Reflection on Chapter 1

Note to self: Do not put off reading until Tuesday night.

I really enjoyed this reading, even though I was a little overwhelmed by the amount of material that was covered. I understand that it is an introductory overview to the course.

I really enjoyed the piece on constructivism. I do agree with the author about the lack of change in curriculum to encompass technology instead of having technology as an addition to our classrooms. I am in a classroom with four computers. We have not used the computers once this year. The science class is going to be doing a web-based scavenger hunt next week, in the computer lab next week. I wish that we could use computers more.

My cooperating teacher is in a program called Pioneer Teachers. Three times this year our class will be getting a set of graphing calculators, various scientific data collectors, and some lap tops. I have been told very little about the program by the teacher. She is very excited about getting to use this equipment. I am excited about it too. It is just too bad that we only get it for 3 weeks out of the 36. At least we get to use the technology. There are teams in the school that a teacher did not go through this training, and they do not get to use this form of technology.

I was also amazed at the rate that technology grows. It is no wonder that my husband's parents can't even grasp technology. Each time we go to their house, we have to explain how to do different things, such as download an attachment from an email. I may laugh at them, but I remember the struggles I had with learning how to access my email account at Central Michigan University in 1995. It was my freshman year. I had only just heard of email a few weeks before going to college.

An example of the change in our society: When I started at Central Michigan University in 1995, most students did not bring a computer to school. The internet was not considered a reliable source by most of my professors. MLA did not have a way to source internet documents at the time, so my professor and I made up a way so I could site something in one of my papers. Times sure have changed.