Digital Blog #C

The first concepts I will be discussing are cheating and plagiarism. Cheating is a topic that has been discussed with students since I can remember. Cheating has always been around; back then it was passing notes, writing the answers on your hand, signaling, and so many different methods. Today people use technology to cheat. Sending pictures of a test with the answers to someone who hasn't taken it yet, using the internet to look up ways to cheat without getting caught, texting each other the answers. I know that some ways to keep students from cheating are to make them put their belongings up in front of the class, to have all items except the test and a pencil on the floor, and to give out different versions of the test. Plagiarism is also another topic brought up to our understanding that it is not okay to take someone else's work and take credit for it. It has gotten easier to detect plagiarism, but it is hard to tell whether or not someone is cheating at home on an online course. Some teachers make you take exams on campus where the test takers can be monitored, but not everyone does so. My question is, how do professors who don't make students take their tests at a testing center know if their students are cheating or not at home? Do they even care?

The second concepts I will be discussing are cyberbullying and bullying. I'm pretty sure the majority of people my age have experienced some sort of cyberbullying or bullying in general. But the people in the generations behind mine are facing it way worse than those of my generation. Cyberbullying and bullying are both very serious and dangerous actions. They have very horrible and negative impacts on the victims and a vast majority of victims consider or go through with suicide. I think anyone who cyberbullies or bullies anyone to the extent where the victim feels the need to end their life should be given some serious consequences. No one should feel like they need to end their life to get away from how other people make them feel about themselves. I want to know why cyberbullying and bullying in general are still going on everywhere. These things shouldn't be a problem for anyone these days. We've all seen the movies and the videos. We've all had friends who have gone through it and we've even gone through it ourselves. This needs to end.

The last and final concept I will be discussing is digital games for learning. There are so many websites out there that have educational games for students to play to learn things such as math, science, reading, etc. We've all played these games at some point in our lives. I know that these games can be helpful to students especially the math ones. I believe all lessons being taught in schools should have a game so that students continue to learn while they are having fun. I just wonder why digital games are not actually enforced in the lesson plans of teachers. I think these games are great ideas.

Resources:

Bencosme, Kyanna. "Blog Post #C By: Kbencosme." Blog Post C. 21 Feb. 2016. Web. 21 Feb. 2016. <http://flipquiz.me/u/kbencosme/blog-post-c>.

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

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Digital Blog #B

I strongly believe school should be a place everyone enjoys. When students get older school suddenly becomes less fun. Teachers don’t try as hard to make sure you enjoy it. The first concept I wish to discuss is how student engagement in the U.S. is a very big problem. In the statistics found by the Indiana University on their HSSSE survey, two-thirds of high school students reported to feeling bored in class every day. I honestly don’t blame them. In middle school I could never imagine myself falling asleep in class. I don’t blame them; I was constantly bored in class every day in high school so I know the feeling very well. Also students drop out of classes because they lack in engagement and stimulation for the students to want to stay. I have to admit I did fall asleep once in a blue moon in my classes because of the boredom. It’s also said that the lessons that included the use of technology was satisfying for the students, and it’s true I also enjoyed using the computer or smart board in class because it got us up and doing something other than listen to the teacher lecture. I think teachers should still try hard to make their class a bit upbeat and fun for the students even if the students are not in elementary anymore. No one likes a boring class, am I right?

The second concept I will discuss is the barrier to technology which is the lack of access to it. In the textbook I read that even though schools have internet access the ratio of students to computers is 1:3 and even with that ratio schools still have less technology than what is normal. I know there are schools across the U.S. that cannot afford computers for all students but thankfully I went to schools that had enough computers around for everyone and now students are given Chromebooks that they can take home. I believe that all parents should try harder to help raise money as best as they can to help the schools around them for their own children’s education and for the education of all the other children. Children are the future, and they should all have the privilege to go to schools with technology and computers for everyone. I wonder how much it would cost for this and I wonder why the people in the government haven’t made this one of their priorities.

The third and final concepts I want to discuss are the teaching philosophies. I know that there are two different types of teaching philosophies and the one I agree most with and believe in the most is the student-centered teaching. This concept is very important for me because I wish to be a teacher and I want my classroom to be student centered because I believe a teacher should be someone who engages in conversations with the students and encourages them to learn by exploring and doing things hands-on. I think all students should have a say in how they want to learn something and that not all teachers know what is best for the learning of their students. I think teachers should get to know their students and know their interests that way the students are involved in the planning of what they are going to learn. I wonder why some people believe in strictly teacher-centered teaching. I mean, didn’t they go through a time in school when they didn’t like how something was being taught?

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Resources:
Kahoot! | Play this quiz now! (2016, February 07). Retrieved February 12, 2016, from https://play.kahoot.it/#/k/254c48ec-9ae1-4ab6-ade5-3cfb3063ca76 Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.