Teens Take Tech to Class

Middle and high school students are increasingly relying on technology, including laptops, flash drives and all-in-one printers. That has many administrators struggling to keep their school policies up to date. Our article this week looks at students in one part of the U.S. to see how students have embraced technology in their lives. Go to the link below and read the article. Write a reflective comment that expresses your opinion and addresses my questions.

As you read about the students in the article, do you think that they are typical? What would you expect the average student at our school to have? How do local prices compare with other countries in considering the cost of these devices? Does the price affect people’s decisions to purchase technological tools? Which of the things described do you think would be useful for students? Which are not needed? Which do you think you will need to purchase when you go to college? Which should we require students to have now?

Teens Take Tech to Class Article

Second Life

Many people enjoy using computer programs in which they can pretend to be something or someone other than themselves. In this blog assignment you will read two brief articles about Second Life. In the first article you will read about use of Second Life in education. Many universities use Second Life as an educational tool, either supplementing real-life classes or sometimes conducting entire distance-learning courses in the virtual Internet world. The second article contains one person’s opinion about the virtual world. Go to the links and read the articles. Write a reflective comment about the articles and about Second Life.

What is your opinion about the use of Second Life? What is good about it? Is there anything that is potentially bad about it? Is it appropriate for use in education? Give an example of how it might be used at our school. Have you ever tried Second Life? If so, what did you do? How did you feel about it?

Second Life Article 1

Second Life Article 2

The Longest Day

You are digital natives. You have grown up with electronic media. Think about what it would be like to live, even briefly, without these tools and toys. Go to the link below and read the article. Then write a reflective comment. Your comment should be one or two paragraphs in length and should demonstrate that you have thought about the article. Your writing should express an opinion and should address questions that I ask in my posting. Spelling, punctuation and grammar count as part of the assessment.

How would you feel if you were required to go without electronic media for 24 hours? What sorts of things would you have to give up if you did this? Are you dependant upon electronic media to the same degree that the students in the article are or are you different? What do you think that you would do with the extra time that you would have? What would be your biggest problem and how would you deal with it?

Longest Day Article

Test

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