Educational+Issues

[|Post # 1]  **Possible Cheating** Today, students come to class with cellular telephones, graphing calculators, pagers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), notebook computers, iPods, and other devices. During a test, you notice that a student is using a cell phone. As you approach the student, you realize that the student is looking at a smart phone with a picture on the screen. The student puts away the phone and apologizes, indicating that he had forgotten to turn off the phone when a call came in. After class, another student informs you that the student you caught with the phone was making calls to another student in the classroom, and they were taking pictures of the equations. This student was almost positive the two students werecheating by sending each other pictures of the answers over their smart phones. How should you handle this situation? Does a way to gather proof exist? What next? Should all handhelds be banned in classrooms? If so, how? What is your role? Explain. Retrieved from:http://oc.course.com/sc/tdc5/index.cfm?action=issue&chapter=1

Response:

**Everyday, there are students cheating behind teacher's backs. Rather than taking the time and effort to study material, students are cheating off of their peers through texting, phone calls, or notes behind the teacher's back. Though students may think cheating is fine because it gives them their desired grade, the consequences will face them in the future when they get caught or come to the realization in the future that cheating does nothing more than give them an undeserved grade.**

**Though the problem cannot be easily solved, it can be mentioned in the classroom. Teachers can emphasize the consequences of getting caught at the beginning of the year while modeling and instructing the correct way to get a desired grade level. If students not only know the consequences of an action, but also know the right steps toward receiving a good grade, they will benefit and learn the concept of reaping what they sow.**

Post # 2

= Virtual High Schools = = Today, many high schools, especially small rural high schools, have difficulty offering classes such as AP biology, Latin, AP calculus, and other similar classes due to budget constraints, classroom overcrowding, lack of qualified teachers, and other important issues. Currently, many school districts and states are addressing these problems by offering a variety of online classes. Most educators agree that the Internet has great potential for education and that online classes need to be part of the K-12 learning environment. Some districts have opened 100 percent online or virtual high schools, which has generated a heated debate among educators about the effectiveness and even appropriateness of such schools. Do you think 100 percent online high schools are an effective solution? Why or why not? Substantiate your answer. =

Response:

**I believe that having 100 percent online high schools are not an effective solution for the new-age high schools. Although it sounds convenient and easier than driving to school, packing lunches, and going to school from 8-3 pm, it does not provide students with the social interactive aspect of going to high school. Instead, students who attend 100 percent online schools will spend the majority of their day on computers at home (possibly alone if parents have to go to work) and lack that quality time they spend with peers and teachers for human interaction. Therefore, 100 percent online schools is not a good idea because students need that social human interaction on a daily basis.** **Another reason why 100 percent online high schools are not effective is the idea of possible cheating. If the teacher is not there, how will he/she know if the student is not looking up the answers while taking a test or taking a test with a friend and sharing answers? If this happens, students will lack the required knowledge to graduate and have difficulties in jobs later in their future. For example, if a students cheats on an online math test and uses a calculator and/or asks someone else for the answer, he/she will not develop a clear understanding of math. What if they find themselves in a job down the road and lack the basic math skills to perform tasks in their job? This could turn out to be detrimental to their future success.** **Though I am opposed to 100 percent online schools, I am not opposed to having one or two online classes for a student. I believe that by offering one or two classes to students, it may turn out to be beneficial to a teacher. Though, there needs to be a system and a way to ensure that a student is not only doing their required work, but that they are not cheating and are learning just as much (if not more) in the classroom as they are at home on an online class.**

Post # 3


 * 2. Reading Problems **
 * You teach middle school, and this year you have the most challenging group of students you have ever had. Many of your students seem completely uninterested in learning or even in coming to school for that matter. As a result, you have continuous discipline problems and spend a lot of time sending students to the principal's office. After a few days, you become convinced that a deeper problem must exist, so you do a little research and find out that many of the students are below the 30th percentile in reading. You wonder how these students got this far without knowing how to read. Traditional reading programs obviously have not worked for these students. Using the Internet and other sources, do research to find out whether reading software programs and educational technology might be able to help them. Continue your research to investigate alternative techniques using technology that might motivate these students and help them to learn to read. Where could you locate software and innovative teaching strategies that could help you help these students learn to read?**


 * Response:**


 * Finding myself in this situation, I would first consider doing a little investigation on each student and contact their previous teachers. By doing so, I may be able to gain some insight as to why every student is so low on their reading abilities. When I have completed this, I would start by approaching my students through different lenses. First, I would have each student read a lower level book (children's book possibly) every day. Each student would spend part of each lesson reading aloud and silently. This could be a group activity. Secondly, given the resources, I would have a computer software program for my students to work on everyday. This software would be a program with games, activities, and fun assignments for the students to complete. Reading software programs would definitely help students learn to read because they can be fun and also very educational. Students would be learning without even knowing it. Last, I would provide fun and hands on activities for my students to do that help them with their reading comprehension. By having hands on activities, students who are more experiential learners will soak in these activities.**


 * There is an ample amount of resources on the internet to help teachers help students. I have no doubt that finding software programs, activities, and strategies for my students would be a problem. The only issue would be choosing the ones that would best fit the students and their level of reading comprehension. To name a few, here are some resources that I found in my short amount of research.**


 * Resources:**


 * http://web.riverdeep.net/portal/page?_pageid=818,1381924&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL**
 * http://www.clicknkids.com/**
 * http://www.marcias-lesson-links.com/**
 * http://www.meritsoftware.com/**

**Post # 4** 3. Computers for All Students Around the world, governments have begun to supply school children with notebook computers. The United Nations endorses a plan known as One Laptop per Child to supply $150 notebook computers to developing countries — some of which already pledged to purchase millions of the devices for their school children. The device, which recharges with a hand crank, includes Wi-Fi networking and a simple, intuitive user interface. Supporters of these plans maintain that computer literacy and electronic communication are vital skills in today's world. Those who oppose this plan claim that technology detracts from traditional educational subjects. Should schools supply computers to all students? Why or why not? Should the One Laptop per Child program be limited to only those children in developing countries? Why or why not? ** I believe that supplying students with computers is the best way to motivate and help students learn to read, write, and work with computers. I believe that computer-based learning is the new way of learning. Nowadays, students (especially high school and college) are using computers for almost every aspect of their schooling. Papers are written on the computer, research is done on the computer, class websites are on the internet, etc. Education is slowly becoming paperless, essentially. Therefore, by providing students with the opportunity to jump on board with the new and innovative way of learning, we are helping them with not only their education, but their future as well. Jobs are also becoming paperless. Many jobs require computer work and less paper work. If we can transition our students from paper to computers at an early age, then they will be more than prepared for jobs that required computer savvy skills. ** ** The only problem that I see with the change from paper to computers is the lack of handwriting. Even though I am a strong advocate of computer based classes and learning, I do believe that it is still important for students to learn how to write properly before learning how to type. But once students have those skills mastered, I believe that it is important for students to learn the basics of computers for their future careers. **