Blogging Applications

I admit that I have had a hard time seeing the benefits to blogging, but now I see a very worthwhile application.  One of my classmates posted a blog with a link to a current event which has made the news recently.  In his blog, he posts links to the BBC and the following blog where the world is able to become aware of what is going on in Rangoon, Mandalay and Pakokku.  What a great dynamic forum for spreading information throughout the world.  Check out his blog: http://1stblogexprmnt.blogspot.com/ along with his link to these very graphic pictures and captions: http://ko-htike.blogspot.com/  .

Yay for the Plain English Tutorials!

What a great deal – these Plain English tutorials have helped me to understand a bit better, social networking on del.icio.us and RSS feed.  I believe that I have successfully subscribed to some of my classmates blogs and I now understand a bit better about using del.icio.us to help organize and save time when looking for websites of interest. 

I wish I would have visited this link earlier, but better late than never!

http://www.commoncraft.com/show

RSS, Del.icio.us, and Practicioner Reports

I have been and still am confused about what RSS feed is and adding a widget to my blog.  I tried multiple times to add the icon (or whatever it is called) to my blog for the RSS feed, but everytime I added it, all of my bloglines got deleted.  I am trying to research how to add this feed and what it really means, but I am not having much luck.   I’m hoping to get help with this in class this coming week.

I’m also trying to learn about del.icio.us  accounts and how to use del.icio.us, and what the benefits are.  More on that later.  

I haven’t quite decided who I am going to do my “Practicioner Report” on, but I have narrowed it down to a couple of people.  I know I need to decide soon so that I can proceed. 

This Week in Current Trends and Issues:

This week we (Team Mathematics) completed our Induction to the Field Report.  It is nice to be done with the report.  I was responsible for the History of the Field portion of the report.  I found the evolution of today’s Instructional Technology interesting through the visual, audio-visual, radio, instructional television, computer and internet usage.  Although I did not write the sections of the report on the definitions, organizations and journals and blogs, I did see some references to these during my research in the history portions.  I’m interested to see what is next in our trends and issues class.

Impressions of “When Gadgets Get in the Way”

One of the articles that we received in our Current Trends and Issues class was titled: When Gadgets Get in the Way written by Lisa Guernsey for The New York Times  on Thursday, August 19, 2004.

When I started reading the article I thought it wouldn’t be too relevant since it was about three years old, but it is relevant in today’s classrooms!  The discussion is about how to fight for students’ attention in a world of cellphones, computers, and instant messaging.  The article takes a brief look at what five educators are (or were) doing to “fight fire with fire”. 

The emphasis of the article is that a good way to capture and keep students’ attention is to use technology, but to keep an eye on them so that they do not get distracted by their cellphones, or other electronic toys.  One of the teachers that was discussed uses games to keep students on task and learn various concepts.  Another teacher uses older technology (filmstrips) and whiteboards to keep student’s attentive as most students in today’s classrooms have not had the opportunity to view filmstrips.  Another teacher believes that by using round tables in his physics classroom each table equipt with three wireless laptops, he can roam around and make sure that students are working on the tasks at hand.  Another teacher uses a software program in her computer lab that allows her to simultaneously monitor all computers and forther allows her control of the student’s computers as she sees necessary.  She can use a pen to write messages on the student’s screens that directs students to get back to work or she can interupt classes by freezing all of the students computers at once so that she can explain a concept to the whole class.

I found it interesting that although technology allows teachers to use innovative ways to present information and even monitor on-task and off-task behavior, it can not guarantee that all students are engaged.  In each of the cases discussed, the teachers mention that they need to be vigilant in getting the students to stay on task and refocus off-task behaviors.  The difference between years ago and today is that the ways that students choose to be distracted in classrooms today often involve technological gadgets and programs such as cell phones, email, games and instant messaging.

So, this is a picture that my son put on my desktop. He surprises me with different pictures every so often.

Initial Posting

Here is a blog for my the IT Trends and Issues class.