The Little League 

            The big old YMCA building in Redlands serves as the base for all kinds of activities.  Off course, there are other sports going on at the YMCA of Redlands, but I choose to observe the basketball players.

            It was nine O’clock in the morning and the two teams playing were the Stampede against the Stars. The little players flocked the court and they came in all shapes and sizes.  Some are five, six and seven years old.  They were three, three and half, and some four footers in both teams.  The Stars wore silver jerseys, while the Stampede wore blue jerseys.

Game started around nine ten, and right from the start there were couple of players who stood out from both teams.  The number 13 from Stampede and 14 from the Stars.  These two players were dominating forces in the teams.  The referee was a young lady, with lack of enthusiasm and also was juggling the role of timekeeper.  Generally for this age group scores are not tallied.  The Stars dominated the first quarter, with number 14 rebounding and scoring.  There was travelling by the Stars players, which the referee did not call.  She had hard time keeping up with the kids.  A referee needs to run and keep up with players, making sure that all angles of the court are covered at all times and she was not capable of that. 

The Stars also controlled the second quarter.  Number 13 of stampede rebounded, but his shot on the basket was off.  The Stars replaced their line up with a cute tiny player who has no sense of dribbling.  Whenever he gets the ball, he hangs on to it with his dear life and was very smart on passing the ball.  His mission was to find number 14 and literary hand him the ball, then he runs with it for a shot at the basket. 

On the sidelines were parents, siblings, and grandparents all cheering on the players.  A blonde woman with white sweater stood out from the crowd.  Her cheering was telling her son what to do on top of her voice, while smacking her gum.  She was oblivious of other parents.  Next to her on the right sat a parent who very quietly was following every move the teams made.   On her left side was an another parent whom she strike a conversation with about her child and the team.

Fourth quarter, the stampede came alive, more defensive and stole more rebounds. Suddenly, number 13 had four rebounds that led to scores.  The team that seems to on the loosing side came back strong but not strong enough to win.  It was enriching and exciting watching these little players, who might one day become the next Kobe Bryant.

MONOTYPE, Quintessential of Printmaking! 

            What is monotype you might ask?   You are about to embark on an enriching painting/printmaking process.  You probably came to the conclusion that it has something to do with a creating process.  Well, you are right!  To create monotype is to have your inner spirit ablaze.  You don’t need a degree or P.H.D to let your expressions flow like a river of lava.   It is a simple process yet the possibilities are endless.  The tools of the trade can be inexpensive as a loaf of bread.  Your creative outcome could be the next masterpiece, who knows?

 How do you put your creative soul to the palette?  Around you are some of the ingredients you need. 

1.      A rolling pin or a serving spoon will give you the right pressure.

2.      Laminated construction or Mylar sheet will not soak up your medium.

3.      For sturdy platform, an investment in plexi-glass gives a surface of even pressure distribution. (both #2 and 3 are referred to as plate)

4.      Q-tips, couple of brushes, flexible knives, and your fingers will do just about any creative trick.

5.       Worn out t-shirts, rags, apron, gloves and overall will protect your skin from being part of the creation.

6.      Scissors, old magazines, freehand cutout manila folders in a variety of shapes create the perfect matrix.

7.      A set of basic six-color medium, such as oils, acrylics, and watercolors gives an extension to that creative soul.

8.      Baby oil, turpentine and orange hand wash are great to take off medium which is not part of

your masterpiece.

      9.   Smooth surface Bristol or printmaking paper will embrace and creat

         a home for your masterpiece.

Basic supplies can take you to places, but do not limit the horizon of supplies.  There are many interesting things around that can be incorporated into monotype. The next time you are on a  nature walk through the mountains, stop and look at the interesting leaves, wood grains, or barks and ask this question “how and where can I use this in my monotype?

Once you have gathered all your supplies you are ready to express yourself and create the next masterpiece.  You may decide to pre-prep by sketching a pre-conceived idea or be a daredevil and just dive in to your plate.  Oil medium will be used to guide you through the process, but any medium will work in a similar fashion with few adjustments.

An abstract landscape is a great exploration, for example the great golden state of California. A quick sketch on the plate of a beautiful valley scene with its mountain backdrop will be the first step. Put on your gloves and squeeze a handful of each of the basic colors on your palette creating the mood for art in the air. Visible colors spark reaction to the creative soul. 

To apply the oil, you may use the brushes, knives, Q-tips or the most versatile tool of all, your fingers!  The Q-tips are great for applying colors to corners and hard to reach areas. You can also use them to lift colors from areas you want to leave blank so the paper can play a role in the composition.  Express yourself as you see fit, apply all the different colors like a Kandisky abstract painting.   Frequent step away from the plate to examine the unity of the colors is necessary for making adjustments as one sees fit.  Remember that this is your creation and you are in the drivers seat.  Make sure that you drag the colors into one another creating a wet on wet look.  The blending of the colors also creates soft edges and offsets the hard edges.  Mix your primary colors to create new colors on the palette.     The manila folder can be cut out to different figure shapes that can be incorporated into the plate.  The figures may be ink with the oil or left blank to create silhouettes. Move the figures around until it creates a balance of unity with the background.  After color application and a sense of order are achieved the plate is ready for printing. 

Place plate on a study table and cover it with the paper.  Use the rolling pin to apply pressure on the plate with an even back and forth motion on the paper.  Take a peak to see how well the composition is transferring on to the paper.  After a successful transferal, remove the paper and see what adjustments are necessary.  Fingers can be used to nudge the medium to the right position.  Well, you have just created your original masterpiece.  Now don’t clean that plate yet!  Extend you creativity by adding found object and materials as a “chin-colle”.  Chin-colle is like doing a collage, you apply materials through the printing process.  You will soon discover that once you start a monotype and see all the different possibilities you will just keep going.

Monotype is a printmaking process that allows you to incorporate all other mediums into printmaking.  The process entails using a plate like plexi-glass as a surface to paint on and then transferring the image onto a paper.  You get only one impression off the plate.   I have created monotype for years and each time, I discover other possibility or tricks to use.  It is never a boring process and thus challenges you to the next level. 

Congressional Term Limits

..            The issue of whether congressional terms should be limited has been widely debated in the country for years.  It is an important issue that is fundamental to our democracy.  Different arguments have been put forward on this issue.  I am taking the position that there should be term limits on congress.

        It has been argued by opponents of term limits that to limit the term of members of congress amounts to an individual voter deciding how many years legislators will serve (Anglemeyer, 1999). While I agree that voters and not an individual should decide the terms of members of congress, it is the voters who will decide collectively through their votes about whether there should be term limits on members of congress.  The only thing an individual can do is to focus the debate.  When voters vote for term limits it is a choice that is not imposed by any individual.

        Opponents of term limits also contend that citizens from one state should not decide the term a congressman from another state should serve.  They argue that if voters from California do not like a Strom Thurmond or Jesse Helms, they can use term limits to get them out of office even though voters in their respective states want to keep them (Anglemyer, 1999). This argument misses the point because limiting time in office is not meant to punish any individual congressperson but to open opportunities for greater choice and more visibility for non-incumbent candidates.

        Critics also point to the fact that term limits would enhance the power of staffers and lobbyists.  This is another fallacy because it is congressional aides who write most laws.  The average tenure of congressional staffers is between six to eighteen months (Bandow, 1995).  It is the aides who wield tremendous influence in congress because the senior members of congress protect them.  By encouraging more legislative turnover, term limits will help to reduce the entrenched personal and committee staffs.  If term limits help lobbyists as the critics contend, why do lobbyists oppose term limits?  Special interests raised $3.3 million to oppose term limits in California in 1990 (Barlow, 1999).  They are the only group that contributes to “no” on term limits campaigns.  Surely, lobbyists’ influence will diminish with the passage of term limits, hence their strong opposition.

        Legislative expertise is another point that opponents of term limits cited when pointing out their objections to term limits.  They argue that inexperienced citizens with no legislative skills will tilt the balance of power to the executive branch at the expense of the legislative branch (Doug Brandlow, 1995).  My reply to that line of reasoning is that most of our current problems come from career politicians kowtowing to special interest groups.  As John Taylor, the early American congressman observed, “More talent is lost by long continuance in office than by rotation because ability stimulated by the prospect of future employment and smothered by the monopoly of experience” (Bandow, 1995.)  It is easy to trace our past problems like the savings and loans debacle of the eighties, our current problem of deficit spending, the social security problems and the country’s medical system, to the so-called experienced legislators.

        In conclusion, it is quite evident that we need term limits.  The career politicians have shown time and time again that they are not catering to the needs of the people who elected them to the office but rather to the needs of special interests.  They spend the better part of the year raising money for their re-election campaigns instead of legislating.  When they do legislate it is usually something that favors one special interest or the other.  They have demonstrated over several years that special interests are taken-care of before the citizens.  Career politicians have shown that they have skills in running for and winning elections but no skills in listening and doing things for the people who elected them.

 References

Anglemyer, S. (1999, February 16). Civic Values Re: term limits.  Retrieved

            May 17, 2002, from http://civic.net/civic-values.archive/199902/msg00087.html

Bandow, D. (1995, March 28). Real Term Limits: Now More Than Ever

Policy Analysis. Retrieved May 17, 2002 from http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-221.html

Technology Education Impact On Students Lives

Adeola Davies-Aiyeloja

Steve Everett

EDUC 306

Research Paper #4

Dr. Susan Daniels

Introduction

               Computers and the Internet have expanded the way in which education can be delivered to the students of 

today. We are finding out that the best method for improving educational standards is to utilize every tools available, i

ncluding state-of-the-art technology. Today's networking technologies provide endless opportunities to the practices 

of teaching techniques and learning methods. Educators are continually discovering that computers and multi-based 

educational tools are essential in the facilitating of learning and enhancing social interaction.  Computer based instruction 

and telecommunications can offer enormous instructional opportunities. Educators will need to incorporate this new me

dium into not only all the classrooms but also every aspect of the educational system. In this paper, we will look at some 

of the ways technology can be interjected into education, to include the benefits and the possible impact of technology on 

the lives of the students. 

          Some of the problems schools are facing in the wake of maximizing the impact of technology in the educational 

systems are those of continued funding, which is essential to maintain a level of cutting edge technological supremacy in the

 preparation of our children for the future. This same level of supremacy is needed to meet the needs of the population in 

our country’s schools who are the most impacted because of social barriers. Other barriers experienced in the schools are

 poorly prepared and equipped administrators, as it relates to technology. Lastly, teachers and administrators are on 

different pages when it comes to their approaches and definitions of what learning is, and how and when it takes place.   

Technology based curriculum must be a mainstay in order for America to stay competitive in the Global scheme of things.

         The American educational system must do a better job of integrating technology as a part of the foundation of 

education itself. Computers have made a fundamental change in most industries, providing a competitive advantage that

 has come to be essential to stay in business.

               Therefore, education must also use technology to improve the educational process instead of simply applying it 

to existing structures.  School systems often consider acquiring an enterprise computer network, but justify its purchase by

 applying it to routine administrative tasks, or take period by period attendance. Although these tasks are important, they 

only represent a small part of what technology can do for an educational institution.  Technology must go beyond just 

keeping attendance; it must focus on keeping students interested and productive.  "Curriculum improvement is the best 

strategy to prevent dropouts; technology is especially useful in this regard" (Kinnaman, p.78).  Technology can provide

 a unique and compelling curriculum resource, which challenges every student. The Clinton administration has taken steps 

towards improving educational standards via its "Goals 2000: Educate America Act of 1994" 

Technology in the at risk population 

Has American added to or created the climate for potential at risk students due the educational system inability to meet the needs of its customers (students), because of new developing issues beyond its’ control?  I believe we are experiencing a Paradigm Shift. A Paradigm Shift is defined as "When anomalies or inconsistencies arise within a given paradigm and present problems that we are unable to solve within a given paradigm, our view of reality must change, as must the way we perceive, think, and value the world. One of the greatest paradigms of modern time was that of the Swiss and their inability to recognize the shift that came with the invention of the quartz watch, causing them to lose 80% of the watch making business in the world. 

We must take on new assumptions and expectations that will transform our theories, traditions, rules, and standards of practice. “We must create a new paradigm in which we are able to solve the un-solvable problems of the old paradigm. (Barker, 1995)

 This shift has assisted in the development of one of the elements of The Digital Divide which simply stated is the inability to experience the potential of lives’ fulfillment due to limited access to information and/ or services. This has been brought on by the disparity between white and minorities when it comes to computers and Internet access. Americans are not equal in access to computers and Internet until the $70,000 household income range. (Zeiemelis, 1996)

  It is quite feasible that a group of people may lose as much 7 years a year on the curve of experience, education and or knowledge at the rate which information is now transferred.

             These and other issues such as standardized testing, teacher proficient may have increased focus on education.  Numerous views are expressed on virtually everything from strategies of teaching, approaches of learning, and emphasis on student vs. teacher centered instruction. (Schuyler, 1998)

Students of my era were passive learners; we sat and took in what the teachers put out. With the integration of technology one of the chief emphasis has been place on the cognitive perspective on learning activities which focus on behavior as they relate to strong engaging thinking, decision making, problem-solving and reasoning behaviors of students. The sweeping social revolution America is experiencing is grounded in telecommunications and digital technologies. This new age is a different world requiring preparation with different skills such as higher thinking process and the others mention in this paper.

 Many high school students in the past decade have graduated without the necessary skills to claim the America promise of rewarding jobs with the toil of daily labor.  The new emergence of research suggests that technology used in classrooms fulfilling such a vision, can be especially advantageous to at-risk children. Means, Blando, Olson, Middleton, Morocco, Remz, and Zorfass (1993) note that technology can engage students in challenging authentic learning. An at-risk student was defined as “any student who displays inadequacies in any one or more of the following categories: academics, interpersonal skills and academically motivated.”(Irmsher, 1997)   Research also suggests that there are many children living in vulnerable families and neighborhoods where the incidence of poverty, teen pregnancy, unemployment, substance abuse, and violence is widespread. Schools have recognized that the educational performance of at-risk children is for the most part is based on their environment and their performance will not improve unless changes are made to remove the barriers to learning created by the environments in which they live. Most of these begin outside the classroom walls.

Our ever-changing social climate is requiring that schools and educators take on new roles in developing new relationships. The metamorphous of the education system is dictating that teachers become more facilitators of technology as oppose to traditional teachers.  Technology has demonstrated the ability to tailor instruction to the needs of the students by improving instructional management, support teachers and assist in learning at there own pace    

Many changes will be necessary if American schools are to provide such exciting technology-supported activities for all students.  Time, effort, and resources are needed to bring students to a level of computer literacy. At-risk children from low-income families are less likely to have access to computers in their homes and often attend schools with less computer equipment (Goodship, 1990). More over, schools serving large numbers of at-risk children often lack the funds and resources to not only to support technology but the preparation and to include the training of teachers.

Today more educators are calling for high standards and more challenging learning activities for at-risk students.  New technologies can provide meaningful learning experiences for all children, especially those at risk of educational failure. Schools that capitalize on the relationship between technology and education reform will help students to develop higher order skills and to function effectively in the world beyond the classroom. Achieving such fundamental change, still, requires a transformation of not only the underlying instruction, but also the kinds of technology applications typically used in classrooms serving at-risk students. (Jones 1990)

Infusion of Technology to Aid Learning

            Technology has been in the school environment for ages and still its impact is in its infancy.   Many school districts have purchased hardware and implemented technology plans.   The question always falls back to how has all the knowledge been infused with learning?

            Traditionally, technology has been used as a vehicle to deliver instruction to students based on what the teacher knows.  The students then only learn from technology what teacher knows.  Jonassen, Peck & Wilson (1999) argue that students cannot learn from technology or teachers, because students learn from the thinking process, thus learning results from thinking.  Thinking requires engaging the mind and teachers and technology’s role in learning is indirect.  They further argue that technology can foster learning when used as tools and intellectual partners to help learners in the thinking process.

            The assumption about learning is that we learn from experiencing phenomena, interpreting, and reflecting on these experiences (Jonassen et al., 1999).  Infusion relates to the philosophy of constructive learning consequently,  a process of “making meaning”.  The Constructivists’ goal is to make meaningful learning that makes exceptions to the belief that not all-personal constructed meaning is equally valid.  The Constructivist views of meaningful learning utilized different types of thinking (Jonassen et al.).  To utilize these types of thinking the school systems must rethink the way technology is used for learning.

            According to Jonassen et al. (1999) analysis of technology fostering learning includes five attributes of meaningful learning; active, constructive, intentional, authentic and cooperative learning.  These five attributes are interrelated, interactive and interdependent.  Meaningful learning requires active learners, who are engaged in the manipulation of objects and observing the results of their manipulation.  Constructive attributes are a result of discrepancy between what the learner observes and comprehends.  This discrepancy generally creates a catalyst for learners, constructing the learning for their own mental model to explain and reflect.  Actively seeking and understanding of a goal  is one of the underlying  intentions, which lead to meaningful learning.  Jonassen et al. believes that the greatest intellectual sin educators commit is the over simplifying of ideas in order to make the transmission for learner easy.  They further stated, “Unless learners are required to engage in higher-order thinking, they will develop oversimplified views of the world.” (Jonassen et al., p.10).  Collaboration is very essential to humans and it the is core of our productive economy.  Humans collaborate every day at work in fostering the growth of  a company.  In schools, the underlying assumptions are that learning is an independent process and the opportunity to do collaborative work is very rare.   When all these attributes are put in place they create a synergy that results in a more meaningful learning experience than an individual learners can achieve in isolation.  Jonassen et al. believes that technology in schools should become the tools of meaningful learning, thereby, affording the students the opportunities  to engage in meaningful learning.

            In the eighties, educators saw the role of technology as a productivity tool due to its’ growing popularity in the business sector.  Teachers started using multimedia computers to teach, dominating the role of technologies in the classroom.   It can be argued that these multimedia computers are among the most powerful learning tools students can use (Jonassen et al., 1999). 

            How then does technology foster learning?  The use of technology as a constructive pedagogy to support learning should not be used as a computer assisted, drill-and-practice instrument, but as engagers and facilitators of thinking and knowledgeable constructivist tools (Jonassen et al., 1999).   In their analysis Jonassen et al. stated five useful roles of technology in fostering learning; technology as tools to support knowledge construction, technology as information vehicles for exploring knowledge to support learning-by-constructing, technology as social medium to support learning by conversing, and technology as intellectual partner to support learning-by-reflecting.  In their summation Jonassen et al. stated:

A great deal of research on computers and other technology has shown that they are no more effective at teaching students than teachers, but if we begin to think about technologies as a learning tools that students learn with, not from, the nature of student learning will change.

Future Trends in Technology Usage in Schools

            Technology is changing rapidly and the education arena has to keep up with the pace in order to better equip our future generations.  Within the past decade schools have purchased hardware and software, and the next step is maximizing its utilization.  What does the future holds for educational technology and will the “digital divide” end?  According to Resnick (2001), the digital divide will shrink but a serious ‘fluency gap” will remain.  

 Fluency gap is the result of lack of experiences that occurs from not being engaged in designing and creating things.  The future trend is in the development of new generations of computer and technologies that will provide children with the leverage to create things which, would have been difficult in the past (Resnick, 2001).  These devices will be ever-present, pervasive and seamlessly networked with one another.

            Bennett (1999) notes that educators have observed the acceptance of the powerful force of computer in society, nonetheless they overlay computers on procedures that teachers have always carried on.  He believes that changes of computer usage in education will change through a built in capacity activated by proper software and the world for improved education.

            Studies indicate that students will advance at a pace that is independent of the student’s ability rather than to the norms.  The studies further suggest that technology will make teaching upgrades more continuous throughout the globe (Bennett, 1999).  The role of teachers, according to Bennett (1999) will not vanished in education due to technology.  He stated, “Consequently, when computer are allowed to teach children, human pedagogues will become even more valuable as they will have time to do what they can do best.  Machines will teach but humans will educate” (Bennett. 1999, p. 2).

             In summation, Resnick (2001) believes that bridging the digital divide will not be adequate but new attitudes about learning and computer will be required.  Transformation of technology in the education arena must be treated with computational fluency on par with reading and writing (Resnick, 2001).

Conclusion

            With the ever-changing technological world, it is very important that schools keep abreast of the new advances, and make it a priority to implement the changes in classrooms.  The global scheme of things are rapidly changing and preparation of our students for the global market will be short changed if schools do not keep up with the changes. 

            Students of today are becoming more technologically advanced, hence a product of computer generation.  Constructivist view of infusing technology in classroom is the stepping-stone for preparing the students for the ability of higher level of  critical thinking to meet the future demand.  Technologically savvy students of the future will not accept the old way of being lectured at after twelve years of technology instruction.  Many of the basic courses offered through first four years of college will be covered in K-12 due to technology advancement.

            These authors feel that schools need to capitalize on technology advancement by using it to challenge the students to make meaningful learning with technology.  Finally, we think that technology in schools is here to stay and the “old school” way has to change for the benefit of our future generations.

 References

 Bennett, F. (1999, February). Education and the Future. Educational Technology & Society.

Retrieved May 25, 2002, from             http://ifets.ieee.org/periodical/vol_1_99/fbennett_short_article.html

Barker, J. A, (1995) Paradigms…. The Business of Discovering the Future

Goodship, J. (1990). Life Skills Mastery for Students with Special Needs.  U.S. Dept. of

Education.

Irmsher, K., (1997) Education Reform and Students at Risk. ERIC Digest.

Jonassen, D. H., Peck, K. H., & Wilson, B. G. (1999). Learning With Technology:

A Constructivist Perspective. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Jones, D.  J. & Watson, B. C. (1990). “High Risk” Students and Higher Education: Future

Trends,   

Means, Blando, Olson, Middleton, Morocco, Remz, and Zorfass (1993) Technology in At   Risk

populations

Resnick, M. (2001, June). Closing the Fluency Gap. Information Impacts Magazine. 

Retrieved May 24, 2002, from http://www. cisp. org/imp/june_2001/06_01resnick.htm

Schuyler, G. (1998) A Paradigm Shift from Instruction to Learning. U.S. Dept. of Education.

Ziemelis, A. (1996) Research FOCI The Main Research Areas of The Center. U.S. Dept. of

Education.