Chapter 12: Religion

I was glad to start reading this text as I feel that it is the one that I associate with the most since I am of a different Religion than most of the US population. The text puts Judaism as the 10th most popular religion in the US and has about 2.8 million adherents. All together that equals 1.3% of the population. Further on, the text states that Judaism constitutes about 3% of the population, but only half identify it as their religion. The Jewish population continues to decline because many you Jewish people are marrying outside of the religion. I did my part by making my fiancee convert. He likes it though and enjoys the religion.
At the start of the formation of the US, Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Baptists, Episcopalians, and Quakers were the most common making up 80% of American congregations. Catholics later moved up to the majority. About 60-905 of people report some type of religious affiliations while about half of the population attend church weekly. Females seem to be more religious as well as African Americans. 2/3rds of the population identified as the same religion of their parents.
The large issue mentioned in this chapter is the separation between church and state. In the end, students are allowed to participate in religious activities, as long as it doesn't disrupt the learning process. Other provisions are as follows:

• Students are allowed to pray and discuss religious views with their peers as long as it doesn't disrupt education
• Students may not just decide to pray as teachers call on them
• Cannot have a captive audience of students who might not want to listen
• Teachers may teach about religion but cannot teach religion
• Schools may teach creationism and evolution in comparative religion and social studies but can only teach evolution in science

The Equal Access Act allows student religious activities to be given the same access to facilities as other student secular activities. Schools can also teach virtue and moral code.
Muslims are making up a larger number of students. Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in the world and make up 1.4% of the US population The opening of a Muslim school in New York city caused a lot of controversy even though NYC already had 65 dual-language schools. Other schools and languages did not face this type of hostility so it's sad to think that these students felt unwelcome and unsupported by their community. I enjoyed learning about the Muslim faith in this text and about Somalia.

Chapter 11: Sexual Orientation

This is certainly a hot button issue in many schools. It is difficult to talk about and to try to enact a safe environment for these students. As stated in the text, "In 2006, the US government reported that about 14% of the hate crimes committed in the past year were motivated by sexual orientation." And that "less than 60% believe that homosexual relations between consenting homosexuals should be legal." (pg. 223).  According to the book, middle schools might be the worst place for sexual harassment, where more than 3/4ths of students report that other students have a negative view of homosexuality. This falls right into the median age of 13, which is where many people start to realize their sexual orientation. There is very little support at this level and at the high school level as well for these students. The result is often drop outs, absenteeism, homelessness, substance abuse, and risky sexual behavior. In 2004, about 7.8% of suicides were due to sexual orientation. Estimates but the numbers of GLBT students between 5 to 10% at each school. I found it shocking to hear that openly gay teachers can lose their jobs due to their sexual orientation. I had openly gay teachers in high school. In only 16 states, sexual orientation is protected from discrimination under the law. This book is dated from 2007 however, so I'm hoping that this number has changed since then. Also, GLBT people are never identified in textbooks and only is occasionally provided briefly in describing a noted person. The Harvey Milk School is a small alternative school that helps gay and lesbian students and provides a traditional curriculum, as well as social services and family counseling. It is great to hear that schools are changing to meet the needs of students today at least on rare occasions such as this one.

Chapter 10: Gender

According to the text, the gap between girls and boys has narrowed in math. Boys seem to do better in math and science, while girls do better in reading and writing. I like the assignment of "Draw a scientist." Maybe this is because I'm an art teacher, but I do think it is a great way to see how people view scientists. I myself would have drawn an older white man. I didn't even think to draw one of various ethnic diversities or a woman. I also didn't think to draw a person doing "everyday experiments" such as cooking and gardening. Also I learned that the marriage percentage is huge in math and science faculties. "43% of married female physicists are married to other physicists, while only 6% of male physicists have physicist spouses." (pg.196). I think this would be because there are many more male than female physicists, so a female in the field is rarer. Also work relationships are pretty common as well, and at that type of work, those people would seem to have a lot in common. In all computer science, math, agricultural science, environmental science, chemistry, geology, physics, and astronomy, women represent less than 15% of the workforce. Many have attributed the low numbers of women in math and science to teacher attitudes, peer influence, and parental involvement. Boys and girls have been socialized different ways from when they are younger and given different types of toys. Not only are there a small number of females in these careers, there are also a small number of African American and Hispanics.
What was interesting to learn was that "females tend to attribute success with effort, while males tend to attribute success with ability. On the other hand, males tend to attribute failure with effort, while females attribute it to ability." (pg. 198) I don't know how I feel about success and failure and if it's internal or external. But it is interesting to know that boys view it differently than girls.
When it comes to literacy, the difficulty becomes greater in boys as they move from elementary to middle school. They often use self-protective strategies such as avoidance and resistance. Also boys and girls tend to be drawn to different types of literature.

Chapter 9: Exceptionality

Exceptionality is defined as disabled or gifted students who are eligible for services. There is a disproportionate number of minority students in special education. "Black students are three times more likely to be identified as having mental retardation and over two times more likely to be classified as emotionally disturbed when compared to their peers." (p.170). The inclusion movement tries to reduce the amount of restrictions students with special needs receives. Differentiation has some concerns due to the degree of knowledge of general education teachers to the special needs of students, time for planning and collaboration, administrative support, and willingness. Our school has chosen to heavily enforce differentiation though this is hard to do for all lessons. I agree with the concerns toward differentiation. It is recommended for special needs students, especially because gifted learned spend a great part of their day in general education classrooms. Our school also uses RTI, which tries to identify students before they qualify for special services. It seemed that there were a lot more advanced students that were singled out for RTI instead of actual students that needed it. This seemed to be the complaint by many schools as well. The book also points out that minority students are. Underrepresented in gifted classes because they might have different behavior and language And the teacher might not consider them advanced. Family involvement is the greatest factor in academic success and I know a lot of teachers that share that sentiment. It was pointed out that the academic level of the parents has little effect on the academic success of the student, showing that it is more important to be involved than to be knowledgable. aDHD is the most commonly diagnosed childhood psychiatric disorder. 3-5% of the student population are thought to have ADHD. However the percentages are higher in certain parts of the country and in urban areas. Also two to four times the amount of boys are diagnosed with ADHD than girls. Yikes!

Chapter 8: Poverty and Socioeconomic Class

Diverse children, with the exception of Asian children, consist of the majority of children in poverty and lowered academic success. Poverty is defined (in 2007) as a family of four who makes under $43,000 per year, and one person who makes under $20,650. I made that type of money working part time. The box 8.1 Child Poverty Nationwide by Race (2005) stated the following about the percentage of children that live in poverty: 35% of Black children live in poverty (20% in New Jersey and 43% in Ohio) 28% of Latino children live in poverty 29% of American Indian children live in poverty 11% of Asians live in poverty 10% of White children live in poverty 18% of all children are considered poor and can range between states from (7% in New Hampshire to 27% in Mississippi More children lived in poverty (18%) than 18-64 year olds who had 11% in poverty. People 65 and over had 10% living in poverty. 30.3% live below the poverty level for at least two months but just 5.3 percent of them stayed in poverty for over two years. The average amount for time spent in poverty was 4 and a half months. In 1997 parents who obtained a degree and had children under the age of six had only 3% of families below the poverty line. Programs that are available to these families include Head Start, food stamps, the school lunch program, the Low-Income Home Energy Asstance Program, and the Children's Health Insurance Program. Mental resources are needed. Other noted groups include veterans (30%), crug or alcohol-dependant person (40%), and persons with mental dissabilities, (25-30%). Many of these pele belong to more than one subgroup and thus the percentages dont add up to 100%. Another point that I noted was that one in seven single-parent families are headed by a father. High levels of absenteeism and tardiness are common for homeless children. Physical issues include "inadequate nutrition, substance abuse, maternal depression, exposure to environmental toxins, trauma and abuse, and quality of daycare" (p.154) that all effect brain development. The statistic that a $10,000 increase to a family income increases high school graduation chances by 600%. The research on twins mentioned showed that intelligence had a lot less to do with genetics and more to do with environment. Schools with dental help have seen an improvement in school achievement. Our school started assisting wi dental health and I think that it is a great idea. The graphs showed in the PowerPoint were powerful and I wish I can show them to my students who are having children before they graduate high school.

Chapter 7: Culture and Language

Culture is characterized as values that is learned and shared from families and groups. "Because cultures change over time, based on complex circumstances, it is difficult if not harmful to determine a fixed view of culture." (p.119). The culture of the US has historically been one from Western Europe. Our political systems and language are from Great Britain, which makes sense since our first settlers were from there. Ethnocentrism is when someone believes that their culture is the best and won't view other cultures as equal. Table 7.1 Components of Cultureon page 119 is a great reference to see what makes up a culture. There are subcultures and micro cultures as well which share traits with the macroculture while developing traits of their own. Language can be verbal or non verbal. Literacy can also include reading, writing, and listening. In major cities of the US, over 100 different languages are spoken. I found it interesting that reading and writing are not learned naturally and must be taught, I would have thought otherwise. Knowledge of other languages helps to learn additional languages. There are three major orientations whose first language is not English. Difference orientation focuses on what is lacking, which is often found with at-risk, disadvantaged, and culturally deprived students. Difference orientation views linguistic diversity as a positive and builds on the knowledge that already exists. Social reconstruction orientation believes that the problem don't just come from the school, but society as a whole. ELL students are taught in many different forms but the ELL students that are in L1 seem to be in a though way.approximately 70% of all ELL students speak Spanish. 31% of ELL students fail to complete high school. From the PowerPoint, I liked the quote from Cesar Chavez that says, "Preservation of ones own culture does not require contempt or disrespect For other cultures." The political cartoon that shows two people walking and one says to the other, "Really? You don't look like an Indian." sums up what we have read about in this chapter and in the case study. I feel it should be more prominent and have a slide of its own. I also noticed that you found a lot of the same points interstitial from the chapter as I did.

Chapter 6: Race and Ethnicity

Race was first used at the beginning of the twentieth century to refer to any "geographical, religious, class-based, or color-based grouping." (Taylor & Whitaker, p.99.) In the words of Mukhopadhay and Henze (2003), "The concept of race is a cultural invention, a culturally and historically specific way of thinking about, categorizing, and treating human beings." (p.673). This makes the identity of culture on of choice and can change. Language, religion, styles of clothing, and foods can all be used to identify a persons ethnic group. The book points out that an actual blood relationship does not determine an ethnicity, but instead as a part of a group that entertains a certain belief, physical type, or customs, or many things combined. I loved the part of the chapter that dealt with children's perception of cultures, and that they might associate skin color with various daily activities because they don't fully understand culture. The book recommends to respond to the child's question instead of ignoring it. The issue of racial identy starts to become more predominate during adolescence when they start to question who they are. The book also recommends that teachers should provide students with "positive affirming experiences." (p.102). This should also occur with White children. it was stated in the text that "while Blacks have often been labeled disadvantaged, Whites are rarely labeled advantaged." (p.103). I disagreed with the section that brought up the health problems of Black people versus White. Taylor and Whitaker stated that Black people have a higher risk of dying from heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and hypertension. It attributed this to the linkage between blood pressures and encounters with bigotry. However it failed to mention that African Americans have the highest rate of obesity which would have a greater chance of accounting for this. Lastly I liked the quote in the text from the mother that said, "'If you're a nobody... It doesn't matter what color you are" (p.104) as a response to a child's questions of who he is.

Chapter 2: The current state of education for diverse students in the US

The states which the largest school systems are Illinois, Ohio, and Wisconsin. In 2006, it was found that nearly half of all math classes in high-minority and high-poverty areas were taught by teachers who don't even have a minor in the field. It was also found that there was a positive correlation between teacher prep, teacher satisfaction, and continuation in teaching. Also, the physical aspects of the school buildings are very likely to be in disrepair. The argument for tracking is that it is easier to teach a homogeneous group of students and not everyone can master the same curriculum. The modern form of tracking can be see as the division of remidial, basic, and advanced courses. No Child Left Behind, enacted by President George W Bush in 2006, tries to put in place higher standards, greater accountability, and a focus on lower performing student populations. There have however been many opponents to the law due to its many issues. The percentage of students who graduate high school areas follows: 94.6 Asian 91.8 White 83.7 African-American 64.1 Hispanic "The dimensions of multicultural education encompass content integration, the knowledge construction process, prejudice reduction, an equity pedagogy, an empowering school culture, and the vie of a school as a social system." (Taylor & Whitaker, p.23). The authors here are stating what they believe will help to improve multicultural education. However when they discuss how learning styles are different for different cultures, I feel that diverse students can learn through other learning styles besides the one they are most used to through their own culture and that to think otherwise ignores the changes and adaptability of children. Some other interesting facts from the chapt include: Asthma is the leading cause of student absences between the ages of 5-17. The suggestion that parents should participate in a certain amount of volunteer hours at the school. According the the PowerPoint provided, Illinois has a higher gap between cultures in Math grades four and eight. The pie graph of foreign born people are as follows: 53.3% Latin Aamereica 25% Asia 13.7% Europe 8% other This restates what was read in the chapter, that the greateest amount of immigrants come from Latin America, and most likely across the Mexican border. The greatest amount of immigrants live in cities and their surrounding suburbs. Having visual representations and maps helps to see the patterns of immigrants. The national map shows howw immigrants reside mostly around large cities around the border of the US. However there are some clusters in teh West thata confuse me, such as the large immigrant popluations in northern Texas and into Nebraska, as well as the ones in Idaho.

Chapter 1: The changing pattern of immigration

Immagrents have been a primary source of Americas population growth, most particularly from Mexico. These immagrants came here due to hope or fear, or both. Economic disparity is the greatest cause international migration. More than three quarters of the worlds' population live in third world conditions. However other causes include internal and international conflicts, lack of government respect to minorities, poor governance, and the lack of security and basic human rights. People also come to seek better educational and work opportunities. Sometimes the US plays favorites, such as allowing refugees from Cuba but not from Haiti. This is where the UN steps in. The immigration laws in the US began after WWI due to fears of enemy spying. In 1985 46.4% of immagrents came from Asia. In recent years, the population of foreign-born people increased from 5.4% in 1960, to 86% in 1993. This is a huge increase and it's hard to believe that people born in the US are that much of an extreme minority. The states that have them most immagrents are California, New York, Texas, New Jersey, and Illinois. This makes sense because these states have the largest populations and the largest cities. Box 1.1 in chapter one stated that it is likely that 8 billion illegal immagrents have jobs, however it is still debate if this is beneficial or harmful to the future of the country. It has been ruled in the Supreme Court case of plyer vs. doe that children of illegal immagrents have the same rights to education as all other citizens. A popular entry point to the US for illegal immagrents of all countries is through the border that we share with Mexico. "In 2006 the Falfurrias checkpoint apprehended almost four times as many illegal aliens as residents." (Taylor & Whitaker p.7). It was also noted that after 9/11 forty-one Iraqis were found trying to cross into. The US through Mexico. Assimilation is when a group doesn't maintain their original culture when in contact with a different culture. Horace Mann wrote that a primary purpose of public schools is to assimilate immagrent children. Multiculturalism is what schools should be promoting, as there are often many students from many cultures. This is closer to the process of acculturation, which involves learning a second culture while maintains the original culture. Reading your chapter one Powerpoint, I learned that there is de facto and de jure segregation, which defines segregarion as mandated or not mandated by law. According to Taylor and Whitaker, the current data (time of publishing was in 2009), the percentage of school age population is as follows: 1.2 Indian/Alaskan native 4.2 Asian/ Pacific Islanders 15.4 Hispanic 16.4 African American 63.3 White These percentages are not shown in public schools where 88% of teachers and 84% of principles are white. Though the slide in the PowerPoint had slightly different numbers, the diversity of the faculty does not match the diversity of the student body. I would have liked to have seen the graphs that show the disparaity in discipline between races, howwever it seemed covered up by the Public Schools- Racial Devide

Web 2.0

http://animoto.com/play/wYxNSnW5IQqCkSsaJoRSgA

rubistar 4 teachers

http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=ShowRubric&rubric_id=2187931

google docs- commercial design questionaire

Sorry to all those who recieved my email. I guess you have to copy and paste the link in your internet adress typing in place.

http://www.screencast.com/users/EriSher/folders/Default/media/c7cc0394-1a5c-40b0-b623-ce5408dabe14

Module 4 projects

I was so worried about the jing screencast that it was giving me anxiety the week before I started it. I logged on and downloaded it and got even more anxiety. I watched Dr. Cantu's ponopto link and it helped a lot. I was wondering what that yellow sunshine thing was on the top of my internet browser. It all was simpler than I thought. The hard part was posting the link. Another issue I had was that the video was only allowed to be 5 minutes long. As a result I had to make 2 videos, 1 with the assignment instructions, and another with the rubistar rubric and online resource.

I have used Rubistar in the past for rubrics. However I have always ended up retyping everything. So I now make my rubrics in microsoft word.

Google.docs was easy enough. I found that using the templates made for a nice touch. However the template I chose was in Spanish. The limited Spanish I know made for a tough time figuring out what to put. Luckily the instructions were in English. And there was no spell check.


For the Web 2.0 assignment, I chose Animoto.com. This site turns photos into videos and adds music as well. I thought this would be a good way to display all the images that my students have created. I also plan on using this in my upcoming wedding. I am very excited that I found this site because I think the students will enjoy it. Even moreso than the students, I think that I will enjoy it more.
I hope everybody's semester went well and I hope that all your future semesters go well too. Good luck on your masters' degree.

jing screencast

C:\Users\Erica\Documents\my art teaching career\snap_quides_tutorial.swf

Post #16 – Review the professional development information and online resources available in Chapter 11 of Technology Applications for the Digital Classroom. Evaluate how well professional associations are utilizing the Internet to provide professional development opportunities to K-12 teachers in the various core subject areas.

English/ Language Arts- I always wanted to start a blog for art teachers. I think this would be a great way to share ideas among teachers who rely more on their creativity and experience. I also wanted to start an art blog where I posted various funny comments that students have said in art class.

Math- wildaboutmath.com seems like a great resource. I find that students have a hard time relating to math or finding it fun. This website can help teachers inspire students. There is a lot of resources for what seems to be every area of math including the history of math and how to relate it to other subject matters. Ask Dr. math seems like a great resource for students who have questions when there is no teacher around or available. The math blog spot also seemed to have great resources for teachers. Printable worksheets, definitions explained, and videos are all included in this site. It also had valuable links for math teachers.

Science- Wow, a Pre-Service and New Teacher Headquarters?!? What I wouldn't have given for one of those. this website contains a valuable career center, conference info, networking, and many resources. Exloratorium is a great resource for professional development, which I've always enjoyed utilizing for teaching. There seems to be a lot of internet opportunities for science teachers. I'm jealous.

Social Sciences- Social Studies Central is a great resource. It includes weekly tips, premade slideshows, novel list, and best practices section that includes methods that promote creative thinking.

Technology/ Web 2.0- this is the section that relates best to me as an educator. Not only because I don't teach any of the above subjects, but because it offers the most variation and addresses many issues teachers may encounter. I like "20 Technology Skills Every Educator Should Have." Out of this list, I have 7 of these skills. Which is interesting considering I'm a teacher of technology. "Free Technology for Teachers" is a wonderful site. I clicked on the tab "free downloads" which was a slight disappointment. I would have liked to see more downloads that were interactive as opposed to explanitory though there were some good .pdf's like Making Videos for the Web: A Guide for Teachers. I loved the "Favorite Resources" tab which included links to online resources such as Hisotrical Facebook: Facebook for Dead People, My Fake Wall: Create Fake Facebook Walls, How to Create Self-Graded Quizes in Google Docs, 10 Ways for Students to Build Websites, and many more. I was like a kid in a candy store! Also listed were sites used for this class such as Wall Wisher, Google Docs, and Blogger. This page is definately worth bookmarking. The Creating Blogs and Websites tab and the Video Creations Resources are also valuable tabs. It provides tutorials and video instruction for educators, which I find very valuable. Even included is a Work with Me tab to encourage other educators to post and teach on the website. There is even a tab for jobs for teachers looking for jobs in their subjects and areas. This is by far one of the more valuable and interesting websites that I have come across.

Online Media Converter is a valuable resource for myself becausd I work in a district that blocks filesharing sites and YouTube videos. I find YouTube to be a very valuable site but I never have access to it, but now I do!

Post #15 – Review the Web 3.0 applications examined in Chapter 5, Section 1 of Technology Applications for the Digital Classroom. Which of the Web 3.0 technologies on the horizon do you believe hold the greatest promise for the subject and grade level of students you teach? What is the significance of the Wayne Gretzky hockey metaphor for K-12 classroom teachers?

Though cloud computing  is where technology is headed int he future, I don't see this benefiting my classroom as we don't utilize the internet, cell phones, remotes servers, and really anything other than a computer. There is also a lack of other people teaching my curriculum so I don't need to link to others.

Game-based learning wouldn't benefit me wither, as the information I teach is pretty cut and dry. There is not much discovering, so much as practice and utilizing the technology itself.

As a result, I feel that augmented reality seems to be the most applicable. Out of the provided programs, I have found ARSsights, the Flynn Park Elementary School LIONS Program, Though ARSsights is more for viewing 3D images, I would love to see my students work on creating simple 3D images. The Flynn Park Elementary LIONS program since my students already do a lot of digital creations so creating games would be a good fit. This is also based in fact and history, so creative thinking, exploratory learning, and artistic creation all help to teach the students.

To me the quote from Wayne Gretzky means that learning how to react to the future, over getting stuck in the past, is how one can become successful. “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not to where it has been.” I'm no hockey buff, but my guess is that skating to where the puck has been is not good offense or defense.

Post #14 – Review the technology timeline, in Chapter 3, Section 4 of Technology Applications for the Digital Classroom. Discuss how the evolution of technology in American society has shaped the type instructional technology available to teachers in the classroom during this same period. How would you define the relationship between technology use in society and technology integration in K-12 education?

1872- The typewriter is a huge technological advancement in education. It lead the way to what is now word processing documents. This helps students to read and write, and it also helps teachers understand what a student is saying without having to decipher horrible penmanship.

1900's- photo and movie making inventions are a great resource in education. I don't know one subject that does not benefit from photos and movies. Without either, teacher would only be able to explain and draw out what they are trying to teach. Students wouldn't be able to learn as much without having any accurate visual representation.

1946- computers being developed are a huge advancement in education. though the computers being developed at this time would only solve basic math equations, they will go on to dominate the education field.

1967- The invention of the first handheld calculator led to students being able to learn more advanced math. The later invention of the graphing calculator led to even more student knowledge of mathematic functions.

1969- Throughout my teacher education, I have had the topic of Sesame Street come up very often. I have learned about the important role it has served to children before they are old enough to enroll in school and how it helps bring all future students to the same starting point in their education.

1970- The internet has been a large advancement in education, though some may argue that it is not always for the positive. The important development of hypertext and groupware is what the current internet is based on. It is hard to believe that there was just one man who invented it all.

1971- Digitalized books are especially useful to college students, who are more inclined to read professional, researched works. Today, whole books can be downloaded onto portable technology allowing easier access.

1983- CD-Roms used to be important and they are now phased out through digital downloads. My CD-Rom on all of my work computers does not work and has not worked since I've received them.

1996- What makes a greater advancement in education today is the DVD. This allows teachers to show videos to students, especially when wanting to show only certain parts of a video.

2001- Downloading course work has a great benefit to students and their families. I plan to do so over the summer when I actually have time to do so.

2005- One Laptop per Child sounds like a good idea in theory, however I feel like not all children in the world needs a laptop. There are some cultures and some whole countries that can get along just fine without them.

Post #13 – Review the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Nine Elements of Digital Citizenship, in Chapter 3, Section 3 of Technology Applications for the Digital Classroom. Evaluate the effectiveness of K-12 education in preparing students to be good digital citizens. What obstacles do classroom teachers and students face in fully realizing the basic tenets of the nine elements of digital citizenship?

Digital access- schools often have filters put into place to allow for responsible internet searching. Most other technology seems to have other filters in place as well for students under 18 years old. One obstacle that educators face is student access to technology. I feel that not enough students have access to the technology that they need.

Digital commerce- often commerce that involves technology involves use of debit/credit cards. Often, students don't have their own. As a result, students don't learn valuable lessons about digital commerce. There are business classes in high school taught to upperclassmen, however they lack real world experience. I hope that students learn the importance of this responsibility through the education process and not through personal experience.

Digital Communication- this is where I feel that students lack and experience the most obstacles. Digital communication is the aspect of good digital citizenship that they have the most access to and is almost never brought up in formal education. As a result, this is often abused and brings about a lot of problems. This also brings problems into the classroom, where students bring up such violations of digital communication when in a school setting.

Digital literacy- though there has been great progress in digital literacy, I feel that there is plenty more to grow. Students take to certain forms of technology well, such as the internet and cell phones, however they are not as literate in other forms of technology. Teaching students various technology programs has shown me that students are not very willing to learn new technology, instead they want it to come easier and faster for them. In issues such as whiteboards, students will learn how to use them up to a point, until they can't figure out how to anymore and it's instruction isn't spelled out completely.

Digital etiquette- I feel that this is closely associated with digital communication. By virtue of not being a face-to-face contact, younger people are quicker to partake in poor etiquette online. I feel that this is because there is no immediate consequence. This aspect of good digital citizenship is not taught very much in schools unfortunately, however it is one of the largest problems when dealing with student discipline.

Digital law- I feel this is the greatest issue in schools when dealing with plagiarism. So often do students copy and paste completely without any citations. We also violate digital law in my classroom by removing watermarks. Though, thanks to Rosemary's comments on a previous blog post, I will think twice about allowing this in my classroom, it does allow for some great discussion about digital law.

Digital rights- I think this is a subject that students would like to learn more about. I don't think that they, or most of their teachers know what their digital rights are. This can be the start of some great discussions in the classroom about technology.

Digital health and wellness- I think this aspect of digital good citizenship would fit perfectly into a health curriculum. There are many health risks associated with prolonged exposure to technology including increase in chances of cancer, visual problems, migraines, and various psychological problems. I think that students will be able to relate to this material.

Digital security- I bring up this topic a lot. I often have students Google their names in order to see what pops up. This awakens some students to why privacy is important. This is a very important topic that I have been able to fit into my curriculum. There are plenty of students who don't take this aspect to seriously. I think that some real-world examples will go a far way in this aspect of good digital citizenship.

Module 3

I had the worst time with the Prezi. The hardest pert was designating the paths. At the beginning, the view would be too zoomed in. After searching every available help resource, I couldn't find out how to zoom out on the view. I ended up just redoing many parts. Also, I was unable to finsih because the webpage kept shutting down on me. I was visiting my grandparents in Arizona this week and tried it on 3 different occasions. Figuring it was just their internet, I went to Starbucks, but to no avail. I then tried again using the airport internet which had full service bars. However every time I logged in, the webpage shut down on me. I feel that the website is having issues for the past week, or that my document is too large. I don't feel that my document is very large at all, but if this is the case this site wouldn't be the most valuable for large-sized presentations.

Post #12 – Review the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers, in Section 2, Chapter 3 of Technology Applications for the Digital Classroom. Explain how well prepared you were to assume the responsibilities outlined in the ISTE standards for teachers when you started your teaching career. Discuss your efforts, since beginning your teaching career, to integrate technology (i.e., achieve some of the goals outlined in the ISTE standards for teachers) in the teaching and learning process.

I feel that I have been prepared to meet many of the goals outlined in the ISTE standards. Along with my art degree, I received a certificate in digital art called ATLAS (Applied Technology Learning and something something). I never knew the full name when I was a student either. However this required 18 credits in technology-related classes. It was more developed toward digital art though I'm sure other students went in a different direction with it. There were classes available in other subject areas that could have been chosen on from a list that could fulfill the certificate requirements. I feel that I am proficient in all computer programs that could be considered technology. However I have problems with smartboards, of which I don't have in my classroom. I feel that my knowledge shows when in the classroom because students know that, though my lecture skills might be sub-par, my knowledge of the technology and materials couldn't be better. Unfortunately other staff members know this and as a result I am asked to fix down a lot of computer issues, which I don't enjoy doing. (hopefully some of them are reading this now).. I can edit photos, create webpages from scratch, make PowerPoints with all the bells and wistles, and I'm sure a bunch of other things that I'm not thinking of right now.

In my classroom I meet many of these standards. As was stated in my previous post, creativity and innovation are a priority in my classroom. The weakest standard in my classroom would be the research aspect. Though, as funny as it is, this is because of the lack of technology. In the schools' defense, I created this lack of technology purposefully because I don't want internet on the students' computers. As I tell the students when they ask why, "It's because the internet is a big scary world and you should not explore it unsupervised."

Prezi

http://prezi.com/okdraxt5_mdl/design-and-graphics/

This is currently still a work in progress. I only have to add a few more paths but the tasks seemed to be too great and my internet kept crashing to the point where it would no longer let me work on this project. I chose to focus on the divisions of teaching the photo editing program of Adobe Photoshop. I would use the Prezi presentation throughout the semester to introduce each lesson. I found the hardest part to be getting the paths to zoom into the right amount of the image or text. It would often be too close and there is no way to edit it.

LinkedIn

http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=177638006&goback=%2Enmp_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1&trk=spm_pic

Post #11 – Review the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) National Educational Technology Standards for Students, in Section 2, Chapter 3 of Technology Applications for the Digital Classroom.

Ranking the ISTE Standards in my classroom was a cinch. I have a very creative classroom and I encourage thinking outside of the box in an artistic, knowledgeable, and professional way. As a result, the standard that is most important to me is to facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity. My standard preferences are listed in order below, but the pretty much follow the order that they are listed, as I try to teach my students all of these standards, but focus on the first three standards the most.

1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity

I have a very strong knowledge in my subject matter to the point that I feel that it is my greatest asset as a teacher. I also try to "facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments."  When I think about what I want the students to learn, I try to come up with a project that can "promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness." I know that this does not model backward design planning, but because this is a completely new curriculum in the district, I find that focusing on the actual projects is more beneficial to me this year. The projects that I have the students do engage in real-world issues. I use local and national businesses to come up with a project for the students. I ask these businesses to come up with a form of digital media that they need and have the students do it. Until this point, students created a newspaper to print, designed the yearbook cover, designed a print media ad that ran in national magazines, designed a poster where the winners paid in cash for their services, designed program covers, designed business cards, designed webpages, etc. I feel that these are a great way for students to explore real world issues in this field.

4. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making

Since my classroom is mostly creative, I encourage the students to use critical thinking skills solve problems and make informed decision. I cannot emphasize how hard this is to encourage for a teacher. I try my best, using examples, giving them authentic problems, and use multiple processes to explore alternative solutions. However, sometimes the students are not at a level where they want to learn, are willing to try hard to get a creative result, or are lacking the ability to think outside of the box. However it is still important to me and I still encourage it.

6. Technology Operations and Concepts

Since this is a technology-based classroom, obviously technology operations and concepts are very important. Students always have my help in class, however one of my main focuses is to get these students to be self-sufficient outside of the classroom. Being able to pass the class is not as important as being able to apply the concepts and knowledge of technology outside of the classroom. Until the last day of class, students are still asking for my help on technology-based issues, which I would like to see less of.

2. Communication and Collaboration

I love it when students work together on an issue or to discuss what they are thinking. I fell this helps students learn more and it shows me what they know. I always encourage interacting, especially since there are 30+ students and only one of me, I am not always available to discuss issues in a timely manner. This helps. However, "communicat[ing] information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats," is a very important part of my classroom, as explained in standard 6.

5. Digital Citizenship

 I have discussed legal issues with students. Often they want to use images that are copyrighted. Though I show them how to remove a watermark or copyright visually, I explain to them that this is illegal and if they are found out, they'll have a lawsuit on their hands. The only reason why I show them how to remove the legalities in the first place is because it often involves a valuable piece of knowledge in the technology program. And they think that it's so cool.

3. Research and Information Fluency

The only research my students receive is when they are shown examples on the overhead where I want them to base their ideas on. Due to our lack of resources, I can't really enforce this too much.

I found the ISTE Second Life concept to be very groundbreaking. I learned about Second Life many years ago when I saw an informational TV show about it. The concept, at least at the time, was that each person can create their own avatar (digitally controlled image) and control it. Avatars can react with other avatars, which in a way is like interacting with the people who control them. It started as a social media site. At the time, my reaction was less than positive towards the idea. I wondered why people are trying to create a life on the computer when they are living their own lives right now and are wasting their time on creating a fake life. I believed that they could have spent their time better by actually living their life and putting the effort that they were putting into creating a digital life into improving what really existed. However, ISTE has taken that idea and turned it around for me. To me, ISTE is using technology to further education and professional causes. Now, Second life is no longer about treating a "second life," but is about allowing people who don't have the access and means, to communicate with others in a way that can improve their "first life." The association of ISTE seems like an organization that my professional career can greatly benefit from. Also, the definition provided by ISTE that students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology.  These are important topics for educators to remember when trying to incorporate technology into the classroom. By starting on the fact that students need to use this form of education by building off of what they already know, tells me that an education cannot just start at technology, but that there must be other forms of teaching and knowledge used.

Post #10 – Review the results of the Pew Internet & American Life Project, in Section 4, Chapter 2 of Technology Applications for the Digital Classroom. How has the ubiquitous nature of technology and the Internet served to define or shape the zeitgeist of the current generation of students? Discuss whether this makes our job as teachers easier or more challenging.

It seems that older people, are the fastest rising group that are using the internet more often and for longer period of time. I remember hearing research a couple years ago that showed that middle aged people are the fastest-growing facebook users. I observed this by the sudden influx of my mothers' friends trying to facebook me. I feel that this is because they had initial misgivings about privacy and it's uses. However since Facebook and other social sites began growing in popularity, they decided to log on.

The chart that shows frequency of internet teen use by race should be studied more. I feel that this is a topic that isn't focused on enough in education. It shows that white teens use the internet the most throughout their day. However, Mexicans showed a huge jump in using the internet only once a day. I can't figure out why this would be. Blacks are the largest amount of teens that use the internet less often than every 3 weeks.

Also the number of teens who own a cell phone seems to be about right where I would have guessed it. I am step-mom to an 8 year old daughter. I tried to convince her father to get her a cell phone that would only allow her to call 5 people whom we previously programmed into it for emergencies and to better get a hold of her. He plans on doing it when his contract is up. According to this chart however, only 1/2 of 12 year olds have cell phones. I feel that if parents knew that there were cell phones made especially for children that only allow them to call certain family members and emergency numbers and with no data or texting plan, that this number would go up. I feel that it makes our children safer.

It makes sense that teens 12-17 have the most mp3 players. For some reason, probably because of their emotional changes, this age group seems to feel like they would die if they couldn't listen to music all the time. At least that's how I felt when I was that age. It also looks like ownership of mp3 players are starting to take a dive, according to the next graph by the pew studies. I feel that this might be because music can now be accessed elsewhere like cell phones.

Module 2 Overview

Yea Module 2! I will show my colleagues the bubbl.us. At our school, we have a growing push for web maps. As an art teacher, I've fallen through the cracks, however now I can help in the process. Wikipages wasn't the most enjoyable experience but once I have some more time on my hands and figure it out better I can definately use it in classroom instruction. The workdle is cute and I have it hanging on my classroom wall. Some students have asked about it and maybe I can put it in a lesson somewhere.

Pew Research Center's study Millennials: A Portrait of Generation Next, Section 2, Chapter 2 of Technology Applications for the Digital Classroom.

Millennial Generation- The millennial generation refers to those that were born after 1980 (myself). I think the presented research is wrong in that people in the millennial generation don't communicate as much as they claim, at least through my observation. Though there is some communication, I have yet to see it be a deeper level of communication. We can call our parents for directions and good financial tips, however I don't think that is unique to this generation, except within the ease in which we can call them.  According to the chart by the Pew Research Center, it makes sense that this generation almost doubles the population of the silent generation. This is why I don't want to have too many kids: the world population is already too big. It also makes sense that there are a lesser amount of white people. I would attribute this to the growing acceptance of inter-racial relationships and the ability to move from country to country relatively easier.

Gen X- The people of this generation were born between 1965-80.  It is referred to the generation that will "make or break us" and is the base of teachers and professors today. "Barak Obama is it's first star." This was the start of the "consciousness revolution" that resulted from issues such as divorce. As was polled, 2 out of 3 moms said that they'd stay in a bad marriage over the opposite for the baby boomer generation.  In education students were often told "Their schools were failures. Their schools were dangerous. Their teachers were poorly trained. The students are stupid."

The Baby Boomer- the baby boomer generation consists of people who were born between 1946-64, World War II through the invention of the birth control pill.  Karen McCullough says that this is a generation of "no coddling... who got our identity for praise."

The Silent Generation- People born between 1928-45. They got their "silent" label due to their conformist and civic instincts.

The Greatest Generation- Refers to people born before 1928. I could not watch the video because when I clicked on it, it said "This video is private."



I don't know if this chart can be seen, but I liked it the best because it shows the great difference between people of all generations and their different ideas towards social media and increased technology. I think I like it so much because I always laugh at the conversations my grandma tries to have with us about the hazards of social media. She often says quotes like, "Do you know that people post photos of them selves and other people can see it? I would never." She also refuses to text.

delicious bookmarks

http://delicious.com/stacks/erisher

bubbl.us

https://bubbl.us/?h=e03de/1aa591/91sXqcq13uWRU

Wallwisher

http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/mssher

“Chapter 9 Where Are We Headed?”

Video games are not a particular enjoyment of mine, however they have been an enjoyment of every previous boyfriend and male sibling that I've ever had. So there might be a bit of a gender bias when it comes to using video games as a teaching (or recruiting) tool.

I have used games when teaching, particularly reviewing. I have downloaded templates of famous game shows such as "Who Wants to be a Millionaire," "Jeopardy," and others. Students enjoy this type of learning. I do see it as a benefit some of the time. However I don't see how there can be an entire school devoted to this type of learning. To me there appear to be many red flags, such as the reward system it creates. Students will grow accustom to considering achievement only through a form of winning. Every time I have used a game to teach, I feel compelled to give a prize to the winner, either in food or bonus points. Also, as one interviewee put it, "School has to be the only place where you are not bombarded by machines." Until now, I never realized how much machines are around me all day long.

Another interesting quote in the online video was when someone (sorry I didn't catch the name) said, "
“distinction is an adult idea." This is well phrased. When teaching, I know I have to set aside a separate

The last tidbit I found amusing was that there was a professional title called “MIT initiative on technology and self." I found the name funny. Why would the words technology and self be combined as if they were cohesive or a natural pairing?

And on the topic of Facebook. Don't friend your students. Keep it simple.

WORDLE

http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/4941197/Erica_Sher

Wikispaces

esher.wikispaces.com/esher.wikispaces.com

Issue #6: Student Attention Spans in a Digital World

The catch refers to the constant attempt at multi-tasking and trying to take in many small bits of information all at one time. Students are now wired to gravitate towards instant gratification. As a result, students who live in a digital world have shorter attention spans and are not able to think at a high cognitive level as those who did not grow up in a digital world. I am in a digital classroom all day long and those students still are pretty darn bored. Not to speak down about my classroom, but even activities like eating lollypops and chasing rainbows would bore these students. They are constantly texting, listening to music, and playing video games, even though what I teach is fun, important, productive, and on the computer. When they receive a text, they are unable to do anything, and that includes listening. It is too hard for people in this age group to live in the moment, to the point where I would say that aspect of our society will be lost in the future.

Also, I am keeping my notes from the essential questions here because I am going out of town and plan to do that assignment later. This way I don't have to take any technology with me. Feel free to comment if you want though it will probably be take down when I answer the essential questions.

There are two sides of the debate regarding attention spans in the digital world. However, I believe that student attention spans are significantly shorter the more that they are exposed to technology, especially in a fast-paced society. David Marcovitz provides his belief as to why students' attention spans are shortened as a result of digital technology in their lives. He brings up the Faustian Bargain, which is defined as for every positive benefit, there is an often unseen and very serious downside. He believes that this is shown when even the best educational technology teaches the hidden lesson of short attention. Also, students learn a guess-and-test technology teaches facts at the expense of training students to answer without thinking. 

In the video, from Fox news Mobile: Scientist Study Effects of Technology the professor being interviewed (sorry I didn't catch his name) says that “natural environments are the environments we are adapted to think in.” In other words, when we are surrounded by nature and the world as it was created before the introduction of technology, we are better thinkers and our cognitive skills increase. He also mentions the grand illusion, where we think that were taking in things but we take in a surprisingly little amount of information, about four objects at any one time. We don’t truly multitask because we only do one thing at a time.

Also included was  Book TV: Neil Postman, "Technology" When this video started, my first thought was, "my goodness he is the slowest talker ever." This happened because my short attention spans when watching internet clips did not enjoy having to listen to him word his thoughts in any manner. Neil Postman mentions that life no longer happens in public areas and we are more confined to our homes. He says that we “will one day be able to shop, vote, express political preferences at home.” Which is funny because since 2009 when this video was made, these things have happened. He, like David Marcovits, also mentioned Lincoln-Douglas debates.

The Hulu video, Does the Internet Discourage Deep Thinking?, stated that we’re training our minds with a particular way of thinking so we become good at skimming and scanning. It also said that there is no reward for more contemplative thought, thinking, reading, etc, and we then begin to lose them. I feel that this is very true. In our society, we are encouraged to move and think rapidly, so any type of slowing down isn't being rewarded.

On the other side of the debate is John Davidson who beleives that student attention spans are being helped by technology.  He asks, "Why should we expect our students to live two different lifestyles?" He states that students today can listen to their iPod, chat with friends, research on the Internet, and type a paper all while playing an online game. However I disagree with this because I very often witness students only being able to pay attention to one thing at a time. At best, when students are doing multiple activities using technology, they become too distracted to accomplish any one thing in a meaningful way. They are also unable to do more than one activity for a long period of time, as I have witnessed through my experience as a digital technology teacher. His example of observing a classroom that uses technology and one that uses a traditional lecture method where he states students were "disengaged and disconnected." I disagree with this observation because 

Module 1 Overview

First of all I would like to apologize for not posting the first 2 weeks of class. There was a registration/ payment reimbursement issue that resulted in my getting dropped form the class twice until the issue got resolved. I'm all caught up now and expect to be up to date on all future assignments.

For the first module, I enjoyed attempting to work all the websites that I've heard about but never bothered to access. I had big problems with flickr. It didn't take me long, but I would have expected the site to be more user friendly. As a digital art teacher, I can see this site as a benefit. However due to the problems, I just had the students make their own digital art portfolio pages instead of posting them on flickr in their own account. My flickr web address is incorrect too, since I had a hard time finding what it really was. I think it is

http://www.flickr.com/photos/americasher/

Let me know if it works.

Also, the essential questions did a number on my server. I would have a complete paragraph written before it showed up. I always just ended up typing it in word and posting it from there. Often that didn't work either and I just emailed it to Dr. Cantu. I will repost shortly.

Many of the issues and even videos I can address when teaching. All the issues made me realize my job can be obsolete once I video myself teaching and update it occasionally.

Post #5 – Read about the application of Bloom’s taxonomy to the digital world in Chapter 1 of Technology Applications for the Digital Classroom. Evaluate whether you believe Bloom’s taxonomy is a perfect fit for teaching and learning in the 21st century, as the author contends, or if you believe it is an outdated taxonomy for the digital classroom.

I feel that Bloom's Taxonomy can be used in any form thinking skills, no matter if it's new technology or some other subject for learning that is not yet studied in school. I am a big believer in backwards planning. Using this method, and Bloom's Taxonomy together, I can better teach my students how to create independently using digital media. I use digital media every day in my classroom. Though I am primarily project-based right now, I would like to redesign my curriculum where I take into account tried and true methods such as Bloom's Taxonomy. With the project-based classroom I have right now, I feel that I jump straight to creating. This results in students missing the lower order thinking. As a result, they don't have a strong grasp into the where, when, why, and how of the materials that they learn. I feel that they would comprehend more and know more if they had more of a foundation as to what all this means, where it will take them, why they are doing this, and how to use it.
Digital media can be used to enhance reaching all the levels of thinking in other subject matters as well. Many teachers use digital media, sometimes without knowing. If a teacher were to revert back to classrooms as the were 20 years ago, their teaching methods would change. But even though their teaching methods would change, the students' order of thinking would not change.

Post #4 – Review the YouTube video, “Pay Attention” in Chapter 1 of Technology Applications for the Digital Classroom. Compare and contrast the impact of technology on American society and popular culture with the impact it has had on the American educational landscape.

There were many important facts that were presented in this You tube video. However, it should be noted that many of these sources are dated, like ones from 2003 and 2006. If we reference the previous video from last week's blog post, technology at this time has changed greatly. This is proably why the first few facts about childrens tv watching seemed low.

When the video asked "what do your students create?" My students create a lot every day. However, unlike the facts presented in the video, they still lack the desire to create and challenge themselves. I don't feel that it's because the information and program isn't something that they enjoy because an exit survey at the end of the semester last year had 50% of the stduents saying that this is a career that they're interested in pursuing (5% said so at the beginning of the semester). However, I feel that students are so uninterested in school in genereal. Schools are no longer a place for learning but instead are a place for socializing. That is why it is so hard to pull a cell phone and music player away from students.

And the question "Why not use the technology that our students love to create or teach more effectively?" I feel that this would punish those that don't have the technology or chose not to use it. There are many students who don't have access to this technology. I rely on this technology to teach very frequently. However, I always catch myself reverting back to paper and pencil just as often. Technology melts down, it takes long, it doesn't always work, and it works differently for everybody. As a teacher, there shouldn't be a bigger proponent of the issue, however I just dont agree. In the end, I feel we will revert to paper and pen, no matter how much we push the technology.

Post #3 – Review the YouTube video, “Did You Know” in Chapter 1 of Technology Applications for the Digital Classroom. Discuss how the ubiquitous nature of technology has changed American society and the significance of this unprecedented period in history on your role as a teacher.

I have seen this video in the past but I can't recall where. Some interesting points that I wrote down include:

• 25% of India's population with the highest IQ is greater than the total population of the US, which means India has more honors students than the US has kids
• The top 10 in demand jobs in the US didn't exist in 2004
• The US Dept. of Labor estimates that a person will have 10-14 jobs by the time that they are 38 years old, and that less than half of all people have been working at their current job for 5 years
• 1 in 8 couples married this year met online
• 31 billion searches on google per month
• The number of texts sent each day exceeds the number of people on the planet
• It's predicted by 2049 that a $1000 computer will exceed the computational abilities of the human species.

I guess I should stop making fun of people I know who met online.

Also as a teacher of computer technology, I know that my class and the jobs it creates didn't exist, at least not in the way it does now in 2004. I fit into the 10-14 jobs by 38 (I'm 28) if you count part time jobs throughout my high school and college careers. And I'm sure many in the education field will move districts and schools as well. I picked out the text message fact because I have never seen today's teenagers do anything with such enthusiasm as text messaging. Most are willing to forgo a passing grade so that they can get out one text message during school hours.

I can't wait to show it to my students. This fits in perfectly with my curriculum as a technology intensive class. The biggest issue to do so would be to get past the internet filters. Although when I need this type of assistance I just ask my students how to do it. About half will know the answer.

Post #2 – Identify how technology has been used in classes you have taken as a student, at all levels from elementary through college—providing examples of efficacious and inefficacious use of technology, i.e., good, bad, and ugly use of technology in the classroom.

Technology is used in my room every day. In the past I have always taught drawing and painting as a high school art teacher. Now however, I am teaching digital art 1-3 and digital photo. These are new topics for me to be teaching to students. I took many classes on the subject matter in college, however I have never formally taught it. A coworker of mine who is now at a different high school in the district blessed us with 20 woirking computeres, all with Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator installed on each. Photoshop is my specialty and I primarily teach to that. Students complete many assignments throughout the semester and  are given a print portfolio of their work. You can view some of my students' works at

www.flickr.com/photos/americasher

I would have added more but the program only allowed for 200 images unfortunately.

In addition to photoshop, we use Microsoft Publisher to make webpages. That isn't going so well as our old program has issues saving. We also have Digital cameras that students can use and check out. They are given instruction in how to properly use the modes of the camers. Additionally, we have hot lights and a light box (all bought by me with my own money), an LCD projector, an old teacher computer, a color printer, and a scanner. I feel blessed to have all I have, but most items came from out of pocket, donations, and grants. Other schools in the district are not so lucky.

Post #1 – Discuss the role technology has played in each of the following periods of your life: as an elementary student, in middle school and in high school.

I was born in 1983 and I have witnessed many changes in technology over the course of my life. Technology as an elementary student consisted of typewriters, hand held VHS video cameras, cordless phones, and cable TV. Middle school was when computers were introduced. We began with word processers that used MS-DOC (I hope I remember that correctly). We then upgraded to IMac computers that were blue. These were mostly used for programs such as Microsoft Word, as the internet wasn't too popular yet. In high school we had a computer lab with more updated computers, but again, there wasn't that much internet use. Some of the lucky students bagan to have cell phones, I didn't own my first one until college. I myself still feel that I don't know much about technology. I hope this class can help me figure some things out.