After reading chapter one titled "Becoming a 21st Century Teacher" a concept from the reading which really stood out to me was 'Today's students and technology'. I had never taken into consideration how young children are this day in age when new technologies are introduced to them. It states in the textbook that "by the time these youngsters entered second grade, about 70% played video games and used the internet on a daily basis" as referenced by Maloy, et al (2013, pp 3) "youngsters from this generation have never known a world without cell phones, text messaging, and other interactive technologies". My 4 year old son has an iPad mini of his own in which he uses for educational games, and for movie purposes, however I never really thought about how he could use this tool in the classroom. This all being said I believe it is imperial that teachers for this generation be up to speed with these technologies in order to educate their students on ways to use these means for educational purposes.
Another concept from the reading which I found to be important was "Technology and the Work Of A Teacher". There are ways teachers use technology today that I never took into consideration of what it would be like if these technologies weren't around. It's actually interesting that teachers are now able to use technology inside the classroom for learning experiences, and also to interact with students outside of the classroom. For example like Maloy, et al (2013, pp 7.) states in the text book technology is used inside the classroom for internet research, power point presentations, student participation. It's also used outside of the classroom for grade and attendance record keeping, professional correspondence, research, and educational networking. I remember being in school when all assignments were handed in manually to the teacher and hand graded, and then were returned within good time, could have been a few days to retrieve a final grade. I've found an interesting article showing the difference between school now and school back then. Technology has actually made the process of teaching a bit simpler. Could you imagine living in a time where there were no computers? I couldn't. I have, but now I couldn't even imagine life without it.
Lastly, I find it very easy to agree with the textbook in the section entitled "computer technologies". As Maloy, et al, (2013, pp. 5) states "as the use of computers and other informational technologies become more common they tend to "disappear" from our view. People tend to take them for granted, hardly noticing their speed, features, or the changes they bring to the way we conduct our daily lives." As I enter the teaching profession I absolutely intend on teaching my students through technology and hope to also transform learning.
In conclusion the future of technology in the classroom is inevitable and it is very important for future educators to be well trained and up to speed with the latest technologies in order to teach in this day of age. I have also included a brief video I found on youtube that shows where technology could lead to in future classrooms, which is pretty unbelievable and advanced.
References
Maloy, R., O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc
ReplyDeleteAn investment strategy that always works
We're all looking for an investment strategy that works consistently. Perhaps a valuation technique, a technical strategy, or a way to predict which funds will outperform.
While investors go to great lengths to create such cleverly named strategies as "Japanese cloud" formations and "economic surprise" indicators, no methodology seems to work all the time.
However, there is one strategy that absolutely never fails to boost after-tax returns, and yet it is so often overlooked: long-term investing, so you can get long-term capital gains tax treatment.
Many investors boast that they are long-term investors, but how many of us truly are? Any number of things tends to push us out of our long-term positions, whether it's a market nosedive or a threatening global event. Let's face it: The stock market is a psychological conundrum, and we're all vulnerable to its clever head-fakes. This is especially true during retirement, when we're carefully preserving capital and we always have one eye on the exits.
But we shouldn't; we should be disciplined. We should be able to pick up bargains after downside panics, hold on while the market climbs its "wall of worry," and rebalance back to our asset allocation when everyone is bragging about their gains. But we don't. And we miss out on perhaps the best perk the U.S. Government offers investors: long-term capital gains tax treatment.
The current fiscal cliff negotiations may reduce this advantage somewhat. While it's impossible to know how the tax structure will change, it's likely that long-term capital gains will continue to provide some advantage, though perhaps less than in 2012. On the other hand, any edge in generating after-tax returns should be considered, especially during our retirement years, when our allocation to equities is generally lower and we should maximize whatever returns we can garner.
generation
server
forex
money
game