Blog 2

I have used Microsoft Word often throughout high school and college. However, I have not used it in order to be creative before taking this course. For example, the newsletter assignment was very difficult for me because I have no prior experience or knowledge on how to go about making a newsletter. It took me hours to explore Microsoft Word and figure out how to work it because I have only ever used it in order to write papers and cite sources. After completing the newsletter assignment, I now realize that my teachers in the past used Microsoft Word to create different assignments, tests, or letters home to my parents.

In my own educational experience, plagiarism is something that has always been stressed about. Copyright and fair use of materials is always discussed while in college. We hear about it from each of our professors at least once a semester. They list the consequences of cheating or plagiarizing other’s work and remind us how serious this issue is. Recognizing the seriousness of this issue allows us to be creative and develop our own work which will affect us in our future careers.

Academic honesty is any form of cheating that occurs in relation to an assignment or academic exercise. Academic honesty within a classroom should be discussed at the beginning of the school year and mentioned throughout the remainder of the year. Plagiarism can be avoided by using turnitin.com which checks the percentage of plagiarism regarding a paper, but it can also be avoided by teaching students how to properly cite their sources. Cheating can be avoided by creating different forms of tests. Cyberbullying is something that is relatively new because of our advances in technology over recent years. This should never be acceptable and can be acknowledged by teaching students about the consequences of hurting others online. I do not believe that cyberbullying is something that teachers can provide a solution to because it is strictly through social media and can be done outside of the classroom, but it is something that they can try to help students avoid. Digital divide is caused by lack of money or resources. This is the space between those who have access to computers and the internet and those who do not. Educationally, it can be avoided by giving free access to computers for the students who might otherwise not own a computer. So computer labs or access to ipads would help those students remain connected to the internet like their classmates.

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Blog 1
Teachers and students use technology regularly these days for educational purposes. I feel that our generation influences this use of technology because it is almost expected of us to utilize it as a tool in creative ways. Technology allows for material to be more accessible which then makes the process of learning easier for students. For example, we no longer need to go to libraries to find out information. We have google, which allows us to look up almost anything we need to know. Although some sources are not quite as reliable, it still gives us a more convenient way of receiving information. Technology allows teachers and students to be more creative while learning while providing different modes of education to any type of learner. For example, power point slides can be used for visual learners, while videos or audio files might work best for those who learn best through hearing information. These positive aspects might influence whether technology is used within the classroom.

The ISTE standards are meant to create innovative learning environments in our digital age. It includes standards for students, teachers, educational leaders, technology coaches, and computer science educators. One standard that I find important is for an educator to also be a designer for his/her students. This allows the teacher to creatively form lesson plans that fit the specific needs of their students. I feel that this is important because some students have differing needs that need to be met for them to thrive within a classroom and the educators standards can assist them with helping students like that. One standard that I feel is outside my current skill set would be those for computer science educators, because I lack the advanced knowledge it takes to perform the tasks regarding technology.

Digital natives are individuals whom are born or brought up in the generation of technological advancements and therefore are familiar with technology. I believe that this term does fit youth today because we are a generation that has grown up using cell phones, computers, televisions, and so many other forms of technology and it plays a vital role in our every day lives. I feel that our parent's generation is rather familiar with certain types of technology such as computers because they need to use them for work, however our grandparents would more so be considered "digital immigrants" because they lack almost any ability to use technology. Growing up, we had projectors and televisions in our classrooms. I feel that although my teachers would be considered "digital immigrants" they knew how to use technology needed for educational purposes rather well. One important thing to mention is that, although we are a generation that has grown up using technology, I still feel that it is unfair to expect us to know how to use every form of it. A majority of students my age are familiar with only iphones, lap tops, speakers and televisions. However, this does not mean that we are familiar or comfortable using every form of software on each system.

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Initial Blog Post

My name is Brittiney. I am from Tampa, Florida and I graduated from Plant High School in 2016. I currently am working on my undergraduate degree as a third year. I am majoring in Family and Child Sciences and minoring in both education and psychology. My overall goal is to become a Child Life Specialist so that I can work with children or infants who need some sort of therapy or assistance during their time in hospitals. I enjoy working with young children and have always wanted to find a career that would allow me to do so.

Prior to this course, I experienced a variety of technology within educational settings. I recall projectors being used often throughout elementary school instead of white boards. I also remember going to the computer lab once a month with my classmates in order to complete educational tasks online. In middle school, testing on computers became an option and slowly became more popular in our school system because it saved paper and made it easier for teachers to grade the exams or quizzes that way. This is also when Smart boards were up and coming, which I used in a majority of my high school classes, along with powerpoint slides and kahoot. 

I am very bad at using technology other than my cell phone, so I hope to gain knowledge on how to use different modes of technology. For example, I have never blogged prior to this course so I hope that by the end of the semester I will better understand how to do so. I also want to learn things that could potentially help me in my future career in regards to technology. Maybe this course will give me ideas that I will be able to use as a Child Life Specialist.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.