Journal 3- Nailing Digital Jelly to a Virtual Tree

In the article, " Nailing Digital Jelly to a Virtual Tree," written by Ferdi Serim and Kathy Schrock, technology is changing the way children are learning. The article points out that living in today's society, technology is learned and integrated as the "digital jelly" in time frames. Now, starting at a very young age, we use technology for children to explore. The virtual tree is made up of the organizational part, and still needs help. With such high technology requirements, infrastructure has a lot to do with what is available.
The type of social networking on the web nowadays can lead to "unintentional learning." If students are exposed, by technology, to a same age student in a different part of the world, they will communicate and become interested. The object of the "virtual jelly" is to connect.

1.) What would be an example of "unintentional learning"?

The one great advantage of the world wide web and using it in the classroom is the non-essential item of the encyclopedia. Now, students can browse so much useful material that they are bound to learn. "Unintentional Learning" will happen frequently if students are exploring something they are interested in. With so many interactive websites, attention can be held for hours out of interest. Seeing a picture of an animal or piece of art can lead to further exploration and then information is acknowledged.

2.) What are a pro and con of convergence?

Convergence is the integration of the communication and computing resources and services that seamlessly transverse multiple infrastructures and deliver content to multiple platforms or appliances.
It is not so seeming less. A pro can be the distance to where education and communication is reached. Without it's existence, places that highly lack any technology advancement have a resource to the outside world. A con is there can be technical errors and with a bad connection sometimes things don't work. There are many opportunities through convergence including video casting and video-on-demand. Many sources of education find this helpful.

Journal 2- Threat of Security

In response to "Threat of Security",our world is causing us to move forward in an unthinkable direction, but also causing fear that is a reality. Every job I have had in my short career life, has been very advanced with their computer equipment. Much of my computer skills were not learned in school, but at my office of employment. Each company was always getting a better computer program, or upgrading their systems. It felt great to always have the best and newest technology. The problem is that at my home, I don't spend my money on constant upgrades. I am hoping to transition to the Microsoft 07! The difference, unfortunately, is that schools have to fight for money to spend on the latest technology. It is a privilege to be in a district where you have access to all the necessary protection, programs and training.

The Internet has become such a valuable tool for learning, but also carries many dangers. It is hard to believe that society has the very best information at their fingertips, but at the very same time and place, there are such outrageous and inappropriate items. In high school we would always try to type in bad websites to see if the system had blocked everything. You could always find something "bad", or otherwise not allowed. It makes sense that teachers would rather not have the inconvenience of worrying which student is hacking or bringing on a copyright lawsuit.

1.) How will you monitor security in your classroom?
Thinking about how teachers must monitor their students computer usage and enforce policies is a little intimidating. I am interested in teaching at an Elementary school, so some of those problems won't be as serious as at the high school level. Computer technology is just as important in my eyes at that level. With children watching so much television these days, having a source that is more stimulating than the teacher can be a bonus! I will have to ensure that all students are being respectful of caring for the classroom computers. I am not anticipating having to regulate website usage in my classroom, but if I did teach at a higher level, I would have many boundaries.

I have been in a couple situations in the office workplace where people have gotten fired for an email, or computer usage that was inappropriate. I remember when I got my first job and my sister was warning me that the IT manager could read every email so to be really careful what I said. I had never known that. From then on I never used my work email for personal use. This experience would make me be the teacher that can never be too careful.

2.)What will you look for in computer security?
I have confidence that the security will become easier with the latest technology. The latest products or programs and security measures made specially to fit the policies of the schools will be helpful. It is a risk to implement such a vass array of network, but there is far too much to lose without the presence of technology in the classrooms. At home, computer technology and security can continue to be a risk. Someone could steal your identity and the possibilities are endless in today's society. I am hopeful that things will become more secure in the future.

journal 1-intro letter

Hello, my name is Jessica Reuther. I was born and raised in beautiful San Diego. I grew up in Poway and attended my entire K-12 grades in the Poway Unified School District, where both of my parents were teachers. For Kindergarten I attended Sundance Elementary because my mother taught there. When we moved into a new house, I attended Painted Rock Elementary for first grade. Then, for second grade I attended Tierra Bonita Elementary, where my mother was teaching. For third, fourth and fifth I went back to Painted Rock. Middle School was Twin Peaks, where my father also happened to be teaching. I attended Poway High from 1995 until I graduated in 1999.

In general, I would not call myself computer savvy. I feel comfortable and depend on the computer daily. But, specific computer knowledge does not particularly interest me. Even seeing the new version of Word makes me uncomfortable, even though I know that it is improved and probably much easier. I have both a Mac and a PC in my household. The Mac is much more advanced, though I rarely use it. My PC is always on and I am constantly using it. I do everything from banking and bill paying to reading the news. I rely on it entirely.
I can remember first having a dial up connection that used our house phone line and experiencing chat rooms when I was in middle school. So, I have been with email for over twelve years. I feel privileged to say that I have had the internet and access to all of it’s valuable information for that long. Trying to explain to my grandparents that a set of Encyclopedia’s were no longer necessary was a fun conversation! Technology is moving at a fast pace and even being out of school for a couple years, things have changed tremendously.

The Mission Statement for CSUSM, COE struck me with the words, “collaboratively transform public education by preparing thoughtful educators.” This sentence stood out to me because the public education system is obviously in necessitate to stay with the high education expectations. This statement shows me that CSUSM is dedicated to helping students plan for an important career. The beliefs that are stated do reflect my own, which include educational equity, life-long learning and ongoing service. I would not say that the mission statement had an effect on my decision to attend, but reading it confirms that I have chosen the right thing to do for myself.



My blog link is:

jessreuther.blogspot.com