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Reboot

So, this old blog will get a little attention again. I'm taking ELMG-666 which is a graduate version of the undergraduate computer class I took a few semesters back. Ah- and an incredibly small class size. There are but five of us scattered across the land but dedicated and true we be, facing the challenges of the digital age unflinching!

Not Much At All

"It's a dog eat dog world and I'm wearing milkbone underwear." -Norm from Cheers

A classic quote that never ceases to gain a grin!

Chapter 2B

Time is the enemy of all teachers. There can never and will never be enough of it. When faced with unlimited needs spread across limited time, one of two things must happen. Either some things must be dropped or greater efficiency must be introduced into the system. This of course can be kept under control by being cautious about what you pick up!

Still, communication may well be the most important skill a teacher has in their arsenal. Finding the time to engage in it- we'll, there's a challenge every teacher faces. How might one communicate information in such a fashion that almost every student and parent can access it? The obvious answer seems to be technology.

This, again, is where efficiency returns to the fore. Phone calls are nice, as well are emails, but both processes require significant time that is usually only dedicated to one person at a time. To truly get the most out of the available time, a website seems the obvious choice. After all, any question that can be adequately answered without steal the teacher's time with the students or planning time is a small victory in the battle against time.

Chapter 2A

What really caught my attention this time around was the WNC EdNet. I'm afraid, in this regard, I may have accepted some of the stereotypes about the mountain region. Even without rancor, the idea that this area is full of simple folks who hold to older traditions is a appealing one. The idea that, while time marches on elsewhere, that it tends to stand still in the mountains does have a certain appeal. Yet this initiative just goes to prove that sometimes the latest technology can be just around the next bend.

The mindset of simple mountain folk is a dangerous one. Just as soon as your expectations for your students go down, so to will you see their performance dropping. The Internet can be the great equalizer, allowing the same opportunities for the rural students as it does the urban or suburban ones. The trick is in its deployment- making sure it is available is the first step; the second, making sure it is utilized falls to us, the teachers.

Chapter 10

I'm a fan of science fiction. There were few eras more full of hope and promise than the late fifties and early sixties. The way that technology was smoothly and seamlessly integrated into every facet of life, especially the classroom, was a hopeful glimpse of a Utopian dream.

It seems that the future may be now. We've certainly fallen short of many of the promises made back then by forward-thinking science fiction writers but in some areas we are almost there. With the lowering prices of components and the rising power of processors, it may not be too long until every student has their own computer and that technology becomes as ubiquitous as the light bulb or textbook.

Despite what those writers might have written, however, there aren't any robots gunning for our jobs. At least, not yet...

Chapter 1

Chapter one was rather dense- a lot to take in. Still, something did catch my eye. Mainly, the idea of educational OS's.

I never considered the rules that we teacher as teachers or the rules by which we regulate our classrooms as operating systems. Still, they are as they define what one can and cannot (easily) do within an established system. It all comes down to limiting options to safe ones and compromising at times to give the best experience to the largest number of end users. Different flavors exist and many are rabidly for some while take every opportunity to denounce others.

What a strange world in which we live.

Integration

The idea of connecting to foreign countries has certainly been the topic of numerous commercials on television, usually associated not so much with software companies but backbone companies such as Cisco. With the flowing music and heart-warming shots, they evoke a sense of wonder and possibilities that I guess I never felt was within my grasp. With Elluminate, though, such 21st Century tech wonders might be within my class, all within the humble confines of my future classroom.

I'm wondering what common language the challenges of education might create among teachers even if English is not in common. The multimedia experience would seem to offer a number of different ways to communicate beyond the spoken or written word. Sounds exciting to me!