Political Cartoon

What educational policy issue is this political cartoon about?
- it is about a policy saying how much technology we really need in the classroom.
What is the purpose of the cartoon (why did the artist create it?)
- the purpose of this cartoon is to show that too much technology in the classroom is not a good thing all the time. In many ways there are times that technology just won’t cut it and we need the real life thing.
What techniques did the artist use to draw your attention (refer to the cartoon analysis guide from our classroom activity)?
- The teachers both look somewhat defeated as if they have no control over what technology students use in the classroom anymore since its being shoved down their throats so much. Also the student looks proud of himself for “bringing something in” for show and tell when he really didn’t do anything but bring in a tablet.
What is the opinion of the artist?
- the opinion of the artist is that technology is being overused in the classroom. There comes a time when we need to say stop and go back to the basics. It may be a case where he thinks that this is the future or even that this is the present where students don’t really know that real life experience if they just go through the motions online.
According to the artist, who benefits and who is negatively impacted by this policy?
- Personally and I think the artist may have had this in mind, I don’t think anyone benefits from this. The student may think he is benefiting because he doesn’t have to really do anything but the teacher isn’t able to teach as much and the student isn’t necessarily learning as much as he would actually holding the frog.
What opinions do others have on this issue?
- Others most likely have similar opinions but I could see other opinions. It is much easier for the student to do. There is less of a mess and its easier for the teacher to be able to grade. Also with the online aspect there could be more information provided.
Did you find this cartoon persuasive? Why or why not?
I think that if you knew what was going on in the classroom today and the way things are going you would understand this cartoon. It’s not really persuasive because if you didn’t really have the same opinion then it may not work.

Policy in KHS

I did my interview with a teacher who teaches at a pretty progressive school as far as technology goes. They are very into their technology. They have many policies set in place to make sure that it is not only there, but appropriate and there for the betterment of the students learning. The fact that they continually have more and more computer labs, laptops, and tablets for students shows that they are under some influence of federal policy. In this school each freshman student picks up a laptop at the beginning of the day and returns it when they leave but they are able to use them in all their classes. Next year it will be freshman and sophomores and the year after that they will all have laptops. I think that is pretty in credible. They also have a fairly good technology team and go to competitions with robotics. Their team is called the TechnoKats. Overall I think it is very apparent that technology is used to its advantage in this school corporation. I was very impressed to hear what they had to use.

"Technokats | FIRST Robotics Team 45, Kokomo High School, Kokomo, IN." Technokats. Kokomo High School, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2013.

Dowden, Cheryl M. Personal interview. 7 Mar. 2013.

State Technology Now and Then

There have been major changes in state laws and policies having to do with technology over the years. As I read through the old vision of Dr. Reed back in 1998 I can honestly say that they have a lot of the same general goals as we do today. That sounds strange probably since we are now so much more advanced than we used to be as far as availability technology and basic knowledge but when I stared to think about it it does make sense. As for the goals back then which include:

• To enhance and improve student learning in and out of school
• To use technologies as tools to help teachers improve their teaching
• To enhance the learning environments, both within and beyond the classroom, in order to engage all members of the community in successful pursuit of lifelong learning opportunitie

It makes sense today to use these exact same general goals. We still want to be able to improve student learning in and out of schools for example its just we know how to better accomplish our goals now. 
Back then they were just then trying to figure out how to integrate technology in schools in general but now today we are planning on educating teachers about some things as in depth as building projects through social media or making more things digital instead of sending children home with stacks of papers. These things are all on the agenda as "topics of the month" from the Office of eLearning" a branch of the technology branch of the Indiana Department of Education.

The Past, The Present, What Could Lie Ahead

A long time ago man created fire and the wheel… No that’s not how far back we’re going to go but in all reality technology is no new thing. In the classroom however, technology is booming. A long time ago, you know when we were in like elementary school, technology was hardly being strongly introduced into classrooms. We talked about in EDTEC470 about when _____ & _____ were in office. Back then it was simply a suggestion to have technology in the classroom and that it “could” possibly help students learn. Later on about 5-7 years later they came out and strongly suggested using technology in the classroom. It was not a requitement just yet but at that point schools began getting extra funding for specific things they were doing and technology in classroom. In today’s day in age, it’s simply silly to not use technology in the classroom. If you don’t you’re going to fall behind in the world. That’s what a lot of people think. More technology… More More More! however, we’re not all that lucky. We see or maybe more likely (I’ve only seen) schools that do have the money for technology but if the government gives money to schools (for technology) but they don’t have the basics yet, they will use it on their basic needs first instead of technology. Whereas the wealthier schools will use it for bigger and better technology and in turn get even more money for using the technology the money granted them. This is just another way the poor stay poor and the rich get richer. We must stay grounded in this way. One more thing we must look at for the future is using to much education. We cannot simply rely on technology as much as we are beginning to because then we will no longer have any education. Just a forewarning!!

Moduel 1 "Me"

My name is Justin Dowden I am a junior at Ball State University. My major is School Health Education with a minor in Educational Technology. I will be student teaching in the Spring semester of 2014 and will graduate May of that year as well.
My goals continue to change as I congruently change personally and professionally. There are many factors that need weighing in order to chose a place for me to teach and that’s a personal matter not needed to be discussed currently. As far as whom, I would most like to teach middle school students or freshman in high school. I feel, it is at that time, they are most likely to be molded and influenced into the people they will grow up to be in the real world and I would like to be a positive influence. I will be teaching Health, Health Sciences, Physical Education, and possibly technology classes.
Technology is an exponentially growing custom within the youth of our nation and if we fail to satisfy this in schools students will get bored, tired, and rebellious. This is not in itself a reason to use technology. There are many reasons such as it is simply easier to get information across. It will keep students actively engaged with you and with their classmates.
I am enrolled in this course one, because I want to be able to appropriately be able to teach using technology and two, because I want to further my learning in technological resources. Three goals I would like to achieve during this class are 1) to learn new innovative ways, just as I have in the past, to teach or better myself 2) to understand the more ethical sides of technology and education and 3) to make connections between what I learn in my other classes and this class.