Thursday, May 28, 2009
Technology Biography Update
I have edited and updated my Technology Autobiography in my first post! Check it out! :)
Ch 9 Response
Ch 9: What it all Means
Computers advance so rapidly, it's very hard to keep up with. Pretty soon, you will be able to read almost all books online. Literacy no longer just means to be able to read and write, but you have to be taught the basic principles of using technology because it is that huge in our lives and will continue to be, so it is critical that children learn how to use it. The endless availability of information on the web is extremely beneficial to teachers; they don't have to go searching through books to find what they need. This allows teachers to use their time much more efficiently, and allows them to find more and better information than they probably would have 25 years ago, when computers were rare. The author also argues that the use of technology is moving teachers away from using the lecture style so much in their teaching, and moving them more toward discussion based learning. I think this is a positive change and that more interactive lessons that can be provided by technology will benefit students and make it more interesting for them. This chapter is a nice summary of everything we have learned in class. It shows host fast technology is evolving, and how at this rate we have no idea what it will be like a few years from now.
Computers advance so rapidly, it's very hard to keep up with. Pretty soon, you will be able to read almost all books online. Literacy no longer just means to be able to read and write, but you have to be taught the basic principles of using technology because it is that huge in our lives and will continue to be, so it is critical that children learn how to use it. The endless availability of information on the web is extremely beneficial to teachers; they don't have to go searching through books to find what they need. This allows teachers to use their time much more efficiently, and allows them to find more and better information than they probably would have 25 years ago, when computers were rare. The author also argues that the use of technology is moving teachers away from using the lecture style so much in their teaching, and moving them more toward discussion based learning. I think this is a positive change and that more interactive lessons that can be provided by technology will benefit students and make it more interesting for them. This chapter is a nice summary of everything we have learned in class. It shows host fast technology is evolving, and how at this rate we have no idea what it will be like a few years from now.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Choose your tool: Teacher Tube
Dear administrators,
I am writing this letter to inform you about a new technology, TeacherTube, in hopes that you will encourage its use by other teachers in their classrooms. I decided to experiment with Teacher Tube, since it sounded very interesting and I had never heard of it before. I have heard of many teachers incorporating YouTube videos into their lessons, and Teacher Tube is like a YouTube specifically for teachers to use. You can search for any type of video you may be looking for. I am working on a science lesson for my final about the classification of animals, so I decided to search for videos that would go along with that. I typed in "reptiles", and the first result that popped up was a video with a guy who is showing off different types of reptiles, such as iguanas and snakes, and tells different facts and information about them, including their diet, appearance, etc. This would be a neat video to show as an introduction to reptiles to show students what they look like, and they can see them moving and in action, while learning some general facts about them.
I next typed "amphibians", and I found a great video lesson about how to tell the difference between amphibians and reptiles. It shows a venn diagram showing the major differences while the narrator is explaining them. It then shows different types of reptiles and amphibians and compares their appearance. It also shows their eggs and how they are different. This would be another useful video clip to show to my class that would relate to my lesson.
If you don't want to do a specific search, you can click on the "Channels" button on the menu at the top. There will be different subject categories, such as history, math, science, social studies, etc., and you can choose the subject area and go from there. You can also click on "audio" to view the audio clips that are available, and you can get audio of people reading from books. You can click on "Docs" to see the different types of word and other documents available that may have relevant information or lessons for your subject area. There is a community for discussion, and of course you can upload your own videos, audio and documents as well.
This was a very useful website for teachers. If you am looking for a video to go along with your lesson, you should search TeacherTube before YouTube, since everything on TeacherTube is educational, and on YouTube you would have to weed through a lot of goofy and irrelevant videos before you find one that would have something that you want to show your class. TeacherTube has more videos that are put together to teach lessons than YouTube would have, of course, so it makes it a lot more useful to teachers searching for video clips.
I am writing this letter to inform you about a new technology, TeacherTube, in hopes that you will encourage its use by other teachers in their classrooms. I decided to experiment with Teacher Tube, since it sounded very interesting and I had never heard of it before. I have heard of many teachers incorporating YouTube videos into their lessons, and Teacher Tube is like a YouTube specifically for teachers to use. You can search for any type of video you may be looking for. I am working on a science lesson for my final about the classification of animals, so I decided to search for videos that would go along with that. I typed in "reptiles", and the first result that popped up was a video with a guy who is showing off different types of reptiles, such as iguanas and snakes, and tells different facts and information about them, including their diet, appearance, etc. This would be a neat video to show as an introduction to reptiles to show students what they look like, and they can see them moving and in action, while learning some general facts about them.
I next typed "amphibians", and I found a great video lesson about how to tell the difference between amphibians and reptiles. It shows a venn diagram showing the major differences while the narrator is explaining them. It then shows different types of reptiles and amphibians and compares their appearance. It also shows their eggs and how they are different. This would be another useful video clip to show to my class that would relate to my lesson.
If you don't want to do a specific search, you can click on the "Channels" button on the menu at the top. There will be different subject categories, such as history, math, science, social studies, etc., and you can choose the subject area and go from there. You can also click on "audio" to view the audio clips that are available, and you can get audio of people reading from books. You can click on "Docs" to see the different types of word and other documents available that may have relevant information or lessons for your subject area. There is a community for discussion, and of course you can upload your own videos, audio and documents as well.
This was a very useful website for teachers. If you am looking for a video to go along with your lesson, you should search TeacherTube before YouTube, since everything on TeacherTube is educational, and on YouTube you would have to weed through a lot of goofy and irrelevant videos before you find one that would have something that you want to show your class. TeacherTube has more videos that are put together to teach lessons than YouTube would have, of course, so it makes it a lot more useful to teachers searching for video clips.
Ch 6 response
The internet is very much an endless social web. At any time, over 1 billion people are online in the world, and they all have the ability to communicate and network with each other in countless ways. The chapter begins with an introduction of Twitter. This is a social networking tool in which I have no interest. I think it is ridiculous that people update every little detail about their life throughout the day. Who really wants to know all that? I do love the ability to keep up with my friends in general, and know what they're up to, what important things are going on in their lives, etc., but I really could care less what they are doing every second of the day. I don't want a text update or an email sent to me saying that one of the people I follow are going to the restroom or eating dinner. As far as using Twitter for educational purposes, he talks about how teachers follow one another and post their ideas throughout the day to share with each other. I can see how this would be helpful, but I don't believe this is something I would do myself. If I want ideas about something to do for an upcoming lesson or project, there are other ways to look for ideas rather than sorting through the random thoughts and "tweets" that teachers have throughout the day. There are easier, more organized ways to search for this information.
I can see how bookmarking would be a useful educational tool. As teachers, you are looking up information constantly, and it would be very useful to have all of your bookmarks saved online so you can access them from any computer and won't lose them. I also think allowing your bookmarks to be shared with other groups would be useful. For example, if I am a 4th grade teacher, I could share my bookmarks with the 2 other 4th grade teachers in my building who are teaching the same material. This way we could use each others' resources, which could help a lot with planning and save us time when we are all looking for the same type of information.
I can see how bookmarking would be a useful educational tool. As teachers, you are looking up information constantly, and it would be very useful to have all of your bookmarks saved online so you can access them from any computer and won't lose them. I also think allowing your bookmarks to be shared with other groups would be useful. For example, if I am a 4th grade teacher, I could share my bookmarks with the 2 other 4th grade teachers in my building who are teaching the same material. This way we could use each others' resources, which could help a lot with planning and save us time when we are all looking for the same type of information.
Ch 8 Response
Podcasting is very easy to do, and as we explored in class, there are many, many ways you can use it in the classroom. When we made our own podcast in class, I was able to see how easy it was, and how it could be used for anything. The book talks about how accessible podcasting is, because all you need is a computer, microphone, and a blog. I also discovered that you can subscribe to podcasts via iTunes; I had no idea how popular and widespread they were!
Some ideas mentioned in this chapter for podcasts in the classroom are very interesting. Foreign language teachers create podcasts of daily practice lessons. They can be used in the classroom or at home. I really liked the idea of recording daily lessons and archiving them on a class website. This would allow students to refer to past lessons when preparing for a test and reviewing material, and it would also be helpful to students who missed any lessons to go back and hear exactly what was said in the lesson they missed.
This chapter also introduces screencasting. This is where a visual goes along with the podcast. I think this would also be a useful tool in the classroom. You could record a lesson, and have any visual you would like them to see at the same time up on the computer as well. If you were trying to explain how to work a math problem, for example, you could have the problem on the screen for them to see while your voice explains how to work the problem.
I think podcasting is something I will use in my classroom, regardless of the age group I end up teaching. There are so many uses for it. I would definitely want to record any important lessons for students to be able to refer to, and I would love to have students record a review or material for everyone to listen to and use to study. I think podcasting and screencasting are great tools, and I was glad to see that they are not only easy enough for students to use, but easy enough for me to use effectively as well.
Some ideas mentioned in this chapter for podcasts in the classroom are very interesting. Foreign language teachers create podcasts of daily practice lessons. They can be used in the classroom or at home. I really liked the idea of recording daily lessons and archiving them on a class website. This would allow students to refer to past lessons when preparing for a test and reviewing material, and it would also be helpful to students who missed any lessons to go back and hear exactly what was said in the lesson they missed.
This chapter also introduces screencasting. This is where a visual goes along with the podcast. I think this would also be a useful tool in the classroom. You could record a lesson, and have any visual you would like them to see at the same time up on the computer as well. If you were trying to explain how to work a math problem, for example, you could have the problem on the screen for them to see while your voice explains how to work the problem.
I think podcasting is something I will use in my classroom, regardless of the age group I end up teaching. There are so many uses for it. I would definitely want to record any important lessons for students to be able to refer to, and I would love to have students record a review or material for everyone to listen to and use to study. I think podcasting and screencasting are great tools, and I was glad to see that they are not only easy enough for students to use, but easy enough for me to use effectively as well.
Ch 4 Response
Ch 4: Wikis
My opinion on wikipedia has changed since taking this course and reading this chapter. I always used wikipedia to get quick information, but was always told by professors NEVER to use wikipedia, and they would not accept a paper that had wikipedia listed as a source. In fact, I had never even heard of wikipedia until I was in my Public Policy class sophomore year and the professor was going over our research paper, and he said the one thing he did not want to see was wikipedia, and wrote it on the board. So that was my first impression of it, but it has since changed. I think the fact that anyone can edit and add to wikipedia pages allows the widest depth of knowledge possible, since anyone in the world with information about a topic can contribute. They may not all be experts, but if their information is invalid, it will soon be fixed by someone else. Our Public School Music teacher said he was experimenting with wikipedia and edited University of Louisville's "notable alumni" to add himself. A couple of days later, it was removed and he received an email with the reason why it was removed, that "there was no evidence of this person being notable". I think this shows how moderated each article is. Because everyone is allowed to contribute, there is going to be an article on just about anything that anyone would ever want information on. I think the author's analysis on the wikipedia entry after the tsunami in 2004 shows how widespread and active wikipedia is. There was already a wikipedia entry 9 hours after the tsunami hit. It began as a 76-word post, and within 48 hours, the entry was over 6,500 and had been edited 1,200 times with over a dozen photos of the incident. This shows how fast information travels and how fast wikipedia had a detailed account of the incident posted for others to see. I think the ideas for using wikis in the classroom are very interesting. Using one as a classroom review that is ever-changing to update new material, or using it as a classroom resource that all students can conrtibute to is a very good idea. The PBwiki we have used for our classroom has been a very useful tool by providing us with all of the links we need, the assignments we need to do, etc. I think we could use this same concept in our own classrooms as a useful way to integrate technology into our classrooms.
My opinion on wikipedia has changed since taking this course and reading this chapter. I always used wikipedia to get quick information, but was always told by professors NEVER to use wikipedia, and they would not accept a paper that had wikipedia listed as a source. In fact, I had never even heard of wikipedia until I was in my Public Policy class sophomore year and the professor was going over our research paper, and he said the one thing he did not want to see was wikipedia, and wrote it on the board. So that was my first impression of it, but it has since changed. I think the fact that anyone can edit and add to wikipedia pages allows the widest depth of knowledge possible, since anyone in the world with information about a topic can contribute. They may not all be experts, but if their information is invalid, it will soon be fixed by someone else. Our Public School Music teacher said he was experimenting with wikipedia and edited University of Louisville's "notable alumni" to add himself. A couple of days later, it was removed and he received an email with the reason why it was removed, that "there was no evidence of this person being notable". I think this shows how moderated each article is. Because everyone is allowed to contribute, there is going to be an article on just about anything that anyone would ever want information on. I think the author's analysis on the wikipedia entry after the tsunami in 2004 shows how widespread and active wikipedia is. There was already a wikipedia entry 9 hours after the tsunami hit. It began as a 76-word post, and within 48 hours, the entry was over 6,500 and had been edited 1,200 times with over a dozen photos of the incident. This shows how fast information travels and how fast wikipedia had a detailed account of the incident posted for others to see. I think the ideas for using wikis in the classroom are very interesting. Using one as a classroom review that is ever-changing to update new material, or using it as a classroom resource that all students can conrtibute to is a very good idea. The PBwiki we have used for our classroom has been a very useful tool by providing us with all of the links we need, the assignments we need to do, etc. I think we could use this same concept in our own classrooms as a useful way to integrate technology into our classrooms.
Ch 3, 5 & 7 Response
Ch 3
The fact that such a large amount of students are already using blogs in their personal lives outside the classroom shows that they have an interest in this tool, so having them use it for educational purposes is a great idea. I agree that teachers should try to manage a blog themselves before assigning their students to do so. I think that blogs would be a great way to facilitate classroom discussion outside the classroom, that they have time to think about and post and respond to each other by writing instead of speaking in a classroom setting. One problem I see with doing this in schools would be getting permission from all of the parents to be on a blog, as well as from the school. Most blogging websites are blocked in our public school district, so you would have to find one that is accessible. With younger children, you may have a problem with some parents allowing their children to browse blogs over the internet due to some content they may come across. I think the step-by-step instructions for creating a blog, updating it, and posting photos is very helpful and it would be good to give these instructions to students as a guide incase they run into any problems or have trouble with any of these components.
Ch 5
RSS, "Real Simple Syndication", allows you to consume all of the information that is constantly being updated and every-changing on the internet in a more efficient way. It checks your subscribed sites every hour for updates. As a result, you are able to check all of the updates for multiple sites at once, rather than checking each site separately many more times each for the same information. The chapter has detailed instructions on setting one up and using it. I had never heard of this before this class, and I think it could be a very useful tool. If you are teaching a certain subject matter, especially one on current events, and you want to keep up with all of the new developments, this would be a great tool to use in order to do that easily and efficiently. It would take less of your time to check all of the websites' updates at once, rather than having to go through all of your bookmarks and check updates on each one separately. Especially for blogging websites that are updated frequently, this would be an easy way to see which ones were updated and what the new information is, rather than going through the process of checking each one, only to find that some haven't been updated and you just wasted your time going to that site when you could have discovered this when looking at your RSS. I think this is a tool I may be able to make use of in my personal life, as well as keeping updated on information for a unit I am teaching.
Ch 7
I found this chapter, along with our in-class lesson on Flickr, to be very interesting and useful. I never thought about Flickr as being a tool that could be used for educational purposes, and I thought the class came up with some great ways to use it for a lesson or assessment. Many students learn better by seeing visuals, and using Flickr to show photos to go along with what you have been teaching may be very helpful to them. I really liked the idea mentioned on page 101 to use Flickr and GoogleEarth together for a lesson on geography. I think showing kids real images of a place is a way for it to really come to life and seem real, as opposed to an illustrated map. There are great instructions for incorporating Google Earth into Flickr on pages 104-105.
Flickr lessons can be something you project to the entire class and discuss together, or it can be an interactive tool that they use on their own for learning. They can browse the Flickr album individually and run their mouse over parts of the photo to read the notes you have left for them. This is a great way to highlight certain parts of the photo. You can also add comments to the photos, which is another way to make it interactive for students. Since most photos are tagged, you can have students search for certain photos. On page 106, it explains a virtual field trip lesson. You can have each student search for different photos from a particular place, with descriptions of what they are, and put them together as a presentation for the whole class to see. This is a very cool idea, and something I would like to do in my own classroom.
I really liked the ideas for using Flickr in the classroom, and it is one application I feel certain that I will make use of as an educator. I believe putting pictures with things is a great way to help students visualize and learn any subject.
The fact that such a large amount of students are already using blogs in their personal lives outside the classroom shows that they have an interest in this tool, so having them use it for educational purposes is a great idea. I agree that teachers should try to manage a blog themselves before assigning their students to do so. I think that blogs would be a great way to facilitate classroom discussion outside the classroom, that they have time to think about and post and respond to each other by writing instead of speaking in a classroom setting. One problem I see with doing this in schools would be getting permission from all of the parents to be on a blog, as well as from the school. Most blogging websites are blocked in our public school district, so you would have to find one that is accessible. With younger children, you may have a problem with some parents allowing their children to browse blogs over the internet due to some content they may come across. I think the step-by-step instructions for creating a blog, updating it, and posting photos is very helpful and it would be good to give these instructions to students as a guide incase they run into any problems or have trouble with any of these components.
Ch 5
RSS, "Real Simple Syndication", allows you to consume all of the information that is constantly being updated and every-changing on the internet in a more efficient way. It checks your subscribed sites every hour for updates. As a result, you are able to check all of the updates for multiple sites at once, rather than checking each site separately many more times each for the same information. The chapter has detailed instructions on setting one up and using it. I had never heard of this before this class, and I think it could be a very useful tool. If you are teaching a certain subject matter, especially one on current events, and you want to keep up with all of the new developments, this would be a great tool to use in order to do that easily and efficiently. It would take less of your time to check all of the websites' updates at once, rather than having to go through all of your bookmarks and check updates on each one separately. Especially for blogging websites that are updated frequently, this would be an easy way to see which ones were updated and what the new information is, rather than going through the process of checking each one, only to find that some haven't been updated and you just wasted your time going to that site when you could have discovered this when looking at your RSS. I think this is a tool I may be able to make use of in my personal life, as well as keeping updated on information for a unit I am teaching.
Ch 7
I found this chapter, along with our in-class lesson on Flickr, to be very interesting and useful. I never thought about Flickr as being a tool that could be used for educational purposes, and I thought the class came up with some great ways to use it for a lesson or assessment. Many students learn better by seeing visuals, and using Flickr to show photos to go along with what you have been teaching may be very helpful to them. I really liked the idea mentioned on page 101 to use Flickr and GoogleEarth together for a lesson on geography. I think showing kids real images of a place is a way for it to really come to life and seem real, as opposed to an illustrated map. There are great instructions for incorporating Google Earth into Flickr on pages 104-105.
Flickr lessons can be something you project to the entire class and discuss together, or it can be an interactive tool that they use on their own for learning. They can browse the Flickr album individually and run their mouse over parts of the photo to read the notes you have left for them. This is a great way to highlight certain parts of the photo. You can also add comments to the photos, which is another way to make it interactive for students. Since most photos are tagged, you can have students search for certain photos. On page 106, it explains a virtual field trip lesson. You can have each student search for different photos from a particular place, with descriptions of what they are, and put them together as a presentation for the whole class to see. This is a very cool idea, and something I would like to do in my own classroom.
I really liked the ideas for using Flickr in the classroom, and it is one application I feel certain that I will make use of as an educator. I believe putting pictures with things is a great way to help students visualize and learn any subject.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Ch 1 & 2
CH 1
I find it interesting that political campaigns, businesses, etc. are a lot quicker to adapt to new technology and use it to their advantage than the field of education. I think businesses are motivated by the ability to make more money if they reach more people through technology, and politicians are motivated by the ability to get their name and message out to more people and thus get more votes and get elected. There may lack some motivation on the part of educators, because we have been teaching with the old methods so long, which has always worked, so why take the time and energy to learn about the ever-changing technology available and change your lessons to incorporate it?
The book mentions that students’ way of communicating and learning is changing due to technology, and if teachers ignore this, they won’t be as effective in getting through to them. For example, if you have been teaching for 10 years, the students you taught 10 years ago are a lot different than today’s students, so you must adjust your teaching methods to accommodate them. It is said that students today, who use computers and technology constantly, have acquired a different way of thinking than students did in our time, when technology was much less advanced and computers, cell phones, etc. weren’t such a big part of everyday life. Students today have “developed hypertext minds. They leap around. It’s as though their cognitive structures were parallel, not sequential.” (pg.7)
CH 2
Blogs have become very common on the internet today. They are easy ways for people to get their thoughts out there. They can be used to discuss and debate politics, or they can serve as a personal journal. Two new blogs are being created every second! The number of blogs that exist must be astronomical and growing rapidly every single day. Blogs have use in the classroom as well. The curriculum can be moved to an online environment. Blackboard is used at UofL, but weblogs could be used to accomplish the same thing at a lesser price. Some teachers at the high school at which I substitute teach have already begun using a type of weblog for their classroom. One technology teacher puts her classroom assignments, homework assignments and grades online for students to access at any time. When they come into class, they sign in and mark their attendance. The site tells them what they are to do for the day, and what the homework will be. When she grades their assignments, she posts that to the site. This is similar to uses he talks about for classroom weblogs on pages 21-23.
On page 38-39, all of the uses of blogs in the classroom, by both teachers and students, are listed. I think this list would be very helpful to give you ideas about how you can incorporate blogs in your classroom!
I find it interesting that political campaigns, businesses, etc. are a lot quicker to adapt to new technology and use it to their advantage than the field of education. I think businesses are motivated by the ability to make more money if they reach more people through technology, and politicians are motivated by the ability to get their name and message out to more people and thus get more votes and get elected. There may lack some motivation on the part of educators, because we have been teaching with the old methods so long, which has always worked, so why take the time and energy to learn about the ever-changing technology available and change your lessons to incorporate it?
The book mentions that students’ way of communicating and learning is changing due to technology, and if teachers ignore this, they won’t be as effective in getting through to them. For example, if you have been teaching for 10 years, the students you taught 10 years ago are a lot different than today’s students, so you must adjust your teaching methods to accommodate them. It is said that students today, who use computers and technology constantly, have acquired a different way of thinking than students did in our time, when technology was much less advanced and computers, cell phones, etc. weren’t such a big part of everyday life. Students today have “developed hypertext minds. They leap around. It’s as though their cognitive structures were parallel, not sequential.” (pg.7)
CH 2
Blogs have become very common on the internet today. They are easy ways for people to get their thoughts out there. They can be used to discuss and debate politics, or they can serve as a personal journal. Two new blogs are being created every second! The number of blogs that exist must be astronomical and growing rapidly every single day. Blogs have use in the classroom as well. The curriculum can be moved to an online environment. Blackboard is used at UofL, but weblogs could be used to accomplish the same thing at a lesser price. Some teachers at the high school at which I substitute teach have already begun using a type of weblog for their classroom. One technology teacher puts her classroom assignments, homework assignments and grades online for students to access at any time. When they come into class, they sign in and mark their attendance. The site tells them what they are to do for the day, and what the homework will be. When she grades their assignments, she posts that to the site. This is similar to uses he talks about for classroom weblogs on pages 21-23.
On page 38-39, all of the uses of blogs in the classroom, by both teachers and students, are listed. I think this list would be very helpful to give you ideas about how you can incorporate blogs in your classroom!
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Student as Contributer: The Digital Learning Farm reflection:
This article introduces six "jobs" in technology that can be given to students that would help them contribute to the learning community. These jobs are
-tutorial designer: students create their own tutorial videos, that are put together into a databse for students to use.
-official scribes: a different student is the notetaker each day, and these are all collected for the class's online textbook.
-researcher: One student is designated to look up the answers to questions asked in class, instead of the teacher.
-collaboration coordinators: set up discussions with other students/people around the world through skype for educational purposes.
-contributing to society: making "small but meaningful" contributions to society, using the website Kiva.com. For example, helping entrepreneurs in developing countries.
-curriculum reviewers: create podcasts used to review material.
These are all very interesting ways to use technology in educational ways. Students are experts at using technology for social purposes; why not teach them to use these same applications and tools for education? For example, students often use applications such as skype to chat with their friends, but by doing what is described in the article as "collaboration coordinators", students could have conversations and debates with other students from around the world, and learn the similarities and differences between different areas and cultures. They can also conduct interviews with experts and other people they can learn from. This is an example of a technology that can be utilized for both social and educational purposes.
The job that seems the easiest to implement in your everyday lessons would be the researcher. I think it would be interesting to give students the opportunity to look up the answers to questions in everyday lessons. It will help them gain experience in searching the internet effectively, and will give them an important job to contribute to the lesson.
I also think the official scribes job would be interesting to try in the classroom. There could be a class website similar to ours that allows all students to edit it, and they could each contribute their notes. This way they would have a "class textbook" that everyone was a part of and could refer to, knowing they helped create it.
I agree with the author's conclusion that we should try to take the technology students use for social purposes and utilize elements of it for education. Blogs could even be made educational, by giving students a forum to discuss things and comment on each other's posts. Technology can be productive and contribute to learning if it is used properly, and teachers should make an effort to include this in their classrooms. I do believe that not everything should be taught via a computer and not all lessons should be centered around technology, but it is important to include. Students should be exposed to all different kinds of technology and different ways to utilize it, but they should also value old-fashioned books and other ways of learning as well!
-tutorial designer: students create their own tutorial videos, that are put together into a databse for students to use.
-official scribes: a different student is the notetaker each day, and these are all collected for the class's online textbook.
-researcher: One student is designated to look up the answers to questions asked in class, instead of the teacher.
-collaboration coordinators: set up discussions with other students/people around the world through skype for educational purposes.
-contributing to society: making "small but meaningful" contributions to society, using the website Kiva.com. For example, helping entrepreneurs in developing countries.
-curriculum reviewers: create podcasts used to review material.
These are all very interesting ways to use technology in educational ways. Students are experts at using technology for social purposes; why not teach them to use these same applications and tools for education? For example, students often use applications such as skype to chat with their friends, but by doing what is described in the article as "collaboration coordinators", students could have conversations and debates with other students from around the world, and learn the similarities and differences between different areas and cultures. They can also conduct interviews with experts and other people they can learn from. This is an example of a technology that can be utilized for both social and educational purposes.
The job that seems the easiest to implement in your everyday lessons would be the researcher. I think it would be interesting to give students the opportunity to look up the answers to questions in everyday lessons. It will help them gain experience in searching the internet effectively, and will give them an important job to contribute to the lesson.
I also think the official scribes job would be interesting to try in the classroom. There could be a class website similar to ours that allows all students to edit it, and they could each contribute their notes. This way they would have a "class textbook" that everyone was a part of and could refer to, knowing they helped create it.
I agree with the author's conclusion that we should try to take the technology students use for social purposes and utilize elements of it for education. Blogs could even be made educational, by giving students a forum to discuss things and comment on each other's posts. Technology can be productive and contribute to learning if it is used properly, and teachers should make an effort to include this in their classrooms. I do believe that not everything should be taught via a computer and not all lessons should be centered around technology, but it is important to include. Students should be exposed to all different kinds of technology and different ways to utilize it, but they should also value old-fashioned books and other ways of learning as well!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Reflections for Class #3
I still do not have a book, so I have been unable to read the reading assignments yet, but will catch up over the weekend when I finally have my book! Today in class, we learned about flickr. We were able to experiment with it and upload, tag and put descriptions for our photos. We took our own photos to make a lesson plan about multiplication for elementary students. We set it up so that each photo asked a question about multiplication, and the answer was given when you scroll over the photo. It was a very useful website that I plan on using along with my lessons in the future. It is nice for students to be able to get a visual of what you're teaching; it makes it more interesting for them and helps them learn!
Flickr Presentation
Multiplication Introduction for Third Grade (Flickr presentation)http://www.flickr.com/photos/38350732@N02/sets/72157618104780296/MA-EP-1.3.1Students will analyze real-world problems to identify appropriate representations using mathematical operations, and will apply operations to solve real-world problems with the following constraints: · multiply whole numbers of 10 or less
Reflections for Class #2
I have not been able to acquire the book yet, but I learned lots of interesting things in class. I had no idea that there were so many different types of search engines available other than google or yahoo. I really liked the one we were assigned to experiment with, Clusty. It was a lot more organized than google, and sites could be filtered by whether they were .org, .gov, etc., or by different subtopics. It is a lot easier to search for something and then filter the exact category you want, rather than just typing in a search and looking through the results pages to find exactly what you want.
I was also very interested in the fake websites we were given. I was able to see how easy it is for false information to be put on the internet and seem like a reliable source. It was nice to learn methods to help gauge the reliability of a website. I was also glad to hear that wikipedia is more reliable than many professors assume it to be, since I use it to look up information all the time.
I was also very interested in the fake websites we were given. I was able to see how easy it is for false information to be put on the internet and seem like a reliable source. It was nice to learn methods to help gauge the reliability of a website. I was also glad to hear that wikipedia is more reliable than many professors assume it to be, since I use it to look up information all the time.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
How I research
Whenever I do research for a paper or project, the main resource I use is the internet. I go to UofL's library page and use their search databases for scholarly articles and journals. I also do google searches when I need to find statistics and numbers, and try to make sure the site I have found is reliable and accurate. If I am looking for current events, I often go to news websites, such as CNN. I also like using books as sources, and I use the Louisville Free Public Library to check out books.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Technology Autobiography
My experiences with technology in school are a lot different than that of students today, and much more limited. We were introduced to computers in elementary school, and went to the computer lab once a week. These computers were very different from today's computers. The only applications were word processing, and very simple games. I have very fond memories of playing "Oregon Trail" and "Word Munchers". We thought these 8-bit games were so amazing and would not have believed the complexity of games that are available today!
Other than using computers in the computer lab, the only technology I remember having in school was overhead projectors, stereos and VCRs. As a substitute in all levels of education for the past four years, I have seen how far technology in schools has come. At JCPS, all classrooms have a computer in the classroom for student use. Each teacher also has an interactive lap-top that allows them to write on it, along with a projector. This allows teachers to teach many lessons much more effectively than they would be able to with a chalkboard or dry erase board. They are able to write on the laptop screen, at normal size, and it is projected for the class to see, and they can erase with a click of the stylus, rather than having to use an eraser. They can easily show videos on the projector without having to use a TV & VCR/DVD.
I think technology is an important tool for teaching in today's world. It can make lessons easier to execute and more effective. Using technology can also make your lessons more interesting and easier to fully engage your students. I think it is very important for teachers to incorporate technology into their teaching to expose their students to it. It will also help for students to see the educational purposes that computers and technology can have, as opposed to just the entertainment value they use it for at home. I think it's great seeing elementary school students enjoying computers and using them for educational purposes; they still go to the computer lab like I did when I was their age and play educational games, they are just a lot more interactive with better graphics!
EDIT: I still believe in the importance of technology in the classroom, even moreso than I did prior to taking Teaching with Technology. I now have a much better understanding of the resources available to me, and am excited to make use of them when I have my own classroom. I think using technology to teach makes lessons more exciting and interactive, which is great for students.
There is one thing I am wary of, which I realized when reading chapter 9 of the book. EVERYTHING in our lives is moving to technology. Almost all books will be available to read online soon thanks to google. I also believe that before too long, each student will have his or her own laptop and do their school work on that. In fact, some schools have tried this already, such as Moore Traditional School. I absolutely hated it as a sub, and I would feel the same way as a teacher. Every class should not be taught in a computer lab setting, and students should not sit at a computer all day long. It is impossible to monitor what each student is doing on their laptop, and of course many of them are off task, surfing the web, playing a game, etc. So I do hope that we continue to keep SOME things traditional. Students should still read from books and write on paper. I don't think it would be good for them to sit at a laptop for 7 hours and read from textbooks online and type everything they do for class, and I do hope that it does not come to that. Technology is already addicting to many children. I know people who are addicted to video gaming and play games every second of their free time. I believe we should continue the traditions we had before technology became so advanced, such as playing outside, reading books, drawing and coloring, writing letters, etc.
Other than that, as long as we don't take technology so far as to allow it to rule every aspect of our lives, I have a very positive outlook on where technology can take us as educators. I believe students today are at a bigger advantage than we were when computers were very new, but as educators we will have to continually watch for changes and keep up-to-date with the evolving technology. Richardson mentioned at the very beginning of his book that education is one of the fields that adapt to technology the slowest, so we must continue to do our part to keep up!
Other than using computers in the computer lab, the only technology I remember having in school was overhead projectors, stereos and VCRs. As a substitute in all levels of education for the past four years, I have seen how far technology in schools has come. At JCPS, all classrooms have a computer in the classroom for student use. Each teacher also has an interactive lap-top that allows them to write on it, along with a projector. This allows teachers to teach many lessons much more effectively than they would be able to with a chalkboard or dry erase board. They are able to write on the laptop screen, at normal size, and it is projected for the class to see, and they can erase with a click of the stylus, rather than having to use an eraser. They can easily show videos on the projector without having to use a TV & VCR/DVD.
I think technology is an important tool for teaching in today's world. It can make lessons easier to execute and more effective. Using technology can also make your lessons more interesting and easier to fully engage your students. I think it is very important for teachers to incorporate technology into their teaching to expose their students to it. It will also help for students to see the educational purposes that computers and technology can have, as opposed to just the entertainment value they use it for at home. I think it's great seeing elementary school students enjoying computers and using them for educational purposes; they still go to the computer lab like I did when I was their age and play educational games, they are just a lot more interactive with better graphics!
EDIT: I still believe in the importance of technology in the classroom, even moreso than I did prior to taking Teaching with Technology. I now have a much better understanding of the resources available to me, and am excited to make use of them when I have my own classroom. I think using technology to teach makes lessons more exciting and interactive, which is great for students.
There is one thing I am wary of, which I realized when reading chapter 9 of the book. EVERYTHING in our lives is moving to technology. Almost all books will be available to read online soon thanks to google. I also believe that before too long, each student will have his or her own laptop and do their school work on that. In fact, some schools have tried this already, such as Moore Traditional School. I absolutely hated it as a sub, and I would feel the same way as a teacher. Every class should not be taught in a computer lab setting, and students should not sit at a computer all day long. It is impossible to monitor what each student is doing on their laptop, and of course many of them are off task, surfing the web, playing a game, etc. So I do hope that we continue to keep SOME things traditional. Students should still read from books and write on paper. I don't think it would be good for them to sit at a laptop for 7 hours and read from textbooks online and type everything they do for class, and I do hope that it does not come to that. Technology is already addicting to many children. I know people who are addicted to video gaming and play games every second of their free time. I believe we should continue the traditions we had before technology became so advanced, such as playing outside, reading books, drawing and coloring, writing letters, etc.
Other than that, as long as we don't take technology so far as to allow it to rule every aspect of our lives, I have a very positive outlook on where technology can take us as educators. I believe students today are at a bigger advantage than we were when computers were very new, but as educators we will have to continually watch for changes and keep up-to-date with the evolving technology. Richardson mentioned at the very beginning of his book that education is one of the fields that adapt to technology the slowest, so we must continue to do our part to keep up!
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