Sunday, April 10, 2011

Blog Assignment 11

Video & Interview with Kathy Cassidy

I really enjoyed watching Ms. Cassidy's video of her students and seeing the ways technology can be incorporated into a classroom with students at such a young age. Some of the technology she was using in her classroom never even occurred to me when teaching first graders. I could never think of how blogging could be used with younger students, but I really like her justification for it - that it helps improve their writing skills and encourages them to work harder because they know people from all over the world are going to see it, not just their teacher. I also like that she has a webpage for her classroom as a hub for not only her students, but their parents as well. So many people in today's world are consumed by all of this technology that I think that having a class webpage available for their access as well as some of their child's work online for them to view, might aid in them in getting more involved with their child's education. I liked her reasoning for using a Nintendo DS, which was helping students learn to share and improve their problem solving skills, but I'm not sure I would take technology that far. I could definitely see that resulting in some problems - kids trying to sneak non-educational games, possible stealing, etc. Overall, I think she is doing a fantastic job at introducing technology to her students and utilizing it in such a way that they are sure to continue using it even after leaving her class.

I definitely see myself using a class webpage as a way for my students to stay connected and for their parents to keep track of what their children are learning in school. I also really like the idea of student blogs for the same purpose as Ms. Cassidy. I want to teach the third grade so they will be able to do a little more than the students in the video. I also like the thought of using wikis, google presentation and maybe skype.

My only concern with all of this online business is privacy and safety. I would want to be 100% positive that my students were limited on what they could access due to the things that are available online these days. I also liked that Ms. Cassidy did not allow her students to leave mean comments, use their last names, or ever post their picture with their name beside it. I think technology in the classroom can be a great thing as long as the students' and their identity are protected and their safety isn't being affected.


Cartoon

2 comments:

  1. Hey Samantha!

    Haha I really like your little comic at the end. It's true; children are becoming more adept with technology and one wonders if teachers are becoming adept alongside them. I like how you mentioned that through the use of blogging, young students can learn to enhance their spelling and grammatical skills, as was shown to us courtesy of M. Cassidy's video. I also like how you expressed your concern about provacy; I too have wondered about this. My concern was that one day these children will grow up and view their old blog pages, and once something is there it cannot be erased. They may wish to eradicate something due to maturity or different opinions, but if they feel that, through their blog posts of old, they have perhaps damaged their integrity, the damage is already done. I don't think that's too much to worry about though, for most students would look back at their older work and be proud of it for how they have changed and matured since then. I suppose it's just up to us as teachers, if we are to be teaching particularly the very young generation, to instill within the children that sense of privacy. Thank you for your post!

    Matthew Poirier

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  2. Samantha,

    I think it is wonderful that you want to use a class webpage and incorporate technology into your future classroom. Mrs. Cassidy does an excellent job using all different forms of technology in her classroom, and the students are engaged and benefiting from it. There will always be roadblocks, like the privacy issue, but we have to think about the positive side of things. Technology offers the students many more opportunities, and they need to know how to use technology for the world we live in.

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