Cool Site

This is a pretty neat site that I saw recommended on #edchat...check it out--it may also get us thinking more about our discussion on "Laptops in the Classrooms"

OOGLE

A while back I was going to look up something on Google and forgot the G when typing the web address, but to my surprise a search engine came up...It was actually quite funny too because underneath the search box it read, "Due to the current state of the economy, G has been laid off." I thought that was kinda clever!! Anyways, it is no longer this way?? When I go to oogle it says, "something new is on its way." Did anyone else notice this before it changed? Does anyone know what happened to it or for how long it was there?

Technology Integration in the GARDEN??!!

Last week I went on a field trip to the 4-H Children's Gardens on Michigan State University's campus and to my surprise technology plays a huge role! Walking through the garden was very exciting as an adult, so I can only imagine being a child in the garden and never wanting to leave or begging to go back! The neat part about the gardens is that you can visit them online so you don't have to be there to explore the wonders!! The website is just like you're actually there...it is so incredibly interactive! When you enter the garden you can select where you want to explore first--you can choose the dance chimes (and play with them as if you were actually there) or the pizza garden, enchanted garden, the garden maze, harry potter garden, cereal bowl garden...the list is never ending! While you are visiting the website you can learn information about each section of the garden and play interactive games too! You can even view built in videos, send e-cards, ask questions and magnify your 360 degree view! One of my favorite features, make sure your volume is up!!, is when the train goes by!! The train that may be annoying to college students as it passes every ten minutes is the neatest thing for the children to look at through the wooden fence holes and see and hear while navigating online!
The gardens have become a national leader in the integration of technology to enhance and expand the hands-on garden experiences. Visit the gardens and take a closer look for yourself! (the website is currently under construction) Some other ways in which technology has been integrated include: Wondercasts, an on-line Wonder Wall (where you can post, draw/upload pictures and participate in real time chat with others who are on), wikispaces, web cams and digital cameras. I think this integration is absolutely awesome! Children can enhance their learning and have fun doing so while familiarizing themselves with some of the many important technologies that will help them, and possibly be demanded of them, throughout their lives!

JEOPARDY

Last night after I spent some time on week 3's tasks, I sat down to relax before Dancing with the Stars came on at 8pm...I had a few minutes to spare so I turned on Jeopardy (brace yourselves because this is completely ironic in my mind!!) I am usually only about 20% accurate, if that, when it comes to answering, but I still tune in and get excited for those few. Anyways, final jeopardy came on, and I need to add that I have never answered a final jeopardy question correctly, and the category was THE INTERNET! I immediately thought, "What a coincidence!" I was dancing in my seat waiting for the commercials to pass so that the clue could be revealed because I truly thought I may finally have a shot at this! The clue appeared on the screen and was something like this: (I was unable to write it down, or recall it, word for word)
CLUE: In a registered website domain name, it's the only mark that's allowed besides the dot, that is not a letter...(There was a tad bit more to the question, but regardless you get the gist) I quickly shouted out what I thought the answer was and then thought, "WAIT A MINUTE! That can't be right...it is way too easy!" (To be honest, I was hoping it was something that would test my new knowledge from CEP) After more commercials that I sat through with anticipation, the answer was revealed and it matched mine.
ANSWER: The slash
This was a mighty easy question for final jeopardy, but I wanted to share this because the timing was just too right!
Also, after Alex Trebeck read the category he said, "I bet your kids are gonna do good on this one!" This quote got me to thinking...It shows just how prominent the internet is becoming and the fact that it is a tool that reaches out to all ages...
check out the website...even jeopardy uses the internet interactively! www.jeopardy.com

Post in Response

After taking a look at my classmate's blog posts I found one that forced me to respond! Lauren made a post about laptops in the classroom and asked for her classmates stance on the topic...
As technology becomes more and more prominent we begin to see, hear and learn many ways in which it can benefit us and make life easier! One way, which students have discovered or whose teachers have recommended, is the use of laptops in the classroom as a way to enhance learning and take organized notes that are easily accessible...instead of carrying 5 subject notebooks, you have all of your subject folders in one place! The purpose for encouraging students to work in this way is quite understandable, but the purpose has been taken advantage of! As Lauren mentioned, students are surfing the web leisurely choosing sites such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, but she makes a great point when she acknowledges that these students or their parents are the ones paying for an education and if that's the way they wish to treat the situation then...GOOD LUCK in the REAL WORLD! or should I say, good luck getting a job over the scholarly student that actually took notes and used their time wisely while studying for thousands of dollars a semester. Another important note to make is that using computers saves paper, but on a more global level it pushes society towards going GREEN and saving the environment in which we live, which seems to be one of the main reasons classrooms are encouraging the use of Internet for relaying information. With all of this in mind, my stance is that teachers should not encourage the use of laptops in the classroom...students still have access to computers, but this way they are not interfering with learning and teaching. Hopefully with the integration of other technologies available in the classroom ( smart boards, clickers, teacher computers, powerpoints, etc) students will have no problem enhancing their knowledge.

Good-Bye and Good-Night Facebook!

A couple of nights ago I got rid of my Facebook...hopefully I won't be needing an account for this course! I'm not exactly sure why I was so inclined to do this, but I was!! To be honest, I never really liked the idea of it in the beginning and my friends ended up talking me into it at which point I was completely LOST!! I soon learned the ins and outs, but now that I have had it for a while it just seems to be getting a bit carried away. I think one motive for deactivating was when one of my teachers started making fun of it...he said something under the lines of, "Now who am I going to hire, the student that comes to class dressed to impress, ready and eager to learn or the one that comes in ready and eager to check their Facebook?" I got a kick out of that! I do understand that Facebook is a nice way to keep in touch with friends and family, but did we not do that before Facebook? I did...it seems that in every course I have taken during my time at MSU, students with laptops, actually phones too because I've see it being accessed that way, are surfing through Facebook...
The digital world is taking over!! kinda neat to think of all the advancements throughout the years...

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