Reader Review Post #2

I think that I may have unintentionally given the wrong impression with my first blog post...I don’t hate technology, nor do I want it all to go away. I just feel that maybe we are a little too connected to the gadgets, apps, and techie-stuff in our lives, and not as connected as we could be to each other.  I believe that technology has its place, and that place should not be in our hands and in front of our faces during every waking hour.

 

I realize that most of my keywords didn’t really focus on any positive aspects of technology, so I researched a few things that look at it with a more optimistic lens.  I might have gotten a bit carried away with finding positive information, but I really am wanting to feel good about technology, get rid of the fear, and become a Digital Native, instead of a Digital Immigrant.  The only way that I can start doing that is to really examine the effects that technology is having on every aspect of teaching, not just the negative side-effects of too much technology for the students.

 

So I will start with my optimistic articles, blogs, and video presentations, which are as follows:

 

-         http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/EdReformStudies/EdTech/effectsstudents.html

Lists the positive effects of technology in the classroom

 

-         http://www.edudemic.com/50-education-technology-tools-every-teacher-should-know-about/

50 Web 2.0 Tools listed, with four main categories: Social Learning, Learning, Lesson Planning & Tools, and Useful Tools

 

-         http://smallbusiness.chron.com/five-positive-effects-technology-education-31222.html

Lists five positive effects that technology has had on education

 

-         http://www.melissaedwards.org/imported-20120430010433/2011/1/13/connecting-technology-and-mulitiple-intelligences.html 

The linking of Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences with utilizing technology in the classroom, links to many other articles and education blogs!

 

-         http://www.edudemic.com/social-learning/

Blog explaining what social learning is (a term that I am not familiar with), and positing whether or not it works.  There are some interesting statistics and graphs that illustrate the growth and popularity of social networking/learning.

 

-         http://www.ted.com/talks/sugata_mitra_the_child_driven_education.html

-         TED Talk about the positive benefits of the child-driven education, when children are exposed to technology when they have never seen it, and how they are still able to teach themselves how to use it. This particular talk by Sugata Mitra, introduced me to the concept of “The Grandmother Method”, and its positive effects on improving student learning.

 

 

I still wanted to include a couple of my original keywords, so I chose the ones that I can link to the above research, in the hopes of creating a balance in my outlook on technology in the classroom.

Digital Burnout

-         http://phys.org/news/2013-06-digital-burn-out.html

Article that discusses the advent of digital burnout, how it is affecting individuals, and other countries, and new tools that are being developed to help people manage it.

 

-         http://tinybuddha.com/blog/how-to-avoid-burnout-and-take-a-digital-break/

Insightful blog on one woman’s journey to unplug for 30 days to relieve the stress of digital burnout, and advice on how other’s can take tech-free holidays, even if they are staying at home.

Technological Saturation

-         http://steveholt.com/home/2010/11/13/overwhelmed-and-overcome/

This blog looks at technological saturation on a more personal level, and the ways in which in it encroaches on our time.

 

-         http://janedapain.net/files/saturationoverload.pdf 

Good Paper on the effects of technological saturation, the ethics (or lack there-of) involved in the continuing development of technology, and how Art can bring a return to our connectedness with nature, so it’s not a nature vs. technology situation, but more of a symbiotic relationship between the two)