Second Assignment

Educational Technology
I have often thought of Educational technology as akin to a Mount Everest—an impossible challenge better left alone. Part of my angst towards it is the fact that it is such a wide encompassing field. Clearly we have, those of us in education, been exposed to it by attending “the super exciting instructional meetings” where platitudes are discussed through catchy words like technological synergy, globalization, or curriculum alignment. These unending meetings have done nothing but proven to be compulsory wasted time. And it is here that the problem lies; as general rule, the terms presented in education are simply too vast and in that vastness become nauseatingly unfocused, hence, inefficient.
However, all is not lost in the nebulous sea of knowledge. There are definite advantages in implementing technology in the classroom, as long as it addresses real problems and not those in the abstract world. This book addresses real life scenarios, whereby an educator could enhance his/her instructional capacity. Moreover, the author takes the approach that the socio-economic barrier can be addressed by technology. That is to say, current problems in education—such as lack of space, over-crowded classrooms, and overwhelmed teachers—can be patched up through a well developed technological approach. In fact, a well prepare teacher, as the books notes, can overcome challenging barriers by using just a bit of technology. For example, a teacher may use laptops to dually teach students technology and their current lessons and, thus, perform an exemplary integration model. If I recall correctly, the example the author refers to deals with a teacher who has to go into the hallway of her school, as there were no available space to teach her students. With a stroke of imagination, she checks out the school laptops and then develops an impressive lesson plan that addresses the needs of the students. I believe her inadvertent struck of luck lies in that she is successfully able to keep the students attention in an otherwise less than perfect situation—a busy hallway. In turn, she feels fulfilled and receives the gratifying emotion that, perhaps, initially turned her to teaching. A win-win situation…
Again and as the book illustrates, educational technology can and does advance education forward—so as long as it is done with specificity and not with generalities.

Emerging Technologies

Name some emerging technologies. How might they affect teaching and learning?

Theory and reality often clash as emerging technologies are discussed within the auspices of the classroom. In fact, the rhetoric often falls short of the reality—where old habits die hard and students generally surpass teacher technological knowledge. But all is not lost in theory; there are a few “emerging technologies” which are quickly becoming ever-more ubiquitous and indispensible in real application to the classroom and education as a whole. I will mention a few here and briefly describe an example of their immediate usefulness:
Interactive whiteboards
Interactive whiteboards allow educators in all fields to more easily incorporate students in the lesson, as it applies to writing text directly on whiteboards, sketching symbols, and presenting a-hands-on approach to literacy and reading comprehension.
Wireless Networks
School districts have come to rely heavily on wireless networks, and it is really difficult to think back to a time when the situation was not as it is. Of all the advances (implementation of emerging technologies, and the interconnectivity that this technology brought forth) this has drastically changed the model of education. Students are now capable of bringing their laptop computers and to directly incorporate/apply information on the fly. Teaching how to do research on electronic databases, creating class blogs, and accessing educational links can now be demonstrated and immediately put to practice by the student. And even though there are clear are socio-economic limitations to the access of this technology, all is not lost to a polar model of haves-and-have-nots. Students from economically humble backgrounds may not have the ability to procure a laptop, or certain school districts may not be in a financial situation to invest on this technology. Fortunately, the technological model predicts a movement towards economic accessibility which will hopefully make it common place in every school.
Tablet PCs
The presentation of emerging technologies in the classroom can continue with-out end. Yet, I’d like to mention one last device that has proven successful—tablet PCs. These devices are powerful tools in early literacy. Shape and handwriting recognition make it possible to sketch symbols and links as well as write text directly on the tablet with a stylus. They essentially bring a number of the benefits of the whiteboard and laptop to individual students that are younger and whereby the technology of such devices may across as intimidating or impractical for the age group.

Self Introduction

Hi Guys,

My name is Juan Gonzalez. I apologize for just now starting the blog. As you can probably infer from my tardiness, I'm completely ignorant of technology. In fact, I had to get direct step by step help from Dr. Wang just to get started. This is in fact the first online class that I take. Hopefully, the class will alleviate my fear of technology and allow me to enhance my teaching abilities.

Currently, I'm working at Petal High School as an English Teacher. In the past, I've worked as a family engagement and education specialist in Athens, Georgia--where I lived for eleven years and from where I graduated with a Comparative Lit. degree.

I will, however, mention that I have used Microsoft office and am familiar with the basic elements behind it--such as powerpoint, word, Access, and excel. Of course, I'm also familiar with listservs and, as evidenced by this, with email. Unfortunately, I'm unfamiliar with blogs, podcast, discussion board, and video clips.