Tues 500-650

The difference is very simple to determine. GIS is a system that is able to store a variety of information about geographic locations. It can produce maps but it is most known for being able to describe location rather than giving directions for it. GPS is a radionavigation system made up of 24 satellites and their ground stations. This system has many cool features that are now in many people's cars. THe system is able to guide you foot by foot and mile by mile to any location. This can be implemented in all classes and would really be beneficial to students in geography. But teachers need to know the differences between the two as well as how to use them so that they are able to show the class.

week 13 Drill and Practice

Drill and practice is one of my favorite strategies to use for test or any other skills. I think of sports when I hear drill and practice. Take basketball for example, you practice your free throws everyday for 4 hours using the exact same shooting technique. Eventually you are going to get better because you have practiced so much that it is almost impossible for you to miss. When it comes to education drill and practice has it pros and cons. Teachers use drill and practice techniques for things like multiplication. Students need to know these on command and drill and practice drills the information into your brain. This is good because once you have practiced these enough you will no longer have to practice because you will already know them. The con of drill and practice is that some teachers use drill and practice as a way of teaching and this isn't the correct way to go about teaching and learning. Students then begin to get bored and don't learn anything. A good way to deal with this problem is to only use drill and practice in moderation. And we need to be careful about what content areas we use it in because drill and practice techniques don't have the same effect in a reading class as it does in a math class.
So we just need to make sure that we aren't using it our only method of educating our students.

Week 11 discussion Tues 5:30-6:50

Some educators feel that distance technologies will greatly improve education; some feel education will suffer if they are overused. What are factors you can cite in support of each of these positions?

Distance learning definitely has its great sides. There are so many people who can benefit from distance learning. Those who are full time workers and don't have transportation to school, disabled learners who physically can't make it to school. There are also those who care for other people that need assistance 24 hours a day. There's even the stay at home parents who work at home and simply would prefer to take an online class. Students can also be given assignments that involve traveling and the only way to stay in contact with teacher is through distance learning. There are many more beneficial ways that distance learning not only improves learning, but accomodates and modifies it as well. On the other hand, distance learning only allows for cyber communication. I feel that this hurts socialization and people skills that are necessary in everyday life. It also demotes critical thinking because the learners that get readings and assignments can easily look for help when asked to think critically and do responses. So if not careful, I guess you could say that distance learning has the ability to promote laziness.

Discussion 9 EDED 4310

Describe issues related to training special education teachers to use technology. Give examples of no-tech, low-tech, and high-tech solutions for special students.



the most major issue that special education teachers face is the lack of or minimal experience in technology. We all take a technology course in college like the one we are in now. But 16 weeks of technology lessons really isn't enought. Especially since technology is changing so often at a very rapid pace. The use of assistive technology teams is also a factor in decision making. They usually deal with the technology aspect for the students and often times they teachers don't have a say so in what technology device is going to be used. The assistive teams are the ones who teach the students how to use the technology and determine what type of device should be used. The teachers really don't have a say so in the matter.

No technology means taht people are used or relied upon more than technology. This means that teaching a person to use the body they have rather than technology. ex: a person with one arm would practice one handed typing rather than a voice recongnition software.

Low Technology is almost similar to no technology in a sense that none or minimal devices are used. Personal word lists, high lighting markers and organizing materials are provided to help students be successful.

High technology are advanced equipment such as electrical/hydraulic lifts, electrical wheelchairs, and voice activation systems. Any device that does the majority or all of the work for the students is considered high technology. Students with severe disabilities will benefit more from high technology devices.

james ibarra

week 7 blog EDED4310

What are the "history wars," and what are their implications for technology use in history?
With students' ready access to information on the Internet, what might be the concerns of social studies teachers?

The history wars have been debated and talked about for a long time now. It is basically the argument for which social studies or history topic should be taught in today's classrooms. Many feel that schools should focus primarily on history and civics. History is such a big subject and as the years go on we will continue to make history. 100 years from now, critics will have the same argument. Should schools focus more on the civil war, alamo and slavery, or should they focus more on the war in irag, afghanistan, history changing events like President Obama becoming president. Teachers need to use the autonomy they are given and control their classrooms and make a professional decision on what tehnology integration strategies benefits their students the most.
One major concern for teachers on their students ready access to the internet and resources would be the validity and reliability of the sources. This is always a concern because you don't want your students reading false information.
james ibarra

week 5 discussion

Many educators believe that with the growth of media and information technology, media literacy is just as important as – or even more important than – print literacy (that is, learning to read and write).

What is your position on the relative importance of the two “literacies”?

First, I want to start by saying that I think media literacy is very important. Now more than ever, technology is be implemented into pretty much anything. You go to a sporting event, you don’t see them writing the score on paper and showing it to the crowd. You see technicians in putting the score on an electronic device that is able to output the score on a screen for the crowd to see. There are many other examples for technology and its uses. The point I’m making is that most or all occupations will involve using or at least having to read technology at some point. But what gets me is that educators think that it is more important than print literacy. I believe that print literacy is the foundation for all literacies including media literacy. Without this basic fundamental skill, we wouldn’t be able to read media literacy or comprehend it because we wouldn’t have the skills to do so. Chapter 8 discusses how technology isn’t perfect. It breaks down, needs repairs, upgrades, and gets infected with all kinds of viruses. There will be a time when we are going to have to shy away from technology and do things the old fashioned way for a day or two. Not knowing print literacy would handicap us all. So if I’m still unclear, I think both literacies are equally important.

James

week 3 discussion

James Ibarra
EDED 4310 Tues
9-9-09

Here is my response to the discussion for this week.

1. Is this woman crazy? Her plan is definitely not a good one. First, students need to be supervised in the computer lab at all times. Being able to trust them is fine if you need to step out in the hallway or something to speak with another teacher, but going back to the room and leaving them in there unattended is out of the question. I wouldn’t worry about my students leaving the lab without permission. I would be more worried about them getting off task and going to inappropriate sites. Kids will be kids.

2. This email thing is also not a good idea. Neither the students nor the teacher know who these experts are. They only know of them. Students should never give out their names to anybody they don’t know. I’m shocked to see that they are giving them personal information such as their address and personal emails and obviously I don’t agree with it.

3. I understand that the teacher wants them to use technology so maybe she could still have them contact the person by web mail but through a secure site. Then, rather than give personal information to a stranger, the students could have the experts respond to them by sending a letter of the description to the school address. This is something that I would try.