Digital Blog Post #C - Transforming Learning with Technology

This chapter emphasizes the usefulness, and the necessity of innovative and cutting edge technology within the classroom. It references many issues that stem from a strong focus on technology as an educator - namely, parents who don't understand the use of technology or the reason it is essential in helping students get the most out of their education. NETS for Students, the standards for educational technology; the creation of online problem solving environments; and technological literacy are the areas I chose to focus upon in this blog post. I used a Story Bird application in order to demonstrate the NETS concepts, and I have posted it below.
New Standards for the Information Age
I designed a kind of pamphlet that I might use at a parent teacher night in order to better explain the impact and necessity of technological methods in the classroom.

Another thing I felt was important in this chapter was the section on digital literacy, which mentioned multiple web resources one could pull up with the click of a mouse, as well as apps and e-books one might employ for their students. I particularly think learning to acquire and use e-books is an incredibly necessary skill for life. I am currently using e-books for my online courses and I see the potential for any person with access to technology to gain access to numerous books for a much lower cost than ever before. The applications for low income families and cost saving aspect this could bring to school budgets is pretty incredible, and it is important to nurture understanding and familiarity with this aspect of modern technology.
I'd add that one of the final apps mentioned - In a World... Drama in a World... Comedy - is a great tool that most high school students could gain plentiful use out of in any English book project.

Finally, I felt that Seymour Papert's ideas were intriguing and indicative of the direction education is moving toward. For years, the rise of online classes and schools has been hailed as an aspect of changing choices in terms of education, I believe Papert brings it a step further by suggesting that the entire classroom environment will be influenced by and built upon internet, computer, and other modern technologies as we move forward. I also really liked the idea of technology as an equalizer for all students. And the idea that it would aid in making learning feel more natural, as with small children.
This chapter was a very interesting one - it's making me reexamine my views on technology. Though I have always felt it to be conducive to a more adaptable learning environment, I'm beginning to view it as a component of the process which is as necessary as a book. In the same way that you need books to aid in the conveyance of and recording of knowledge, technology is necessary in contextualizing and reviewing it, as well as adding a new dimension of perspectives on whatever lesson may be at hand.