1. Articles to Read and Reflect

U.S. Schools Lag Behind In Use Of Technology
This USA Today article, really caught my attention. It brings up some very good points, for instance-"students of almost any age are far ahead of their teachers in computer literacy." I believe that this is true, but it isn't a good thing. I don't see how teachers can just sit back and tell the students to do an assignment using technology, if they themselves don't know or don't want to know how to do it either! Teaching is not only about helping others learn, it is an ongoing job that requires the teacher to continue their learning forever! I am a future teacher and I am learning about technology and I know that when I am older there are going to be things that I don't particularly want to learn about, but I am going to have to learn them, so I can be the best teacher I can!

National Education Technology Plan
This plan isn't really telling me something that I don't already know. I think that it is something that needs to happen, like the article said: [these changes will] "require not only a rethinking and realignment of the industrial age factory model of education, but a rethinking of the tools available to support such change." The education model has to be modified to keep up with the changing world! We can't just expect to sit here and keep on doing the same things that we have done in the past years. Technology keeps advancing and making things easier and there are so many new and useful tools out there that would make learning so much more "rich." Hopefully this technology plan will help the education system make learning a more enriched process and it will help educators to stop depriving students from learning about all the useful information out there!

NETS: National Education Technology Standards: for Students, for Teachers and for Administrators
I think that all of the NETS-S, T, and A are great articles and are each great sources for information. They give guidelines and would be helpful to teachers who are having trouble integrating technology into their classrooms. This is definitely a website and these are articles that I will bookmark for my future use. All teachers should know about (if they don't, they are missing out) these Standards and the website. I like how the Standards give an article and guidelines for each category: Administration, Teachers and Students. I really enjoyed the 'Digital Citizenship,' because it focuses on ethical and safe uses for technology, which are both very important, in my opinion! Each list of Standards shows that technology can be good and it doesn't always go "bad!"

Don't Just Adapt Technology, Adopt It!
I really enjoyed reading this article, it made me stop and think about how I adapt(ed)/adopt(ed) technology. I have never really been that 'into' technology, but the more articles I read and the more I read, the more I want to explore technology and adopt it! After I finished reading this article I realize that I normally just dab with technology and that I don't try new things in new ways. I find myself mostly in the dab category and in the doing old things in new ways. I want to challenge myself to try doing some 'new' things in NEW ways! I like how the article challenges not only individuals to try new things, but it also challenges schools and districts to "step out of the box!"

High School.com
I could not locate this article, the website said that "this article has moved or is no longer available."