Implications and Teaching Opportunities for Camera Use in Teaching and Learning

In a few short years, smart phones have quickly become the norm for people around the world. Of course, smartphones, just like any other invention have pro's and cons. According to Zogby Analytics, smart phones are meant to make life easier, but the real question is are they really making life easier or are they more trouble than help?

This week on our EDM310 Class Blog, we were given various percentages of data from smartphone users that range from the ages of 18 to 24. In most of the percentages, the answers are quite clear given that the percentages are quite high in number, meaning that a large number of users face the same issues. Also, from what I see from the data, it seems that our generation has become very dependent on smart phones, and it could be viewed in a positive or negative light.

In example of the negative point of view on smartphones, one might say that young people are TOO dependent on their phones and do not know how to function without them. I, personally, have received a few negative comments from people from older generations about my own technology usage. A prime example of this came from an usher in church who told me to put my phone away, yet did not know that I was not texting, but rather, I was looking at my Bible application. On the other hand, in example from the positive point of view, one might say that my generation has become technology savvy, and we use our technology to our advantage. I am sure there are few complaints about those young people that do a great job of providing a leading example of making great use of technology.

If you think about it, as teachers, technology could even make our jobs a bit easier. A new trend in education is paperless classrooms; so in a classroom filled with students with smartphones, laptops, tablets, and many more devices with internet capabilities, the possibilities are endless. Everything could be online or used by smart phone instead of worrying about papers. I really like the new trends in technology and their role in education.

Part B:

As a teacher in a classroom full of students with smartphones and/or tablets, I feel that a huge weight would be lifted off of my shoulders in the area of instruction. Of course, as an educator, instruction plays a huge role in the students education process. However, with so much technology available, there can a much bigger role placed on independent research by students and project based learning opportunities are drastically increased. I feel that all of the same resources that my classmates in EDM310 and I have used, can be used at a lighter scales in an elementary classroom.

C4T #2 Summary

For the past two weeks, I was assigned the Peopleology blog by Dr. Will. In the first post I read, Dr. Will posted a video conversation about Personal Learning Networks. In the conversation, Dr. Will talked about the benefits of personal learning networks and how social networks such as Twitter can be used to expand your PLN. This was my comment:

Hello Dr. Will! My name is Candace Harris, and I am currently a junior majoring in Elementary Education at the University of South Alabama. What a pleasure it has been to view your interview on using Twitter to build PLNs! As a student, building a personal learning network is vital. I recently have been introduced to twitter as a means to expand my knowledge and to interact with my peers, but my biggest problem was accepting that it does not happen overnight! However, your video gave me a bit more motivation to keep tweeting and keep trying to expand. Thank you for your insight! I definitely plan to share this video on my twitter page and on my blog for class this week! If you would like, you may follow me on twitter at candacesharris1 or my blog at harriscandaceedm310.blogspot.com

For the second comment, Dr. Will posted about paperless classrooms. In this post, he explained the benefits of paperless learning, which is the same "No Paper In, No Paper Out" quality that our EDM310 video thrives off. This was my comment:

Great post Dr. Will! In my EDM310 class at the University of South Alabama, we actually are completely paperless, and we utilize tools such as Google Drive all the time. Despite having mixed feelings initially, I, personally, love the paperless movement!

Project #9 Video Book Commentary

Blog Assignment #8

What I Learned About Teaching and Learning from Randy Pausch

For this week's blog assignment, I feel very inspired by the message given by Randy Pausch. After being diagnosed with terminal cancer, it surprises me how resilient and strong Mr. Pausch was before his death. Instead of choosing a negative outlook on his diagnosis, he was positive.

"We can't change it. We cannot change the cards we are dealt—just how we play the hand."

In his last lecture, Mr. Pausch tells about his childhood dreams and how he accomplished them, helping others reach their dreams, and even how to accomplish things you dream about. The main point that I got out of the video is that one should always follow their dreams no matter how difficult they seem and exude confidence in their decisions while taking risks. I personally found Mr. Pausch's story to be quite interesting, and it makes me even more excited to enter my dream career of teaching. It has always been a goal of mine to encourage my students, but after hearing the Last Lecture, I feel now that it is even more urgent to motivate my students as much as possible. Not only did this story motivate me to motivate my students, but it motivates me to explore the other aspects of my life that I may not have been paying as much attention to. It made me think of my childhood dreams and if I really wanted those things, or if I just thought I did.