Monday, April 18, 2011

The Technology Gender Devide

Today we talked about using technology in class... safety issues, ethical issues, Fair use (concerning what is considered copyrighted and such), and Copyright laws. During the period of time of talking about ethical issues we talked also about the Gender Devide, and about how for most high school computer classes, there was a 4:1 ratio of males to females enrolled.

Though i agree that every female SHOULD have the right and ability to use and explore technology, i simply believe that most females would simply CHOOSE to have more personal relationships, and more emotionally rewarding careers because of female's naturally more emotional genetic make-up. I'm not saying every female, but the majority. When i googled the female to male ratio at MIT, i found this article: "Male/Female Enrollment Patterns in EECS at MIT and Other Schools" It states that females "accounted for only 22% of the degrees in Electrical Engineering. In Computer Science, women accounted for only 15% of the degrees awarded--the lowest ratio of any MIT undergraduate program with more than a few majors.", while in other areas they accounted for about 32% of degrees awarded. Still.... less than half.

Now as a future teacher, i really couldn't care less if ALL my female students wanted to become computer scientists, THATS GREAT... BUT my personal experience tells me that that is not likely. I would encourage any female student to FOR SURE educate themselves on how to bank online, navigate their way around the workings of a computer, and become aware of how to maintenance their computer. But i personally think that most high school girls would MUCH rather go shopping, join a softball team, hang out and talk and look at magazines, and have those face-to-face interactions than sit for hours and take apart their calculators or computers and put them back together, or even sit with friends for hours at a time, eyes glued to a tv screen, and talking via head-set. Men simply don't NEED that relational, emotional connection like women do. This IS coming from a wife that has had 3 men piled into my living room for 24hr. gaming marathons... so granted, i could be a bit bitter. ;) But as i have observed my husband, as well as my sister's boyfriend... MANY times they have chosen video-gaming, computer-building, and computer-involved activities, RATHER than time outdoors, sports, productive work around the house, and time with family. Personal observations that ran through my mind during class... :)

Monday, April 4, 2011

Class Activities Monday, April 4th

today in class we're exploring 2.0 Web Tools... and i've found LOTS of cool sites!

One of my favorites is FreeRice.com, where you basically just play a game to earn bowls of rice that are then donated to hungry people all over the world! now when i first opened it up, it automatically went to a vocab-themed quizing game, which i loved (and rocked at)! And in a matter of about 10 minutes, i was able to win and donate 1000 grains of rice! I LOVE this! Easy and fun way to make a difference! Check it out HERE!




Another fun thing i could use in my classroom is this White House Scavenger Hunt... found HERE

I could also basically make my own for different websites, with a lot more questions! This could be used as a class/group activity to do in class, as a take-home quiz/homework, or if a made a really big one with really hard questions, i MIGHT do it as a take-home test! WAY good idea, i think!

CNET News also did an article on the year's 100 Webware Tools WINNERS... found HERE which talks about all the different and most popular tools that can be used and found on the internet, most of them for free! As a future teacher, i think it's important that i at least be familiar with these. Personally, i already use a lot of them... such as Facebook (social network), Picnik (online photo-editing program), Pandora (customizable radio station), Craigslist (online buy/sell/trade site), as well as YouTube (online video-sharing site). For sure YouTube could be used in the classroom, as well as Google or GoogleChrome and other search engines. Loving all these new tools that i'm learning to integrate into my classroom! :)

Saturday, April 2, 2011

*personal update* just a little bit busy!

A few things have happened these past few weeks that indicate that i am maybe just a little bit crazy. Twice now when people ask what i've been up to i've replied honestly... "Going to school full-time at Central, 27 weeks along in pregnancy #2, working part time at a photography studio, running around after my 3 year old... staying busy, ya know?" hahaha! i guess that response deserves a few funny looks! Many times i just get the response "Wow.", to which i can't really argue, because they don't even know the half of it! lol

But as i mentioned, i'm still going to school full-time at Central College... it's slightly (or not-so-slightly) overwhelming most of the time, but i feel good knowing that i'm getting closer and closer to being done and having a college degree! I have an Environmental History and Policy class that i'm doing ok in, a Modern Latin America class that is NOT fun, a Human Relations class that is speeding up (lots of things due in the next few weeks!), a Developmental Psych class that is fun and interesting, and then that Intro. to Instructional Tech. class that i'm actually involving my blog in! :) Have any of you peeked at my Voki or Wordle? lol I've enrolled for next fall's classes, none of which i'm REALLY excited about. But at this point, i just want to get classes DONE and i need to keep my GPA up. :S eek! Only 6 more weeks of school!

then we can move on to the next big event for our family...

I'm now 27 weeks pregnant... and things are progressing quite uneventfully. This is the last week of my 3rd trimester, which is hard to believe! I'm getting more and more tired as i haul myself around... stairs are my worst nightmare at this point. lol Swelling isn't too bad so far, thankfully! And neither is weight, surprisingly! At 25weeks i had only gained 7lbs! I'm pretty proud of that, taking into consideration that i gained 40lbs with Nate! :S i don't want to get even CLOSE to that this time around! :S EEK! We've moved Nate to a big boy bed, and moved the crib into our room... though we need to fix a few things on it. :S I've only bought a few things... a pack 'b play, a few little outfits, some burp clothes, and some new bedding. I'm excited for when school is done and i can focus on getting ready for baby! :) only 13 more weeks until baby is due!!!!! :D We've basically picked a name... but i'm still kinda hoping for "Noah". Justin is in love with "Weston" though, so we might be stuck with that. lol






I'm still working at Digital Galleria Designs (which, by the way, now has their own blog! :) Click HERE to check us out! It's fun to be back at work, and i'm taking advantage of the time i have there, as after June i no longer will be a formal employee there because of baby and my need to focus on school! :S It's a bummer, but my awesome boss was great about telling me i was welcome back through the summers, or anytime in the future! I'm so glad! i certainly do love taking pictures, and learning new things... the GPA is just demanding more attention. UGH. :( But i'm looking forward to getting maternity pictures taken within the next couple months, and then taking baby in there for pictures once he's here! ;) I wouldn't want to go anywhere else, thats for sure! :)

Nate turned THREE on March 21st! I can't believe it!!!!! He is getting so smart, and loves anything to do with John Deere, Thomas and Friends, or being outside! I don't think he really "gets" that he's going to be a big brother, but i think he'll be good at it. :) For his birthday we did a Thomas the Tank Engine theme, and with the help of my sister we made a cupcake train! it turned out SO CUTE! My sis is just so talented! I was so thankful for her help!



Nate loved it! We had so many people here, and honestly there were many people who we didn't get to invite because of the limited space in our little house. :S SOME DAY, we hope to be able to fit ALL the people we love into our little home! :) Nate was spoiled ROTTEN this year with the gifts he received! And Great-Grandma and Grandpa even made him a special Thomas cake! It turned out great! Can't believe my little man is growing up so fast! I love watching his personality develop, though! He certainly makes every day fun and interesting! ;)