Something that always blows me away, though I've done it before myself, is when someone whips out their laptop in a class to take notes. While I am definitely a pen and paper kind of girl, typing is much faster for me and working on a computer makes it easier to reorganize thoughts and ideas. This idea of electronic note-taking reminds me not only of how much schools have changed with technology, but the world altogether. Laptops & tablets are often seen being used for note-taking and mind-mapping. These portable devices can easily fit in backpacks and can be accessed as the student needs them. While there may be the possibility of dead batteries, forgetting a charger, or trouble logging into wi-fi, electronics are the only option for many students who have retained much more when typing versus writing. An amazing balance of both types (paper & electronics) may even be found on some devices. The Galaxy Note phone series, for example, comes with a built in stylus that may be used for writing the old fashioned way while still always being ready for mashing away at those keys with your thumbs! I think this variety of ways to take notes may help students taking different types of courses. Math problems, for instance, might be done best on pen and paper while writing an essay can work best on a computer.
Wikipedia is another important topic from the reading. While I know it is open for anyone to edit and there may be tons of inaccurate or even made up information in its articles, I do tend to flock there for research needed outside of my academics. There are plenty of great sources within its articles and even links to more at the bottom of each page. What I love about this site is how the information is broken up into easy to understand sections that get right to the point. Information within an article, like this one about
Disney World, links to related topics the reader might not know much about so that they may click to find out more about something that's even just briefly mentioned (like this article does with the individual theme parks, hotels, etc). While a great source of information at its core, Wikipedia has been discouraged many times to me before precisely because of its open-editing style, but it's important to check other sources no matter where I am getting my information from!
Many people outside the world of education probably think today's teachers have it so easy. Worksheets, classroom procedure signs, and even entire lesson plans are readily available to download online. But as we who are involved in this system very well know, it's how you present the information and deliver your words to students that will get them retaining and using course content. As the text states, using lesson plan sites with caution is definitely a good idea. There are plenty of sites, such as those developed by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (Maloy, pg 117) or even
TeachersPayTeachers where one could easily get help with lesson plan building or finding; teachers just need to know where to look to provide adequate information to their students. So do teachers have it easier today with ready to download lesson plans? I say no! (For the most part!) Educators strive to improve their teaching skills so that their students may get the most from the experience. Teaching is much more of "What strategy should I use?" and "Will this work with this type of student?" than it is "Where can I download that?".
Resources:
Maloy, R., O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013).
Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.
It is always interesting to hear other's perceptions of Wikipedia. Most people are unaware that there is a cadre of volunteers who are out on Wikipedia reviewing what others add and often catch 'graffiti' and inaccurate information - since they have some type of expertise, it adds to the credibility of the site. As you say, though, one site alone should never be counted on - it can be a fantastic springboard but always check other resources. You have shown the skill of doing so by looking at other resources to back-up your thoughts as evidenced by your hyperlinks! Unfortunately, your photo appears to be copyrighted and thus, should not have been included and missing a digital web 2.0 tool creation. :(
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