Technology and its Advances

As and assignment for CS322, I created a video about how technology advanced and how it relates to us today. The setting for my video was the Wagner College Information Technology Help Desk. This is a place where I am often found working on campus. I would use this video in my future classroom to promote student learning. It is an interesting video middle schoolers can watch to relate ancient technologies in their curriculum to technologies used today. Also, they can catch a glimpse into the college world as the video was filmed on Wagner College's campus.

What it Means to be Literate - A reflection

“What it Means to be Literate”

            When one hears the word literacy, it is often assumed to mean reading and writing related to Education. However, that is not the only meaning of literacy. According to the articles we have read for CS322, literacy can mean so much more. Students today are immersed in the world of writing and reading and they don’t even know it. To me, after reading these articles, literacy does mean reading and writing in the classroom, but it also means being able to develop socially, and the ability to use technology in the classroom as a teaching and learning tool.     

            I feel it is vital for teachers to be literate in their content area. Literacy in content area not only means understanding what they will be teaching, but being able to present it in many ways that students can understand. Teachers can use media such as power point presentations, pictures and video to reach visual learners. They can also write on the board and have discussions to help students who learn better by hearing and reading the information. Another way teachers are literate in content area is being prepared. Teachers must have lesson plans ready daily and avoid winging a lesson because they are unprepared. For teachers who are teaching a particular subject, they also must have a passion for their subject and the desire to continue learning even though they have a responsibility to impart knowledge to their students.

 I understand that using technology in the classroom can be challenging especially because it is constantly changing. I feel having a basic knowledge of computers and media is important in being literate in today’s society. Even people in other professions need to know how to use computers. Now more than ever, daily tasks such as banking, managing money and shopping are done online. Another form of literacy is internet safety. It is important for adults and children alike to know what is safe to do online and what is dangerous. Identity and credit card theft is a major issue that affects many people today. Everyone should know how to protect their information online. Also, online dating can be appealing however; kids need to know that talking to strangers and potentially meeting them in person without the knowledge of parents can be dangerous and have dire consequences. Take for instance a young boy on Staten Island who agreed to meet an internet “friend” one day in person. That “friend” turned out to be a much older pedophile who left him in his boxer shorts and chained to a tree in the woods. This boy was lucky he was not seriously hurt or killed and was found a few hours later by the police. This occurred when I was a freshman in high school and they actually put my school under lockdown in case the perpetrator was prowling for another victim. Not every child or adult who falls prey to these online predators are as lucky as this boy from Staten Island. Some end up murdered, raped or seriously injured.

Along with internet safety, computer games and blogs can be considered literacy. Students can be unaware that computer games, especially role playing games, can be literate activities. One summer I actually played a role playing game. I never really realized myself how much writing can be involved. I remember carefully creating my character with structured, descriptive paragraphs and interacting with my friends via posting on a website. We even edited each other’s posts for grammatical and spelling errors. Looking back on it now, the posts that my friends and I created could have been collected and made into a book. It was creative and mind stimulating fun. Blogs can also be a creative place for writing and reading. There are thousands of blogs on the internet with many educational topics such as ideas for science fair experiments, book lists, book reviews and even restaurant reviews. Blogs can be a wealth of information and many people can share their opinions freely.

Literacy can be viewed as social and emotional interactions and development. There is an increasing concern with today’s young people and how they use technology. It has been said that kids use technology such as cell phones and computers for communication and don’t know how to hold a conversation in person, lack eye contact and talk on the phone. I agree with this to some extent. A lot of young adults prefer to use their phone for texting and computers for emailing and chatting and some do have that lack of personal conversation skills. However, the majority do not. I feel that because of school and extracurricular activities students receive the human contact necessary to form social bonds and develop socially and emotionally.

Literacy has many meanings. It not only means reading literature and writing essays for school but also means being able to develop socially, and the ability to use technology in the classroom as a teaching and learning tool. Literacy is often regarded as boring and dry, however, in many cases it is not. Blogs, online games and even reading for enjoyment can be examples of fun things you can learn from. It is important to bring these fun learning tools into the classroom and incorporate them into the lesson.

             

Reflection on Technology

As the years go on, technology plays an increasingly important role in the lives of children and adults. Even in Education, technology is everywhere and it is changing the way students are taught. For me, personally, technology has been present in my life from a very young age. As a young child I played educational computer games with my dad. These games helped me learn to read, write, count and recognize colors. As I grew up, I was able to watch technology change and become an even bigger part of my life. Technology is everywhere and has shaped me into the person I am today.

            When I was a child I was unaware of the term “technology”. I was unsure of what it was or how much of an influence it could have on me. I simply knew that if I put a CD into the computer there would be pictures and videos I could watch and play with. Now as I am older I can reflect on how much technology I have encountered in my life time and the helpful effects it had. Computer games, television, and talking on the phone are all parts of technology most people my age used as children. Talking on the phone started to enhance communication skills while computer games and TV shows kept us entertained and engaged. I still remember as a toddler counting with the characters on Sesame Street and learning to sound out words with the computer. Even some of the books I read had an interactive CD or a button in the book I could press that would play a sound recording. I feel that this is helpful to a child. Not only are they learning from their parents, they are having these skills reinforced in forms of entertainment making learning fun.

            Throughout my grammar school years technology changed as I grew older. I remember our school’s computer lab receiving flat screen monitors which replaced bulky and cumbersome ones. Also from the 3^rd grade on we were taught to type and had weekly typing tests. This would help me greatly as I had to type up reports and papers for my teachers. Also, I remember more and more of my classmates and friends receiving cell phones. When I was in Middle School I remember feeling left out because my parents refused to let me have one until I absolutely needed it. I was finally allowed to have one in 8^th grade but was very envious of my friends until then.

            In High School I feel was the time in my life where I increasingly began to rely on technology. Every student in my high school was required to purchase and carry around a laptop. Every class we were encouraged to take notes on word and use the internet to supplement our learning. Our assignments were posted on edline which is similar to Moodle and we were even given progress reports via email. It was in high school (but not during class) I started to watch you tube and use face book. Texting friends became a favorite pastime and calling people on the phone slowly became a thing of the past. I think the fact that everyone is texting now is hurting our generation’s social skills. Also the texting lingo is severely crippling writing skills. Some teenagers and students today feel it is appropriate to add abbreviations like “btw” for by the way, or shortening words like “U” for you and “R” for are. Also in high school I became dependent on a calculator for solving math. I was never very good in math and the calculator both helped me and hurt me. It helped by allowing me to solve problems accurately on a steady basis but it hurt because I would often rely on it for simple math instead of using memorization skills.

            Even though I never personally had a problem with cyber bullying, it is a growing issue today that all current and future teachers should be aware of. The internet gives a bully a sense of detachment. It is easy for someone to say mean things about another classmate from behind a computer screen where no one can see them. Cyber bullying in its extreme has had such an effect on some children that they commit suicide and engage in other negative behavior.  This is something that should be addressed by everyone in the community.

            In college technology is an even bigger part of the learning process. I use the library computers to find and check out books for research and articles can be shared between colleges almost instantly because of the computer. Also I use Moodle to submit homework for classes and wwam to register for classes each semester. In class teachers use projectors and computers to show us videos and pictures about the topics we are learning about and some classes even use the smart board. In my freshman year at Wagner, I applied for a job at the Information Technology Help Desk on campus. I was hired and have been learning on the job ever since. I am not a computer wizard, but I do know basic trouble shooting and I can run virus scans, and install wireless on laptops. I feel it is a great job to have and I learn something new almost every day I am there.

            As I got older, technology began playing a bigger role in my life. In the future I can see myself still using technology from the simple every day quick text message to helping my students learn in the class room. I am excited to learn all about how I can use the technology available to teach in the classroom and make my learning experience fun and exciting. I would like to help solve the problems associated with cyber bullying and even stop it all together. I am hopeful that one day this problem plaguing schools and students will be resolved and technology will only be used for positive learning experiences.