Teaching with Tech - Does It Work?

I believe technology in the class room is often overstressed as being imperative when in reality it adds minimal educational value to the overall learning process. The article mentioned power points are little more than a regurgitation of internet resources and I completely agree with this statement; I generally have found power points to be almost exact copies of websites plus a few additional random pictures which are often irrelevant to the overarching presentation. I think teachers seem to be over infatuated with technology and its development to the point in which they are no longer teaching applicable curriculum like history, science, math, English, etc. but instead technology. Don’t get me wrong. The ability to use technology is a good skill to acquire, but it isn’t fundamental and should be taught strictly in a technology or computer skills class rather than a history class. Also, I agree with text messaging and communication via internet messaging can be disadvantageous as well. I often find myself subconsciously using abbreviations in formal settings. For example, I used contractions in my last formal paper which resulted in lost points. I do recognize that computers can be an efficient way of communicating with others and recording data in a reasonable accessible way. I also praise the abilities of one touch research; however I think that knowledge retention is lost because it is so accessible and often taken for granite by the inquirer. In short, I agree that technology often undermines education and the assimilating of knowledge.

Word Blog

Fortunately, I’m being exposed to the latest version of Microsoft Word 2007 relatively early. It should be advantageous, as I suspect all personal computers to eventually be dependent on this programming. However, I feel uncomfortable with Word and its respective formatting. The “ribbon” formatting seems to include details that are unnecessary and clutter the screen. I also fail to understand the purpose of altering the old version of Microsoft Word to introduce this new format when most people functioned efficiently under the older versions. Anyways, I’m sure I will grow to love this new programming, but in the mean time, I’m still acclimating to this very different version of Word.