Journal Entry Week 4

The webquests that Kajder talks about seem interesting, and actually seem like they would be useful for class. They are a content heavy tool, that uses the "wow" of technology. I'm not sure how easy it would be to integrate them during class work, because the mobile lab does not have enough lappys for each student; does it work to have more than one student per computer? Probably does, but I'm sure not as effectively because the students would argue about who gets to use the computer.
I know teachers who have used them and love them, but I have not. It all relates back to my lack of "activities" in the classroom. This came up today again, and its not bad. My mentor is totally like it, and I fall somewhere between him and the "gadget" heavy teachers. Class is about reading, close reading, discussions and the occassional lectures. This works. Could it be better? Probably. I think an effective way to do it, though, is to integrate these new ideas slowly and gradually.
A lot of the integration of technology seems to be an entertainment concept, and I am beginning to get a bit uncomfortable with it. Are we there to entertain students, or to educate them? Sure, this is not a completely black and white question, and there is a grey area, but a lot of the technology we could add, flashy pictures, movies, click here instead of going to a library book, seem like ways to dumb down the education so that couch potatos have an equal chance. Is it good that they get this equal chance? I suppose it is, but it still seems like we are taking all the effort out of their side of the job. They have less and less to do, and we have more and more to do. Is that what we really want them to learn? That someone else will do it for them? When are they going to learn to have a good work ethic?