Category: HW #7: Article/blog post review

[HW#3/ Note Taking as Stenography]

October 6, 2016 / abdelmajid / 2 Comments

This article by Jay Sterling Silver (Law professor at St Thomas University School of Law) “Note taking as stenography” from Inside Highered is about why laptops are prohibited in classrooms. The author focuses on notes taking in class by students using laptops and how that affect their learning process. The author talked about the MIT research that went against using laptops in classrooms, He said “The institute of technology finding that students-unable to resists the sirens of the internet during class performed better when laptops were not permitted in the classrooms” At first, professor Jay supports using laptops in classrooms witch is against the MIT research, he thought that laptops will accelerate the notes taking and the learning process of students. But then by experience, he found out that students don’t remember their notes, instead they just write them in their laptops.

I have picked this article because now days laptops and tablets are this current generation most used devices, and of course educators are debating weather to use them or not. Education have gone digital. Now colleges and universities are offering online courses, in addition most of the schools expect all the students to have some sort of a similar device. But the issue is it this technology is beneficial or not in the learning process and this article have a good point about that matter.

I agree with the author and the MIT research about prohibiting laptops in the classrooms, because laptops can be distraction to students. Everyone admit that laptops are effective when it comes to taking notes, they are easy to save access and reviewed, students can type almost everything the teacher say. But the problem is laptops most of the time prevent students from paying attention due to increasingly of social media. In addition, Students don’t usually think about what they type, according to the Author “My best Guess is that today students keyboard skills are sufficient to allow them to mindlessly record what’s said in the class, like a secretary too hurried taking dictation to think about what’s actually been said.” When I first started college, I debated whether I buy a laptop so I can bring it to class and take notes. But After I asked many of my classmates, I came up to a conclusion that laptop can be a distraction in class. I know that I am on the social media most of the time like everyone else. In addition, a lot of the time when I try to type something in the computer (psychology lab in a psychology class last semester as an example) I always miss what professor says next because my mind is too busy looking and typing in the keyboard”.

So in my opinion I think that laptops can be useful in classroom only if students will work on a software like Maple Geoggebra or programing like in computer science. And right now most of the classrooms that requires that software’s have computers so I don’t think students should bring laptops to classrooms.

“HW #7: Review of Learning Matlab in the Inverted Classroom”

October 6, 2016 / Tyniqua / 3 Comments

This article discuss the difference between the traditional classroom and the inverted classroom of university leveled courses. The traditional classroom entails the student teacher relationship, where students come in receive a lecture, take notes, and may ask questions. Then they take the information from the classroom and show what they learned through take home assignments. These assignments are submitted and students are assessed by the professor to determine whether or not the students are learning in any given course. As noted by the author, this cycle repeats itself. The author posits STEM courses tend to be an exception to the traditional classroom and they lean towards a more inverted classroom where most of the transmission of the material is learned at home rather than by the professor during class time, unlike the traditional classroom, leaving more time for assimilation of the material given. This type of learning structure is becoming more and more common among grade levels K-12 along with college leveled courses. These courses that include lab time, project, or problem-based learning tend to be highly effective in prepping students for real life experiences in their field of study.

The author used a study done by the creator of Matlab, a pedagogical tool used for problem solving, particularly for engineering students. The creator designed a course surrounding Matlab and the computer program was deemed to be more effective than the previously used programming textbooks. The students where able to be assessed quickly at the start of a class, followed by hands on learning using Matlab, which is helpful in learning codes for computer programing and input. Although, according to the study, the students had mixed feelings on the computer program in terms of how much they found it useful in areas outside the course. As noted by the author, the thought of an inverted classroom places the learning on students and has great promise for deepening students learning when used effectively.

I have concluded, from years of experience, that an inverted classroom is a highly effective method of teaching and learning. I find that technology is all around us and we should use it to our advantage. I have learned that students tend to respond better to hands on learning, which I call active participation, than a lecture from a professor. Also, students do not have to worry about the pressure put on them to finish take home assignments or referring back to their notes to finish a task they should of learned during transmission. I find that the material sinks in more and the students get a chance to share and learn from one another.

I picked this article because it spoke on the computer program Matlab. I have taken an introductory course for engineering and the main program we used was Matlab. I found it to be very helpful and easy to use. I enjoyed using the tool and did very well in the course. We also did our homework and assessments using the program. Like the students in the study, I have not used Matlab outside of the course but then again I am not an engineering major. Still, I found the course more enlightening because of this program and would recommend other professors to find a way to implement it in their technology and math courses. More over, I believe learning should be fun and sometimes our new advancements in technology can be geared to achieving that goal. Even though, nothing beats an experienced professional guiding students to meet their potential a more hands on learning experience may be the key to a more effective learning experience.

Hw#7: Study: Emerging Technology has Positive Impact in Classrooms

October 6, 2016 / Luis lora / 1 Comment

The article Study: Emerging Technology has Positive Impact in Classrooms by Ryan Lytle from the U.S news discusses the many pros and repercussions of technology in a classroom. In the article Lytle interviews teachers and asks them why do they need technology in order to teach? One teacher replied it was an effective tool to help students do there their classwork at home and come in with questions about the work in the day. She mentions the fact that technology should be used in a way as not for experimentation but, for those who desperately needed it. Lytle points out the fact that many schools are given the budget for technology such as mac computers, tablets and do not use them to there full ability. In the article teachers share strategies for use of technology ranging from delivering lectures online to developing information systems which, would allow students access to a library wherever they go around the campus. Lytle raises an important question when he asks about the expenses towards lower income schools? Generally schools with staggeringly low income areas hardly receive the help needed and adding technology will only lower the budget for other things such as textbooks, school materials. He also raises the question using an example such as if a school district has 500,000 students in 64 schools and obtains only 100,00 computers who than gets them? The repercussions are great when experimenting with a method not knowing if the results are good or bad. Lytle also mentions that while having technology can be both good and bad in some cases no one stops and asks the teachers about their opinion. One teacher says that instead of using large amounts of money on a approach that may not work to use it to better train teachers which are the source of learning.

My ideals about technology are similar to those of this article. In a way i say if you are effective with the technological object then yes you deserve it but, to give schools all these different techs and expect great results is just obscene . I have worked in classrooms using cubes, shapes, compasses and have received knowledgeable results on my part. The controversy stems from many sides with beliefs that students are growing up with more gadgets than the generation before so we should teach them with new “mac computers”. Yes many fields require computer programs so give those schools the necessary means. I am not imposing on the basis of not having technology though it may seem like it. I agree with giving schools resources because i would want it in my classroom as well. I think smart boards , projectors are useful tools in a teachers belt. I am considering providing lectures online for my students and doing the homework in class as a experiment. For that i need all my students to obtain access to the social web.

HW#3: Review of [How Does Technology Influences Student Learning][Zhu, Mei]

October 6, 2016 / Mei Zhu / 2 Comments

The implementation of technology in the classroom has a positive effect in students’ learning process and outcomes. This paper claims that explicit learning standards and objectives support the effectiveness of technology greatly. Taking advantage of technology in the school work, students will be able to apply content knowledge to real-world situations and be more interested in the text. Also, the paper addresses the involvement of technology develops students’ higher-order thinking skills by utilizing technology as a tool to present their works with a full picture with events. Lastly, the paper discusses the advantage of technology in preparing students for the workforce by enriching the experience of communicating ideas and information.

I agree with the statement that the combination of technology and learning standards will strengthen students’ understanding of the content. From elementary to high school, the most advanced technology is calculator. When I entered college, I learned more software to learn Mathematics. I learned how to use Maple during my first semester in college for calculus class. I found it very useful to plot complicated graphs, to calculate integrals and derivatives of a function, and to make a conclusion based on the results. Gradually, I started learning Geogebra for my Geometry and Modern Algebra projects. Using technology as a tool helped me understand the concepts better and saved me a lot of time in drawing pictures with measurement. Recently, I do not have any experience of applying technology in real-world situations; however, I believe that people do use technology to solve life problems. Except social interactions with the social media, people can use computer to make a model and to test outcomes. I learned to use R to make a random walk model by assigning different variables in a research. I guess that it may be the starting point of applying technology into real life.

I am definitely with the last point that technology brings work opportunities. For example, we can write the software we are expert in onto our resumes. As future teachers, learning to use more software and being able to convert among them will help me to become a more flexible teacher. Students might get bored with paper worksheets, so teaching students to use technology to study and have fun might be a good approach to raise students’ interest in learning.

http://educ116eff11.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/44935610/Article.StudentLearning.pdf

HW # 7 “Does Using Technology Help Students Retain Information They Learn?”

October 6, 2016 / Gary / 1 Comment

In the article the author begins talking about how the students in a 2nd grade class were able to use power point in the class. The author talks about integrating technology into the lesson. The article also talks about the positives about using technology in the classroom. Giving surveys to the students and asking questions to know how much does technology affect the students. Talking about how technology technology is a good thing for students in the classroom. The author learned that when students were using technology in the classroom that the students aren’t afraid to try things and also that the children are growing up in a world where technology plays a big part. From the reading the students were able to remember more from using the computers in the presentations.

From reading the article I like how the the author had questions that they were wondering about and found the answers that they were looking for. I like how the author uses students from a middle school for his inquiry. I like how you start off with a simple topic of trying to explain powerpoint to the middle school students. I think that the research that the person did with the middle school students was smart because teaching technology to younger generation is a good way to with learning technology in schools. I enjoyed the questions that you still had from doing this experiment with the middle school students.

Homework #7: More Colleges Plunging Into Uncharted Waters of On-Line Courses

October 5, 2016 / Bless / 1 Comment

At the beginning of the article the writer shows how important technology is in education by mentioning competition between the Universities in Florida; also, he mentions how professors using technology into their courses. No College was sure that on-line program would be effective because it costs a lot of thousands of dollars to design one course. However, they did not realize the benefit of it for the hardworking parents who desperate wants to go to college. For instance, Michele Acuna, a 34-year-old mother with 2 teenagers, who could not assist campus courses due to her work schedule. Fortunately, she was able to take on-line courses using her laptop in her bedroom every night for five weeks in order to achieve her goal. Another example is Jeremy Carlo, a sophomore student, who could not assist a campus course due to the schedule. He took it on-line and he was pleased to it because he stated that “it was nice that you did not have to be somewhere from 4 to 5:30. Furthermore, the writer explain the value of on-line program not only by the growth of on-line classes in several universities but also with the statement of American Association of Universities Professors, which is “ on-line learning could be “a valuable pedagogical tool to increase access to higher education.

In my opinion using technology in education is a step forward to break down barrier between hardworking parents who want to accomplish their college goal and work. Furthermore, on-line program breaks boundary for those who have preferred college or University; also, it makes it easy for procrastinators to assist classes because of its flexibility. Some professors and Dean from high rank colleges and universities do know the necessity of technology in education, but there are still doubted the system maybe because they fear it might take away traditional campus courses or maybe they fear it might not bring revenue.

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/02/us/more-colleges-plunging-into-uncharted-waters-of-on-line-courses.html

Review of “Is Technology a silver bullet for language teaching and learning?”

October 4, 2016 / Evelin / 1 Comment

Overall the main idea of this article was using technology in classrooms to teach language. It demonstrated both the pros and cons of involving technology in the classroom. The pros of using technology when teaching language is that there will a variety of different teaching styles in the classroom, more independence among the students and as well as getting students to get more involved with others. As Ellie Paull stated, “they add another string to my bow as a way of presenting new information and checking their understanding.”Although these pros seem to be very convincing to prove that technology is a good tool to be used, but there are some cons as well. By using technology as big a part of your lesson you’re going to deal with a lot distractions, as well as setting up the technology tools, and sometimes even help explain how to use it. These technical difficulties might take away from the main objective.

Now my opinion about technology being used in classrooms can go both ways. I do believe that technology should be more involved in classrooms. As I see it, everything around is becoming more of using technology rather than the old style. Getting students to get more of early hands on is great, as long as it can be balanced out with the main objective.

HW #3: Review of “The Impact of Classroom Technology on Student Behavior”

October 3, 2016 / Josiel / 1 Comment

Review:

This research was very interesting because I got to see the impact of technology in classrooms that currently have it, don’t have it, and what would happen if we were to remove technology from classrooms that do and do not have it. Some of the students responses at the end of the study was surprising but it did allow me to see a different perspective on technology in the classroom.

Summary:

We live in the computer era. Technology is everywhere. We have computers, laptops, tablets, cellphones, etc. The amount of information we have at our fingertips is incredible. The majority of people need technology to function in their lives. This use of technology is moving into the classroom and if not all classrooms should have it by now, well at least some form of it. But it isn’t a matter of using technology in the classroom, it is a matter of how effectively it is being used. Students in a university were invited to participate in a study that studied the effects of technology in the classroom. Some students would answer a survey on how technology would affect their learning if the instructor explicitly said they did not use technology in the classroom; and some students would answer a survey on how the absence of technology would impact them.

The results of this study concluded that technology in the classroom has a positive impact on students’ behavior. Interestingly enough, removing technology from a course have different impacts. Some students say it has a positive impact on the amount of study time they receive and some students say that it can decrease their attentiveness in the classroom and the amount they learn. But technology does have an impact for “- student preparation for class, attentiveness, quality of notes taken, student participation in class –“ (Angeline M. Lavin, Leon Korte, Thomas L. Davies).

Opinion:

Although this isn’t an article, I agree with the results from the study. In my opinion technology in the classroom does improve students’ participation, and the quality of the notes they take. The results from the study proved that to be true even though it was a study done on one university and not many. If a student is in a class where the instructor is just lecturing, expect the student to fall asleep or forget what is happening. Technology does increase attentiveness.

HW #7: Article/blog post review – Due Thursday, October 6

September 29, 2016 / Kate Poirier / 13 Comments

There are lots of ways to consume information about technology in the classroom. Later in the semester, you will be reading and presenting formal research papers in the field. For this homework exercise, you’ll perform a much less formal review. Post your findings here on the OpenLab.

Instructions

Find an article or a blog post anywhere on the internet that discusses technology as a pedagogical tool.
Before you write your review, include a link to that article/post as a comment on this post to claim it as yours. Make sure none of your classmates have already chosen the same article/post.
Write a one- or two-paragraph summary of the article. (Write your summary so that when your classmates read it, they’ll know what the main points of the article are, and can decide whether they would like to read the article for themselves.)
Write a one- or two-paragraph statement expressing your opinion about the points made in the article. (You don’t have to be super precise here; you can discuss the points in the article whether you agree or disagree with them based on how they relate to your own experience.)
If the website where you found your article/post is not that of a well-known media organization, include one sentence about the kind of website it is. (For example, if you choose a blog post, the “About” section of the blog should tell you a bit about who the post author is.)
Submit your review, along with a link to your article/post as an OpenLab post. Title your post “HW #3: Review of [title of the article/post you’ve chosen].” Select the category “HW #7: Article/blog post review” before publishing your OpenLab post.

How to choose an article/blog post

You have some flexibility in terms of what you choose to review, but there are some rules you must follow:

Read a few different articles or blog posts before selecting one to review.
The article/post you choose must express an opinion about technology in the classroom, report on an academic study about technology in the classroom or discuss specific strategies for using technology as a pedagogical tool.
The article/post you choose should support its arguments with evidence.
The article/post you choose cannot simply report on a type of technology being used, or how widespread its use is. It cannot be a “how-to” guide for using a particular technology yourself.
The article/post you choose cannot be published by a company that is writing to promote its own product.
The article/post you choose should be long enough that it is insightful in some way. Your summary/opinion should tell us why it is insightful.
The article/post you choose should be short enough that a fast reader could read it in under 15 minutes. (For example, you should not review a scholarly research article.)
If you have an article/post in mind and aren’t sure whether it is appropriate, link to it in the comments on this post and explain why you’re unsure. Leave enough time before the deadline to choose something else if I determine it’s not appropriate.
The article/post you choose should be written in English. If you find something that’s written in another language and that you’d really like to review, link to it in the comments on this post and explain why it appeals to you. Leave enough time before the deadline to choose something else if I determine it’s not appropriate.