Journal #5

Mind the Gap
It's a high-speed, high-def, Wi-Fi world. But not for everybody.By Cindy Long

The title of this article says it all. It describes how students today, more than ever before are online. The article starts by describing a boy who even after he finished hours of school work on the computer, he continued on for hours surfing the net and making post on various sites. But the article goes on to say that this is a luxury that not all students have access to. Mostly students that dont have Internet access at home have to travel to libraries or schools and fight for computer time. This is forming what this article describes as the "participation gap". A quote from the article says, "Technology is too big a part of our world for kids to not know the most simple stuff," she says. "That's where you find the gap—it's where kids can't go online to just mess around, find stuff, explore. Kids want to know about technology. They want to know how it all works and what it can do. It's everywhere, it's the future. Kids who can't access it, well they're just living in the past." This is a great quote describing the significant value that so many students have or dont have. The good news is that as technology continues to grow items are becoming more available for students everywhere. It may take some creativity from teachers to research and ask how they can get more support but as seen in this article it is possible.

1.Is the participation gap something we as educators need to think about when we attempt to use technology in our lesson plans?

I think it absolutely is a issue we need to consider when creating our lesson plans. We need to meet our students where they are at. However, it is not something that should stop us from doing our best to use technology in our lessons. It may mean that we as teachers sacrifice our time so that students can stay later and use the class computers.

2. Is there something we can do to start to close the participation gap?

Yes. Be creative and flexible. Beggars cant be chooser. I think of Brian Crosby a teacher in Nevada who was flexible and creative. When the school replaced their 7-year-old Apple I-book laptops with new Hewlett Packard computers, Crosby asked for the castoffs so he could pilot a 1:1 laptop program for his students. Now Crosby uses them for all of his lessons, incorporating technology into everything his students do and learn.

Journal #4

Five Don'ts of Classroom Blogging
by Julie Sturgeon

Avoiding these pitfalls will help students get the full benefits of online journaling.

This article discussed using bogging in a academic avenue that would challenge students as well as hopefully motivate them. The many examples that were given were mostly positive. The teachers that implemented this into there curriculum found that when they know there peers would see there work started giving more to the assignments. The exception or downside of blogging as that they found students constantly pushed the envelope with choice vocabulary or inappropriate links. Since there are no "Internet fences" they came up with five don ts of blogging in the classroom to help avoid pitfalls that give the student the best chance to be successful. Here they are,
1. DON'T just dive in.
2. DON'T confuse blogging with social networking. MySpace, Facebook, and other social networking tools are just that-social networking platforms.
3. DON'T leap at the freebies.
4. DON'T force a sequential style.
5. DON'T leave the blogging to the students.
I thought this article was very interesting. I found my mind wondering about how great this would have worked for me in my schooling. I could see myself getting very excited about coming home and my homework being to go make a blog post that my peers would all see. My mind also raced about how this strategy would work better now than ever. We live in a technological era where kids are becoming more technologically savvy at younger and younger ages. I look forward to seeing and hearing more about blogging in education.

1. Would this take away from more formal writing that students will be asked to produce as they move on in there education?

I think we would have to use it for what it is...a blog. I remember having to journal in school so maybe the blog could be the daily journal writings or weekly journal entries that i remember as a boy.

2. How would blogging help self conscience students who dont want others to see their work?

This is a valid question and i think that when we step outside of our comfort zones and experience discomfort, even in learning, that we start to really learn who we are and where are strengths and weaknesses are. If done in the right way i could see this motivating certain self conscience students through positive reinforcement by the teacher.

Journal #3 Speaking Math

Speaking math using chat.
By Janet Graham and Ted Hodgson

This was an interesting article that used technology in the math class in a very unique format. The class used chat rooms to discuss math and because there are no math symbols in the chat room students are forced to "speak math" by using expressive vocabulary. I like how the instructors used the chat rooms to break the classroom into small groups to ovoid the confusion of a large class where usually the loudest voice does all the talking. In this setting each student has a chance to be heard and have his/her questions answered by peers. It is also beneficial for non-English learners who can type questions or comments maybe they lacked confidence to do so in the classroom. Another aspect that really intrigues me about this article is that it gets everyone involved in class. And if i can be honest, math can be so stinking boring that this idea seems like a great way to "spice" things up in courses or areas where students may lack focus. I think i would be more inclined to get involved in my math class if we had used the idea of speaking math in chat.

1.A question I have that was only touched on at the end of the article is how would this work in the upper division classes...junior and senior year courses?

Here is what the authors said, "For instance, physics students could be asked to connect Rutherford’s experiments to the discovery of the nucleus of an atom, while history students could discuss how the U.S. Civil War would be different if General Lee had remained with the Union" (p.4) And i agree that it would work well for history and even English but i think i could get difficult in the math and sciences...but then again it could just challenge students to speak math and sciences in a new language.

2. Could this be used in a special education classroom?

As i desire to teach special education every article i read i try to think about how that could pertain to my future classroom. It would be difficult for many of my future students to be engaged in a online chat considering my desire would be for them to understand basic functions of a computer. But what if...what if there was a way to use pictures instead of words or something along those lines that would make it possible. It might possible be a avenue no one has tried because nobody was daring enough to try. I think it could work and it would definitely be worth a try.

Journal #2

"Social Networking for the K-12 Set", by Jim Klein.