Dewey

1. Education helps in the continuation of social life. Each individual carries with it their own experiences in life and passes it on to others. If members do not pass on their experiences and beliefs it can mean the end of a social group. It seems as though there many times differences in the beliefs of the young and the beliefs of the old.
   Just as if DNA is the physical nature of a surviving group of people so is
   communication representative of a surviving social group.


2. We cannot make formal education so important that we forget about the survival of
   communication and society. When we educate we should make sure that the
   learner and the teacher take something from the experience so life is worth living.
   Only when education and learning become mundane and unimportant do they
   loose their effect. So, all of us need to change as society changes. Technology is
   the genre of today’s change.


3. Persons are not a society because of how close they live by each other. Some
   relationships occur only so one person gets what they want from the association.
   There generally is a hierarchy in a society. Because two people interact with each
   other does not mean communication occurs.

Blooms Taxonomy

The level of Bloom’s taxonomy that I experienced the most in my primary and secondary education was remembering and understanding. I grew up in the time of writing your spelling words and memorizing multiplication tables many times and had to do the same even at home. In high school I can remember taking notes for hours then tested on the standard written exam. We did not have fancy biology labs or well equipped audio visual departments. So experiments, dissecting or fun environmental outings were pretty much unheard of. I guess it was when I entered nursing school was when I was exposed to applied learning for the first time. Within two months we had to work in the hospital applying the information we had learned. Sometimes I think it bordered on slave labor. But, none the less we became very skilled in caring for patients effectively.As time passed on in nursing school the way we were educated began to change. It was not just dealing with everyday, mundane tasks during patient care but being able to analyze if a person was ill or in distress and when and who we should call. For example, if their vital signs and lab work were unstable. I do not believe there was some miraculous change in the face of education but that is how vocational nursing worked at the time.It has not been until recently, during graduate work, that I have been exposed to evaluating and reflecting on lessons that I have done. I am also trying to become more creative to keep students engaged. I have only been in this profession for a short time and hope I get to spend more time working in these areas.

Why should we, as educators, integrate technology into the curriculum?

One of the main reasons that technology should be integrated into the classroom is that students are becoming more and more comfortable using technology. Students frequently use cell phones, ipods, the Internet and various other devices on a daily basis. I think it is useful to tap into something they feel comfortable with as well as make education fun.
I believe the increase use of technology in the classroom allows students to take ownership of their own education and view teachers more as a facilitators.
There are many types of learners such as visual, auditory and tactile. Computers just add another dimension to catching the interest of the student and therefore increasing knowledge. I tend to forget that computers are not the only source for technology in the classroom. There are others such as interactive whiteboards and powerpoint presentations.
Just by introducing the internet into your classroom you are opening up the world to the student. They have access to almost everything. The key is to guide that information in the right direction.
Working in a vocational school I see the need for almost every trade using technology as an adjunct to traditional teaching methods from healthcare to automotive to computer animated drafting for some of our autistic students. Some of our special needs students really get “hooked in “ by the computer and at times it is the most effective way for them to learn. Generally, the more a student experiences active learning the more they will remember. I think preparing the students for the advancement of technology in the future prepares them for more “real world” situations.
Lastly, I do believe that the educator must feel comfortable with using technology to be more effective for the students. Just like the man in the Edutopia video I to have technophobia. I am hoping this class will help me get over that fear and integrate more technology in my life and in my classroom.


-Karen Phillips