Technology Tools for Assessment and Evaluation by Robinson, Carney, and Keiper is an article about how teachers can use technology in their assessments and evaluations. The National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS*T) helps to identify which skills are necessary and most important for integrating technology into the classroom from kindergarten to 12th grade. The article talks about studies that were done to see where students were on the continuum of understanding this topic. The authors found that students struggled with explaining the role of assessment technology, the different types of assessment technologies, and how they can be used in different ways. To help fix these struggles, they decided to make a planned instructional module. This seemed helpful and a great way to assist students in their explorations. The article also talked about many other things like taxonomy, program specific skills, progress monitoring, and more. I really enjoyed how it talked about how the information is gathered and presented in a variety of ways makes a huge difference. This is something that is very important when planning things out for a particular student or class. There can be huge problems if this is not carefully considered or especially considered at all! This article would be really helpful for all teachers to read because I think it is something that often goes unnoticed or forgotten in regular instruction. This can be a huge issue for teachers; they always seemed to be scrambling around trying to figure out the best ways. In reality though, they may be confusing or just ignored. Overall, I think this article is a good one for teachers to read and a great topic for people to read about.

Article 4- Carol Tell

This article discusses a conversation with another author, Jane M. Healy, about her article. Healy's article focuses on the pros and cons of technology on children and how it has developed over the years. The main point in the introduction of this article talked about how "technology, no matter how advanced it becomes, does not have the same weight as good teachers, small classes, and challenging curriculum". I agree with this quote; I think nothing can replace those things. This is a good point to make because our world is technology obsessed and always looking for the newest and greatest thing. If we lose focus on what the cornerstone of the classroom is, there could be major problems later on the road. Good teaching does not fail--technology fails us all the time. We as teachers can use technology for many different great purposes in our teaching, but cannot forget the cornerstones of teaching. I also liked how she discussed that it is the teachers obligation to get caught up on what the students are using in their studies and how it is beneficial to their work. Many teachers never get caught up on what their students are learning or using technology-wise. I cannot even begin to count the number of teachers I have had that did not know anything about the technology they and we were using and could hardly get through the day. These points, including many others, in her article are very important for teachers to consider and take into account.

You have died of dysentery....

To start this off, I need to say that I LOVE the Oregon Trail CD Rom game. I used to play it all the time and was especially good at hunting. I wish I could find the original game, not the recent one. Though I do agree with some of the points from this article, I am still going to be biased because of how much I love this game. One of the article's main points is that "without acknowledging it, the Oregon Trail maneuvers, students into thinking and acting as if they were all males". I can see why they would make this quote but I do believe that the majority of people who were making the journey of the Oregon Trail were white men. I know that there are some really good points in this article, but I do believe they took it a little far. I would say that the main point the main point I agree with in this article is that "CD ROMS are not teacher substitutes". Though we played quite a bit in elementary school, I would not say that we played it all the time while in the computer lab. It was one of our options for free time once we had finished our assignment or task. A lot of teachers would probably use it more as a "substitute" but I believe, like the author, that the teachers need to do the teaching. Yes, it is a fun game and you do learn things, but it should not be the main source of information on the Oregon Trail and the other topics that encompass that. Though there are a few good points to this article, I think the author went a little too far.

Digital Edge Project

The Digital Edge Project is an online library featuring National Board Certified Teachers in examples and ideas for teaching and lessons. The lesson I decided to follow was written by a sixth grade teacher from Idaho who has a very wide arrangement of students. About half of his students are Hispanic which led him to his lesson about Mexico. The purpose of this lesson was to familiarize the entire class about Mexico: the food, landscape, architecture, culture, history, etc. The students were required to watch videos about Mexico, read in their social studies books, and worked on worksheet to learn information about Mexico. They were also asked to write an essay about how life was different in Mexico than Idaho, and also the things that were similar between them. After the research and paper were complete, the class put on a fiesta complete with Mexican food, clothing, language, and music. From here, the students were asked to create a brochure about their findings using the computer. To go about this part, the teacher explained how to make the brochure in their classroom and then completed instruction in the computer lab. He let them experiment and go for it while walking around the room offering help and answering questions. After spending a while in the computer lab, students were asked to turn in a rough draft which would be looked over by the teacher. The students would then be able to modify their brochures before turning them in (which they made in pairs).
I really enjoyed this lesson plan; it is a great and creative idea. It seemed as though the students enjoyed it and learned a lot about technology and Mexico. The teacher seemed to really understand how to use technology as a tool and as a learning mean to make this lesson meaningful to the students. I personally enjoy his reasoning for using technology:
"I use technology to enhance instruction because it provides opportunities for the students to find information, create an attractive product, and develop problem-solving skills that will serve them well in the future."
This is such a great thing to hear from a teacher. Some teachers today are terrified of teaching too much information about using technology because it's an uncomfortable subject for them. I believe it's important for us as educators to teach them as much as they can. This will help them in the future and able them to help others. What a cool resource for teachers!

Article 1

In "Rethinking Learning in the Digital Age", author Mitchel Resnick had a lot of intriguing things to say about technology and where it's headed. Not what certain things we will have in the future but where our education will go through new technology. He started out by explaining why we need to move away from the "information-centric" views of computing and learning. Terms like "IT" do not just mean moving information around or knowing how to fix a computer. There's something more to that. Resnick talks about the idea of expressing creativity through technology for learning and education.

Computer Clubhouses were a way to get this idea into action. On the east coast, these clubhouses were set up to be used by teens to help them learn to express" themselves and gain confidence in themselves as learners". I personally think this is an amazing place that should be available in every city for teens. It seemed to have a positive influence on some of the kids and I believe it would prove to do the same today.

From here, Resnick takes this idea and blends it with education and learning. He discuses how we need to rethink the technologies that are provided to young people. He encourages schools and teachers to rethink the way they view education and the way people learn. Moving from a "knowledge society" to a more "creative society" would create many new possibilities for our youth in their education. I see what Resnick means about how creativity is surpassing knowledge. People are making big waves through the use of creativity with technology in the pool of success.