I will be addressing a few things, how I feel about using technology in the classroom where outside access is a problem, will I leave out the kids who don’t have access because I want to teach technology, and lastly how will I increase access for students who are at a disadvantage. Thanks for reading and leave comments.

I think using technology in schools are a main factor in educating our youth. Students need to have computers and be using technology. If they don’t then they are at disadvantage for college and the work place. In the first article “Social Justice - Choice or Necessity” a key segment is when the author says, “Even if an incoming freshmen is highly gifted, if he or she is not extremely familiar with using technology in the learning environment, that student is at a decided disadvantage the second he or she steps onto the university or college campus”.

I feel as though technology is crucial for success. The direct question is how do you feel about using technology in a classroom where outside access is a problem? I feel the answer is that students need to be made aware of cheap computers, free software, and community centers where computer use is free. I think the last part, libraries and community centers are where we can give technology to students who don’t have access in the outside. We need to fix outside access into a non-existent problem. We need to offer students access in different ways. I think we can accomplish this in the future. A library can give you, resources so that’s a great place to start, “Once you’ve gained access to technology, you need resources for using it effectively”.

I think we as teachers will be doing a great disservice if we don’t use technology just because a few people don’t have it. My heart would tell me otherwise. Meaning that it’s not fair to the students whose families don’t have enough money to support a computer and internet access. My educator part of me tells me that we have to use technology or are students will get behind in the mainstream education. When students get to college they need to have a background in computers. If a few students can’t manage to get access then we have to move on. I’m all for no child left behind, but we have to let the students who have access soar. I think we shouldn’t grade students on technology, but we should still teach it and the students who don’t have access can always go to the library and get help.

In the article, “Who Are Today’s Learners” the author presents the question, “As technology continues to evolve and we increasingly live, learn, and work within a ubiquitous participatory Web, what effect is this having our students from their perspective?” The answer is learning. Students are learning about the web and developing educationally through it. I think learning in today’s age encapsulates technology. I think we should engage students, in the second article students want, “Engage Us! First, students felt technology was an integral part of their lives. They ranked using computers and doing Internet research as the school activities they liked best, and doing worksheets as activities they liked least…” This is proof that students want to work with computers. We will find access for students who don’t have it through a couple of ways. Get cheaper older computers, buy cheap or free software, and lastly get students to go to libraries and community centers. I think the key is libraries; students need to use that free resource and use it well. In closing we will find access for students, it might just take a little creativity and logistics.

Power Point Presentation Blog Post

I really liked Kristin’s presentation. Her topic was good for what she wants to do. She messed up with her second slide, there was a mistake but it was ok. I think technology can be very difficult when it doesn’t work. When it does work, then it’s like a smooth ride. I liked how she did her bullets about the advertising lesson. She was very effective at using her slides as a visual. Her power point was a little too wordy for my taste. I like more pictures, sound clips, and videos. Kristin’s graph was very good for her classifications of advertising. I think it breaks down the information and makes it easier to process. Andrew’s presentation was very good; he had lots of images, and not too many words. I really liked how he put it all together. All his images were spot on for what he was talking about. I think he did a great job! I really enjoyed Andy’s mnemonic. Acto-r, is a very good way to teach acting to students, I think it will catch on. I liked his robot part of his presentation. Ian’s geometry lesson was very picture oriented, which is great, because the power point is a very visual method to teach. Alison’s presentation about sex was interesting, I didn’t realize plants had so much action going on. Paul’s bird lesson was great for preparing for a trip. A great presentation with lots of cool graphics. Amy’s ideas were very good for her power point presentation. Trevor’s was very good, his video really was memorable.

One of the least engaging things I saw was Kennedy getting assassinated. I think that is too much to show to high school students. However, that’s an ethics question and the administration would make the call. Another thing that I didn’t like was when one presenter decided to cover to much information. I think the power points should be short and sweet. An improvement would be to present less information (quantity) and present specific information (quality). One presenter said, “I’m retarded”. I feel as though that’s not a very good model for students. I think that’s not a great way to engage them into the lesson by putting down yourself. Some presenters used graphics wasn’t really important to their lesson. I think when teachers do a power point everything they put on it should be relevant. I feel as though everybody could improve on engaging the class more, sure it’s a lecture, but if there was more questions that engaged the audience it would make the presentations a whole lot better. A few minor spelling errors or typos were in some presentations which should and need to be fixed.

For my next power point I might try and use more animation to captivate my audience. Animation makes the presentation fun and enjoyable. I think my power point presentation could have used a lot more of fun. Of course the Civil War is a bit dreary and dry. Animation can really make your presentation come alive. I would also like to add more videos. I think the video I used was effective for what I was talking about, but more videos would help not hinder. I wouldn’t change anything when it came to sound. My sound that I used was very humorous and aligned with what I was talking about. The last thing I would change when doing another presentation would to have more pictures. I think I could have put in more pictures, but that’s a minor adjustment.

I really liked using power point I thought it was a very great way to give a presentation. You can cover a lot of information and also stimulate your visual and auditory learners. I think that there are by far more pros than cons to it. One pro is that you can incorporate videos, sound waves, and animation to make a presentation very effective. Another pro is trying to get students attention. Using a power point get students to stay focused. If you have student who is ADD then he will be more inclined to pay attention if you have visual stimulation. I think it’s a great way to compliment a lecture mostly. The only con I would mention is that it can be a distraction if there is too much going on. Another con is if your teaching to much from the power point then the audience remembers the power point and not what ideas were presented.

In conclusion, everybody did a very great job presenting. I think it was a very great project and would be happy to do more presentations in technology class. One of the most important aspects for future teachers is to be speaking in front of our peers and have an audience. I think that we should all get A’s!