Reflection

When I first learned that we were going to run our own blogs, I had mixed feelings. My initial feeling was uncertainty, because I wasn’t exactly sure what a blog was. I’d had an idea, but luckily it wasn’t as bad as I had feared.

I liked knowing that at least a few people had to respond. I don’t believe that I’d run my own blog if no one ever cared to respond. It was a good exercise overall to practice participating in a current form of technical media.

The main thing is that it takes time to blog. Then it took even more time to go to other people’s blogs. Luckily, I had nice blogs to read. It was a good exercise to utilize one another as valuable resources. Overall, I learned a lot about the research topics.
I got to share in the benefit of other people’s research, and share my own.

Blogging was one of the things that made me feel as though no matter how much work I did, I was never, ever going to be done. I was/ am overloaded with school work (12 credits and summer school field work). It was one more pressure to deal with that I could not complete and have closure with. I suppose that my reflection there is stress.


I used to be afraid of hyperlinks. They’re easier to create (now) than I had realized. Now I don’t hesitate to insert them. I’m glad that I was forced to do them. In fact, I’m glad (now that it’s over) that I can say knowingly, that I created and ran a technology blog.

Overall, blogging was good practice. I would say that I got everything I was going to learn about the process of blogging in the first two months, though. Friends and family who are close to me always smile when I speak (fondly) of my tech blog. If I ever do venture to do a second blog, I hope to be more creative with pictures. I’d hope to have more time to devote to it.

Stacy

Cybersecurity

This week's class discussion has been on a relevant and current issue, Cybersecurity. Entailing everything from identity theft to cyber-predators, this is scary business. It's just amazing to learn of the great lengths that criminals go to to victimize people. I appreciate all of the useful websites and tips about staying safe and proactive.

I just wanted to say thank you for reading my blog this summer. I don't know that I'd keep blogging if no one were reading it. Your thoughtful comments were encouraging. Talk to you soon.

Stacy

Laptops in Latin America and the Caribbean

This week I read about laptops in Latin America and the Caribbean. (Most of it was in English.) Digital literacy is on the move and spreading around the globe. It offers reflections from schools who have used one to one computing; there is a range in views, the good and the bad. One of its links addresses mobile learning and all of the opportunities for students with technology. It opens a world of new opportunities for students.

Computing in El Paso

El Paso is experimenting with one to one computing. They are working with something called the Tip Program. They believe that they are doing well and benefiting from the latest technology. So far, it's been two years in the program, but they feel that they are "making great strides." They gave only positive feedback about the program.

WebQuests

This week out learning module really made me want a Hershey bar. The WebQuest on chocolate was very suggestive. I also liked it because it was fun. The Webquests reminded me of the BuILders we made for S.O.S. Clearly, we are in the midst of a learning trend. I like them because they are interactive for users. They seem so basic to operate...until we have to design one. I haven't gotten to use any WebQuests with students yet, but I do believe that they'd enjoy them.

Pros and Cons

One to one computing is a teaching style to be considered now. Some people feel that it is the best way to teach, others feel that it actually hinders learning. Some educators feel that using state of the art technology increases achievement. Others believe that students with computers get easily distracted and learning time is diminished with a concentration on the technology; other curriculum gets overlooked.

There are pros and cons of using and not using computers constantly. In my summer school class(es) of eighth graders, they often want to use the computers. (There are only two working computers.) In fact today, a few students told me that the Internet is better than books because it's easier to read information. I explained that they still need to know how to read a book. They disagreed. In part, they didn't want to do their work and were stalling, I believe. There were other students who didn't want to use the computers at all; they really must not have wanted to work. I'd never seen anyone refuse an opportunity to work on a computer before. That made me wonder if each student had an individual computer, would they use them (for work)?

Birthday Blog: Assisted Technology

Today is my birthday. Let us blog.

I'd like to take this opportunity to tell you about my uncle, Norman. He's in his eighties and lives alone. He rides the bus to go where he needs to go and has always been independent. Uncle Norman has been deaf for as long as he can remember. Grandma used to say that he'd had Whooping Cough as a baby and that's what caused it.

In any case, Uncle Norman has always had a few pieces of technology that work well for him. When we ring his doorbell, his hall light flashes; it's a red light bulb. He has a TTY telephone. That means that I call the TTY operator and he or she dials his phone number (which I give him or her). When Uncle Norman picks up the phone, I tell the operator what I want to say, then say "go ahead" and I wait for a reply from him. We go back and forth, usually briefly. I'm not so used to it; it took a bit of getting used to for me.

Uncle Norman also uses Closed Caption for television. Have you ever tried to keep up with it? It's got to be difficult enough to be deaf, let alone to haveto read so quickly.