Week 6

Assignment #1

 http://web.ebscohost.com.arktos.nyit.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=2eab5a4d-ca0c-47d6-9e93-74aac74dad98%40sessionmgr13&vid=8&hid=22

Cell Phones in the Classroom: Are we Dialing up Disaster?

This article discuses the use of cell phones in the classroom. The use of cell phones has become so popular, and even became part of society. Most students nowadays have cell phones. In this article researcher determine the effects of cell phones in the classroom. Having cell phones in the classroom can lead to distractions and inappropriate use. On the other hand there are benefits to having cell phones in the classroom. In this study cell phones were used in classrooms as an audience response system, as a research tool, and as a means for collecting evidence of student work through photographs and video recordings. The findings showed that with the addition of cell phones in to the classroom students had increased level of participation, scores in assessment, and strong reflection on what they learned. The article does warn that in order to be a success there must be rules and guidelines as to how cell phones are used.

I would advise any teacher to read this article because cell phones is a big issue in the classroom. This article really explains how to deal with the issue. Not only do cell phones not have to be detrimental to the lessons they can even be a great asset it is just how you channel it. And I believe that this is the job of teachers, to take something that students enjoy using and utilize it in the lesson.   

Assignment #2-1

The Article “Middle School Science Teachers’ confidence and Pedagogical Practice of New Literacies” by Hui-Yin Hsu, Shiang-Kwei Wang and Lisa Runco discusses the integration of technology and the new literacies in the classroom. New literacies is divided into three categories: Technology skills, literacy skills and cognitive skills. In order for teachers to be successful at teaching with the new literacies they must be very familiar with the tools and feel confident using them in the classroom.  However the study pointed out that the teachers were only familiar in the more basic skills. The eachers overall did not feel confident using the more advanced ICT tools. Lacking sufficient skills in these technologies make it very difficult for teachers to use technology to support cognitive skills. Therefore schools should provide their teachers with training in the ICT tools so that they can use them successfully in the classroom. Another issue brought up in this article is the lack of technology tools in the classroom. This automatically creates a situation where it is very hard for teachers to implement technology into the classroom, and students are given very little opportunity to use technology for learning purposes. As with anything in order to be successful you must have the appropriate tools.

The second Article “Using social networking sites to facilitate teaching and learning in the science classroom” discusses the use of social networking in the classroom. Today’s students and “technology natives” and spend much time using social networks such as Facebook. Bringing such ICTs into the classroom is highly motivating for students. The article discusses that teachers must be cautious when using social networking sites to ensure that there is no cyber bullying of lack of privacy. However these potentials problems are preventable and should not cause teachers to avoid using social networking. There are many benefits to using social networking, one being that parents can get involved in their students learning. another advantage is that a teacher can create a flipped classroom where the lesson is places online for students to access at any point and review as often as needed while class time can be used for using and developing the information that was learned. By using social networking teachers can really maximize the time in the classroom and use it to the fullest.  

Assignment #2-2

I am new to Edmodo and have never used it before. After browsing through it and trying out different features I believe that it is a great tool and can really be used enhance an ELA classroom. Students today are accustomed to interacting with others through social media and by utilizing Edmodo the teacher is speaking the language of her students, making the learning exciting and motivating. In addition it is teaching the students how to communicate in the way of today’s society.  Edmodo includes some great features that add wonderful benefits to the classroom.

Planner: The planner allows the teacher to schedule events and send it to individual students or to a group. This is a great tool that can help students get organized and will get rid of the old time excuse: “I forgot to do my homework!”

Library: The library allows teacher to post any files, or  articles that the students may need for the class. This is great and allows students to have everything they need at their fingertips in addition it eliminates the problem of bringing home heavy text books.

Assignment: The assignment feature allows teachers to post assignments, and give a due date. In addition files can be attached. The assignment can then be sent to an individual or a group. This is a great feature as a teacher can add, or modify an assignment for a student.

Note: It’s always beneficial for a teacher to be able to send out notes, be it about upcoming due dates, clarification of an assignment or any other note. A teacher can also send comments to individual students using the notes feature.

 Badge: this allows teachers to create a badge to award students. This serves as a great motivation and students will have to complete certain a tasks to receive a badge.

All in all I think Edmodo is a great tool that helps a classroom run smoothly and efficiently, while allowing students to do what they do best.  

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