Running head: EPORTFOLIO ASSIGNMENT FOUR

Eportfolio Assignment Four: Evaluation Scholarly Articles.

Bailey Yates
Regent University

EPORTFOLIO ASSIGNMENT FOUR

Eportfolio Assignment Four

I have had the learning experience through this assignment to evaluate three different
scholory articles. First, Everybody is their own Island: Teacher Disconnection in a Virtual
School, second, What is Technology Education? A Review of the Official Curriculum, and
finally, The Essential Features of Technology and Technology Education: A Conceptual
Framework for the Development of OBE (Outcomes Based Education) Related Programmes in
Technology Education. Each of these articles brings something a little different but all pertinent
to the use of technology in the classroom.
This first article I read was titled, Everybody is their own Island: Teacher
Disconnection in a Virtual School. This article was written by several members of The
International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning. Abigail Hawkins and Charles
R. Graham Brigham of Young University, and Michael K. Barbour of Wayne State University
were the authors of this journal. This journal addresses the growing phenomenon of online
schooling, specifically in the area of kindergarten through 12th grade. Because of this growing
new field of education, the responsibilities of online teachers are surfacing more clearly and have
shown themselves distinctly unique when compared to the responsibilities of a teacher in a
traditional classroom. Most teachers find an element of disassociation from their students, from
teaching, and from their fellow educators because of the limited interactions allowed with online
schooling. This article discusses the repercussions of that disassociation as well as viable amends
for future online teaching.
The findings and discussion of this article are important because it not only
acknowledges the real and plenteous benefits of online learning, but it also confronts some of the
real issues of online learning. If educators wish to continue to use avenues such as online

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learning to best teach their students in a way that works for them, then the issues cannot be
minimized or dismissed, but rather dealt with. The other problem that can arise from this
philosophy is that many take it too far, seeing only the issues and inconveniences. There must
continue to be a balance.
These principles can apply to me as a future educator in a number of ways. First of all,
anything happening in my career field is something that I will want to be aware of as an
informed educator. Secondly, I do not doubt that as a teacher in the coming decade, I will no
doubt be incorporating technology into my lesson plans. This article is helpful, because I can be
aware of the pros and cons before I am personally confronted with some of the specific benefits
and obstacles.
The article, What is Technology Education? A Review of the Official Curriculum
discusses specifically what technology education is and what can be done to further it. The
articles specifically asks the questions, what are the goals of technology education, what should
technology education look like in classrooms, and why technology education is important.
(Brown & Brown, 2010) These findings are important because it confirms the importance and
relevance of technology education, and presents real life solutions. This is relevant to me as a
potential teacher because this idea is something that I will inevitably use.
The last article that I got to experience and evaluate was, The Essential Features of
Technology and Technology Education: A Conceptual Framework for the Development of OBE
(Outcomes Based Education) Related Programmes in Technology Education. The purpose of
this article is to further legitimize the nuanced aspects of technological education. The authors of
this article approach the principle from more of an atheoretcial perspective. The reasoning
behind this is, This could be attributed to the absence/neglect of conceptual frameworks

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(philosophical underpinning) in the development of programmes in technology education.
(Reddy, Swardt, & Gross, 2003)
These ideas are important because of the validation its lends to the legitimacy and
potential academic rigor of online courses. It evaluates the real life processes involved in setting
up educational courses. This is important to future educators like me who want to expand their
online resources for their classes. I plan on using an array of different resources in my future
classrooms.

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References

Brown, R. A., & Brown, J. W. (2010). What is technology education? A review of the "official
curriculum". The Clearing House, 83(2), 49-53. Retrieved from http://0search.proquest.com.library.regent.edu/docview/596727985?accountid=13479
Hawkins, A., Barbour, M., & Graham, C. (2012). Everybody is their own island: Teacher
disconnection in a virtual school. The International Review in Open and Distance Learning,
13(2), 123-140.
Reddy, V., Ankiewicz, P., de Swardt, E., & Gross, E. (2003). The essential features of technology
and technology education: A conceptual framework for the development of OBE (outcomes
based education) related programmes in technology education. International Journal of
Technology and Design Education, 13(1), 27-45. doi:http://0dx.doi.org.library.regent.edu/10.1023/B:ITDE.0000039568.05480.c3

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Footnotes

Add footnotes, if any, on their own page following references. The body of a footnote,

such as this example, uses the Normal text style. (Note: If you delete this sample footnote, dont
forget to delete its in-text reference as well. Thats at the end of the sample Heading 2 paragraph
on the first page of body content in this template.)

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Tables

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Note: Place all tables for your paper in a tables section, following references (and, if applicable,
footnotes). Start a new page for each table, include a table number and table title for each, as
shown on this page. All explanatory text appears in a table note that follows the table, such as
this one. Use the Table/Figure style, available on the Home tab, in the Styles gallery, to get the
spacing between table and note. Tables in APA format can use single or 1.5-line spacing. Include
a heading for every row and column, even if the content seems obvious. A table style has been
setup for this template that fits APA guidelines. To insert a table, on the Insert tab, click Table.

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Figures

Figure 1. Include all figures in their own section, following references (and footnotes and tables,
if applicable). Include a numbered caption for each figure. Use the Table/Figure style for easy
spacing between figure and caption.
For more information about all elements of APA formatting, please consult the APA Style
Manual, 6th Edition.