GDrive

The only problem I see with the GDrive is if everyone goes towards this method of storing and saving their info on Googles servers we may not always be able to access our data. This is because it is technology and my internet goes in and out all of the time. I would be very upset if I had something really important saved on this GDrive and I could not access it because one of their servers were down. Other than that small problem I think the GDrive is a great idea. People will be able to access their information from anywhere and will not have to spend a ton of money on a desktop or laptop computer. I think that the GDrive is a great new piece of technology. I just hope that when this does come that public computers do not charge people to use them.

Changing the way we think

I will have to disagree that google and other internet search engines are some how re-wiring our brains. Yes, you may get a headache from looking at the computer screen for to long but I'm pretty sure my brain is functioning just as well when I first got on the computer. It is not the computer's fault that you can not pay attention while reading a book. People who work at a computer five days a week seem normal to me and are seemingly capable of living in the real world. I think that this article is trying to make us feel that we are going crazy and that the internet is trying to control our brains. We have the ability to control how we think, what we like and what we do. I do believe that people now spend entirely to much time on the computer. Myspace and facebook to me are almost a way for people to say and be what they really are not in real life. People consume themselves with what really does not matter. Computer search engines are great for the classroom because students have so much they can explore at their fingertips.

ACCESS ATQS (5)(c) 3.(i)

AlabamaConnecting Classroom, Educators and Students Statewide program is a positive and exciting new way to allow students to learn in the less traditional settings of a classroom. ACCESS is what I would call a new form of teaching because it is basically a class that is taught via the internet. Students are now able to take classes they otherwise would not be able to take in their high school. Now ACCESS provides highly trained teachers to students who may not have certain classes available to them that would give them dual enrollment credits or even an advanced diploma. ACCESS allows students to sit in their class at their school, but watch and learn from another teacher in another classroom via audio or visual. (t.v).

If you are interested in becoming an ACCESS teacher you must go to the Educators area of the ACCESS website and fill out an application. By doing this you may be able to teach students that otherwise would not have been introduced to this type of teaching. I believe if students are taught via ACCESS it may spark an interest in teaching, technology or science. It is something different to them and may allow them to become more involved in the class. Not only can students watch a teacher teaching a certain subject but it allows them to communicate with other students. Students can watch labs that they would not be able to participate in. This is a great resource for any teacher to be able to use at whatever school they are teaching in.

ALEX http://alex.state.al.us ATQS(5)(c) 3.(i)

I have found that the Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX) is not only a useful tool for teacher's to use in the classroom but it is also a source of educational student web links for students of all ages. Students can research famous artists, science information and foreign languages because these web links are given on ALEX. As a teacher one should use these links and then provide them to your students so they can use them in and outside of the classroom.

If you find ALEX to be a very useful source of information to use in your classroom then you can create an ALEX account that will enable you to store lesson plans and many more. Lesson plans are essential in the classroom. If you click on the Lesson Plans button you are offered numerous free lesson plans you can use as a guide in the classroom. If you do not find these useful you can create your own. In order to create your own lesson plan you must create an ALEX account.

Another thing I found that can also be very helpful is the Search button. I simply typed in the word frog and numerous lesson plans came up for frogs. One of the lesson plans was titled "The Life Cycle of a frog". This tool is much easier than using the Lesson Plan button because you can type in whatever you are looking for and you then have a lesson plan for that subject.

If all of this is to confusing you can click on the Help button and it will explain everything you need to know about ALEX. The best information I can give is to explore ALEX. After learning about ALEX I believe I will use this as a source of educational information for my classroom.