Week 14: Lessons to Learn from the OLPC

http://www.geek.com/lessons-to-learn-from-the-olpc/

 While searching through Google I found this interesting article about the lessoned learned about the project OLPC. This article talked about the positive note to the laptop by having ten subtitles as to why this green machine was a good invention. It comes to me as a funny article on the author’s personal opinion. 

1. Cheap is good. The author noted that since the laptop is cheap if it gets lost or broken it would not a huge deal to purchases another one without spending thousands of dollars.
2. People don’t need a lot of power. The green machine act as a secondary device for buyers that already own a laptop, to cost of this machine is much more attractive to buyers for getting additional hard-drive space to use.
3. Linux please. The author mentioned that Linux is the answer to the problem of not having that much processing power and a machine that is inexperience. This is a machine is that operating with a non-Windows operating system which is something different to a lot of people who used laptops all the time.
4. Flash storage is key. The positive component here is the low-cost but negative is the limited space for storage. It also said by using flash storage there is more resistant to shocks.
5. Make it effective. The biggest point made here is the battery life, it said it lasts longer to the normal laptops because of the generator that is in the laptop. By pulling on to the pulley it generates battery on it’s own without plugging into the wall.
6. Hand crank! The feature here that attracts a lot of people who be the battery, it is generated from a pulley and last up to hours. Once the battery is out, pull the pulley again and it’s ready to work again.
7. Don’t skimp on the feature. In this section it talked about the features that come with the laptop includes; built-in webcam and WiFi.
8. Make it rugged. They talked about it is a green machine that is good for the environment and is shock/drop resistance and can handle a lot more than normal expensive laptops.
9. Make it look cool. The description of the laptop is unique. It had a green exterior and with rabbit ears. This machine system looks fun and it is a great way to approach the children.
10. It’s a table, too. The author mentioned that this laptop can be converted into a tablet, great feature for e-book and taking notes.

I choose this article out of all the articles I found from the result because it was a great way to display this laptop to regular people who is not part of the project to help children. Throughout this article the author did not mention anything about the project and the children who might be benefiting this computer but instead the author talked about the different features of the laptop that might attract different people who uses portable technology all the time. Beside readings all the information from the approach from the project and how important it could be for a child in the developing countries, this article makes me want to get one just to see how it is like to have a green laptop with bunny ears. It is definitely a great way to attract buyers into getting this green machine. On a serious note, this laptop is just another accessory for some people to have and to try out. This article is allowing themselves to compare the difference between the expensive laptops in store and the green machine. They have completely forgotten that one of these laptops might be something important that can help a child get educated. They simply forgot the goal of one laptop per child project and how this laptop.

Word count: 638

Week 13: “One Laptop per Child reaches classroom in Uruguay”

 http://www.eetasia.com/ART_8800465352_1034362_NT_ab9327a0.HTM

 The whole project of one laptop per child was new to me until our class this semester. The first time Jason talked about the project it sounds like a perfect project to help those children in the developing countries. The first thing that came to my head after hearing how great it would be to allow children in developing countries to have laptops to use but my second thought was why would children in developing countries want a laptop instead of food or fresh water to drink? But it seems like that the governments of different countries want children to be introduced to the technology age. Growing up in our technology advanced society, I have been introduced to technology at an early age but for children in developing countries they have no idea what is out there in the world. By providing these green machines to these children it seems like a perfect idea to get educated with technology. In my understanding of this laptop, it allows children to use different programs to make music, work processing and with the wireless device in the machine the children can communicate with other children. These machines are giving these children an opportunity to explore into other parts of the world they are unable to visit, it is a great learning opportunity for these children.

 This green machine has a built-in wireless networking, a pulley for hand-generated power and a screen with indoor and outdoor reading modes. These computers are loaded with children’s books in their local languages and with encyclopedias and other learning tools. In this article it talked about that one hundred- sixty student in Uruguay have received the one laptop per child project in their local public elementary school. They have also mentioned that the first computer was donated to Uruguay and the rest were bought by their government. When the government spends $ 15 million dollars buying these computers for their children is implying to me that they want provide the best education they can for their children. These children will be their next generation in their country, so the government wants these children to have the opportunity to be well educated and experience learning through computers like other children would in other countries.

 Word count: 375

Week 12: “Music Therapy Engages Children with Autism in Outdoor Play”

 http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~snapshots/Snap39.pdf

 While searching through Google, I cam across this interesting article on music therapy and children with autism. Autism is a complex developmental disorder that affects verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction with others. In this study researchers introduced music therapy into an inclusive classroom of typically developing children and children with Autism. Previous research has shown that children with Autism has a positive responses to music and so in this study they have set up a music centre in the playground for children to use. Most children are interested in music in a general basis of their development and since we now know that children with Autism have difficulty interacting with their peers. By having a music hut placed in their playground this is the place where both children with Autism and children who are typically developing interact by making use of the music instrument in the hut. The music hut consists of instruments and songs where children can play and listen to unique music. In the beginning the teachers were leading the activity of using the music hut with the children but once the teacher starting withdrawing from being the leader the child with Autism started showing little steps in interacting with peers inside the hut.

I personally have worked with children with Autism and communicating verbally was very difficult. The four year old boy I worked with had Autism and global developmental delays, which means he delayed in all areas of development. Communicating with him is very difficult and the most difficult part of the whole communication barrier is when I don’t understand him and he’s signals. Even though his chronologic age was four but cognitively he was only two years old and so he had all the behaviours of a toddler. Since we both don’t understand each other working with him was a challenge for me, but it was something I have over came once I gotten to know him better. During our one on one activity time he and I worked on puzzles, but I came to realize that he was not interested in puzzles; he liked toys that made sounds. After realizing his interest we started having a common choice of activities in music, we played with music instruments and different toys with music and sound. He had a longer attention span when having activities that he was interested in. I would be very interested to see a music hut being placed in this inclusive daycare because this daycare has more children with special needs and a couple of typically developing children integrated into their setting. I would have loved to see observed their interaction with one another through the music hut.

Word count: 448

Week 11: “Can Music Instruction Affect Children’s Cognitive Development?”

http://www.ericdigests.org/2004-3/cognitive.html

Author: Frances H. Rauscher

Publication: September 2003

Source: ERIC Clearinghouse on Early Education and Parenting

ERIC Identifier: ED480540

When searching through Google I came across this article that sounded very interesting. This article is about a study music instruction and spatial-temporal ability, they test first on adults and college students but the results were not consistent to the other researchers. Since the results of the research were not consistent the results were not reliable to use in further information. The study was done again with children ages between three and twelve. They found that children who were provide with music instruction score higher than controls on spatial-temporal tasks. They defined that spatial reasoning is important to many fields and to the core concepts of mathematics (ex. proportions and fractions). They also found that keyboard instructions have had a larger effect for children ages between three and nine years old. Further more studies and testing have been done comparing music instruction to reading skills, piano instructions to spatial-temporal tasks and music instruction to mathematics, but all the results of these tests have found some significant results but are not yet durable and reliable. Further testing still meet to be done in order for the results to be accurate, but it is the beginning of understand the correlation between music instruction and piano instruction to improve on cognitive and spatial-temporal abilities.

After reading this interesting article on music instruction and enhancing children’s ability with spatial-temporal abilities and cognitive development it have given me a different outlook on the music class in school. Even though the research has not proven anything 100% but now I see a different value of having music class as part of the curriculum in school. As a student going into placement in first year, educators played music instruments with the really young children and sing lots of songs with them and the children were enjoying their time playing music instruments and sing songs. To me I was amazed as to how these toddlers know the words and sing with the tune of the song. Since I personally don’t like to sing and don’t know how to play any music instruments I would not be the one programming for the music portion of the program during my time of placement. But after reading this article about the correlation between music and development it did make me think different and as an educator I would definitely would consider having music instruments and sings as a regular part of the program. Even though the studies have not prove it to work but introducing and allowing children to start at an young age has a positive affect on their cognitive development. Just knowing that there might be some small help in their development will already make me think different towards music with young children. As an educator I want children to learn and have a healthy environment to provide the children with plenty of opportunities to explore, starting at a young age would be more beneficial in their development.

Word count: 489

In chapter 10 I have read about the device called the “clicker”. The clicker is a device with numbers and letters allowing students to answer question not by raising their hands but to use the clicker to press the button. All the answers are the being collect and the results will be shown on the projector. The clicker allows students to answer the question without others knowing who they are in the class and what their answers were. It gives the opportunity for those students who do not like to participate in class discussions and speaking a loud to the class. By having the class use clickers teachers can see how much their students actually understand the lessons being taught in the classroom and if there’s any misconception then the teacher will know to explain the concept again. The clicker seems like a good device to implement in the classroom since all the answers are anonymous so no one can tell who has the right and wrong answers. This will engage in more students to participate in the classroom. The clicker seems to incorporate some features that might be useful when considering using the clicker in class. It has a two-way receiver that allows students to send in their answer and they will receive an indicator that their response have been received and recorded. This device can help teachers see the confidence level of the students when answering the question with the clicker and who is guessing the answer. This allows the teacher to see how much the students know and understand from their lessons; teachers can now improve on their teaching method if necessary. And the last feature is seamless interfaces between the presentation and clicker software with PowerPoint software. The PowerPoint software is for the teachers to create their questions on. This allows teachers to use a different teaching method in their classroom instead of the blackboard and overhead sheets. Making their presentation of the lesson and questions more visual stimulating and attractive for the students.

But I have found some disadvantage to the clicker as well. Since the answers are anonymous and just collects the answer in one pool, how does to teacher know who answered the question and who didn’t. This device is good in ways that no one will know what answer they clicked but then teachers won’t know who participated and who didn’t. I would think that by using a clicker it will decrease discussion in the classroom, if all the student need to do is click for the answer. There could also be a perception that we don’t want to share our answer and discussion why we concluded the answer to be the way it is. Are teachers enforcing students to hide their answers from others? How would the teacher identify those students who are struggling who this particular concept they are teaching?

I personally think that I would incorporate the clicker into my classroom as a different teaching tool but will not only use this as the tool in my class. By using the clicker it will allow me to get the students attention and hopefully to get them engaged in the lesson. The clicker will be something different than the normal lessons we would be implementing in the class. I can turn the clicker into a game to have fun while learning. This way the students will be willing to participate.

Word count: 570

            Chapter one of our text book is called “What is Meaningful learning?” it talked about the different characteristics of meaningful learning for students to go through while learning. Through learning the students should be engaged in active, constructive, intentional, cooperation and authentic learning processes. Through these learning processes that one goes through to have a meaningful learning in their outcome of learning a task. Active learning is through manipulation and observation in an activity. Constructive learning is through articulation to what they have accomplished and through reflection on their activity. In the intentional process the student is goal-directed and regulatory that the learning/activity is intended to some goal. Authentic is a complex and contextual process through learning the theories and principles that explains a concept and the context in their text book. Cooperation and collaboration with other members in the classroom to learn and to work with other people understand the concept of group activity and group assignments.  Student goes through problem solving skills to learn to work with other peers and to collect ideas from one another. These different processes that one goes through happens quite offend in learning. Just like the assignment song child we have been assigned to in class this week  is a clear learning process through what we have learning throughout the year into a end product of the song. Through the different labs we have learned (starch, wiki and flickr) in class will help us with the final assignment on song child. The final assignment incorporates everything we have learnt from the beginning of the school year until now in the semester. Throughout my education here in Ryerson we have had a lot of final assignments through essay form to show our understanding of the theories and concepts of the class into a research essay. Through these final assignments we have for almost every class does help us apply what we have gotten out of the class through meaningful learning.

            Living in our society where technology is advancing all the time, most of our learning is with technology. Technology acts as a teacher and a partner in the learning process. I am personally constantly learning through technology since I am computer dumb to most things that my peers have already known. I am always learning something new with different programs and the different features they have beyond the basic knowledge that I know. Technology is a partner to me because my computer is here with my while I’m working on my assignments. It helps me with searching information on the internet and helps me process my essays in word documents. My laptop through my university education has been my best friend; I take it with me to class and use it at home with my homework. Without my laptop I would not be able to complete a lot of my assignments. I have recently noticed how important it is to have a computer or laptop to utilize at home more than in high school and elementary school. Computer and laptop has been a lot of people’s best friend through their education and working career. It definitely has been my best friend!

Word count: 527

In the article “Very Young Children’s Development in Moviemaking”, the researchers introduced the video camera for the children to investigate and to explore. I cannot remember the day I used a camera when I was little. My early memory of a camera was a big, black, box and a button at the top corner. What did the person look through while I was saying ‘cheese’? How were pictures developed? That was my first understanding of a camera. But now we see digital cameras that are pocket sized and more convenient to carry. Our society has been developing more and more styles of camera to fit various types of people.

The article reminded me of my experience with children and digital cameras during my summer job in a daycare, I was making name labels for the toddlers’ basket in the class. I wanted to have a picture of them and their name printed on it, so that the children can see and recognize their name. I went around the classroom and the playground to take pictures of each child. The children were curious as to what I was doing. After taking each picture, I showed the child the picture of them and some asked me to take more pictures and wanted to use the camera. By having young children using technology, it can help them explore and understand object permanence. If schools and daycares have extra funding, I would like to spend the money on computers and digital cameras for children to explore and learn.

In the article “Children as Photographers”, the researchers allowed children to photograph the zoo on their class trip to illustrate to other children what the zoo is and what they can see. Allowing children to take photographs of what they see can give educators a good perspective of what children are seeing at their height. Just like the experience I had with my little cousin, where she took my digital camera and started taking photos around the house. Afterwards, I looked at the photos she took and they were very artistic and interesting. I saw photos of her eyes, toes, different objects at her eye level, and some photos of us from an upward angle. It gave me a good perspective of what she was seeing in our world. I now have a better understanding of how she sees things differently than I do even if it’s the same object. This also helps me reflect to the way I create programs for the children I work with because now I will remember age appropriate activities for children.

Word count: 431

Chapter 8 talked about designing with technologies, and using programs to help people design different things on a computer software. I personally have not been too exposed to using any designing programs throughout my experience at school or at work. But my younger sister who is in George Brown College in Architecture technology has many experience using programs to design buildings and blue prints of the building. The program she uses is AutoCAD where her designs are made in three-dimensional form. It looks very amazing to see her creativeness through the design she makes. Programs like AutoCAD and Scratch will be beneficial for students to design their own building or game. Allowing the student to use their imagination to create and using hands on program to let them. I believe many students will benefit this to help open up their minds in their creation and allowing them to understand that anything is possible. My personal experience with Scratch in class the other day I saw how interesting some of the games were. It seemed easy to play but the creators probably spent a lot of time making it. Through Scratch students can spend time making something that moves at the end, I believe they would be very happy with their own creations.

            Seeing the changes happening in our society, cameras are something I can relate to. Remember back to those days where the camera I had was with double A batteries with film, when the role of film was done then we develop the photos. But now I have a nice, thin, portable little digital camera with a memory stick and also a phone with a build in camera. On the digital camera there are functions that I have not discovered what it is for yet, because the camera for me is to capture memorable moments that happen around me and I want a memory of. I remember back in first year university we had an assignment where we took photos of a child in our placement and told a story about their improvement through practice. I ended up taking so many photos that are not necessary and I did not need for my photo story, but good thing I had a digital camera where I can delete anything I did not need. I believe having a camera for children to use is a good idea because children can have a story about their weekend or school trips. Providing a camera for each child in the class can be expensive but I think it is a good expensive to use it on. Children can explore with using a camera, and also using their creativeness with telling their story of what they saw on the school trip to the zoo. From these photo stories, we can tell understand what the children see, and how they interpret the story or an object. This might bring educators to conduct a research to understand child’s thinking process and how they interpret events. I think when I become a teacher I would like to implement using a camera in the classroom for children to utilize and I would develop the photos for all the children to see. This might be a good learning experience for me and the children.

Word count: 546

Being born in Generation Y, I am constantly being exposed to new and advanced technology everyday. Comparing Generation Y to our parents, they seem to be legging in technology and how it has been advanced today. They would simply do things they are use to instead of the hassle of learning the new technology they are living in. They would rather go to the bank and line up after work and wait for someone to serve them instead of internet banking. Besides not wanting to use the internet they are also afraid of their information might be shown to others. My parents have this misconception that the internet is not a safe place to put personal information on. Even when it comes to writing letters to other family around the world, they would rather mail them a letter than to email them. I showed them how simple it is to communicate with people around the world besides mailing letters and phone calls. I showed them how easy it is to write an email and they receive it instantly or talk to them through MSN messenger. They seem to be living in their world in the past. Like the “talking drum” that Margaret Riel was talking about to the 4 year old in the beginning of chapter 6. They will never grow into the technology that we have advancing in our society everyday.

After reading the article about Hacking Human, I was a little concerned about my personal information leaking to the hands of people who would do the unthinkable. I am also realizing that everything I have post on facebook, live journal and blackboard, ICQ and MSN messenger will be there forever. The metaphor used in the article was “haunting graveyard of text”. How scary is that! The internet is made to be so easy for us to utilize while sitting in front of the desk. Click of a button, I can already finish my groceries all purchases and ready to be sent over to my place. Put your information online and anything can be done. Like ordering take out can be done online as well and paid with a credit card. I have concluded that I have a lot of personal information lying in that haunting graveyard that might one day come back to haunt me in negative ways, like a duplicated credit card being used by someone else. Which in fact actually happened to me using the bank machine, the person had altered the machine by placing a program in the card slot that can remember my pin number and card number. The bank called me to let me know that someone has stolen my information and making huge purchases, which was a surprised because I didn’t know anything until they called. After weeks of investigation I finally got all my money back. This shows that this can actually happen anywhere besides the internet.  Even though that this can happen to everyone I still think the internet is a safe place if I use it wisely.

 Word count: 508

 Nolan, J., and Levesque, M. (2005). “Hacking Human: data-archaeology and surveillance in social networks”. ACM SIGGROUP Bulletin. 25:2. p. 33-37.

            After reading chapter 7 for this week, I realized the amount of time I spend on the computer every night. I am amazed to all the different forms of communication I am using with my peers, friends and families. With the advanced technologies and programs available, I am able to communicate and contact with more than one person at a time. “Communication technologies and related activities and programs that allow sharing and exchanging of ideas both individually and as groups” (Jonassen et al., 2008, p.140). As convenient as it is with communicating with numerous people at the same time or individually we must keep in mind that face-to-face relationship is just as important. The chapter mentioned some disadvantages of technology would be isolation from family and friends and lose important social skills. There are at the same time many advantages too.

            For school I am already using more than 1 type of communication with my professors and peers. Ever since university, I’ve learned how to use blackboard to get lecture notes and read the professors reminds for us. I have also learned how to use the discussion board from blackboard to communicate with my classmates. With discussion board I find I have more time to think over the questions and it allows me to think critically before posting my answer. I don’t feel the pressure to answer right away even if I don’t know the answer to the discussion question. The discussion board makes me feel a lot more relaxed when I have a week to answer the questions and have a chance to read other’s comments. Discussion boards allows us to think critically and to have meaningful conversation with our peers. Another way of communicating is our Ryerson email account. I get emails all the time from different people asking for help or letting me know updates about the school. Whenever I have questions for the professor this is where I would contact them ask wait for their reply. These are examples of communication of asynchronous.

            While communicating through blackboard and web mail I would also be using my hotmail account, MSN messenger and facebook. The best thing about MSN messenger is that you know the person is there when their status is online. MSN messenger is an instant messaging form where two or more people are in a conversation together. I find that MSN is good for short conversations or discussions on homework because I don’t feel that I need to talk for a long time. MSN is short and simple where as a phone conversations can take a lot longer. I find that people do not feel obligated to continue in a conversation they are not interested in with someone else and not in a rude way of course. Facebook is another excellent creation to bring people together. It helped me reunite with my friends from grade school together which we have lost contact for a long time. It also allows me to communicate with other people around the world by posting on their wall. When I’m bored I can also go on their page to read about their updates and interest they have and to see how many friends we have in common. Facebook also brought my family closer to one another, my cousins and I have planned our trips and movie nights all on facebook. It allowed us to communicate with one another by leaving messages on the discussion board.

            In this chapter it talked about videoconferencing, which is something I am not familiar with and would like to try using this technology. It sounds like a really great idea for children to have access to in school to contact with experts through videoconferencing. “Videoconferencing overcomes barriers of cost and distance since physically transporting a classroom of students to another location” (Jonassen et al., 2008, p.153). An excellent way to allow openness to children’s learning when the school board does not have the adequate funding to allow students to go on field trips. For those who wants to be teachers this might be something to bring in to their classroom.

Word count: 687

Jonassen, D., Howland, J., Marra, R., and Crismond, D. (2008). Meaningful Learning with Technology. Toronto: Pearson Educational.