annef's blog

Chapter 7’s overall theme was Internet safety.  The copyright issues were very interesting to me because I still have moments where I have to check if I quoted or referenced something properly.  Business courses could be especially at risk of violating a copyright law in cases such as advertising and not using other company’s logo.  It is important that we take every step at setting a good example for students when creating lesson plans or using examples in class.

Website control while in the classroom was the other key point of this chapter.  Schools are responsible for taking extreme precautions when it comes to the Internet sites students access during school hours.  I am not sure if this is always the best decision.  Although the obvious sites should be blocked, such as pornography, but some sites could be beneficial for students to use during certain classes.  I believe it should be more the responsibility of the teacher to monitor the students’ Internet usage so that the students can have the best of both worlds; safety and Internet access.

The article I chose was entitled “Use of Second Life in k-12 and High Education: A review of Research” by Chris Inman, Vivian Wright, and Julia Hartman.  I decided to use this article because I think simulation games such as second life have become astonishingly popular among this new generation.  As educators I think we need to understand why it is our students find this type of technology interesting and how we can relate it to our course material. 

According to the article virtual simulations are becoming more and more popular, especially for online courses as a form of assessment.  Second Life is not a curriculum based software program, but it is a virtual world in which users create a character and can interact with other characters doing every day activities such as shopping and even going on dates.  In this study the researchers analyzed Second Life to see three main things: 1) What research methods have been applied to Second Life 2) How is it used by students and teachers 3) What are the related findings to 1 and 2.  The study showed that Second Life is more dominant in higher education situations.  There is a risk associated with K-12 students using Second Life due to the potential exposure to profanity, pornography, and other inappropriate materials.  Areas that Second Life could be incorporated include training, designing, and simulated social networking.

Chapter 6 focused mainly on new technologies and meshing them with the classroom effectively.  Students are sometimes more familiar with newer technologies than most teachers.  Obviously because we are going to be technology teachers it is our responsibility to be just as up-to-date on new technologies as our students.  In fact, I think we should be looking at the technologies that most would not think could be used in the classroom and find a way to work it into the class.  For instance, you would not think of Twitter as a tool in a classroom setting, but we use it in the class and I think it is one of the most creative uses of technology I have seen in college.  They also spoke about how businesses use technology in creative ways.  As business education teachers I think it would be a great idea to format your classroom website in a business website format.  It helps keeps your students in the mindset of the business world and is also a creative way to get them to interact on your website.

Title- 10 Things CEOs Need to know about Design

By-Future M, Leslia Brashaw

This powerpoint was about introducing the concept of design to CEOs who arenot familiar with design techniques.  The first point she wanted readers to understand is that a powerpoint presentation is not considered a designing tool, it is a medium for presenting a design concept.  CEOs also should not try to micromanage their designers, the CEO hired them for a reason and they should let the designers do their jobs.  It is also a good idea to think outside of the box when hiring a designer.  It doesn’t necessarily have to be a webdesigner or someone in your city.  Storyboards should always be used and should be done in black and white, color should be added as detailsl once the final idea is confirmed.  You should also be creative when deciding what social medias you will use to distribute your design.  Your designer should be an employee from the very beginning.

I thought this presentation was very useful.  CEOs do not have time to read large articles or scan through 100 slide powerpoints.  A 22 slide powerpoint that is broken down into 10 clearly defined points is great for a busy reader.  The information and display was also very effective.  It was also good marketing for the author’s own company, which is always important.

The topic I connected most with was the learning communities. Our recent assignment for the graduate students actually helped me to understand what a learning community was, and this text helped me to achieve that.  I don’t think learning communities are used enough in the education world, especially business education.  We spend so much time trying to such for lesson plans or curriculum that other people have developed, and yet if we had a learning community we could save a lot of time.  We talk about students working in groups to help learn from each other, and we need to start doing the same in a more effective manner.

I thought the discussion about teacher in-service was interesting.  It is important for students to have the most up-to-date teaching methods presented to them, and in-service days are a great way to achieve that.  However, I do think there are alternative ways of conducting an in-service; such as podcasts, webcams, etc.  If a teacher is not able to attend an in-service day I think they should be required to supplement it with an alternative form that discusses the same topics.