Chapter 13 reflection

In chapter 13 I learned that there are legal, ethical, and social issues when we implement technology in school. As when we use material from Internet for any presentation or homework, that material can be copyright, and this mean that we cannot use it without the owner’s permission. There are exceptions for teachers as Fair use that allows them to use copyrighted materials for education. There is also the TEACH Act that offers similar guidelines for the use of copyright material in distance learning. I also learned about the right to privacy, that mean that any children can use personal information as names, addresses, phone numbers, and photographs without asking parent’s permission. Also about Children’s Online Privacy protection Act (COPPA), and Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA), both use specific measures to protect children who use the Internet, and teachers in school have the responsibilities to protect children’s privacy. Other thing that is interesting is the cyber bullying, which is when the Internet, cell phones, or other devices are used to send or post text or images to hurt or embarrass another person. This became popular between children, and it is a bad way to use technology. But not all communication using technology is bad, the online social interaction can be beneficial for everybody, can be as small learning comities that helps children with school assignments at any time they need help, and it can also help for many other problems giving a children positive thinking.

chaper 12 reflection

In chapter 12 I learned how a Instructor can teach the students by distance. On distance education the teacher is located at a school site and the students are taking class at home. In this class the student can work at any time without pressure. and have communicatio with the instructor by computer. There is also correspondence courses, where the books and assignments are delivered to students via the postal system, and students mail their work back. The tests were often given by local proctor, who mailed the completed exams to the teacher. I learned that although distance education is helpful for students that cannot assist to school for any reason, it has problems too because the technology is not always perfect. Some times students might not get materials on time, or books might not be available, or when the student have any question about the lesson he/she has to email the instructor and wait for the answer a lot of time. I think the classes are better in school with teachers who give a feedback inmediately but for other persons who cannot assist at school the technology is a good way to educate them.

Chapter 11 reflection

In chapter 11 Audiovisual Technologies, I learned about Oral histories and oral journals, those can help students to work on interviews or on reflections on their own experiences, making oral notes give students the chance to capture their own voices and emotions and improve their communication skills. Optical media as compact disc (CD) and DVD give us the opportunity to save the time and effort necessary to sort through the entire sequence of stored data. The Internet audio allow us to download and store only what we need rather than having to buy a full CD that may have only a few portions that are useful as supplements to our lesson. The Internet radio give us a variety of programs including, music, sports, science, and local, national, and world news, but teachers have the responsibility to know what the students are listening in class. Digital projectors and document cameras can help students and teachers to realize any assignment and show it to the class so they can have a good visual idea of what they are learning. Internet video let teacher and students create videos and store them in a convenient DVD format. YouTube make easier for Internet users to share videos, but teachers have the responsibility to check if the videos are appropriate for the children age.

Chapter 10 reflection

I learned that I could find educational resources on the web. Online publications as journals and articles can help me to find information easily. There is a wiki site that contains information that anyone can alter, but I think this is one of the sites that have clear and understandable information. There are also weblogs, or blogs, that is one way of communication and where people can post personal commentary on the web. In Education Portals we can found many things as teacher’s guides, lesson plans, educational games, information about schools and colleges, and more. I learned that classroom management tools on the web could help me to create test for the students, and to store and average student grades. E-Pals can help students practice communication skills while enhance cultural awareness. And there are three important things a teacher has to judge to determine if the resource is appropriate for the students; 1. Acceptable use, 2. Privacy, 3. Filtering (student level). These web sites can help me with my future job as teacher to organize the units I’ll teach, to help students to improve their communication and to show them new ways to find and learn new information that is appropriate for their age and level.

Chapter 9 reflection

In chapter 9, The Internet and The World Wide Web, I learned about connections, telecommunications, tools and services. I learned that Modems carry a signal between a computer and the Internet and make the communication possible. Internet service providers (ISPs) are network that provides the computer a way to connect to the Internet and this service is typically paid per month. The primary communication tool on the Internet is Email. It works similarly to post office boxes but faster. Another communication tool is the computer discussion. It can be public or private, and it is good for teachers and student to share ideas. Chat is part of an ISP’s services and it is a communication tool too. The videoconferencing software allows us to hear and see video images of each other. I think all these soft wares allow teachers to have better communication with their students, and if the student needs help with the homework after class he or she can communicate with the teacher or another student who can help her or him without problem.

Chapter 8 reflection

In chapter 8 Academic Software I learned that there are a variety of software packages that can be used in teaching and learning. I can use desktop publishing software to create professional looking printed or electronic pages as text, graphics, digital pictures, stylized headlines and more. Imaging software lets me capture, and edit hard copy images including text, graphics, and photos. Editing software allows me to do changes in the image. Reference software is a CD-ROM or online formats where we can storage information. Drill and Practice software is designed to lets learners practice and review concepts, as often and as long they need. Educational game software can help students to learn playing. Concept mapping tools generates digital maps where the student can type a brainstorming process so they can visualize their ideas and turn them into a cohesive whole. These soft wares and others more can do the teaching and learning easy and fun.
I read five posts of Special Education because I think it is one of the biggest problems that teachers have in school. Some of the teachers feel they are not well prepared to help a student with disability. So I think this information can help me understand better what is the real problem.
The first post I read was “You are your best motivator” in Jerry’s Special Education Blog. It talks about how important is that teachers believe in their students. If teachers believe that their students can learn they going to learn because it is a big motivation to them. The second post I read was “Are disabilities declining?” in Jerry’s Special Education Blog. It talks about how the percent of students with learning disabilities dropped from 13.8 to 13.4 between the years 2004-2008, and it also said that the 80 percent of this students are diagnosed with leaning disabilities because of reading problems. So these students just need a good instructor to teach them how to read well. The third post I read was “Inclusion or Negligence?” in Jerry’s Special Education Blog. It talks about how inclusion provide to children with disabilities opportunities to learn appropriate social skills from their peers, but it doesn’t work for children with Asperger’s Syndrome. It also said the teachers in the Redlands School district are not well prepared to work with these children. The fourth post I read was “Who cares about special ed kids?” in Jerry’s Special Education Blog. It tells us about how The Southern Poverty Law Center complaint against New Orleans School district because they discriminate students with disabilities. And the last post I read was “Students with Disabilities are Disproportionately Published” in Jerry’s Special Education Blog. It tells us that an online news in Delaware reports that 20 percent of students suspended are students with disabilities and the problem is most reflected on the autistic spectrum. It said too that there are a lot of teachers who are not well prepared to provide positive behavior support to those students.

chapter 7 reflection

In chapter 7 Administrative Software I learned about software types. Word processing software is the most commonly used computer application. This software helps us to prepare letters, reports, lesson plans, and more. I learned what is (WYSIWYG) “What you see is what you get, it is word processor format that let us look a preview of our document before printed. Spreadsheets software can help me to prepare budgets, numeric tables and summaries, organize data into vertical columns and horizontal rows, type in alphabetic or numeric data, and create formulas and functions. Database management software can help me to organize mailing list, and reports. And the Presentation software can help me to create presentations for workshops, conferences, and meetings. This software has many capabilities as animation, hyperlinks, templates, and multimedia elements, printing options, display options and more. I think these software can help me to realize my homework or any project I need to do, well organize, presented, easy to do and understand.