Use of Technology in Schools . . . the Good, the Bad, & the Ugly

As our young people sometimes (or most of the time!!) seem to be becoming more technologically savvy than the adults that care for and teach them, it is becoming a major concern for educators as well as parents to have them use these tools in a responsible manner.  The worries are more that students need to know that there are pros and cons to consider in their use of the technology that is so widely available to them in today's technology driven world.  There is never going to be a perfect system, but it is important that students begin to realize that their virtual world can have major impacts upon their lives both now and in the future. 

There are so many articles that look at the various sides of the argument and while there are many good points to consider, it is not something that is going to be solved overnight ... but it makes for interesting reading!  Here are just a few: 
Teacher's Outlook on Smartphone Use
http://www.postbulletin.com/news/local/students-teacher-say-pros-of-smartphone-use-outweight-cons/article_e5a8151a-dfc7-59d2-824e-e92d58a951b5.html

Students Wish to Use Smartphones, iPads, etc. - But Does This Discriminate Against Students Without Them?
http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2012/03/students-demand-the-right-to-use-technology-in-schools/

Some Educators Don't Feel It Is Their Responsibility to Teach Technology
http://campustechnology.com/articles/2009/10/21/but-i-do-not-want-to-teach-my-students-how-to-use-technology.aspx

Why Use Technology in the Classroom?

http://www.ehow.com/about_5484086_use-technology-classroom.html

Courtesy of Paul Sila - http://gatorball.wordpress.com

Happy New Year

The new year is underway and so far so slow.  We suffered through about a month of no internet and have been trying to make some progress.  I hope we get some hidden object games finished in a week or two.  I am looking at some personal health issues with family members and am not sure how this year will go.  I hope much better than last year, but it's getting off to a rocky start!   Progress is my goal this semester.  Hope we make some! 

Progress Halted

As we were approaching our second month into the Globaloria curriculum, we had been making slow, but steady progress.  However, during the of October 22, the school's internet went out.  Then, for the next 3 weeks we had no internet access in our building.  After many attempts by our tech people to repair our problem, they finally contacted Pomeroy to check to see what the problem was.  At the end of the third week without it, they finally located the problem that some parts had burnt out during a power outage and had to be replaced.  Of course these parts are special order and we had to wait for them to be shipped.  So, we are finally back in business and today the students have made a blog post for the first time in a couple of weeks.  During this time with no access, I reviewed the flash program with them and practiced drawing a little bit. 

Making Progress

Globaloria at Man High is going pretty smoothly as the year progresses.  The morning classes have had less interruptions and have made it a little farther into the schedule than 7th period due to the time they have spent out of class.  However, with the new percentage scoring chart, the students are encouraged to complete each step of the assignment rather than picking and choosing what parts they do.  In the past, it was difficult to keep up with all their progress and resulted in a lot of time spent searching around on their wiki pages.  So, kudos to the creator of this wonderful tool!