Brin Be Blogging

Web 2.0 Reflection Web 2.0 apparently has been something I constantly use   in my own teaching from email, sharing documents on Google drive, and so much more. There are so many apps out there that make different tasks more easier to accomplish, and while this is a good thing, this also makes it a pitfall because the more we become accustom to it the more we depend on it. I know for a fact I will probably be lost without the Google calendar and impulsive IMs throughout my day. For instance even though our campus is small and chances of us meeting or stopping by to someone else's classroom is just two classrooms away, we depend on emails and IMs to get instant answers or remind us of upcoming events on our calendars. While most of these apps tend to be free and it may be save the school more money to use these apps, they are still no comparison to the full fledged product. I would still use Microsoft Office over Google Docs because it has more features and because the internet is...

Article Highlights:  The article emphasizes on how a chartered middle school does not implement technology of any kind in the classroom until students reach 6th grade; instead students focus on hands-on or art-based activities, such as knitting gardening, music, storytelling, etc. It discusses its technology program called the "Civics Program". The program builds skills in technology starting at the 6th grade level with digital citizenship (netiquette), research and information literacy in the 7th grade. Finally in the 8th grade students learn about media literacy, conducting research and correctly citing online information, as well as learning the parts of a computer and how a computer works. Discussion Questions: Do you think that PSS should adopt a similar curriculum? What do you believe are the benefits and disadvantages of this program? Do you think that these skills are already embedded into the current Computer Literacy curriculum or Technology Standards and Be...