Technology moves at the speed of lighting nowadays, with something new always being developed. As that happens it can be good and bad for society. With technology developing so fast, it seems that there is a gap between how fast it is developing and the education needed for society to properly use it. One of the negatives sides of technology is that every child has a cell phone, and cell phones are being given to them earlier and earlier. Personally, my niece is 5 yrs old and is constantly using her mother's cell phone to go online.
One of the drawback's of technology and cell phones is sexting. I think the bigger question is if movies, tv, and games are rated and you can have settings for your tv on what kids can see, why don't cell phones have the same options ? Schools are trying to adapt to the fast moving pace of today by having technology education start earlier than it used to before, somewhere in middle school. I believe that either in the technology classes or in the sexual education classes offered in high school sexting and its consequences should be touched upon. But, the younger the kids the less likely it is that they will understand how dangerous sexting can be and the consequences it could lead too. This kind of education should mostly be left up the parents because this is a very personal issue that not all parents would handle the same, and they are the ones who must determine when they feel it is safe and appropriate to educate their child on any sexual issues, especially because parents can bring a suit against the school if they are not happy with what their kids are being exposed to.
The whole responsibility of this kind of education cannot be left up to the schools, but schools should have a responsibility to keep the parents informed when a serious issue like sexting arises. Both mothers of the girls who committed suicide stated that the schools were aware that this was going on, and one of the girls was also cutting herself and they did not notify the parents.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Copyright
Copyright is a body of original work that can be seen or heard, it cannot be an idea. Copyright laws protect the owners of these types of works, by giving them the permission to grant or deny other people from using their work for an amount of time. The exception to this rule is "fair use", which grants permission for copyrighted work to be used without having to ask for permission if it is used for scholarship, research, or teaching. Fair use has three limitations that must be followed ir order to be covered under it,it is dependent on the amount of the work borrowed compared to what the total work is, what kind of work is being borrowed, and it cannot affect the monetary value of the original work in the marketplace.
An educator can copy and distribute to the students copies of a copyrighted work as long as it is a part of the work, and not the whole thing such as a whole book. An educator cannot distribute a whole work to avoid purchasing it, because they would be affecting the market place value of that work infringing on fair use. But, photo copying a few pages or paragraphs of the book is acceptable for educational purposes.
Fair use is a great law, because it is meant to inspire members of society to come up with new idea and original work, in order to inspire new ideas students first must learn what came before so that they can build upon was has already been done, and be creative.
Sources used: Copyright and Fair Use. Faden, Eric. "Fair(Y) Use Tale: a Short Film." Center for Internet and Society. Stanford Law School Center or Internet and Society. 3 Nov. 2007.
Sources used: Copyright and Fair Use. Faden, Eric. "Fair(Y) Use Tale: a Short Film." Center for Internet and Society. Stanford Law School Center or Internet and Society. 3 Nov. 2007
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Flipped Mitosis Lesson
The flipped lesson was a challenge for me, i have had classes where this has been used but i was always on the learning end of it. It took me a long time to decide what i wanted the lesson to be about and then how to execute it. I kept going back and forth on whether i should show a video and talk over it or do pictures and describe the process. I decided to go with the pictures because i thought it would be easier to follow along as i explained. Finally, i chose to explain the process of mitosis.
As a follow up i asked the students to draw each step, because from personal experience you learn something better when you have to re-draw it yourself instead of looking at the pictures. When they come to class the next day with the drawings i will ask them to write a description of each drawing or step which will help the students put the pictures and whats happening together as a process, and then we will look at an animated video of the process occurring. When the students have understood the process, we will look at slides under a microscope to see what the chromosomes look like after they have reached Cytokinesis and have been stained for observation which will relate the process to real life. After that, i will begin with the next sequence which is meiosis.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Back to School NIght
Back to School Night is an important for parents who choose to be involved and learn more about what the new school year holds for their children. This is where they can learn about their children's teachers and what will be taught throughout the year. Having a power point presentation is an important aide in this process, because most of the time it is more engaging for the parents than just hearing the teacher speak. In my presentation i incorporated that the students will learn both biology concepts and 21st century skills, because both should go hand in hand, so that the biology concepts learned can transcend into everyday life.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Podcast on the Experimental Design Process
The attached podcast is designed to help create an experiment, it details the Experimental Design Process step by step. In the field of science, the experimental process is one of the most important processes one has to master. This process can be applied to anything one sees around them, and that would like to test an observation. In science research, this is how discoveries are made, and theories are tested. Experimental design is used to support or challenge your findings or some else's work.
Students are required to listen to the podcast, and design their own experiment for homework. Then they will have the opportunity to carry out the experiment and write a report on it. This podcast is an aide at mastering these steps and applying your skills, at first it can seem overwhelming but the podcast is meant to aide in the process.
Students are required to listen to the podcast, and design their own experiment for homework. Then they will have the opportunity to carry out the experiment and write a report on it. This podcast is an aide at mastering these steps and applying your skills, at first it can seem overwhelming but the podcast is meant to aide in the process.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
21st. Century Skills
In Today's day and age, 21st. Century skills are skills needed in order to be able to compete in the workforce and be a well rounded individual. As stated in The Workplace Readiness Article in order to be successful once entering the workforce, a person must have the correct foundation, which most likely will have come from their schooling, and right now there is big gap between people who are high school graduates and people who attended a university.
As Maura Banta stated in The Value of Teaching 21st-century skills are the skills necessary in order to be connected to the world around us. 21st Century skills are about the world around us, they include knowing how to utilize technology, being able to collaborate, problem solve, applied skills, etc. How could there be no room in schools to teach these kind of skills ?
Some of these skills have already been in our schools for a long time and maybe some critics might not see it, i remember learning how to use a computer, and in grammar schools especially the younger children are taught how to work in groups. The problem is that classes such as computers are optional and not mandatory for high school students, and once we pass kindergarten the collaboration aspect disappears, because it is discouraged as if it was a bad thing, and doesn't come into play again until we are adults in college. Not having team work projects in schools, and especially applied projects cause students to not be engaged in what they are learning, and if something is not understood there is no one else to ask. From my experience, every time i had a subject that was not to my liking such as math or physics i would keep saying what is the point where am i going to use this. When i took physics during my undergraduate, i had anxiety went about taking physics again, but this time my professor would explain a concept during lecture and then we would go out an apply to something in our everyday lives. He explained work by comparing it to going up the stairs in science hall, and we had to figure out the angles and slopes of of the stairs. All of a sudden it was engaging and made sense, and i wanted to learn more.
The critics, such as in the article Critical thinking? You need knowledge by Diane Ravitch, think that by teaching 21st Century Skills other subjects will suffer by limiting the amount of knowledge and time that are spent on them. How could this be possible ? 21st Century skills can be applied to a subject such as science, when making an applied experiment such as the stairs, the student is learning skills and gaining knowledge the difference is that they are applying the knowledge and not just being lectured. Once school is over, and it is time to join the workforce how is that student going to thrive if they don't know how to apply the knowledge they acquired to the job they have. It cannot be just about cramming in tons of knowledge, because nowadays everyone has Google at their
fingertips. Testing the knowledge gained will always be under question, because there are many variables. One is that not all students do well in standardized tests. But, there should be a nationwide standard on testing. If other aspects should be considered they should be like the ones considered by The Urban Academy, such as test scores, attendance, and college acceptance.
Knowledge and 21st century skills are the answer to creating a well rounded individual, which is what schools have always strived to achieve. As Alvin Toffler was quoted in 21st Century Skills: Will Our Students Be Prepared? "'The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.'"
As Maura Banta stated in The Value of Teaching 21st-century skills are the skills necessary in order to be connected to the world around us. 21st Century skills are about the world around us, they include knowing how to utilize technology, being able to collaborate, problem solve, applied skills, etc. How could there be no room in schools to teach these kind of skills ?
Some of these skills have already been in our schools for a long time and maybe some critics might not see it, i remember learning how to use a computer, and in grammar schools especially the younger children are taught how to work in groups. The problem is that classes such as computers are optional and not mandatory for high school students, and once we pass kindergarten the collaboration aspect disappears, because it is discouraged as if it was a bad thing, and doesn't come into play again until we are adults in college. Not having team work projects in schools, and especially applied projects cause students to not be engaged in what they are learning, and if something is not understood there is no one else to ask. From my experience, every time i had a subject that was not to my liking such as math or physics i would keep saying what is the point where am i going to use this. When i took physics during my undergraduate, i had anxiety went about taking physics again, but this time my professor would explain a concept during lecture and then we would go out an apply to something in our everyday lives. He explained work by comparing it to going up the stairs in science hall, and we had to figure out the angles and slopes of of the stairs. All of a sudden it was engaging and made sense, and i wanted to learn more.
The critics, such as in the article Critical thinking? You need knowledge by Diane Ravitch, think that by teaching 21st Century Skills other subjects will suffer by limiting the amount of knowledge and time that are spent on them. How could this be possible ? 21st Century skills can be applied to a subject such as science, when making an applied experiment such as the stairs, the student is learning skills and gaining knowledge the difference is that they are applying the knowledge and not just being lectured. Once school is over, and it is time to join the workforce how is that student going to thrive if they don't know how to apply the knowledge they acquired to the job they have. It cannot be just about cramming in tons of knowledge, because nowadays everyone has Google at their
fingertips. Testing the knowledge gained will always be under question, because there are many variables. One is that not all students do well in standardized tests. But, there should be a nationwide standard on testing. If other aspects should be considered they should be like the ones considered by The Urban Academy, such as test scores, attendance, and college acceptance.
Knowledge and 21st century skills are the answer to creating a well rounded individual, which is what schools have always strived to achieve. As Alvin Toffler was quoted in 21st Century Skills: Will Our Students Be Prepared? "'The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.'"
Thursday, October 4, 2012
NJ Technology Standards
The 8.1 & 8.2 sections of the NJ Technology Standards outlines the technological knowledge students are expected to have by the time they finish a certain school grade, anywhere from K-12. I expect to be teaching High School, and following the technology standards that should be completed by grade 12 in the educational technology guidelines, I will discuss and integrate them into a Biology project to accomplish these goals.
The educational technology goals are broken down into six separate strands, the first being Technology Operations and Concepts. The goal for this strand for 12th grade is to be able to construct a spreadsheet using a desktop publishing software, which includes data compiling, math functions, and charts to be able to interpret the results. Students should participate in online communities such as a social network, and be able to create a digital portfolio.
In the Creativity and Innovation strand students are expected to know how to construct a digital game where they can demonstrate that they can relate their skills to work on or solve a real problem.
Under Communication and Collaboration students should be able to work with others in an online community forum, and share "innovative solutions " to a real world problem.
The educational technology goals are broken down into six separate strands, the first being Technology Operations and Concepts. The goal for this strand for 12th grade is to be able to construct a spreadsheet using a desktop publishing software, which includes data compiling, math functions, and charts to be able to interpret the results. Students should participate in online communities such as a social network, and be able to create a digital portfolio.
In the Creativity and Innovation strand students are expected to know how to construct a digital game where they can demonstrate that they can relate their skills to work on or solve a real problem.
Under Communication and Collaboration students should be able to work with others in an online community forum, and share "innovative solutions " to a real world problem.
| For the Digital Citizenship requirement students must be able to analyze policies on privacy disclosures, hacking and cyber crimes impact on society, and international government policies on censorship for different countries. While also understanding the appropriate use of copyrighted materials. | ||
| The Research and Information Literacy strand requires the development of a team and global expert investigation plan, to synthesize a new solution to a world problem. Considering in field research, hypothesize the impact on society because of improper tools usage. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making requires students to use advanced research databases to find solutions to world problems. Students should also be able to analyze the good and bad aspects of emerging technologies such as cell phones and blogs on educational and personal needs.
In the scientific field, such as biology, everything that is learned applies to real life, after all biology is the study of life. In science it is very important to know how to work in teams, and communicate well with others since research takes places all over the world, and someone else's research might help you with yours. I want to plan a 2 person group
experiment where it is applied to a common problem that can be experienced
locally, and in other places around the world. Every winter when we have a snow
storm, the state sends out the plows to dispense salt pellets on the road. As
the snow melts, or cars drive over them they break down and end up in the
grass, plants, trees etc. How does all of this salt content affect the roots of the plants or
grass that where there before and will be there again as summer approaches
? I
would supply a few plants of the same kind, and they would need to water each plant
every time needed, with water and water mixed with different concentrations of
salt. At the beginning, I would ask them to hypothesize how the plants would
look every 1-3 months, using a program such as Photoshop. At the conclusion of
the experiment I would expect them to have a digital portfolio, including a
conclusion with supportive materials from other experts found online, a
spreadsheet with data collection, predictions, results in a chart, and answers
on how this problem affects the plants, and what impact it could have on
society. This kind of simple project has the ability to allow students to work as a team, build their knowledge, apply knowledge to a real world problem making science more interesting, and build on their technological skills.
| ||
Monday, September 24, 2012
Two Teacher's Websites
In last week's blog I observed at Ms. Lau's webpage and found that it was fun, interactive, and helpful. Ms. Lau's webpage was easy to navigate, and does a good job at integrating learning and fun using videos, Facebook, and even rap songs to learn biological concepts. This page was similar to Ms. Hanson's webpage in that it is also easy to navigate, is interactive using the flashcards to study, that made me feel like I wanted to learn Mandarin, and outlined all of the course objectives. It also has good outside links to a dictionary, and to a typing program. The biggest difference I found between these two webpages is that Ms. Hanson's webpage focuses on the student and the parent. It has sections for the parent to understand what Mandarin Chinese is, and how it is read or write it, and course objectives. Whereas, Ms. Lau focuses on the student, and not at all on the parents.While I do think that it is important to keep the parents informed, and this is a good way to do it, if I had to choose I would also focus more on the student's learning. Both webpages are very good, educational, detailed, easy to navigate, and an extension of their classrooms which is the most important aspect.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Week 2- North Bergen High School
North Bergen High School's webpage was overall acceptable, not stellar. The website is comprised of tabs at the top, where one is able to access all of the schools k-12 in the North Bergen district, and then you can be re-directed to the page of the school in interest by choosing the appropriate tab. Once I reached the North Bergen High School page i began to look through it. At first, i was impressed by the colors and pictures shown of different parts of the school, especially of the athletics.
On the right side of the website there are some shortcuts for faculty, students, and parents. Each tab should be able to help them reach some information in real time. For example, the parents tab allows them to log in, in real time, to access their child's attendance and grades. This feature is very helpful for some parents, and can keep them informed, i know this would have been a very helpful tool for some of my classmate's parents when we were in high school.
The website does provide some insight into the courses offered, and into the curriculum. It also seems to have a large focus on athletics. It provides contact information for each school, and shows the names and some information on each teacher. Although, most teachers did not have webpage, some did but only provided minimal information, i did find one biology teacher who did have a good webpage. Her webpage was up to date, it was geared toward her lesson plans, and even encourages her students to contribute information they would like to add to the site.
The best part of the NBHS website was their media center. Any student would be able to access the library catalog online through Bccls, get help making a bibliography, read newspapers etc.
The website is not stellar is because many parts seem to either be under construction, or have not been updated in a long time. For example, the dates provided under counseling for taking the SAT have passed long time ago. As per Dr. Mckenzie's Reasons for Websites, there also wasn't any extra information about outside sources, and no published works of any students which could be used to show the kind of curriculum used at the school. Also, there was no information under announcements, or in the calendars. Most importantly, I hope that the pages to the students and parents in real time show more information that is not available to just anyone who visits the page, because they have to insert username and password. Some parts were good and others not so much, i think that if the page was updated regularly it could go from acceptable to stellar.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Technology
Technology for me is a scary thought, sure i can use the most common programs that one uses most often, and i can use the internet for searches or different things. But, apart from that i am very technologically unfriendly, i have avoided technology as much as i can, mostly because i feel that since i don't know what things mean i always seem to do something wrong. When i try to change something in my computer i always manage to delete something i am not supposed to, or click on something i shouldn't on the internet and have damaged a few computer with viruses.
Even though technology intimidates me and i try to stay away from it, once i have someone walk me through it i can learn rather quickly, which is something that helped me tremendously in my current job. I have worked at my current job all throughout my undergraduate, as the CAD Dept. Manager in a manufacturing company. My job is productive and i do like it, but it is not my passion.
I have a bachelors degree is in Biology, and a minor in chemistry. Now, i am pursuing the Masters in Biology to teach in secondary schools, because i have always enjoyed teaching and helping others learn what i already know.
As i was reading the article assigned, Grow Your Personal Learning Network by David Warlick, i was impressed that there are programs that can keep us updated when certain keywords i might be interested in are found so that i can have the capability to go straight to something that i might be interested in. That feature can be very helpful in the world of science since every day there is something new to discover, and new studies and articles with different discoveries.
Technology integration is a great new thing, I have heard of schools now where each child has their own laptop and they can follow along on it, search further for something they are interested in, or something they do not understand clearly. I remember in my college genetics class my professor used to encourage us to bring our laptops and every once in a while during her lecture she would stop and say some new term and ask us to Google it and explain it back to her. I found that very encouraging because not only was it funny when she did that, but it grabbed our attention, and allowed me to learn more because i would find out more information when i did Google it. I think each child having the opportunity to do this is a great idea, and a great tool not only for the student but for the teacher also. Both can learn, the student by always being able to be communicated and find new information, but for the teacher it also allows for one to communicate and interact with other teachers. I hands down agree with the Learning to Change - Change to Learn video, technology integration will allow students to be more prepared for whats to come in the job market. The job market doesn't always want a textbook answer, it is very important to be able to research the answer, synthesize it, and communicate it not just memorize a right and wrong. This is an important change because while the world has taken giant steps toward being more technologically advanced, most classrooms still shut it out, which should not be there should be more of an integration between the two worlds.
Even though technology intimidates me and i try to stay away from it, once i have someone walk me through it i can learn rather quickly, which is something that helped me tremendously in my current job. I have worked at my current job all throughout my undergraduate, as the CAD Dept. Manager in a manufacturing company. My job is productive and i do like it, but it is not my passion.
I have a bachelors degree is in Biology, and a minor in chemistry. Now, i am pursuing the Masters in Biology to teach in secondary schools, because i have always enjoyed teaching and helping others learn what i already know.
As i was reading the article assigned, Grow Your Personal Learning Network by David Warlick, i was impressed that there are programs that can keep us updated when certain keywords i might be interested in are found so that i can have the capability to go straight to something that i might be interested in. That feature can be very helpful in the world of science since every day there is something new to discover, and new studies and articles with different discoveries.
Technology integration is a great new thing, I have heard of schools now where each child has their own laptop and they can follow along on it, search further for something they are interested in, or something they do not understand clearly. I remember in my college genetics class my professor used to encourage us to bring our laptops and every once in a while during her lecture she would stop and say some new term and ask us to Google it and explain it back to her. I found that very encouraging because not only was it funny when she did that, but it grabbed our attention, and allowed me to learn more because i would find out more information when i did Google it. I think each child having the opportunity to do this is a great idea, and a great tool not only for the student but for the teacher also. Both can learn, the student by always being able to be communicated and find new information, but for the teacher it also allows for one to communicate and interact with other teachers. I hands down agree with the Learning to Change - Change to Learn video, technology integration will allow students to be more prepared for whats to come in the job market. The job market doesn't always want a textbook answer, it is very important to be able to research the answer, synthesize it, and communicate it not just memorize a right and wrong. This is an important change because while the world has taken giant steps toward being more technologically advanced, most classrooms still shut it out, which should not be there should be more of an integration between the two worlds.
Friday, September 7, 2012
About ME
Hi everyone, i am Veronica Gonzalez I am married, and have 3 dogs. I am currently enrolled in the Masters for Teaching Biology in secondary schools and work full time as the design dept manager in a jewelry company. I am a little worried about this class because i am not very technology savvy, and this is the first time i have ever written a blog, but hopefully I improve as class progresses, and i am happy to learn something new.
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