Online Classes

I have had mixed experiences with online classes.  The online classes that I liked either had a teacher who would make themselves very available for me if I had any questions or problems in the class, or the classes that were a blend of some online and some classroom interactions.  This personal interaction is very important for me, as I’m a very visual person.  I like to see people and talk to them face to face.  If I have some class work, I like to show it to someone and get feedback from them in a face to face setting.  The classes that I’ve had with teacher who were always there for me, the teachers had no problem sitting on the phone with me for an hour if I needed it. This may sound like a lot but this really helped me in getting through online classes without being to stressed out or clueless as to what was expected of me.

 

The online classes that I took that I didn’t care for where the ones where you could tell the teacher had very little interaction with the class or where you could tell that teacher didn’t do much except to be a warm bodied, credentialed person behind the computer screen and would correct your papers…and that’s it.  Those classes I feel like I taught myself and usually finish thinking “what did I learn?”

 

If I taught an online class, it would be a classes that was more of a blend.  I think it’s important that students see and get to know the teacher…so see that there really is a real human behind the screen that wants to help you. I think I would like to teach an online class if it was like what I just described.

The Dumbest Generation Video

 

The video, The Dumbest Generation,takes a look at the effect that technology has on the teens of today. Current technology makes it so easy for people to get answers to simple questions. Any random thought that you have, you can find an answer or analysis of in a matter of seconds if you are connected to the Internet. Experts in the video are suggesting that teens are losing the ability to focus on a single thought for long periods of time.

The Dumbest Generation video suggests that while our culture is becoming more and more immersed in technology but we are losing the ability to focus on one specific thing at a time. Do you think this is true? Why or why not? Should you fight this or work with it? Explain.

Goals

I would like to become better acquainted with the current technology because I feel that it can help to bridge some of the cultural gaps between my students and I. I learned a lot of useful skills in my EDUC 512 class but I feel like I can get closer to mastering those skills in this EDUC 515 class. Students today really are in a different place then we were 10 years ago. While the main, underlying issues students deal with might not have changed, how students communicate and deal with those issues has. Students and teens today text instead of call people, they blog on public sites instead of writing in a private diary, they also post about their day on social media sites like facebook. Youth today are generally familiar with these types of technologies and utilize them at home. However, these types of technologies are rarely seen or used in the classroom setting.

One of my professional goals; to use technologies like blogs or wikis, effectively and when applicable, in the classroom. I can see blogs or wikis being a very effective tool for students. They can be used to keep up to date on assignments, to post a completed assignment, or to be able to collaborate and work with a partner on assignments outside of school. This would also help the teacher to be able to use class time in other ways rather then using it to do things that could easily be facilitated in an online forum. It would also give another chance for students to practice collaborating and working with each other over the computer, which is something that is more and more common in many work settings today.

“With great power also comes great responsibility” is one of my favorite Spider-Man quotes. It really makes me think of the educational setting with technology. We have made such great progress with technology, but with this progress we also see many new problems. Letting students use their phones in class to answer class questions also opens the door for students to cheat during tests or to coordinate other types of unwanted activities at school. Also, using social media sites or blogs that people can post whatever they want on can lead to many other problems that I can’t even begin to name. I think that there will be many issues to come involving these new technologies, but like anything, there are always kinks to be worked out. That doesn’t mean that we should push these new technologies away or shun them. We should embrace them and work out these problems as they arise.

Of “Digital Natives” and “Immigrants”

Reading the first portion of the paper in class, I had mixed feelings of the article. The author, Marc Prensky, made some very bold claims like “our students have changed radically” (Prensky 1) and throws out some pretty big numbers without citing his sources. Despite this, I found myself agreeing with Prensky a lot because, while our students deal with the same main issues we dealt with and our parents dealt with, the technology that is available to students these days has put a new twist on everything. The technology helps to build a very superficial divide to an already existing cultural clash, but the main issues that teens struggle with today are the same issues that teens struggled with 30 or 40 years ago. This article, however, isn’t so much about the issues teens face as it is about how to properly educate a “digital native” (basically a student born in 1988 or later) in this present age.
In the 3rd paragraph, Prensky says “Today’s average college grads have spent less than 5,000 hours of their lives reading, but over 10,000 hours playing video games (not to mention 20,000 hours watching TV). Computer games, emails, the Internet, cell phones, and instant messaging are integral parts of their lives” (Prensky 1). While I do think books are becoming less read with the general population, people are still reading. Whenever people read emails or browse the internet, they are reading. When people are text messaging or checking out whatever social media site they use, they are reading. Reading is not outdated and is still a very viable form for gaining knowledge. Prensky doesn’t say otherwise, but hints at this through vague passages. In the 4th and 11th paragraph (on the 2nd page) Pensky talks about how the students “think and process information” differently and that they prefer to receive information “really fast” (Pensky 2). Pensky is talking about the ease of access to information through the internet. I think that this is awesome. The internet (and other forms of technology) should be used whenever applicable. But what Pensky doesn’t touch on is the byproduct of the ease of information. Students aren’t learning the value of hard work. Anything that isn’t at the tip of their fingers, they don’t want to reach for. Pensky talks about actual work like it’s outdated. Not all work is fun, and while I think that we should attempt to make all education fun and exciting whenever we can, some things that are necessary aren’t going to be fun. Being able to do things that we don’t want to do is a valuable skill in itself. 
The article goes on to say many things that have irritated me. While I think and agree with the overall message that (I believe) Pensky is trying to make (which is that when need to bridge the technological gap between teachers and students, integrating more technology into the classroom), Pensky’s tone in the article is very offsetting and degrading to anyone who is not part of the “D” generation. Pensky is also very vague in his article as most of it seems to attack older teachers without providing any real solution. In the end, I agree with Pensky’s overall goal but I would have rather read this article if it was written by someone who had a less degrading tone and offered a solution to all the problems being brought up.

Welcome Students and Parents

Hello all and welcome to Mr. Cruz’s blog!

It’s crazy that its already time for school again. 2 months is not enough time for fun in the sun. Parents, I’m really excited to have your child in my classroom. I believe that if we all work together, this year will be amazing!

Students and parents, please feel free to call, email, or visit me, anytime you have a question. My door is always open and I will do whatever I can to make sure your child succeeds. Some good ways to keep up to date with what is going on in the class would be to check this blog weekly, check the wikispace weekly, or to sign up for my email list where I will post the expected homework for the week and class events. I will also email out progress reports to the parents of the students at the end of each month, highlighting areas of success and areas that could use some work.

I am attaching the classroom rules; the same rules that are posted in the classroom. It is very important that your children understand the expected behavior of the classroom. By understanding what is expected, the classroom atmosphere will run very smoothly. The classroom rules are expected to be followed and if they are not I will notify you immediately. Also, PLEASE notify me about any issues at home that you feel comfortable talking about or that you think might affect your child’s life in the classroom (social, emotional, academic, etc). I will do all in my power to work with your child and help them succeed.

Again, I’m really excited to have your child in my room and to take an awesome educational journey with them this year.

Sincerely, Mr. Cruz

My Bloody Valentine – Ecstasy and Wine

I’ve been listening to this album a lot lately. I’ve been a fan of MBV for a while but recently discovered this album.

I think it’s great.

 

DOWNLOAD LINK: http://www.mediafire.com/?4uz2dtekxfe

Invincible

Invincible is awesome.

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