Week+2+Discussion+Board

Week 2 Discussion Board:

I really like this reading. It is interactive and full of easy to access information about the technology available to us as educators, the Internet. It is so wonderful that the world wide web exists. Tons of information is at our fingertips. I am always looking for new ideas and different ways to incorporate technology into my curriculum and classroom. However, I do not believe in the incorporation of technology for the sake of incorporating it. It should enhance and support, not hinder and feel like we are doing just to do it. Some of my colleagues do so much with technology that some of the students complain about it. They do not see the point of the blogging, podcasts, GoogleDocs, etc. that they use in the classroom without explanation of why they are using said Internet technologies. Having said that, I feel that the Internet does matter a great deal. The article touches on how teachers guide student learning. They should also be guiding the students’ metacognition. Thinking about their own thinking is very important for students. This skill helps the students understand what they do know and what they don’t know and why they do or don’t know that information.

The main thing I like about the Internet is that it is constantly updated. New information is being posted and uploaded every second of the day. Using the Internet in the classroom with also prepare the students for their future. More and more aspects of life are going virtual and are becoming web-based. Students need to be able to discern which information is good and reliable and which sites provide biased or untested/untrue/unreliable information. This is a great skill for them to master for their future learning endeavors. It is also great that research can be conducted anywhere with Internet access. The kids are not tied to a classroom or a computer lab.

I already use the Internet in my classroom for research and collaboration. We use GoogleDocs while working in groups on a presentation so that everyone in the group can edit it, they can see the information as it is being typed, and real-time discussion and collaboration for the project can happen. As mentioned, the Internet can be a place of great information, or a place of questionable material. I have found it hard to keep kids focused on the task at hand when there is so much out there that can distract them: game scores, replays, music, pop culture, etc. There are many ways that I can as a teacher. I love using the Internet in my classroom!