Week 15 Article Reflections

Article Title: Court MySpace Postings Are Free Speech
Source: Associated Press, by Charles Wilson
Web Link: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2007-04-10-myspace-speech_N.htm
Reflection:
Although I do not agree with the girl in this articles actions, I do believe in freedom of speech. The principal is a public figure and will always receive praise and criticism about his actions, beliefs, and policies. I most definitely believe that the girl deserved punishment, but perhaps not to the digree of charges that she was facing. I think that the principal should have kept the punishments within the school: having the student first delete the web page, a in school suspension, community service, etc. Although, unless this student created the web page during school time, it is hard to punish a student in school for things that they did out of school. I do not feel sorry for the girl, what she did was childish and damaging. Perhaps if this happened to me, I would also feel the need to charge someone with slander and identy theft. Overall, I guess I am not quite sure how I feel this girl deserves to be punished. MySpace needs to have a tool to block people from creating fake profiles. How this is done, I'm not sure, but it is definitely something the people at MySpace need to look into to prevent future occurances such as this

Article Title: Study Eyes of Tech on Classroom
Source: AP Education Writer, by Nancy Zuckerbrod
Web Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070405/ap_on_hi_te/education_technology
Reflection:
There is a study suggesting that technology usage in the classroom is not benefiting math and reading scores. This study has shown that classrooms rich in technology are not doing any better in these areas than classrooms not using very much technology. I believe that good technology integration can help to enrich a classroom's learning experience through vicarious experiences, educational games, and many other means, but most of the basics in instruction usually need to be done one on one with a student. I think that technology can help a student to use that knowledge more creatively and expand that student's horizons, but much of what that student needs to even begin using technology is direct instruction, inquiry, problem-based learning, or any other instructional strategies to convey learning. Also, I think that teachers impact their students' learning more than any other element in the classroom. A good teacher usually impacts their students' scores more than any thing else.