hypertext/hyperlinks/hypermedia

It's hard to remember the days before hyperlinking. The days of having a massive stack of books and bookmarking each page/chapter that was important to come back to. I wonder what it would be like to be a highschool student again finding all my research right there through different clicks of the mouse. I think they are definitely missing out on that old book smell but not having to haul the weight of those books around is a definite plus. Although it is somewhat sad to me that students no longer really have to go to the library anymore. Maybe I'm just being nastalgic but I still love going to the library and finding that certain treasure of a book. I understand that constructivist probably would like this idea of hyperlinking....creating ones own learning that linked together in a form that they have created. But what about books, isn't that creating our own learning as well. Isn't the information in that book somehow linked with our experience of getting the book better than the link of clicking a button from site to site to find information. I believe that if you gave me ten different sites all linked together with the information I needed then 10 different books with the information in them that I needed, I would be more likely to remember which book held which information than which website held which information. And, I think I would be more likely to remember that information from the book due to linking it with the experience of collecting the information from each book then to remember the information that I obtained simple going from site to site.

Constructivism

When I read literature on constructivism I always agree with almost everything about it. I realize the potential in teaching that way. I realize that students could get much more out of the lesson. Yet, I still teach in many ways like a Behaviorist. It's hard when you have grown up being taught this way and everyone around you teaches this way to do your lessons in a completely different fashion. I also wonder even with the research out there if it really does help students to learn more. When I do try in bring in constructivist view into the classroom for a full lesson I find myself thinking that I'm wasting time. It also feels like a lot of times that only some of the students are doing the actual exploring to come to the answer while the rest are drifting off into their own worlds of surfing and what they're boyfriends are doing.

TeacherTube

Heard of teachertube? For teacher who aren't able to access youtube at school this is a great resource to find really cool videos to help with lessons. You can also upload your students videos onto it. I just started watching some things and it is certainly worth checking out.

Current Issues

I think this is a great course to take because I feel that Instructional Technology certainly has many issue that need to be explored. Already I think the asynchronized conversation have come up with a lot of the issues that a new degree like this one faces. For me the problem I find as a teacher is basically two things...one the lack of resources in the school and two the gap between the kids who have access and those who don't. One thing that we've also been exploring recently is what exactly does one do with a degree in ITEC. In all truth I got this degree because as a teacher I didn't want to go into administration and the convience of it being online was definitely a bonus. Of course I truly believe educators need to know the best ways of educating their students and technology is one of the best tool to do so as well. Geez, and the possiblity of where education is going with technology...aaAmazing!! However, keeping up with it all is exhausting. It's crazy that after I learn SO much information and great tools to use in the classroom that in 2 years much of it all will become irrlevant.