Intel to launch low-cost Classmate PC in US, Europe

 I found the OLPC project very interesting, when I first heard about it in class. The website of the OLPC also provides a lot of information on the mission of the project, and the purpose of providing the laptop computers to children in third world countries. However when I was searching for articles on the OLPC I cam across another concept that Intel has proposed that sounds very similar to the OLPC. Therefore I decide to read the article that was published in The Money Times just very recently. The article was found through Google, which then lead me to the homepage of the newspaper.

The article describes a new proposal that Intel came up with, and that is to provide cheap classroom laptop computers to kids in school in the United States and Europe (Krishnappa, 2008). Originally the idea was to provide the cheap laptops to children in developing countries, but the first batch will be handed out in schools residing in “poor and poverty” neighbourhoods (Krishnappa, 2008). This idea is competing with the One Laptop Per Child non-profit project that aims to provide children in under developing countries the opportunity to learn about technology and given them a tool that they can use hundreds of different ways. It teaches children use technology with their imagination, and OLPC also builds on children’s experiences in development as a person that goes outside the classroom, and into the real world the children live in (Krishnappa, 2008). The name of the laptop in the Intel project is called Classmate PC, which will be distributed in the Unites States by the end of this year (Krishnappa, 2008). The design of the Classmate PC is catered to the student who is present in the classroom, and helps them with everyday classroom tasks and assignments (Krishnappa, 2008). The OLPC project and the Intel’s Classmate PC are said to be competing against each other, and have hard feelings towards each others product, however OLPC was the first of its kind to invent the idea of giving children in developing countries the opportunity to explore and learn from technology (Krishnappa, 2008).

Word Count: 354

Krishappa, S. (March 21, 2008). Intel to launch low-cost Classmate PC in United States. Retrieved March 23, 2008, from http://www.themoneytimes.com/articles/20080321/intel_to_launch_low_cost_classmate_pc_in_us_europe-id-1019279.html

Children’s Music Portal: Making most of circle time and music

This article talks about how including music for young children is very important especially in their day to day routines in childcare or at home. Children are able to express themselves through music, and music also helps them to develop their linguistic and listening skills (Salidor, 2005). The article enforces the idea of repeating the song being taught several times, and also allowing the children to continuously listen to the music over and over again. Repetition and consistency is also mentioned in this article, as important to help children teach them song (Salidor, 2005). Consistency in terms of keeping the actions the same for certain phrases and words in the song, shows children how movement is important in music as well (Salidor, 2005). . This is a way is how each child creates the music to adapt to themselves. They move along with the beat, and do the actions according to their own abilities.

            Another thing this article talked about is that teachers should not be shy to sing along with the children. Often teachers are embarrassed about their voices or think their voice is not good enough to hear (Salidor, 2005). The most important thing mentioned in the article is to have fun with children and music. The children are having fun with their music and the teacher should too (Salidor, 2005). Music should not be a time of stress for the teacher, it should be relaxing and moved around in ways beneficial for both the children and then teacher (Salidor, 2005). The articles talked about making music a big part of circle time with children as a group, it always helps the children stay focused and attentive to the surroundings (Salidor, 2005). Let the children be free in the music and make adaptations along the way, and the teacher should enjoy her/his singing voice.

Word Count: 306

Salidor, S. (March 1, 1005). Making the Most of Circle Time and Music. Retrievved March 22, 2008, from http://www.childrens-music.org/childrens-music/articles/salidor_circle.htm.

The chapter talked about many useful things that I can see myself applying to my career in the future.  One section which I found particularly interesting was the section on the rubrics. From reading this section I discovered what important concepts need to be included in a rubric in order for it to be both beneficial to the students and the teacher. I personally always found rubrics very helpful throughout my whole schooling. I find it helps me determine where the marks will come from in my assignment, and which section I need to work particularly hard on according to how many marks are allocated to certain sections. I also find it helps the teacher mark the assignment because she/he knows what to look for in the assignment. Rubrics also help me clarify anything questions I have on the assignment because often times the rubric lists things that should be included in the assignment. I think rubrics a should always be given to the students ahead of time so they can complete their assignment while continuously referring back to it making sure they include all the components listed in the rubric  in their assignment.

The authors talk about how meaningful learning should start taking place in school systems as part of the society to realize that change is necessary. I agree when the chapter states that teachers need to step out of their comfort zone and start adapting new ways of teaching. One quote which I really liked was “ If teachers determine what is important for students to know, how they should know it, and how they should learn it, then students cannot become intentional, constructive learners” (p. 242). I never looked at the teaching career in this context before. I can now see how teachers are often times in control of everything in their classroom, and students have very little say in how they would like their learning to take place. I can see how moving away from this teaching method could be very challenging, because this is how the teaching career has been defined for many years. Teaches are trained to teach their students in this way and the ministry curriculum and guidelines force teachers to be in control. I am not saying that there is no way out, but I think it is very difficult for teachers to move away from the traditional method of teaching students.  I guess that is why we are taking this course and learning about the different ways students can become constructive learners, and ways students can learn with technology and not from technology.

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I would have to say that this chapter was meaningful to read as it explains clearly how technology helps children learn. It strongly emphasizes the fact that technology should not take the place of a teacher in teaching the material that children need to learn. I agree with the authors when they say that if teachers think that technology will be more effective in delivering the content to the students instead of themselves then they are wrong. I agree that technology should be something children use to learn with and not something students use to learn from. The most common way I have seen technology be used in classrooms is by showing videos to children. I think that even though this form of technology is being used to deliver the content to the students, it is still meaningful to me. I find that incorporating videos about the topic being learned creates different leaning environments for students. It also changes the regular day-to-day routine of the teacher presenting the material. I always liked when my teachers would show us videos related to the stuff we were learning in class. I can see the perspective the authors are taking on this. Teachers often assume that by showing their class videos on the related subject they are involving technology in their class. More meaningful learning will occur if the students use technology as a tool to help them learn about the topic, such as to access information or to create projects related to the topic being studied.

            There was on particular quite that stood out to me, “In order to learn, students should use the technology to represent what they know rather then memorize what teachers and textbooks tell them” (p. 6). I have seen and been part of many classes, which require students to memorize the content being taught through tests, and worksheets. It is much more efficient when student use technology to create presentations and projects that represent what they know and have learned about the topic. Through personal experience of having younger siblings who are in elementary schools, I find it more useful for young children to complete a project of some sort rather then be expected to memorize terms and definitions for a test. Most of the time the students don’t know what kind of material will be on the test or the type of format it will take. This causes a lot of stress and anxiety for them as they try to make sense if the material that was presented to them.

            I also found the section on problem-solving with technology, something I can relate to as well. I constantly find myself problem-solving whenever I use a piece of technology. The fact that I don’t like it very much could be a reason as to why it takes me a very long time to figure things out. As described in the chapter problem-solving for me means finding the right information to use how to use it, how to find the information, where I can use it, how I should format it and so on I think no matter which type of technology you are using or how familiar you are with it you are always problem-soling in some way or another.

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The article titled Children as Photographers was an interesting article to read as it informed me on who children take photographs and why it is so important for children to feel they are able to do things similar to adults. I found it interesting that older children often took pictures of silly things and usually of people putting their hands in front of their faces. I can relate to this experience because this is something I did this when I was in my teen years. A group of my friends (including me) used to buy disposable cameras and take silly pictures of each other. Sometimes we would pose, but usually they were pictures that would have had no meaning to adults, but they did mean something to us. This is similar to what the article talks about, in that children often took pictures that had different meaning to adults. The article states that the purpose of the photograph varies greatly from child to adult.

It was interesting how this article mentioned that young children often took pictures with the presence of adults. When I first read about this concept I was a little afraid as to the kinds of things a child could do with a camera, which might be dangerous in some ways. However after reading the article it stated that young children were often with adults when they were exploring the use of the camera, which is important. I think that parents should definitely observe and then look at the pictures that their children take when they are given a camera.

Another point that the article made which is relevant to society today is that it is important for children to learn about as much technology as they can because sooner or later they will be living in environments where technology can not be avoided. I agree with this completely and feel that children should be exposed to many different forms of technology. Giving a child a camera and letting them explore is a great way. The children feel a sense of control, and they are able to express their interests through photography. This is something the article mentioned as well. I personally like taking pictures, but I remember my parents did not let me operate a camera on my own until I was over 11 years of age. Therefore I find it interesting that children as young as 7 years of age according to the article were learning the wonders of a camera. There are so many things a person can create with pictures, and children have the ability to start on these creations early on in live. I personally keep many albums of pictures that I have taken through out my life, in many different settings. They are special to me and have many different memories attached to them, as I am sure every picture that anyone takes does.

Word count: 483

                Chapter eight discussed designs that children can make using computer software programs. To me all this is was very fascinating because I do not have any interest in these kinds of computer programs nor did I know about them until I read this chapter. This is a perfect example of how something that is often considered of great importance in an Early Childhood Education setting can be so easily transformed onto a computer. The significance of hands-on building using a constructivist approach can also be seen in technology. In these programs children are learning to build objects, people, places and much more, while at the same time they are able to add features to these things such as sounds, movement and colour.  

            In one of my placements I did see children engaging in something that had the similar idea, but was not as detailed and did not offer as much features as the programs talked about in this chapter. I’m sure all of us have done this as well, and that’s was creating a PowerPoint Presentation. The children were just exploring PowerPoint, and created slides that contained pictures, colours, sounds, various movements, and various types of texts in different font style and sizes. In the end when they were showing they were showing their slide show presentation I could not believe that the eight year old children created those. It was very well done, and that made me think about what this chapter was taking about. It is not the same kind of idea, but in the slide shows the children were also engaging in media.  

            Chapter nine was also very informative to read as it guided step by step on how to create a video. I understand that this text book is designed to help teachers create opportunities in the classroom for children to explore technology, but to be honest I still at this age do not know how to make a video. But I do think that at the rate the next generation is growing, I am sure they will be able to figure it out very quickly.  Reading the different kinds of camcorders and all the different parts, and features they have, made me more confused. As I mentioned before in my posts I am not too found of technology that I don’t HAVE to use on a daily basis. However I do thing that this could be a very meaningful and provide great learning opportunities for children. For example making a video could be an excellent language project where they have to tell a story through a video, or it could also tie into science as they have to make a video on the life of a plant as it grows from seed to water. It is true that children are growing up with technology that surrounds them, and it is very easy to incorporate it into the school environment more often. I think teachers are afraid of including technology because it might take away from curriculum learning the children could be doing at their desk with writing utensils. I really like the idea of creating a video to share with the class or just the teacher, it is definitely something I will consider doing when I have my own class.

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I learned many new things in this chapter and it was very interesting to read. I personally did not have a lot of experience with technology when I was in elementary school. Therefore reading on the many things that children can explore on the computer that relate to their curriculum subjects was something I can myself using in the future. I was especially interested on how children can create their own cities with a program called SimCity, which is new to me because I have never heard of this software program before. It sounds very fun and interactive for the children to explore and they learn many new reality issues and problems that people in society face everyday like traffic, natural disasters, and economic failures.

The “Interactive Physics” section gave me some insight as to how a micro world can help students understand Physics. My sister is currently taking a Physics course in high school, and is struggling to understand the concepts. I would definitely recommend this site to her, as I was never good in math and I would love to have been able to have some helpful sites that will help me understand concepts that I am learning in math. The chapter goes on to provide us with information on how other math sites can help children with various math concepts. This makes me feel a little more comfortable teaching math to elementary students as I am no good at the subject. I like the fact that the children can experiment with technology and learn math at the same time.

One things I can completely agree with the author with is when it states that “The worst thing that you could do is to provide a procedural list of actions that students should complete in order to get the right answer” (Jonaseen, Howland, Marra & Crismond, 2008).  I find that especially when exploring with technology the best thing the teacher can do is step back and let the children make mistakes which they can learn from. I strongly believe that children learn best form their mistakes. The only thing that I found a little overwhelming was the fact that not all elementary children will be able to comprehend what these software program are about. I know for myself it would take me a long time to navigate myself through these programs, and I can see some children being frustrated very easily and giving up. So I would like to know of any suggestions or techniques that a teacher can use when children lose interest in exploring programs like the ones mentioned in chapter 3, to keep the enganed in the learning.

Word Count:  436

This chapter talked about communicating with peers and classmates through online discussion boards. To be honest I just started engaging in online discussions with my classmates this year, even though I have been studying in College and University for 4 years now. I have not enjoyed the online discussions as much as I thought I would have, maybe because they are still new to me. I agree to the benefits that the author talks about in chapter 7 about having online discussion with classmates, as opposed to having face-to-face discussions. I’d rather prefer face-to-face discussion because I feel they are more meaningful to me as I can verbally communicate my thoughts and views. I also find that with face to face interactions it’s easier to ask questions about things you are unclear about. When discussing in a group, topics often times go off on tangents and you start talking about things more openly and learn a lot about each other through these conversations. I think this learning process is also important and meaningful. But I also see how online discussions can be non-judgmental and can usually eliminate biases towards individuals such as skin colour, gender, and age. I think because I am just being introduced to the methods of online discussions, that I feel little uncomfortable and confused, but I am sure as time goes by I will get used to it.

One thing which I learned this semester in most of my classes and by reading this chapter was the role of the moderator. The moderator which in most cases could be the classroom teacher needs to facilitate discussions between the group members or the class.  From personal experience this semester with my online discussions I find that a moderator does help, because many times I am stuck on what to write in an online discussion. I usually have so many thought flowing in my head and without targeting a certain area it is hard for me to give my input on different topics. However I do see where this sometimes could be a problem, because often times when a teacher asks a question in class usually some children do not know how to answer the question. Therefore I wonder if sometimes asking a specific question, narrowing on a certain area could make some students feel uncomfortable and speechless. I mean sometimes we really do not have an answer to some questions and students could be “put on the spot” to give an answer so the teacher can see they are participating in online discussions. I think this moderator position could sometimes be difficult to take on because it is hard to find a balance that meets all the participants learning styles.

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Technology has never been something I am drawn to, but I see myself using it everyday as we are in the 21^st Century. As I look back through out my school years I personally do not have a lot of experience with technology. I only remember taking the required computer technology courses in high school and was not interested in taking any elective courses focused on technology. I feel technology has always been available to me as it grows and grows everyday, but I personally do not have any interest in learning about the developing technology in our world. I personally believe I have lower knowledge about technology compared to other people my age. I have had experiences with technology at home, at work and at my placements with desktop computers, laptop computers, video cameras, digital cameras, television and telephones. Throughout my placement experiences I have not seen technology being incorporated very much in the various programs at formal schools, and child care settings. Although I feel the exposure to technology is greater year by year, but is not being used as part of lessons, activities, or games.

I think technology has definitely made the lives of humans easier in terms of their everyday work, but on the other hand I feel it has made tasks more complicated. The reason being is that there have been many times where technology does not cooperate with humans, but this is true for every kind of service and program that humans use in our society. For example many times our desk tops or laptops consume viruses which result in failing to function. I have knowledge about the basics of technology, but often feel nervous when I am asked to complete tasks using technology that I am not familiar with. I find I usually need more time then others when using unfamiliar technology.

I find I learn best about technology through exploration rather then observation or receiving oral instructions on how to use technology. I prefer when experts guide me step by step through different technologies, rather the then showing me how to go about operating the device. I also find the help of peers valuable when learning to complete tasks using technology.

Overall my experience with technology has been fairly good. I have always been able to discover the right way of completing a confusing and complicated technology task through trial and error. There hasn’t been a time yet where I have horribly failed at a task involving some kind of technology. Hopefully this course will teach me more about technology and make me feel more comfortable using it especially with children.