Week 8 blog-Latest Tech Trends

Pick any latest tech trend (ebooks, augmented reality, cloud computing, social networking) and discuss how you feel about it in personal societal use/ educational use as a teacher.  This is your feeling about it.  DOn't go all research on this. :)

Cloud based computing is my favorite.  I am very active with equity and inclusion in my job and life and I find that cloud based computing really is one of those things that helps to level some of the playing field when it comes to technology access.  With Google Apps and Open Office available for free now all a user has to do is gain access to a computer and they are then able to use word processing, spreadsheet and presentation software.  This is great because in the past it was virtually impossible because the software could sometimes be as expensive as a low end computer.

I also love that now we have many options that allow us to save our work to the cloud.  While as a teacher I am working very hard to help my students understand that this should be their first choice for saving, even over the USB drive because when you log in to the cloud and place your data there you are less likely to have the 'cloud' fail to work for you.  In the days when we used floppy disks, they would have formatting problems quite often and then USB drives tended to also get lost or simply left behind somewhere. With the cloud storage such as Dropbox.com or Google Drive you now really have no real excuse for not having your work if you saved it.

eBooks are still not my favorite but I keep trying to stay current with what is happening with them and watching the reactions of the students who are using them to see if they prefer them.  I have heard from both high school students and adults that they prefer the actual physical books where as I think the lower cost of having eBooks certainly makes it an option worth considering.

I have not gotten to the point that I like reading on my iPad vs. a regular book but maybe one day.  As I say, the jury is still out on that one. Another point that I agree with as it related to the eBooks is that it lightens the backpacks and if the books stay so much cheaper, I think as teachers we have to get over our discomfort and promote the new technology to our students who seem to at least not be repulsed by the idea of using eBooks.

Week 7 Blog EDUC 630

Reflect on your own personal use of technology in day to day living . .not education necessarily.  How do you balance the natural demands technology place upon you and your family and the supposed (and realized) benefits they potentially provide?

Oh boy, when I think about my personal use of technology in my day to day living, I tend to be somewhat embarrassed at the number of hours that I actually spend online.  Between school and work and my overall curiosity about what is going on in the world, I am online all the time.  The balance of natural demands of technology and my family is interesting as well.  My son is 23 and lives in Lynchburg, attending Liberty.  He and I almost always only communicate via text and email.  I am not sure where our relationship would be if we did not have technology. I am sure that we would not write to each other…well I guess I actually would have to because that would be the only way for me to get him money, here and there.

My daughter and I text each other quite a bit too even though we live together.  Our schedules are so busy that we don't often have time to keep up with each other so when I need her to know something I will normally send her a text if she is not with me.

I am on Facebook keeping up with friends and the latest information at least 4-5 times a day.  I think most of this is because I have always been a loner and found ways to occupy my time.  This would include writing and reading by myself, with the advancements of technology and having the Internet at my fingertips all the time, I tend to just be online to research various topics all the time.

This is why the online school works for me so well, it allows me to work at my own pace and in my own space.  I am able to log in and get my assignments completed on a pretty consistent basis.  I have to balance my time to make sure that I am working on actual work for class or work rather than being caught up with things that are just interesting to me.  I love to keep up with news and world events and one article leads to another, it's pretty interesting and I am very happy to be involved with technology at a time where the advances are happening so rapidly.