Education

SNS- Intro

I have a SNS set up already and have had it for a while now.  I have an account on Myspace.  It started out as an account my sister setup for me because she really badly wanted me on there.  I thought she was crazy and I would never use it.  I thought I have messengers and e-mails (yes I had multiples of each) and figured anyone who wanted to talk to me could do it through these programs.  So I at the time saw no need to have a Myspace.  But, over time I would play with it a little here or a little there.  After about a year of having it I started taking advantage of what it had to offer.  I now use it to stay in contact with people that I don’t talk to any other way.  I use it to keep people informed about what is going on in my life and to stay informed of what others have been doing.  My current favorite part of Myspace is the ability to share photos with you network.  I am a bit of a beginner photographer and I enjoy allowing others to see what I have found to photograph.

My social uses for Myspace

I teach a grade that is low enough the students wouldn’t be able to use Myspace.  So for me worrying about saying the wrong thing to a student isn’t there.  This is because my students are unable to read at their age.  But I have used my Myspace to stay in contact with co-workers and a few parents.  That of course is the work related uses I have for MySpace.  But those communications are rarely ever about anything school related.  My personal uses are for my friends and family, and myself to keep in touch share pictures, funny stuff, and to talk when it is not a good time to call.  It is a good place to send short messages that really aren’t important enough to write an e-mail.

My social uses for Myspace

I teach a grade that is low enough the students wouldn’t be able to use Myspace.  So for me worrying about saying the wrong thing to a student isn’t there.  This is because my students are unable to read at their age.  But I have used my Myspace to stay in contact with co-workers and a few parents.  That of course is the work related uses I have for MySpace.  But those communications are rarely ever about anything school related.  My personal uses are for my friends and family, and myself to keep in touch share pictures, funny stuff, and to talk when it is not a good time to call.  It is a good place to send short messages that really aren’t important enough to write an e-mail.

Others uses for SNS that I have observed through my Myspace

There is a large wealth of uses for a SNS.  These involve but in no way limited to communication, game playing, photo sharing, and networking.  Watching how the people on my friends list and how people physically around me use myspace.  Some people use the blog area to let others know what is going on in their lives or just for a way to vent and let off some steam.  Others use it just to read what others are writing.  You can keep tabs on people with out them knowing you are.  It is also used for people to show their interests and to find others with similar interest. 

The increase of network Friends give you on Myspace

The few people on my contacts list for myspace greatly increase the size of my network.  This is because these people have many friends on their friends list that can through them come to my page and find me.  While my friends list is relatively small many of my friends have larger friends list.  Some of which are my sister and brother are both away to school right now.  Their list contains the friends, classmates, and co-workers that they know from school.  My cousin has lived in other states and her myspace is still connected to the people she knew from those places.  So thinking about my friends and their friends I begin to realize that the size of your network on myspace continues to change as the networks of your contacts change and can truly never be measured.

There is a large wealth of uses for a SNS.  These involve but in no way limited to communication, game playing, photo sharing, and networking.  Watching how the people on my friends list and how people physically around me use myspace.  Some people use the blog area to let others know what is going on in their lives or just for a way to vent and let off some steam.  Others use it just to read what others are writing.  You can keep tabs on people with out them knowing you are.  It is also used for people to show their interests and to find others with similar interest. 

The few people on my contacts list for myspace greatly increase the size of my network.  This is because these people have many friends on their friends list that can through them come to my page and find me.  While my friends list is relatively small many of my friends have larger friends list.  Some of which are my sister and brother are both away to school right now.  Their list contains the friends, classmates, and co-workers that they know from school.  My cousin has lived in other states and her myspace is still connected to the people she knew from those places.  So thinking about my friends and their friends I begin to realize that the size of your network on myspace continues to change as the networks of your contacts change and can truly never be measured.

I teach a grade that is low enough the the students wouldn’t be able to use Myspace.  So for me worring about saying the wrong thing to a student isn’t there.  Because my students can’t even read.  But i have used my Myspace to stay in contact with co-workers and a few parents.  That of course is the work related uses I have for Myscape.  But those communications are rarely ever about anything school related.  My personal uses are for my friends and family, and myself to keep in touch share pictures, funny stuff, and to talk when it is not a good time to call.  It is a good place to send short messages that really aren’t important enough to write an e-mail.

I have a SNS set up already and have had it for a while now.  I have an account on Myspace.  It started out as an account my sister setup for me because she really badly wanted me on there.  I thought she was crazy and I would never use it.  I thought I have messengers and e-mails (yes I had multiples of each) and figured anyone who wanted to talk to me could do it through these programs.  So I at the time saw no need to have a Myspace.  But, over time I would play with it a little here or a little there.  After about a year of having it I started taking advantage of what it had to offer.  I now use it to stay in contact with people that I don’t talk to any other way.  I use it to keep people informed about what is going on in my life and to stay informed of what others have been doing.  My current favorite part of Myspace is the ability to share photos with you network.  I am a bit of a beginner photographer and I enjoy allowing others to see what I have found to photograph.

Pros

Homeschooling can benefit the students who are unable to attend school.  As long as the students are being taught by someone who understands and knows how to teach.  But I am a strong believer that homeschooling should be a completely last resort and used only for those students who are unable to attend school.

Cons

I strongly believe that taking kids out of school for homeschooling because you don’t like the teacher they have or because your child has a problem with another kid.  These are bad reasons for pulling kids out of school.  These do not allow the students to learn how to work through social issues or problems.

www.coe.eku.edu/courses/EDF-103/presentations/Purposes_Powerpoint.ppt

Purpose/Aims of education

This is a power point that summarizes multiple purposes of education.  These are:

1. Education for Intellectual Attainment: this is the belief that schools are focused on the activities that develop one’s mind or intellectual ability.  Here people believe that the brain is like a muscle and needs constant practice and exercise.
2. Education for Citizenship:  This is where educations focus is to create students/ citizens that are meant to serve the larger society.  These students will be able to function in the American democracy and help to maintain the American economic and political system.
3. Education for Vocational Preparation:  This is where schools should produce students who are prepared to go into the work world and become produce employees.
4. Education for Individual Development:  This is where education is focused on the development of each students’ individual potential.  It is believed here that each student is unique and has individual needs to become successful in life.

According to the committee for children at www.cfchildren.org it is believed that the true purpose of education has been lost.  With in the first paragraph the writer tells how they feel that the no child left behind and high-stakes testing has cause us to loss focus on educating the students and have become more focused on the idea of schools.  This is something that I have noticed a lot lately.  In many schools/classroom students are being taught how to take the appropriate type of test and the content that they are being taught is what they could be tested over.  I think we need to take a step back and see if what we are currently doing is truly for the kids.

Technology is use in the preparation of lessons.  You are able to find supporting information.  You can write the lesson plans on the computer.  You can create your plans using digital organizing programs and calendars.  You can use computers and projects to present your lesson by displaying proportions of the lesson on the board.  But I strongly believe you should limit the quantity of which you do this.  I shot for quality with this use of technology, which means don’t over do the power points.  You can use the computer to project educational computer games and have review games in the class.  Technology can be used to keep records.

There are multiple ways that technology is being used to teach.  One way that it is being is as presentation tool information and knowledge is displayed on it.  Projects and lesson information can be projected from technology.  You can use computers to test your skills, reinforce them, and to help reach more students.  You can us computers to research, organize, plan, and prepare major projects.