Blog #13

The first article, The World Wide Web: Interfaces, Databases, and Applications to Education gave a good explanation to what all of these terms mean and then gave examples of how this can be used by teachers and students alike. The fact that information that is plugged into one computer can be viewed by many over the internet is amazing. The article states that we are able to do this because of these three components: the database, the interface, and the Web form. The article goes on to explain what these components are use for and why they help teachers in the classroom. Some of the things that can be done in database form are: handling assignments on the web, filling out class evaluation forms, doing a web-based calendar, discussion groups, and research tools. All of these things would be valuable for both students and teachers.

The second article, Database: America’s President, is about a teacher, Beth Holmes, who teaches students how to organize information using a database on U.S. presidents. She uses what she calls the “Six C’s” to teach her students about organization of classroom assignments and information. The “Six C’s” are compute, communicate, conclude, confirm, categorize, and classify. These skills involve problem solving, and information management. By using all of these skills Beth Holmes believes students will be able to create a successful database. The example database she used about the U.S. Presidents was a lot like the one we did in class. Basically, she defined her fields and then entered her information. I can definitely see how organizing data into one place can be very beneficial to our students.

The third article, Bells and Whistles: Organizing Data for Whole-Class Use, was about how databases can be used by students in the classroom. Every subject imaginable can be used in a database system, including math, history, science, etc. The article includes information on why databases are useful, how to organize data in a database, and how to create and use databases in the classroom. Databases are a useful tool because they require students to use critical-thinking skills, such as categorizing, comparing, and contrasting. Organizing data in a database is quite easy because the student can easily define a field as text, number, date, or time. Fields can be defined as a popup menu, a value list, or a check box. Basically, by assigning a field with one of these options, the students will be able to have a multiple-choice type option to choose from. Creating and using databases in the classroom helps students learn how to organize their data in a much more efficient way. If students follow all of these guidelines, they will have creating an effective database.

The use of databases in education can be a valuable tool for teachers. I, for one, never thought of entering student information into a database system. I guess I’m kind of old school as far as grade keeping. The only thing teachers had “back then” was the good ole’ grade book. After completing the database assignment in class, I realized how beneficial something like this would be to use in the classroom. If definitely seems a lot easier for many reasons. First of all, when it comes to keeping track of student information, it seems a lot less time consuming to be able to click a couple of buttons on a computer over sifting through tons of scattered paper work. Also, looking for specific information about students as a whole seems to be a lot easier if all of the information is in one database. The assignment we did in class was a great example of how easy it was to find specific information about our students. I also liked how easy it was to create the fields. Databases could also be geared toward student use. I liked how we could use symbols to represent the students. I think our students would have fun making their own database of information. The only thing that scares me about using an electronic database is when things go wrong with computers. One way to make sure you don’t lose all of your information is to continuously save things to a flash drive, for example.

Filamentality Link

http://www.kn.att.com/wired/fil/pages/liststatesoth.html

Blog #11

Hi Class!
I thought the article about Bridging the Digital Divide was interesting for the fact that it not only placed blame on the access to computers on the teacher, but also on the economic status of the classroom. The article stated that it is most beneficial to have computers in the classroom versus having students go to a computer lab. This idea makes a lot of sense, but unfortunately, many schools do not have the budget to do this as the article point out. The other point I got from the article is that access to monitored technology is also very important. In other words, it’s not only important for students to have access to technology, but it is also important to make sure they have are able to use the computer with guided assistance. Teachers need to be educated with technology, so they can teach their students how to use the technology in the best way possible.

The WIKI assignment we learned how to do this week seems pretty cool. I have to admit, I feel a little confused when trying to manipulate through the site. However, I know with a little bit of practice, I will be able to manipulate through this site in no time. I think the WIKI website is a great website to use when you need to collaborate with others. It is a lot less time consuming to go to one site to offer information about a topic or to use a discussion board for communication. I can see how this website would be useful for teachers. I also like the idea of being able to add links to other valuable websites on this one website.