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Technology in Education

et502's picture

Hesitating...

I’ve been hesitating to actually use my iPad - and no, I’m not writing this blog entry on the iPad. I probably could if I wanted to. But like I said, I’m hesitant. I know it will be really good for me, that I will benefit from the mental exercise...
But the thing is, it actually takes me a while to learn how to use a piece of technology. Like anyone else, I’m going through an adjustment period. So when I say I am able to use a cellphone or iPad, that doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m adept. And it will be much faster to just type this and submit it on my MacBook Pro (which I also don’t know how to use to its full capacity), than to try to use a whole other piece of equipment at the same time.

My boss keeps telling me that this generation needs to slow down - we’re too impatient, we don’t read the directions all the way through, overconfident that we’ll be able to just figure it out as we go. In class, I had a hard time paying attention to Olivia’s instructions - I was so eager to try out this new machine and start creating things! But as soon as class was over, I felt a sort of drag - “now what?” I think this is such a trend - we (my generation) are enthusiastic about something new (an instrument, a foreign language, an iPad) but as soon as we encounter difficulties - such as not knowing how to get from one App to another without going back to the main screen, or feeling slowed down by the unfamiliar touchpad - we hesitate.
chelseam's picture

Mapping Entanglement: Witnessing and Acting in our Built and Natural Environments

            When I began to formulate this fourth and final webevent, my intention was to continue searching for connections that could be formed between environmental health organizations and food justice groups. My plan was to think “group to group,” make official organizations talk to each other. But, then I began thinking about the individuals for who these organizations act and thinking about ways to connect individuals rather than exclusively the entities that seek to represent them. Kaye reminded me of Witnesses to Hunger, a project by Drexel Univiersity’s Center for Hunger-Free Communities.  Witnesses to Hunger began in Philadelphia in 2008 and asks women caring for young children who have experienced hunger and poverty, witnesses, to document their experiences. The project was created because “too often, policies and programs are created without the participation of the people who are most affected,” Witnesses to Hunger seeks to include the voices of those women who’s lives are directly affected by welfare related policies in the dialogue surrounding these issues. Here is a video from the project website:

 

                                           

 

MSA322's picture

Oh Technology

I am continuously amazed and convinced by the importance of technology and hyper reading. I really do think that Technology has become an extension of us, more like part of us, as if we're reaching out to outer space, to improve, to expand, to reach for the best and we rely on Technology to do that. Just like rubickscube said, the world wide web has enabled us to communicate in ways never thought of before. Tim Berneres-Lee showed us the initial intention of the web, to communicate and reachout to people, sharing information and creating that sense of community across the world. My mind and the way I think are becoming more and more technology-like, hyper reading, e-mailing, blogging, skyping and connecting with people from over the seas.

Hannah Silverblank's picture

“An Artificial and Most Complicated World”: Reading and Writing the Brain

“From the very start, the brain’s capacity for making new connections shows itself… as regions originally designed for other functions – particularly vision, motor, and multiple aspects of language – learn to interact with increasing speed. By the time a child is seven or eight, the beginning decoding brain illustrates both how much the young brain accomplishes and how far we have evolved… These three major distribution regions will be the foundation across all phases of reading for basic decoding, even though an increasing fluency… adds an interesting caveat to the unfolding portrait of the reading brain.” (1)

-Maryanne Wolf

 

jrlewis's picture

A Paper about how I Hate Grading Papers

This paper unfolds as a ribbon rolling off a reel...

ribbon role

I love being a teaching assistant, but I hate grading! The monotony of comparing minute differences in framing answers to the same questions is almost unbearable.  Trying to remember the best response is an exercise in tediousness, overwhelming repetition.  It is a task I dread every week. 

The first twist of the ribbon was…

alesnick's picture

Technology as a Medium for Learning

Lauren Maksym 

This student advocates for the usefulness of technology in the process of educating.

 

alesnick's picture

The Importance of Engaging Students’ Interest in their Learning

by Akua Peprah

A mentor is more effective in teaching when he/she manages to incorporate students' interests in the lectures. 

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