Internet Addiction Disorder

Internet Addiction

This week’s presentation on internet addiction shocked me.  I know that people joke about being addicted to facebook and their cell phones but I never really thought seriously about individuals who might really be addicted to computers and who might suffer from this addiction.  In today’s society, technology plays an amazingly important role and for the past few weeks, our class has been discussing how to incorporate more technology in the classroom.  This presentation looked at the consequences to the internet.  We watched a video in class on Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD).  The video showed a rehabilitation centre in China that helped youth with IAD, mostly who had developed violent behaviour because of the addiction.  I was shocked to see the video as it was the fist exposure I had had on the subject.  I have heard before about the dangers of playing to many video games or getting too much screen time, but this just showed me that extreme exposure to computers can have devastating effects.  Online games are most likely the largest contributors to IAD.  Players create characters and play in virtual worlds.  Some of the teens being treated at IAD treatment centres report that they made friends in the online world which they couldn’t make in the real world.  After watching this video, I feel more informed about the disorder and may be able to look for signs of IAD in my classroom.  

Here is a link for another video I found on IAD in China.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtMJ4NJvTwI

Technology in the Classroom

Technology in the classroom

Technology is becoming an increasingly important tool for teachers.   I was astonished during Mattaeus’s presentation on technology to the amazing number of new resources he provided.  Every new technological tool he introduced could be used in the classroom setting.  I am very excited to use these resources in the classroom.  

Some of the websites included in his presentation were:

• prezi.com
• Soundcloud
• www.polleverywhere.com
• Twitter
• www.wordle.net
• Dropbox
• www.wolframalpha.com

Prezi is one of my favourites because it’s a cooler version of Powerpoint with an online component.  Having it all online allows multiple people to work on the same prezi at the same time and to be able to comment and see who is working on what.  This would be a great way to have group projects.  Students could all work from home on the same project and communicate via the program with each other.  

Soundcloud is a neat tool that I could see myself using as a teacher as an alternative way to ask questions or get responses.  Rather than always giving written assignments, an audio assignment is a good change that allows for some students to better explain their thoughts.

I loved polleverywhere.  We use clickers in university which are very expensive and serve only one function.  Using cell phones to poll or quiz students with immediate feedback is a great idea.  I was very impressed when Mattaeus shoed us this website.  I think that most students these days do have a cell phone but if not, students could pair up.  I can only guess that more and more students will be getting cell phones with unlimited texting so this will likely not be an issue.  

Dropbox is another amazing tool.  It’s like a folder on your desktop that is synced to everyone else’s desktops, phones, or netbooks so when something is added or changed, it is automatically changed on everyone’s device.  This is a perfect tool for sharing resources with students or groups.  

Kahn Academy

I have recently seen the Ted Talk speech by Salman Kahn.  He talks about his amazing website which is a collection of videos where he teaches lessons in math, science, and humanities.  His website provides an amazing resource to students because they can learn material on their own time, at their own pace by pausing and replaying sections until they feel confident with the material.  Kahn also suggests that his website could lead to a potential flip in how classrooms are run such that students can learn the lessons at home and work on their homework in class.  This way, teachers can help students with homework questions they get stuck on with the potential to improve learning.  This would also allow for students to work at their own pace.  If one student is struggling on a concept, he or she can get help from the teacher while other students can move on.  Kahn Academy is also a great resource for teachers.  As teachers, we can use this technology to improve our lessons.  This website has the potential to improve education immensely.  I am excited to become a math teacher and to incorporate this website, as well as other sources of technology, into the classroom. 

Check out www.khanacademy.org to see this wonderful resource and to view the Ted Talk by Salman Kahn.

Standardized Testing

Assessment is a topic that has been discussed in class and has been included in some of the presentations.  Standardized testing is an issue that may result in decreased learning.  Not every student learns the same way and yet, teacher test everyone in the same way.  For years and years, the trend has been for teachers to stand at the front of the class, teach material, and then test student’s knowledge in chapter tests and final exams.  But is this how we should be teaching?  Today’s students deserve more out of the education process.  There is much more to education than performing well on tests.  We need to realize the individual differences among students and offer alternative methods of assessment, such as group projects, websites, oral tests, or take-home quizzes.  We recently learned about formative assessment in class.  I really like this idea and can see how it is assessment for learning rather than assessment of learning.  I think I will allow students to re-write some assignments so that they can have a chance to use my feedback to learn what they can improve on.  This is a great example of using assessment for the purpose of learning.  One of the negative aspects of standardized testing is that teachers may find themselves teaching to the test rather than focusing on learning.  Exams such as Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA) and Provincial exams are examples of standardized tests which may do more damage than good.  They stress students out, they don’t consider individual learning styles, they don’t test for improvement, and teachers may be blamed for poor results even if there are other factors such as being at a low economic status school or having a higher proportion of special needs students in their class.  I think that change has already begun to try to improve learning within the classroom and I look forward to seeing some of these improvements being implemented.

Cell phones in the classroom

This week in class we discussed the hot topic of technology in the classroom with the emphasis on cell phones.  Cell phones have become a daily necessity of life for many individuals; however, is it appropriate to be using them in the classroom?  Not only are they distracting to students and disruptive to teachers, but they can be used for cheating or even bullying.  As a teacher, I would be inclined to prohibit the use of cell phones within the classroom with perhaps some exceptions.  Cell phones are not all bad.  They have many functions such as time, calculators, recorders, cameras, and some can connect to the internet.  These are all functions that can be extremely helpful tools in the classroom.  Today’s students are immensely influenced by technology and will almost certainly be using it in their future careers.  Allowing the use of technology in the classroom is, in my opinion, an absolute must for students to be able to compete in the work world.  If cell phones provide helpful tools to assist learning, and perhaps working later in life, then I can see how its use may be beneficial to students.  Now the major issue is how to allow students to use their cell phones for the betterment of learning and not for inhibiting learning.  As a teacher I want to prohibit students from using their phone to talk or text in class but I don’t have a problem with them checking the time or having it on their desk to record discussions.  Although there may be some fine lines to these rules, it isn’t too difficult to tell if a student is distracted by texting.  As a teacher, if I see a student texting I might just make eye contact and ask them to put it away.  If a student is using their phone to text then this could be an indication that they are bored.  If they are bored then clearly the lesson is not engaging them and perhaps the lesson needs to be altered.  I hope to be a flexible teacher who cares about the learning of each individual in the classroom.  

February 5th, 2011

So what makes an effective teacher?  Discipline? Knowledge? Care?  These answers may be true but I feel that they have become outdated and perhaps replaced by a new set of standards.  Teachers now need to be aware of the importance of creativity, innovation, and acceptance.  In my opinion, we should be providing students with an opportunity to learn in a variety of different ways.  We should challenge students by including multiple methods of teaching in our lessons.  We should promote creativity as a form of problem solving.  We should be aware of individual differences among students. We should understand that times have changed, today's students have changed, and there is an increasing potential for technology in the classroom.  There are many aspects that make up an effective teacher.  The question is, how can we take these ideas and formulate a teaching philosophy that will be successful in educating students in today's school system?