Article Assessment 2

Bethany Waggoner
akbethany@hotmail.com
10/7/08

The Educator’s Guide to the Read/Write Web

Will Richardson

Overview

The Internet is no longer a spectator sport. Through new digital technology, anyone can publish their own writing online through blogs, contribute to and edit collaborative websites called wikis, and create podcasts, amateur radio programs which are broadcast online. Richardson relays how these and other technological advances have changed the classroom, and the role of the teacher.

In this age, the audience for student work has expanded from the teacher to the world through the Internet. Richardson claims that to be literate today, you must be able to do more than read and write. You also must be able to edit and identify an online source, as well as make a judgment on the authenticity and relevance of the information.

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Energy Project

I love me some coffee. I make a cup every morning to drink as I get ready, sometimes I buy another cup in one of those drive through stands on the way to work, some days I buy an americano at the Dimond Espresso Stand. The point is not where I buy the coffee, but what I drink the coffee out of.

Questions:
How many paper coffee cups do I throw away a year? What resources are used to produce each cup? How would using my refillable thermos change these figures?

I am not the first to address this issue, there are many websites out there urging coffee lovers to bring their own mug, not only to save the environment, but to save money too! Even the coffee giant, Starbucks has gotten involved.

For this project, I will keep track of how many times I buy coffee out of a paper cup in one month. Using that information I will calculate how many paper cups I use per year. To find out what resources are used to make all the cups I use in a year I will use data from the paper calculator of the Environmental Defense Organization. I will then compare this data to the amount of resources it takes to make a stainless steel coffee thermos.

Dimond's Technology Culture

For this class, I was assigned to be a sort of technology detective at Dimond, sniffing out technology in the school wherever I could find it. I first interviewed our Principal, Cheryl Guyett, to find out whom I should talk to about technology at Dimond. She sent me over to Charles McCubrey, who is Dimond’s Technology Coordinator. After interviewing Mr. McCubrey, I then questioned my mentor teacher, Les Matz.

All three people that I interviewed seemed pleased that someone was taking an interest in technology at Dimond. Mrs. Guyett and Mr. McCubrey helped to answer my technical questions, and I learned more about Dimond’s history with technology and current strengths and weaknesses from Mr. Matz.

I often start conversations about technology in the field of art with Mr. Matz. It seems he appreciates new technology, but doesn’t want to be a slave to it. Art is one of the few classes where you actually craft things with your hands. A printing press was considered technology at one time, a tube of paint, a kiln, a potter’s wheel. Now we have Photoshop, but that doesn’t mean we should dismiss the value of creating things manually.

Technology-wise, Mr. Matz is facing the problem that many art teachers of a certain generation are, the change from slide to digital format. He has many slide shows made, but says that he cannot find new slide projectors anywhere for sale that fit his slide size. Mr. Matz’s projector is on its last legs, so he must go through the tedious task of scanning his slides one by one and forming digital shows from his laptop. He does have access to an ELMO which is nice for some demonstrations, but something like a SmartBoard where you can save your work would be very useful his room.

In general, Dimond prides itself on its technology, but it falls short from my perspective. The technology it does have is concentrated in one area of the school, and there is a lack of opportunity for student involvement.

Full Report on Dimond’s Technology Culture