Reflection #2: CDK's Education Technology Place

Website Reflection

            One of the first things I noticed about CDK's Education Technology Place was that it was engaging without being overwhelming. There weren’t any moving parts yet the type and organization caught my attention. It was also really nice to see how many resources you had readily available.

            Something I learned that I didn’t know before I visited your website was the bit about American’s being the least likely to be bilingual. I think that it is amazing that so many teachers at K-State are making it a point to learn a different language and really make global communication a priority. I think the quote you have by Nelson Mandela is absolutely fitting.

            Overall, I really enjoyed exploring your website. It made me look forward to creating my own and seeing all the great things I will be able to learn from you in this class!

       

Reflection #1: Technology Bits, Bytes, & Nibbles

 Technology Bits, Bytes, & Nibbles

            The article that I chose to write about from the blog was the article about eBooks and how they will either help or hurt the education circuit. This is a very interesting thought for me because I just received a Nook Color for Christmas and I absolutely love it. However, it made me think about when I was younger if not having physical picture or chapter books in the home would have hurt my development as a reader.

            My parents were both college educated and my mother was a high school English teacher so my passion for reading was developed at an early age. Whether it was reading for school or one of my parents sitting down with me before bed to read me a story, books always had a huge presence in my house. The article says that “having a 500-book library at home has as great an effect as having university-educated parents” which is an amazing statistic, yet I don’t understand how having all of these books in an eReader would hurt a child’s development. I understand the socioeconomic implications associated with having technology like that but if schools invested in eReaders instead of textbooks, they might even save money because the books themselves are cheaper in the eReader form.

            Overall, I understand that there is something nice about having the physical presence of a book in your hands. However, I think that integrating eReaders into education would offer more resources that the students could benefit from.