Reflective Blog #5

My “Aha!” moments for this course were the realization that education is constantly evolving and technology is a big part of this evolution, and that this is a reality and it will work.  This course has sparked my interest in taking more technology courses. As part of growth in my educational pursuits and lifelong learning, I plan to make technology a major attribution to my career as an educator. Whereas the free sharing/collaboration/interactive webhosts are free, the free is not without risks. Privacy and confidentiality is one aspect of online and free services that may need to be considered. Some of the advertisers on the sites such as Blogger, etc. attach and link to other sites, and may cause unwanted problems. So I think an awareness of privacy and confidentiality for what you put out there should be considered for your protection.

Technology has always been an important aid in my education. From the beginning early technology such as PowerPoint shared through Email, online courses, and YouTube, were new and made learning easy and fun. Seeing the wide spectrum of learning tools and technology that is here now and is being developed now, as presented in this course, for example Wiki and other sharing and collaboration sites, enhances how important a contributor of technology is in education and careers in every field. My educational philosophy is that knowing that everyone learns differently finding a resource that can touch every learner and even may make the learner enthusiastic about learning is certainly the best way to proceed with education. I think this course should be part of the curriculum in K-12, and in colleges and universities.

Lifelong Learning

Reflective Blog #4

I have become more accustomed to composing documents online, for a number of reasons. First, it really saves a lot of time, and it just doesn’t make sense to draft, brainstorm, and compose twice. Second, the spell check and formatting features allow for easy changes, in case a read of your document needs to be completely reworded or changed.

I have yet to turn everything over to my iphone or Outlook calendar. I still use paper calendars in my home (I have 4 of them, one in the kitchen, one in my office/study room, and one in my purse). I have a paper calendar and use the Outlook calendar where I work because of the interaction of meetings and reminders. I have an address book that I kept numbers and passwords in and but rely heavily on my cell phone for contacts/phone numbers.

My cell phone is always with me and I rely on it so much that I just got rid of my home phone (land line) because no one ever called my on it anyway. At home I use the internet only when I am working on school work or using the internet to for business (banking) or Facebook.

I do like computer games, such as Bedezzled or card games, and have a PS3 game system, but do not use it much except for watching movies on the DVD function. I generally engage in multiple activities, especially in regards to school, such as research and composing documents, and Email.

I am definitely a mixture in the generational category. I am at the end of the Baby Boomer generation but identify more so with Generation X and the Net Generation.

The Net Generation is primary to everyone now, not just those under 18. The universities are in the process of becoming wholly Net Generation in the sense that everyone uses technology and with all the online learning and competition and reliance on technology in every facet of our lives, I think everyone would say that the Net Generation carries heavily across Generation X and Baby Boomers. The Matures are also becoming Net Generation with cell phones, Email, and Internet.