Week 1:

Whats the Difference?

Amy J. Jacobson
Metropolitan State University

October 29, 2015

EDU 383

Outline
Ways for students to use technology to support their learning
Personal understanding of technology
Two major technology inventions over time
Technologies for the classroom
Two major technology inventions in students lives

Ways for students to use technology to support their learning:

Art
Science
Reading / Literacy
Math

Technology in Art Education

[E]ach September, a growing number of educators

and students have joined International Dot Day for a
global celebration of creativity in the classroom, with
over 2 million people from 92 countries participating
in 2014 (http://www.bluebunnybooks.com/about-peter-h-reynolds/).
By September 15, 2015, over 4 million people from
116 countries have participated in this worldwide art
movement! (http://www.thedotclub.org/dotday/)

The Dot was recently ranked #15 on Scholastic Publishing Co.s list of the best
childrens books of all time

(images
https://www.facebook.com/InternationalDotDay/photos_stream)

(http://www.scholastic.com/100books/)

Educators can incorporate not just the idea of every student making their mark, as
suggested in The Dot and seen in the physical artworks represented here, but as shown
in the video below, art educators can also encourage their students to use technology to
participate in the global art gallery that International Dot Day has opportuned.

https://youtu.be/CseZabRV-Mw
Rich Colosi Media. (2011, May 1). iPad Artwork Inspired by Peter Reynold's "The Dot" [Video file].

Technology in Science Education

NASA now offers live streaming from the
International Space Station, 24-hours a day:
https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/iss_ustream
.html#.VjGRNdKrRdh and
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/live-iss-stream

Educators can incorporate the immediacy of live stream video such as this, to teach
science concepts such as space and astronomy through technology in the classroom.
Through websites and assorted social media such as Twitter and Facebook, students of
all grade levels can form pro-social connections with professionals of even the most
aspirational careers:
[as posted on Twitter:] Preparing my space suit tool belt for tomorrow's spacewalk,
[says astronaut Kjell] Lindgren... I wonder how Batman goes through this process.
(http://www.space.com/30951-astronauts-make-spacewalk-debut-today-webcast.html).

Technology in Reading / Literacy Education

E-readers such as Kindle,
Nook, and assorted apps for
iPhone and Android allow
students and teachers to read
newspapers, magazines, and
countless texts anywhere, in a
portable pocket-sized format.

(Photo Credit: Tina Franklin

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/ )

Educators can incorporate

such digital literacy programs
into their curricula to add to
their students technological
aspect of learning, within all
genres of study.

Technology in Math Education

Math puzzles such as tangrams and
pentominos have long been used in
elementary school classrooms to teach
spatial-dynamic reasoning and cognitive
thinking.
Many such puzzles are now available in
digital form, through popular apps like
TanZen and Zentomino.

(Photo Credit: "Pentominos". Licensed under

Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pe
ntominos.gif#/media/File:Pentominos.gif )

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tanzen-free-relaxing-tangram/id287657517?mt=8
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/zentomino-free-relaxing-alternative/id306937067?mt=8

Educators can incorporate math concepts such as these into regular classroom usage
with Web 2.0 tools like iPads and tablets.
Math education involves much more than just the calculation of numbers, and being
able to think spatially (especially in the current era of 3-D printing and visual design
techniques) could greatly benefit many of the students in our schools.

Personal understanding of technology

Two major technology inventions over time

My understanding of technology is that computers, the internet, and a vast assortment

of Web 2.0 tools combine together to change the way the world works, and the way
people within that world live, act, and communicate with one another on a daily basis.

Two major technology inventions that have influenced civilization are the digital
television, and the cellular phone / smartphone.

It is my opinion that in America today, it is very difficult to not be influenced by

what is broadcast on television. My home has not had a TV for many years, and yet much
of the news and entertainment I access via the internet was designed with a televisionviewer audience in mind. In the current age of digital TVs, one can access virtually any
form of large-screen, at-home entertainment programming, simply by clicking the remote
across a multitude of internet-capable connections. Ironically, I remember using the
television as an analog computer screen, corded to an external keyboard back in the 1990s
too; it seems our technology has come a bit full-circle there!
The cellular phone / smartphone also can be seen to have a profound effect on society
today. Being able to access not just basic communication, like with telephones of old, but
also extensive other applications, our American (and global) way of life has altered
considerably from even 20 years ago. With the creation of programming such as Apps,
and the regular updates to websites to make them more mobile-friendly, there is not
much digital information or an activity that we seem to be unable to find or achieve, with
a phone in one hand and the knowledge to use it!

Technologies for the classroom

Two major technology inventions in students lives

My understanding of technology for the classroom is that with the regular incorporation
of computers, the internet, and assorted Web 2.0 tools into the education curriculum, our
students will be more engaged by the lessons taught and experienced in school, and will
thus grow to be better prepared for a future in an ever-increasing technologically-based
world and society.

Two major technology inventions that have influenced what and how students learn are
Google and social media platforms such as Facebook.

The internationally-recognized internet search engine Google has such a ubiquitous

name, it has become its own verb in colloquial English: I dont know the answer to that
let me Google it! Rather than learning to look up information in dictionaries and
reference books, students in classrooms around the world are using Google for
immediate results to searches for words, phrases, images and more.
Social media platforms such as Facebook also have a particularly strong influence on
what and how students learn. Being able to be in constant and intimate social contact
with classmates and peers outside of the school building can have a powerful social
impact on how a student thinks and behaves. Facebook in particular has made popular
the act of publically sharing every aspect of ones life, and the potential for negative
interactions between schoolmates, such as through digital bullying, is well-documented.
The potential for positive interactions is equally extensive however, and ones online
friend community can be persuasive in positive and educational interactions as well.