REFLECTIONS ON BLOGGING

 Thank you to everyone who supported my Blog.  Here are some of your positive comments:

…I think it allows teachers to find good examples of different things as well as allow students to search for things…

…I feel when used correctly can have a strong impact on either how a student obtains information about a topic they are learning about or how they show what they have learned through a video clip…

…a great source to find out about information that might not have otherwise been available…

…I love Teacher Tube and the video link about Thailand that you provided…

…very useful to both parents and administrators…

…Technology is a great example of how schools are incorporating the interests of students and connecting it to whats going on in the school…

…technology will change how education is delivered…

Blogging can be a community of colleagues or friends to get together and exchange ideas. Where you can share your videos and photos, writings stories about living and culture..

Teachers can utilize with students to develop writing, share ideas and reflect on work being done in the classroom. Teachers can start a Blog for providing communication to students, parents, or other teachers. It can help with homework or other assignments. Parents  can see and comment on what their children are working on, or ask questions. 

In Thailand Blogging is very popular:

http://www.thailandstories.com/

http://www.thailandsocial.com/

http://www.thailandmusings.com/

http://twitter.com/thailandvoice

 If the surveys continue to show that the use of computers in schools increases learning capacity and not just provide novelty and distraction, then computers are an important next step in education.

Computers in Education Worldwide: Impact on Students and Teachers

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), about 35 percent of American public schools had Internet access in 1994. By 2002, that percentage increased to 99 percent.

http://www.ehow.com/about_5544014_history-technology-classroom.html

Student responses from 46 school administrations were included in the study and according to a survey of teachers, Gerald Knezek: Department of Technology and Cognition. University of North Texas Denton, Texas USA

Findings

• 91% of the participating teachers reported observing one or more indicators of higher level cognitive skills among their IT-using students.
• The majority of the researcher-observers also reported one or more students displaying higher level thinking behaviors during the IT-using class.
• The student metacognitive skills most frequently observed by researchers were: (a) analyzing problems, (b) evaluating one's actions, and (c) formulating appropriate questions.
• Teachers and researchers reported that the students in IT classrooms developed new strategies for working with peers, were very motivated, and enjoyed and became more self-confident in their work

Computer Schools: A Program for the Future

 Schools often use computers in an administrative capacity. This includes maintaining student records and managing school information. Computers may be used to track student attendance and grades. Many schools have email systems as a form of communication. 

School libraries often use an electronic system for locating books in lieu of the traditional card catalog. Each school district differs in its administrative uses of computers, with the budget playing a major role.

http://www.ehow.com/about_5393653_use-computers-schools.html#ixzz164vaysOn

Computer Schools: A Program for the Future

“There won’t be schools in the future …. I think the computer will blow up the school. That is, the school defined as something where there are classes, teachers running exams, people structured in groups by age, following a curriculum—all of that.” (Popular Computing, October 1984, p. 11)

Do you think that schools will change but not be all online?  Do you think it is possible that school administration may be centralized in one place like a government department that keeps all timetables, budgets and administration for all schools and the school buildings just have teachers and students.

APPLE'S iPAD FOR TEACHERS

'As the first real contender in the category of streamlined computing tablets, the  iPad’s potential remains undeniable,  in education. '

Best iPad Apps for Teachers:
http://teachit.squarespace.com/

iTALC's network-technology

http://italc.sourceforge.net/

Good for Classroom Management

We use this at Assumption and can supervise student using computer

When you install it you see what's going on in computer-labs by using overview mode and remote-control computers, lock workstations for moving undivided attention to teacher send text-messages to students, powering on/off and rebooting computers per remote

Grading students takes a lot of time for teachers and I think anything that can help with accuracy and time will be welcome. A good example of this is  Class Mate Grade book software makes it easy for teacher to calculate, manage and organize their grades.

http://www.mygradebook.com/