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Week 9- Reading Response

Immediately when reading iPad Usability: Year one by Jakob Nielsen, I thought to myself how this relates back to teachers and using technology in the classroom. I feel that there is an important learning curve for teachers when implementing the technology to further enhance lessons. If teachers are not aware of the constraints to the certain apps that they would like to use then I personally feel that the app will not have the same effect. By learning the constraints the teacher could create a worksheet or certain add on to the lesson that will substitute the part that was lacking in the application. Nielsen hits on a great point about navigating through application. That for me is the number one issue. If I download an application and it is not clear on how to get to the places or the different features I will delete it and look for something else. If educators are going to introduce applications into the classroom for learner purposes students need to be able to navigate fluidly through them. I have quickly noticed how students begin to get frustrated and off task when something is difficult to use. “iPad usability is much improved, and people habitually use many apps” (Nielsen). When I was subbing I was placed in a low function self-contained class. In this class the special education teacher incorporated the iPad too help the students learn colors, shapes numbers, etc. This was a great way for students who were non-verbal and were unable to write. I believe iPads did come a long away to enhance learning especially seeing it used in this specific classroom.

While reading A dads plea to developers of iPad apps for children, as soon as I read “most of these apps give no indication of which elements are interactive and which are not…which results in a frantic game of whack-a-mole” I thought of myself using applications and just clicking a bunch of things to see what works. I know I have done it before and I am sure many people have as well. I can only imagine a child’s frustrating not knowing how to navigate through the app. (again something I find to be the most important part of developing an app) I personally witnessed my younger cousin who is four have a hard time using some applications because as he states “swipes can be tricky to tiny fingers and the gestures usually require some precision.”

Accidental taps and placement of menu options is a key part of the application for children. The children just want to play the games on the app, however it is difficult if the child is very young and does not understand or realize to keep his or her hands away from a certain area. I like the idea of using the two-touch method. Many times my cousin will ask me what is on the screen or why it is there and I will try and teach her how to “x” out of it when it pops up again. (due to an accidental touch). Talking Tom Cat is one of the apps that I could never forget, all of my younger cousins and my friends little brothers and sisters have showed me this app. I think it is absolutely ridiculous to find options to purchase different types of things on a children’s application. Clearly they are not paying for this themselves and most of the time the parent probably won’t realize it was accidentally clicked until they see their statement.

My friend’s younger brother actually purchased 50 dollars’ worth of apps on his father’s iPhone when he was little. He was not even aware of what he was doing because he just wanted to play, so I completely agree with and actually found myself laughing at “If you try to trick my kid into buying stuff, you’re dead to me.” I personally am all for using applications and different types of technology to enhance learning, however the technology and apps that are used in the classroom need to be fully investigated beforehand and the teacher should have background knowledge on how the application works. This means knowing the advantages and disadvantages so the teacher can plan accordingly.

#week9 #Reading Response

Educational App Review

Educational App Review- My Fitness Pal

For my education app review I choose to do “My Fitness Pal.” My Fitness Pal is a free smartphone app and a website. The app was rated the best free program for maintenance, calorie awareness and food variety. It tracks diet and exercise to determine optimal nutrients and caloric intake for the user’s goals. When the user downloads the app the first thing they will have to do is fill in their information. The app will ask for the users: height, weight, gender, and how active the user is. All of this information helps the app calculate the caloric intake of each individual. The user will then have to put in what they would like to do, for example, lose weight, gain weight, or maintain weight. From here the user will choose, depending on what they pick, how many pounds they would like to lose/gain a week. This is how the app determines how many calories to tell the user to take in. After this is decided goals are created for the user. There are both fitness goals and nutritional goals along with the user’s diet profile. In the nutritional goals section it tells the user how many calories, carbs, fat, and protein consumed per day. Under the fitness goals it shows the user how many calories are burned per week along with how many workouts and how many minutes. When the user plugs in what workout they have completed the app will show how many calories they burn. This can be useful because some people may believe that they have worked out more than they actually did and many believe they burned a lot more calories than they actually did.

After the user has all of the key information about themselves into the app they can start. The app on the smartphone has a scanner right next to the search bar. This is to scan the food or drinks that they eat. This is helpful because it allows the user to plug in the exact food that they are eating/drinking or both. If the food and/or drink does not have a scanner the user may type it into the search bar. Once they do so, they can find the correct food and then add it to their diary. Once the food is added to their diary it will deduct the amount of calories they just ate/drank. This will make the user aware of how many calories he or she has left for the day. I believe that when people see how many calories they are eating they are more conscious of what they put into their body. This is similar to people who keep a food diary and physically write down what they eat each day, this makes them more aware and possibly do well on their “diet.”

The app also has a section to save recipes and food that you have once had that was not already programed into the system. This way you are able to find it quickly and save it. My Fitness Pal also allows you to be friends with anyone else who is using the same application. Using this feature, friends can help each other out and encourage one another. As a teacher I find this part of the app very useful because I am able to go on and see all of my students and if they are keeping up with their assignments. It also says how many days the user has consecutively logged in and tracked their information and how many days they did not. This helps me because I am able to know exactly what students I need to remind and keep pushing to do their homework. This is helpful in the classroom because students can record their food intake for a certain amount of days and analyze their nutritional intake. They can then compare their nutritional intake to the recommended daily amount. The students will be able to see what they are lacking, what they consume too much of and what they do not consume any of! The students can also analyze their physical activity habits. The students can then write a reflection on their nutritional and fitness findings.

The intended audience is anyone who would like to track their fitness and eating habits to help them maintain/gain or lose weight. Anyone who is interested in logging their food and tracking their fitness workouts would benefit from this app. By using this app you will acquire the knowledge about how many calories you have to take in per day along with how much of each nutrient you are in taking. The graphs will also show you what percentage of carbohydrates, protein etc. you intake. All of this information is crucial to good health. Even students who are not in a health, physical education or biology class should be introduced to this app. This is something that will help children, teens and adults learn how to live a healthy lifestyle. LIFESTYLE is the key in this case. It is not a diet plan, it is a LIFESTYLE. Crash diets eventually fade; this is something that will help people learn how to eat the healthy way without depriving themselves or dieting in an unhealthy way.

There are a few people who have created the “My Fitness Pal” app; Coach Stevo is one of them. He is a nutrition and sport psychology consultant at San Francisco Cross Fit. He is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, has a BA in Philosophy from the University of Chicago, and is finishing his MA in Applied Sport Psychology from John F. Kennedy University. His specialty is habit-based training. He wanted to create an app where people can quickly accumulate a lot of data about their progress toward their health, weight and fitness goals, big and small, by recording what they eat and how much they move.

I believe that this app has great educational value. Being a health and physical education teacher, I use this for students to create a fitness and nutrition journal. Since students, for the most part all have smart phones; this is a new and improved way to have them complete a project. Any class that reviews nutrition or fitness could use this type of app to help students learn to track their physical fitness habits and their eating habits.

I personally do not believe that there are limitation to this app. The only thing I can think of is that fact that you have to personally put everything into the app, if someone does not really put in everything that they eat and all of their work outs they would not get accurate results. Another feature I like about this app is that there is a section called “APPS,” this section has a few different types of fitness pedometers or different types of fitness trackers. You can use this part of my fitness pal app to sync your pedometer or if you use a different type of tracker. For example, I also have the “Fit-Bit” this records your sleep, eating, steps, and calories burnt and I was able to sync this to my fitness pal to further enhance my health.

The layout of this application is clear and easy to use. This is why I use this in my classroom because it is very self-explanatory and the students seem to have no problem finding what they need to find. They also like using the scanning part of the app to scan the barcode on the food. This app is easily accessible because you can download it on any phone (where you can download apps). However if you do not have a smart phone there is a website which allows you to do the same thing. So students are able to go online and use the computers if they do not have access to a smart phone.

All different types of crash diets that people try all the time never work because they are not realistic the main thing that students/ adults/ children learn from using this type of app is the right way to eat. They learn how to maintain their caloric intake and they also are able to eat what they want as long as they stay inside their calories for the day. I use this app every day, if I forget to record something I eat I feel guilty! It is very addicting and once you start you really do not want to see those calories turn to red (meaning you went over for the day).

This shows the different screen shots of the app:

Goals for the day Search for food Your Diary Adding Food

This chart shows the persons weight loss progress:

This shows what you mainly consumed in that day: (this can also help the person figure out what they need to consume less/more of to help reach their goal).

Close up view on what your diary would look like when you add food:

On the left is an example of what the app looks like on an android phone and on the right is what it looks like on the computer. The picture in the middle is another example of the food diary:

#app-review

Week 8 - Reading Response

In the first article Mayer speaks about how their research has shown that the process of mental model construction is difficult when explanations are presented solely in words. However, he states that comprehension is greatly improved when corresponding pictures are added. I agree with this statement for many reasons. I am such a visual learner that even when something is explained to me I need to see it as well as even do it. Using spatial contiguity or temporal contiguity I believe it can help the learner, because along with having the words there is also a visual to help the person understand more in-depth. With spatial contiguity the learner is able to put the printed word with the illustrations thus helping remember what is being taught on a higher level. Mayer states that overall adults may need more help in making connections between corresponding words and pictures. Personally, when I am looking at a text book and there is a picture with a description underneath I am able to fully look and read to understand what exactly the picture is showing and why. After reading about "conciseness: help the learner stay focused," it almost seemed like common sense to me. However, when I think of some of the power points that I have made for class sometimes I tend to put in pictures and words that can be considered irrelevant and distracting, when really I am trying to grab their attention. I have always heard the saying "less is more" and now I am hearing it in education, learning that "students are better able to focus on the essential material when extraneous material is eliminated from a multimedia presentation" (Mayer). Overall learners do need some guidance in how to process certain material and as educators by eliminating the distractions and just emphasizing the important material we can help our students better understand what important information we are trying to get across.

In the article Cognitive Tutor: Applied research in mathematics education the authors speak about two basics types of knowledge: procedural and declarative. With declarative using facts, images and sounds and procedural having an understanding of how to do things both of these are applied in our everyday life as well as learning and understanding information presented to us. The articles relate in the fact that the ACT -R serves two purposes. One, the model follows student actions in order to determine the particular students strategy in solving a problem and second, "each action that the student takes is associated with one or more skills, which are references to knowledge components in the cognitive model" (Ritter). "In order to create instruction in mathematics, we need to understand the knowledge components involved in completing a particular task" (Ritter). By doing so, students need to have the proper steps and information to be able to retain the content. By using graphics and imagines from my personal experiences as a teacher, it helps students learn and retain the information.

Both of these articles work well with one another because since our society today is so technology driven, both articles are examples of using digital textbooks, applications, and images to provide a better learning experience for our students as well as helping them interact with the technology.

#week8 #educationalapps

xtiana91

Visit Original Link

Our thesis for this podcast is that we believe e-readers and tablets should be used in schools because they support student learning and expose them to technologies that are used in the real world. We also acknowledge, however, the disadvantages of having these devices and we suggest some examples.

By: Taryne Cahalin (tarynekate214), Stephanie Sirico (ssirico), Christiana Vasquez (xtiana91)

Recorded on an iPhone 5

Edited and assembled using Audacity

eReading and Tablets!

The readings for this week really do raise a great question in education today. Is technology beneficial for the students? Are they really getting a better experience using the technology in the classroom? This also went along with our pod cast that we did this week, having a discussion about the pros and cons of using e readers and tablets in the classroom. In the article, Hu speaks about how there is very little evidence that kids learn more, faster or better by using the different types of technologies. The question that I would like to pose is how are we to measure this? How can we as educators understand if the students are learning more by using these e readers and tablets? The other argument that I would like to address, similar to what we spoke about in our podcast is that now as teachers we are told to teach to the 21st century learner. Well thinking about society and the way it is now, wouldn’t that mean teaching our students how to utilize the different types of technology? I personally believe that students should learn, however I do not think it should completely replace traditional literacy. In our society today, I feel that with technology you have to keep up or get left behind. I do not see how people can “fight” the technology advances and boycott using them. “It allows us to extend the classroom beyond these four walls” (Reiff). Technology allows students and teachers to be able to look up certain information that you might not be able to get from a textbook. It allows the teachers and students to get that “virtual” effect of pictures and other types of material that may pertain to their lesson. Hu also speaks about how “technological fads” have come and gone in schools. My question, is technology really a fad? When I think of fads I think of Pokémon cards, pogs, and beanie babies etc. I personally cannot see technology being a fad. As technology continues to advance we continue to update and purchase the new products, especially since technology allows for faster access to many different things. “some parents and scholars have raised concerns that schools are rushing to invest in them before their educational value has been proved by research” (hu). How does this get proved by research? Is the way we are currently living, being attached to our technology devices, enough proof that technology needs to be incorporated? However, is it just mainly used in society just for personal uses and not an educational tool?

In the article Digital reading spaces: How expert readers handle books, the Web and electronic paper, Mangen argues that it is impossible to get lost or absorbed in hypertext or online reading the same you would in a book. Listening to her reasoning, I tend to agree however I feel that it depends on the person and what you are reading. I can definitely see them temptation to clicking and going on different web pages, although, if you are engulfed in a reading and you enjoy it you could be less distracted. “The screen-based reading behavior is characterized by more time spend on browsing and scanning…” (Hillesund). It is hard to choose a side; does digital technological changing the type of engagement those students would have with traditional literacy? I feel that I am able to come up with reasons for both sides which again will place me in a category that feels it should be used however traditional literature should not be forgotten. I still feel students should get the experience of using traditional literature and be able to use technology literature.

As for content and instructional methods, I feel that it does help enhance education and give the students a better experience with what they are learning. For example the virtual museums that we have spoken about, as well as pictures and informational videos that can help students reinforce what they have learned in class. When I was in high school I never liked social studies or global, however when I lived in Barcelona and I took a history class, we would go see everything we learned about, granted Barcelona and Europe have ruins and are older than the United States, it helped me remember and actually grow to like history. I was able to place facts and information by remembering when I saw them, where I was standing and what we spoke about in that specific place. I think that technology can help students get some what of the same experience and hopefully help them remember the information the same way it helped me. Reading from a text book especially in a history class can be extremely boring, something more exciting I believe needs to be introduced to a subject that many students have a hard time relating to because it happened so long ago! I have realized that now more than every as I have gotten older I appreciate history more, however I feel in high school and younger grades some students do not see it that way! (Just my opinion! Do not want to offend any history teachers/people!) :-)

#week7 #mobilelearning #ereaders #response

Augmented Reality

In the article Savannah: mobile gaming and learning? I felt that it was very interesting how they created the game. Reading this article did make me think if there is a way to recreate all learning experiences into a game. To me some learning experiences are hard to gain knowledge on unless you physically go through it yourself, learning from experience I believe is the best way to learn. On the other hand I can also see how some of these games are useful for developing certain skills and reinforcing learning. “Given recent technological developments, however, it seems to make sense to consider mobile learning and games-based learning not as distinct experiences but as experiences that could fruitfully be combined” (Savannah). By combing real life experiences in the classroom and reinforcing through gaming what they learned in the classroom could beneficial for the students and the teachers. The students will be able to reinforce the material doing something they are engaged in and enjoy. “They also have to negotiate with each other, in order to decide whether or how to collaborate in achieving the games objectives” (Savannah). It makes me think, some of the video games that students play, they work together with other friends. This could be a learning experience of how to collaborate with other people to reach a desired goal.

“It is impossible to imagine today’s graduates entering the knowledge economy without understanding how to think with digital tools (spread sheets, calculators, visualization tools), to access and analyze online data bases or to leverage social networks” (Mad city). This quote really made me think about students coming into class not having the familiarity with the technology, such as calculators, that we use every day even for simple tasks. With all of the technology that we have today I feel that schools are slowly moving towards a student centered class rather than a teacher centered approach. By using a student centered approach it allows the students to take full control of their learning experience. The “Mad city Mystery Game” allow the students to incorporate higher level question for higher level answers. The students have to use questions that promote higher level responses to help them solve the mystery. They also have to gather quantitative data, and examine government documents to piece together and explanation. I personally feel that a game that requires such skills at this could have a positive effect on learning. I do not think that games should solely be the only resource but to be combined with what the teacher goes over in class. Higher level thinking / questioning also relates to the common core standards to help enhance learning for the students.

The article “http://gettingsmart.com/2013/07/augmented-reality-the-future-of-edtech/,” was just one I happen to come across in my searches and the reason why I would like to just touch on this for a minute was because the example that was used. “Augmented reality allows us to put objects in the hands of our students that would have previously been impossible. Imagine a student who is learning about the solar system for the first time. In a traditional setting, the student might have had a few pictures in a textbook and may have created a project based on images and information from those static sources…” (Getting Smart). The quote continues to say that now with augmented reality the students are able to get a better idea and visual of the solar system. When I think about looking at pictures in texts books (especially outdated ones) as opposed to looking on the computer or a tablet, the experience is completely different. Think about it like this, if one student was to have technology and the other a text book, would they seem to describe the same thing looking at the same picture? Would it be different with the student who is using technology? Do they get a better idea and feel for what it is really like?

In the article, http://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/200311/TechInPrimaryClassrooms.pdf, Meaningful Connections, the teachers who are the authors speak about how technology is here to stay. They also continue to go on about how technology is a tool and it should be selected because it is the best tool (meaningful connections). I tend to agree with this quote however, I wonder how other teachers feel, especially teachers of other generations who are “scared” of the new technology and are not open to change. The studies that are described in the article show that technology can have such a positive impact on student learning. “Technology can be a particularly effective tool for English language learners and can enhance the participation of children with disabilities” (meaningful connections). This is also a great point that they speak about in the article because technology gives learners with disabilities a chance participate and enhance their learning. I tend to favor the use of technology and social media in the classroom. If students are involved in it already why not take the time to incorporate that type of technology in the classroom to further engage the students? I tend to wonder why teachers could oppose of just giving this a try. I also lean towards thinking the reason for me believing in this is because I was brought up in a digital world.

#week6 #mlearning #reading response

tarynekate214

Interview in which we asked individuals their thoughts on how mobile technology is affecting society as well as questions to gain knowledge about their extent of mobile technology use.

#week5 #mobileinterview

Reading Response 5

“The Internet in Society: Empowering or Censoring Citizens,” by Evgeny Mozorov, speaks about how with enough technology and connectivity democracy is almost inevitable. He then goes on to say that by making sure the people have enough technology and know what connectivity and blogging is they will use these tools for collaboration and for more democracy. The internet and connectivity is very much used for collaboration, especially on sites where you are able to leave comments. More times than none comments that are left you will see people either forming a “group” because they either agree or disagree. “People who have iPods or any other sort of western technology are likely to support western values” (Mozorov). I agree with this quote because I feel that people who are able to access technology are able to gain more information and different points of views. Reading about different points of view, a person can find where they stand and start to gain a more in-depth passion for that information. Mozorov then goes on to talk about how young people who use the internet use it for two reasons: communicating with one another and downloading entertainment. As a teacher, I feel that this is pretty much correct. A lot of my high school students, with the exception of a few, use their commuter for social media (communication with friends) and downloading music. Mozorov also states that we believe in a myth that authoritarian leaders and dictators have a fear of the internet and technology. However, in my opinion I feel that authoritarian leaders would most likely promote the use of technology so they are able to know what is going on around them, especially the small issues that are not really greatly publicized.

The significance of Quasi Groups in the study of complex societies speaks about how there are two different types of groups. Many people now belong to a social group. This interaction between groups allows people to be able to share values and beliefs. The first group, classificatory quasi- group, has members who have certain interests or modes of behavior in common which at times leads them to form into definite groups. The second quasi group is called interactive quasi groups. After reading these articles I have come to realize that this is something we witness on an everyday basis. There are groups being formed all the time, human life is essentially a group. We notice this more on an everyday basis due to social media: blogging, twitter, Facebook groups, etc. In certain cases people also feel connected because of their race, gender or position on a social issue as stated in Network Analysis and Social Media.

Two quotes from the reading “Communication, Power and Counter-power in the Network Society” really stood out to me. “Politics is based on socialized communication; on the capacity to influence people’s minds,” and “The main channel of communication between the political system and citizens is the mass media system, first of all television.” First off what better of a way to get across to people then using the television. Many people watch T.V. and will most likely come across the information being advertised at least two or three times before they will have to make a decision. Politics clearly is out there to influence the mind of each individual and like it said in the article the main goal is to “win” over the audience. One of the main times we see this around us is during the time of elections. I remember being in school and my teachers always telling me that it was important to vote when I turned eighteen because every vote makes a difference. Although my teachers said this I felt as though I did not have a clue as to who I would be voting for or what is really going on, I had trouble distinguishing the truth from all of the lies. “What does not exist in the media does not exist in the public mind.” This a great point that Castells makes, however what exists in media is not always the full story or the truth. I have said from day one, in high school you (as the student) should take a class that reviews what is going on in politics, how it is represented in the media and true/false statements. By doing so, students are able to get out their opinions and any possible misconceptions that the students may have will be addressed.

This can also relate back to Occupy Wall Street. YouTube videos and pictures that were portrayed to show what happened, also can have a bias towards the event. When the police were spraying the students with the pepper spray you can hear in the video someone yelling "you are suppose to protect us." This caught my attention because when you think of people of their authority that is their "job." However this is the only information that is given. Why are the police doing this? What happened before hand? Because of the way social media is today, it is hard to tell what is true because not EVERYTHING is captured in each shot, and if it is, what information is left out and away from the public?

I feel this information is extremely important especially for high school students because it is imperative that students graduate being well rounded so they are able to widen their opportunities throughout college and their life. It is important for students as well as the general public to be aware and correctly informed with information that is happening around them. However, the information that is posted through social media might not always be accurate. We need to know how to filter out the information to only understand and retain the valid information. As many of us are educators I feel that we can try and incorporate this into our lessons; I know this would have been useful for me in high school seeing as I was not interested in deciphering all of the political messages around me.

#week5 #mlearning

I thought this was funny! A lot of you can relate!! :-)

#programming problems

xtiana91

A wonderful detailed description of how speech recognition programs operate.

How Speech Recognition Works. (n.d.) How Stuff Works. Retrieved November 23, 2013 from http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/high-tech-gadgets/speech-recognition.htm

Explanation of how technology can...

#workscitedpage

Supporting the Classroom

“A learner’s motivation has an impact on the quality and effectiveness of any form of learning. Learners are more motivated when they have frequent contact with instructors and peers, and physical separation in online learning environments can cause loneliness, resulting in a lack of a sense of community” (designing mobile communication tools). I agree with this statement because I believe that being in a classroom creates more of a community and the students can really relate to the teacher. I always believed that for online classes compared to in the classroom. However, just from recently taking this mobile learning class and having different connections with the students and professor makes this class our own community. We have our cel-ly app, which helps us with communication as well as email and our Tumblr blog. I also like the four essential strategic components for enhancing motivation in instruction created within The ARCS model. As a student and a teacher, being able to gain and sustain learner’s attention is the most important part of a lesson. If your students are not involved in the lesson from the beginning it will be hard to keep them engaged in a forty minute period, or for my night school students, an HOUR AND A HALF! I tend to try and start the class off with an attention grabber, whether it might be a song playing and they have to analyze the lyrics or an activity set up as soon as they walk in the room to grab their attention. Relevance is another factor that I preach every day, the students need to take what they learn inside the classroom and apply it to their everyday life. They will not get anything out of my classes if they do not find the connection between my instruction and their life experiences. Confidence is also a factor that ties into relevance. Students must have positive expectations coming into a class, during the class and at the end of the class. Also the students must have satisfaction with the information that they have retained from the class and having those opportunities for them to use new knowledge that they have obtained in the class will help increase the satisfaction.

Collaborative learning is important because students will be able to learn from each other as well as the teacher; sometimes the teacher is eve able to learn from the students. I feel that we are all teachers and we are all students. When students are paired up whether it is for an online class or one in the classroom, different students might excel in different areas and they will be able to help and teach one another. Talking about the topic of SMS, I believe that this would be extremely useful and more convenient for us now in the 21st century. We all have our phones on us 24/7. I usually get notifications on my cellphone from different places and I find it an easier way to help remember. Using it as a teacher/student would be great to number one, help students be reminded of any upcoming assignments and number two, help teachers stay on top of the assignments. I feel like little by little with SMS notifications and eboards on school websites students are going to have no excuse not to do assignments or be caught up when they miss class.

“If the materials (no matter how educationally rich they maybe) do not map onto the curriculum that a teacher is obligated to meet, then the materials are likely to be treated as a nice ‘extra ‘to be used only if time permits”(iPod in education). This is a great statement because technology should not be used “only if time permits.” We are in the 21st century technology should be used as much as possible because I believe that it helps engage the students and create a greater learning atmosphere. Technology will continue to become more advanced, as educators and students we need to keep up with technology. The study in the article “Use of Mobile Technology for Teacher Training,” each teacher found different ways to effectively use PDA’s for the academic year. However, I believe that it really depends on the teacher and what they feel comfortable using. I definitely see the positives in teachers learning different types of technology to enhance their teaching and their lessons, but when it comes down to it teachers need to use the type of technology they feel comfortable with.

#week4

I am from kitchen,

from flour to mozzarella.

I am from the sauce spread all over the dough.

(red, fresh, homemade sauce)

I am from a huge family

from cooking together to laughing nonstop

I am from dreaming of growing up

as soon as possible,

and then wishing I could go back,

to start all over again.

I am from mistakes I’ve made

from “oops!” and “oh no!”

I am from a few best friends

who I love dearly

that will help me grow

I am from a big Italian family

from wine and homemade pasta

from a grandfather from Sicily

to the USA

creating a family based on amore

On my wall are pictures from my travels

from Sicily to Barcelona

from Greece to Rome

all of these travels created a part of me

from culture to beliefs

to family and friends

places, people and experiences have shaped who I am.

#mobilelearning #poem #whereimfrom #iphone #emailfunction

Reading Response 3

Reading through the articles for this week it really had me thinking. In the article “Implementation and effects of one-to-one computing initiatives, Penuel speaks about how students need to have access to technology ubiquitously in order for them to learn. If students are using lap tops or tablets only once or twice a week, chances are they are not learning as much as they could if they were to be used 24/7. This is an obvious; the reason why I think about it in this way is because I relate it back to when I was taking Spanish in high school. My teacher expected us at the end of the year to be able to be conversational with her. The reason why this was very frustrating and hard is because forty minutes a day for five days a week is not enough to learn a new language and be able to be conversational. However when I went aboard to Barcelona, Spain and lived there for six months, I was able to get around and would consider myself a little more than conversational. My point is that students need to have access to information more than a few times a week in order to understand and really get to know the “in’s and out’s” of it. In the district that I am in the high school and middle school all have their own lap tops and in the elementary schools the students receive an iPad. Relating back to our first reading response I feel that in this district the computers are already ubiquitous, for both teachers and students. Teachers also get a laptop and every single classroom in the building just has a plug for the teachers to hook up their computers to the smart boards. One teacher just recently said to me the other day he would have to re-plan every single lesson and activity he does if he was in a different district after this one because he uses all of the great technology the district offers for every lesson. When I asked the students in the classes where the computer lab was in the building they actually laughed and said “we don’t have a computer lab here.” This confirmed my hypothesis of students in this school district using computers ubiquitously. “When they could afford the buy a large number of computers many schools throughout the 1980’s and early 1990’s placed them in centrally located laboratories” (Penuel 331). The students in my school district are not really even sure what a computer lab would be because they are so use to having their laptop and having “lab” basically in whatever class their teacher has them take their laptop to complete and assignment. “Ubiquitous, 24/7 access to computers makes it possible for students to access a wider array of resources to support their learning, communicate with peers and their teachers, to become fluent in their use of the technology tools of the 21st century workplace”(Penuel 332). This quote to me represents the students in my school district. They are able to take their computers home with them which also gives them that ability to keep their work “organized” and makes their computer a more “personal” device.

In Nicholas Negroponte’s “Solve for X” I found it interesting that he spoke about the image of what 2010 would be like, how we would be able to put a helmet on and put a book into our head without having to read it. I know that seems impossible but I can see why people before the years 2010 would think that it would be very technologically advanced. Although we are unable to do that I feel that the authors of the image were in a way correct because of how many functions we are able to carry out using technology, and how many peoples’ lives are revolved around technology.

#week3 #mobilelearning

Tech Report Topic

I want to do my tech report topic on text-to-speech software

#mlearningtech

Situated Cognition

“Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly” (Etienne Wenger-Trayner). While reading the articles a few points stood out to me. One was this idea about “communities of practice.” The further I kept reading I realized that I do this in my everyday activities. Being that I am a teacher I have to collaborate with my colleagues about what we will be working on. As a physical education teacher, especially with the younger grades, we have to collaborate with the classroom teachers to see what they are working on. For example if I were teaching elementary physical education I would find out what type of math they are doing and then try to incorporate that math. When I was student teaching I had a great cooperating teacher, the classroom teachers were doing the heart and lungs for science and health so he created a heart and lung obstacle course. This was great because the teachers worked together so well and this helped enhance the students’ knowledge and learning about the heart and lungs. This was also great because it tied in with the common core standards. I also feel that you are constantly collaborating throughout your everyday life, whether it is at home with your family (cleaning or cooking), being with your friends or if you are on a team working together with your teammates. “Communities of practice have been around for as long as human beings have learned together. At home, at work, at school, in our hobbies, we all belong to communities of practice, a number of them usually” (Etienne Wenger-Trayner).

In the article Using Mobile Technologies for Multimedia Tours in a Traditional Museum SettingSmith and Nasmith speak about mobile technology enhancing the learning and experience of people going to the museum. I believe that mobile technology would have a great impact especially in the classroom; as long as “technology should be easy to use and unobtrusive; it should enable the experience rather than detract from it” (Nasmith & Smith). Currently I am finishing up my special education certification and we just did an assignment on virtual field trips. Especially now with the schools having such a hard time funding field trips, virtual field trips can be a great addition to the class. “Learning is a process of active engagement and experience” (Naismith & Smith). It students can use technology to go on a virtual field trip using technology they will both learn how to use the technology as well as be engaged in the lesson. In the school district that I am currently working in, the school supplies the high school and middle school with laptops and the elementary schools with iPads. This makes it easier for the students to go on their virtual field trips. One of the requirements for the design of mobile technology and content for a general audience was gathered from the literature is promoting engagement with objects through personal challenge. By incorporating this, at the end of each virtual field trip there can be essential questions posed to the students that they must complete in order to either move to the next round are start another assignment.

I believe that technology is a great addition to the classroom as well as museums and I think that it will enhance the learning and knowledge of those who participate in using it. Our society is technologically advanced and will continue to keep growing, if we do not participate or learn we will be left in the dust!

#week2

The picture with the "I roll" gives you something to think about with technology taking over! What will they come up with next !? The picture with the child telling the grandma I feel as though that children now know so much about technology. I have experienced this first hand with my younger cousins introducing new apps to me and showing me short cuts ! (This was sent from my mobile phone! :) )

#week1 mobileblog

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