Chapter 1: Integrating Educational Technology into the Curriculum

Overall, I feel that Chapter 1 was very informative in giving a general overview of computers today, what they were in the past, their versatility, and how and why they are used in the classroom and education in general today. The chapter starts out by reminding us of the everyday things in which we utilize technology and how technology is "establishing new learning environments by incorporating new strategies," i.e. going from single media to multimedia, etc. It later continues on with descriptions of what the computer is, what it does, and a general overview of "the computer" as we know it. I do feel, however, that as prevalent as computers and technology are in our daily lives that this part of the chapter was a little tedious. Though most people may not be able to work a computer flawlessly (myself included), I do feel that most people are able to properly identify a printer, keyboard, mouse, etc. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the book featured the iPhone as one of its examples. To me, this is an indicator that the book is "practicing what it preaches" by keeping up with the ever-changing times of technology. This chapter tells us that using technology in the classroom helps in terms of motivation, and actually contributes to a greater attention span of the students. With proper use, computers can support communications beyond classroom walls, which I believe is a great part of technology as a whole. The book also outlines a program titled the "National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers" (NETS-T). This sets standards for the fundamental concepts, knowledge, skills, etc. for applying technology in K-12. It also sets standards for administrators and students as well. I see this as a great way to keep teachers up to date on the constantly updated aspects of technology, so that they are able to pass their new knowledge onto their students. Another part of the chapter that caught my attention was the ARCS Motivational Model. According the model, "teachers should strive to create a deeper motivation in learners to learn new skills." I agree very much with this model as a current student myself. I know from personal experience that if I am not motivated to learn something, it's probably not going to happen.

Something I learned since my last posting was to create links to not only websites in my documents and presentations, but other documents on my computer as well. I think that this will be very useful in terms of showing a class a PowerPoint, and being able to bring up a past essay done by a previous student (while the student remains nameless) as an example for a current project. I also learned how to change the text wrapping on a picture or graphic to be able to move it wherever I needed it, instead of only moving it to the limited spaces it allowed me to move it before. It's the little things like this that I think will add up to make the biggest difference in what I learn overall in this class.

Although I've taken many computer classes before, it's like the old saying goes... if you don't use it, you lose it. I've found that to be especially true in terms of programs such as Publisher, PowerPoint, and Excel that I don't utilize as much as programs like Word. I think that this class will help me brush up on things I already know, and teach me many new things to use once I have my own class. In terms of my future career, I hope to teach in the middle school or high school private schools, preferably the Catholic schools... even despite the pay cuts. Throughout my K-12 experience, I attended Catholic schools and was able to incorporate my faith into my everyday schooling. Hopefully, when I become a teacher, I will be able to do the same for my students. :)