Application of Knowledge

I have to admit that when I saw this class on our course schedule I was not, to say the least very excited about taking it. Number 1 is was a technology class, and number two, it was an online class. But I will have to admit that besides my classroom management class, this is the best class I have taken in this cohort. Just like the classroom management class there are things that I can use imidiately and not file away and never look at again. One of the first things that I did was change some of my passwords. Yes I am one of those people who used the same password for everything. If someone found out what it was they would have almost complete access to everything that I do online, weather it was banking, shopping, school work, or email, the password was the same.

The second thing that I took for this class is how to talk to my students about internet safety without sounding like an old fuddy duddy. I will be teaching 7th graders and I know that most of my students spend half or more of their free time either IMing, or online somehow, hormones are raging and things are said that shouldn't. I don't know why, but I do feel that I can talk to my students more confidently about their use of technology. I plan to have the ethics book for kids in my class where the students have easy access to it.

I have truly enjoyed this class. It wasn't as hard or daunting as I thought it would be. Thank you Mark for making this a very enjoyable class for a technology phobic like me.

Thoughts on ICEK

I really enjoyed reading Internet and Computer Ethics for Kids for many reasons. I enjoyed the fact that it was an easy read, but mostly because I could understand what the author was saying. There weren't too many technical jargon that I needed a computer expert to translate. I can easily see how this book can fit into the computer class that our students are required to take. The current curriculum is focused on learning programs, but not necessarily the ethics of the Internet and computers. I am actually thinking about showing this book to our tech coordinator and maybe convince to add ethics to the computer class.

I wouldn't just give this book to kids and say hey read it and tell me what you think. I think weather it is used at home or at school, the book needs to be read aloud and discussed as a group. The author does a great job of posing great questions at the end of each chapter. Questions that can lead to great discussions and deeper level of thinking. This book would be great for kids grades 3-7. I don't think the older students would take it as seriously. They might laugh at the simplicity of the messages and the pictures. They would think they were too cool for cutesy things like that.

I really like how the author at the end of the book really drove home the point that it was up to parents to talk their kids about Internet and computer ethics and safety. Parents think that it is the school's responsibility because it is the school's job to educate their children. Parents didn't really grow up with computer in the home and use it like kids are using them today, but they have to realize that it is a dangerous tool if not used properly. So just like how the "police" their children's fashion choice, they need to "police" their children's computer usage.

Ethics of technology chapter 6

I love the idea of online voting! I know that the cons out weighs the cons, but wouldn't it be great if we really could do it without all the risks. I bet you so many people would vote, especially with this technology minded generation. Hey the politicians are blogging, having their websites, and using technology to reach the younger generation. If voting were online do you know how many 18 year olds would actually get off their butts (they would be seating down) and vote?! It is a nice idea, but their are too many people out there with too much time on their hands that would come up with a virus, worm, whatever and mess up the whole system. I don't want some hacker to figure out a way to change my vote without my knowledge or figure out a way to cast multiple votes for a candidate. Oh well online voting is a great idea, but I don't think I will see it in my life time and I plan to live for another 70 years. 100 years on this planet is plenty.

Ethics of Technology Chapter 5

The issue of privacy is one that you will think is a right that every one has. Everyone has that need for privacy and it is not something that springs up at a certain age, even children as young as one have a need for privacy, it might not be at blatant as the young teenager closing his bedroom door and putting the do not enter sign up, but even young kids every once in a while want to do something by themselves. Reading this chapter really opened my eyes as to how much privacy I don't have, but then again do I really want a lot of privacy. Yes I don't want my health records broad casted out there just to be used against me like the case in Maryland, I don't want income information or my social security info out there for anyone to use for their benefit, but I also don't want to be shut out from society that when I am in distress my neighbors won't know until it is too late, because they don't want to intrude.

Privacy does have its harms and benefits. I am a teacher so I can't go blowing off steam about kids and parents at school, but when I get home I want to feel that I can vent to my husband and not be afraid that somebody is bugging my house and recording the conversation that I am having with my husband and use it against me. If I didn't feel like I had the ability to vent freely and from prying eyes and ears, then I think I would explode or go crazy. You have to be able to vent and let off steam in private or else we will have more cases of people killing each other in the work place.

I do feel bad for celebrities. I know that they are in the public eye, but they have every right to their privacy. I don't understand the "reporters" that go to great lengths to capture the scope or the photographs of these poor people. Don't they realize the harm they are doing, especially when there are children involved. The case of Princess Diana is the saddest case of the paparazzi going too far. Celebrities have the right to go skinny dipping in their backyard as much as I do. Now if I don't have a high fence surrounding the pool, then it is no longer a matter of privacy, but that is another story. Warren and Brandeis said it when they said that people have the right to be left alone.

But on the other hand, some people should not be left alone because they can cause great harm when they are left alone. It is a fine line... I do have serious issues with the patriot act because I do feel that it gives the federal government too much power, but then again after 9-11 there are certain safety measures that need to be taken. I just wish that people with all that power would use it more wisely. Bradon Mayfield should never have been arrested. Looking at the evidence against him a second grader could have come up with with that conclusion. But at least he became two million dollars richer for it.

I still go back and forth with the issue of privacy and the involvement of government. I understand the need to make citizens safer, but at what cost?

The 411 on One-to-One Computing

This article was very interesting. I guess deep down I am an old fashioned person. I just don't see the need to have kids carry all this hand help technology and have with them 24/7. Just stick with the good old PC that is plugged to the wall. I guess I feel this way because I see so many adults with their blackberries and palm pilots and they are addicted to those things. They don't know how to interact with humans because they are with machines all day long. I saw this special on 60 minutes on how Americans are overworking themselves thanks to technology. You can't even take a vacation or a honeymoon without someone from work being able to get a hold of you because you have a blackberry or iphone. I just don't see the need to start doing the same to our students. It will be their reality when they get out into the real world.

Technology in the Schools: It Does Make a Difference!

To be fair to the technology advocates, I decided to read this article so that I don't have a one sided view about technology. I read this article with an open mind, expecting valid arguments as to why computers are needed in schools, what I found instead was an article that seemed to be arguing for the other side. The article said that technology works in schools and improves learning and test scores if...

• The software used was carefully selected as an educational supplement integrated into a well thought-out program of classroom instruction. Technology was one important tool among many; teachers taught concepts and then used technology to reinforce, enhance, and elaborate on that instruction.

• Teachers received ample training and support in using the software.

• Students had ready access to up-dated software and well-functioning computers.

Honestly how many schools in the US can meet all three requirements adequately to have great technology programs. The biggest problem is that teachers are not trained to use this software and technology. We simply are not trained, but are expected to use them and turn our kids into overnight success stories. In an ideal world technology would work seamlessly in the educational setting, but the reality is most schools are lucky to meet just one of those three criterion's.

Technology in Schools: Some Say It Doesn't Compute!

"children's expectation that learning must be entertaining and their failure to use all their senses or to become active learners;" This is the biggest point the article can be made concerning why technology in schools doesn't compute. I honestly think that students have forgotten or don't want to learn how to think for themselves. They want the information and answer given to them because thinking on their own takes too long and it is not as easy as finding the answer online. I find myself yelling at the kids to think and that they can do it. When they finally do believe me that they can figure out the solution, the expression on their faces is priceless when they discover that they have the brain power to think. Even before the technology issue was a big deal, calculators were as high tech as you got, I made my students work out the problems instead of using the calculator to help them.


It is a shame the amount of money put into upgrading the technology in schools today. Just think what greater good for the schools that money could be used for. Hiring more teachers to make the classrooms less crowded, hiring SPED help and resources, improving the PE curriculum to combat the obesity issue. Purchase better and updated textbooks. the list could go on and on, but you get the point. The money spent on upgrading the technology can be put to better use.

Put an End to Plagiarism in Your Classroom

I remember reading and hearing about the Piper case. I remember being outrage for the teacher. I don't know if I would have resigned, but I would not have changed the kids grades. I have flunked a student for plagiarizing a project. I talked to them about plagiarizing before the assignment and I remember the student asking me in the middle of the project if it was okay to copy and paste information and I told him no. He ended up copying his entire report down to the graphic that was on the website. The only original things he had on his report was the title (he spelled it wrong), and his name at the end of the report. He did not deny it when I confronted him about it. He didn't even care. He was too lazy to do the work and felt that the assignment was not a priority for him. I liked the fact that the article gave ideas on how to prevent plagiarism, but I fear that in the fast pace, quick answer world we live in, we are going to more and more students who plagiarize and find tricky ways of doing it.

Author Says Technology Brings False Promises to Schools.

I think I am in love with Todd Oppenheimer. I mean I want him, but only for his mind. This man is a genius and a great thinker. He makes absolutely perfect sense when he that that "current emphasis on technology use in schools drains resources from other subjects and prevents students from developing critical and creative thinking skills." I don't mind using technology in the classroom, but the amount of it is overwhelming. This past year I had three equipment magically appear in my room. No instruction was given, no directions, just here you go use them! I ended putting them back in their packaging because they were taking up too much space on my desk. This summer I signed up for four technology courses beside the classes for my field. I feel like if the district is spending all of this money on technology, then I have an obligation to use it. I know that next year it is going to be mandatory that all the educators have a blackboard. It doesn't matter what level they teach or what they teach. I used blackboard a little this past school year, but I have to get more training on it because the training the district gave us was not enough. And when they train you all the information is overwhelming because they throw all this information at you all at once and you are to take it and apply it immediately in the classroom.

I am curious to see how much money my district spends on technology each year. It seems that each year we get a new "toy" that we get three hours of training and then expected to use it proficiently in the classroom. Oppenheimer was right when he said that school-wide investments should not be made before they are absolutely certain that results will match the salesman's hype. A good example when my husband's school decided that it would be a great idea to get all the students a palm pilot to help them remember their homework and keep them on track. Lets just say with the amount of broken and lost palm pilots, they could have used the money and invested in their reading programs. Needless to the say, the palm pilots were not back the next year.

Another genius thing Oppenheimer said was that students can also become victims of "commercial novelties...whose ability to reason, to listen, to feel empathy, among other things, quite literally is flickering." I notice more and more that I have to entertain my students or I loose them. Getting them to come up with their own answers and solutions is getting more and more difficult. My biggest complain about my students is that they don't think, or won't think for themselves. They want the answers given to them. Thinking on their own is way too hard for them, because the are use to googling everything and getting instant answers.

Virtual High Schools: The High Schools of the Future?

I know that this article list a whole bunch of advantages of having virtual high schools, and talks about successful programs, but the idea of virtual schools doesn't sit well with me. Maybe it is because I feel that real teachers are going to be useless and students will just be taught by computers and computers only. I truly believe that you cannot replace learning from a real life human and the best way to do that is face to face. I think about the the numerous class discussions I have had with my students and how they fed off each other. Yes you can have discussions online, but it is not the same. You can't easily feed off a comment someone made. Also written words are sometimes misunderstood. You can't tell the tone of a person from what they have written, and sometimes tones of voice carry the conversation.

I do understand that virtual classrooms offer opportunities that some students might not have had. They have the ability to take courses that might not be offered at a regular high school. But you have to remember that school is not all about content learning, but also the social education. If everyone stayed at home, when and how will they learn to social interaction.

Blue Nowwhwere #2

One of the things that scares me about the Blue Nowhere is that it can be a true story. The author acknowledges at the end of the book that this might be our new reality. It is scary for me to think that some people have the power to enter other's lives and assimilate themselves quiet seamlessly. It is scary how Phate and Wyatt could make up their pasts, create new records of themselves, be whoever they want to be and no one would be the wiser. I was so surprised to find out that Wyatt made up the letters from his father and that he did not have a brother. I thought it was all real. What would have happened if he did not have the records from his youth to prove that he made up his past. I think about it and I don't fault him for making up the type of family that he did. There are so many kids out there that would love to the opportunity to change their lives, remake their parents into better people.

Phate was scary the way he worked his way into the lives of his victims. How he would make himself look like almost anyone and gather the information he needed to worm in his into their lives and then kill them. Even the little girl did not realize that the man that was picking her up was not her uncle. I hope that I would not be so easily fooled. But I guess if you haven't seen someone in a long time, or just met someone briefly you don't want to seem rude and not act like you don't know them. I know that I am guilty of carry on a conversation with someone I barely remember, but they remembered me and I felt bad that I did not even know their name.

I don't want to have my guard up all the time, but I don't know... I have to say that I have acquired more knowledge about the computer world from this book than anything else. I just never thought much about that side of things. I never thought about hacking, or using computers to hurt each other.

The Blue Nowhere

Okay I have to admit, I am an avid reader and I easily get into books. I finished reading the Blue Nowhere last Wednesday. I could not put the book down, and was usually up later than I needed to be so that I could finish the book and find out what happened. I LOVED this book. Even though there were a lot of technical Jargon, it did not take away from the plot to the book. There were so many twist and turns, they kept me captivated. In the beginning, I was afraid to read one because I thought a character that I was getting to know would get killed. I was somewhat suprised when Lara Gibson was killed, but I was totally not expecting Andy Anderson the cop to die. I thought he was going to be the hero of the book. Another part that surprised me was when Wyatt escaped to find his wife. I thought he really was Shawn and he had escaped, but I was relieved when he all he wanted to do was see his ex-wife. Speaking of the the ex-wife I almost cried when I found out who Ed really was. More on this great book later.

Online Activity

The phone thing did not work for me because my sister had alerted me to the information that was given out when the phone number was typed and I had them remove me from it. It was interesting to google my name. I have done it before and usually there aren't anything about me except for my track records and results from my college years. There are other information about other people with my name which is very interesting since my name is not a common name in the US.

Growing up online

I just finished watching the PBS special growing up online, I just didn't think that social networking and being online was as big as it is. I guess I am just an old fashion person. I guess that I am naive to think that families spend time together, so there would not be a chance for kids to spend so much time online. It was scary to listen to some of the comments the kids were making about being online. They said that there was no one watching, you could reinvent yourself. The scariest comment to me was when the young man said that he had never read books, or he couldn't remember the last time he read a book. I cannot imagine not reading books, or not having my son read books. The internet is a great and wonderful place, but like everything else good, it must be used in moderation. I like human to human interaction, and get stand spending too much time online; there is just too much life to live, live enjoying the great outdoors. The internet scares me because you don't know who is out there and who is watching.

Social Networking

What has happened to face to face interactions?! When did we turn into a society that finds it unacceptable to communicate face to face. I am not against Facebook or MySpace. In fact I have a Facebook account, but I will be lucky if I have the time to get on their once a month. We don't talk to one another anymore and it is sad. It is fun to keep in touch with friends and relatives you don't see often, but when social networking takes the place to talking to people then I have a problem with it. I also have a problem with how Facebook and MySpace is so open. Students feel like because they are in front of a screen typing, what they post doesn't have any severe consequences. I have a niece that posted some questionable pictures on Facebook and I had to tell her that it was inappropriate, but she didn't find fault in the pictures. She and her friends were just having fun. Fun that can send the wrong idea. I just know that when my kids grow up, they are probably going to hate me because I am going to be very strict about what they do online and how they do it. They quiz says that I am a conversation starter "a", I hope that when the time does come, I will be able to have a serious conversation about social networking and my kids will listen. I know that social networking is not going away, but as a parent my goal for my kids is to provide them with the tool to make smart choices.

ISTE Standards Evaluation

I feel that as a teacher, I am doing a very good job with my students and their use and understanding of technology. As a Social Studies teacher, I did various projects that required the students to use various forms of technology and I feel that the students appreciated it. I was actually going to do an end of the year project where the students would be required to use podcasting as the main part of the project, but we ran out of time. I am blessed to work in a district that has the money to get the latest technology into the classroom. Our district is now requiring that all 6th and 7th grade students take computer class as a mandatory class instead of an elective. There are definitely some students that are more proficient at using technology as their peers, but I feel that most of my students are where they need to be in terms of their technology proficiency. The only things that I don't fell that they are proficient at is being able to identify characteristics that suggests the computer needs an upgrade. I also don't feel that the majority of them know the correct terminologies. As a teacher I am forced to keep up with my students. As I said before, my district is spending loads of money of technology and the requirements for technology knowledge does not stop with the students. Starting in the fall all teacher are required to have a blackboard site. I actually set my up last year, and used it twice, my goal for next year is to use it more often in my classes. I am also about four technology classes the district is offering this summer. I have a lot to learn about the different forms of technology and how to incorporate them in my classroom. The class that I am very excited is the interwrite pad class. I really want to use it in my classroom next year.

Concerning the COPPA law, I think that the law is helpful to a certain extent. My issue is that I am not aware of this law and I don't think too many teachers or parents are aware of this law. I know that the sites the my students visits for research and projects, does not ask for personal information, and I feel that most of those sites are blocked by our district for student safety.

First Blog

I am not a blogger, but I have to have a blog site for my class. We will see how well it goes. I know quiet a few people that have blog sites. Maybe I will end up liking this more than I thought I would. We will see.