Social Justice...or Tech Equality

“Access to instructional technology is not enough for today’s students. Students must be technologically fluent and able to use technology to solve problems with various sources of information, create new representations of their knowledge, and enhance their learning through the diverse strategies afforded by technology. Students without these skills are at a decided disadvantage in terms of future educational and employment opportunities in our global, technological, and information-based society.” I know this is a long quote but I think it is long and complicated way of talking about social justice. Also, I don’t feel the term social justice really fits this definition. Maybe it is my own perception but I feel it should have something to do with law enforcement. But I get it, I understand. We have a huge problem with dealing with students and school districts where money might be tight and technology experience and opportunities will be lacking.

I think this is going to be a huge problem. It is going to be something that isn’t going to go away and something that has to tackled head on. I want to believe we will have computers in the classroom with access for all students so they can accomplish tasks during school hours. But sometimes that just isn’t going to be possible. So what do we do…as of right now, I have no clue. If the school has the capability to have computers than a lot time will be spent working on projects in class so that each student has the opportunity to work equally on the computer no matter what economic status is.

A disservice to students by not using technology in the classroom is a rough way to put it. I am not sure if it is the right way to put it. I think it is more of a hit on the teacher and their teaching style if they don’t use the technology in the classroom. It is something right now in the age we live in that has to be utilized and used to our advantage. Why not use something that the school district provides (if they have access) and something the students love and are attracted to. It is something that is going to draw them in anyway, take advantage of that and use it to our ability!

The only way to make things easier on the students who don’t have the ability at home to be on the computer is to incorporate it into the class. If there are projects or assignments that need to be done with technology we need to have them in class so we can give them time. Class work time is vital to helping them get the time and experience they need with technology to advance with the assignment/project and be able to stick with the class. We need to be able to not single anyone student out for something they have no control over. By giving them work time during class, we can bring technology into the classroom as well as give every student the ability and opportunity to work with it!

PowerPoint....Yeah Baby!!

There was a lot of great information that was presented today through PowerPoint. There was obviously a lot of time that was put into it. The graphics and maps were awesome. A lot of old pictures and information that proved people did the research. What I liked the best was the video that was shown during the math PowerPoint about proportions, it was awesome. I am excited to teach math and hopefully be able to use some of this stuff that will engage students differently than they are used to.

The least engaging parts of the PowerPoint’s were when technology got the best of us. I know these are just little things but it is still a bit of a nuisance when stuff like that happens. We are all still new with PowerPoint so it catches us off guard and are forced to reroute our presentations. Once we have more experience with it, we will be okay. But it is hard to stay engaged when there was a huge emphasis on it with build up from the presenter. Just something we have to deal with!

I definitely don’t know all about PowerPoint. There are a lot of information and cool graphics/functions that I can learn from my cohort mates. They can do much more fascinating things with it than I can. I do like the interactive nature that a lot of people brought into their PowerPoint. I need to learn when to animate and when not to. I need help with all of the different layers that are involved because I feel if they were together, it would have appeared better!

While I don’t like to use PowerPoint, it fun to have a reference point when you teach. But it is very subject specific and with some subject, PowerPoint just doesn’t make sense. I have a hard time thinking about using this in math, but I know it can be done; thank you Noelle. It can be a great source of note taking for the students as well. However, I do fear that many teachers can lean on the PowerPoint as a crutch to lead the class. It is only a guide for the students and teacher; the teacher still needs to elaborate on the information. It is very nice to point to things on the board and not have to worry about changing transparencies.