The Scenario

There are times when the tools being used in the classroom are not of a high quality. If a projector or computer is being used, the picture is not clear, the words on the computer screen are not clear. Is this the quality of the machine or the quality of the video being shown on the projector; is the computer the problem or the site that is being visited? As a teacher of science in my country, I want to use a projector to present information to my students. But the quality of the material my students are seeing is very poor. When I want to present the video to my students, the sound is not clear because the product and tools being used are not clear.
I teach a science class and I want to show my students a wonderful video that I was able to use in my own educational process (college). I obtained this video and attempted to show it to my students. But this video was hard to hear / understand, and even the picture was difficult to decipher on the screen. What am I as a teacher to do? I want to show the video I remember seeing earlier as a teaching tool for my classroom. But it was impossible – what can I do now? The administration purchased technology tools for our classrooms. But the problem with this technology is that they didn’t look into the quality of products. At this point this is now affecting my classroom because when the assistant put the technology in the classroom, and I went to my classroom, and started to teach my students I tried to put the pictures in the lap top / computer to present to my students through the projector, but I found three problems. 1) The pictures are not clear for the last student seated in the classroom. 2) The sound and the projector, there was a whistling sound that made the words difficult to understand. 3) Another problem was that the wires of the projector were spread all over the classroom. If one of my students were to touch the wires, they could have been hurt. A problem of quality in the computer lab. The computer is cheap, they didn’t look into hardware, ram/memory and the computers are slow. One day the students opened the computer, I found that it took me a long time to get the computers up and running for the class. The more time I spend working on the computer in order to get it “useable” the less time I have available to teach my class.
Another problem the TV screen is not clear, we are not using the very clear plasma TV screen, in my school we have old televisions, the screen is not clear, as it is an older television. The qualities of tools are affecting my teaching abilities of the teacher in the classroom, and the curriculum. I remembered before three years ago I saved PowerPoint presentation on CD’s but I am finding it difficult to use my CD’s. I don’t know why, but when I ask, my assistant, he tells me the quality of your CD’s are poor. I don’t understand why my CD’s are not working in the classroom. Some of my students come to me and say, “OK, teacher, the CD’s are not working, how are we suppose to learn? As teacher I tell my class that we will use the chalk board today and I will write the information to the board.
Your assignment write about how can this quality be improved? And how can choose the best quality? how are suppose to learn my students?

Professional development

Professional development
My reflection on the development of technology in general. Technological advances over the years have made things “easier” in many ways. In manufacturing the technology has moved from individual/ hand made products, to mass produced machine created products, thus taking jobs away from people. In the beginning the technology made our jobs easier, thus allowing for more free time, and the fact that people didn’t have to work as hard, or for as many hours. But seemingly with increased technology, it means that people have lost jobs because of the “new” technology, Therefore we must create more jobs with the new technology. Is it a good thing or bad? Can we all learn the new technology, and if we all learn the new technology, will there be anyone out there that can do some of the projects/jobs that we have forgotten how to do?

Hypermedia

Hypermedia, is a term that has come into use with the internet, where “media” previously meant, video, words, film strips, movies, etc., where in todays world we add the workd “Hyper” to the word media, meaning “everything” out there in the universe/internet. Hyper means “bigger and better”, more and more. Everything is more, and bigger, and “hyper” . With the technology of the internet everything is becoming larger, grander “hyper” to say the least. A child who is excitable is “hyper” Is this the same thing that we’re finding on the internet? We’re getting excited about the “Hypermedia” Maybe Hyper everything is not necessarily good, children who are “hyper” are often given medications to calm them down, maybe all the Hypermedia of today is not all that good, all the time. Perhaps we need to slow down our pace just a bit instead of being so hyper. The internet with all the “hyper media” that is available on it will be helpful to teachers, allowing them to teach their students with all the “information” on the internet, on the “super highway” the world could be at their student’s feet. The only problem that is there with the internet is that information might not always be correct. There needs to be a way for internet users to filter the information to find true and factual information for use in the classroom. Information on the internet needs to be High Quality, factual, etc. but the problem is “how does one police” the internet, allowing only “high quality” information to be placed on the internet?

Copyright

Copyright is a safety feature for the author of a “work” be it the written word, music, etc. Copyright protects the author from having another individual take their work and claim that it is theirs. Without copyright laws, anything/everything (written words, thoughts, ideas) would be out there for anyone to claim “It’s my idea, I thought of it first.” Without copyright laws, no one would know who has “ownership” of the words/idea. With the copyright laws in place, people who have written a piece of fiction, scientific writing, musical lyrics, poetry, etc. know that only their name can be attached to the piece of work they have done. No one else can take the same words and place their name to the document and call it their own.A disadvantage of copyright laws is that people may use another’s words, but the original author must be cited as the author. Sometimes it’s a “hassle” to document the information one finds. Also it may be difficult to find the source of the “information.” Many times we read information, absorb the information in our minds, but don’t always pay attention who originally wrote the words. Then at some time in the future we can repeat or pharaphrase the “information someone else has written”, but we don’t remember “where we originally heard the information”. Copyright can affect schools in an adverse way by making certain materials inaccessible for the use of the teachers/students. It is important to teach students from an early age to give proper credit to the person/group who has written papers (books, journals, articles, etc.).

Healthy and safety

Healthy and safety

Healthy and safety on the computer, I learned how I could use my computer and the new technologies in the computer age safely. These websites gave me information about healthy and safety in the technology age. It taught me how I can stay front to my computers/screen four hours, and how I can use the computer screen safely. I liked the first website because it talked about cell phones and backpacks, this is important for many people, as they are using cell phones and backpacks every day. These items are being used every day, (and many times a day) if they are going to school or on a trip. When using backpacks, the weight should not be too heavy for the person who will be wearing the backpack; it should also be distributed evenly in the pack. Children should be using both straps to attach the backpack to their backs; using just one strap will put a strain on either one shoulder or the other. In addition, when using cell phones care must be given to the electronic nature of the phones, will there be radiation or other such “thing” radiating from the phone that could cause cancer or some other disease in the future?
Another website talked about how we can position ourselves to support our back, neck, and eyes front in the computer. Another web site gave information on the proper positioning of fingers, hands and arms when using a computer keyboard. Injuries to hands and wrists are common with the use of computer keyboards and typewriters. The important issue in this area is “production”, and how people can be productive using the computer technology, and yet not be injured by not using the hardware safely. When people shop for computer components, i.e., keyboard, mouse, monitors, etc., it is important to know which items are produced to cause less strain on the eyes, and joints/muscles in the hands/wrist/arms when using keyboards. There have been many studies done on keyboards/monitors to help with this safety issue. It would be wise for persons seeking to purchase these items if they were to read and study the safety testing that has been done. Sitting position is also important. Some electrical components in computer parts can cause medical problems, i.e., cancers etc., just from the materials used in the components. We have noticed in recent times that many products coming from China are not safe, and are causing all kinds of medical problems, just because of the materials used to make the mouse, keyboard, etc.
Many safety features need to be thought about before purchasing a computer for either use in one’s home or school. Consideration must be given to lighting, seating, height of tables for computer placement in addition to the “computer” components being purchased for use. Everything must work together to provide a safe environment for the use of computers. According to New York United, state Teachers:
ü Organize your work area so things you need are close at hand
ü Adjust lighting levels or reposition the monitor so that glare is eliminated and lighting is appropriate for the task.
ü Adjust your workstation so you are in proper alignment with your computer. It is important that the equipment adjust to your comfort.
ü Contact your eye doctor or occupational health practitioner if vision problems persist.
ü Report symptoms of computer-related health problems immediately to your supervisor, union and physician. Do not wait to get treatment and/or help for changing your workstation.
ü TAKE BREAKS! Every 30 minutes or so, get up or do alternate work like filing or phones. Short stretch breaks will help revive you. Taking 30 seconds to stop and stretch or breathe deeply while closing your eyes can be very effective. You will probably notice your concentration and productivity improving too. Do not forget to periodically look away from the screen and blink.
ethical and social issues are there related to the disposal of used computers Because of the materials used in computers, they need to be disposed of properly, if there is radiation, or other harmful materials used in the production of computers, if they were just tossed into the landfill, there could be harmful effects to future generations. Also, rather than just tossing out computers, it is possible that someone else could use the computer if it were donated to a school or elsewhere. It’s the same situation that arises with used motor oil, it needs to be recycled properly, not just poured down the drain to contaminate the environment and water supply that we all need for drinking.

Hipermedia

Hipermedia

The internet has been important in our lives, and is becoming even more important in today’s world, but we must be careful of the information we find on the internet. Is it possible to believe everything that appears on the internet? On the other hand, could just anyone, write and post anything to the internet? There must be standards applied to the information we find there. Prior to the internet, books were printed by publishers, and many times the publishers would have “reputations” to uphold. The same holds true of journals and newspapers. The publishers of books, journals, and newspapers had reputations to uphold. It would not take long to find out that certain publishers accepted anything for publication, and once published it was common practice to find that the information was wrong. Once a publisher had the reputation of not researching the information, they published to make sure that it was factual; their materials were not read and accepted as truth. If the material were not read/purchased etc., the publishers would no longer have the funds to continue publishing material.

When reading material from the internet, we, as consumers must be careful, we cannot believe every word that is posted on internet sites. As researchers/readers, we must read with skepticism. Are the words we are reading “truthful and honest” or is someone just trying to get us to go along with what they are saying without any “research” on our part.

In order to find “high quality” information on the internet, we as the user must research “Who” is putting this information on the web for all to read. If it is not possible to find who is posting information to the web, that should be one important “flag” to us as the consumer, that if the writer is not willing to sign his name to his work, we should be skeptical of his work. Each of us has a reputation to uphold, are we truthful, honest, trustworthy etc. We need to be willing to sign our names to the words we put out in the world, be it in print, or on the web.

I would be skeptical of anything that was unsigned be it in the newspaper, or on the web. As it is appearing these days, anyone can post “anything” to the internet. We as consumers must learn to be educated consumers, in that we are able to discern fact from fiction in the material we find on the web. I have some questions about “high quality information:
1- Is it clear who has written the information: When you first look at a web site, you need to check who it has been written and designed. Anyone can make a web site and say that they are an expert on a subject.
2- I s the information biased in any way: There is often more than one-way of looking at a piece of information.
When evaluating the information found on the web, I, as the reader, need to know who the writer/researcher of the information is. Do they have a reputation in their field that I can trust, i.e. have they been researching this field for a length of time (more than a month, a year, 5 years, or 10 years). The information can be evaluated by the research the writer has had published, in respected journals outside of the internet. Does this information stand up to the standards we have set for our educational curriculum. Are these web sites “personal” sites or are they “formal, research institutions” relating to the field they are researching.

To create a high quality website we must find respected persons in the field who are willing to write material for the web site. Not every Tom, Dick, and Harry will be able to create material for every field out there. We must find qualified persons in the field to create web sites in the field. If persons creating websites are not qualified in the “field” (i.e., an educator on education, a dentist on dentistry, a lawyer on legal issues, etc.) the information they are writing about may not be worth the “screen” it is written on.
In order to integrate the mass of information at our fingertips we must do research on the writer of the information to make the decision whether they are “qualified” to be believed. A writer could take the research that has been written by a learned scholar and then put the researcher’s information into terms that the internet user could understand. The information may need to be translated from the “Scholar” down to “layman’s” terms to be understood by the general population.
According to Samsup:
- The public are more likely to credit traditional media news information rather than online press releases posted by an organization in the case of negative news about an organization.
- The public believes traditional news sources and online press releases to the same degree in cases of positive news about an organization.
- In general, traditional news media sources have more credibility than organizational online news sources in terms of media credibility.
- Traditional news media have more impact on trustful relationships than organizational online news sources.
The reference: Samsup,(2005), The Effect of Online Media Credibility on Trust Relationships, university of Florida. http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=5&hid=6&sid=5b761ab7-0c54-433e-b995-54295925c9f9%40SRCSM1

Copyright

My reflection: I was addressing copyright with my students when the class started in August; I gave them handouts about the rules of plagiarizing and copyright. In addition, I discussed with them how to can avoid plagiarizing in their life. Accordingly, I am going to try to give them the requirements. For example, in a course with Dr. Dalton we will be talking about authoring systems. We will be using (Dreamweaver) but this program is expensive and he gave us many options to obtain this program. First, we can use the laboratory and second, we can download a trial version of the software, a one-time download for one month. This was a good way to avoid copyright infringement. Copyright laws relate to you a teacher when you advise students not to use copyrighted materials as your own. If you as a teacher accept a student’s work that has been copied (plagiarized work of another), you are as guilty as the student of copyright infringement. The instructor, if he believes the work is not of the individual student; he should research the area and make sure the students have done the work themselves. If I am teacher I have to follow copyright law and use legally obtained materials for instructional.