•      For the first 2 reviews the same journal was used.

    Issue Date: April 1999

    Volume: 19 Number 8

    Name of Organization: Miller Freeman Inc.       Content Area: Technology/Education

    Journal Theme: The Teaching of Technology in American Schools

Article: "New Teachers and Technology: Are They Prepared?"

Author: Ilene G. Rosenthal

This article is representative to all of these areas:

Hardware- Teachers must know how to use for teaching technology in the classroom.
Software- Teachers must know how to use for teaching technology in the classroom.
Trends- The Technology boom throughout the world which enables us to access the internet and communicate at the touch of a button with anyone anywhere is the trend that requires teachers to have the skills necessary to integrate technology into the classroom.
Methods- Integrating technology into all classrooms and curriculums.

    The need for teachers to know and feel comfortable with computers and technology and using these skills in their classrooms is drastically necessary.  Throughout this article, New Teachers and Technology: Are They Prepared? there are many proposals and examples for teacher training in technology putting a lot of emphasis on training students in their educational programs at college.  “The National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), the agency in charge of accrediting teacher preparation programs in the United States, is taking steps to increase the probability that most new teachers will leave college able to integrate technology into their teaching.”  Beginning in 2000 for colleges to keep their accreditation, “technology will have to be integrated throughout the coursework.”  New teachers as well as veteran teachers (who will get computer training through seminars and master’s programs) will be able to use technology in the classroom and our children will benefit.

    I totally agree with this article and am so impressed with the new standards for educating future teachers in technology set forth by the NCATE.  I believe that I am in good hands at Valdosta State University because I feel that I am not only capable of using technology for my own personal needs but also of learning strategies for integrating it into my classroom.  Technology, if used correctly, will enhance all subject areas and will help teachers integrate the disciplines more efficiently.  I am excited about teaching and I know that computers will allow for many of my future students to learn to read, do math, research, write, etc. in such a creative more hands on way than I was taught.  Because of this, I feel that they will have so many successes in learning.
 
 

2) Review By: Masako Miyagi

Article: "Networking and the School Administrator's Role"

Author: Susan Brooks

This article is representative to all of these areas:

Hardware- Networked computers
Software- Networking computer programs and instructional programs
Trends-Many schools are considering installing networked computers.
Methods-Using networked computers as instructing materials and communicating tools with other classmates or people across the country.

    Having networked computer labs at school will bring great benefits for students and teachers by allowing teachers to have more time to communicate with their students, among other advantages.  Students will learn to cooperate with other students in the class or anywhere across the country while using networked computers.  Moreover, teachers will be able to use varieties of programs from the Internet as teaching material.   However, it is not easy to establish networked computer labs because it is expensive.  The prices of computer hardware and software become reasonable, but there are other expenses that the school has to consider maintaining networked computers.  Technology progresses rapidly, so the school might need to hire some technologists to maintain the computers, or they should pay the training fee for teachers to learn technological knowledge about computer.   Therefore, the school administrators should take plenty of time to consider five things before making the decision.  The first thing is to make it clear who will use the technology and how it should be used.  The second is to discuss this subject with people who are involved with the school.  The third is to discuss with an expert who knows both computers and the school well.  The forth is to consider the benefit which students and teachers will get not only now but also in the future.  The last is to calculate all expenses for the networking plus technologist, monthly, and possibly upgrading fees.  If the administrators and teachers keep these in mind, they will be able to make their school's computer system a success and get the benefits from it.

    Networked computers are great teaching materials, and it is necessary for young students to get used to using the technology from an early age.  Therefore, most students, parents, and teachers wish to have networked computers in the school.  Computers have become friendly to users, but they are still complicated to establish and maintain for untrained people like me.  Moreover, computer technology progresses rapidly, so it is hard to keep the most up-to-date knowledge for me without being trained.  Therefore, the school needs a computer technologist to maintain the networked computers.  I think that it is difficult to hire a specialist at small schools such as elementary schools.  Consequently, it will be one of the requirements for me as a teacher to have more extensive knowledge of network technology.

3) Review By: Jonathan Casey

Name of Journal Technology & Learning

Issue Date: August 1999

Volume 20 Number 1

Content Area: Technology in Schools

Journal article: “Reinventing Tradition: CD Yearbooks and Online Newspapers”

Author: Amy Poftak

        The article, “Reinventing Tradition: CD Yearbooks and Online Newspapers” is actually made up of two separate articles.  The first, which is about the CD yearbooks, is titled “Multimedia Memories.” The other article is titled “Hot off the Wire,” and is about online newspapers.  I chose to read and review the first article about the CD yearbooks.  This topic is of great interest to me.  I was the editor of the yearbook in high school, and we introduced a world yearbook on CD-ROM my senior year.    Amy Poftak, the author of the article, writes about some of the pros and cons of having a yearbook on CD.  Some of the major pros that the author writes about are price, amount of information, pictures and sound.  These are just a few of the perks of the CD yearbook.  For the most part CD yearbooks are less expensive to produce than the traditional yearbooks in book form.  The price for a traditional yearbook can range from $30.00 up to over $100.00 depending on the size of the school and the quality of the yearbook, while the CD yearbooks could be sold for as low as $5.00 in some cases. The amount of information that can be stored on a CD can by far surpass that of a book.  Actual footage of a school play with sound and dialog or even clips from the school news channel can be saved on the CD.  Some of the cons that the author points out about the CD yearbooks can really take away the meaning and fun of the whole yearbook idea.  For one, you cannot get all the signatures and messages on the CD like you can on the traditional yearbook.  Another problem is the fact that not everyone owns a computer to view the yearbook.  The author also writes about CD yearbooks in their beginning, starting in 1989 in a High School where an assignment was given to students to imagine the yearbook of the future.

        Applying this article to my specific educational career is somewhat difficult due to the fact that I am in early childhood education.  Most elementary schools do not have yearbooks, but there are some that do.  Teachers and parent volunteers put most yearbooks in elementary schools together.  If the school that I work for has a yearbook, I would be very interested in working with the yearbook.  This article is very easily applied to teachers who are in the upper levels of education, mainly high school, where there is a huge emphasis on the yearbook.  If the school had a powerful enough CD burner, then the school could publish their own CD yearbooks and sell them for just the cost of materials.  This could be very helpful to a teacher who has a strict yearbook budget from year to year.  On the other hand, it is a great supplement to the conventional yearbook.  An additional section of the yearbook, which would not be part of the actual yearbook, could be saved on a CD and stored in the back of the book.  With this type of technology available, the yearbook advisor has unlimited capabilities with the amount of information and memories enclosed in the time capsules.