Chapter 7 Learning Artifact

This chapter was an interesting one. I felt like I already knew about 50% of it pretty thoroughly, but the remaining part of the chapter was fairly new to me. I want to start by just stating that I really liked how Jonassen wrote this chapter and addressed some important issues. Like when he said that if we as educators do not use what is common for our students to use in their everyday lives, that we will lose them ( in essence). Students learn more easily when they can relate to what they are learning and when they feel like the information they are learning is valuable to them. To be honest, technology is what is valuable to them. So not using it in schools and classrooms just does not make sense. They like it and it can be meaningful learning when used appropriately. Next, I love that he addressed the difference between promoting interactions and using technology inappropriately to interfer with interactions (ie the cell phone converstaion in the middle of a dinner party). When teaching about technology I think it is appropriate, and our duty to socaiety, to teach some rules of "courtesy". It is not that difficult, just like how Jeff started his class out by saying that myspaces and facebooks are all fine and whatever, but not appropriate to check during his class time-IT is just RUDE! Those were just some of my favorite little highlights.
Moving on though. I felt like I was already well aware of how instant messaging works, and blogs, chats, and discussion boards. None of these are new to me; I have used them both for assignments in classes as well as for personal things. However, even though Ihave breifly been introduced to podcasting in class- it was extremely helpful to read about it and all the details associated with it in this chapter. There were numerous types of software and sites listed to assist in podcasting ( and vodcasting) and the chapter gave lots of examples as to how to use it in the classroom.
The topic I learned the most on was actually videoconferencing, and synchronous timing. This was interesting because I am always amazed at just how much we can do. Like where Jonassen tells about how students used the videoconferencing to talk to the judges. That is just amazing and so incredibly wonderful. I can remeber when we used to have to write what three ( or however many) questions would you ask the author/or the president/ or whoever if you could. Now you really can ask those questions- and even better you can get a response. That is so exciting to me, and hopefully to my students too.
Lastly, I really only have a couple minor questions from this chapter. One, was there podcasting before the Ipod? Because even the author talk SO much about Ipod when he was discussing the podcasting and many of the resources and things associated with the podcasting were by apple Ipod. Just wondering. And second, with the "Radio WillowWeb", is that really on a radio station like in your car? Or is it just like any other podcast that can be downloaded, uploaded, and listened to on the computer or whatever. So, here are my reflections. I wish I could have created a video something or other, but for one I do not have the equipment- and two I wanted to play with the voicethread some more. So remember to check out the voicethread that is linked to this blogpage too because it relates to this chapter as well.

Chapter 6 Learning Artifact for EME

I found this chapter very enlightening and informative. Not only did I feel like I learned alot, but I am excited about the new ways I have learned to use technology for myself as an individual, as well as for my teacher-self. After learning about the tools in this chapter, I decided to make a list of questions that I am still unsure about. I also decided to make this blog, because blogging is something that is foreign to me and definetly falls into the not "safe" zone. Then, the final part of my learning artifact (which is the most exciting to me) is going to be my link to another blog page. This other blog page will be my mother's.
After reading this chapter, I wondered why it was that I never really saw the use in using technology before. It really had no importance to me whatsoever and even now sometimes after I have read about a new technology tool I find myself saying "So what?" and thinking about how I could still live my life without these technology tools. Then I wonder why I have to think that way. I am going to be a teacher, and I realized that I am actually interested in learning about these technology tools and that I want to be able to teach them to my stduents and other people I care for. So, I took the first step and reached out to my mother. I asked her why she never showed any interest in technology. Why didn't she teach or involve me in anything technological growing up? Why even today she refuses to try and learn technology? Then I explained to her how it has put me so far behind in my learning, and hers, and told her of just a few simple ways it could improve her way of life currently. Then I had a huge realization; I actually understand some of this stuff! I then explained to my mother how a blog and a wiki works and convinced her to make her own blogpage, which I am going to link to my own.
This simple activity of teaching someone else the technolgy concepts made it so much more understandable to me. On my mother's blogpage she will list her own understanding of how a blog can help her with some activities in her life, and what she thought of the experience of making a blog.
Back to my own learning though, my list of questions. There are still some things in this chapter i am unsure about. For 1. I understand that the difference between a wiki and a blog used to be that wikis were for collaboration and more commmunity like, and that blogs were only a one-way communication. I also understand that wikis can be edited and blogs can be responded to. Still, from my understanding- wikis and blogs are very similar with only minor differences. This is more of a just checking statement rather than an exact question. Next 2. Is that I feel like a knowledge forum, which uses a database- is just a database. So is it just different in the fact that you can build on to other peoples ideas and see the progress of thought? I think I have confused myself a little bit here. 3.With the KidLink online community- how do they protect students within that community when so much information is shared about the individuals? They seem to ask alot of questions and then it posts all of their answers for everyone to see ( like their names, age, DOB, what school they attend, what city they live in). It seems like this would be the perfect place for a predator to find children.
This chapter was the best to me so far because I feel like it introduced more new tools that I was totally unfamiliar with than any other chapter did. It has also helped because as I learn more and more it becomes easier to understand the new ideas. This chapter almost seemed simple! The hardest part was discovering how to link a blog, but even that was manageable.