Technology Literacy and the MySpace Generation by Susan McLester

This article talks about the amount of access "digital natives" have to information. It also mentions how the NET standards were implemented to allow people to become fluent in computers and other multimedia. However because of the rapid rate technology changes, they have become a tad obsolete. Children nowadays know more about the programs than the teachers who try to teach them. The article also talks about the increased amount of open source programs. Because they can be built upon and developed to suit different needs, they are a more attractive option than companies like Microsoft. I think that because of the rapid rate of change of technology, and how long it takes to standardize and implement standards nationwide, it would not be the best idea to try to implement standards regarding using technology to teach students. By the time the standards were implemented, they would be obsolete. I do feel that technology should be used to educate, but it should be up to the districts and state school boards to ensure their teachers are up to par. After reading the article, my attitude towards allowing children to use technology has not changed. I feel technology is a great tool that, if used properly, can significantly enhance a students participation and learning.

Q1 Why try to ban social networking programs from schools when there are so many ways around it (web proxies)?

I think they ban them because of the social justice involved. For instance, if two students were upset with eachother and posted mean comments on their myspaces about their rivals, the school would be liable if they did it from the school computers. Rather, they would be liable if they did not take steps to prevent them from being able to do that.

Q2 Why would states want to try to implement technology standards when many students have a better understanding of the technology than their teachers, and when the standards would be obsolete by the time they were implemented?

I think it comes down to accountability. The standards would hold teachers accountable for understanding technology so that they could enhance student learning. Also, despite the aptitude of students, some (including myself) would argue that students could always learn something from their teachers, even if they are better in some aspects of technology.

Chatting it Up Online by Pamela Livingston

In Chatting it Up Online, Pamela Livingston talks about how online discussion boards and chat rooms can be used to enhance student learning. She used one to allow her students to talk to the author of the Magic Tree House series. She mentions what a great time the children had and how much they learned not only about the books and the author, but about the writing process as well. She also talked about how cumbersome the process can be. You have to make sure the school is wired to handle all of the students on the computers. You also have to decrease some firewall issues on the computers. She also talked about how crazy the chatroom can be with all the questions flying around and having to search for your answers. She also talked about the certain etiquette involved with chatting in one of the rooms. I think this is a great way for students to learn. It allows them a unique way to learn and have fun doing it. It also allows for children to get interested in learning and task they might not find interesting (like reading).

Q1 What are all the rules of etiquette involved in chatting online?

It would be pretty easy to find out all necessary etiquette rules for chatting online. If you google searched web etiquette, you could find something on it. Also, given how integrated the internet has become in everyday life, there is probably a book around somewhere on it.


Q2 What exactly would it take to set something like this up in a class?

Aside from having to find all the computers, you would have to talk to your schools information technology people to find out what they would need you to do. Most of it would be done by IT, but there would be some things, probably like finding a host site to chat on, that you would need to do as a teacher.