A Review of "From Now On" the Educational Technology Journal
A Review of "From
Now On" the Educational Technology Journal
This journal contains monthly issues which address concerns for the
appropriateness of use of educational technologies in the classroom to
enhance learning. The journal also contains insights on how teachers can
teach more effectively now that more and more schools are employing such
technologies as the internet and that students have hence placed before
them a vast ocean of information resources.
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Why in the World Wide Web?
Six major points explaining why schools should maintain a website of
their own on the World Wide Web. Four goals for a school website: the website
as an introduction to the school, as an interface to outside resources,
publishing recommendable student works, and as a data resource to share
with others. Examples are provided for each point discussed.
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The Missing Piece:
Strategic Teaching
Provides some insight on the necessity of strategic teaching in order
to develop creative writing skills. Gives citings from other works and
research. Reasons that improvements on effective writings skills can not
be done just by simple set formulas. Instead, it takes time and devotion.
Requires on going exchange of ideas and opinions between the teacher and
student. This way, the students are able to generate essential questions
that really show that they have acquired critical thinking skills. Therefore,
strategic teaching should not be left out in the cirriculum to be takened
over by mere personal computers.
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Strategic Teaching
in Concert with New Technologies
A more detailed explanation of strategic teaching for better results.
Stresses the necessity for the intervention of the teacher to the student's
learning progress, but also stresses the importance of the timing of the
intervention. Four types of intervention by the teacher: adds to the student
toolkit as needed, untangles wrong thinking, empowers independent problems
solving, and encourages student invention of new tools and skills. Also
suggests five elements of the "Professional Development Strategy": reviewing
techniques, critiguing video models, practicing techniques, learning from
feedback, and enjoying support from within a support network of fellow
teachers and colleagues.
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The New Plagiarism
Identifies the "New Plagiarism" brought about by electronic access
to information. Suggests seven "antidotes" for teachers to help minimize
plagiarisms done by students: distinguish between levels & types of
research (just the facts, other people's ideas, new ideas & synthesis),
discourage "trivial pursuits" by asking how and why questions, emphasize
essential questions (and provides resources on asking good questions),
require and enable students to make their own answers by synthesis, focus
upon systematic storage (such as with a database), stressing "green ink"
and citation ethics to differentiate which ideas were others and which
were freshly generated, and finally suggests assessment of the student's
progress throughout the entire research process.
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The Wired Classroom:
Creating Technology-Enhanced Student-Centered Learning Environments
Suggests different measures to take in order to make a wired classroom
becoming an improved center for information access and sharing for students.
Explains what is meant by a "technology-enhanced, student-centered classroom".
Shows how classrooms can be equipped such that there is minimal unnecessary
spending as well as how to make the most out of a given number of computers
in a classroom.
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Grazing the Net: Raising
a Generation of Free Range Students
A lengthy article which suggests ways of training students to become
competent researchers for information on the internet. It describes the
problems that arise when one browses around the net looking for a particular
information. The article then describes what an internet researcher would
require in terms of cognitive skills in order to be efficient in using
the internet to retrieve wanted information and to be able to get the most
out of what electronic information has to offer. The article also suggests
using careful thoughtful planning strategies in order to allow more options
for yourself in getting the exact type of information you need.
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Learning Digitally
This long article basically says that the use of the internet in searching
for information for the purpose of learning critical thinking skills is
useful only if teachers take certain measures in order to prepare students
to use the internet efficiently. The article suggests practical problems
for students doing the research as well as the problems that teachers face
when having to guide the students around as the students do their research.
By presenting the problems that exist, this article also gives suggestions
as to how to obtain the information that you need and how to make the most
of this information in a way so that the product might be pleasing to all
who might came upon it.
This page produced by James Tong
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