Monday, August 27, 2007

Technology, Technology, Technology

Remember When

A Poem About Technology

(from James S. Huggins' Refrigerator Door)

A computer was something on TV
From a sci fi show of note.
A window was something you hated to clean
And ram was the cousin of goat.

Meg was the name of my girlfriend
And gig was a job for the nights.
Now they all mean different things
And that really mega bytes.

An application was for employment.
A program was a TV show.
A curser used profanity.
A keyboard was a piano.

Memory was something that you lost with age.
A CD was a bank account.
And if you had a 3 1/2" floppy
You hoped nobody found out.

Compress was something you did to the garbage
Not something you did to a file.
And if you unzipped anything in public
You'd be in jail for a while.

Log on was adding wood to the fire.
Hard drive was a long trip on the road.
A mouse pad was where a mouse lived.
And a backup happened to your commode.

Cut you did with a pocket knife.
Paste you did with glue.
A web was a spider's home.
And a virus was the flu

I guess I'll stick to my pad and paper
And the memory in my head.
I hear nobody's been killed in a computer crash,
But when it happens they wish they were dead.


Sell your blog ideas!

Read the article The Educated Blogger by David Huffaker, and think about the educational implications of blogs through the following group work.

Sell Your Blog Ideas!

Seller:
try your best to persuade others to use blogs in your classrooms
  • Explain what teachers/students can do with the blogs…(find and explain in detail at least three specific ways of using blogs)
  • Explain the advantages of using blogs…
  • Find out one particular blog to support your arguments, and talk about how this blog can be further improved.

Consumer: try hard to avoid using blogs in your classrooms

  • Better or alternative approaches?
  • The disadvantages of using blogs?

Group 1: Teacher's Online Journal – created and maintained by the teacher himself/herself

Group 2: Student Blog – created and maintained by individual student

Group 3: Classroom/Student Group Bog – created and maintained either by the teacher or by a group of students

Tips
How to Persuade

Comparing Blogs and Websites

Directions: Below are 8 links to sites found on the web. As you look at each site, classify each site as either a website or a blog. When you have finished classifying each site, go back and create two lists that outlines the key features of both websites and blogs. That is, what are the defining characteristics of each that allowed you to classify each of the 8 sites as either a website or a blog?

A. http://www.educ.msu.edu/

B. http://www.mackenty.org/index.php/site/index/

C. http://www.assortedstuff.com/

D. http://technosavvy.org/

E. http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/

F. http://okemos.k12.mi.us/users/garcia/index.html

G. http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/

H. http://elps.k12.mi.us/education/school/school.php?sectionid=2

So to review:

1. Classify each site as either a) a website or b) a blog and

2. Make separate lists of the key characteristics of websites and blogs. You will report back to the class on your work, so be sure to take notes.