Reflection on Week 8 activities
This week's focus on wireless technologies and also critiquing the multimedia presentation was informative and fun.
I was able to expand my understanding of the wide variety of wireless technologies and their uses in education.
At first I struggled with the term - wireless technology. Is it referring to connecting to the Internet wirelessly or is it referring to the many devices that can be used without wires (connection to electricity all of the time)? Regardless of the definition, I decided to focus on those devices that were able to connect to the Internet without wires and this includes handheld devices and laptop computers.
As I research this topic, I realized that the US was far behind the rest of the world on their widespread use. As a matter of fact, for my cousins who live in Europe, they primarily use cell phones and smart phones. These wireless technologies as they expand in use, we will see more and more educational software programs being designed for their use in educational settings.
It is my firm opinion that schools need to focus more on the use of this technology in the classroom. This is where students are right now. I teach in Higher Ed., and half the time I have to schedule a lab to conduct some of my classes. And sometimes I am locked out. If I was set up to use cell phones as educational tools then we would be able to connect to each other more seamlessly and so we can proceed with class as if we were in a computer lab.
Cell phones could add a new dimension to how we integrate technology into teaching and learning.
I was able to expand my understanding of the wide variety of wireless technologies and their uses in education.
At first I struggled with the term - wireless technology. Is it referring to connecting to the Internet wirelessly or is it referring to the many devices that can be used without wires (connection to electricity all of the time)? Regardless of the definition, I decided to focus on those devices that were able to connect to the Internet without wires and this includes handheld devices and laptop computers.
As I research this topic, I realized that the US was far behind the rest of the world on their widespread use. As a matter of fact, for my cousins who live in Europe, they primarily use cell phones and smart phones. These wireless technologies as they expand in use, we will see more and more educational software programs being designed for their use in educational settings.
It is my firm opinion that schools need to focus more on the use of this technology in the classroom. This is where students are right now. I teach in Higher Ed., and half the time I have to schedule a lab to conduct some of my classes. And sometimes I am locked out. If I was set up to use cell phones as educational tools then we would be able to connect to each other more seamlessly and so we can proceed with class as if we were in a computer lab.
Cell phones could add a new dimension to how we integrate technology into teaching and learning.
posted by Unknown | 8:09 AM
1 Comments:
Hi Marilyn:
I enjoyed our audio chat. IT is intersting to hear the different accents. I am very conscience of that being from the South. People always make fun of the way I talk. In Europe, it is really funny. People just ask me to talk.
Speaking of Europe, I noticed when I was there two years ago, that they were ahead of us in cell phone usage. I wonder if we will be more in line when I go back to Europe this summer. (I take 20 students to Europe every two years.) See ya. Dianne
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