10 How the internet is "flattening" the world

With technology as it is today, people are able to travel the world without every really leaving their own homes. With streaming video and vivid digital photography it is easy to see anything you really want. Granted of course nothing beats the actual experience. It is amazing what technology today can do. In class we talked briefly about how some McDonalds orders are received and placed in India. I'm sure a lot of people complain that this is taking away American jobs and hurting the economy. However it seems to me if they had to go to so much trouble to develop technology to make this occur, then obviously no one here was jumping at those jobs in the first place. This is true with a lot of major corporations as well. When you need help fixing a computer or something like that, many times you end up speaking to representatives from all around the world, while sitting in your own home office. This technology could also be used in education. Classes and lessons could be held and attended by anyone at any time. This provides endless opertunities, if the technology is easily accessible. If not, then i guess it's back to square one. But it's no doubt that technology will thrive and grow and create endless possibilities for us all.

9 Using games in class

I've been doing a lot of research on how to implement websites and the internet into class. For example in my high school French class we would use games and online quizzes to reinforce what we learned in class. When I was younger I would always play games on the computer that involved simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. I was having fun, as well as learning. Now many classrooms are well equipped with computers and the internet. Or at least most schools have compute labs with such a set up. When kids use games to learn, most of them don't realize the benefits. Many just see that they're playing a game, not memorizing addition facts. Computer games are a lot more accessible now if the internet is available. The trick is teaching kids what is helpful, and what is just fun. Using internet games helps children surf the web at a young age, and prepares them when they get older when they need to filter information for a paper or project. Board games were great, as were flash cards, but today all kids want is technology. Hopefully the old methods won't become completely obsolete, just revised.

8 Technology in the Classroom

Over Spring Break I did some observation at my old elementary school. I was pleasantly surprised to see how well the classrooms were equipped. each classroom had desktop computers, and each teacher had their own laptop. They used their laptop to create lesson plans and do research for class work. One teacher had her computer hooked up to a projection screen and she was able to show her students a Venus Fly Trap, when one of the children asked what it was. The Library had been converted from an index card organization system, to a catalog on the computer. The computer lab was in the process of getting updated machinery, and the students were busy intalling and updating software. The middle school students carried around Thinkpads with them at all times. Thinkpads are compact keybords with a small screen. The students can type on them, and then hook them up to a computer at a later date to upload their work. There are efficient, they don't take up a lot of space and are very useful. I was most surprised when i walked into my kindergarten classroom. When I was in kindergarten we had a loft that had cassette players, now there are 4 desktop computers up there. It was refreshing to see that even if not much has changed as far as the teachers and lessons at St. Peter's, at least they technology is being updated and incorporated into the curriculum.