Brandon+Slone

=
**Brandon Slone's Wikety Wicket Wiki... ** =====

[|Bloggin'] the Night Away...  [|IGoogle!] [|Delicious] - Stay up to date with some of the things I am following in my library; it's early, but it's a start!

In the attached widget, information is presented to parents about the ill's of the new fad - "sexting"...certainly this represents the dark side of technology when things (or people) get exploited!
 * Technology Gone Wild **

Will the rising trends in technology usage be just another reason to drive more teachers into retirement? Wow, when you think about it…student reading being done via ebooks, students now taking notes in each class with a laptop, teacher instruction being done using a whiteboard, Blackberries now being allowed in the classrooms by the teachers, and the implementation of a more advanced curriculum that is derived exclusively from technology – for some teachers that can be downright scary! But that is the reality that we are in living in today…students interfacing with Youtube, laptops, cell phones, Facebooking, etc. If teachers aren’t making their classrooms adaptable to these changes, they are surely to leave students behind. Just think about for a second, what student wants to “sit and get” their information from class having to take notes the old school way? Not many…even at the university level, look how much of program has been done on Moodle! Within the last year, we have installed in every classroom a SMART board, document camera, clickers, and airliners – this was done in hopes of providing a more technological climate that both teachers and students could thrive in on a daily basis. We have done a ton of professional development **and** for some of our teachers, they have taken off with the new technology, while others have been stuck in the mud – and I hate to say it, but based on what I see – it is a generational “thing” in my building. The “in” tech crowd are the younger teachers, no exception. The real tech geeks even have what is called “Tech Tuesdays” where teachers get together and share/collaborate on their latest technological finds or gadgets…it is pretty cool! They take this information and try to make their instruction more lively and engaging. Ahh, but why should that even surprise anyone – they are part of the “Millennial” group that grew up on this stuff! As I see it, the bottom line is more and more students are going to become more disconnected if teachers don’t rise up to the challenges of embracing and learning technology, and as a result, teaching will not be a lot of fun, while student learning will continue to grow to be more painful.
 * __My Reaction to Week #2:__**

** The Technology Corner ** **Check this out....The Mellinials are coming....are you ready? The amount of technology used in today's society is staggering! Blackberries, Wikis, Blogs, etc. - will the madness ever end? Ask yourself this question, when is technolgy too much technology? Watch this clip and see if you have a different feeling after your viewing...** media type="youtube" key="p5IfsNqJcmA" height="385" width="480" align="center"

media type="custom" key="6028175" width="511" height="349" align="center"
 * This 9 minute-clip describes the use of technology at suburban Chatham H.S. (NJ). Their integration of technology outpaces alot of high schools throughout the country, but the clip also shows some disturbing trends, including students who honestly can’t remember the last book they have read (why read, when you can Sparknote). The clip is very thought-provoking and correlates well with much of the information I have encountered recently. Enjoy...**

**In staying with the technology theme, check out this ABC New's "Special Report" on teens, texting, and technology use in general...are teens and their use of technoogy turning into a troubling combination? You be the judge!** media type="custom" key="6028259" width="513" height="368" align="center"


 * Technology Links: **

[|Using the Technology of Today, in the Classroom Today]

[|Schools Factor E-Courses into the Daily Mix]


 * The chart contained within this source from __Education Research__ shows what each state is doing with the growing trend of technology; one thing to take away after analyzing is the realization that technology is certainly impacting education on alot of different levels. **