Saturday, March 22, 2014

Blog Post #9

After watching the First Graders in Mrs. Cassidy's Class, video, it gave me a good sense of how technology is used in the lower grades. Really, their doing exactly what we are doing now, as college students, which is crazy to think about. Their smarter then we are, and could probably show us college students even more tools that we don't know about! Mrs. Cassidy's class skypes with different people, and even different students in another school. This is something I want to try and do in my classroom one day!
skype


Mrs. Cassidy really stressed the importance of technology in young children in the video, Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part 1. She tells us that kids are all about technology these days, which is true, so it's our job to help them pursue their education with the help of technology. Mrs. Cassidy was given five PCs for her classroom, but they prevented any software to be downloaded to them. This is when she began exploring different ways to use the internet, which led her to find out about blogging, youtube, twitter, and even skype. We have been given many tools, unlike Mrs. Cassidy, but it is, also, our job to explore and find even more tools, we have to broaden our personal learning networks.
Find Your Social Media


In Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part 2, Mrs. Cassidy believes that we should start using technology, especially in our classrooms, with something we are interested in. For example, I like the videos more, so youtube, skype, iMovie, etc. are along the lines of tools I would use. Some people like writing more, so you may want to go the blogging route. I want to help my students, one day, find their interests, then introduce technology to them using that interest.
What are your interest?


One thing that really interested me the most in the video, Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part 3, is all the ways to use technology in physical education. There were a few Physical Education Majors asking questions, and one is, "How can we use technology in physical education?" One idea Mrs. Cassidy proposed was having a working blog, and if something came up to where the coach needed to let his/her students know immediately they could post it on their blog. Another question that came up is, "With blogs being more accessible to the internet, do you fear there is more cheating going on?" She stated that things are becoming more collaborative, and professors should get more creative with the way they want us to present things. She said to use others as guidance and just present ours in a different way. If we were asked open ended questions, it allows us to be more collaborative and there will be no one (correct)answer.
Questions are guaranteed in life, answers are not.

3 comments:

  1. Smarter? Not so sure. More technologically savvy? Yes. And this was from 4 years ago!

    Thorough. Thoughtful. Well done.

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  2. Hey Brittney! I enjoyed reading your post. The kids in lower grades being so engrossed in technology was cool for me to see too! I remember in elementary school when we just got our computer lab and the teachers were teaching us how to use shift to make capital letters. Yes, that was long ago, but that just shows how far we have come. It also is impressive to see the little first graders and their intelligence in use of this technology. Your blog brought to light something that made me think a little bit. She had 5 PCs that restricted the use of downloaded programs, but, she improvised. That says a lot to us as educators, that just because we hit a brick wall, doesn't mean we have to stop there. Where there's a will, there's a way. She showed us that. I also agree that broadening our personal learning networks is a great way for us to grow as educators. Thanks for sharing your opinion on this! I enjoyed reading it.

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  3. Hi Brittney! It is crazy to think how much more advanced technology wise students are than teachers. This makes the teacher’s job difficult because teachers are supposed to guide their students in their educational journey. I like your ideas about how teachers should help students discover what they are interested including their interests in technology tools. Also, do not forget to add title modifiers on all of your pictures! Thanks for sharing!

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