Modern Technology in
English 102
Modern technology is an unfathomable force that is quickly
sweeping the nation. During the 39 years of my life, I have seen advancements
in telephones, televisions, and computers. I love telling my children the story
of how we had to use pay phones, or use rotary dialing on a phone. Watching Dukes of Hazard on a black and white 32
inch television is nothing compared to watching Fast and The Furious on a 46 inch HD flat screen. My first computer was a
Tandy 64, I had calculators that were smarter, what a disappointment. Kids
today do not appreciate the advancement technology has to offer, because they
never knew life without it.
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| By Thomas R Machnitzki (thomas@machnitzki.com) (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons |
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| By Stefan-Xp (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons |
Going back to college was a dream for me for the last 20
years. With technology, online colleges were introduced, giving stay at home
moms, or full time workers a chance to higher our education. Computers classes
lets students work at their pace, as long as they’re dedicated and stay on
task. After waiting so long to go back, I thought I would be way behind in
education and technology advancements. I am happy to say I am not too far
behind the times, and I am convinced going back to college was the best
decision I have ever made.
Online college does lack the sense of camaraderie that a
classroom has with its students. Although I do enjoy the blogs I share with my
fellow classmates, I don’t get a chance to know them socially. I like watching
or interacting with people to get to know them better. The more I know my
fellow classmates or teachers, the more I know what they expect from me, or I
from them.
Learning different technology techniques this year in
English 102 will be very beneficial in my future classes as well as my current
occupation as my schools elementary librarian. I really enjoy blogging, even if
that was very new and strange to me at first. Creating a slide -show is easy
for students in my school, but it was difficult when it is your first time and
the program doesn’t want to cooperate. The assignment I disliked the most was video
blogging. I am working on my shyness, but it’s still very hard to put myself
out there in a video. The more you use technology the more familiar you will
become with it. I plan on using this summer to practice video blogging and
slide- shows, to make myself more comfortable with the technology.
My goal is to become
a great teach and to do that I need to expand my education to add technology
into it. Children who use technology in their education learn faster and have
more fun while doing it. When I was teaching my kids during the summer I would
set them on the computer for 30 minutes to play educational games, such as Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego,
or Freddie Fish. So many great fun
educational games to play, and kids don’t realize they are learning. With the
advancement in technology our schools are challenged to teach students to meet
the needs technology has created.
I also had a lot of shyness when we had to make a video of ourselves. It just feels weird to watch yourself and the thought of other students watching it is almost unbearable. But, in reality it is not too bad. I actually really enjoyed the blogging and I think it is cool that you plan on incorporating technology in your teaching.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I used to play Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego all the time in elementary school and it was one of my favorite games along with Oregon Trail.
Shout out to Freddie Fish! (I might have been a little to old last time I played it.)
ReplyDeleteI wanted to use the excuse that I didn't have a webcam to get out of the video assignment (or at least take the hit on my grade by not participating), but then I realized that my phone could take a video and upload it to YouTube. Technology can either support (or destroy) our best (and worst) laid plans.
I only took a few years off from schooling, so I can't imagine returning after so long the way you did. However, I do know what it felt like to adjust to the extra workload. I'm glad that it is working out so well for you.
First off I wanted to say props to you for coming back to college and I hope you get everything you want out of it.I just happened to take this class online because I wanted a specific teacher. It's interesting hearing other people insights on why they took online classes, such as family and jobs. I know what you mean about not getting to know your classmates socially, I think we get to know each other on more of an academic level only. There are just some aspects of a person that you can't get to know except through face-to-face interaction. I think that e-learning's advantages outweigh the disadvantages though, especially for certain people with specific obligations and situations. Like Matt and Lindsey I remember playing Carmen Sandiego and Freddie Fish along with other fun educational games. I think those types of games are great, I know they helped me learn, but I only have fond, nostalgic memories when I think about them. Good job on your blog this week!
ReplyDelete