OLPC - my assessment of my project

I realize that many of you may have stopped reading blogs in light of the semester coming to an end, but I wanted to post about my project nonetheless. First, I must say that in the end it was much easier than I thought it would be. I tend to complicate things unnecessarily, and in my head, manuevering my way through powerpoint seemed to be much more of a task than it actually was. But I am so grateful that I decided to do it. Actually, I am very pleased with most of my project - the idea, the research, the entire process and the outcome. Of course, I felt a bit silly that I did not have anything directly classroom related, such as some of those wonderfully done webquests, BUT I knew that I would benefit tremendously from my project and that learning a new application (though I should have probably been more familiar with it already) was precisely what I needed to immerse myself in.

I was pleased to see/hear so many of my classmates being so interested in my topic, because the content is obviously what drew me to it. I have to give Alex credit, because he was the one who mentioned this topic to me one day in Karen's office when I was desperate for some assistance in nailing down a project idea. Since the One Laptop Per Child initiative is still very much a work in progress, I intend on following up with it and watching as the progress develops. As far as something more I would like to learn -- I realize there are endless extras involved in creating an interesting and engaging powerpoint presentation. Now that I am comfortable with the basics, I will probably experiment with some of the additional features, especially sound. If I were to add to this project I would also include more photos and if there were more time allotted (not that I am at all complaining), I would have included discussion questions to involve the audience. It also would have been interesting to focus more on the laptop initiatives that have taken place here in the states. Overall, though, I am pleased with the outcome of my research and I enjoyed the entire process since the topic was so appealing to me.

wrap up

I want to take this opportunity to commend everyone whose projects I witnessed the unveiling of in the Mac lab. They were all superb. While I may end up being ambitious enough to post individually on all of your blogs, just in case I wanted to make sure I got it out on cyberspace somehow! Each one was motivating and enlightening in a different way. I am incredibly impressed with the accomplishments we've all made throughout the course of this semester, as well as the new-found confidence many of us have established in terms of technological applications.

In addition, I also want to thank those of you who have been so encouraging and supportive in terms of everyday class issues and especially this little African venture I am hoping to plan. If it were not for this class I would certainly never think to say these following words -- I am sure that when and if I get to some country over there, I will more than likely find some way to set up a website documenting my experiences. It is wonderful now to have so many resources and contacts which enable me to feel much more comfortable in using 'advanced' (to me!) technology in my future projects, both in and outside of the classroom. So thank you all for aiding in broadening my horizon!

Interesting NYTimes article

This is an interesting article pertaining to the presence and existence of a superintendent in their schools. I am curious to hear what those of you whom are already teaching have to say about your superintendent -- do you even know him/her? Do they seem to allow your principal full reigns and decision-making, or do you think that more freedom on the part of the principal would produce benefits?
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/04/nyregion/04schools.html

Throwing around free laptops: The debate over which countries should develop plans to provide their students with free laptops

This project is turning out to be much more interesting than I ever imagined it could be, due to the fact that I am able to incorporate my newest interest (the continent of Africa) with a required assignment. I plan to present the information I have gathered on the $100 laptop initiatives which have been in the works for several years, intended to reach underprivileged students in many African countries. I will also discuss the fact that some of these projects are no longer just a dream here in the U.S. and have actually come to fruition in some states. I am planning to discuss some of the reasons this has already happened, while the idea to provide for students overseas is becoming quite prolonged. In addition, I hope to examine why the laptops are of such importance, rather than some of the more basic resources which could absolutely be of use to these students and their families. I am still trying to ensure that this project can be completed and properly saved here on my iMac, so for that reason I have not yet decided if it will be presented on a PC or Mac.

my website

here is the link to my very raw website . . . . Visit My Website

update

alright, so i feel incredibly out of the loop after missing an entire week of classes (not to mention my job, and everyday life!). i was sick for what seemed like ever, and i am excited to FINALLY be blogging about some progress i have made in terms of my final project. although i fear that my direction may not be completely clear until its moment of completion, for now i must repport that my plan has deviated a bit. while i am still planning on creating a powerpoint presentation (this entails first LEARNING how to do so) on the free laptops for students initiative, throughout the course of my research (i.e. articles on this topic), i've found that this idea seemed to originate a few years ago here in the u.s. i had no idea! please excuse me if others of you knew about this, but anyway as a result of this new information i have decided that my presentation will include the proposals as well as programs that have been created both for students in underprivileged countries as well as here in the u.s. the information i've sifted through so far has been really interesting and i found myself reading articles last night at 1:30 am when i probably should have been catching up on some much needed rest! but i am encouraged to see that this topic is much more relevant (to myself and other prospective educators right here in new york state) than i'd originally thought. I had presumed that i would be looking among articles which consisted only of proposals to present students in libya, nigeria and argentina (to name a few) with their own laptops. BUT, the fact that in some areas of our country this has already happened has also given me an additional direction in my search for information -- what is the basis behind choosing the countries to deliver laptops to children? should we be focusing on providing students in THIS country with complete technological availability, before then looking to do so abroad? are laptops really what students in underdeveloped countries need? * i hope not to make myself sound biased here, because i am not certain what i think about all of this. the articles/arguments i've read are pretty intriguing. my goal, though, is to attempt to play devil's advocate in presenting this interesting technological issue.

moment of enlightenment

as i am looking over the assignments jen donegan has given to her students i am having this realization about myself, about the way i have viewed english classrooms for a long time, maybe even forever. it is popping into my head that i have heard sarah mention in class several times that one of the best things about being able to teach english is that you can choose ANYTHING. i had never thought about that, but now i am finally coming around -- how true that statement is! i feel as though i have been straddling two completely different schools of thought and i was partially unaware of this. i am coming to grips with the fact that i am apparently much more of a traditionalist than i would have pegged myself in terms of what should be taught in the english classroom. you see for me, it was my passion with everything english that hooked me as an aspiring english teacher. i love the language, the use of words -- i love to read and write and spell. and yes, i am laughing at how ridiculously geeky i sound right now! but anyway, i was looking over these assignments and i had this epiphany -- NO MORE RESISTANCE. i am learning so much about myself - mainly that when i oppose something in a way that is intimidating for me to think about, i sometimes deny it entirely. to make myself more clear - i did not see just how frightened i've been about entering into an english classroom and realizing that it might never be what i had thought it would be. it might not be like some of the best experiences i had, because the appearance of an english classrom is changing completely, and the possibilities for what can be integrated are otherwise endless. and the best part of all is that this is a GOOD thing! but when i am unsure about something i somehow process it in a negative way. so, integrating technology into my classroom is scary to me because i do not consider myself comfortable with technology. and finally i am seeing how great that could be -- because i could learn things right along with the students. we could teach each other things, in a collaborative way, which is absolutely something i have always hoped to have in my classroom. so when i was a long-term sub two years ago, and i didn't see as much literature and 'traditional' english assignments planned, i completely panicked. and i am glad that now it is all making so much sense to me. it is ME who needs to make the change and to formulate a plan that will somehow allow me to still include some literature (be it YA or traditional, or god willing - both), as well as technology and other practical and useful assignments that pop up. so, back to how i started this whole ranting post -- i do see how powerful and exciting it is to know that my curriculum can change and update itself over the years, and that i can include so many elements of life into my classroom, none of which needs to be decided upon now. i've always hoped that i would learn how to create assignments that could be viewed simultaneously as fun and educational, and it seems that technology can be a potential answer to that. so anyway, it may seem odd that this long-winded rant has stemmed from my reading over jen donegan's assignments, but you just never know how something so small is going to affect you . . . . . and i can only hope that someday a student may say that about my class!

self-assessment of iMovie

I must apologize for taking so long to blog recently. I honestly have not had anything interesting to write about, but the main reason is that I simply have not had the time. So, I will probably be blogging a whole lot more in the next day or two in an attempt to make up for it, now that I have the time to spend in front of my computer!
Anyway, although no one has seen my iMovie yet, I will attempt to assess it the best I can, and then following Tuesday's class feel free to comment on whether or not I am accurate in my thoughts. First, as I mentioned in a previous blog post, the topic of my movie was not what I'd originally planned. But once I thought about what I assumed to be the whole point behind this assignment (to learn how to use the applications, and to work my way successfully throughout the process of the filming and production), I realized that the content seemed less important than what I'd expected. Since I'd never used a video camera on my own before, other than perhaps a group project in 7th or 8th grade (I know, pathetic right?), I was a bit wary. I was nervous that I may have purcahsed the wrong type of mini dv or that somehow something would go wrong once I had a number of people ready and willing to participate in their first motion picture appearances. I must say that without the enthusiasm of my family members this project would not have been nearly as enjoyable.
There are so many things that I realize now I should have done differently, and I am sitting here with crossed fingers in hopes that my grade will not be affected poorly due to my inexperience and sheer ignorance. For a variety of reasons I did not think that I would end up needing a microphone. I am a bit anxious that the sound will not be clear when it comes time to view the film in class, although when I have listened to it I have not had much of a problem. I will admit that some of my anxieties are related to the fact that I'd thought my podcast was completed successfully, and then somehow none of my pictures had shown up. So now I am guilty of concocting various possibilities that could go wrong when it comes time to share it! I think now that while the idea was funny and worth running with in the beginning, there was probably too much action in my movie, given the fact that I could not follow it closely enough with the camera at times. In addition, the lighting at times could and should have been adjusted. We did actually take the time to play around with different lighting possibilities, but I don't know if we chose wisely! But again, that is something that happens to an amateur who has a very small time slot in which to film. Since I did not have a specific script in which the 'actors' had to adhere to, we discussed the adlibbing ahead of time and agreed upon a few different things. I filmed about 3-4 takes of each little scene, assuming that would be more than enough, but when it came time to edit I found that there were several things I would have liked to have had more (or different) footage on, but unfortunately there was not much I could do about that then.
If I were using an assignment such as this in a class of my own, I absolutely agree that requiring students to work together in groups would be the most beneficial for everyone involved. When it came time to staging and planning, filming and also editing - having at least one other person to work with would have been great for me. In addition, to echo others, it would make it easier from the perspective of the teacher to ensure that things run more smoothly when people are working together in groups. While the outcome of my movie is not nearly as succinct as I would have liked it to have been, I feel better that I completed it on my own for the first time and learned things independently. I realize that it is not something I would ever submit anywhere, but I have learned how to utilize a whole new application, iMovie, even if only in its simplest form. For that reason, I would call this a mild success.

calling all iMovie users

Thankfully I read Dave's message on my last post while I was still on campus Thursday and was able to find that my movie is in fact saved to the computer I had been working on last week in class! Being so low-tech and simply not thinking creatively enough all of the time, my first instinct was to panic. But, the thing is, now I have to go back to that computer to work on any editing. This means being there in the two hour window tomorrow in which there does not appear to be any classes held. Here's my problem -- I have attempted to use the iMovie lessons from iLife in the past three weeks, but neither time would open in the other computer lab in Old Main. Has anyone actually used this to make/edit their movie? Succcessfully at that? It seems as though most people were going to use some other variation of a movie maker program on their own computers. I don't have that option, but am super worried that getting it to work for the first time tomorrow is pushing it since I have no options if it doesn't work. Any advice from people who've used it, and can attest to it not being too difficult?!

disheartened

I just need to vent. I made a trip up to campus early specifically to work on my iMovie. I, like most of you, am rather unfamiliar with how to work with iMovie so I figured spending some extra time would allow me the chance to become comfortable with how to edit my footage. Well, the dvd that I burned my project onto in class on Tuesday cannot be opened on the computer. Apparently, something similar happened to Dawn as well. I cannot re-shoot any of what I did, since my camera is due back to the library today. How am I going to be able to edit it?

revamping ideas

I have struggled with my topic for my iMovie for the past week. I was between a few before finally settling on something that I think will turn out to be rather silly. My initial thought was to film my one-year-old nephew's first birthday party last week. I think this brainstorm had spun off from the text I'd been reading for our EDU class, Raising Cain. I thought that if I could take a look at the types of gender roles we assign children even at such a young age, it would make for a fairly interesting documentary of the start of little boys' roles. I was planning to focus on which types of gifts he was given and what he was expected to do with them. Well, once I went to the Cortland library last Tuesday night in hopes of taking out a camera, I was dismayed to find that I could not take one out right away. I needed to wait until I received an email verification. Seems odd to me, but oh well. Unfortunately, the birthday party was on Wednesday, and I was unable to scramble quickly enough to obtain a camera.
On to my next idea. Most of the people whom are close to me suggested that I do some sort of profile on my mother. I did consider it, but it just seemed too emotional. Then I thought that if I did a profile story on both my mother and my sister-in-law's mother (my older brother's mother-in-law) I could focus on the concept of survivors. You see, my mother suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm almost four years ago and my sister-in-law's mother has recently been battling breast cancer for the second time. They are both willing to discuss what they've been through, and various aspects of their journeys, but the more I thought about it, the idea just seemed to be too much. Perhaps too emotional, maybe I was afraid I would have a hard time with it, or that it would be difficult to watch. In hindsight, I probably could have filmed it gracefully, but some things are difficult to relive.
SO, all of this was a preface for the movie you will see in class today or next week. It is silly, and I enjoyed making it. It was more of a last resort idea, and I sure hope it is ok. I have no idea how it will turn out, but my fingers are crossed . . . .

in need of project feedback

What if I took the idea of the $100 laptop for all students in Libya and turned the research into a powerpoint presentation? What else could I do with this???? If I could turn my passion toward African issues into a substantial project for this class I would be a very happy girl!

with words we can kill; with words we can save

The title of this post is taken directlty from the words spoken by Paul Rusesabagina, the Rwandan hero I went to see at the Binghamton University Events Center Thursday evening. To my great excitement, Dr. DiCicco was willing to allow me to miss the Chaucer class in order to make it to the speech on time. For those of you whom have not yet seen the film 'Hotel Rwanda', I would say that you're missing out. Much of his speech reflected the film, which tells the story of Paul's experience as a hotel manager in Rwanda, during the time of the 1994 genocide between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes. He pointed out some of the inaccuracies of the film, although it sounded as though very few details were modified from the true account. He spoke of his experience as a father, husband and citizen who was willing to sacrifice everything he had in order to comply with the military and the rebels. He had to orchestrate a variety of negotiations in order to maintain food delivery as long as possible.

It's a provocative story in that you see the true desperation and hopelessness these people have felt for years, unable to comprehend why Americans and Europeans were so unwilling to step in and save these people from themselves. For the life of me, I cannot understand how this went on, given the fact that nearly a million people were killed in such a short time. Am I out of line to suggest that since there was no substantial gain for the U.S. (i.e. financial, oil) that there was no reason for us to get involved? Were these lives in some way not worth saving? Which brings me to my next question -- how much of this event has been incorporated into World History texts today? I remember being in ninth grade during 1996-97 and briefly hearing about this genocide via current events that were presented in class. But are high school students today being told of this? Do they learn that our country often does not help the people in this world from whom we have nothing to gain? I am sorry to be so spiteful right now, but I can't help it. I try not to get too political, especially in a forum such as this, but it is disheartening to think about all the things that could be done, and instead I read every day in the paper of the most recent victims in Iraq.

ANYWAY, at times it was difficult to understand Paul, so I noticed that I was not alone in leaning forward in an attempt to decipher his words. It was amazing to see this person who saved hundreds of people by housing them in a hotel that was rapidly losing resources standing right there on the gym floor at BU. Toward the end of his speech the floor was opened up to anyone wishing to ask questions. One woman wanted to know what we, as Americans, could do to help anyone in Africa, specifically the people in Darfur who are now living in conflict. In addition, she also wondered if people in some of these African countries even wanted us to visit. Paul's reponse was that any attempt we can make to help or visit is always greatly appreciated. (Of course, I was delighted to hear this!) Despite all that he has endured, he is not spiteful or angry. He appears to be a very pleasant man, grateful for the opportunity to share his story and to have been able to do all that he was capable of. What an inspiration!

Finally, on a side note I just want to ask if anyone happened to see Oprah last Friday, or has caught wind of the RED campaign founded by Bono (of U2) and Bobby Shriver. I haven't watched that show in years, but somehow I happened to catch a preview of it early Friday morning and knew that it was something worth taping. Basically, this campaign is designed to raise money for preventive and treatment HIV medications for people in Africa. I am not going to go on and on, but it really is worth checking out. http://redcampaign.org/ Several companies such as the gap, motorola, and apple are all involved, agreeing to donate a certain percentage of sales of their (RED) items to this organization. It's great!

guest speaker at BU

To anyone who has any interest in African affairs/issues, OR has seen the movie "Hotel Rwanda" -- the man who housed hundreds of refugees during the Hutu/Tutsi genocide in Rwanda is coming to Binghamton University to speak at 7:30 tomorrow night! check on the BU homepage for more info. I wish wish wish I could go, but attending a Chaucer class is much more important (sarcasm). I know that there are few people who live in the Binghamton area other than myself and Chrissy from our class, but I just figured I'd share this information anyway.

self-assessment of podcast

Despite the outcome of my podcast I feel that I learned a great deal during the process. I was very intimidated as I began working on it because I was utterly confused as to what my focus, or mood, was going to be. I knew that I was lacking inspiration. One afternoon a few weeks ago as I was sitting at my computer it dawned on me that there were two songs by the same artist, on the same album, which would be a perfect representation of my sentiments of the flat world. Finally, I felt inspired! I am glad to hear that some of the people who were able to listen to my podcast enjoyed my selection of songs because the lyrics (although written about a different subject) seemed to me an accurate reflection of my view of the flat world, and how it has come to be in my life.
I must say, though, that I struggled throughout much of the actual process of putting it together. I found that once I had a direction I was able to locate a variety of photos from flickr which I really loved. Unfortunately, upon saving them it seemed that there were perhaps copyright issues/restrictions of some sort on many of them, and once I attempted to place them in garage band they appeared as black squares, rather than the images I had saved. On my second and third tries I thought I had outsmarted the system, and found some of the same images from other image sites such as google, as well as turned to an alternate way of saving them. Upon compiling the entire podcast I found that some of those also appeared as black images. It was really disheartening for me. Although I know I am way behind the eight ball on not yet owning a digital camera (I swear that soon I will stop borrowing family members' cameras and purchase my own!), I thought that utilizing the images from the internet would work just as well. Actually, even better. The images I had found were directly related to the words I spoke and the lyrics sung in my podcast. To top it all off, I finally was able to lock down some images that were in color and appeared in garage band just as I had initially seen them, and it turns out that no one was able to view them!! I do not know what the problem was. I felt so technologically inept that I also did not even know how to go about finding a remedy for the problem last week when my 'peer reviewers' told me all they could access was the sound component. I am very disappointed, especially since I was proud of it in the end. Despite the problems I'd had with locking down images, I thought the ones I'd chosen were great. They represented my reluctance to embrace the advancement in technology which has infiltrated my life in so many ways, and finally they represented my willingness to accept these changes as I have felt practically forced into it. I feel that this project has enabled me to think more openly about things which I have in the past brushed aside. Even though there were several complications for me, I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to bring to light all of these issues now, while I am still learning.

a dream on hold . . . . for now

As per requests (and yes, I have officially spent WAY TOO MUCH time blogging this evening!!), here is a rundown of my brainstorm of the summer . . . . around sometime in June I realized how inadequate I felt as I was approaching my 25th birthday later in the summer. I felt as though there was nothing that I had accomplished or experienced that I actually felt proud of. I had not really published anything, which I had dreamt of doing throughout much of my youth and adolescence, and I was/am STILL working toward a career/fulfilling a passion, and lastly - I had not traveled anywhere. Of course, I was being overly dramatic, but for some reason I was just dreading that age, and the realization of having accomplished so much less than I thought I would have at that point. ANYWAY (yes, I am allowing myself to babble on my own blog!), I was inspired by a special I saw on tv regarding orphanages in Africa, as well as the high number of children who end up there due to the AIDS crisis which captures the lives of so many people in general, not to mention parents. To make a long story even longer, there was some feeling that came over me after having watched that which I have not been able to shake since. I realized that it was not just a fleeting response to what I'd seen; I wanted to go there. I wanted to go to Africa, any country there really, and I wanted to spend my time around those children, those people. It is funny because for years I've always thought that the first place I would venture to would be somewhere in Europe.
I instantly began searching online and asking my travel saavy friends, one in particular, for any ideas of programs and funding available. I knew that I didn't necessarily want to study or work there, but rather volunteer and devote my time and really all of myself. I guess in a way this sounds like a really selfish venture, but I'm not really doing this for the experience as much as I am positive that I have something to offer. After several unsuccessful attempts at locating a program that I was interested in, I found one that would allow me to volunteer from anywhere between 2 weeks and a year (or longer, if need be). And it was affordable. Oh, I left out another part to this story --- the first few programs I pursued were exceedingly expensive, and so I went on this wild goose chase for grant opportunities in these foundation directories at the public library. I spent several hours there over a few weeks, realizing that in order to obtain outside funding for such a dream would take an exorbitant amount of time and persuasion on my part, all the while guaranteeing nothing. So it was a relief when I came across this organization that seemed to be something I could really save for. I had done some research and decided I wanted to head to Ghana or Kenya. Since the latter of the two would allow me to volunteer in a school during the time I'd requested (mid-December to mid-January, our winter break), the decision was made. I sent in a very brief application toward the end of the summer, and about a week into this semester I got an email from them explaining that I would have to change the timeframe in which I was there since all of the schools would be closed during the month of December for holidays. I was so disappointed! At this point I am very glad that I had not sent in a deposit or begun any of the necessary medical steps. I am still hoping to go there, possibly in May once I am done with the program. I really am still just as passionate about this potential experience -- to devise my own lesson plans and be afforded the opportunity to teach to children in Africa, but I was not willing to extend the Master's program in order to reach that goal. There was a time over the summer when I really thought I would put this program on hold and try to go there in the fall. But I've thankfully concluded that this program is something that means something to me, and completing it is absolutely vital in order for me to move on to my next dream.

Interesting distraction

I am reading Rochester's book 'Class Warfare' for a facilitation for our education class tomorrow, and it somehow reminded me of this really interesting, yet accurate, quote of Frank McCourt's from Teacher Man (and no, I do not mean to imply that Rochester is interesting or inspiring! McCourt, on the other hand, is) . . . . "In the high school classroom you are a drill sergeant, a rabbi, a shoulder to cry on, a disciplinarian, a singer, a low-level scholar, a clerk, a referee, a clown, a counselor, a dress-code enforcer, a conductor, an apologist, a philosopher, a collaborator, a tap dancer, a politician, a therapist, a fool, a traffic cop, a priest, a mother-father-brother-sister-uncle-aunt, a bookkeeper, a critic, a psychologist, the last straw". Did he leave anything out? I can't think of anything. How great is that quote?!

Ursula Kelly revisited

I just want to say how much I enjoyed the Ursula Kelly article the second time around. I remember reading it last semester in our ENG 663 ( I hope that's the right class number?!) and it spoke to me then as well. I appreciate how accurately she seems to acknowledge this fine balance that we must create as teachers; the need to adhere to curriculum/district/state guidelines, while at the same time creating a classroom that is [hopefully] as inspiring and engaging as Shade's. Although it seems like it will be quite a feat, as a student it still remains hopeful and realistic to me to attain this balance. I can only hope that once I am in a classroom of my own it will still remain possible. I love, too, how she states that "the choice to teach is also, perhaps even more so, about an intimate, often passionate, relationship with English, that subject within which they desire to teach"(59). It's great. I can only speak for myself here, but I know it is the passion for this language and the inspiration I have felt in English (literature) classrooms/lectures over the years which have catered to such a love and appreciation, and formulated the desire to pursue this as a career. This article reminds me that although we might at times feel as though we have idealistic, fantastical dreams for our classrooms, the object is to find a way to put these ideas into action, rather than discard them and deem them unrealistic. At a time when I was starting to feel slightly hopeless about maintaining my goals for an English classroom, this article has reminded me that the work I put into students will hopefully someday be matched by the work I receive from them.

Project idea

I'm not quite sure how this would work, but I would like to do my project on something affiliated with lesson plans -- whether it be similar to what Katie suggested on her blog, or just lesson plans related to a certain text/author/genre. Any ideas??

Response to Alvermann chp. 3

Ok, in reading chapter 3 in the Alvermann book I realize how guilty I have been of doing some of the very things criticized in the reading. The section starting on pg. 42 which refers to using the term 'playing' in regards to what students do on computers and with various forms of technology is something that I know I have been guilty of thinking. Perhaps this is why I am continually amazing myself (not in a good way!) with how stuffy my views were on the latest emerging technology. I say 'were' because I really do want to change them! I am trying to open up my eyes to see the educational opportunities that exist in the realm of technology. While I am reluctant to some of this change, I also recognize the importance in obtaining (and maintaining) a way to identify with my future students, and hopefully someday with my own children. I know that I speak for other [potential] teachers in saying that often this technology is threatening on so many levels, and hence it seems easier to downplay its importance or validity. It stems solely from the insecurity and inferiority of the teacher, with the knowledge that their own students have the key to this entirely distant world of information. Because it sometimes seems complex and utterly foreign, it gets knocked down and referred to as 'play'. Are the students just that much more insightful than us? Are they able to more accurately sense what our future will be like? There is truly something to be said for this innate ability in so many children and adolescents today to just sit with ease in front of various forms of media/technology and figure out how to utilize them as well as their emerging importance in everyday life.
I am loving this notion that a teacher's knowledge is no longer the sacred set of words that exit her/his mouth during a lesson, but rather an exchange of SHARED information between her students and herself. What do you think?

a refreshing change

For anyone who may be interested -- I have just recently gotten my 6-year-old iMac updated with new software and a lot more storage space, so I can now blog on my own computer for the first time! To all of you PC users this might seem silly, but for much of my college career I have struggled to find ways to make my operating system compatible with some of the websites and blogs for several classes. Now with fingers crossed, there should be no more freezing on common websites or inability to access sites. In addition, I promise you will see me posting more on my blog as well as responding to others'! As per Prof. Stearns' request, I have changed the colors on my blog -- please tell me if it is easier to read now . . . .

Ok, since I have no idea how to get my original post on my first blog into this beta blog, today will appear to be my first post. I am hoping by next week I will be able to post much more frequently, since by then my iMac will be updated/fixed and I won't have to jump on other computers just to be able to blog! I didn't realize how 'old' and 'outdated' my poor computer was until I came back to school last year and began work on my MAT degreee, finding that many of the class websites and blogs were simply unaccessible from my personal computer. I know this rambling seems pointless, but it actually is serving as a segue into my response to the Alvermann chapter (2) that we read for tonight's class. You see, when I was a child and pre-teen I was not engrossed in a television, computer, or videogame. I spent so much of my free time readingt on my own, and I never felt that I was missing out on something. All of my friends had their sport of choice that they focused on as well (instead of a sport I chose to dance), but today it seems that children/teens play their sport, go to school, and then spend so much more time (where could this time even come from?) immersed in some of the latest technology. I don't know if I am better or worse off (or neither) as a result, but I know that I was not immersed in the dichotomy that so many young people are today; spending several hours a day listening to and watching teachers at school, and then spending several more hours listening to or watching someone or something on a digital screen.
I loved the phrase 'attention economy' that Michael Goldhaber used in response to the 'abundance of information' floating through our world today. Although that phrase may have been designated for a reference to the business world, I am choosing to look at it in terms of its effects on students today. In the same scenario as above, I have noticed in my experiences in the high schools in the past few years that the students are literally being bombarded with information at all times. At some points it is the choice of the students, those who opt to spend hours on the computer after school rather than play sports, but either way I can only imagine how tedious it must be to assimilate so much at once, especially at the elementary or middle school level. Don't get me wrong, I do not favor students playing sports over spending time on the computer/playing video games/watching television, or vice versa. I don't have a preference over any of these, BUT when I read this chapter I thought about how different things were (or seemed) just 15 years ago when I was a child. Even as a graduate student I often feel overwhelmed in this age of technology, where being in this class has really brought to my attention just how much I need to learn about technology! If the students are lucky enough to have their own computer, videogames, iPod, and whatever else I'm missing -- I have to wonder, do they even know how much information is being thrown their way at all times? Or are they that good at the balancing act that I shouldn't be having pity on them in this overwhelming time, but rather congratulating them on their ability to understand and respond to it all? And finally, I wonder if their attention spans are growing or shrinking as a result of this abundance of information?