As this semester comes to an end I am completing my last REQUIRED blog post. I am very happy that I was taught all about blogging, and I am proud of my blog. Also, I am glad that I learned the value of making a blog, and how it can have huge benefits in my future classroom.I spent a lot of time this semester making blogs! wow 2 500 word posts a week was quite the assignment. However, I am happy that I was given the practice of working with blogs, and I can see how they are very beneficial.
As an exceptional education teacher I am not quite sure on how I will incorporate blogging into my classroom. One idea that I have is to write a blog on the classroom activities and enable the parents of my students to access the blog and have a better idea of what the daily events are. I have some time to think about it but I do know that this class taught me many things about technology such as blogging. I am very happy I was given this knowledge and I look forward to using my new technology skills in the future. THANK YOU DR. BOYER
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Ch. 10 Blogs Wikis and Pod Casts.
The beginning of this chapter asked the question “Now that we have talked all about these tools, what is going to be the impact on education” The author’s state that there will be two unstoppable trends in the use of technology in the Read/Web classroom. The first trend is that more and more content both new and old will continue to come online. The second trend is that more and more the creation of that content is collaborative.
The next paragraph of the chapter talked about new illiteracies. In the olden days we defined being “literate” as someone who can read and write. Now a day’s people need to be able to produce thing online and decipher them. To consume information (The authors say) people need to be editors as well as readers. It will be our job as future educators to teach our students to be able to create, sustain and participate in these networks in safe, ethical, and effective ways.
The next section of this chapter talked about the big shifts in education in how best to teach students. The first big shift talks about the material that the teachers will be teaching. Back in the day teachers owned the material that they were teaching their students. Now with everything online the students can access the material at any time. The second big shift talks about how the students can access other teachers through the aid of social networks. No longer is the teacher the single educator of a room.
The Third Big shift talks about how with these social networks and collaborative assignments the idea that students need to work independently for the majority of the time is over. With the use of the internet a lot of the assignments are collaborative. The fourth big shift talks about how lectures are recombining a thin of the past. In most classrooms it’s all conversations. The Fifth big shift talks about how no longer will it be essential to memorize fact, but instead with the use of the internet the challenge will lie in where to find it.
The sixth big shift talks about how the information posted on the internet is no longer as accurate as most text books. Readers will have to be editors as well. The seventh big shift talks about the web will be the new notebook for our students. The eighth big shift talks about how writing is no longer limited to text, instead we can write in different fonts, sizes, and genres.
Shift 9 and 10 seemed to go hand in hand. They talk about how mastery is the product that you can produce, no longer are tests the deciding factor, and the contribution, not completion is the ultimate goal for students to be successful in a project.
The epilogue of this book talks about the enormous amount of work that you can produce in just a few minutes with the aid of the internet.
I agree with the shifts talked about in this chapter. It is apparent to me that the authors can see the writing on the wall that technology is here to stay and is transforming our classroom. I believe what they have to say and I am trying to take their advice.
As a future educator I will try my hardest to introduce helpful technology into my classroom. I believe that it does have a valid purpose in my room, and I am excited to help my student proceed to the future.
The next paragraph of the chapter talked about new illiteracies. In the olden days we defined being “literate” as someone who can read and write. Now a day’s people need to be able to produce thing online and decipher them. To consume information (The authors say) people need to be editors as well as readers. It will be our job as future educators to teach our students to be able to create, sustain and participate in these networks in safe, ethical, and effective ways.
The next section of this chapter talked about the big shifts in education in how best to teach students. The first big shift talks about the material that the teachers will be teaching. Back in the day teachers owned the material that they were teaching their students. Now with everything online the students can access the material at any time. The second big shift talks about how the students can access other teachers through the aid of social networks. No longer is the teacher the single educator of a room.
The Third Big shift talks about how with these social networks and collaborative assignments the idea that students need to work independently for the majority of the time is over. With the use of the internet a lot of the assignments are collaborative. The fourth big shift talks about how lectures are recombining a thin of the past. In most classrooms it’s all conversations. The Fifth big shift talks about how no longer will it be essential to memorize fact, but instead with the use of the internet the challenge will lie in where to find it.
The sixth big shift talks about how the information posted on the internet is no longer as accurate as most text books. Readers will have to be editors as well. The seventh big shift talks about the web will be the new notebook for our students. The eighth big shift talks about how writing is no longer limited to text, instead we can write in different fonts, sizes, and genres.
Shift 9 and 10 seemed to go hand in hand. They talk about how mastery is the product that you can produce, no longer are tests the deciding factor, and the contribution, not completion is the ultimate goal for students to be successful in a project.
The epilogue of this book talks about the enormous amount of work that you can produce in just a few minutes with the aid of the internet.
I agree with the shifts talked about in this chapter. It is apparent to me that the authors can see the writing on the wall that technology is here to stay and is transforming our classroom. I believe what they have to say and I am trying to take their advice.
As a future educator I will try my hardest to introduce helpful technology into my classroom. I believe that it does have a valid purpose in my room, and I am excited to help my student proceed to the future.
Technology Inquiry
It's Done! Finally done!
In this section of my blog post I'm supposed to write all about how much effort I put into this assignment. I have a two word answer for this question: a lot! From finding all my resources and making an annotated bibliography, to organizing me wiki and uploading all my pictures, to finally making a script and producing a screen cast I spent A LOT of time on this project. The result I am proud to say is a very good wiki that I believe shows some great ways to introduce technology into the cognitively disabled classroom. Following professor Boyer's guidelines I believe I have met all the expectations for this assignment and hopefully I will get a good grade on it.
I learned a lot from this assignment. As a exceptional education major it will be my job one day to find technology that will benefit my students, and this assignment opened the door to where I can look. Also, I now know how to make a wiki and I also have to knowledge to make a pretty one.
I am very happy that I have successfully completed this assignment. Technology has not always been one of my favorite things to work with but assignments like these make me a believer. Thank you
In this section of my blog post I'm supposed to write all about how much effort I put into this assignment. I have a two word answer for this question: a lot! From finding all my resources and making an annotated bibliography, to organizing me wiki and uploading all my pictures, to finally making a script and producing a screen cast I spent A LOT of time on this project. The result I am proud to say is a very good wiki that I believe shows some great ways to introduce technology into the cognitively disabled classroom. Following professor Boyer's guidelines I believe I have met all the expectations for this assignment and hopefully I will get a good grade on it.
I learned a lot from this assignment. As a exceptional education major it will be my job one day to find technology that will benefit my students, and this assignment opened the door to where I can look. Also, I now know how to make a wiki and I also have to knowledge to make a pretty one.
I am very happy that I have successfully completed this assignment. Technology has not always been one of my favorite things to work with but assignments like these make me a believer. Thank you
Friday, December 10, 2010
Chapter 10 Rethinking Education
This chapter started out with the title of the book, “Rethinking Education in a Technological World.” I thought this was an excellent way to close out the book! The chapter summed up everything that we talked about throughout the chapter.
Currently there is a strong association between schooling learning. As learning moves out of school, our conception of learning will begin to broaden, and we will see more hybrid experiences that begin in the classroom and move into other contexts. Basically what the chapter is saying is that schooling outside of an institution is a great thing and can have many benefits.
There was a short but interesting comment about Rethinking motivation that I thought was very true. The chapter gave a statistic that said many students are very bored with school. Technology can fix this problem! If students can learn from video games, using the internet, and watching movies and shows, not only will it
interest them but it will motivate them to learn.
The next big part of the chapter talked about the transitions between learning and work. The chapter said that with technology there will be a much easier transition between work and schooling. Even today many students in colleges across the nation are finding that with the help of technology they not only are being aided in finding jobs, but with their technology skills they are more suited and prepared for the jobs.
This chapter ended by talking about the author’s vision of the future. They state that we use education to work toward our national ideals of equality, opportunity, and democracy. The future leaders of our nation will need to understand the affordances of new resources to everyone. Technology is here to stay and the benefits are obvious and numerous. Now comes the proper transition into conforming technology to meet our needs.
The book is done! I was very happy I was able to read this book and find more about how technology is changing our world, and can be extremely beneficial to our classrooms. When I first took this class I did not believe that technology was all that necessary. I loved my hardcover books, multiple handouts, and lots of writing. However after reading this chapter and completing education 331 I am now a believer in technology. There are so many good uses that can help our students I cannot understand why anyone would want to stick with our original methods of technology.
As a future teacher I will do my best to implement the proper technology into my classroom. I am an exceptional education major and I plan on working with cognitively disabled students. There are many example of technology that I can use in my room. I will use this technology and hopefully it will help me be a good teacher.
Currently there is a strong association between schooling learning. As learning moves out of school, our conception of learning will begin to broaden, and we will see more hybrid experiences that begin in the classroom and move into other contexts. Basically what the chapter is saying is that schooling outside of an institution is a great thing and can have many benefits.
There was a short but interesting comment about Rethinking motivation that I thought was very true. The chapter gave a statistic that said many students are very bored with school. Technology can fix this problem! If students can learn from video games, using the internet, and watching movies and shows, not only will it
interest them but it will motivate them to learn.
The next big part of the chapter talked about the transitions between learning and work. The chapter said that with technology there will be a much easier transition between work and schooling. Even today many students in colleges across the nation are finding that with the help of technology they not only are being aided in finding jobs, but with their technology skills they are more suited and prepared for the jobs.
This chapter ended by talking about the author’s vision of the future. They state that we use education to work toward our national ideals of equality, opportunity, and democracy. The future leaders of our nation will need to understand the affordances of new resources to everyone. Technology is here to stay and the benefits are obvious and numerous. Now comes the proper transition into conforming technology to meet our needs.
The book is done! I was very happy I was able to read this book and find more about how technology is changing our world, and can be extremely beneficial to our classrooms. When I first took this class I did not believe that technology was all that necessary. I loved my hardcover books, multiple handouts, and lots of writing. However after reading this chapter and completing education 331 I am now a believer in technology. There are so many good uses that can help our students I cannot understand why anyone would want to stick with our original methods of technology.
As a future teacher I will do my best to implement the proper technology into my classroom. I am an exceptional education major and I plan on working with cognitively disabled students. There are many example of technology that I can use in my room. I will use this technology and hopefully it will help me be a good teacher.
Chapter 9 Rethinking Education.
This was a relatively short chapter! (Only 6 pages) The chapter started out asking the question “what does it all mean? The first paragraph had a great argument about why technology in the classroom is a good thing. A man named Don Tapscott argues “for the first time in history, children are more comfortable, knowledgeable, and literate than tier parents about an innovation central to society; they are a force for social transformation.
The first part of the chapter talked about what are kids learning form technology? They state that children learn ousted of school and home with the help of technology. Video games are an excellent example of this. Children who play video games develop sophisticated problem- solving and communication skills in virtual worlds beyond the idea of reading with your children to playing with your children. Also when players participate in a larger gaming community, games can accelerate opportunities for children to develop new sources of vocabulary in meaningful contexts.
This chapter ended talking about how the media also has an effect on our students. Shows are becoming very elaborate and drawing many viewers. These viewers sometime create websites and blogs that students can follow and communicate with the outside world. Finally where does this leave us? The chapter ended talking about how there is now even more pressure from inside the classroom and out to include technology in the classroom. Now we need initiative people to initiate the movement.
This short chapter really did not change my thinking about technology to much. I appreciate the video game argument, and I realize that this may be true. However, I believe that this chapter could have found more examples or proven its point in another chapter. After reading this chapter I now am convinced that technology in the classroom is a good thing, now it’s time to learn about how I can successfully implement it and keep the peace with the classroom and parents of my students.
As a future teacher I will encourage my students to participate outside of class in educational uses of technology. Though I do not believe that video games are super educational There are multiple ways on the internet, computer, and media that my students can learn. As a result of this chapter I will maybe investigate into video games a little more and see if there are really some educational ones.
The first part of the chapter talked about what are kids learning form technology? They state that children learn ousted of school and home with the help of technology. Video games are an excellent example of this. Children who play video games develop sophisticated problem- solving and communication skills in virtual worlds beyond the idea of reading with your children to playing with your children. Also when players participate in a larger gaming community, games can accelerate opportunities for children to develop new sources of vocabulary in meaningful contexts.
This chapter ended talking about how the media also has an effect on our students. Shows are becoming very elaborate and drawing many viewers. These viewers sometime create websites and blogs that students can follow and communicate with the outside world. Finally where does this leave us? The chapter ended talking about how there is now even more pressure from inside the classroom and out to include technology in the classroom. Now we need initiative people to initiate the movement.
This short chapter really did not change my thinking about technology to much. I appreciate the video game argument, and I realize that this may be true. However, I believe that this chapter could have found more examples or proven its point in another chapter. After reading this chapter I now am convinced that technology in the classroom is a good thing, now it’s time to learn about how I can successfully implement it and keep the peace with the classroom and parents of my students.
As a future teacher I will encourage my students to participate outside of class in educational uses of technology. Though I do not believe that video games are super educational There are multiple ways on the internet, computer, and media that my students can learn. As a result of this chapter I will maybe investigate into video games a little more and see if there are really some educational ones.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
How has my thinking about technology's role in teaching and learning changed over the semester?
Over the semester my thoughts have changed a lot! I really did not like using computers that much. I knew that they were good tools but i hated using them! Not I really believe using technology can help students and I am excited to use it.
How Will You Teach Ella?
I have three ways I plan on using technology in my learning environment.
As a special needs teacher I plan on using many tools that allow my students to interact with the class as much as possible. Some students have a very tough time communicating, and to help them out the first tool that I will enable them to have are communication devices. This could be simple things such as voice boxes where they push a button in front of them that will communicate. In my room communication is important and I want to be able to help my students as much as I can.
Another way that I believe I can use technology in my classroom is to have my class set up their own blog. Even if the students cannot type I will find a way for my students to post a digital journal online of the classroom activities. This will enable them to give their own opinion of the class activities, assignments, and events.
Finally I want to involove the parents of my stdents as much as I possible can. (Especially if my old educational technology professor is one of the parents) I will do this by having a class blog that I make. I will email to the parents a screen cast of how to navigate and access the blog, and on the blog I can inform the parents of classroom activities, upcoming events, and Homework. I believe this will be an excellent way for the parents to become involved and get an idea of what I am teaching thier children.
As a special needs teacher I plan on using many tools that allow my students to interact with the class as much as possible. Some students have a very tough time communicating, and to help them out the first tool that I will enable them to have are communication devices. This could be simple things such as voice boxes where they push a button in front of them that will communicate. In my room communication is important and I want to be able to help my students as much as I can.
Another way that I believe I can use technology in my classroom is to have my class set up their own blog. Even if the students cannot type I will find a way for my students to post a digital journal online of the classroom activities. This will enable them to give their own opinion of the class activities, assignments, and events.
Finally I want to involove the parents of my stdents as much as I possible can. (Especially if my old educational technology professor is one of the parents) I will do this by having a class blog that I make. I will email to the parents a screen cast of how to navigate and access the blog, and on the blog I can inform the parents of classroom activities, upcoming events, and Homework. I believe this will be an excellent way for the parents to become involved and get an idea of what I am teaching thier children.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
IRLO
I spent a lot of time on this assignment. When I first started this project I tried to complete it and really had a tough time. I found it so frustrating that after failing at trying to make one I met with Dr. Boyer to see if there was a possibility of me not doing this assignment and still receiving a B for a grade. He would not let me be a quitter and he helped me get started. I made the lesson “Leo Needs Help” and based it off a Lion that need help getting out of a scary woods. To get out he has to pass through some scary characters that their dreaded addition problems.
I am very happy that I was able to complete an assignment such as this one. I can fully see myself in the future designing some IROLs and allowing my students to use them. This assignment had a very big impact on my future teaching as now I have the knowledge and technology to make my very own IROL. This was a very frustrating yet fun project that I am happy I completed.
I am very happy that I was able to complete an assignment such as this one. I can fully see myself in the future designing some IROLs and allowing my students to use them. This assignment had a very big impact on my future teaching as now I have the knowledge and technology to make my very own IROL. This was a very frustrating yet fun project that I am happy I completed.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Interactive White Board
I designed my interactive whiteboard lesson to accomodate students in a cognitive disabled classroom. It was a very fun assignment and I believe I made a lesson that would interest my students while at the same time help get their minds going in the morning.
I put a lot of effort into this assignment. I am not at all computer savvy so just starting this project was a little difficult. However, with the help of my professor and the Smart Exchange website I was able to put together a lesson that I am proud of. I spent many hours designing my lesson, and I even sought out my professor for additional help and advice.I had a little difficulty getting used to working with the software but once I got the hang of it I now am pretty good with it.
I am very excited to use interactive whiteboards in the future, and I believe this assignment had a huge impact on ability to design lessons on the smart board. I believe that the lesson that I made could be used in a special needs classroom and in the future I plan on using it. One of the coolest things that I received from doing this assignment is I now can teach others about interactive whiteboards and how to design lessons on them.
Overall, I am very happy that I now know how to make a interactive whiteboard lesson. I have downloaded the software to my home computer and I have designed many lessons for others classes since this assignment was due.
I put a lot of effort into this assignment. I am not at all computer savvy so just starting this project was a little difficult. However, with the help of my professor and the Smart Exchange website I was able to put together a lesson that I am proud of. I spent many hours designing my lesson, and I even sought out my professor for additional help and advice.I had a little difficulty getting used to working with the software but once I got the hang of it I now am pretty good with it.
I am very excited to use interactive whiteboards in the future, and I believe this assignment had a huge impact on ability to design lessons on the smart board. I believe that the lesson that I made could be used in a special needs classroom and in the future I plan on using it. One of the coolest things that I received from doing this assignment is I now can teach others about interactive whiteboards and how to design lessons on them.
Overall, I am very happy that I now know how to make a interactive whiteboard lesson. I have downloaded the software to my home computer and I have designed many lessons for others classes since this assignment was due.
Exit slip 12-2-10
Wow what a day! Today I got to record teh "What we did in class wiki." This was a fun but busy task.
In class today we watched a video about a teacher that implemented many tools into her classroom. As a class we took notes on this and made a blog post entitled One Teachers Story
We then were directed to two articles. We broke up into groups and read different parts of the articles. We then did a jigsaw activity where the whole class intermingled and discussed what we read. In the end we discussed what we all learned today and went over the homework.
If you would like a full account of what we did today in class you can follow this link
https://sites.google.com/site/fall2010wwdicwiki/home/section-1-lab
In class today we watched a video about a teacher that implemented many tools into her classroom. As a class we took notes on this and made a blog post entitled One Teachers Story
We then were directed to two articles. We broke up into groups and read different parts of the articles. We then did a jigsaw activity where the whole class intermingled and discussed what we read. In the end we discussed what we all learned today and went over the homework.
If you would like a full account of what we did today in class you can follow this link
https://sites.google.com/site/fall2010wwdicwiki/home/section-1-lab
One Teacher's Story.
Today we watched a video entitled One Teacher’s story. Our assignment was to find different ways that this teacher integrated technology into her classroom.
In the past this teacher used traditional methods of teaching her students which included a lot of work for her and a lot of paper.
In her new classroom she has a smart board which allows her students to participate in cooperative learning and actively engages them and encourages participation. She also talked about having her students participate in online collaborative projects. These projects allow her to connect with peers worldwide and enable her to interact with people such as experts in the field. She has a class Blog that she updates daily, and finally her students have their own blog where they can talk about their studies and lives and share with many people outside of the classroom. In her room her students have access to laptops which helps her integrate technology.
Before we had all this technology we COULD send home assignments. We COULD do collaborative assignments (not online) with students and teachers in other cities and schools. We COULD engage our students and encourage participation. We COULD share our perspectives.
Before, we COULDN’T do much work that was shared worldwide. Before, without internet, we COULDN’T blog. (this requires an actually blog) Before, we COULDN’T integrate tools such as a Smart board, or Laptop.
Before we COULD HAVE done many things better. This lies in the fields of cooperative learning, engaging our students, and limiting the use of paper and thus saving trees.Also sharing perspectives could have been improved as well as discussing current events.
In the past this teacher used traditional methods of teaching her students which included a lot of work for her and a lot of paper.
In her new classroom she has a smart board which allows her students to participate in cooperative learning and actively engages them and encourages participation. She also talked about having her students participate in online collaborative projects. These projects allow her to connect with peers worldwide and enable her to interact with people such as experts in the field. She has a class Blog that she updates daily, and finally her students have their own blog where they can talk about their studies and lives and share with many people outside of the classroom. In her room her students have access to laptops which helps her integrate technology.
Before we had all this technology we COULD send home assignments. We COULD do collaborative assignments (not online) with students and teachers in other cities and schools. We COULD engage our students and encourage participation. We COULD share our perspectives.
Before, we COULDN’T do much work that was shared worldwide. Before, without internet, we COULDN’T blog. (this requires an actually blog) Before, we COULDN’T integrate tools such as a Smart board, or Laptop.
Before we COULD HAVE done many things better. This lies in the fields of cooperative learning, engaging our students, and limiting the use of paper and thus saving trees.Also sharing perspectives could have been improved as well as discussing current events.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
PSA
My group and I did our PSA on Internet Safety. We offered some helpful hints and informed kids to be careful on the internet. This project was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed working with my group members. It was surprising how fast the project went when we all worked together. I believe we all worked equally hard on this assignment and I am proud of how it turned out.
I honestly do not think that making a PSA will have a huge impact on my teaching future. However, I really did enjoy making it and I do believe it could be useful. I am glad that I now know how to make one, and I believe I am prepared to make one if I needed to in the future.
You can find our PSA by following the link below. Enjoy!
http://thebertrambump.blogspot.com/2010/11/psa.html
I honestly do not think that making a PSA will have a huge impact on my teaching future. However, I really did enjoy making it and I do believe it could be useful. I am glad that I now know how to make one, and I believe I am prepared to make one if I needed to in the future.
You can find our PSA by following the link below. Enjoy!
http://thebertrambump.blogspot.com/2010/11/psa.html
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Exit Slip 11-18-10
We had a good class today. We watched the final presentation (Chapter 10). Found 5 more resources for our delicious account. This activity really helped us realize that there are tons of resources and tools such as delicious, google, and Bing help us find many helpful tools for our classroom.
POD CAST
My partner Trefor Jones and I put a lot of effort into the making of this podcast. It was the first time any of us had done something like this so it was a little difficult to get used to. The hardest part was speaking clearly and loudly and adding "fill in" music. It was really nice that we got to work together on the assignment. With two people working on the podcast it seemed to go a lot faster and we enjoyed it a little more.
I really do not think that this will have a huge influence on my future teaching. I thought that the screen cast was a lot easier to make, and did the same job just without music. Being a special needs teacher I do not believe that my students would benefit from a pod cast but their parents may. I am happy I now know how to make one, and I believe I am prepared to make another in the future.
I really do not think that this will have a huge influence on my future teaching. I thought that the screen cast was a lot easier to make, and did the same job just without music. Being a special needs teacher I do not believe that my students would benefit from a pod cast but their parents may. I am happy I now know how to make one, and I believe I am prepared to make another in the future.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Exit Slip 11-11-2010
Time to catch our breath! Today Dr. Boyer gave us some work time which helped a lot! In the beginning of class we heard the group discussion on chapter 10. We then discussed the presentation, in which we all basically agreed they did a very good job.
We then (after some discussion about teaching) had some work time to catch up nice!
We then (after some discussion about teaching) had some work time to catch up nice!
Chapter 9 Blogs, Wikis. Podcasts
Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts. Chapter 9
This week’s chapter talked about using social Networks. They hit on the very popular networks of Facebook, and Ning. Many people use social networks to explore interests and find information that goes beyond what they have access in school or in their local community. This chapter is going to talk about how teachers can successfully use social networking sites in their classrooms.
According to our book many schools block Facebook from their computers. What they don’t realize is that you could actually use this tool, or social networking tools like it to aid yourself and fellow teachers in education your students using a method they all seem to enjoy.
The book started of its rant about Facebook explaining that they advise to not befriend their students on Facebook. You should tell your students that your connection to Facebook to them is interest based not friendship based. On Facebook teachers can create private or public groups where classes can exchange information, write on each other’s walls, answer questions, and create a shared space of materials of the course. The next pages in the book listed some example of the few numbers of teachers that actually use Facebook in their classroom. Teachers are creating groups, and libraries have pages to give out information on new books coming out.
The book then switched to talking about a site called Ning, which is something that I have never heard about. Ning allows you to create your own free social networking site around whatever topic you want, complete with personal profiles, photos, video links, groups, discussions, blogs, and more. It seems that this could be a safer site to use instead of Facebook, and it could also be more useful. Many schools throughout the nation are already using Ning as they have found there are huge benefits. Just like the first section the book listed many examples of people using Ning in the classroom. (pg. 141)
As a future teacher I think that social networking sites are awesome! Though there is always a risk of bad things that could happen, it is my beliefs the benefits way outweigh the negatives. I really had no idea that schools were beginning to use sites such as Facebook and Ning in the classroom, but after they explained why I think that they can be awesome tools. Though the chapter mainly talked about how social networking cites can be helpful to the students I believe that they could also be helpful to the parents of the students. Now longer will teachers need to take private time painstakingly writing notes home. Now they can just log on send the parent’s private messages, and save a bunch of time and materials.
I plan on using social networks in my classroom as much as I can. I believe they are awesome tools that not only help the students but the parents too. (Also, it will make my job a lot easier and more effective)
This week’s chapter talked about using social Networks. They hit on the very popular networks of Facebook, and Ning. Many people use social networks to explore interests and find information that goes beyond what they have access in school or in their local community. This chapter is going to talk about how teachers can successfully use social networking sites in their classrooms.
According to our book many schools block Facebook from their computers. What they don’t realize is that you could actually use this tool, or social networking tools like it to aid yourself and fellow teachers in education your students using a method they all seem to enjoy.
The book started of its rant about Facebook explaining that they advise to not befriend their students on Facebook. You should tell your students that your connection to Facebook to them is interest based not friendship based. On Facebook teachers can create private or public groups where classes can exchange information, write on each other’s walls, answer questions, and create a shared space of materials of the course. The next pages in the book listed some example of the few numbers of teachers that actually use Facebook in their classroom. Teachers are creating groups, and libraries have pages to give out information on new books coming out.
The book then switched to talking about a site called Ning, which is something that I have never heard about. Ning allows you to create your own free social networking site around whatever topic you want, complete with personal profiles, photos, video links, groups, discussions, blogs, and more. It seems that this could be a safer site to use instead of Facebook, and it could also be more useful. Many schools throughout the nation are already using Ning as they have found there are huge benefits. Just like the first section the book listed many examples of people using Ning in the classroom. (pg. 141)
As a future teacher I think that social networking sites are awesome! Though there is always a risk of bad things that could happen, it is my beliefs the benefits way outweigh the negatives. I really had no idea that schools were beginning to use sites such as Facebook and Ning in the classroom, but after they explained why I think that they can be awesome tools. Though the chapter mainly talked about how social networking cites can be helpful to the students I believe that they could also be helpful to the parents of the students. Now longer will teachers need to take private time painstakingly writing notes home. Now they can just log on send the parent’s private messages, and save a bunch of time and materials.
I plan on using social networks in my classroom as much as I can. I believe they are awesome tools that not only help the students but the parents too. (Also, it will make my job a lot easier and more effective)
Chapter 8 Rethinking Education
Rethinking Education Chapter 8
The title of this week’s chapter talked about how schools are coping with the new technologies. The authors talked about how in an effort to provide equality of outcomes federal and state policies have emphasized accountability by promoting standardized educational outcomes and pressuring schools to adopt uniform practices in the classroom. This long and confusing sentence basically says that the school officials are becoming worried about the accountability that relies on the schools to teach the children. Their plan to help with this is to instill more uniform practices into the classroom. This practice which was implemented over the past years has had mixed results. What this chapter is going to talk about is how they believe technology can help with this problem.
Assessment was the first topic discussed. The authors believed instead of relying on the instructors to decide when and how to give a test, the students could find the credentials of what they need to do to graduate on a computer. They then can form a schedule and a plan that fits their lives and still allows them to graduate. Students could in the end have a portfolio of credentials for purposes of employment or college applications.
The next section of the chapter talked about new curriculum designs that technology can help with. With technology students can now focus their learning around their goals and interests. In the future the students could decide what their interests are and base their life goals around the technological certifications that meet the goal of their interest.
The final section of this chapter talked about how technology can help equality in the classroom. If we can figure out a way to bring technology to poorer regions that cannot afford it, it will put everyone on an even playing field. They will have the tools and resources that everyone else has, and with this they will have the same opportunity to succeed.
I really don’t think I agree with everything that this chapter talked about. It is cool that you could make a curriculum using technology and have students use this technology to plan their lives. However, I really believe that the current system of education that we have today is working just fine. It is true that technology can enhance the abilities that a classroom has, there is no doubt of that. I am afraid that we may start becoming too dependent. Yea, it would have been cool to only take classes that interested me and my interests. It was the classes that I did not want to take however, that I believe I learned the most in.
In the future I will probably object to the idea of technology based curriculums. I do not believe that they are a good idea, and I do believe it will cause huge problems in the education world. Technology is not bad; it is how we use it that scares me.
The title of this week’s chapter talked about how schools are coping with the new technologies. The authors talked about how in an effort to provide equality of outcomes federal and state policies have emphasized accountability by promoting standardized educational outcomes and pressuring schools to adopt uniform practices in the classroom. This long and confusing sentence basically says that the school officials are becoming worried about the accountability that relies on the schools to teach the children. Their plan to help with this is to instill more uniform practices into the classroom. This practice which was implemented over the past years has had mixed results. What this chapter is going to talk about is how they believe technology can help with this problem.
Assessment was the first topic discussed. The authors believed instead of relying on the instructors to decide when and how to give a test, the students could find the credentials of what they need to do to graduate on a computer. They then can form a schedule and a plan that fits their lives and still allows them to graduate. Students could in the end have a portfolio of credentials for purposes of employment or college applications.
The next section of the chapter talked about new curriculum designs that technology can help with. With technology students can now focus their learning around their goals and interests. In the future the students could decide what their interests are and base their life goals around the technological certifications that meet the goal of their interest.
The final section of this chapter talked about how technology can help equality in the classroom. If we can figure out a way to bring technology to poorer regions that cannot afford it, it will put everyone on an even playing field. They will have the tools and resources that everyone else has, and with this they will have the same opportunity to succeed.
I really don’t think I agree with everything that this chapter talked about. It is cool that you could make a curriculum using technology and have students use this technology to plan their lives. However, I really believe that the current system of education that we have today is working just fine. It is true that technology can enhance the abilities that a classroom has, there is no doubt of that. I am afraid that we may start becoming too dependent. Yea, it would have been cool to only take classes that interested me and my interests. It was the classes that I did not want to take however, that I believe I learned the most in.
In the future I will probably object to the idea of technology based curriculums. I do not believe that they are a good idea, and I do believe it will cause huge problems in the education world. Technology is not bad; it is how we use it that scares me.
Exit slip 11-4
Wow I forgot to post an exit slip! Today we talked a lot about fixing our IRLO. Dr. Boyer talked about what makes a good IRLO and what his expectations will be when he sits down to grade them. We ended by talking about our annotated bibliography, and he showed us a yes test to see if we are staying on task.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
S.W.O.T.
http://www.screencast.com/users/JimmerLietz/folders/Jing/media/820e4192-3d68-4bdd-a7c2-8547ae64a1ef
The tool that I worked with for my Cool Tool Screen Casts was Google Custom Search. Google custom search enables you to create your own search engine that searches exclusively your website, blog, or a collection of websites. If you can figure out how to successfully navigate through this website you will find out that it is actually pretty cool, and can be a very useful tool in the classroom.
There are many strengths that this tool has. The coolest thing that it allows you to do is filter the material that you want to look through. Using this method it helps to solve the problem of search overload that Google is often associated with. Another strength that this tool has is it allows you to make your own search engine. You can design colors, filters, auto corrections, and anything that Google allows you to do, except now you’re in control of what the search engine looks and feels like.
Some weaknesses of this website are the fact that it can be really hard to get used to. It has a nice tutorial program, but after this basic introduction you’re on your own to read read read. I had a very tough time trying to get used to the tool. The auto corrections tab was confusing, and sometimes it seems to only show results from one of your websites that you chose, even though I know there is information on some of the others. However, once you work through the bugs I can see how this tool could be very beneficial.
I can see a lot of opportunities associated with this website. With this tool you can offer a search engine to your class and be positive that they are getting their information from a safe source because you picked them. Also through the collaboration link you could make a class search engine filled with websites that everyone in the class contributed.
The only threats that I can see when using this website is when you allow your students to add sights. If they add bad sights it could risk the health of the computer, and they may be given the wrong information. Also, if you have a few good websites on your search engine and the students have access to it they may become reliant only on your search engine websites. There are many good websites to find information on, and I’m sure you won’t list them all. The students may need practice finding good websites on their own, and not rely on yours.
I believe that I put a lot of effort into this assignment. First of all I had to get used to Google custom search, and for me that was not easy. I almost gave up and switched tools because I tried and tried but had a very rough time working through some of the bugs. Then I had to borrow a microphone from a friend, and figure out how to use Jing. Over all I have many hours into this assignment and I am proud of it.
This has a huge impact on my future teaching and life. I can really see myself using this tool in the classroom to show parents at home how to work certain tools, or gain access to important information. I also can see myself using this tool to show colleagues and friends how to work tools on the internet. Many of my friends are computer inept and if I can show them via a screen cast how to work something that would be awesome!
The tool that I worked with for my Cool Tool Screen Casts was Google Custom Search. Google custom search enables you to create your own search engine that searches exclusively your website, blog, or a collection of websites. If you can figure out how to successfully navigate through this website you will find out that it is actually pretty cool, and can be a very useful tool in the classroom.
There are many strengths that this tool has. The coolest thing that it allows you to do is filter the material that you want to look through. Using this method it helps to solve the problem of search overload that Google is often associated with. Another strength that this tool has is it allows you to make your own search engine. You can design colors, filters, auto corrections, and anything that Google allows you to do, except now you’re in control of what the search engine looks and feels like.
Some weaknesses of this website are the fact that it can be really hard to get used to. It has a nice tutorial program, but after this basic introduction you’re on your own to read read read. I had a very tough time trying to get used to the tool. The auto corrections tab was confusing, and sometimes it seems to only show results from one of your websites that you chose, even though I know there is information on some of the others. However, once you work through the bugs I can see how this tool could be very beneficial.
I can see a lot of opportunities associated with this website. With this tool you can offer a search engine to your class and be positive that they are getting their information from a safe source because you picked them. Also through the collaboration link you could make a class search engine filled with websites that everyone in the class contributed.
The only threats that I can see when using this website is when you allow your students to add sights. If they add bad sights it could risk the health of the computer, and they may be given the wrong information. Also, if you have a few good websites on your search engine and the students have access to it they may become reliant only on your search engine websites. There are many good websites to find information on, and I’m sure you won’t list them all. The students may need practice finding good websites on their own, and not rely on yours.
I believe that I put a lot of effort into this assignment. First of all I had to get used to Google custom search, and for me that was not easy. I almost gave up and switched tools because I tried and tried but had a very rough time working through some of the bugs. Then I had to borrow a microphone from a friend, and figure out how to use Jing. Over all I have many hours into this assignment and I am proud of it.
This has a huge impact on my future teaching and life. I can really see myself using this tool in the classroom to show parents at home how to work certain tools, or gain access to important information. I also can see myself using this tool to show colleagues and friends how to work tools on the internet. Many of my friends are computer inept and if I can show them via a screen cast how to work something that would be awesome!
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Rethinking Education Chapter 7
Chapter 7. Rethinking Education
This chapter talked about the course of technology. Optimists see a golden age of learning opening before us, in which people will be able to find resources to pursue and education they want. Pessimists see people becoming subservient to their technologies and many people being left behind as technology begins to dominate our lives. The chapter did a good job talking about what may be lost, and with every one of these points they came with a rebuttal which seemed to uphold the technologies argument. An example of this is diversity. The chapter talked about how many are concerned with the issue of students becoming sucked into their computers and not interacting with other people. As I said before however, the book had a good explanation to every one of these problems. They said instead of limiting diversity we actually see expanding in the movements toward multiculturalism and the mainstreaming of minority groups, such as the handicapped. Another problem that the book has was the potential decline of liberal arts as education becomes more centered on the individual.
The chapter then talked about what may be gained from technology. The authors said that the most powerful promises offered by technology are that learning will become more engaging. Education will be directed more toward what people want to learn, and hence, they will be more excited and drawn to learning. The chapter also talked about competition in the classroom. They stated that the kind of competition between students found in school will likely diminish. They believe that this kind of competition causes a sense of failure that overwhelms many students. Technology allows the students to feel less pressured and allows for little competition.
I really liked how this chapter ended. They stated that whether the potential loses outweigh the potential gains the emerging education systems remains a matter for debate. How society acts to take advantage of the promise and mitigate the dangers is something to be concerned about. So basically what they were saying is that there will be concerns with technology in the classroom. Though the loss may over ride the gains there is still an argument that it is helpful.
This chapter did a good job of giving us some arguments. I’m sure there are many people out there that are not technology enthusiasts. It seems that this whole book talks about how great technology is. It was time for a chapter that stated “maybe the losses are more than the gains.” I like this way of writing. It shows that they authors acknowledge that there will be issues, but they are confident that the benefits will someday prove to us that technology is the way to go.
As a result of this new thinking, I am excited about using technology in the classroom. If you remember when I came into this class I was a technology skeptic. I saw that the trouble of technology is way more than the advantages that it holds. However, the more I learn about technology the more my mind is changing. This chapter helps with this change. It tells me that in the future I will have problems, and it may seem like technology isn’t worth it. However, I will take this frustration in stride and try and convince myself that technology is worth it, and something that will benefit my class in the future.
This chapter talked about the course of technology. Optimists see a golden age of learning opening before us, in which people will be able to find resources to pursue and education they want. Pessimists see people becoming subservient to their technologies and many people being left behind as technology begins to dominate our lives. The chapter did a good job talking about what may be lost, and with every one of these points they came with a rebuttal which seemed to uphold the technologies argument. An example of this is diversity. The chapter talked about how many are concerned with the issue of students becoming sucked into their computers and not interacting with other people. As I said before however, the book had a good explanation to every one of these problems. They said instead of limiting diversity we actually see expanding in the movements toward multiculturalism and the mainstreaming of minority groups, such as the handicapped. Another problem that the book has was the potential decline of liberal arts as education becomes more centered on the individual.
The chapter then talked about what may be gained from technology. The authors said that the most powerful promises offered by technology are that learning will become more engaging. Education will be directed more toward what people want to learn, and hence, they will be more excited and drawn to learning. The chapter also talked about competition in the classroom. They stated that the kind of competition between students found in school will likely diminish. They believe that this kind of competition causes a sense of failure that overwhelms many students. Technology allows the students to feel less pressured and allows for little competition.
I really liked how this chapter ended. They stated that whether the potential loses outweigh the potential gains the emerging education systems remains a matter for debate. How society acts to take advantage of the promise and mitigate the dangers is something to be concerned about. So basically what they were saying is that there will be concerns with technology in the classroom. Though the loss may over ride the gains there is still an argument that it is helpful.
This chapter did a good job of giving us some arguments. I’m sure there are many people out there that are not technology enthusiasts. It seems that this whole book talks about how great technology is. It was time for a chapter that stated “maybe the losses are more than the gains.” I like this way of writing. It shows that they authors acknowledge that there will be issues, but they are confident that the benefits will someday prove to us that technology is the way to go.
As a result of this new thinking, I am excited about using technology in the classroom. If you remember when I came into this class I was a technology skeptic. I saw that the trouble of technology is way more than the advantages that it holds. However, the more I learn about technology the more my mind is changing. This chapter helps with this change. It tells me that in the future I will have problems, and it may seem like technology isn’t worth it. However, I will take this frustration in stride and try and convince myself that technology is worth it, and something that will benefit my class in the future.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Exit slip October 28th, 2010
Today we had a fun day in class! Chapter 7 discussion did a great job of explaining their main points, and I enjoyed thier presentation. We got to play around with a cool tool Elluminate. The class had a fun time drawing and creating while Professor Boyer was talking.
Professor Boyer talked a little bit today about the work load this week. He says that every week we should spend 8 to 10 hours on this class. wow! thats a lot of time but I guess we are in college...
Professor Boyer talked a little bit today about the work load this week. He says that every week we should spend 8 to 10 hours on this class. wow! thats a lot of time but I guess we are in college...
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Chapter 8 Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts
Chapter 8 talked about how with many different forms of technology it has become much easier to create and consume multimedia as well as text and digital images. The first part of the chapter talked about Podcasting. Podcasting is easy to use and does not require many tools to get set up. Also it has become huge and there are many podcasts out there that are informative and helpful to teachers and everyone. Some benefits of podcasting are that instead of making schools buy expensive radio stations, they can simply implement a podcasts and it’s free and accessible to many people. Podcasting isn’t just an audio too though; tools such as you tube allow students, teachers, and anyone to show pictures and videos to add to their podcasts through video publishing.
The next step up from podcasting is screen casting. With this awesome tool you combine audio with video. Though this can be a little more complicated than video publishing, if you can podcast you can screen cast! The chapter explained a little bit on how to use screen casts, and some cool things you can do with screen casts in the classroom. One of these is a web TV for the classroom. This is having your students create their own TV shows online. The chapter ended by the authors saying that our ability to create and share multimedia in more and more transparent ways is only going to continue to expand. What they mean by this is that we are advancing more and more into the future. Yes, right now there are many cool tools out there for us to explore, but these tools soon will be standard, and there will be newer tools coming out all the time. I took away from this that we need to jump on the wagon now and learn about this educational technology, because soon more will come out using the new technology as a base.
This reading, as every week, taught me a little bit more about yet another technology tool that I had never used. Podcasts and screen casts are completely new and scary tools that I have yet to experiment with. They sound cool and they seem to be a nice tool to use in the classroom, however to learn them will take a guy like me some effort. The authors seemed to read my mind when they ended the chapter. I really liked how in the end they sort of comforted us and told us that we have not me the end of technology. There will be new tools in the future and these tools may require us to know how to use the tools that are presently new. We as future educators need to learn these tools because soon we will have to learn new ones to keep out students up to date with technology.
As a future teacher I plan on trying to implement podcasts and screen casts into my classroom. They seem like a cool tool to use and they can be informative to me, my students, and also the parents of my students. I want the parents of my students to be confident in my abilities to teach them and learning this technology will instill this confidence. Like the authors said, there will be new technology; we need to teach the technology that we have now before more comes out.
The next step up from podcasting is screen casting. With this awesome tool you combine audio with video. Though this can be a little more complicated than video publishing, if you can podcast you can screen cast! The chapter explained a little bit on how to use screen casts, and some cool things you can do with screen casts in the classroom. One of these is a web TV for the classroom. This is having your students create their own TV shows online. The chapter ended by the authors saying that our ability to create and share multimedia in more and more transparent ways is only going to continue to expand. What they mean by this is that we are advancing more and more into the future. Yes, right now there are many cool tools out there for us to explore, but these tools soon will be standard, and there will be newer tools coming out all the time. I took away from this that we need to jump on the wagon now and learn about this educational technology, because soon more will come out using the new technology as a base.
This reading, as every week, taught me a little bit more about yet another technology tool that I had never used. Podcasts and screen casts are completely new and scary tools that I have yet to experiment with. They sound cool and they seem to be a nice tool to use in the classroom, however to learn them will take a guy like me some effort. The authors seemed to read my mind when they ended the chapter. I really liked how in the end they sort of comforted us and told us that we have not me the end of technology. There will be new tools in the future and these tools may require us to know how to use the tools that are presently new. We as future educators need to learn these tools because soon we will have to learn new ones to keep out students up to date with technology.
As a future teacher I plan on trying to implement podcasts and screen casts into my classroom. They seem like a cool tool to use and they can be informative to me, my students, and also the parents of my students. I want the parents of my students to be confident in my abilities to teach them and learning this technology will instill this confidence. Like the authors said, there will be new technology; we need to teach the technology that we have now before more comes out.
Chapter 6 Rethinking Education
Chapter 6 of Rethinking education talked about the three eras of education. They explained in the beginning paragraphs that there were three eras of education and currently we are nearing the end of the third one. The first one was apprenticeship era, then came the universal schooling era, and now we are entering the lifelong-learning era of education.
The authors discussed when Horace Mann and his colleagues took over the practice of teaching children from the parents and elders in the community. These parents and elders were originally given the job of teaching. Now, in today’s present lifelong-learning era, responsibility for education is shifting away from the state and back to the parents. More and more parents are taking control of the education of their children by buying them educational videos and computer software.
When Horace man and his colleagues took over the practice they tried to bring all students up to the same page in education. They wanted a common high level of success. Before this practice parents had always wanted their children to grow up the same way that they had, and learn the same things that they did. The authors believe we are reverting back to this practice. Teenagers and young adults are taking on more responsibility for their own lives and education. They often reject what school has to offer, choosing to pursue instead whatever interests them or what they think is necessary to advance to their career. The chapter then went on to talk about the content that the students were learning. Originally the parents decided that students should learn content that the parents wanted them to learn for example if the parents were farmers then they wanted their students to learn about the land. Then in the industrial revolution the educators wanted to prepare students with knowledge that would allow them to do whatever they wanted in the world. Finally the authors say that in today’s era it is becoming impossible for school to teach people all the knowledge they might need as adults. It seems as though they may need to choose what appeals to them and pursue the education required for that career.
The chapter also talked about the shift from assessment. In the apprenticeship era the students were observed to see if they were succeeding in their education. In the schooling era standardized test told the educators how smart the students were. Today these too methods of assessment are merging. The students are still tested but with technology the educators have better tools to observe students and their progress through the content.
The chapter continued on comparing the three eras. The talked about how with technology schooling is returning to the home, less personal bonds are made, and left us with a cliff hanger of a topic. The authors ended this chapter by saying that with all these awesome tools at our fingertips and the way that education is depending on technology, what if students refuse to use and learn from technology?
I thought that this was an awesome chapter. It’s awesome to see how the different methods of education have changed through the years! In some ways it seems that we are returning to the apprentice ship era. In others we are making our own era.
As a future educator I will remember the different ways that education has gone through and realize that it is changing all the time. What teachers thought was the right way to teach students 100 years ago is wrong today, and maybe in 100 years the way that I taught students will be grossly outdated. Who knows?
The authors discussed when Horace Mann and his colleagues took over the practice of teaching children from the parents and elders in the community. These parents and elders were originally given the job of teaching. Now, in today’s present lifelong-learning era, responsibility for education is shifting away from the state and back to the parents. More and more parents are taking control of the education of their children by buying them educational videos and computer software.
When Horace man and his colleagues took over the practice they tried to bring all students up to the same page in education. They wanted a common high level of success. Before this practice parents had always wanted their children to grow up the same way that they had, and learn the same things that they did. The authors believe we are reverting back to this practice. Teenagers and young adults are taking on more responsibility for their own lives and education. They often reject what school has to offer, choosing to pursue instead whatever interests them or what they think is necessary to advance to their career. The chapter then went on to talk about the content that the students were learning. Originally the parents decided that students should learn content that the parents wanted them to learn for example if the parents were farmers then they wanted their students to learn about the land. Then in the industrial revolution the educators wanted to prepare students with knowledge that would allow them to do whatever they wanted in the world. Finally the authors say that in today’s era it is becoming impossible for school to teach people all the knowledge they might need as adults. It seems as though they may need to choose what appeals to them and pursue the education required for that career.
The chapter also talked about the shift from assessment. In the apprenticeship era the students were observed to see if they were succeeding in their education. In the schooling era standardized test told the educators how smart the students were. Today these too methods of assessment are merging. The students are still tested but with technology the educators have better tools to observe students and their progress through the content.
The chapter continued on comparing the three eras. The talked about how with technology schooling is returning to the home, less personal bonds are made, and left us with a cliff hanger of a topic. The authors ended this chapter by saying that with all these awesome tools at our fingertips and the way that education is depending on technology, what if students refuse to use and learn from technology?
I thought that this was an awesome chapter. It’s awesome to see how the different methods of education have changed through the years! In some ways it seems that we are returning to the apprentice ship era. In others we are making our own era.
As a future educator I will remember the different ways that education has gone through and realize that it is changing all the time. What teachers thought was the right way to teach students 100 years ago is wrong today, and maybe in 100 years the way that I taught students will be grossly outdated. Who knows?
IRLO
Am I glad I finally have a project! This IRLO took me a very very long time to complete and I believe I put a lot of effort into the little project that I have. I originally I did not want to complete this project. I downloaded the software, tried to make my project on my own and just couldn’t come up with anything. I tried and tried and got now where. So I met with Professor Boyer and told him I did not want to complete the “A project.” Well for professor Boyer this was not acceptable. He took the time to show me what I was doing wrong, and some things I could do to make my project more interesting. Basically got me started and I owe my whole project to this meeting. So thank you professor Boyer!
My reaction to this project is that I thought it was really cool, but very hard to make. I wish we had spent more time in class working with the software. However, I am happy I completed it and I think this will be a cool tool to use in the future.
In the future I plan on making some more of these, so it definitely had an impact on me. Now that I know how to make one I can use this for an activity when my students are done early with their work. I plan on making IRLO’s up and having them available for my students to use. I believe they are excellent learning tools that teach students while at the same time allow them to have some fun.
My reaction to this project is that I thought it was really cool, but very hard to make. I wish we had spent more time in class working with the software. However, I am happy I completed it and I think this will be a cool tool to use in the future.
In the future I plan on making some more of these, so it definitely had an impact on me. Now that I know how to make one I can use this for an activity when my students are done early with their work. I plan on making IRLO’s up and having them available for my students to use. I believe they are excellent learning tools that teach students while at the same time allow them to have some fun.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Exit Slip October 21, 2010
Today we wacthed the presentation on chapter 6 of rethinking education in the age of technology. This group did an excellent job! They had a great voice, provided a very good presentation, and they even gave out candy!
The rest of the day was very informative. We talked about cool tools that you can use with the interactive white board lesson. We also talked about skype and some upcoming assignments. We ended with a mid semester analysis of Dr. Boyer. Overall a good day!
The rest of the day was very informative. We talked about cool tools that you can use with the interactive white board lesson. We also talked about skype and some upcoming assignments. We ended with a mid semester analysis of Dr. Boyer. Overall a good day!
Friday, October 15, 2010
Chapter 5 Rethinking Education
Wow another long chapter! The title of chapter 5 was “The seeds of a new System of Education” The beginning of the chapter lists everything that the chapter talks about. It says that there is an explosive growth of home schooling, workplace learning, distance education, adult education, learning centers, educational television and videos, computer based learning software, technical certifications, and Internet café’s. (Yep a mouthful)The first part of the chapter talked about homeschooling. Apparently this is a really good thing to do to your kids if you can do it effectively. According to the text children who are schooled at home score significantly better on standardized tests in every subject area. This is kind of a cool fact because the parents of homeschooled children only spend 3 to 4 hours a day working with their kids. The chapter then moved to workplace learning, and reeducating their workers. Many businesses are resorting to this method as we advance with new technology. They even pay for it in certain situations. The chapter then moved onto distance education. This has been around longer than most may think, even longer than the internet. PBS had a big help in education many people around the world at the same time. There are even k-12 schools that are completely distance learning. The chapter then moved onto talking about learning centers. Private vendors of education such as learning centers like all the other items in education are continuing to expand. This is a very prominent practice in Japan.
The next part of the chapter talked about educational television and videos. Some examples of this include Barney, the Electric Company, CNN C-Span, discovery Channel, and many more. The authors pointed to the fact that kids watch a lot of TV. so why not show them something entertaining and educational? The next heading talked about computer-based learning software. This talked about video games such as the Sims, and world of war craft. This to some may seem like just computer games, but actually they can be very educational and can help student learn many things such as reading. The last two headings talked about technical certifications, and Internet cafes. There are majors in colleges now that are exclusively computer based, and the people who gain this major are certified to work with all sorts of new technology. Internet cafes provide a bunch of people to meet together and not just drink coffee but have access to internet. With this power you are not grounded to your home or business to receive internet, you have another available location.
This chapter was super long and was more informative than helpful in convincing me that technology is really an awesome thing. Some cool things that I read about were the facts that technology is helping so many people around the world receive education. Through the process of distance learning, online schooling, and educational television millions of people can learn at the same time in a million different locations.
As a future educator I will be very open to complying with all of the titles talked in this chapter. I was in a distance learning language class and I loved it, so maybe my students will be able to experience the same thing.
The next part of the chapter talked about educational television and videos. Some examples of this include Barney, the Electric Company, CNN C-Span, discovery Channel, and many more. The authors pointed to the fact that kids watch a lot of TV. so why not show them something entertaining and educational? The next heading talked about computer-based learning software. This talked about video games such as the Sims, and world of war craft. This to some may seem like just computer games, but actually they can be very educational and can help student learn many things such as reading. The last two headings talked about technical certifications, and Internet cafes. There are majors in colleges now that are exclusively computer based, and the people who gain this major are certified to work with all sorts of new technology. Internet cafes provide a bunch of people to meet together and not just drink coffee but have access to internet. With this power you are not grounded to your home or business to receive internet, you have another available location.
This chapter was super long and was more informative than helpful in convincing me that technology is really an awesome thing. Some cool things that I read about were the facts that technology is helping so many people around the world receive education. Through the process of distance learning, online schooling, and educational television millions of people can learn at the same time in a million different locations.
As a future educator I will be very open to complying with all of the titles talked in this chapter. I was in a distance learning language class and I loved it, so maybe my students will be able to experience the same thing.
Chapter 6 Blogs Wikis Podcasts
This chapter starts out by talking about the social web. According to this “social web” we all have many friends out there just waiting to be found and connected to, and those friends have other friends who can just as easily connect with us and point us to new and interesting information or learning. So basically the internet has millions of users and most of these users can be contacted and will help us.
Of course if you talk about the social web they have to talk about… Twitter! According to our text this is not only a social network, but also a powerful tool that teachers can use to help their students. Then the book starts to talk about social bookmarking. This is where people can collect links and information on the internet that they find useful and want to use later in the future. All of us in Ed. 331 use a sight called delicious, which fits right into this category. Another sight at the front of bookmarking is called Diigo. The author really really liked this sight because on Diigo the ability to separate your information into categories is much easier. This is a good tool to use to prevent having a huge amount of information and no way to organize it. The rest of the chapter continues to talk about Delicious and Diigo. The author points not only to the awesome tools that both of these sites give us, but also how the tools will make our lives as educators easier.
This reading adds to my continuing change of how to think about technology. As a kid I really thought that twitter was stupid. Who the heck would want to proclaim to the world every little thing that they do every minute of the day. However, this reading talks about some of the benefits that twitter has. It actually can be used in a classroom setting which I think is awesome. I guess twitter can be used for more than I thought. The chapter also talked about using delicious. This is a sight that my professor showed me how to use and I think that it is awesome! As a teacher I am really excited to look up ideas and programs for my lesson plans on my delicious account. This chapter did a good job of continuing to make me a believer in technology. With all the really cool tools that it gives us it awesome.
As a future educator I may use twitter to put up assignments, send reminders, and inform my student’s parents of what is all going on in the classroom. I will for sure use delicious. I really like this site and believe it will make my life so much easier in the future.
Of course if you talk about the social web they have to talk about… Twitter! According to our text this is not only a social network, but also a powerful tool that teachers can use to help their students. Then the book starts to talk about social bookmarking. This is where people can collect links and information on the internet that they find useful and want to use later in the future. All of us in Ed. 331 use a sight called delicious, which fits right into this category. Another sight at the front of bookmarking is called Diigo. The author really really liked this sight because on Diigo the ability to separate your information into categories is much easier. This is a good tool to use to prevent having a huge amount of information and no way to organize it. The rest of the chapter continues to talk about Delicious and Diigo. The author points not only to the awesome tools that both of these sites give us, but also how the tools will make our lives as educators easier.
This reading adds to my continuing change of how to think about technology. As a kid I really thought that twitter was stupid. Who the heck would want to proclaim to the world every little thing that they do every minute of the day. However, this reading talks about some of the benefits that twitter has. It actually can be used in a classroom setting which I think is awesome. I guess twitter can be used for more than I thought. The chapter also talked about using delicious. This is a sight that my professor showed me how to use and I think that it is awesome! As a teacher I am really excited to look up ideas and programs for my lesson plans on my delicious account. This chapter did a good job of continuing to make me a believer in technology. With all the really cool tools that it gives us it awesome.
As a future educator I may use twitter to put up assignments, send reminders, and inform my student’s parents of what is all going on in the classroom. I will for sure use delicious. I really like this site and believe it will make my life so much easier in the future.
Exit Slip October 15, 2010
Today we had an excellent presentation about chapter 5. The group did an awesome job of dividing up the discussion groups by using colored pieces of paper. We also got introduced into working with scratch. This looks like a fun program to use and I'm excited to start my project on it.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Exit Slip October 7, 2010
Today in lab we watched a very well done presentation on chapter 4. The presenters did a great job of talking and interacting with the class. We looked at the irol which scared a lot of students including myself. but maaaybe it will be a cool tool... maybe
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Ch. 4 Rethinking Education
This chapter started out seeming like it was adding to the technology enthusiast’s argument. The authors stated that there is a transformation happening that is allowing technology to come into our schools. They also say that this transformation is not unique in our history. Way back in the day it was the parent’s job to teach children, there was no such thing as going to school for some families. The way many people became good at something was by becoming an apprentice to someone. They observed and worked with a certain person, learned their trade and eventually passed on their learned knowledge to a new apprentice. The question that the chapter is focusing on is why the transformation from apprenticeship to universal schooling took place and how it developed over time. The book says that this occurred because of a chain of events beginning with the printing press.
The printing press led to widespread development and diffusion of knowledge. This was a critical tool in the development of science, and writing. Then the protestant reformation happened. When the bible was converted to many different languages many people could connect and communicate on a similar topic. Then the American Revolution became the next link in the education chain. The forefathers of this country wanted its citizens to have to opportunity to have schooling and fought for this goal. Finally the industrial revolution occurred. This allotted for universal schooling all throughout the country. This signaled the shift that occurred in education, from a family responsibility to a state one.
After the chain of schooling evolutionary events this chapter goes on to talk about some key things that went on in schooling after the industrial revolution. They talk about beginning education for small children in 1856, about establishing a physical organization of school in 1910. These changes led to hiring professional class leaders and teachers to develop and maintain bureaucratic measurement of production to see if it is right according to specifications.
The chapter ended by talking about the problems that the transformation caused. Now that schooling was set up schools and administrators had to come to a consensus on a number of issues. These included attendance practices, tests, grades, textbooks, and levels of schools such as high school.
These readings helped me realize that the schooling system has come a long way, and that we are fortunate to be living in the time that we are because the way that we are being taught right now was nonexistent just 100 years ago. Many events were so very crucial to the development of schooling such as the printing press. Had they not happened I don’t know how we would be taught today. I really liked this chapter because I am a huge history buff. However, this reading does not change my view on technology’s role in education too much. What I believe this chapter was showing was that throughout history there have been tools coming out that were considered technology. (Such as the printing press.) These tools helped us become who we are today, and technology is continuing to evolve all around us. It is our job to ensure our futures success by not allowing technology to be stopped.
As a future teacher I will try and remind my students of the history of education and how technology played a crucial role in where we are today. Hopefully they will realize that their lives would be way different had certain events occurred that allowed our schooling system to evolve the way that it did.
The printing press led to widespread development and diffusion of knowledge. This was a critical tool in the development of science, and writing. Then the protestant reformation happened. When the bible was converted to many different languages many people could connect and communicate on a similar topic. Then the American Revolution became the next link in the education chain. The forefathers of this country wanted its citizens to have to opportunity to have schooling and fought for this goal. Finally the industrial revolution occurred. This allotted for universal schooling all throughout the country. This signaled the shift that occurred in education, from a family responsibility to a state one.
After the chain of schooling evolutionary events this chapter goes on to talk about some key things that went on in schooling after the industrial revolution. They talk about beginning education for small children in 1856, about establishing a physical organization of school in 1910. These changes led to hiring professional class leaders and teachers to develop and maintain bureaucratic measurement of production to see if it is right according to specifications.
The chapter ended by talking about the problems that the transformation caused. Now that schooling was set up schools and administrators had to come to a consensus on a number of issues. These included attendance practices, tests, grades, textbooks, and levels of schools such as high school.
These readings helped me realize that the schooling system has come a long way, and that we are fortunate to be living in the time that we are because the way that we are being taught right now was nonexistent just 100 years ago. Many events were so very crucial to the development of schooling such as the printing press. Had they not happened I don’t know how we would be taught today. I really liked this chapter because I am a huge history buff. However, this reading does not change my view on technology’s role in education too much. What I believe this chapter was showing was that throughout history there have been tools coming out that were considered technology. (Such as the printing press.) These tools helped us become who we are today, and technology is continuing to evolve all around us. It is our job to ensure our futures success by not allowing technology to be stopped.
As a future teacher I will try and remind my students of the history of education and how technology played a crucial role in where we are today. Hopefully they will realize that their lives would be way different had certain events occurred that allowed our schooling system to evolve the way that it did.
Chapter 5 RSS Blogs, Wiki, podcasrs
The first thing we learned about in this chapter reading was what RSS stands for. That is Really Simple Syndication. This cool tool enables information content to come to your computer instead of you having to search for it everywhere. It is basically a consumer of information. They talked about setting up an RSS. One of the best tools out there to set up an RSS is Google Reader. This site is free to use and the author believes is one of the best out there.
Now when setting up your RSS you want to be careful of what sites you are looking at. They offered some hints of what to watch for. For good sites you want to make sure there are some advertisements, an author’s full name, and how often the site is updated. Also look for comments or well established conversations about the content of the site. They then went on to give us some hints on how to search properly and what to do when you become stuck.
The final pages talked about how to implement RSS into the classroom. The authors suggest using agitators and believe it will benefit immensely. They report that “Having a well-stocked, well-fed aggregator is like having a personal guide.” Some handy tools that RSS enables teachers to do are instead of reading through all your students web logs you can simply collect it in your agitator and read them together. Also the RSS feeds can be great sources of information for News Searches. Finally you can monitor your student’s feeds and see what information they are attaining. This chapter ended by telling future teachers that if you make an RSS you want to make sure and check it on a regular basis. IF you fail to do so you will find yourself with hundreds of feeds and a lot of work to do.
This reading really shows me the beginning of the impact that technology has on teaching, learning, and the world! I am just getting used to using a delicious account, a web log, and frankly a computer, and now there is a tool that collects all of this information because there is so much of it. I think that is just crazy. It really shows how much technology has grown, and how people are beginning to deal with the vast information that is out there. It is cool to see a tool that allows you to become a little more organized on the web, and also a little scary. This is just yet another tool that I will have to learn to use to keep up with technology.
As a future teacher I honestly will not do much different as a result of this new thinking. I have to decide if an RSS account is worth my time and effort. If it is, as usually I will be the first to jump on the band wagon and learn to use it. HOWEVER, if I can find a way to avoid this tool and do thing the old fashioned way I probably will try that for right now. I need to get used to the technology that I am working with now before I try to organize it.
Now when setting up your RSS you want to be careful of what sites you are looking at. They offered some hints of what to watch for. For good sites you want to make sure there are some advertisements, an author’s full name, and how often the site is updated. Also look for comments or well established conversations about the content of the site. They then went on to give us some hints on how to search properly and what to do when you become stuck.
The final pages talked about how to implement RSS into the classroom. The authors suggest using agitators and believe it will benefit immensely. They report that “Having a well-stocked, well-fed aggregator is like having a personal guide.” Some handy tools that RSS enables teachers to do are instead of reading through all your students web logs you can simply collect it in your agitator and read them together. Also the RSS feeds can be great sources of information for News Searches. Finally you can monitor your student’s feeds and see what information they are attaining. This chapter ended by telling future teachers that if you make an RSS you want to make sure and check it on a regular basis. IF you fail to do so you will find yourself with hundreds of feeds and a lot of work to do.
This reading really shows me the beginning of the impact that technology has on teaching, learning, and the world! I am just getting used to using a delicious account, a web log, and frankly a computer, and now there is a tool that collects all of this information because there is so much of it. I think that is just crazy. It really shows how much technology has grown, and how people are beginning to deal with the vast information that is out there. It is cool to see a tool that allows you to become a little more organized on the web, and also a little scary. This is just yet another tool that I will have to learn to use to keep up with technology.
As a future teacher I honestly will not do much different as a result of this new thinking. I have to decide if an RSS account is worth my time and effort. If it is, as usually I will be the first to jump on the band wagon and learn to use it. HOWEVER, if I can find a way to avoid this tool and do thing the old fashioned way I probably will try that for right now. I need to get used to the technology that I am working with now before I try to organize it.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Ch. 4 Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts
The title of chapter four is Wikis so I got a pretty good idea of what the chapter was going to be about. It started with a really cool quote: “Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge. That’s what we’re doing.” That was form the guy who founded Wikipedia. So are Wikis really this awesome of a source of information?
Wikipedia is a site that sounds like an encyclopedia. And in fact it sort of is. It houses a multitude of information from A to Z that is always changing. However “that is always changing” is a huge problem for some. According to our book every time you log onto encyclopedia.com you become the editor in chief. This allows you to change any of the information that is on the site. (If it is correct and appropriate) The success of Wikipedia has spawned a wiki revolution. Pg. 58 Now tons of businesses have them including McDonalds, Sony and BMW. Now comes the problem how do we implement this tool into our schools?
The rest of this chapter talks about this subject. Obviously many teachers are afraid of “editable” tools such Wikipedia. Are we supposed to trust our students getting information from sites that are anyone can change the information? Even if the site has hired people to watch and make corrections how fast are they at catching mistakes? The book explains though that there are many other uses for wikis. Many classrooms use wikis to complete projects and use the wiki as a portal for assignments and relevant links to many other sources. They finally end the chapter with some instructions on how we as future educators can implement wikis into the classroom. A great site to use is wikispaces.com.
This reading impacts my thinking on technology’s role in the classroom by helping me realize yet again that technology is not evil. I had never heard of a Wiki before I came into the Ed. 331 class, and when the teacher began explaining that we will be working with them throughout the course of the semester I immediately thought that they were a waste of time. Now I think that they are awesome. A wiki can be a bad place to get information but if used successfully you can use them as a powerful teaching tool!
As a future teacher I think I will try to use wikis in my classroom. Being a special needs teacher I probably will not have my students make their own, but I will hopefully have them write on the class wiki. I also will show the parents of the students that I am teaching how to access the wiki so they can view the work of their students. Finally I will be able to use wikis to find helpful resources and links for my classroom. Now that I know that wikis are not evil I am excited to explore them.
Wikipedia is a site that sounds like an encyclopedia. And in fact it sort of is. It houses a multitude of information from A to Z that is always changing. However “that is always changing” is a huge problem for some. According to our book every time you log onto encyclopedia.com you become the editor in chief. This allows you to change any of the information that is on the site. (If it is correct and appropriate) The success of Wikipedia has spawned a wiki revolution. Pg. 58 Now tons of businesses have them including McDonalds, Sony and BMW. Now comes the problem how do we implement this tool into our schools?
The rest of this chapter talks about this subject. Obviously many teachers are afraid of “editable” tools such Wikipedia. Are we supposed to trust our students getting information from sites that are anyone can change the information? Even if the site has hired people to watch and make corrections how fast are they at catching mistakes? The book explains though that there are many other uses for wikis. Many classrooms use wikis to complete projects and use the wiki as a portal for assignments and relevant links to many other sources. They finally end the chapter with some instructions on how we as future educators can implement wikis into the classroom. A great site to use is wikispaces.com.
This reading impacts my thinking on technology’s role in the classroom by helping me realize yet again that technology is not evil. I had never heard of a Wiki before I came into the Ed. 331 class, and when the teacher began explaining that we will be working with them throughout the course of the semester I immediately thought that they were a waste of time. Now I think that they are awesome. A wiki can be a bad place to get information but if used successfully you can use them as a powerful teaching tool!
As a future teacher I think I will try to use wikis in my classroom. Being a special needs teacher I probably will not have my students make their own, but I will hopefully have them write on the class wiki. I also will show the parents of the students that I am teaching how to access the wiki so they can view the work of their students. Finally I will be able to use wikis to find helpful resources and links for my classroom. Now that I know that wikis are not evil I am excited to explore them.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Chapter 3. Rethinking In Education
In this week’s readings we learned all about the “Skeptics Argument.” The chapter started out by talking about how throughout history there have been skeptics complaining about every new technology. For example From the Rural American Teacher: “Students today depend upon store bought ink. They don’t know how to make their own. When they run out of ink they will be unable to write words or ciphers until their next trip to the settlement.” I thought this was funny. At the time people were actually afraid of store bought pens! The chapter goes on to talk about how today’s school system relies on common and well-tested technologies. They say that overall school coordination relies heavily on paper for records and communication. To this argument the book countered by saying with every technology that comes out there are three stages of acceptance. First everyone but a few enthusiasts condemn the new technology, then as time goes by they make using the technology optional, finally after they realize that the technology can really help they marginalize it into the system . After this argument the book talked about some barriers that come when trying to introduce technology. First they must remember the cost to bring it in, how and when the students will be able to access it, and finally how it will affect classroom management. Many believe that a room full of computers makes the teachers job a nightmare because while she is observing one student at a computer she has her back turned to all the other students. The final pages talked about owning knowledge versus Mobilizing Outside Resources. This means that teachers and parents believe that to truly learn something it is critical to do it on your own without any reliance on outside resources. This means that computers are becoming relied upon and without them our students may be lost and feel that they are unable to learn.
This new learning does not have a huge affect on my belief of technologies role. The way that it was written kind of told me that the authors just put it in their book because they had to. With every example of a skeptics argument there seemed to be a more sensible counter example for the technology enthusiasts. However, I liked seeing some of the example of arguments. I do believe that technology is coming. It has been coming for a while, and we cannot stop it because it does help and we need to accept it.
This new thinking will affect how I go about using technology. If I can see that implementing a new piece of technology will be a benefit to my students then I’ll be the first to get it! Technology always is knocking at outdoor, remember the pen used to be technology, so it is our time to welcome it and use it to our advantage.
This new learning does not have a huge affect on my belief of technologies role. The way that it was written kind of told me that the authors just put it in their book because they had to. With every example of a skeptics argument there seemed to be a more sensible counter example for the technology enthusiasts. However, I liked seeing some of the example of arguments. I do believe that technology is coming. It has been coming for a while, and we cannot stop it because it does help and we need to accept it.
This new thinking will affect how I go about using technology. If I can see that implementing a new piece of technology will be a benefit to my students then I’ll be the first to get it! Technology always is knocking at outdoor, remember the pen used to be technology, so it is our time to welcome it and use it to our advantage.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Book Chapter Project
I am so happy my project is done!
My group members and I did the book chapter 2 for our project. To complete this project we had to read the chapter thoroughly, devise a plan for a presentation, create a digital slide show, and present it to our peers. I believe this took a good amount of effort. I created the Prezi (our digital slide show), and sent the link to my two group members. We then sent emails back and forth discussing different ways to present the information, and which information would be better to use. When the day came to present our Prezi, we were scrambling a little bit. A huge amount of advice that I have for other groups that still need to complete their chapter assignment is to meet in person at least once and go over the whole slide show before presenting the information to the class. We really thought we could communicate with each other and get all the work done by just emailing each other our ideas, and this method caused some headaches. Though I believe out presentation went pretty smoothly I think a little practice would have made it better. Its funny how you prepare yourself for public speaking and when you get in front of a group of people you forget everything you told yourself to remember. I found myself speaking a little too fast and too quietly. I also have to remember to allow students proper wait time to give them some time to think over an answer.
I really liked doing this assignment because I believe there is a huge amount of value when our peers present the information to us instead of our professor. It seems that every college class I’ve had the professor lectures, we take notes, and then we get tested. For this class I really think it’s cool that we get to teach each other the information. This method I believe puts us all on the same level of understanding. The way that a group of three students presents information usually appeals to their fellow classmates. An example of this was when we talked about playing the game the Oregon Trail. Because my classmates all seemed to have played this game in the past my group members and I were able to remind them of a cool way that technology has changed.
Discussing course content with my peers impacts my future teaching in a huge way. As a future teacher I believe it is my responsibility to pay attention to how my professors teach. Following their example of how to engage a class, present the proper information, and deal with a class of students, lays guidelines for me to follow when I receive my own classroom. Now I get to observe other students practice their teaching skills and I get to practice my own. The assessment from my peers and professor impacts greatly how I will present myself in the future, so I believe discussing course content with my peers is an awesome activity.
My group members and I did the book chapter 2 for our project. To complete this project we had to read the chapter thoroughly, devise a plan for a presentation, create a digital slide show, and present it to our peers. I believe this took a good amount of effort. I created the Prezi (our digital slide show), and sent the link to my two group members. We then sent emails back and forth discussing different ways to present the information, and which information would be better to use. When the day came to present our Prezi, we were scrambling a little bit. A huge amount of advice that I have for other groups that still need to complete their chapter assignment is to meet in person at least once and go over the whole slide show before presenting the information to the class. We really thought we could communicate with each other and get all the work done by just emailing each other our ideas, and this method caused some headaches. Though I believe out presentation went pretty smoothly I think a little practice would have made it better. Its funny how you prepare yourself for public speaking and when you get in front of a group of people you forget everything you told yourself to remember. I found myself speaking a little too fast and too quietly. I also have to remember to allow students proper wait time to give them some time to think over an answer.
I really liked doing this assignment because I believe there is a huge amount of value when our peers present the information to us instead of our professor. It seems that every college class I’ve had the professor lectures, we take notes, and then we get tested. For this class I really think it’s cool that we get to teach each other the information. This method I believe puts us all on the same level of understanding. The way that a group of three students presents information usually appeals to their fellow classmates. An example of this was when we talked about playing the game the Oregon Trail. Because my classmates all seemed to have played this game in the past my group members and I were able to remind them of a cool way that technology has changed.
Discussing course content with my peers impacts my future teaching in a huge way. As a future teacher I believe it is my responsibility to pay attention to how my professors teach. Following their example of how to engage a class, present the proper information, and deal with a class of students, lays guidelines for me to follow when I receive my own classroom. Now I get to observe other students practice their teaching skills and I get to practice my own. The assessment from my peers and professor impacts greatly how I will present myself in the future, so I believe discussing course content with my peers is an awesome activity.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
September, 23 Exit Interview.
What a quick day!
Today my group members and I completed our chapter assignment for the class. We stood up infront of everyone and gave a 15 minute presentation about the benefits of technology. I took away that I need to rememer to use waite time and to speak louder and slower.
I also took away from today that there are lots of tools out there that can help us use technology. We looked at a site that showed us some different ways to use the smart board and I believe that this site will really help me in the future if there is a smart board in my classroom. We got out a little early today :)
Today my group members and I completed our chapter assignment for the class. We stood up infront of everyone and gave a 15 minute presentation about the benefits of technology. I took away that I need to rememer to use waite time and to speak louder and slower.
I also took away from today that there are lots of tools out there that can help us use technology. We looked at a site that showed us some different ways to use the smart board and I believe that this site will really help me in the future if there is a smart board in my classroom. We got out a little early today :)
Presentation
The Chapter 2 Presentation Link is below enjoy!
http://prezi.com/lvb7xulnia6g/education-331-chapter-2/
http://prezi.com/lvb7xulnia6g/education-331-chapter-2/
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Chapter. 2
This week is my group member’s week to present our book chapter. We got lucky and chose to do the first presentation on chapter 2. The title of this chapter was “The Changing World” and I believe that was a great name for this chapter. I believe this because the 5 main arguments talked about change in thinking, in how we communicate, in Interaction, in the Multimedia, and in Publication.
The chapter started out by talking about how schools now a day are stuck in the 19th century. They rely on pen and paper to help our students prepare for the future and deal little with computers. Throughout the chapter they talk about how computers are not at the core. They then go on to talk about the change that in occurring in our world right before our eyes.
The chapter talked about how there is change in thinking. What they meant about this is that people need skills to find the information they are looking for. They need to change their thinking to accepting technology and starting to learn about it for a successful future. This is something I believe in very strongly the future is technology and we need to keep up with it. The book also talked about the change in how we communicate. They say to prepare students to communicate in this emerging world requires not simply the traditional reading and writing, but learning how to communicate using different media with people who do not share the same assumptions. Again the book has a valid point in my opinion. In today’s society we are not just communicating with people in America, or people who speak English. We need to be able to implement technology in our lives so it can help us communicate with not only people around the world, but with people who don’t even speak our language! The book chapter touched briefly on interaction. With this they meant not only video games, but cool educational tools such as Math Blaster, and Typing tutors. These fun games can entice children to learn content that they might consider “boring”. I believe that this will help students enjoy schooling more and it will help them keep up with the emerging technology. The second to last point I took away from this chapter was Multi-Media. Multi-Media (they say) brings together print, video, and audio, into Multimedia presentations and it provides new opportunity for communicating information. Growing up in a private catholic school I had never heard of a smart board, or a prezi presentation. All these tools help students learn and provide new ways to teach. The final point that the chapter touched on was publication. They talked about cool things such as the youth radio. When students can use technology to show the world what they can do with just a simple computer and the internet, they are improving their communication skills, and also exposing themselves to future opportunities and people that can help them on their future path.
I really liked this chapter. I believe is does an excellent job of showing examples of why technology is really a good thing. As a result of this new thinking I realize that technology is here to stay and it is our job to” jump on the wagon” and find ways to implement technology in our classrooms. There are so many awesome tools and resources out there, why not use them?
The chapter started out by talking about how schools now a day are stuck in the 19th century. They rely on pen and paper to help our students prepare for the future and deal little with computers. Throughout the chapter they talk about how computers are not at the core. They then go on to talk about the change that in occurring in our world right before our eyes.
The chapter talked about how there is change in thinking. What they meant about this is that people need skills to find the information they are looking for. They need to change their thinking to accepting technology and starting to learn about it for a successful future. This is something I believe in very strongly the future is technology and we need to keep up with it. The book also talked about the change in how we communicate. They say to prepare students to communicate in this emerging world requires not simply the traditional reading and writing, but learning how to communicate using different media with people who do not share the same assumptions. Again the book has a valid point in my opinion. In today’s society we are not just communicating with people in America, or people who speak English. We need to be able to implement technology in our lives so it can help us communicate with not only people around the world, but with people who don’t even speak our language! The book chapter touched briefly on interaction. With this they meant not only video games, but cool educational tools such as Math Blaster, and Typing tutors. These fun games can entice children to learn content that they might consider “boring”. I believe that this will help students enjoy schooling more and it will help them keep up with the emerging technology. The second to last point I took away from this chapter was Multi-Media. Multi-Media (they say) brings together print, video, and audio, into Multimedia presentations and it provides new opportunity for communicating information. Growing up in a private catholic school I had never heard of a smart board, or a prezi presentation. All these tools help students learn and provide new ways to teach. The final point that the chapter touched on was publication. They talked about cool things such as the youth radio. When students can use technology to show the world what they can do with just a simple computer and the internet, they are improving their communication skills, and also exposing themselves to future opportunities and people that can help them on their future path.
I really liked this chapter. I believe is does an excellent job of showing examples of why technology is really a good thing. As a result of this new thinking I realize that technology is here to stay and it is our job to” jump on the wagon” and find ways to implement technology in our classrooms. There are so many awesome tools and resources out there, why not use them?
Monday, September 20, 2010
Ch. 1-3
Wow quite the number of pages.
I'm going to start off this blog with a quick overview of what I all took from the chapters we were assigned to read. We started out with a slight overview of the internet. I finally got to learn the person's names that started the internet way back in 1993 (Berners-Lee). It then switched to the many wonders of the internet, where we learned cool facts such as in 2009 there was over 20 hours of videos uploaded to youtube per minute! The trend today finds people in all professions such as politicians using the internet. Chapter one finished off talking about how to keep our students safe from bad internet cites. It offered hints and tips of how to teach students what is a bad cite and a good one. Chapter 2 and 3 talked all about blogs. It listed many useful blogs such as Dan Sharky's Blog, and talked about how people of all ages, (even the authors 10 year old son) are now sharing their thoughts on blogs. This chapter ended by talking about and teaching some cool tools to use when starting to use Blogs. One of these was adding pictures on pg. 52. I am really excited to try and use this as my Blog is kind of lifeless.
This reading really doesn't have a huge impact on my thinking about technologies role in teaching and learning but it does surprise me that so many people are jumping on the "internet" wagon. When I was ten I rarely used the internet let alone have my own blog like the authors son. It does make me start to realize that this in the common trend and that internet and the tools associated with it will be incorporated into the classroom. If I want to be a successful teacher I will learn to use these tools and be able to pass on my knowledge to my students.
As a teacher I will start paying more attention to the tools at my access. If Blogs and school websites, and other internet tools really make our lives better than I believe it will be my responsibility to become acquainted with them and teach my students about them. I've never been great with computers but as a result of these readings I'm going to have to get better in order to give my students the best opportunity to succeed.
I'm going to start off this blog with a quick overview of what I all took from the chapters we were assigned to read. We started out with a slight overview of the internet. I finally got to learn the person's names that started the internet way back in 1993 (Berners-Lee). It then switched to the many wonders of the internet, where we learned cool facts such as in 2009 there was over 20 hours of videos uploaded to youtube per minute! The trend today finds people in all professions such as politicians using the internet. Chapter one finished off talking about how to keep our students safe from bad internet cites. It offered hints and tips of how to teach students what is a bad cite and a good one. Chapter 2 and 3 talked all about blogs. It listed many useful blogs such as Dan Sharky's Blog, and talked about how people of all ages, (even the authors 10 year old son) are now sharing their thoughts on blogs. This chapter ended by talking about and teaching some cool tools to use when starting to use Blogs. One of these was adding pictures on pg. 52. I am really excited to try and use this as my Blog is kind of lifeless.
This reading really doesn't have a huge impact on my thinking about technologies role in teaching and learning but it does surprise me that so many people are jumping on the "internet" wagon. When I was ten I rarely used the internet let alone have my own blog like the authors son. It does make me start to realize that this in the common trend and that internet and the tools associated with it will be incorporated into the classroom. If I want to be a successful teacher I will learn to use these tools and be able to pass on my knowledge to my students.
As a teacher I will start paying more attention to the tools at my access. If Blogs and school websites, and other internet tools really make our lives better than I believe it will be my responsibility to become acquainted with them and teach my students about them. I've never been great with computers but as a result of these readings I'm going to have to get better in order to give my students the best opportunity to succeed.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Growing Up Online
After watching this video I changed my thinking a little about Facebook and MySpace and the privacy that kids believe they should have especially from their parents when using these sites. This movie is a great example of how huge of an impact technology has on the lives of young learners. There were so many example of how students felt safe and accepted online and how they allowed information about themselves and pictures of themselves to be given out. I personally believe that this is a negative impact. All through the beginning of this semester we have been learning about how awesome technology is and how the tools associated with it will help our students so much, however though it does do a lot of good some bad does come of it. If parents are not able to observe their child's habits online or teach them what is right and wrong with posting information then the safety of the child really comes into play. We heard a horrible story of the boy who took his own life because of bullying. Though websites are cool they create a new world for people to interact in and young people may need guidance to make good decisions in this new world. One of my favorite parts of the movie was when they compared Facebook and Myspace to Rock and Roll. They say that kids will always find a generation gap. I believe in this but it is then up to the parents to make sure their child is making safe decisions. I use Facebook. It's hard to find a college student who doesn't. However, I am not afraid to show my parents, family, or even priest everything on my account. Technology has a huge role on young learners. It is up to the adults to guide the young learners into making good safe decisions.
As a future teacher I plan on trying to teach my students how to be safe online. That what they post can sometimes be accessed by a number of people, people that they may not even know. I am being taught right now about all the awesome things that technology has for us. There are so many tools that make our lives easier and help us learn. I want to not only use and teach these tools with my students but I want them to know the dangers of using the tools the wrong way.
As a future teacher I plan on trying to teach my students how to be safe online. That what they post can sometimes be accessed by a number of people, people that they may not even know. I am being taught right now about all the awesome things that technology has for us. There are so many tools that make our lives easier and help us learn. I want to not only use and teach these tools with my students but I want them to know the dangers of using the tools the wrong way.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Thursday September 16, 2010
In today's class we started off by using the smart board. I was super happy that this time the board was calibrated. I was able to drag my name with ease. We then went over the homework and book chapter assignment which also made me super happy because I am due to give the first presentation.
As the class progressed we did a fun activity that involved us breaking up into groups and discussing the importance of technology. It was cool to hear some other opinions about why technology is important in the classroom, and whether or not it makes the teachers lives difficult.
The last thing I took away from this class was exploring the site Prezi. This presentation website is really cool and fun to watch. Maybe I will use this site in my project.
As the class progressed we did a fun activity that involved us breaking up into groups and discussing the importance of technology. It was cool to hear some other opinions about why technology is important in the classroom, and whether or not it makes the teachers lives difficult.
The last thing I took away from this class was exploring the site Prezi. This presentation website is really cool and fun to watch. Maybe I will use this site in my project.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Evaluating Websites
I hope to teach young learners that when evaluating websites not everything on the internet is reliable. Actually a lot of internet sites may be biased, incorrect, and for some just there for fun. A big example of this is the website that talks about helping to save the pacific northwest tree octopus from extinction. Not only is this website unreliable I'm almost completely sure that there is no such things as a Pacific Northwest Octopus. Even some of the supposed real life pictures looked fake. I want to tell my students that not every web address has to end with ".com" Actually really safe websites come from addresses that include ".edu" or ".org." This does not mean that all ".com" websites are unreliable. There are many out there that has very useful true information. However, when evaluating these websites make sure you look at the sources that they get their information. Credible sources are a must if you want to trust the information. Also look at the websites sponsors. Educational sponsors usually provide money for reliable websites. In the end I want my students to explore but never be afraid to ask their parent or teacher if a website is reliable. With practice and experience the students soon will be able to tell if a website is reliable or not.
Conclusion of Chapter 1
This reading really makes me rethink my mentality on technology’s role in teaching and learning. I really thought that schools were implementing too much technology. Every paper had to include online databases, all had to be word processed and sent through an online plagiarism “checker.” To me I thought the technology was kind of cool but really just a waste of time. However, after reading this article I guess the trends of schools are completely the opposite of what I thought. According to our readings we are under a second revolution. This revolution needs us to teach our students the advantage and abilities that the ever expanding technologies allow us to have. If these readings are true and our world is changing and becoming more and more dependent on technology then it is our responsibility as teachers to help them. I believe it is our job to prepare our students for the future and the future is technology.
As a direct result of this new thinking I will try to adjust my classroom to try and include technology and all its helpful tools. Going into special needs my students may not be very dependent on technology to help them in their future. However, I have the ability to use technology to help them learn. So using my new thinking about technology I will try and learn about the new tools that help the classroom setting. By learning this hopefully I can use technology to help my students.
As a direct result of this new thinking I will try to adjust my classroom to try and include technology and all its helpful tools. Going into special needs my students may not be very dependent on technology to help them in their future. However, I have the ability to use technology to help them learn. So using my new thinking about technology I will try and learn about the new tools that help the classroom setting. By learning this hopefully I can use technology to help my students.
Friday, September 10, 2010
September 9 Exit Slip
What new thinking did I take away from class today?
We did a bunch from lab today! First of all I learned all about what a wiki is. I now understand why it is called “Wikipedia.” I also learned about a cool tool using delicious.com. From this site you can save and organize a bunch of websites that may be helpful to use in the future. I’m sure as a teacher I will use the internet a lot to find activities and opinions and information vital to my classroom. This site will help me find and remember these websites. I guess the biggest new thinking I took away from class today is not to worry so much about using new tools on the internet. I’m not exactly great with technology but some of these sites can really make life easier all we have to do is learn how to use them.
We did a bunch from lab today! First of all I learned all about what a wiki is. I now understand why it is called “Wikipedia.” I also learned about a cool tool using delicious.com. From this site you can save and organize a bunch of websites that may be helpful to use in the future. I’m sure as a teacher I will use the internet a lot to find activities and opinions and information vital to my classroom. This site will help me find and remember these websites. I guess the biggest new thinking I took away from class today is not to worry so much about using new tools on the internet. I’m not exactly great with technology but some of these sites can really make life easier all we have to do is learn how to use them.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Digital Autobiography
http://www.vuvox.com/collage_express/detail/02cb8cda85?showSlide=menu
When completing this assignment I put forth a good amount of effort. I have never been very good at working with computers so I was a little worried when trying to complete this assignment. However, while completing my collage I found it to be a lot of fun. One major frustration I had was getting my pictures to show up. I used the site “Vuvox” and they have a cool feature called a hot-spot which zooms in on a picture and gives a small explanation of why I used this picture. I thought this was a cool feature because it gave narration to my collage as you scroll through the pictures. However, for some reason the zoomed in picture on half of my collage pictures were just a black screen. I had no idea how to fix this and I tried and tried with no avail. Finally, after a long time of fooling around with the editing tools I finally figured it out. This was crazy frustrating but now that my collage is complete I think it was worth it.
When completing this assignment I put forth a good amount of effort. I have never been very good at working with computers so I was a little worried when trying to complete this assignment. However, while completing my collage I found it to be a lot of fun. One major frustration I had was getting my pictures to show up. I used the site “Vuvox” and they have a cool feature called a hot-spot which zooms in on a picture and gives a small explanation of why I used this picture. I thought this was a cool feature because it gave narration to my collage as you scroll through the pictures. However, for some reason the zoomed in picture on half of my collage pictures were just a black screen. I had no idea how to fix this and I tried and tried with no avail. Finally, after a long time of fooling around with the editing tools I finally figured it out. This was crazy frustrating but now that my collage is complete I think it was worth it.
I believe that this assignment has a lot of value. After I figured out the hot-spot problem, it really wasn’t that hard to complete. I believe it gives my professor a great picture of who I am and what I like to do. I had a lot of fun doing this assignment and now that I am done with it I can show my friends and family it as well. Now that I know how to make my own digital collage I can make more and show others such how to make their own collage.
After completing this task I think that it may have a small impact on my future teaching. I plan on going into special education so my students probably will not be able to complete this assignment on their own. However, I believe that making a collage would be an awesome project that I could help my students do. With this collage they can show their classmates all the fun things they like doing, as well as showing their parents the work they can accomplish on the computer.
My reaction to this project is that I really liked it. I’ve always been a little hesitant when it comes to computer projects. I never really like working with computers too much and in some of my computer classes I had trouble completing assignments. As I progress through my school career I now see that I can no longer avoid working with computers. I realize that this important tool not only makes our lives a little easier through all the things it can do but it also can help students learn and succeed in their own schooling careers. I am very happy that I got to make my own digital collage. It was a lot of fun, enabled me to tell my classmates and professor a little more about me and now I have a collage of my own to show my friends and family.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Technology
1. Technology: Any tool that assists us in completing things in our everyday lives. To me anything can be technology as long as it helps get the job done. (If you think about it simple things such as a ball point pen was considered at one time new technology.)
2. Technology Integration. When you integrate technology you apply these tools and allow them to help you complete your tasks. In a classroom technology doesn’t just look like a room full of computers but it could also include laptops, new calculators, or other new tools that assist.
2. Technology Integration. When you integrate technology you apply these tools and allow them to help you complete your tasks. In a classroom technology doesn’t just look like a room full of computers but it could also include laptops, new calculators, or other new tools that assist.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)