Digital Blog Post #F

For my previous education prerequisites, I had to do some observation hours at schools. Basically I would sit in a classroom and take notes on how teachers teach and ask any questions that came to mind. One particular day I was observing a 7th grade Gifted Language Arts class. The first thing I noticed was that every student was working on a laptop. Upon closer inspection I saw that they were actually Chromebooks . These devices were classwork and textbooks all in one. In class assignments were all done on their Chromebooks and any references they needed, they could pull up the textbook that was uploaded onto the device. Homework and classwork could all be kept, sent and connected to the teacher's Chromebook. There was also no need for textbooks(although they were still kept in class just in case). Teachers could send messages to students and vice versa. They could also see, in real time, the work and editing the students were doing. This form of one-to-one laptop computing(Maloy, p.306) is supposed to make sure that digital inequality is not present(every student has a computer). Several states including California, Massachusetts, and Illinois are incorporating laptops of sorts in the schools so this may be the future of education. Do you think laptops should be in schools? Click this link and let me know what you think. There comes a time at the beginning of each college semester where I ask myself two questions: Do I need the textbooks and where can I find it cheap? If I do follow through with getting the textbook then the 2nd question turns into "Do I want to rent or buy?" and that turns into "Paper textbook or digital textbook?". Often times I opt for a paper textbook because I have come to find that it is harder for me to study if my textbook is on my laptop or online. I enjoy something that I can hold, put in my backpack, and bring it out to open when I need it. Well a digital textbook, minus the physicality part, is the same thing. It can be put in a backpack(given that it is on a laptop, tablet, etc) and it can be brought out whenever. I have seen some of my classmates use digital textbooks and they have features such as word search where you can type in a particular word and the e-book will pull up any pages with that word. Converting from paper to digital textbooks is a task that LEAD Commission(Leading Education by Advancing Digital) has been working on since 2012(Maloy, p.310). So maybe digital is the future and there are some people like myself who still love books. But at the cost and learning possibilities I may switch to digital. It was not until after I had graduated from high school that I heard about a thing called "virtual schools". They are "organizations that teach students mainly through online learning"(Maloy, p.142). Some of the positives is that you can go to school anywhere and at anytime. Students can go at the pace they want to go. A plus side is that students with medical conditions or mobility issues that make it hard for them to go to school can be still be educated(p.142-143). I cannot believe that I missed out on an opportunity like this: I could have been done with school at an early age, gone to college ahead of time, and possibly be in a career at 24 years old instead of still working on an Associate's Degree. At the same time however I am glad that I went the traditional route. Otherwise I would not have been in as much contact with people my own age and I doubt that there would have been any one on one interaction and help from my teachers(p.143). But hey maybe it is for some people. I think that at least having that option is great. Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Digital Blog Post #E

Sometimes when I am driving or cooking or even reading, the sounds of outside or food is just not enough to help me feel like I am doing something or really focused. To combat that I will put on music or play a movie in the background. Rarely I will put on and listen to a podcast. I did not know until recently that a podcast is a combination of the words iPod and broadcast(Maloy p.234). A podcast is basically audio that is given out online. The podcasts I listen to are usually music related and what gets me is that it is real, meaning it is really what a person is saying almost as if they were with me in person. Podcasts are a great learning tool for both student and teacher. For teachers who make podcasts, they can listen back and find ways to make a podcast better. For students: listening is a big help but I think it would be very educational and fun for say, as a project, a student makes their own podcast. Listed below is a podcast on music education in Australia. In my senior year of high school there was what the school called an "auxilary" period(or something like that) where we gathered in an assigned classroom to put our highest grade test, quiz, or homework assignment. Even to this day I still feel like it was a bit of a wasted 30 minutes but the point of the class was to help build a portfolio so we could present it to colleges. My portfolio was a binder with a few "B" quizzes(in which case I lost the folder) but now there is such thing as digital portfolios. In essence a digital portfolio is the same as a paper one. A few differences between digital and paper portfolios are it is more easily accessible(paper pages being sent vs electronic transporting) and it allows an avenue for creativity(if you think about it all paper portfolios are a bunch of papers put in a binder of sorts). Digital portfolios will require a bit of a learning curve like learning how to use computers and cameras and such. Another drawback is that the way the portfolio is presented is seemingly more important than the content(p.285). Digital videos tell stories and capture moments and memories. From home movies to Snapchat, digital videos can be used for all ages and in particular, students. The creation process of digital videos can be exciting in the academic world. Even in the non-academic world, making videos can be fun. The thing about cameras is, as cliche as it sounds, they do not lie. So by watching a video, students could deduce answers from real life events caught on tape(p.231). It is one thing to take photos of a class doing a science experiment but capturing the movement and different steps of a science experiment can be used as documentation(p.233) and thus furthering the scientific conclusion. References: Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.