are doing. Classes can set up pages on sites like www.delicious.com and share information with each other at no cost. Sites like Facebook and twitter give students the change to directly contact primary sources and interact with people the would have otherwise never had a change to contact.
There does seem to be a lot of fear and controversy surrounding social networking sites. Many teachers have lost their jobs over things they have posted on their personal pages. The public nature of social networking makes protecting privacy and using sound judgment of utmost importance. Students use these sites as a way of life to share life, plan events and even discuss academics. These sites are a great place to share multimedia, such as google or youtube videos.
While I believe there are many possibilities to use social networking in an academic sense, as I discussed above, I find it difficult to do this in an authentic way. I feel that the best use of social networking is to maintain relationships with friends and family.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Synchronous and Asynchronous Communication
We work in a fast-paced world where time is at a premium. The ability to communicate effectively, quickly and conveniently in these conditions is important.
The internet offers so many different ways to communicate. My preference is asynchronous communication that allows me to access and respond to information at a convenient time. Most of what I do in my job and in my education classes is done through email, discussion boards, forums, activity exchanges, podcasts and even Facebook. The beauty of these forms of communication is that they can deliver messages quickly but I do not have to rearrange my schedule in order to receive the message. I can access what I need when I need it. Asynchronous communication also allows me time to contemplate or react to the communication before I respond. It is also beneficial for me, as an international student, to have communication that is not dependant on time zones.
Synchronous communication, such as chat rooms, skype calls, conference calls, or online technicians allow communication to happen immediately. This works well when only dealing with a few people, but whenever there are many people that are trying to coordinate a time to meet in an online environment, it can be very difficult. It is amazing the type of technology that is available. I have been in schools that have interacted with other classrooms in real time through web cams. I have also seen technology where companies can have meetings online that look as though the person you are talking to is sitting across the table from you. This technology allows people to meet instantly while removing the barriers of time and distance. Synchronous communication is also outstanding when you desire an immediate answer or immediate assistance. When my HP laptop was having trouble it was wonderful to speak to a computer technician and have her control my computer remotely from her location halfway around the world.
After writing this blog, it is amazing to think of all the different types of communication I use everyday for my personal life, for my job and for my education, that are made possible by technology.
The internet offers so many different ways to communicate. My preference is asynchronous communication that allows me to access and respond to information at a convenient time. Most of what I do in my job and in my education classes is done through email, discussion boards, forums, activity exchanges, podcasts and even Facebook. The beauty of these forms of communication is that they can deliver messages quickly but I do not have to rearrange my schedule in order to receive the message. I can access what I need when I need it. Asynchronous communication also allows me time to contemplate or react to the communication before I respond. It is also beneficial for me, as an international student, to have communication that is not dependant on time zones.
Synchronous communication, such as chat rooms, skype calls, conference calls, or online technicians allow communication to happen immediately. This works well when only dealing with a few people, but whenever there are many people that are trying to coordinate a time to meet in an online environment, it can be very difficult. It is amazing the type of technology that is available. I have been in schools that have interacted with other classrooms in real time through web cams. I have also seen technology where companies can have meetings online that look as though the person you are talking to is sitting across the table from you. This technology allows people to meet instantly while removing the barriers of time and distance. Synchronous communication is also outstanding when you desire an immediate answer or immediate assistance. When my HP laptop was having trouble it was wonderful to speak to a computer technician and have her control my computer remotely from her location halfway around the world.
After writing this blog, it is amazing to think of all the different types of communication I use everyday for my personal life, for my job and for my education, that are made possible by technology.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Web-based Resources
The internet is full of resources for teachers and for day-to-day life in general. For the past three days our internet has been down at school and it is amazing how many things I have not been able to do due to this issue. I am constantly looking up things through search engines like google or even wikipedia as a starting point. This is one of the greatest things about the internet - the speed with which I can find information on a wide variety of topics.
I have found www.education.ti.com to be a wonderful source for math and science teachers. Here teachers can share lesson plans that relate to Texas Instruments technology. Another place where math teachers share great ideas is at www.illuminations.nctm.org. These lessons are searchable by topic or grade level and are often very creative and interesting. A web site with animations called gizmos that bring clarity to difficult topics is www.explorelearning.com. I use this frequently when teaching any type of graphing, conics or trigonometry. Liberty University's online integrated learning resouce center for students allows me to access thousands of journal articles quickly, easily and anywhere there is an internet connection. It is truly amazing the wealth of information that I have access to.
One of my absolute favorite web-based resource is www.worldmathsday.com. This site declares the first Wednesday in March as world maths day. Students, teachers and parents from around the world can log in and try to do as many arithmetic problems as possible and try to break the world record each year. The format where this is done is truly enjoyable. Students play games against other students from all around the world while doing math problems. There are levels for students from the earliest grades all the way up to high school. We started doing this four years ago and my students look forward to it every year. If you are teaching in a school, I highly recommend that the math classes take this day each year and participate. You have to have enough school computers for each student. It is a wonderful way to celebrate math and to help improve students' knowledge of math facts.
As an American living in Europe, the internet is a huge part of my life. I communicate with family and friends through Skype. We use email services, such as mail chimp, to write our support team. We update supporters through blogs and keep in touch through Facebook. We also stream all of our TV through the internet and subscribe to sports sites such as ESPN so we can get our some of our favorite American sports games. We rely heavily on ebay and Amazon to get cheap resources for teaching or things that we need personally. With web-based phone service through Vonage we can call anywhere in the United States for one low monthly rate. It truly is incredible how much the internet has changed our lives and what missions looks like now.
I have found www.education.ti.com to be a wonderful source for math and science teachers. Here teachers can share lesson plans that relate to Texas Instruments technology. Another place where math teachers share great ideas is at www.illuminations.nctm.org. These lessons are searchable by topic or grade level and are often very creative and interesting. A web site with animations called gizmos that bring clarity to difficult topics is www.explorelearning.com. I use this frequently when teaching any type of graphing, conics or trigonometry. Liberty University's online integrated learning resouce center for students allows me to access thousands of journal articles quickly, easily and anywhere there is an internet connection. It is truly amazing the wealth of information that I have access to.
One of my absolute favorite web-based resource is www.worldmathsday.com. This site declares the first Wednesday in March as world maths day. Students, teachers and parents from around the world can log in and try to do as many arithmetic problems as possible and try to break the world record each year. The format where this is done is truly enjoyable. Students play games against other students from all around the world while doing math problems. There are levels for students from the earliest grades all the way up to high school. We started doing this four years ago and my students look forward to it every year. If you are teaching in a school, I highly recommend that the math classes take this day each year and participate. You have to have enough school computers for each student. It is a wonderful way to celebrate math and to help improve students' knowledge of math facts.
As an American living in Europe, the internet is a huge part of my life. I communicate with family and friends through Skype. We use email services, such as mail chimp, to write our support team. We update supporters through blogs and keep in touch through Facebook. We also stream all of our TV through the internet and subscribe to sports sites such as ESPN so we can get our some of our favorite American sports games. We rely heavily on ebay and Amazon to get cheap resources for teaching or things that we need personally. With web-based phone service through Vonage we can call anywhere in the United States for one low monthly rate. It truly is incredible how much the internet has changed our lives and what missions looks like now.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Presentations that Promote Learning
Thorsen (2009) provides a list of 23 rules that students can follow when creating a presentation. These are intended to give basic guidelines so that the presentation enhances the topic and does not distract from it. As I read through these guidelines I thought about which ones I can relate to as a learner, which ones I violate as a teacher and which rules I have seen most frequently violated as a learner.
Mayer (as cited in Thorsen, 2009) lists seven design principles. The modality principle states that students learn best from animation and then narration and not animation that is followed by on-screen text. Many presentations given at seminars or by students are loaded with text that I could read for myself. I have found that I learn best when the presenter expounds upon what is on the presentation screen and says things that are not present on the slide. I find that I tend to zone out when there is too much information on the screen because I assume the presenter is going to read it all to me.
Related to this is Thorsen's (2009) seventh rule about using graphics and menus to make the presentation interactive and not only text based. Many PowerPoint presentations contain only text. I often wonder why these are PowerPoints as a simple pdf document would accomplish the same goal. The slides contain very little use of color, animations, diagrams, illustrations or other multimedia.
On of my favorite rules to violate when I am making a presentation is rule 16, which refers to flashing words. I agree with the author that this is probably the least effective way to highlight information, but these animations are too difficult to resist. I will renew my attempts to resist them. I do like the idea of using color and location better.
As a learner, the best presentations as the ones where there is variety (not only text but illustrations, graphic organizers, video clips, etc.) and where the presentation does not distract from the concept. There is a fine line between a boring presentation and a distracting one and the best presentations have a healthy balance.
Thorsen, C. (2009). Tech tactics: Technology for teachers. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Mayer (as cited in Thorsen, 2009) lists seven design principles. The modality principle states that students learn best from animation and then narration and not animation that is followed by on-screen text. Many presentations given at seminars or by students are loaded with text that I could read for myself. I have found that I learn best when the presenter expounds upon what is on the presentation screen and says things that are not present on the slide. I find that I tend to zone out when there is too much information on the screen because I assume the presenter is going to read it all to me.
Related to this is Thorsen's (2009) seventh rule about using graphics and menus to make the presentation interactive and not only text based. Many PowerPoint presentations contain only text. I often wonder why these are PowerPoints as a simple pdf document would accomplish the same goal. The slides contain very little use of color, animations, diagrams, illustrations or other multimedia.
On of my favorite rules to violate when I am making a presentation is rule 16, which refers to flashing words. I agree with the author that this is probably the least effective way to highlight information, but these animations are too difficult to resist. I will renew my attempts to resist them. I do like the idea of using color and location better.
As a learner, the best presentations as the ones where there is variety (not only text but illustrations, graphic organizers, video clips, etc.) and where the presentation does not distract from the concept. There is a fine line between a boring presentation and a distracting one and the best presentations have a healthy balance.
Thorsen, C. (2009). Tech tactics: Technology for teachers. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Online Communities
I, too, use one of the most popular online community in Facebook. Typically, I use this to keep up with family in the United States and to interact with those in the school community where I work. School events, sport team communities, homework questions, and current events are all posted and discussed on Facebook. It is probably the most efficient way to communicate with students as they are constantly checking their Facebook page.
In addition to Facebook, my wife keeps a blog about our experiences in Hungary. Through this blog and others she has established relationship and connection with people from all over the world. It is amazing to meet people who are interested in missions, Hungary or both.
As a math teacher I use the resources provided by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). NCTM has a user forum and a place to share favorite lesson plans. Texas Instruments also has a resource page where teachers can post lessons that integrate the TI-83, TI-84 or TI-Nspire graphing calculators. Here educators can communicate with one another and share ideas to use in the classroom.
Email, although not as trendy as other forms of communication, is still an efficient way to communicate with others online. This is a key way we communicate with colleagues, parents, supporters, family and friends.
In addition to Facebook, my wife keeps a blog about our experiences in Hungary. Through this blog and others she has established relationship and connection with people from all over the world. It is amazing to meet people who are interested in missions, Hungary or both.
As a math teacher I use the resources provided by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). NCTM has a user forum and a place to share favorite lesson plans. Texas Instruments also has a resource page where teachers can post lessons that integrate the TI-83, TI-84 or TI-Nspire graphing calculators. Here educators can communicate with one another and share ideas to use in the classroom.
Email, although not as trendy as other forms of communication, is still an efficient way to communicate with others online. This is a key way we communicate with colleagues, parents, supporters, family and friends.
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