Reflection on Chapter 12

Educational technology literacy is the ability not only to use technology, but also to apply the technology toward enriching instruction and student learning. Educators must grasp that by using technology to enhance instruction, student achievement will accelerate. The students already know the technology; it is the teacher that lags behind in this area. When the teacher takes the position of indifference toward learning technology skills, the student suffers the consequence. The same is true for administrators. Believe me, the spirit of indifference toward technology by our administrators is alive and well in our schools today. All too often when communicating with district administrators or principals, the conversation on their end begins with, “Well, I’m not computer literate…,” and they begin their spill. And I think to myself, “You’re not computer literate enough to run a report that directly relates to your job, but I know you know how to shop online because I’ve seen you do it.” To me, it is a choice. It is a choice of whether or not someone “wants” to stay up with the times to stay on top of their jobs, or whether they choose to be lazy since they are “not technology literate”. You see, shopping online is an acquired technology skill. They learned how to perform that skill because they wanted to. The skill of running a report out of a user-friendly software package can be easily acquired if the “want to” exists. Oftentimes, because the “want to” does not exist, we try to enforce acquired skills upon educators and administrators. We do this by requiring they complete some type of training or professional development. Sometimes, educators realize the potential in technology literacy, and for others, they just claim credit for attending the workshop. Sure our state and our school districts have intentions of meeting the No Child Left Behind mandates that students are technology literate by the end of 8th Grade, and educators are technology literate by 2008. But the true plan of action is non-existent. Each district is left to determine their way of accomplishing this. It is no easy feat, but with the technologies out there at our fingertips, it really should be doable. Our state Superintendent of Education is very supportive of technology. In fact, he utilizes it to address the public on a weekly basis through his Monday Memo, which can be accessed at http://www.mde.k12.ms.us/MondayMemo. Dr. Bounds has stated that he wants every high school student to have the experience of taking an online course. I think another beneficial action would be for teachers to be required to do the same, but not just on a one time basis. As the chapter pointed out, each state has their own licensure requirements. I think that if teachers were required to take an online professional development course at least every 2 years, they would become technologically literate and begin to utilize technology to enhance instruction which would ultimately mean higher student achievement.

Reflections on Chapter 11

There is an ever increasing use of technology in classrooms around the world. Countless corporations create hardware and produce software to enhance the education process for both teachers and students. With all of this technology on the market, consumers can often get confused or frustrated when trying to learn a new program. That is why many companies offer training to better incorporate the programs into everyday lessons.To help educators make their way through the maze of technology, companies offer resources that range from short pamphlets to week-long conferences. Any company looking to keep up with the technological advances and market demand will have to make sure buyers know how to use the software.Most of the top software makers provide professional development resources. Microsoft, for example, provides tutorials, lesson plans for teachers, and articles that provide easy-to-follow instructions. Another example is WebCT. Their organization offers online training as well as on site workshops.Other companies that provide technological software and products for the classroom also offer training support. Some of these companies include Adobe, Apple, Inspiration, and Annenberg Media. Adobe offers a wide array of training to meet individual needs. Online resources combine with self-paced or instructor-led courses, certification programs, professional development workshops, and seminars to help teachers learn how to use the technology. Inspiration, on the other hand, offers quick tours of software products, quick start tutorials, training CDs, and classroom product tours. Both companies offer online support as well.Of all the top manufacturers, it is perhaps Apple that provides the greatest training opportunities. Apple's programming is user friendly and provides a wide variety of multimedia applications for use in the classroom. Apple also provides opportunities to learn not only how to use the programs, but also offer tools to help teachers integrate the technology into their lesson plans.Costs of the various training programs range depending on the type of program that is being conducted. Obviously on-site workshops are more expensive than training manuals. Some companies however, like Annenberg Media's Learning.org, provide professional development for teachers free of charge.Overall, it is in the corporation's best interests to make sure that users know how to operate the hardware and software to the fullest of its potential. After all, if a program is hard to use, then people are less likely to purchase the product.

Reflections on Chapter 10

There are beliefs about learning and teaching that are shared by all distance educators. They include the premise that learning and teaching can occur in different places and at different times and that teachers and learners can communicate effectively through electronic and print media. However, the true challenge comes when a teacher or student waits on communication instant feedback an individual receives in a class that is not available. There is general agreement also that distance education is the only cost-effective way of distributing scarce expertise, and making it available on demand. The ability of distance education to deliver instruction on demand is important for business and industry, which have to find ways of providing training and retraining, throughout the year and on the job, in response to ever-changing market conditions. While there might be agreement about these benefits of distance education, there are two distinctly different perceptions about how resources should be organized to bring about these benefits. One of these views is very common, yet the future success of the field depends on a wider acceptance of the other. The schools that have long distance should look into investing in an around the clock service so that demands could be meet. Graduate students can meet some of those needs through an on-line commutation lab. The American idea of distance learning remains a very limited one. It is usually seen as the addition of high technology communications media in otherwise conventionally organized and taught classes. Because there is still a craft view of teaching, most distance education programs suffer from being under resourced. Administrators should look into creating a distance learning program that is funded solely for distance learning environments. A working environment creates an open line of communication that helps everyone contribute.

Reflections on Chapter 9

Today, with the increase in Internet connection speeds, advances in technology, the increase of total number of people online, and the decrease in connection costs it has become increasingly common to find traditional television content accessible freely and legally over the Internet. In addition to this, new Internet-only television content has appeared which is not distributed via cable, satellite, or terrestrial systems. Internet television utilizes the connections of the Internet to deliver video from a source to a target device. Teachers use this technology to bring classes together outside the normal classroom. Some of the ways in which Internet delivered television is used include: A digital camera capable of downloading images to a computer for transmission over the Internet or other network. A digital camera is capable of downloading images to a computer for transmission over the Internet or other network which give students the capabilities of a visual interpretation. Webcam software typically captures the images as JPEG or MPEG files and uploads them to the Web server. There are countless Webcam sites on the Internet that have cameras pointed at virtually everything. They provide videos of people going about their daily work as well as offering the online equivalent of the live audience. NetMeeting is a multi-point videoconferencing that has included in many versions of Microsoft Windows from Windows 95 to Windows XP. It uses the protocol for video and audio conferencing, and is interoperable with based clients such as Internet Locator Service as reflector. NetMeeting was a popular way to perform video conferences and chatting over the Internet with the help of public ILS servers. This capability provides a learning shared environment, which a question or answer can be shared and gather to further the learning process.

Reflections on Chapter 8

Not all school websites are created equal. Some look nearly primitive while others appear professionally designed. But classroom web sites greatly improve communications with students, parents, and community. Communication is improved in ways that parents can monitor what their children are doing in class. The majority are simple vehicles for communicating the news and happenings of the school or the school district. You might be able to read a digital version of the school's newsletter but, which can help you know what to look towards in the future. There are several reasons for the investment in many school sites. School districts can afford to hire professional web designers or pay a staff member to be the webmaster. These webmasters are sometimes paid, which helps explain why so many school websites are not updated regularly and may appear neatly assembled. This is how a website can improve home-to-school communications.
Well-designed school websites can meet the specific needs of users and be a valuable bridge between home, school, and the community. This is confirmed what I already knew busy parents and students rely on web-based information, so it's only natural they would look to the Internet for news about their school and educational support. I learned that involving all parties in the website development process results in universal use, and support of the website and a school. The process is rewarding for everyone involved. Not only is it a vehicle for teaching the students web skills, but it also helps parents gain involvement with their kid school and value their community.

Reflections on Chapter 7

Streaming is a method of delivering an audio and video signal to your computer over the Internet, and differs from the normal method of receiving Internet audio and video in one important way instead of having to download a wav, au or other type of file completely before being able to listen to it and see, you hear the sound and see the video as it arrives at your computer, and therefore do not have to wait for a complete download which would be difficult with a live broadcast anyway!As the data arrives it is buffered for a few seconds and then playback begins. As the audio is playing, more data is constantly arriving or streaming, and as long as you are receiving a constant stream of data, you should hear constant audio. Obviously you'll need a soundcard, speakers or headphones and the appropriate software for this all to work. Think of a bucket the buffer with a hole in the bottom, being topped up with water the data. As long as there is water in the bucket, it will continue to pour out of the hole, and will do this as long as there is water in the bucket. Similarly, as long as there is data in the buffer, you will continue to hear sound. Unfortunately the buffer can empty due to congestion on the Internet which may stop you from receiving data this explains the net congestion buffers the message so you may see from time to time with the RealAudio software. Media has been altered by web-casting. Web-casting is used for live events where there can be potentially many viewers. Web-casting delivers one stream to many students simultaneously. It is essential to note that streaming serves require the appropriate hardware, network connections, and basic usage knowledge. The advantages can be seen through the creativity in the classroom, by students being able to visualize or receive auditory instructions. This type of media will help the classroom environment through communication and complex streaming.

Reflections on Chapter 6

Authoring systems are computer based programs that help non-programmers create applications. They vary in the features they provide, in the cost, and their usage. Most authoring systems also support a scripting language for more sophisticated applications. Authoring systems vary widely in orientation, capabilities, and learning curve. There is no such thing as a completely point-and-click automated authoring system; some knowledge of thinking and design is necessary. Whether you realize it or not, authoring is actually just a faster form of programming. Authoring programs can be categorized by the way in which they work. Authoring encompasses the Web site creation process that incorporates Languages. I know you all have seen those Languages many in which I today I do not know what all of them mean such as; HTML, SGML, SVG, XHTML, and XML. I could inform you on what all of those mean but why bother, just know that authoring systems uses them to make our lives easier. There are dozens of authoring programs form which teaching and learning is used. Teachers can build content where their students will have to react to situations that help them better understand their work. You can author questions and assessments using a Windows-based program or a browser with a server-based system. Windows-based authoring, which requires that software be installed on your PC, provides a powerful environment for creating simple and complex questions and assessments. MAC also offers some basic and complex programs to help the interaction with students. The advantage of authoring programs is that students can see how visualization is structured to make it easy for the learner. For instance, the flexibility to create this online course through authoring systems gives you the ability to read and interact on the reaction and thoughts of this very question. This helps provide a completely integrated E-Learning tool. It is no longer necessary to sit in the classroom to learn about systems from one outlet there are many, an authoring tool from another, and collaboration tools from a third. Whether you decide to learn the traditional classroom method by attending class or interacting with others outside the classroom, there are many versatile authoring systems that a teacher can give control to a student so that they may be active rather than passive participant. These programs include sound, incorporate text, graphics, video, and animation. Regardless of which system is used the authoring program can make the development process efficient and cost effective.