A paragraph about why you think computers are an important part of the educational experience and critical concerns related to how teachers and students use computers. Use Chapter 1 to find appropriate terminology and get you thinking. Do you agree or disagree with issues raised in Chapter 1? Why or why not?
A paragraph on how you think you will use computers in your classroom. Use the textbook (Ch 1) to get ideas. What do you hope to learn in this class to help you achieve these goals?
A paragraph on anything you would like to share/discuss with your classmates, especially if it applies to this course, technology in general, or your future career. Just have fun!
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Being an English Education major, I can appreciate the convenience of the computer, whose technology applies a little more in this subject area than others. Now, fundamentally, you have lesson plans, schedules, emails, basic document drafting; basically, Excel, Word, and Publisher will remain on my Desktop at all times.
Teaching Secondary Education makes the entire teaching industry just a bit more difficult. Attention spans are a little longer than Elementary educators are allowed, but the population in question has grown up in the technology age, and quite possibly may know more about it than I do. A self-evaluating computer literacy tool may be effective. Many students may not own a computer. I will ensure resources are provided to them.
So what is a teacher to do? Well, in regards to the ever-shrinking attention span, I feel Powerpoint will be a useful tool in relaying information. No more transparencies, please. Through the use of Powerpoint, I will save time in creating lessons that will be both educational and visually appealing, hence maintaining students' interests that much longer. With the convenience of Internet, I can post those very lessons online for the student who slept through the entire lecture or the girl who caught mono, again. (I don't judge)
Now, I am teaching English. In class we discussed the possibility (ahem, certainty) of plagiarism occurring in upper level courses. I'm not one to assume that my sweet, little high schoolers will cheat on their homework or midterm assignments. But, to be on the safe side, my first lesson of the year will be on researching tools. The foundation to a good paper is effective research, after all. So, with google and wikipedia blocked from their computers, I push askjeeves.com and elibrary.com (I pray my school has a research archive account of some sort). How to judge credible resources (askjeeves.com!) from faulty resources (google....).
Lastly, PROPER CITATION! Citing resources was scary until I got to college. My history professor, Mr. Griffith, handed out a citation guide with examples of footnote citation. He ensured us that for any and every paper we ever wrote for the rest of our lives, this would be the Holy Grail of citation resources. And so it has (I have, like, eighteen copies of it now). Having students understand one universal method of citing resources that will carry on with them throughout high school and college is the most appropriate lesson an English teacher can proctor.
I seriously hope there isn't a lab of computers lingering around my classroom. Call me crazy, but I'm teaching English and a classroom full of potential Facebook pages isn't my cup of tea. A few computers available for student use, a projector of some sort, my own computer...I'm good to go. Simple and efficient. I like the sound of that.
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