Chapter 8: Designing with Technology

I'm not really sure what I think about this chapter in general. I realize that technology can help students learn and that various technologies, although they may take extra time and effort than traditional methods, can help students internalize information better. But, I wonder what is the point of using design technology. I feel like this technology is not going to help children learn content knowledge in the various subject areas, teaching children to use it will just help children know how to use it. I don't see how the skills can be generalizable to other areas.

Drawing Design Ideas with Computer Aided Design Software
When reading about the CAD programs, I really liked how there were programs adapted for younger students. When reading about design technology, I always worry that they will be too complicated for students to be able to use.
If students need to design something, I do think that using design software is best because it creates more professional looking outcomes. When I was a student, I liked things I drew to be precise and I used to get hung up on trying to draw perfection. I think that often students have this feeling and using the design software will be able to alleviate problems and let students move more quickly through the design process.
I also thought it was good that some CAD programs provided students with feedback about whether their object is true to the constraints of the real world. I think this is very important for children to realize and would help them practice their visual/spatial reasoning skills.

Testing Designs and Building Mental Models with Simulation Software
When beginning to read this section I felt that using this type of technology in the classroom would be better than some others because the book said it was a good way to investigate science and engineering topics. However, at the end of the section, the book said that often it is difficult to integrate science and math topics into design because that doesn't usually happen in the real world. I just don't know what to think.
After reading the trebuchet section, I feel like students might learn some science and math topics if they were well integrated, but I don't see any overt content learning. The car design competition might be more closely related to integrated content and designing but I wonder how many of these activities would be available to students. Also, I wonder how teachers can get more information about these types of competitions and what the cost (monetary as well as educational time) would be.
I do think that if planning a design activity where in students are going to actually construct the final product, teachers should use some type of simulation program. Like they mentioned in the trebuchet section using a simulation that allows students to test their prototype will vastly cut down on wasted time and time spent on manipulation/error.


Developing Programming Skills while Designing in the Media Arts
This section was mainly about Scratch. Although when first beginning to use Scratch, I thought it was too difficult and I was frustrated, looking back, I actually enjoyed learning it. Because we were college students, we manipulated and learned it on our own, however I think that elementary students would need more targeted instruction. I think that creating a project with them collaboratively ( in order to expose them to the thinking and tools of the program) would be a better starting point.
I feel like learning to use Scratch helped me to develop logical thinking skills and that students will be able to benefit from this experience also. Users must tell the computer exactly what to do and this requires discecting an action into appropriate commands (a good skill for younger students to be exposed to and learn). Scratch is also good for younger students because it provides feedback. Although it is not immediate, any time students want to test what they have done, they can click on the presentation mode button. Also, Scratch is better for students because of its cartoon like appearance and colorful commands. I think that this is much more interesting and easy to look at than simple program code.
I also really like the idea of iStopMotion but wonder if something similar were available for use on a PC. Many schools do not have Macs and I think that would be such a fun and interesting program for students to use.

Designing Music with Composition Software
I like the idea of developing musical awareness, but as a classroom teacher, I feel like I would be under qualified to guide students' explorations into music. I feel like this software would be better suited to be used by a music teacher wanting to incorporate technology and gain student interest in her curriculum.
From their descriptions, I feel like the Impromptu program would be very similar to Scratch and thus students would need an adequate amount of time to become acquainted with its interface and understand its use.
Because of my earlier hesitation, I think that I would be more comfortable using the online music activity also described in this section. I like the simple buttons and cute icons (such as a turtle for slow music and a rabbit for fast) and the colors are kid friendly. I think it is much more simpler than the Impromptu program and I would probably feel okay to use it with younger students.

Overall
Although this chapter made me realize that some technologies could have more educational purposes than they seem to have, I feel like most these options would be better used by the computer/technology teacher. They are mainly about learning a specific technology with limited content application and I feel like they would take up a lot of time just to learn how to use them. But overall I have a positive opinion about the software and would want children to be exposed to different types of computer programs and applications.