Journal # 3

 Journal # 3 – Keeping the Piece

Levinson, M. (2010). Keeping the piece. ISTE, 37. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=February_No_5_4&Template=/MembersOnly.cfm&NavMenuID=4495&ContentID=25237&DirectListComboInd=D

On the first day of my Education 422 class, a class concerning itself with computers, technologies and the classroom, I couldn’t figure out how to silence my new phone.  So I turned the entire phone off.  Then one of our first assignments incorporated using the texting feature on our phone.   I think that the best course for schools is to incorporate technologies into the classroom and use technology to create community.

            The article concerned itself with the divide between students, parents, and the school administration with the application iChat.  Some parents, and teachers viewed it as a distraction saying "I won't use the laptops in my classroom. The kids need to be able to focus." On the other hand, some liked iChat and laptops in the classroom saying, “iChat was wonderful. It truly broke the "clique" boundaries that tend to occur at school.”  iChat was banned and a student uproar ensued.  Eventually a compromise happened and students were allowed ichat under the condition that they took a lesson about appropriate technology use. 

What rules would you have in your classroom concerning technologies?

I think that technologies should be incorporated into the classroom.  Technologies are neither positive nor negative, they are neutral.  How they are used is how they should be defined.  I believe that they could be a distraction and I would ask my students to obviously silence their phones and to only use technologies to for the course assignments in my classroom.

Have you ever had an experience where technology is more of a distraction than an asset when doing course work for a class?

All the time.  I am a huge procrastinator.  So often times when I should be doing work, I am on facebook chatting with my friends or looking at their photos.  That being said, I can also use technology to get help me with my coursework.  If I have a question about an assignment I can email, twitter, or IM a friend and not have to wait until I see them in person to get my question answered.  I think this illustrates how technologies are in themselves neutral, but how they are used is what makes them negative or positive for advancing the education of our students.