Week 7 Blog

World Wide Web article

For a long time, the more sophisticated functions of computer networks have been the domain of highly trained programmers and network administrators, but this article elaborates on different ways that lay people (specifically teachers) can benefit from the use of databases and web interfaces without having to learn complicated coding languages. Richard Repp paints a picture of how internet forums and online course materials, organized in a database, can enhance learning and teaching. When I was in high school I saw very little use of internet tools to facilitate learning outside the classroom. Very few teachers at my high school had websites or discussion forums that they used in the learning process. Almost 6 years later, it seems like everyone and their dog has a website, and in my experience as a substitute teacher and observing classes for other CSUSM courses I've seen first hand how teachers are incorporating web based learning materials into their lesson plans.

Database

Beth Holmes lists her 21st century skills that will replace the three "R's". She identifies the six "C's" for 21st century students. They are "compute, communicate, conclude, confirm, categorize, and classify." This is interesting to me because reading, writing, and arithmetic, at the most basic level, fall under the "Knowledge" category of Bloom's Taxonomy, while words like classify, conclude, and communicate fall in the higher levels of the Taxonomy, in the areas of application and evaluation. Holmes identifies the proper collection and sorting of information to be the foundation of this new learning paradigm. She says, "being able to manage information and data promises to be among the most challenging of those literacies [the six C's], because today's students will face enormous choices as they search through information resources." To this end, she feels that the creation and manipulation of databases should be an integral part of the classroom experience

Bells and Whistles

A database created strictly for the preservation of mass amounts of data is fine, but a database that can be utilized to draw new conclusions from given data is even better. Best of all is a database designed to facilitate and streamline that process to enhance learning and the creation of new knowledge. This article outlines the benefits of a database and showcases some of the exciting ways that information can be accumulated and sorted by a good database. Like the previous database article, this piece argues for the inclusion of databases in lesson plans in order to teach students how to effectively organize data and how to sort useful information.