Chapter 6 Reflections

I'll admit that I take my internet access at home for granted.  When I first used the internet at age twelve, I didn't really think anything of it, because the school system didn't quite implement it yet.  All I used it for at the time was for e-mailing my relatives.  As I got older, I began to realize its potential for information, especially in high school and college.  Now that I want to be a teacher, I have to think of ways for my students to effectively and appropriately use the internet.  With the implementation of broadband connections and increasing availability, "free education has never been so accessible" (Myers 2011).  So a students learning doesn't begin and end in the classroom, it's an occurence that is consistent with time.  However, there are students who won't use the internet appropriately and as an educator, one needs to know how to prevent this.  At the Dare County Alternative School, the students are each given a laptop to use.  It's supposed to be used for schoolwork only, but most of them do play games on it or browse inappropriate content.  Students are to use computers by following a school's Acceptable Use Policy (Morrison and Lowther, 2010).  So the school implements a firewall that blocks websites based on their content and it also has a program that allows the teachers to view what the students are doing on their laptops without them knowing.  Teachers are then able to take control of the laptop and exit out of the program or game that their playing.  Unfortunately, some students know how to bypass the firewalls or they just simply log back into the game after the teacher closes it.  I once had to take a students laptop away, because he kept playing music with vulgar lyrics after I warned him a couple times to turn it off.  I use many different features on the Web, for example to take an online class at East Carolina University.  I also use it for communication between friends and relatives via social networks or e-mail.  Yet mainly, I use the internet for research and for keeping up to date on current events.  There are many different tools and websites that I can use for each of these features, and when I become an educator I plan on using more features, such as creating a class website or Wiki. 

Bibliography:
1.  Morrison, G., & Lowther, D. (2010). Integrating computer technology into the classroom: skills for the 21st century . (4th Edition ed., p. 30). Pearson.

2.  Myers, Courtney Boyd "How the Internet is Revolutionizing Education" May 14, 2011 thenextweb.com retrieved from: http://thenextweb.com/insider/2011/05/14/how-the-internet-is-revolutionizing-education/