Online Shopping

I think it's pretty amazing what the web can do today. Just the other day, when it was really windy out, I regretted not buying that Coach hat that was on sale. I got the gloves and scarf, but I figured I wouldn't wear the hat. Boy was I wrong! I really wanted that hat. In earlier years, it would have been "too bad," now I just signed on to EBay and looked it up to buy it online. A week later, I had the exact same hat that I saw at the Coach Outlet Store. Amazing! Another example would be my sister. She loves some lipgloss from Wal Mart. Well, they stopped selling it. A week later, she had her lipgloss. All thanks to EBay.

I am a huge online shopper. Anything I need, I will find to buy online. I sell stuff online as well so it's a win win situation. Recently, I've been using Amazon for my textbooks. You would not imagine how much I save on college textbooks from buying them online. It's a great resource we have that we should definitely take advantage of. I know I don't want to spend all my money on books. Do you? 

**Go check out EBay and Amazon and start saving today! You will love it.**

picture used with permission from iCLIPART.

Online Classes

I have taken a couple of online classes in the past two years of college. I am still undecided if they are better then traditional classes or not. There are a lot or pros and cons, from my point of view. Last summer, I took three online classes, one of them being finite math. The other two classes were children's literature and child development. Math was definitely the toughest from the three. A couple cons about taking online classes is that you don't have an instructor to turn to whenever you have a question. You can email him or her but it doesn't mean you will get your answer right away. I also feel like work is put off until last minute because you know you have all the time in the world to do it, unlike if you in class working on it with the instructor and students. Even though those could two cons could stress you out, there are pros on online classes as well. I think some pros of online classes are that you don't have to wake up at eight in the morning to go to class. You can work on your own pace, even though there are dates things need to be turned in. You are aware of those and you work at your own convenience. Another pro for online classes is the comfort of working from your bed in your pajamas. You don't have to leave your house at all, you can work on your homework while eating a meal or watching your favorite reruns.

GoogoBits and Ezine Articles are websites that I took a look at that talk about pros and cons. Check them out and maybe it will help you decide if you want to take online classes in the future or not! Good luck!

Picture used with permission from iCLIPART.

Cyber Bullying

Today I was reading a report on cyber bullying. Bullying is common in schools and other public places. Now it started happening through the internet and cellphones too. If our students are going to be put on computers within the next couple years in school, we as teachers need to monitor what happens on the internet. We want everyone to be involved and like getting on the computer to do homework or an activity. I can definitely see fifth grade girls gossiping about each other and such while in the classroom. This would not be okay! I've read many statistics and online bullying is definitely on top of the list. Something has to be done about this!

Website -Hinduja, S. and Patchin, J. W. “Cyberbullying research.” Cyberbullying Research Center (www.cyberbullying.us).  (Accessed [10/28/2010]).

Picture used with permission from iCLIPART.

1:1 and Mobile Computing

Today in lecture, we talked about 1:1 and mobile computing. I find it very surprising that by next year, there could be a third of Iowa schools using this learning system. I can see why this would be good for student. Technology is used everywhere (I'm using it right now!). And it just keeps expanding and getting better. Now you can pay bills, order pizza, shop, and do pretty much anything else online too. Children need to be aware of this and how to use it. I understand why we should be teaching students online but as a future teacher, I would love for it be "old-school" with desks and books. Times change though and teachers have to keep up with the technology. Not bashing on any instructors at UNI, but some are not very computer literate. We have to know this technology if we want to teach it to our students.

 

We also talked about online schooling. The instructor showed us Florida's online school and also Iowa Learning Online. I thought it was pretty interesting to be able to do that. 

picture used with permission from iCLIPART.