Technology in My Life

I CANNOT live without technology.  Everyday I use it and here are some of my FAVORITE pieces.

My trusty cell phone.  All it does is make calls and text people, but that's all I need it to do.

The nook is my favorite new toy.  I read all the time, so this not only saves me money in the long run, it also saves me shelf space.

I just got a new camera, but here's a picture of my old one.  I wouldn't say I'm a photographer, but I love documenting major events in my, and my family's, life.

This is my GPS.  Without it, I would be lost, quite literally.  I use it to get everywhere.

Who can live without their computer? Mine is a laptop named Snuffles.  He's been my constant companion for 4 years and I couldn't live a day without using him.

To Blog, Or Not To Blog

I recently came across a presentation about the 11 advantages of using a blog for teaching, as well as some disadvantages.  Essentially the advantages can be summed up in the following statement: blogging allows students to participate and engage actively in the information they learn and allows the students to see and reflect on others thoughts and opinions as well.  There were other advantages listed, such as improved writing skills, the use of images in learning and reduced costs, but the overall idea is that blogging will encourage active participation.  Some important disadvantages are that some children must be told what to do and would not participate on a blog as much as they should, some people may not share their information, and inaccurate information may be displayed.  Most importantly, does it make sense to change a system that has been proved effective? 

Admittedly, I learned how narrow minded traditional teaching is.  This is just something I have not previously thought about.  Traditional teaching normally incorporates a few textbooks and the teachers personal knowledge.  Not only does that seem like a small amount of information, but it also seems like it has the opportunity to become biased.  That's not to say that information on the internet is not biased (or incorrect.)  However, on the internet children can be encouraged to look at professional sites that include wholesome information. 

My thoughts are that a physical presence in school is needed.  People forget that children do not want to participate in their education (for the most part.)  Most children wake up every morning, complaining that they have to go to school.  Also, school is a great place for people to socialize.  I met most of my friends at school, as well as learned lessons about which people could be harmful in my life.  School is also used as a daycare by parents.  Its a sad, hard truth, but most parents work nowadays.  In most schools, parents know their kids are safe and doing something positive with their time.  Without school, what would children do with their day?  It seems to me that this would encourage them to sit in front of a computer screen longer than they already do.  At the end of the day, I want to see more statistics on blogging program effectiveness in schools before we change an already working system to a brand new one.