Technology for All!!!!

There so much that can be said for the using of technology in the classroom, I know this course has open our eyes to the various possibilities that it affords, yet I am stunned by the article in the Sunday Guardian in which the ministry of education offices in Tobago, are yet to be notify as to whether the students of form one in Tobago are to receive their laptops, at all. If the government thrust is that of techno-savvy citizens ,it must be apply to all citizens not just the chosen few. It's this constant division that has cause the decline in the interrelation of the twin Islands. This to me is quite a simple matter which can be easily resolved, If children on both islands cannot have laptops at the same time, none should be given, since to do otherwise will simply raise a hornets' net, in which the fine citizens of our beloved sister island will again feel that the mother has given favor to the eldest child.
I am pleading to the Minister, to ensure that this injustice, not bear root in the strong holds of the claimed people's Government. Remember our motto" Together we aspire , Together we achieve"

THE WISE LITTLE HEN.

Now class I want you to watch this short film. At the end of it I want you to write a short review of the film. Remember you must answer the following questions to complete your review.

1. What is the title of the review?
2. What type of film is it? (comedy, horror , drama, science fiction)
3. What is the film about?
4. Who are the main actors?
5. What did you think of their performances ?
6. What is your opinion of the film overall?
7. What is the message in the film.

ENJOY!!!!!!

A Must Read!!!!

It would be remiss of me not to thank my lecturers for their patience and understanding. Your help really made the difference for me in this course, you made the challenging look easy. I must also thank my colleagues for their continued support, you guys really rallied and we got the technologies to work,while building each other confidence in the field. I would also like to thanks those who took the time to comment on my ,I learnt varying perspectives about technology and its impact on reading. I would also like to thank those individuals who gave me access to their blogs they are as follows: Khadine Ashraph (2), Siobhan Downridge (2), Vessena Mohammed (2), Dennise David, Victoria Cunningham, Esther Stewart, Shasta Pierre-Sambucharan, Angela Yatali and Michael Sutherland.

THANK YOU ALL !!!!!!!!!

In The Mirror

"I'm Gonna Make A Change,
For Once In My Life
It's Gonna Feel Real Good,
Gonna Make A Difference
Gonna Make It Right . . ." Michael Jackson(1958-2009)

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/michaeljackson/maninthemirror.html

As I ponder upon the words of this song. I realize that Edrl 6004 was all about change. When I began this course, I simple saw it as another element that made up my sojourn to my final destination of achieving my Master's Degree. However it was this course that opened my eyes to my true function, that of being an agent of change. I was being empowered to enhance my students' learning, remove the fear that most of my colleagues associate with technology, and be the catalyst for the full implementation of the Ministry’s ICT policy paper within our schools. The course also made me look at myself as a learner, too often I could not rationalise technology being a tangible part of my everyday instruction, I continually argued that it did not seem practical. Now that I have grown a bit more techno savvy, I can see not only technology finding its niche, but see myself as an advocate for its employment.
Reading is a fundamental skill that is needed by everyone, yet we find within our school communities that there are many who have not mastered the art by the conventional means. Technology from what I have learnt, thus far is here to furnish these resistant readers with a viable alternative that they can easily manipulate so as to become participants in their own learning. To deny them this opportunity, would be going against the very fibre of education, which is to provide the learners with the tools necessary to develop into productive world citizens.

The impact of the Web on Reading.

While preparing my final draft for my web 2.o paper I came upon this article by Wendy Sutherland Smith, in which she clearly outline some of the some of the difference between that of conventional reading versus that of web reading. I admit the article had me a bit confused, since I believed that readers would employ the same strategies that they did to paper based text a to that of electronic text. The article on the whole presented some interesting facts.
Some experts like Birkerts, (1994) and Postman, (1995) both believe that with the integration of computer technology came the ruin of the English language. Surprisingly many researchers and educators stand firmly behind this statement. They propose that “texting” has bought about the demise of spelling and grammar structure. There are many who advocate that technology has done just the opposite.
As I read on, many students believed that they had to approach reading on the net with speed, while the approach to a conventional books, was much slower. They also quickly added that they found the internet to gratify their needs quickly while traditional reading was more laborious and time consuming. What was most interesting was that 90% of the students held the belief that books were the better authority on giving accurate information.
Finally she indicated that reading web texts required:
Non-linear strategies of thinking
 Use of non-hierarchical strategies
 Offered non-sequential strategies
 Use of literacy skills to understand multi-media components
Further studies indicates that web reading is interactive, with the reader able to add, change or move text which enables a blurring of the relationship between the reader and the writer.

To read the full article go to: http://ra.tapor.ualberta.ca/Resources/e-text%20reading/Sutherland%20-%20Weaving%20-%20RT%2055.pdf

Believe it or Not!

"

The child's world is full of print,and sooner or later the child will notice it....Everything that children eat,wear, play with or pass in the streets has a sign or symbol." (Margaret Meek, 1986).
In this statement Mrs. Meek was addressing the concept of emergent literacy. This to be describes how many teachers today feel about technology, there are signs and symbols of technology every where, yet we as educators are in the group that wants to resists it at all cost. We at the very least fight,the opinions and views that "chalk and talk" is now considered "passe", that we are not the " only expert" in the classroom,and that we must use more "child-centered approaches" in our instructions. Yes, the introduction of blogs, wikis, pod-casting, e-books, digital storytelling and other internet tools will indeed change the face of educational instruction as we know it. Some will admit that there is the fear that these technologies will sideline them and in extreme cases even replace the need for teachers.
However, the truth lies in the adoption of these technologies. Once you have interacted with these web 2.0 tools one would realize that they have not been created to replace, but rather to enhance the teaching /learning environment. Whether you believe it or not, the fact remains that technology is here to stay, experience it and make it work for you or hide in its shadows. The choice is yours.

social book marking made easy

The whole idea of having my information organized and easily accessible made my "Delicious Account " my new best friend, this internet tool has made my life so much easier, I have all my information properly labeled and tagged , which makes this almost as good as a search engine. Social book marking allows the user to have access to information that they find on the "net". This was so useful during my web2.0 research paper. It was so easy to simple tag an article, a webpage, a blog and even pictures and have them saved in an area from which they could be easily retrieve d. To me this was one of the web 2.o tools that was easy to manipulate, saved me tons of time, since I didn't have to remember Url addresses for the pages of interest, I simply had to click on my delicious bar and all the sources that I needed were there at my finger tips. I must admit the more I use these tools the easier it is to accept that technology and education go hand in hand.