Evaluating Learning Technology

Baking has become one of my favorite holiday traditions. I love making cakes, pies, and cookies. My family looks forward to these special treats every year. Many of my treats have been at a request. However to explain step-by-step on a video and post to YouTube would not guarantee that your treats would come out perfectly. Practice makes perfect. When I first started baking I watched a video from YouTube on how to make a sweet potato pie. Even though I had my grandmother’s recipe I wanted to see someone in action. Nevertheless my pie did not taste like my grandmother’s pie or look like her pie. As I kept baking I became better at it.

Technology has definitely been a huge impact on my success at baking. From the timing on my stove to the videos I watch has influenced me to become better and better. No two people do things a like. Therefore learning how to do things many different ways simply by using Google to find information has been wonderful. The Internet has become one of the most popular ways for people to spend their time. The amount of time spent on the Internet also shows no sign of abating, with an average of about 18 hours a week, for any purpose -- and, on the extreme end, some 6.6 percent of respondents (mostly male) saying they spend more than a full-time job's worth of 40 hours online a week (2007). The more I on the Internet the more I learn. I feel as if I learn something new everyday. The great thing about the Internet is I can search until I find what I am looking for. This has made my baking skills even better. The Internet has become one of the greatest resources ever. I am not sure what I would do with out it.
Needless to say it is extremely important for instructional designers and educational technologists to become familiar with all sorts for technology in order to tech technology. You must embrace your world with it and stay current and fluent with the use of technology. Therefore your students will learn and be successful.

Reference:
Educause Center for Applied Research. (2007). Students’ ‘evolving’ use of technology. Retrieved from http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/09/17/it 

Technology in Your Daily Life

There are so many ways I use technology today it’s countless…because technology is the present and the future. However the good thing is I was once a digital immigrant and I will never forget where I came from as far as the past. Just to name a few… I can bake with or without the timer on my oven. I can pop popcorn on the stovetop or in the microwave. I can watch TV shows on a black and white tube television or on a color 60” flat screen. I can tell time on a clock with hands or a clock with digits. I can write a paper by hand, on a typewriter, or in word processing. I know how to use a dictionary or spell check on the computer. I can play the Atari and the Wii gaming system. I can even start a fire in the fireplace or flip the switch for heat.

My cell phone awakes me by the alarm first thing in the morning and my day is filled with numerous ways to use technology. Technology flows so freely and easily in my lifestyle. The last thing I do at night is lie in bed and read from my iPad before I go to sleep.

I am truly thankful for technology. It has allowed me to successful to further my education through an online learning environment. With life changes and my busy schedule it would have never been possible to complete this journey if it wasn’t for technology. Technology holds the key to my future. Millennial students work together to solve pre-specified problems (Dr. Christopher Dede). I truly feel that as I have strived and hard to work with others to get to where I am today with technology. As I move forward with technology I know that best is yet to come.

Reference
"Millennial Learning Styles" (Dr. Christopher Dede)

Technology Prioritization

Of all the technologies I use on a daily basis, I would not be able to live without my laptop and my cell phone. Technology can be understood in the simplest terms as techniques for making and doing things (Bussell, 2006). My laptop is used to perform my daily job duties. By being the administrator assistant of a school I have many tasks that I use my laptop for. Mostly it is use for data entry for the students of our school. There is also a security button place on the desk top of the computer. I am to click the button if we have any trouble in the school. This will contact the campus police immediately. This service is a must when you never know what may happen in your school.

I stay connect with my family and friends on a daily basis with my cell phone. First thing in the morning, I text my children. I can not live without my cell phone. Smart phones are wonderful. Not only can I communicate with family and friends, but I can also post things on my social networking sites to stay connected with family and friends far away. Facebook and Instagram are my two favorites. Facebook allows me to post status, pictures, and or messages and they can be seen immediately. This is great way for my mom and me to stay in contact as she lives on the other side of the world. It makes our communication so much easier.  I just recently create an Instagram account.  This account was created on my phone and I use it from the convenience from my phone… A very neat way to take pictures and track them among a group of people that share the same hash tag. We as a school uses this app to take pictures of our students to consolidate for the school’s yearbook.

I never really knew the history of technology. Technology started so long ago and it was great to read and learn the history of technology and it's beginning of time. 

Reference

Bussell, J. (2006). Technology. In M. Bevir (Ed.), Encyclopedia of governance, 953–956. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

....YIKES this was the very first time that I have ever created a blog and post. I know that I am a little behind on technology. However, I looking to learn the latest and greatest. What's next?

Pat