Journal 4 "Is Power Point Crippling Our Students?"

"Is Power Point Crippling Our Students?" - Point / Counterpoint
YES - Kathy Johnson
Johnson feels that power point encourages passivity by limiting student interaction and inhibits spontaneity because it is a static document that doesn't incorporate discussion. She also suggests that it promotes inactivity because it contains little input from the students. Also, Johnson claims that PP welcomes interactivity but warns that if the student doesn't understand a topic change is just a click away. Finally she says that PP removes responsibility from the student due to their lack of contribution during the learning process. I thought that her comparison of using PP as a teaching tool to watching T.V. was interesting.
NO - Vicki Sharp
Sharp believes that PP brings out the creative side of the student. She claims the program is easy to learn, use and share. She also focuses on it's versatility, being used for projects such as web presentations, organizational charts and electronic portfolios. Sharp says the only limitation to PP is the student's imagination and that it motivates them to learn. She focused mainly on the use of PP by students for presentations rather than it's use by teachers.
1. What are the benefits of using PP in the classroom? I think that power point helps organize lessons and enables students to pay more attention to the teacher rather than taking frantic notes. If used creatively by the teacher, it may also draw the students in and help them focus.
2. What are the drawbacks of using PP in the classroom? I have to admit that I stand more on this side and think that PP isn't a very effective teaching tool. First of all, it allows students to miss class and still get the information from that day's lesson. I'll bet that if attendances were compared between PP and non-PP classes the differences would be significant. Also, I do agree that PP restrains discussion and student input. This is especially evident when the teacher turns off the lights, something that all tired students don't really need. I think that PP is a great program for students to use in presentations, however, I don't see it as an effective teaching tool. I agree with Johnson and her comparison between PP and watching T.V.

Journal 3 "Using an Electronic Portfolio in an Instructional Technology Program"

"Using an Electronic Portfolio in an Instructional Technology Program" - Michael Uttendorfer
Electronic portfolios are a fairly new web-based tool used by students designed to collect their work throughout a program so that they can share it with other students and job prospects later. Uttendorfer conducted a study to test the strengths and weaknesses of the use of such portfolios at the New York Institute of Technology. Keystone assignments were given to the students according to program, state and national standards. The faculty participating in the study were provided with proper training and there was a TaskStream coordinator chosen to build the portfolios and an evaluation rubric. There was also general discussion boards set up to facilitate communication during the program. A total of 47 faculty members and 244 MSIT students participated in the study. The general consensus of the participants at the end of the program was that the electronic portfolios were a helpful tool and they had positive comments overall. The students found the portfolios user-friendly and the teachers thought that the use of an evaluation rubric provided consistency throughout the program.
1. SIGDE (Special Interest Group for Digital Equity) - Their goal is to enable educators and researchers to share successful digital equity strategies and resources. They also strive to develop a growing knowledge base of effective practices as well as awareness promotion.
2. SIGTE (Special Interest Group for Teacher Educators) - This group provides a method of interaction for the discussion of the use of technology in the enhancement of learning and education. Their publication "Journal of Computing in Teacher Education" is the platform and considered a "living" work.

Journal 2 "Failure Is Not an Option"

"Failure Is Not an Option" - Dave Edyburn
This article deals with the issue of achievement gaps usually related to ethnicity, economic status and disabilities. While the No Child Left Behind Act strives to close these gaps, Edyburn argues that the use of resources and tools may be critical in performance intervention. He refers to David Wiley's 7 variables that affect performance to support his view. The first 2 variables are environmental factors (organizational systems and incentives) that should be dealt with initially to help increase student performance. However, if that doesn't work the next three variables (cognitive support, tools and physical environment) are also important resources to consider. According to Edyburn, most people carry a bias of naked independence in their view of education and performance. This bias assumes that children that must use resources such as technological tools to perform as well as their "A student" classmates are looked upon as unfairly cheating. I liked the definition that Edyburn then presents for fairness as everybody getting what they need, instead of everybody getting the same thing, in order to perform their best. He suggests that a students reliance on educational resources and tools must not be frowned upon if the achievement gaps are ever to be narrowed.
1. Where do you stand in the realm of the naked independence bias? I think that a student should be able to use whatever tools necessary to help them learn but I have to admit, I don't know if it is fair for them to be used on tests especially when the class is graded on a "curve". I guess this means I do hold somewhat of a bias that perhaps needs to be reevaluated. However, I do agree that these resources need to be readily available during the learning process.
2. How do you avoid falling under the naked independence bias? Maybe the answer lies in ditching the well-known curve system used to grade students. Each student needs to be graded for their own performance, not their performance against other students. This way students who can perform well on their own may not feel as "cheated" when another classmate must use a supportive tool during a test.

Journal 1 "My Space or Yours?"

"My Space or Yours?" - Joanne Barrett
This article focuses on the growing popularity of online social networking sites. Barrett reports that there are 2 million new subscribers to MySpace per week and a user base totaling over 90 million. We can see how these numbers would project into next year at an exponential growth rate. She also mentions two other sites in the article, Friendstar and Facebook, of which I am not familiar. However, I'm probably the only one out of all my friends that does not have a MySpace account so I do note it's booming attraction. These sites started as friendly networks but there has been a rising problem of online predation mostly due to the amount of personal information and pictures being posted. Pedophiles are a huge concern here and while many are being arrested (1,649 last year) I'm sure many are also continuing to prey on our youth. I've been watching the recent specials on Dateline called "Predators" dealing with this issue where they catch the meetings of older men and a 13 year old girl stemming from online chatting. Although they all deny the meeting was for sexual purposes, copies of their chats are read back to them suggesting the opposite. You should see the faces of humiliation on these guys, many of which are surprisingly successful members of society.
1. How can we continue to increase the safety of social networking sites? Barrett suggests school visits from law enforcement and guest speakers knowledgeable about internet safety but I think the real supervision must lie in the home with parents, not just in our schools. Parents need to become more aware of what their children are typing about for hours and hours on end. They also need to communicate with their children about the dangers involved and exactly what information is appropriate to post for the world to see. However, for those children whose parents are too busy or frankly too ignorant to raise these issues, the school should definitely be a back up support system.
2. Should there be some kind of age limit for these sites? When I first asked myself this question I thought it was a good way to protect children but then I thought, duh, there's no way to confirm ages or any other personal information online although an age limit would be optimal.