Lesson 8

This week we discussed computer viruses, computer security, and netiquette.  One item our class reading discussed was communicating through text and how it is very important to be clear because the intended audience can’t rely on your body language or tone of voice to understand your communication.  I communicate through email on a daily basis with colleagues in Central America.  It is very important for me to state my objectives clearly and avoid idioms that do not translate in text form.  This same issue is relevant in the classroom as well.  I also found the “How Viruses Work” article helpful.  After reading it I better understand viruses, how they work, and how to protect my computer.  I also found our lesson reading material very relevant to NETS-T 4A, by advocating, modeling, and teaching safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology.  Our reading explained how it was important for teachers to model appropriate technology use, because students will see the teachers’ use as acceptable, and follow their example.  This fact reminds me to always be aware of how the students perceive my actions.

I am not currently teaching so I decided to evaluate the last computer lab I was exposed to at college.  I always thought our labs were very secure and had several lines of defense in place to fight potential threats.  All the computers in the lab had firewall and auto-update antivirus software.  The labs also had filters in place to block access to certain harmful sights.  These were the best ways to setup the computers to self monitor threats.  Another feature to safeguard the network against viruses was a login lock required to gain entry to the system so any activity would be logged under your name.  The lab was also setup in a way so that the instructor could either take control of your computer or monitor your activity.  This along with a clear AUP should help minimize inappropriate use that could lead to the infection of a computer.

I do have a few concerns with the security system in this lab.   First, students are allowed to connect their personal devices wirelessly and I do not know what restrictions are placed on the student in that situation.  This would be a topic that should be covered in the school’s AUP so the students are aware of the guidelines.  Also, as our reading pointed out, new viruses are created daily and no matter how frequently you update your antivirus software you can’t completely protect your system.  Although this evaluation is of a college computer lab it would be similar to most K-12 labs.  I thought this lesson was very helpful because my knowledge on computer viruses was limited, but I do need to familiarize myself with computer security as a future teacher.

Lesson 7

This week we learned about different educational software that could be used in the classroom.  I was excited to see the different types of software that was available to teachers.  There is most likely a software program available to meet your needs in the classroom if you have the resources to implement the program.  One article we read this week was “Video Games: Can They be Educational?”  I thought the increased test scores (University of Central Florida study) for the students who did use educational video games over the control group of students who did not were interesting. An increase of 8.07 point is impressive, but I also liked that the article stressed that not all video games are educational.  I have always thought that educational games are a great way to enhance the learning experience if utilized properly.

Clue Finders 3rd Grade Adventure by The Learning Company is the educational software I would like to use in my classroom.  This software combines the excitement of the gaming experience while using the drill and practice technique for core subject learning.  In this software, students get clues by completing tasks that deal with math, science, language arts, logic, and geography.  Once they get their clues, they must solve them to advance to the next level to eventually complete the adventure.  I think this software would be exciting for the students and it also offers several teacher tools as well.  Teachers can print out additional activities for students to complete.  The software also uses ADAPT technology which chooses questions based on the students learning level, determined from previous answers.  This technology will allow all students to do the same assignment, but the instruction will be geared towards their level of understanding.  The software also allows teachers to monitor the students’ progress and receive grades on the embedded assignments.  This software would meet the criteria for the 21^st Century Core Subject standard, because it uses the drill and practice technique to help students memorize content from several subject areas.

I am not currently teaching, so I could not implement this software in my classroom, but I was able to identify potential issues that could arise.  First, I would have to ensure that students had access to computers, and that those computers met the software requirements.  This would have to be planned ahead to install the software on the correct computers and to have a schedule of when each student would use the computers.  The students could also have trouble navigating through the program, so I thought a good idea would be to have older students, who have previously used the software, act as mentors for the first couple of sessions.  I am sure that this could be worked out with another teacher, because it would be beneficial to both the younger students and the mentor students.

I am very excited to use educational software in my classroom, but I am aware that I must use caution when choosing my software.