Knowing Your School's Technology Culture

Project:   Understanding Thorne Bay’s Technology Culture

Project Description: You are an anthropologist whose mission is to understand the technology culture of your school. 

I am blessed to work in a district that offers free Macintosh laptops to every student and teacher.  Even though they are Macs, I am pleased to have a portable computer at work considering I teach in three different classrooms.  I currently teach a middle school technology class and the class just flies by because everyone is having so much fun.  We are currently working on the school sports poster.  We are doing the design in Pages while using Photoshop to create the advertisements.

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Listening to the Natives - article reflection

Listening to the Natives 

by Marc Prensky

Overview of Article. This article explains why the author feels the school systems are stuck in the 20th century. As teachers have entered the 21st century, they are still relying on past teaching techniques rather than adapting to new ideas. Students now speak technology, fluent in the digital language of computers, video games, portable communication devises, and most of all the internet; students are digital natives.

How can older teachers incorporate new digital techniques that would better serve the students? Teachers could involve the students in designing class material, teaching strategies, and learning what technology equipment the classroom may need.

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