Chapter 3

How is social networking affecting education?

Social networking has become so much the norm, for adults and children alike, so it is interesting to learn that there are many positive yet negative affects social networking has on education.  Before even reading our assigned chapter, I jotted down a few of my thoughts about this question.  Children that spend their time on social networking sites take their abbreviations commonly used on them and they are now making it into coursework, essays and experiment write-ups.  Maybe this has a lot to do with our what I like to call “our spelling error generation”.  Many of us are guilty of having facebook or twitter and we have seen how some people become very addicted to posting their latest status, their latest picture, or even obsessed with seeing what other people are doing.  Arguments that happen between children in the classroom could extend and worsen when they get home through these networks.  Cyber-bullying has become our country norm.  On the other hand, Bitter explains in our readings some of the positive aspects of social networking, classes can even participate in telementoring projects, have conferences on the web, and our pen pals that we once had in school are now out the window.  Remember it would take a month to hear back from your penpal in another country?  Well now you could hear back from your key-pal in a matter of seconds.  

Chapter 2

How can concept-mapping tools be used to address different learning styles?

What is a concept map?  Concept mapping is a technique for visually representing the structure of information, concepts, and the relationships between them. Concept maps are useful tools that help students learn about how they structure knowledge while supporting the process of knowledge construction.  So how can concept mapping address the many different learning styles we will come across in our classrooms?  We know that children learn differently, some auditory, some visually, etc.  If a student uses a concept map then the teacher can see how different his or her students present their information.  Some may present their information almost exclusively on the concepts related to their learning while others focus on the thought behind the concepts.  Furthermore, students have the opportunity to get in touch with their creative side.  As Bitter states in our text, “concept mapping leads to critical thinking, organizing, planning, learning across the curriculum, etc”.  Through concept mapping we can see how learning styles do influence student’s representations of what they are learning! Furthermore,  how can technology be integrated into teaching or the learning process or both, through concept mapping? This focus question intrigued me because I did not know how concept mapping could integrate with technology in the classroom.  A few great websites are given to us with our readings that integrate concept mapping, here are a few, ( www.inspiration.com , www.graphic.org ).  

Chapter 1

What are the trends of the Information Age?
The Information Age occured 1956 through 1957.  Sputnik was launched during this year.  This age of technology was marked with the beginning of satelite communication, global perspectives, and implications for education. 

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