Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Comparing Websites
Willowdale Elementary School's website is relatively plain. It's easy to navigate. Each classroom has its own page with links to the teacher's blog, the students' blog, and pictures of the students' artwork. The principal also has her own blog. Although the blogs seem like a good idea, many teachers don't use them on a regular basis. Even the principal has only written three blogs since September. The classes that regularly use their blogs seem to make good use of them. The teachers' blog serves to let the parents know about the students' assignments, and the students' blog lets parents know what is going on in the classroom.
Highland Park High School's website looks good. It's a little more difficult to navigate than Willowdale's site. Highland Park has their entire student handbook online. They also list every class available and who teaches the classes. Each teacher has a profile on the site. Highland Park allows their library's catalog to be accessed online, so students can see if the library has a book without even being at school. Highland Park also has pages for extracurricular activities.
The websites have a lot of basic things in common. Each website has a link to a website that parents can log onto, but since I'm not a parent, I don't know what's on those sites. Each website also has a calendar so that parents can see what is happening at the school. Both of the websites have a list of the faculty and their contact info. Highland Park's and Willowdale's sites also have a section for PTA/PTO to update parents.
The Colony High School's website has the same basic information that Highland Park's website has, but The Colony has much less detail. There is an online calendar and pages for extracurricular activities. The faculty's contact information is also online. The library catalog is not accessible online. The website is not organized in a very good way. It seems disorganized with a lot of different information on one page.
Highland Park High School's website looks good. It's a little more difficult to navigate than Willowdale's site. Highland Park has their entire student handbook online. They also list every class available and who teaches the classes. Each teacher has a profile on the site. Highland Park allows their library's catalog to be accessed online, so students can see if the library has a book without even being at school. Highland Park also has pages for extracurricular activities.
The websites have a lot of basic things in common. Each website has a link to a website that parents can log onto, but since I'm not a parent, I don't know what's on those sites. Each website also has a calendar so that parents can see what is happening at the school. Both of the websites have a list of the faculty and their contact info. Highland Park's and Willowdale's sites also have a section for PTA/PTO to update parents.
The Colony High School's website has the same basic information that Highland Park's website has, but The Colony has much less detail. There is an online calendar and pages for extracurricular activities. The faculty's contact information is also online. The library catalog is not accessible online. The website is not organized in a very good way. It seems disorganized with a lot of different information on one page.
Technology Literacy
In "Technology Literacy and the Myspace Generation," Susan McLester makes some interesting points. I think that it is important to talk to both students and employers about technology needs. Those are the groups of people who know what the needs are.
I disagree with what Alan November is saying in this article. Standards are not necessarily bad. It is important that students know about technology, so there is no reason that technology literacy should not be a standard. Also, November's comparison of the NETS to going to Russia is not valid. The NETS lay out what skills and knowledge students should have, not how they should be given the knowledge. Similarly, the farmers in Russia are standardized in the same way; they get milk from their cows, but they don't have to do it in the same way. He also criticizes the NETS because they aren't forever applicable. Teachers cannot teach about technologies that do not exist, but if they teach students to adapt as new technologies become available, then they are helping their students adapt to a constantly changing world.
I think the NETS are good technological standards for students, but I think that sections I-V should be taught in the classroom regardless of technology. If the students are learning what they should be, they should be able to apply that to the use of technology. Even though section V deals with digital citizenship, if students are taught citizenship in the real world, they should be able to apply when online. I think section VI is the only section specific to a digital world, and it creates the basis for participation in the digital world because it's important to have an understanding of how to use technology.
I disagree with what Alan November is saying in this article. Standards are not necessarily bad. It is important that students know about technology, so there is no reason that technology literacy should not be a standard. Also, November's comparison of the NETS to going to Russia is not valid. The NETS lay out what skills and knowledge students should have, not how they should be given the knowledge. Similarly, the farmers in Russia are standardized in the same way; they get milk from their cows, but they don't have to do it in the same way. He also criticizes the NETS because they aren't forever applicable. Teachers cannot teach about technologies that do not exist, but if they teach students to adapt as new technologies become available, then they are helping their students adapt to a constantly changing world.
I think the NETS are good technological standards for students, but I think that sections I-V should be taught in the classroom regardless of technology. If the students are learning what they should be, they should be able to apply that to the use of technology. Even though section V deals with digital citizenship, if students are taught citizenship in the real world, they should be able to apply when online. I think section VI is the only section specific to a digital world, and it creates the basis for participation in the digital world because it's important to have an understanding of how to use technology.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Choking Creativity
It seems to me that the case of Warner Bros. Entertainment and J.K. Rowling vs. RDR Books shows how commercial interests are trying to change the meaning and purpose of copyright law. Copyright is meant to encourage creativity. Steven Vander Ark has done nothing wrong. He simply created something based off of someone else's work which copyright allows.
If J.K. Rowling wins this case it will change the meaning of copyright. J.K. Rowling said that she planned to write a similar encyclopedia to that of Steven Vander Ark's. If she wins her case, copyright is ultimately protecting something that has not been created yet. There is another implication if she wins her case. It would set a precedent to make it illegal to base a work on someone else's previous work. In the end, setting that precedent would choke creativity because it would be illegal for people to get ideas from any copyrighted source.
If J.K. Rowling wins this case it will change the meaning of copyright. J.K. Rowling said that she planned to write a similar encyclopedia to that of Steven Vander Ark's. If she wins her case, copyright is ultimately protecting something that has not been created yet. There is another implication if she wins her case. It would set a precedent to make it illegal to base a work on someone else's previous work. In the end, setting that precedent would choke creativity because it would be illegal for people to get ideas from any copyrighted source.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Michael Bess and Wikipedia
Michael Bess has an interesting opinion of encyclopedias. Perhaps I have had teachers or professors who hold the same opinion, but I have never heard them express it. I have always been led to believe or just assumed that educators don't like Wikipedia because it can be seen as unreliable. Once Michael Bess verbalized why he doesn't like encyclopedias, it makes sense. Compiling the information takes a lot more work and teaches the researcher more than just having facts presented to them in the form of an encyclopedia article.
Michael Bess's History 200 class is a good example of the usefulness of web 2.0 in teaching. I think that it is best to learn from the real world, and Wikipedia is the real world. Anyone who wants to can access it and edit its contents. Web 2.0 is what makes things like the behind the scenes of an encyclopedia available to everyone.
I agree with Michael Bess on what I think is his main point. The articles are useful when you need a few quick facts, but a lot more can be learned from the debates that go on behind the scenes.
Michael Bess's History 200 class is a good example of the usefulness of web 2.0 in teaching. I think that it is best to learn from the real world, and Wikipedia is the real world. Anyone who wants to can access it and edit its contents. Web 2.0 is what makes things like the behind the scenes of an encyclopedia available to everyone.
I agree with Michael Bess on what I think is his main point. The articles are useful when you need a few quick facts, but a lot more can be learned from the debates that go on behind the scenes.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Blog Assignment #2
AUP's are Acceptable Use Policies. They outline the appropriate ways for a business or school's technology to be used. AUP's are necessary because they protect both the user of the network and the people providing the network.
I found my high school's AUP at <http://www.lisd.net/webpolicy/aupstu0207.pdf>. LISD did a very good job following the guidelines for an AUP. The district started their AUP with a statement of their goals for technology in education and the advantages from technology. The continued by talking about who has access to the technology, how it is to be used and how it's not to be used, and the consequences for using technology inappropriately. It concluded with a form for the parents and student to sign.
The Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) applies to schools and libraries that receive government funding for internet. The schools and libraries have to monitor minors' use of the internet, have filters on their internet, and make policies dealing with minors' use of the internet.
At The Colony High School, I had access to a network. We had access to the internet, and we had a campus wide network. On the campus network, each student had a file. Occasionally, I used the internet for class, but I never used my student file because I did all of my work on the computer at home.
My parents did not have access to information through the internet about me. The year after I left The Colony High School, parents were given the opportunity to see their child's grades on the internet, but that system was not in place when I attended.
I think that filtering in schools is a good idea. In a school setting, technology has a certain purpose. When students go to inappropriate websites or sites like facebook and myspace, computers in schools take a way from education instead of supplementing it. It's not hard to get around filters, but they do deter some students from going to websites that they don't need to go to during school hours.
I found my high school's AUP at <http://www.lisd.net/webpolicy/aupstu0207.pdf>. LISD did a very good job following the guidelines for an AUP. The district started their AUP with a statement of their goals for technology in education and the advantages from technology. The continued by talking about who has access to the technology, how it is to be used and how it's not to be used, and the consequences for using technology inappropriately. It concluded with a form for the parents and student to sign.
The Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) applies to schools and libraries that receive government funding for internet. The schools and libraries have to monitor minors' use of the internet, have filters on their internet, and make policies dealing with minors' use of the internet.
At The Colony High School, I had access to a network. We had access to the internet, and we had a campus wide network. On the campus network, each student had a file. Occasionally, I used the internet for class, but I never used my student file because I did all of my work on the computer at home.
My parents did not have access to information through the internet about me. The year after I left The Colony High School, parents were given the opportunity to see their child's grades on the internet, but that system was not in place when I attended.
I think that filtering in schools is a good idea. In a school setting, technology has a certain purpose. When students go to inappropriate websites or sites like facebook and myspace, computers in schools take a way from education instead of supplementing it. It's not hard to get around filters, but they do deter some students from going to websites that they don't need to go to during school hours.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
