MOOOOOOOOOOO

Hmm… MOO was interesting to say the least! I thought it was ok… not exactly conducive to a coherent class discussion, but fun nevertheless. It was something different. I have mixed feelings about it when it comes to using it in a high school classroom setting. While it encourages the use of technology, it still has a few problems. Take for instance the multi-tasking we discussed. From personal experience, and I am a “grown-up”, I tend to have several windows open at once when I am supposed to be doing homework. Most definitely I have my Facebook open and iTunes. I am capable of multi-tasking pretty well, but in a chat room based discussion, if I had attempted to multi-task I would have been even more lost in all the conversation that I was! I know we weren’t actually taking it seriously, but still, it was hard to keep up. Maybe with some modifications to the program it could possibly work. I am thinking that maybe there could be a program implemented that monitored who got to speak and when – sort of like being able to raise your hand in a real classroom. I also think, like Autumn mentioned, that if there was a way to cut everyone off from speaking while the teacher asked the question – perhaps even giving the students “think time” before they blurt out anything that pops into their heads would be beneficial. It scares me a little to think of all the possibilities that might one day lead to replacing me as a teacher with a computer! All this school just down the drain! Technology is advancing at lightening speed and there are probably a lot of jobs out there that are being replaced with robots… for example car manufactures. Inventing these robots is expensive, but I am sure in the long run it saves the company tons of money on benefits and salary for its employees! Anyway, to wrap this up – MOO was fun, but definitely not something I would want to do everyday! =)

Will that guy teach our future generation???? ^

Well obviously technology will take rhetorical education to all kinds of new heights. There are so many advances in what the internet and computers can do, it is amazing. After watching that video in class and again at home, that is when it really hit me – I am a huge part of a generation gap. As a teacher, I want to stay informed on the latest technologies. But really, is that possible? I never thought I would be thought of as obsolete some day… will teachers be replaced with computers? I am sure that is highly unlikely, but as my son and I sat watching the video, we were talking about that possibility. There are other jobs out there, though, that probably will be replaced with computers.

Anyway back to the questions at hand… yes I think I can make technology a part of my pedagogy. There are many schools that have laptops instead of textbooks. Wireless internet in the schools will make using the internet in lesson plans very easy. I know that there are still some students who do not have access to the internet in their homes, so we would have to do it all in class, but it still is a very useful tool. Web 2.0 seems pretty interesting, although I fail to see exactly how it differs from Web 1.0. The technology is a little more advanced, I guess. Look how much technology is used in this class. Everything we need to know for this class is posted online… an online syllabi rather than a paper one has its advantages. One click of the mouse and there it is. The internet and technology are very useful tools in any classroom. But there are dangers to technology too.

Students who misuse the internet can find themselves in a world of trouble. Doing assignments online makes cheating easier. Students are always going to find a way to abuse any privilege… well some of them. The filters used on school computers limit their access to anything too dangerous or inappropriate, thank goodness.

I look forward to implementing technology into my teaching on a regular basis.