Evaluating Sources Assignment: Education and Technology

This assignment delves into the process of finding and evaluating academic sources, drawing from the text "TWH" to outline key strategies. The student outlines three primary learning points: how to find and track sources by consulting research librarians, utilizing databases and online resources, and how to effectively evaluate sources based on relevance, quality, and source type. The assignment further includes a definition essay, focusing on the concept of a "good education." The essay emphasizes that a good education should be fun and enjoyable. It uses Dean Shareski's TED Talk and a high school teacher's use of videos to support the argument for integrating creativity and technology in the classroom. The essay emphasizes incorporating technology for engaging lessons and improved learning outcomes. The student concludes that teachers should customize their activities to ensure student engagement and success, advocating for the use of technology to enhance the educational experience. The assignment includes a works cited section with relevant academic sources.

Surname 1
Name
Tutor
Course
Date
1. What are three new points you learned about finding and evaluating sources?
Finding and evaluating sources was a daunting task before reading in TWH (160-206).
However, after reading this text, I have learned how to find and evaluate the sources. The first
point I have learned is about how to find and track the sources. This is done by consulting with a
research librarian if feasible and then determining where and how I can start looking for sources.
The second point I have learned is how to find sources in print and online. In this respect, I have
learned that for sources in Databases, I need to go to 18b, and for online sources, I need to go to
18 c while for multimedia and print sources I need to go to 18d and 18e respectively. I have also
learned that for me to keep track of sources, I need to go to 18f. The third point I have learned
from TWH is that for me to effectively evaluate the sources, I need to initially decide which
sources are going to be useful for my project by determining relevance to my research question
(going to 19a); quality for my purposes (going to 19b) as well as evaluate the different types of
sources I am using including database and print sources (19c) and online sources (going to 19d).

Surname 2
2. Definition Essay
Introduction
Literally, education implies the things an individual learns by being taught. Therefore, the
definition of a good education refers to things an individual learn by being effectively taught
(White 45). However, what exactly does “a good education imply”? A good education is
basically accomplished whenever an individual has general to specific knowledge of things
which have ensued in the globe, things that might occur in the future of the globe, how to
converse with other people, and how to safely associate with colleagues in the contemporary
world (Henriksen, Punya and Petra 50). A good education should guarantee joy and fun
amongst the learners, both inside and outside classroom.
Discussion
A good education should ensure there is joy amongst the children in classroom and in
schools. This has been supported by TED talk provided by Dean Shareski on YouTube achieved
through various forms of strategies. According to Dean Shareski’s TED Talk, a good education
should comprise of regular creativity which allow the students to be creative in class. This
involves a teacher identifying when the student comes up with a new idea and maximize on it by
encouraging them that it is an interesting idea. This also involves changing pseudo learning to
real and authentic learning. A teacher should also allow students to ask silly questions and even
laugh during class lessons as this makes learners have funs in classroom and hence enable them
appreciate their existence in the classroom. The teacher should promote the humorous classroom
through singing to make children smile in classroom as a sign of a good education (Tondeur et al
559). This is because singing has been a an effective teaching and learning strategy for children

Surname 3
as it brings joy in classroom and hence make the children have an urge of learning. Thus, joy
remains a worthy goal that a teacher should pursue in classroom as it is a sign of wellbeing.
A good education should also incorporate the use of technology through a fun (ish)
manner achieved through different fun ways such as use of videos in classroom. According to the
TED talk, we have observed a high school teacher (Jared) who has unusual ways of presentation
and ways of giving weekly homework biology vocabularies. This is achieved through videos that
feature friends and vacation destinations and famous athletes. Having such a distinct presentation
has benefited students by helping them learn and enjoy their class sessions. Jared’s choice of
using the videos make the students easily get to know and master the biology vocabularies in a
fun way which would have been difficulty to achieve if he were to use the ordinary classroom
teaching strategies. The teachers and educators need to design classroom in a manner that
incorporates the use of technology as seen in the TED talk where the videos were used. This is
because technology makes the lesson fun, and improves skills of both students and teachers.
Technology is also important since it allows the students to learn by themselves as we observed
in the videos made by Jared (biology high school teacher in the TED Talk video) who only acted
as the facilitator of learning the biology vocabularies using the videos that featured famous
athletes. Technology is also important in good education since it keeps the students motivated to
learn and hence lessening the work of the teachers. Technology leads to a good education
because it is both future-oriented and builds collaboration between learners as was observed
during the biology vocabulary class in the Ted Talk where the students developed higher order
thinking skills through the use of videos in classroom. Thus, technology should be used in
classroom as a sign of a good education as it has been associated with improved outcomes in
classroom (Salomon 150).

Surname 4
Conclusion
A good education is necessary to impart the necessary knowledge amongst the students.
As observed in the above discussion, a good education should be fun and enjoyable to all the
students to achieve improved outcomes. Teachers should also customized their classroom
activities and presentation in a manner that ensures fun and enjoyment amongst the learners to
ensure successful lessons. The discussion reveals that teachers can use videos to improve the
outcomes in classroom and even when giving the homework for their students. Thus, it is
important that the teachers understand the contexts of their lessons and the needs of their
students to customize their teaching strategies that result in improved outcomes. Only teachers
and educators who can guarantee fun and joy in their classrooms will succeed in their teaching
activities. Therefore, the need for them to always incorporate appropriate technologies in their
classrooms.

Surname 5
Works Cited
Henriksen, Danah, Punya Mishra, and Petra Fisser. "Infusing Creativity and Technology in 21st
Century Education: A Systemic View for Change." Journal of Educational Technology
& Society 19.3 (2016).
Hirsch Jr, E. D. What Your Fourth Grader Needs to Know (Revised and Updated):
Fundamentals of a Good Fourth-Grade Education. Bantam, 2016.
Salomon, Gavriel. "It’s not just the tool but the educational rationale that counts." Educational
technology and polycontextual bridging. Brill Sense, 2016. 147-161.
Tondeur, Jo, et al. "Understanding the relationship between teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and
technology use in education: a systematic review of qualitative evidence." Educational
Technology Research and Development 65.3 (2017): 555-575.
White, Margaret. A Good Education: A New Model of Learning to Enrich Every Child.
Routledge, 2018.