Week 15 Observation

I think the tools mentioned in this week's lecture are pretty cool. The options students today have to help them learn are amazing and wide open for the future. I can't imagine where
we will be in ten years.
It seems to me that this is a natural progression for teaching techniques. With all the video games and technology available to children now, Educational technology is going to be the
only way to compete and keep the students' involved and interested.
These advances are also great for the educators. The rubrics and clicker assessment tools are great for the teachers; they help ease their work load of making lesson plans and grading, allowing more time to be engaged with the students in discussion and exploration of lessons. To have these lesson plans available and have them tied into TEKS and standards is awesome. It frees up the teachers to spend more time teaching.

E-portfolio link

https://sites.google.com/site/eportfolio424/

Glogster link

http://www.glogster.com/barbosol/matt-y-barbo/g-6luq2g400litobie9qt9ha0?old_view=True

Interactive PPT

Week 13

Week 13 Assignment: Technology Applications Standards-


I did not realize there were Technology Apps for beginning teachers. By looking through these Standards, it sounds almost as if a teacher needs to get a degree in Technology Applications before getting their Teaching Certification. In the case of many established teachers, if they have not been continually updating their training, they are falling way behind on the technology bandwagon. Even newer teachers will likely be behind many of their students in technology skills.
For grade levels, there were also some surprises:
K-2: Font attributes proofing/correcting text- I find it hard to believe that a lot of students in this age group are capable of doing this, especially the proofing and correcting. A large percentage of the students I see in this age group are still struggling to learn to read, much less correct typos.
3-5: Same as stated above regarding proofing and correcting. Also I see it would be a struggle for my students in this age group to handle Word, Excel, etc. as stated in their apps.
6-8: Surprises for this group were-determine and employ technology specs. And to evaluate projects, track trends, review and evaluate productivity. Really?
9-12: These standards dumbfounded me-design algorithms, effective coding and design of test data, create libraries of generic modular code. I don’t even know what this is talking about!
3. 130.278-Digital and Interactive Media
(b) Introduction. Through the study of digital and interactive media and its application in information technology, students will analyze and assess current and emerging technologies, while designing and creating multimedia projects that address customer needs and resolve a problem.
(c) Knowledge and Skills.
(2)(d) Create a portfolio.
(3) The student uses emerging technologies to exchange and gather information and resources. The student is expected to:
(a) collaborate using various electronic technologies such as email, blogs, chat rooms, discussion threads and wikis.
(b) use internet resources for research purposes
(c) research technologies that have surfaced within the last three years in the area of interactive media.
(6) The student designs and creates existing digital graphics. The student is expected to:
(a) compare and contrast the characteristics of raster-based bitmap graphics and vector-based graphics.
(b) demonstrate appropriate file storage and file management skills.
(c) recognize the various file extensions used in digital and interactive media such as compression, conversion, and use and modification.

Week 12

I read the article on the Technology Treadmill.I can relate. I’ve worked in the computer lab at school, and they do have to do minor maintenance. We do have to replace a few units each year.
It is frustrating to try to keep them all up to date. Like everything else, computers are now made to be disposable. Nothing really rates repair anymore. It is cheaper to just replace it.I can see the long-term financial benefit to the method used in this article. There would be added savings in man hours used for repairs and maintenance as well. Another benefit is not having to keep up with the ages of units, who is being updated, who will be next year, etc.I'm not sure I completely understand how their system works for the individual use, but it soundsvery promising.
To read the complete article, visit:http://thejournal.com/Articles/2010/11/04/Jumping-Off-the-Technology-Treadmill.aspx?Page=1http://thejournal.com/Articles/2010/11/04/Jumping-Off-the-Technology-Treadmill.aspx?Page=1

Matthew Y’Barbo
mybarbo@leo.tamu-commerce.edu
ETEC 424



ABSTRACT NUMBER 1


CITATION:
Nagel, David (2008). Are Schools Reinforcing Technology Use Among Students?, www.thejournal.com, October 28, 2008. Retrieved October 10, 2008.

SUMMARY:
This article addresses whether schools are adopting technology and encouraging its use among students for educational purposes. The study was commissioned by Cable in the Classroom, and educational foundation for the cable industry, which provides resources to teachers for 21st century skills and technology issues.

The study polled 1,436 K-12 teachers and librarian/media specialists, finding that 77% of them reported assigning homework with an Internet component.
It also showed that, at all levels, students are being engaged with digital media production. This study shows that teachers are employing technology tools into the mainstream classroom, and reinforcing positive use of technology outside of school.

PERSONAL REACTION:
In a world that is quickly becoming completely dependant on technology, students must have the opportunity to learn about and with technology tools, if they are to be successful in the future.

Educators are being forced to incorporate technology into their curriculum so that they can keep the students actively engaged in the learning process and provide the level of education students now expect. This study showed that teachers are embracing the opportunities they have to include technology in their teaching; the teachers also now have a responsibility to include it. It is the direction we are heading, like it or not. A curriculum that does not include technology opportunities will no longer be tolerated by students.

Digital production was a large focus of this article, even though it was written in 2008. At this date in late 2010, there are few students who are not familiar with some form of video-type technology. Even the youngest of students seem to know how to run a hand-sized video camera. With programs such as ‘You-tube’, blogging and ‘Facebook’, most any student can easily make a mini film with their cell phone, upload it and post to the internet.

I feel that technology is now as important and necessary a part of education as the old “Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic” and will continue to grow as the method to teach those subjects

Apps for students with disabilities

11-20-11 Dallas Morning News