Alan November

I enjoyed Alan November's presentation last Friday. He made great arguments for incorporating more technology into our curriculum. I was surprised that there was so much push back. This is what kids are doing. We just finished a survey of the 9th grade families. When we asked the about their kid's screen time 35.7% of the parents thought their kid was spending 1 - 2 hours a day on video games, computers, cell phones and PDA's. Another 40 % say the kids are spending more time. I don't think their parents are totally aware of the amount of time spent. I would probably double their estimates. Who knows how much of thsi time is spent doing school work? What I do know is if we don't assign work taht reqires screen time, little to none of their time on the computer will be spent on schoolwork.

Task #6

Do you know that I have been saving drafts and not posting them to my blog!!!?!?? :(
What a knucklehead!
Anyway, I had a great time creating comics with ToonDoo I can see how kids would love it! I think I could kill a whole summer making customized posters for my classroom. Assignments with ToonDoo could require students to show a linear progression in the comic that also reflected the material covered.

Task #3

Hmmmm. . . I thought I already did this. I swear I composed this entry, but knowing me I forgot to hit post! I really see the value in blogging in the classroom, the conversation continues and the medium is what our students would like to use. I wish it were easier to type math problems. I woudl love to see kids working together. For some reason they don't seem to do this as much as I would like them to. Perhaps they would do more via teh web.

Task #5

This RSS stuff is cool. I am not sure How I will use it yet, but I can see how this can expedite keeping up with research. I really like the scientific aspect.

Task #1

I feel like the whole interactive aspect of the internet is a great thing, though I do have some concerns. I can see how a group of colleagues/community of learners can share ideas very easily, but I wonder how outsiders could read the content. My students have difficulty with saliency content with in the classroom. How will they be able to ascertain the validity of posts? I feel like some of them may be prone to short cuts. How will they process it? I am completely overwhelmed.