Interactivity #3

     At first, I thought that finding a multitude of technologies to use in the English Classroom setting would prove to be a rather difficult task. However, the more I researched, the more enlightened I was upon finding a host of technologies that I was previously never aware of. Interactivity #3 was a collaborative effort that yielded interesting and insightful results. The final product is filled with a variety of different technologies that are extremely useful in an English classroom setting, most of which I had never been privy to. The technologies that each of us introduced to the group each proved to be another technological tool that would aid in students’ learning in our future English classes. The use of Google Documents was really helpful in allowing us to collaborate with each other and I really believe that it can be useful in my future classroom for group assignments. I was first assigned to use Google Documents in high school, and I was not a huge fan of it because I was never taught properly how to use it effectively. However, I do believe now that with proper instruction and guidance it can absolutely be a beneficial tool for future students to utilize in the classroom. The Online Writing Lab will also prove to be very useful for my future English students, in that, it is an aid to help clarify how to properly create citations in a paper that might be generally confusing when first introduced.

     The Discussion Boards and Blogger are of great use to me in the education classes that I am currently enrolled in due to the fact that it allows me to collaborate and keep in contact with other students in my classes with whom I might share similar ideas and thoughts as well as contribute and learn new concepts and ideas. This collaborative effort to find new ways of teaching English in the classroom truly opened my eyes to the vast assortment of technologies that are available that I might have previously overlooked. I tend to forget that technology can be beneficial to the way students learn new materials, not just detrimental by providing distractions and essentially doing the work for them. If we, as future teachers, continue to adapt these uses of technologies that we found in positive ways that really help our students not only learn new materials, but also enjoy what they are doing rather than their work seeming like a chore, then I believe we are doing our job effectively.

Interactivity #2

The Evolution of Books:

From containing a table of contents to becoming a table of contents.

Source: Google Images - books and technology

Interactivity #1

     The three most influential communications technologies in my life are my cell phone, social networking and my iPod. Having viewed both of the videos, I can definitely relate to the students who discussed not only how reliant they are on technology, but also how much of an impact it has had in their lives.

     I am attached to my cell phone, as I always have it with me, and I honestly don’t know what I would do without it. I rely on it very heavily and send too many text messages to count. Cell phones have made communication so much more convenient, and I cannot even recall how we survived as long as we did without text messaging, let alone without cell phones whose only function was to make phone calls. In today’s society it is especially easier to become attached to a cell phone due to the latest models that have been released that can give us access to relatively anything we wish to know faster than we ever could have imagined. Between internet access and never-ending apps, we can become lost in the world of our cell phones, so much so that communication has become much more impersonal, and we find ourselves lacking the skills to hold conversations in person. However, the information that I can access on my phone, as well as all of the aspects of it that I can incorporate into my daily life to make things easier and more organized, truly make having this piece of technology very worthwhile.

     Social networking is also a very big part of my life. Facebook and Twitter are the two sites that I am a very frequent user of, and I cannot imagine life without them. Facebook is a great way to keep in touch and reconnect with family and friends that I otherwise might not be able to. Twitter, as well as Facebook, provides me with endless amounts and vast arrays of information that might otherwise go unknown. I don’t think I would know half as much of the information that I do (whether important news or something trivial) had I not made either of these accounts. I thoroughly enjoy being able to utilize all of the options that Facebook and Twitter offer and cannot go a day without viewing both sites multiple times.

     My iPod is also very influential in my life, in that, it provides me with all of the music I enjoy that I can have access to no matter where I am or what I’m doing. The music that can be found on my iPod expresses who I am and what I love. All of the songs have some kind of meaning to me and each evokes a thought or a memory that might otherwise be subdued in my unconscious. The selection of music available at my fingertips provides me with inspiration and allows me to create new ideas for dances when I choreograph musicals and overall, provides me with a renewed sense of emphasis for my passions.

     Having viewed the video “Olivia’s Story,” not only can I relate to her constant use of technology, but I can only imagine how much my future students can relate to her story as well. I feel as though we sometimes take for granted just how much influence technology has in our everyday lives. As a society, we become so attached to these forms of technology that we can seldom imagine how different life would be without them. This factor plays a crucial role in the lives of students today, and it is vital for teachers to be aware of exactly how much technology students are accustomed to using in their daily lives. As a teacher, I feel it is important to take from Olivia’s story the fact that she, as well as her fellow classmates, feel very comfortable with completing assignments and projects online, as they are most likely very familiar with the computerized world. It is important for teachers to realize that their students are surrounded by so much technology that it is both helpful and harmful. Technology is useful, in that it allows for more convenient ways of distributing assignments and in some aspects allows for more creativity with the vast amount of options available at one’s fingertips. However, technology can also be detrimental, in that online social networking sites and text messages, while convenient and entertaining, can become a severe distraction that has the utmost potential in taking precedent over more important tasks such as homework assignments and projects. And although these distractions are always present, it will still be quite beneficial to utilize different forms of technology in the classroom.

     Having also viewed the second video, the widespread use of different forms of technologies was also quite apparent.  I can definitely relate to the students who stated that they relied on their cell phones and laptops, being essentially lost without them. The second video was filled with students who discussed their own technological passions, but the one student who stuck out to me the most was the girl who stated that she does not like the use of abbreviations such as “lol” and “omg” or the ever popular “u” as a substitute for “you.” I feel that these abbreviations attribute to students’ laziness and lack of understanding words in their unabbreviated forms. I feel that the students featured in this video accurately represent students that I will be teaching in the future, and I believe that if I can incorporate technology in innovative ways in the classroom that will help aid in my students’ understanding of certain materials, I will absolutely do so, as I feel that the students will repsond more enthusiastically when applying lessons to forms of technology with which they are familiar. However, I do believe that not all emphasis should be placed on technology, so as to encourage students to work on their own without immediately relying on high-speed technology that virtually does the work for you. Although extremely helpful and beneficial, we must also be conscious of the adverse effects of technologies as well.