e-portfolio 511

Discussion Question : Noble suggests that underlying the push for technology is man’s quest for transcendency. Do you agree or disagree?

I disagree with Noble’s suggestion. I think technology is viewed as a way to make man a godlike race. One that is all knowing, long living and indestructible. Through technology man will be able to solve all of humankind’s’ problems and woes and move beyond the physical boundaries as we know it. The drive to be better, stronger, smarter drives technological innovations and encourages us to think outside the box and push the technological envelope.

As with everything, man does the potential to push too far is always there. As we have seen again and again throughout this course technology is a huge part of both our professional and personal lives and will continue to become even more so. Also what we have seen is it is not the technology but how it is used, managed etc. that makes the impact. Hopefully sensible heads will prevail and treat the technological advancements with the respect they deserve and make wise decisions about their usage.

Adobe vs Apple

There has been an ongoing battle between Adobe and Apple. Apple points the finger at Adobe and Adobe claims Apple is trying to monopolize the world wide web. Who do you think is in the right and why? Please take the survey below and justify your choice in the VISTA discussion panel.

Apple had concerns about excessive power consumption for Flash applications and claimed it was an older technology that didn’t have a future. Adobe claimed that a huge number of Flash objects dictated support for their format. At the same time, HTML5 offers a more efficient way to present video on desktop computers and mobile devices. I believe that Apple was right to force the issue with their large market share and drive the adoption of newer HTML5 standards.

It would appear that Apple has won the argument. This week, Adobe announced the discontinuation of Flash development support for mobile. Adobe vs Apple

Open Source vs Closed Source

Discussion Debate Open Source vs Closed Source There is an ongoing debate about the effectiveness of open source and closed source technology in the educational setting

Firefox is a much more effective browser than IE. I use both browsers on a regular basis. Firefox is faster, includes more add-ins than IE. I also note that Mozilla is much more responsive than Microsoft in identifying and fixing security threats in their browser.

This is a good example of the power of open source where a developer community is able to respond to required enhancements in a more effective way.

Embodied Knowing
Using this course and degree as a reference, do you feel like you are attaining “embodied knowing” in your online education?

I think I am attaining “embodied knowing” through the completion of the MET program in combination with my teaching position. Through the program I am gaining knowledge and skills, theoretical frameworks that I am then putting into practice in my classroom, inservices for staff and for administrators. I am striving to embed technology into the teaching and learning that is happening in my classroom and other classrooms in the school.

Through the facilitation of the use of technology by teachers and students for inquiry based learning, or project based learning I think I am putting into practical use the theory and knowledge gained.

A new doll in time for Christmas that plays into the “Eliza Effect”

Techno Moms and Wordles

Now that you have had a chance to read through Haraway’s article and have seen her on video we would like you to represent your understanding in a visual format.

Here is a wordle to express my understanding of this reading. I think it captures the essence of the article.

Women’s roles in the workplace and family has gone through major changes. The use of technology has changed how we communicate and interact within the workplace and within our home lives. Home and workplace are no longer separate, the lines are blurred. I have chosen to use toondoo to represent a woman’s new role in this technology connected world.

How is technology supported in the workplace? Are there funding issues? Or have problems arose with parents/admin over use of technology?

The administration is very supportive of technology use in the classroom and has gone out of their way to support teachers and students in their use of technology. Part of a teaching unit has been dedicated to facilitating the use of technology with both teachers and students. The response has been overwhelmingly positive. Parents have also been supportive and are kept up to date through open houses, teacher websites which showcase student work and whole school assemblies.

Technology in our school has had to overcome a number of obstacles. Funding is one of the major issues. We are an inner city school with access to minimal funds.

We have overcome this obstacle by making community connections with service organizations. We host these organizations 2 – 3 times a year to showcase what students and teachers are doing with technology and how technology enhances the teaching and learning in our school. We have been successful with enlisting their support in financing technology initiatives for the school. We now have a functional computer lab, smart boards and computers in every classroom and are purchasing i pads for use with esl and special needs students. The school board is also supportive and technology use and acquisition has been adopted in the strategic plan for the school district as a whole.

How can we get beneficial professional development to all teachers in the school when it comes to new technology? Suggest ways that you would deliver or organize the PD to maximize the benefits for all participants.

Professional development has been slow to materialize and aimed at the lowest common denominator. New technology has been placed in schools and teachers are expected to figure it out on their own. A daunting task when you consider the multitude of tasks that have been downloaded to the classroom teacher. An example would be SMART Board PD.,

which focuses on how to turn on the board, hook it up, use the basic features of the board and has had little to do with harnessing the potential of the tool to enhance teaching and learning.
Suggestions to improve PD.:
• In-school technology mentors to facilitate use of technology
• Dedicated time with classroom release for teachers to work with mentor on skills they need
• Teacher input through school surveys re their needs and interests
• Use of data obtained through surveys to tailor PD.
• Access to technology teacher either in the classroom or the lab to facilitate technology integration that meets prescribed curriculum outcomes
• Teachers helping teachers
• Use of staff meetings and sections meetings to highlight technology projects being done in classrooms

I really enjoyed completing this discussion post for Module 5. I used my flip camera and some of the children’s artwork as a back drop.

It was surprising how difficult to come up with the words to use. There are so many words that come to mind. I settled on “Potential for Learning” as it ties in nicely with my current position at school this year. Part of my responsibilities is to facilitate the use of technology with teachers. It can sometimes be a hard sell but once teachers see the potential for use in the classroom they are hooked.

There are some great tools available for creating cartoons; Toondo, Kerpoof, Pikistrips, Bitstrips and Bubblr to name a few. I chose Pixton to create my toon as it was easy to use and the backgrounds and character choices were appropriate for my theme. The cartoon went through many changes. As with the essay I tried to get my point across with as few frames as possible. Keep it concise and to the point. I believe my cartoon depicts how little guidance and PD teachers have received on the use of Smart Boards but also the expectation put on teachers to use the board to create engaging, interactive and creative lessons.

Assignment #1
Theorize an application / app, artifact, device, technique, or process related to ET. This essay should include a definition, explanation, development and details and, if applicable, examples. Include one toon / image (i.e., at least one ‘cell’) with the essay. In the opening paragraph, the first few sentences clearly describe and define the topic and explain its importance to educational technology, e-learning, instructional design, etc. Keep the essay as jargon-free as possible.  View this from a perspective of preparing a speech rather than writing an essay. Every word is important. Theorizing ET Essay Length: 700 words. Word counts include the topic, your name, title, and references.

The assignment on first glance was easy enough. How difficult could it be to write 700 words? As I began I quickly realized just how difficult it was. The art of this assignment was to clearly and concisely theorize in just 700 words. Not an easy task! I found myself writing and rewriting to get my point across and stay within the word limit. Using a speech format helped but keeping it jargon free was a challenge. Following the discussion thread in vista clearly showed that my classmates were as challenged as I was which in some way was a comfort. I was relieved to know that it wasn’t just me that found this assignment challenging.
My final product I think clearly gives the reader my views on how Smart Boards have been implemented into schools and the challenges present in the implementation of this technology.

Current copyright laws outdated!

Copyright issues are a hot debate item at many universities at the moment. Intellectual property, another hot button word keeps popping up. The internet has changed and blurred our current copyright laws. Once something is put on the internet it is in the public domain so the expectation must be there that huge numbers of users will read, quote and share what is up there.

Current copyright laws were meant to be applied to print materials, as that is the era in which they were written. It is difficult to apply these same laws to digital property. Larry Lessig’s keynote presentation at Educause (2009) was my initial introduction to Creative Commons. This presentation is well worth watching if you haven’t seen it already.

Larry Lessig

Creative Commons enables authors of content to license their work with the uses they intended the work to have and bypasses the expensive, time consuming restrictions of current copyright laws. The intent of CC puts the power back into the hands of authors of content enabling them to maintain rights and privileges to their intellectual property under their terms.

Liang on the other hand appears to lean more towards to open source philosophy, freeing all cyberspace users and putting content into the public domain. Both agree that copyright laws are out dated and that changes need to be made in our new digital culture however their approach is different.

I am more of the Lessig mindset and support the CC approach to digital content and intellectual property.

Creative Commons: A Shared Culture