What is an acceptable use policy? What impact does it have on the use of the Web in the classroom?

An acceptable use policy is the way a school system prevents students from abusing the Internet. The policy gives regulations on how the Internet can be used by students. Parents are asked to confirm their understanding of the policy and the consequences for using the Internet in an unacceptable way. If a teacher is going to provide links for students, they should also be familiar with the acceptable use policy.

The rationale behind acceptable use policy is quite easily understood. While most school districts have intricate filtering systems in place, at times unacceptable websites can slip through. Website creators are very creative, and students can be very determined. It is ironic that at times filtering systems are much too thorough and can block perfectly legitimate websites but at the same time allow inappropriate sites through. Since the filtering systems are not perfect, acceptable use policies seek to minimize student determination and curiosity.

At my school, computer access is fairly limited and very structured. Since it is very rare for students to have access to the Internet other than sites on the school’s network, the filtering is very liberal. Also, the filtering when logged on with a teacher network login and password is extraordinarily liberal compared with being logged in as a student. Because of this, my school’s acceptable use policy isn’t very limiting at all for me as a teacher. I have only had one instance this year where a site I wanted to access was blocked. It was a site I had never visited before that I found through a Google search, and I wasn’t certain of what was on it so blocking the site was only a minor inconvenience.

In schools where perhaps students have more access to the Internet and the network has a stronger filter or a more detailed acceptable use policy, I can see where that could be a problem for the teacher. Teachers would have a lot more work in monitoring student activities on the Internet and making sure that he or she models the acceptable use policy in giving assignments. The teacher would need to be certain that any websites he or she has students visiting isn’t linked back to an inappropriate site after several clicks. A perfectly harmless site may have inappropriate ads, or it could be linked to a site that’s linked to a site that’s linked to a site, and so on and so forth until, after just a few clicks, the student is at a site that the student doesn’t need to be at.

Acceptable use policies are definitely a necessity in technology-driven education and the reasons far outweigh the aggravation.

What are streaming audio and streaming video? How have they altered the use of audio and video on the Internet

Streaming audio and streaming video allow the user to use the media as it is being downloaded. Although there may be some delays, for the most part, you are able to listen or watch as you download. Most people’s Internet connections today are fast enough for audio streaming to not be a problem at all. Video streaming may be a bit choppy but the user will still benefit somewhat from the “instant gratification” most people crave.

There are many uses for streaming audio and video in a technologically equipped classroom. United Streaming has many resources available for a teacher to use in his or her classroom. While these resources can be downloaded and used, the teacher doesn’t have to wait to download the entire file before evaluating it, and valuable disk space doesn’t have to be used. Educational videos are available on many websites. Many topics are covered, from Language Arts to Science to Social Studies. Audio files are available for streaming such as interviews and musical pieces as well as other vocal art.

In higher education, universities are able to offer satellite classes using streaming video. Some classrooms also set up partnerships with classrooms in schools across the country or across the globe. Students in south Mississippi are able to develop a relationship with students in South Dakota or south Africa. A similar set-up can also allow teachers to give parents or students at home sick the option of being “in class” without actually being there.
Streaming audio and video are two new technologies with many options to be used within the classroom.

Chapter 6 -- What are authoring systems? How are they used for teaching and learning?

Authoring systems are a category of academic software that allows teachers to create their instructional software. Some programs create multimedia lessons or lessons for online presentation. These types of programs use a hypermedia format; the way these programs are set up allow students to move through the learning experience in their own way. Some authoring systems are very easy to use, while others create “commercial looking programs”.

One of the earliest forms of authoring systems created a stack of digital flashcards. PowerPoint is one of the more popular software programs for creating hypermedia lessons. Most shows are meant to be shown in a linear sequence but it is possible to create slideshows meant to be shown in a nonlinear sequence. Web authoring tools are another means of creating hypermedia productions. Some web authoring tools are very sophisticated while others are very simple and easy to use.

Authoring systems allow both teachers and students to create “customized, targeted lessons.” These lessons allow teachers to meet specific lesson objectives, and they can be used in large or small group presentations. These lessons can also be targeted to specific student needs.

In a classroom where the technology is available, authoring systems can be a tremendous asset for teachers. They would allow students to work and learn at their own pace . . . when one student needs review, the other students would be able to move on to new material. This can prevent boredom by allowing the students who don’t need the review to enrich their skills and re-teach the material for students who need it. The biggest drawback would be the lack of access for many schools.

The school where I work does not necessarily have authoring systems software; however, there is a program called “Orchard” that is used within the school system to target specific learning objectives with each student working at his or her own pace. The program adjusts itself to use student strengths and build up student weaknesses. I can only imagine how much more effective it would be if I, as the teacher, could use the program to work with whatever I am teaching in class rather than using it with whatever material the Orchard instructors are working with that week. As it is, the program has been shown to be very effective with students who actually apply themselves.

One of the other large weaknesses that any computer program would have is lack of student motivation. Even the best-designed programs are useless if there is a complete lack of initiative on the part of the student. Good programs must be combined with good teaching and many other things for that.

Week 7 -- Article Reflections

Today’s students spend more than twice as much time playing video games as they do reading, and more than four times as much time watching TV. Because of this, so many parts of learning are completely different for today’s students than they are for today’s teachers. Technology is such an integral part of life for most students that traditional paper and pen based learning is a foreign concept. Students are not accustomed to waiting for anything, and many high school and college students type more often than they write. Handwriting is not a part of normal life anymore. Ten or fifteen years ago, it was considered a big deal to have a computer in your home; they were considered a luxury item, and students may use a computer in school two or three times a year. Today, it’s not uncommon for a home to have several computers. Schools have computers in many classrooms and several sets of laptops on carts and may use laptops in several classes multiple times each week.

Since students are so technology intense, it’s important for teachers to instruct students in a way that is complementary to this. Online laboratories are one way to do this. Online labs offer many benefits by limiting the constraints that would be on regular labs. Online labs are available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Also, students state that they learn better and are more engaged when using online laboratories and other technology than when they are just reading or being told about material. Online tools can also be used as a complement to traditional educational strategies. They allow teachers and students to remain in contact easier and more often.

Because of the many differences in students of my generation and students today, teachers must understand and embrace technological enhancements that are available. Expecting today’s students to learn from pen and paper and VHS movies would be like expecting my generation to use an abacus to do algebra. It’s simply impractical. Besides that, it would just be ridiculous not to make use of the tools that are available.

Chapter 5 -- What are the advantages and features of electronic spreadsheets? How do you see them as a benefit in an educational environment?

An electronic spreadsheet allows you to “organize, input, edit, and chart data and produce accurate professional reports for any administrative task that deals extensively with numbers”. In an educational setting, one prime advantage is the ability to track and average grades. Most spreadsheets also have built-in graphing capabilities that can turn “numeric data into colorful, three-dimensional charts”. Electronic spreadsheets "provide students with a method for tracking and analyzing data and creating charts from it" and "support student research such as tracking stock market data".

With an electronic spreadsheet, as long as the data entered is accurate, the results are always accurate as well; also, it is much simpler to change just one number in an electronic spreadsheet and get brand new results than it is to be forced to manually change a number and then be forced to redo all of the calculations. The “what-if analysis” capability of an electronic spreadsheet may prove useful to many classroom teachers; when entering grades into a spreadsheet, a teacher can check to see what a student’s average would be if he or she scored 100% on the next test by entering it into a cell on the spreadsheet. Besides tracking grades, spreadsheets can also be used to chart data in a scientific experiment. Growth and change over a period of time can easily be charted this way.

Excel is probably the one component of Microsoft Office that I’ve struggled with the most in all of my years spent computing; while I can follow directions to make it do whatever it is I want it to do (which is pretty much what I spent this past summer doing, while struggling to learn SPSS), I’ve never actually fully comprehended what, exactly, is going on. Because of this, I found it particularly ironic that this topic is the one I was assigned to read and understand in a bit more depth this week.

I can certainly see how spreadsheet software could effectively be used for things like charting student progress when a student is struggling in a class, or seeing perhaps where and when the teacher may need to reevaluate her teaching methods for a particular topic in class. I am perhaps fortunate in that my school uses another software package that performs much of the grading advantages spreadsheet software offers, since actually using spreadsheet software is such a struggle for me. However, since many school districts may not have access to these packages, it is very advantageous to have a more basic program that many people have on their home computers that is capable of so much.

Chapter 4 -- What is a virtual environment? What potential does it hold for education?

A virtual environment is an environment composed of virtual reality. A combination of hardware and software works together to create a digital environment with which you can interact. It is sometimes very sophisticated, using very specific hardware; other times it is much simpler. The more complex virtual reality set up uses a headpiece and glove and allows the user to interact by simple movements; the headpiece allows the user to see what his or her hand inside the glove is doing. You are able to take virtual field trips to real or imaginary places. Sometimes this technology can be used for students to explore the Amazon or Antarctica; other times it allows students to explore things at the nuclear level. Using the virtual reality glove, things can be picked up and explored from any angle. Simple virtual environments are available all over the internet; the more complex environments are usually only available in places such as research labs.

I can see where virtual technology would be particularly useful in science and social studies classes in particular; a science student would be able to explore the ins and outs of the body’s circulatory system or participate in performing open heart surgery. The social studies student could see the Civil War up close and personal. While game systems like the Nintendo Wii offer a very limited version of virtual reality (and many people may think more of game systems than educational purposes when thinking of virtual reality), a full system with total interactivity could offer many educational benefits. Students could become fully immersed in whatever they are learning about through these types of experiences.

I can only imagine if my school had access to something of this nature. As a teacher at a relatively small, very rural school, there are many topics that my students just don’t “get” and this would allow a higher level of understanding for those topics.

oops

Groupmates:

I accidentally left my textbook at work for the weekend and I'm not quite figuring out the e-book feature, so my post for this week will be a bit late . . . I'll have it done before this time tomorrow though. Sorry!!