I work as a part time manager at McDonald's and about a month ago the corporate officials came to our McDonald's and informed us that there would be a software update on all of our computers. They explained that all the menus on our computers are going to change, and as managers we have to make this transition as smooth as possible. For this to be smooth, I had to learn the new menu before the update happened so that I could help my coworkers adjust as smoothly as possible.
Well, this transition finally happened three days ago. I've worked the last three days, and have had to deal with all the backlash from the new system. In all honesty, the new system is so much easier to use. It was created to make life easier for the employees. However, my McDonald's has a very great dispersion of ages, and I've noticed that the younger people complained for about ten minutes about the new system, but then easily adjusted to using it (because it really is easier.) However, the older people I work with just grumble and nag about having to switch to a new system. I had to follow these workers around almost every second because they always need help with something.
This reinforced the digital native/immigrant idea that we talked about in the beginning of the semester. I mean if I combine all the times that I had to help all the younger people that have worked in the last three days, it still wouldn't come even close to matching up with how often even one older person asked for help. The older generation just can't seem to figure technology out. They always do it with an "accent," but the younger workers at McDonald's played with the new system for a few minutes and figured out how to use most of it very quickly.
This experience at work just made me think once more about how hard this changing technological world is for the older generation.
Friday, March 22, 2013
Monday, March 18, 2013
Week 9
The "Tech Learning Caught on Tape" is a very interesting idea. I think it would be a really worth while to film students while they learn. Students would see themselves learning, and it would help them fix their own mistakes and see where they are going wrong. It would also help create amazing memories for the students in your class.
My favorite idea is filming the students on the first day of school. I could imagine showing them these clips at the end of the school year and seeing just how much they have grown and changed, physically and mentally. Moreover, if I was a freshman teacher, showing the students clips of themselves when they are seniors would be even more priceless.
The only problem that I could see with this is if some of the students don't allow you to film them. It would be really difficult to film the class if this was the case.
My favorite idea is filming the students on the first day of school. I could imagine showing them these clips at the end of the school year and seeing just how much they have grown and changed, physically and mentally. Moreover, if I was a freshman teacher, showing the students clips of themselves when they are seniors would be even more priceless.
The only problem that I could see with this is if some of the students don't allow you to film them. It would be really difficult to film the class if this was the case.
Reflection 7
I think that some special needs children learn better if technology is being used. I teach a child with downs syndome in Sunday school. He is fourteen years old, but behaves as if he is much younger. I've recently started to notice that he pays much more attention, or is much more interested in what I am saying if I have a video, or some sort of powerpoint to accompany my lesson.
I know that all children are more engaged when technology is present, but getting this particular child to pay attention and participate in class is much harder than dealing with the rest of them. Now that I have found a way to keep his attention, teaching class has become much easier because he doesn't disrupt lessons quite as often.
I was curious if this was a general rule or idea for most down syndome kids, and if it helped with other special needs also, so I decided to observe in a classroom with special needs children and ask the teacher if this was true. The teacher said that anything out the ordinary or anything that is catchy usually helps the children pay attention and technology is one of the tools she often uses to keep the children engaged.
I know that this might sound shallow and harsh, but I didn't think that children with special needs, or at least some of those children, would respond to technology. I'm not quite sure why I thought this, so learning that they do respond is really interesting and helpful in case I have children with special needs in my classes.
I know that all children are more engaged when technology is present, but getting this particular child to pay attention and participate in class is much harder than dealing with the rest of them. Now that I have found a way to keep his attention, teaching class has become much easier because he doesn't disrupt lessons quite as often.
I was curious if this was a general rule or idea for most down syndome kids, and if it helped with other special needs also, so I decided to observe in a classroom with special needs children and ask the teacher if this was true. The teacher said that anything out the ordinary or anything that is catchy usually helps the children pay attention and technology is one of the tools she often uses to keep the children engaged.
I know that this might sound shallow and harsh, but I didn't think that children with special needs, or at least some of those children, would respond to technology. I'm not quite sure why I thought this, so learning that they do respond is really interesting and helpful in case I have children with special needs in my classes.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Week 8
Word Scrambler
I found a word scrambler game. I thought that this would be an interesting ways to get students motivated to learn their vocaublary words. I couldn't find a version of the game that let me pick my own words to scrambler, but I'm sure I could figure it out if I tried. This is simply an example of how the game would look like.
Pretty much you start the game and it gives you a count down on how long you have to guess the spelling of the word. You drag and drop the letters into a box at the top of the page, and try and unscrable the word. You get points for quickness, and accuracy.
I was thinking to have the students scramble their vocabulary words, and without looking at their vocabulary list, try to unscrable them. Playing this game would help them cement the spelling of the words in their brains because it is something that they are engaged in.
I found a word scrambler game. I thought that this would be an interesting ways to get students motivated to learn their vocaublary words. I couldn't find a version of the game that let me pick my own words to scrambler, but I'm sure I could figure it out if I tried. This is simply an example of how the game would look like.
Pretty much you start the game and it gives you a count down on how long you have to guess the spelling of the word. You drag and drop the letters into a box at the top of the page, and try and unscrable the word. You get points for quickness, and accuracy.
I was thinking to have the students scramble their vocabulary words, and without looking at their vocabulary list, try to unscrable them. Playing this game would help them cement the spelling of the words in their brains because it is something that they are engaged in.
Reflection 6
If technology keeps advancing at the rate that it now does, will the younger generation soon be considered immigrants to the new technology while our children are the natives.
I know that this is a really weird question to ask and probably confusing question, but it's something that I am curious about. Right now the older generation is seen as immigrants because they cannot seem to grasp technology in the way that it is meant to be used. However, in the next thirty years there are bound to be such advances in the field that even us natives will be confused about what to do with it.
I mean we understand the technology of an ipod, iphone, xbox, PS3, and so forth... but what if scientists come up with holographic imaging technology, or something that simply gets installed into our brains and lets us view television inside our minds. I don't know, these are just random ideas. But even so, we would not know how to deal with this kind of technology. It would be completely new to us. Just like our parents try to grasp our technology, could it be possible that we will soon be trying (and mostly failing) to grasp the next generations technology.
I know that this is a really weird question to ask and probably confusing question, but it's something that I am curious about. Right now the older generation is seen as immigrants because they cannot seem to grasp technology in the way that it is meant to be used. However, in the next thirty years there are bound to be such advances in the field that even us natives will be confused about what to do with it.
I mean we understand the technology of an ipod, iphone, xbox, PS3, and so forth... but what if scientists come up with holographic imaging technology, or something that simply gets installed into our brains and lets us view television inside our minds. I don't know, these are just random ideas. But even so, we would not know how to deal with this kind of technology. It would be completely new to us. Just like our parents try to grasp our technology, could it be possible that we will soon be trying (and mostly failing) to grasp the next generations technology.
Reflection 5
In my Multicultural Education class we recently watched a documentary on refugees from Sudan. It was one of the most imteresting things that I have ever seen. This group of people have never lived with technology. In fact, they didn't even know what electricity was. This got me to thinking that there is always a very diverse group of people that I will be teaching in my classroom, and some of them might be behind in certain aspects.
I was just curious, how should a teacher deal with students who come from different backgrounds and simply don't know how to understand technology. I'm not sure that this will happen all too often, but it still might.
I mean, I suppose a teacher could spend one on one time with the student and try to help them understand, but if the older generation (who has been around technology for decades now) can't grasp it, how can we expect people who have never dealt with technology to understand it.
What are some suggestions to how a teacher can make the class accessible to all the students without robbing any student of the education that they deserve?
I was just curious, how should a teacher deal with students who come from different backgrounds and simply don't know how to understand technology. I'm not sure that this will happen all too often, but it still might.
I mean, I suppose a teacher could spend one on one time with the student and try to help them understand, but if the older generation (who has been around technology for decades now) can't grasp it, how can we expect people who have never dealt with technology to understand it.
What are some suggestions to how a teacher can make the class accessible to all the students without robbing any student of the education that they deserve?
Monday, March 4, 2013
Reflection 4
I was reading one of my classmate's comments on my blog, and realized that I hold a similar view that she does. She said that technology hinders human development because of all the ways that it is misused. I think that I really do agree with this point. I mean how long can you survive without your phone? We, as a society, are constantly engulfed in the technology around us. I mean sure, we have thousands of facebook friends, twitter and instagram followers, and skype friends, but how many real relationships do we try to foster?
I think that as a society we are moving farther and farther away from real relationships and real interactions with people. We know how to text, email, and IM, but having a conversation face to face with somebody is harder than it used to be. I find that often times people prefer to text somebody rather than call. Everything is about our technology, and not very much is about people anymore. I find this shift very sad because people are what make this life important, not the hundreds of gadgets that we can accumulate.
I think that as a society we are moving farther and farther away from real relationships and real interactions with people. We know how to text, email, and IM, but having a conversation face to face with somebody is harder than it used to be. I find that often times people prefer to text somebody rather than call. Everything is about our technology, and not very much is about people anymore. I find this shift very sad because people are what make this life important, not the hundreds of gadgets that we can accumulate.
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