Digital Blog Post #D

     This chapter gave me an opportunity to look at technology in a different sense. I have known that the internet has extensive advantages that students and teachers can access, but to learn different ways to use these advantages and the statistics behind student participation was a mind blowing experience. Technology today is a different language in and of itself. To be able to use and understand technology, one must know the different rules and phrases to be able to correctly utilize the internet and become fluent in its domains. But in order for students to learn and become comfortable with the language of technology, they must be taught. If the teacher isn't up to date on these concepts, the student will miss out on an incredibly important lesson of utilizing the internet to benefit them and their education.

     When I was a student in high school, cell phones were a constant battle between teachers and students. If ever caught with a cell phones, they were either taken away and held until the students parent could come pick it up, or the student was assigned in school suspension for a day. There is something about the identity students have with their cell phones that draws them to constantly accessing and utilizing them. Once I was in college, we as students were allowed a little more freedom with our cell phones. One teacher let us use them during a math test proving the different tools available to us via internet. But the struggle between teachers and cell phones rages on. But what if this didn't have to be a struggle any longer? I think the main problem teachers have with cell phones is the withdrawal of student attention. They are focused on their phones instead of the lesson. But there has been studies proving that when technology is utilized within the lesson, students prove to have higher levels of engagement and academic performance (Transforming Learning with New Technologies) According to our text book, 40% OF 1,200 e-reader buyers were spending more time reading now than they had before with print books. (Transforming Learning with New Technologies) If children are more captivated by using e-books are apposed to paper prints, I don't think there is a reason why we shouldn't allow them to utilize that resource. For years we have struggled with trying to get our children to be more enamored and excited about reading. We want them to WANT to participate in reading for fun. With new e-books available, we are enabling reading to be fun and intriguing for children. Another argument would be that when children get into the older grade levels such as high school and college, they are excited to know and understand the general basics of using technology as a learning resource. How to search for information and using that information to write an informative paper is a major assignment in almost every high school and college level class. If we could teach our children how to not only search for information, but how to do it in a more quick and effective manner, I think it will significantly help them in succeeding through out their academic careers.



     According to Wikipedia, language fluency is the degree to which one is fluent in a language. (Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia) This being said I think it is important to consider technology and the internet to have a language all of their own. In order to understand the concepts of the internet, you must understand its language. How to search, upload and post are all processes that add up to make a technological language. These processes are like sentences in a paragraph if you will. It is important for teachers to be fluent in the language of technology for they are going to be the educators to the students and to one another. The internet has its own set of rules and guidelines in order to be successful. With today's advancements, it couldn't be more easy to learn and adapt to the new learning concepts. But there are still many who look at a computer with a touch of distaste. They like the old fashioned pencil and paper. They don't think it necessary to learn this new day in age way of learning, through technology. But the truth of it is, this is the way the world is moving. In the direction of technology, simplicity and electronics. It is important for our students to be well attuned with these tools because it is their entire future. All through school, their careers and even their personal lives, everything is going to be connected through the internet and technology. I think it is important to give the children of today the opportunity to get a head start on their future and be equipped with the tools to succeed in tomorrow. According to our textbook, "Students develop fluency not by doing exercises in books, worksheets, or multiple choice tests, but by performing important-to-the-learner, technology based activities in real world settings, in which their actions and choices have meaningful consequences." (Transforming Learning With New Technologies) What better way to teach them the language of technology, then to interact them with it?
Observation Hours on PhotoPeach    
The internet provides hundreds of apps and websites that make students and teachers lives more simple and organized. Microsoft offers a variety of options that allow students to create and organize their own set of notes, guidelines, schedules and much more. Teachers can utilize the same tools to create rubrics, curriculum, timelines and itineraries. What is better than the convenience of these tools is that they are absolutely free. There is no need to go to the store and spend money on planners and agendas, notebooks and loose leaf paper. While those things will still be necessary, the total amount needed will be significantly reduced.   These pros are all fantastic, if utilized.This was an amazing concept to me. For years I wrote hundreds of thousands of words on paper and in notebooks, taking down notes, word after word, to help me study and understand the chapter being reviewed. To think that students never have to have another miserable hand cramp from pressing down on your pencil too hard for too long! And while some of these new concepts were around and being developed when I was in high school, I never learned or even heard about all the different options it provided for studying. I think it so amazing that students can help themselves to the endless amount of options provided to them through something they can't seem to get enough of...technology.
     This week was a great read. I enjoyed learning some new things like the different note taking options and the concepts of technology being it's own "language". I couldn't agree more with the text that teachers need to be equipped with the knowledge of these new up to date technology based learning strategies and I think this chapter had a lot of great points about the benefits it would behold for children in the future.


References:

 Fluency. (2015, September 7). Retrieved September 24, 2015.

Maloy, R. (2011). Teaching Information Literacy and Digital Citizenship. In Transforming learning with new technologies. Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.