Reflection on My Technology Inquiry Wiki

Completing this technology inquiry wiki had an appropriate amount of workload to accomplish the task.  I feel that the biggest challenge, was taking a day off from everything and only focusing on this task.  I know that many of my classmates have not even started yet, and it just feels good to have everything accomplished for this class. 

After I got started, it was pretty easy to do.  We had to have 3-5 formal and informal sources to back up our research.  It was a little challenging to remember back to freshman year, when I took English 101, on how to write an annotative bibliography.  However the professor provided a check list to see if we were on the right track.  This was very helpful because I was able to go through the check list and see what specifically needed work and what met his expectations.  

Writing the best practices was the easiest part of the assignment.  I had all the information I wanted to include and putting my thoughts together was the easiest part.  I also had all the information for the additional information slide, and had completed my Annotative Bibliography.

I would defiantly consider using wiki's in my classroom in the future.  I would like to have students enter in different literature assignments to the classroom wiki.  This would be an easy place to post the various assignments students are assigned and also a great way to place my different screen-casts to allow my students to view them when they are absent.   Overall this was a worthwhile assignment because I was able to express my knowledge of online schooling to other people besides my professor.  Of course he will check it out, but I will be able to allow other people to look at it as well.  In addition I could continue my research on Online schooling, if I wanted to, and keep up to date information on my research.  This would be a good way to summerize all my work put into this topic. 

To view my Technology Inquiry Wiki press on the link provided below. 

http://cbahr261.wikispaces.com/Online+Schooling

Reflection on Scratch

At the beginning of working on the scratch project, I thought that this was a waste of my time.  I didn't see the educational value of figuring out how to place the different sprites on the screen in order for my "game" to do what I wanted to do.  Before seeking help from Dr. Boyer, I was clueless on what to do with this program.  After first meeting with Dr. Boyer, I was able to get the general idea of how the project worked.  I spent countless of time fussing with the program, and looking at other students projects to try to figure out how to sequence my own project.  I can honestly say that this is the most time and effort I have put into a project.  It was so disappointed when I had my roommate test out my game, which only lasted about 30 seconds at first, and getting to the end and saying "that was it?".  Mostly because it took me many hours to just get that 30 seconds of gaming.  However eventually this project became much easier to complete, however tedious.  It takes a long time developing a game that goes through many different levels of division.

I feel that just because I disliked doing the assignment, I should just throw away the tool all together.  I think it would be cool to see what my students can come up and create with the program.  Sometimes students are motivated to work with projects that require a higher level of thinking.  I think I would offer this as an extra credit assignment on to my curriculum until I got familiar with all the different things you could do with the program.  Maybe eventually I would be able to require my students to create their own game for the class.  This then would create a large library of different scratch projects.  I also would allow students who may be interested in web design/game designing to show learning through this program.

Overall I am very satisfied with my scratch project. It took a lot of work to accomplish, however this is most likely how my students will feel when they are faced with a challenging task. If I want my students to work hard on a project and put forth their best effort, I must do the same.  Just because I didn't like the program, doesn't mean that I should dismiss the project all together. 

Exit Slip 12-9-10

3 ways to intergrate technology in Ella's class. 

If I was a teacher of Ella's 3rd grade classroom I would implement 3 different technology tools in the classroom.  First of all I would make sure all of my lesson plans catch my students interest by making them interactive.  I would design Interactive white board lessons to help all of my students learn the material.  I would make sure not to use the software as a power point lesson, but allow my students come in front of the class and manipulate the lesson to enhance learning. 

The second method I would intergrate in my classroom is different blogging tasks.  I believe it is a good idea to have students write for other reasons besides getting a grade from the teacher.  I want my students to see the value of why they are learning material and not just doing the assignment to recieve a grade.  I would love to intergrate my English and Literature subjects onto the blog.  Students would be able to write different ideas, and also collaborate with other students.

The last element I would like to incorporate into my classroom is the idea of learning from any where. This not only allows parents to see what is happening in my own classroom, but allows my students to follow my class from anywhere around the world.  I would have my students create pod casts to update parents and allow students to share feelings about the ideas they have learned.  I would also have Screen casts available online for students to follow If they were stuck on a math assignment. 

Overall my thinking about technology has changed over the course.  Before entering this class I thought technology broke at the sight of me.  But now I am able to embrase technology.  I always thought I would use technology in my class, but I never really had a vision on how my classroom would look with technology.  I now have a clear picture of how technology should look like in a classroom and am excited by the different possiblities technology can change my teaching style. 

Reflection on IWB lesson

My interactive white board (IWB) lesson was very easy to complete.  I feel the hardest part of the assignment was having to come up with a topic to design my IWB around.  When I was in high school, I volunteered in my local Elementary school.  The teacher I was assigned to, taught math class every day using a SMART board.  When I was choosing what topic I should do mine on, I just knew that I saw a lot of math lesson plans, which all seemed easy to do.  I was then inspired to do something using reading because I feel that teachers are less likely to create a IWB during a reading lesson.  One challenging thing with developing a reading IWB lesson is the amount of words on a given page.  We have discussed that you should only have roughly 30 words on a page.  I however wanted to put a page of text on the IWB which isn't always the best thing to do.  However when I developed my IWB lesson I needed more words on my page to show the class how to use context clues.

I feel that it was beneficial to do reading as a IWB lesson because I was also able to see other lesson plans relating to reading.  Teachers can use a IWB to assess the students if they understood the plot of a story, explain different elements to a story, learn about literary elements.

I would also love to have an IWB inside my classroom.  When I am in practicum around the Stevens Point area I see many SMART boards inside the classroom, however teachers use them just like they would use an overhead projector.  I personally believe if these schools are paying big money to incorporate this expensive technology inside their classroom they should use the technology like it was designed and not teach a lesson like I was taught when I was in 3rd grade.

Designing this lesson opened my eyes on how to make a particular lesson interactive.  When you teach you  shouldn't just put a piece of paper on the board and read off of the sheet of paper.  You shouldn't make a IWB lesson like a PowerPoint.  There are many other tools in the SMART notebook technology to allow students to participate in your lesson besides calling on a student and having them respond while sitting in their seats.  For example you can have students solve different math problems using manipulatives created in SMART notebook.  In reading you can have students illustrate what clues they actually used to find the meaning of a word.

IWB lessons are also engaging in students involvement.  When I was younger we didnt' have a IWB board and would have loved to be involved in moving objects across the screen with only the touch of our finger.  As a future educator, I would make sure to develop different lesson plans that are engaging to students and are very interactive to promote learning in my classroom.

Exit Slip 12/2/10

We watched a video in class about integration of technology in a teacher’s classroom. In the beginning

The teacher in the classroom had a smart board and allows students to use it for cooperative learning and actively engaging students encouraging participation.  Students integrate learning online with collaborative assignments with students from across the world.  Teachers could reach out to experts in a particular field and integrated into the classroom.  Virtual pen pals could be used to teach students 

She posts a daily blog for her classroom so that students are always in touch with what is going on in the classroom. This blog creates an “open classroom” for parents to be involved with what is happening in the classroom. Parents always want open communication with what is going on in the classroom. Students are always in touch with what is going on in classroom. She also posted different assignments online which allows students to always be informed. The blogs were great for recognizing student success. Students are also blogging different current events and sharing views of world outside of the classroom. The students are able to share their perspective in and outside of class.  Students are able to be a global citizen.  They are writing for an audience outside of the teacher.  This process engages the students even more. 

The students all had Laptops in the classroom and they were all using them for daily tasks.  We were wondering how many computers she really had access to in her classroom.  Students having blogs means that students need to have access with computers. 

Some things we could have done before technology was sending home assignments to the teacher with assignment notebooks.  You could have collaborated with different grade levels or schools across the city.  Collaboration is still available.  Engagement was still possible and as long as you have an effective classroom management.  Journaling could have taken place the online blog about current events. 

There were some things that we couldn’t do before.  Worldwide collaboration would take too long.  Active blogging requires an active blog.  The concept of being online is only fifteen years old; the ability to be online is a big change.  SMART board and Laptops are new tools.  The recognition of others besides the teacher is a big change because you are opening up difference audiences.

There are many things with technology that makes learning better.  Technology can help increase engagement and make cooperative learning more easily.  The open classroom concept makes things easier there are less trees cut.  It’s easier to get on Skype than to jump on a bus and visit a different classroom.  Current events are very current and we can know up to the minute when a certain event happened.  If we maintain a blog it is easier to communicate with students. 

If technology is doing what we already doing what we have been doing we shouldn’t use technology.  We need to find a way to integrate technology to make learning better, efficient and easier. You need to find a balance between what technologies is out there and what do you want to do. 

We read through the 7 most brilliant and dumb things about the internet. We discussed in a jigsaw and it was a good way to enhance learning by only being knowledgeable about one particular area. 

http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/columnists/johnson/johnson032.shtml

http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/columnists/johnson/johnson033.shtml

Technology may make it easier to be distracted but students have always been distracted.  Boundaries are always important.  You should think twice about using personal technology at risk for students to use.  Separate your two worlds.  If the district gives you a laptop, the district can take it at any time. 

Chapter 10: Rethinking Education in a Technological World

In order to sum up this book, we need to look at the current teaching methods and really question if those methods are working with the new generation of thinking.  Learning not only happens in courses taken in school but in the outside world.  I can tell you that most of the information you have learned while growing up and do not use in my daily life is lost in my brain.  As learning is moving outside of the school, we need to rethink the different methods we want to use in order to catch our learners.  Motivating students is important because if students don't feel that the material is worth learning, they are likely to  not use the information.  Students need to learn information that will provide them a basis for the rest of their life.  Like we said before we need to provide students for their future and not our past.  It is through teaching students using different techniques that we are able to provide them with tools to succeed in their future.  Lastly students need to be able to receive information when they need it.  Students need to know how to learn information later on in life.

Overall I believe that Students should be using technology in the classroom.  It is important to motivate students to learn so that they can succeed in the rest of their careers.

PSA Reflection

A Public Service Announcement, or PSA is a great learning tool for students to use in the classroom.  When we created ours, It was very simple to do.  We completed ours with a Mac video camera built in to Kara's Laptop.  After we were finished filming it was very easy to edit and finalize.  The hardest part for our group was submitting the video on You Tube.  We were unsuccessful in doing this and ended up posting the video right on our blog.  If a class was to make a larger video they might not be able to do this.  

Having students make their own video's is a great learning tool.  Whenever I made video's in High School, I remembered the material better.  Videos could be created for parents to find out what the class did on a field trip or to highlight rules in the classroom.  

I think it would be a neat idea to create classroom rules in the beginning of the year and then have different groups make a video why these rules are important to follow.  This would be a good method of teaching PBIS in the classroom.  Another idea would be to have students create a public service announcement about a conflict in a story we are reading as a class.  Students can recognize the conflict in a story and give possible solutions.  My last idea was to use videos as a learning tool to common mistakes made in Math class.  Students could make a video about the mistakes they have made and then show students the correct way to solve the problem.  

Public service announcements are a great way to teach in the classroom.  Even though I dream of teaching a younger aged students I still believe that Public Service announcements are a great tool to enhance learning in the classroom.

Exit Slip 11/11/10

Today in class we talked about if we want to fit the current teacher picture, or if we want to be innovative and buck the system to try to change things.  The model works for some students but not all students.  He showed some articles about teachers who are pushing the boundries.  Reasearch shows that it doesn't matter how much technology you use, it matters how well you are teaching. 

I presented my book chapter for the class today.  Technology royaly screwed up today.  However as we said in our presentation. Because there is one negative aspect of technology, doesn't mean we should stop using it right away. We should teach about the positive aspects. 

Cyber Bullying Podcast

Creating this pod cast was fairly easy.  The most challenging item of creating the pod cast was finding what to say.  It was difficult because I would write something and then when I said it out loud, it sometimes sounded funny.  I think before we publish anything we should speak what we are trying to say out loud to see if it sounds foolish or not.  The other challenging thing about the pod cast was limited materials.  In class we discussed how a Mac was the best method for creating a Pod cast.  I am a proud owner of a PC, but found it challenging to create a podcast using it because the limited amount of music available.  Once I got started, it was easy to do.  All you have to do is press the record button and you are good to go!

I would love to use this method in the future.  It was very simple to do and it  would be great to incorporate in the class.  I feel that I would love to have my students create their own messages and create different pod casts that way.  It would also be good to do a poetry unit and have all my students share their poems via pod casts.  This way you could also display your students work to their parents with out having each parent take time off of work to hear every ones poetry.  This would also be a great way to have students create their own radio station.  You could talk about the events that are occurring in your classroom so parents feel in the loop.  If you are studying about different current events you could have students create individual pod casts about different elements in the news.

In the hour it took to create my first Pod Cast I have fallen in love with the process.  I am now jealous of Mac users and would love to own my own to create more.  The process was very simple and I am sure to create more podcasts in the future.

Chapter 9: What does this all mean?

This chapter of Thinking Education in the Age of Technology shows educators that children are using technology whether we like it or not.  Students are jumping on the video game bandwagon which leaves many parents and educators frightened.  There is the notion that students who aren't reading actual text are not improving vocabulary or reading skills.  However if you take part of the online community of video games there is many opportunities to communicate with other gamers which in the end improves a students communication skill.  The book encourages parents to instead of judging what the child is doing, and predicting that the game has little educational value, you should go ahead and play the game with your child.  Many times parents are unsure of technology and often jump to the wrong conclusions. By having your child teaching you about different technologies, you not only learn different benefits of the technology but also improve your child's understanding of the technology.  Teaching others is one of the best ways to learn new things.  This concept can also be applied to blogs, wiki's, Facebook, Twitter and many other types of technologies.  

When I was telling my mom about the different things I was learning for this class you could see the glazed look come over her face.  However instead of continuing to talk about the different things I was doing, I sat down and showed her the different things we were learning. My mom was the first follower of my blog and has become my friend on face book and also has her own flicker account.  She now doesn't think sitting on the computer for hours at a time is a complete waste of time, but knows there is some benefits to the various amounts of technology.  Also by showing her the different things I learned in class, I was able to learn more in depth about the different items we touched on.  This was a win win for both parties.

It is a fact of our time that students are using technology at an alarming rate.  So why continue to teach students based on old methods that interested an older generation.  We should change our focus to reach today generation of learners not past learners. 

Chapter 8: How school's can cope with the New Technology

The chapter discusses three main ways schools can cope with the New Technology to improve the Education system.  The first idea the book presents is performance based assessment.  Students could be tested on the skills that they possess and not based on if they can pass a standardized test.  The book explains how schools can use this as a credential system for students to gain skills as a gateway into different professional programs.  For example if a student wanted to be a doctor they would have to earn different credentials in high school than a student would want to go into a Music Field. When I was in High School I was never a fan of Standardized testing.  Like many other students, I hated taking the ACT and wished there was a different way to get into college.  This might be one way for students to accomplish the admission into college.  When I read this goal, I was a little weary on if this would work.  My main concern (which I have expressed before) is if a student changes their mind later on in life and are unable to accomplish their dreams because of their age and lack of training.  What if a student dreams of being a famous musician growing up and gets all the credentials to go to an elite Musical College.  However 10 years down the road that same student changes their mind and goes back to college competing with students who are 10 years younger than he/she.  I feel that it is sometimes better to at least open the students mind to alternative ideas and have back up plans in case the student changes their mind later on in life.     

The next idea the chapter presents is New Curriculum designs.  This would be a great option for students who maybe go to a lower income school or a school that offers few classes.  Students would be able to take classes online at a different school and earn credits to graduated at their own school.  This option is great because it tailors to students individual interests.  If a student wants to take an AP class, however attends a school that doesn't offer the program, the student isn't out of luck.  The student is able to take a vast amount of classes without having to attend a school that offers them all.  I feel that this is a great idea, however would be even better if the student had a teacher as a mentor making sure the student stayed on track.  I have taken many online classes and its always better when you have an actual human caring about your progress instead of relying on the input of your computer. 

Lastly the Chapter mentions the Idea of New Approaches to Equality in the digital world. Today schools arn't equal on terms of funding across the country.  Some schools, because they have high test scores, can offer a large amount of classes with a large scale of tools.  With technology students can have an equal shot at receiving an education.  It doesn't matter any more if you were born in a poor area, it matters what opportunities are presented to you and how many you take advantage of.  With the New age of Technology, these student are able to learn the same classes as schools who are receiving large amounts of funding.  Technology just helps even the playing field a little more. 

Epilogue: Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts

The epilogue, I feel, is a good wrap up on this book.  It shows a High School teacher who is using a large amount of technology to teach his high school Journalism class. He arrives at school one morning at 6:50, roughly 45 minutes before his class is scheduled to start.  The reading just shows the different things he is able to accomplish before his students arrive, such as Posting to the class RSS page, or bookmarking a journal on his delicious account.  He submits a blog to his blog post and uploads a new podcast so he can listen to it later when he has time. He completes roughly 10 different forms of technology in the 45 minutes he has of prep time before his students arrive that morning. 

This example goes to show that once we are familiar with all these different types of technology it will be simple to use them all in our classroom.  Right now all this new information feels slightly overwhelming to us.  And I even feel that this is going to be very hard to incorporate EVERYTHING into my classroom.  But this example shows that it can be done very simply.  It might take a couple years implementing a new type of technology one by one. Eventually this will just become part of your every day school day. 

Chapter 10: What It All Means

Chapter 10 is the chapter that combines all the chapters together.  We have read about all this different types and kinds of technology.  Now it is up to us as future educators how we are going to decide what to do with the information.  We know that students and the education system is changing vastly around us.  We have many different tools available for us that were not available twenty years ago.  We now must decide what tools we want to incorporate into our classroom and what we want to leave behind.  This chapter also talks about the different shifts taking place in the new age of technology.  

With the internet content is being opened up to the general public.  Schools are no longer required to buy all the resources needed to teach the youth.  Students spent a large amount of time researching to learn.  Now Information is right at our fingertips.  It only takes a google search to find new information.  Learning is also taking place 24/7 in compared to past times when students came to school to study and then went home and forgot about learning.  With computers students can learn half way around the world and still not fall far behind.  Learning is switching from lecture to different forms of conversation.  It is outdated to just stand in front of a classroom and tell the students what they should know. Instead students need to find meaning in the information placed in front of them.  Students need to know why must we learn this and what is the benefit for me as a student.

One of my favorite shifts taking place is "Mastery is the Product, not a test.  In the past if you passed a test with a 70% or greater you were able say you mastered the material. No one took the next step and tried to see how you could apply the information to the real world.  In fact teachers assumed that if you passed the test you should have been alright applying the information in real life.  Students are no longer being tested on the material in Test format. They are being asked to apply the information they learned in different new ways.  These ways are more applicable to real life.  I believe that when students feel that they need to learn this information because it is beneficial to success in later years they are more motivated to learn the information.

The last chapter of the book talks about all these shifts taking place in the world.  This is only the beginning of a new format of teaching.  The book has showed us the vastly different options we have to incorporate in our classroom.  However because this huge shift is coming it is very important that we take the information and run with it.  Because if we don't, we might get swept away in the flood of technology. 

Exit Slip 11-4-10

We looked at this interesting school that had student work at their own pace at a desk like setting.  These schools dont necessarly look like everday classrooms.  During the group presentations it is always a good idea to have your directions set before students move.  I am guilty of this, but when you get into groups you are going to want to chat.  Its a good idea to tell directions first.  I liked how the students linked the topics we read in the chapter by a venn diagram. 

We were reviewing the iRLO projects.  One thing I never considered was to have the text on the screen longer than I take to read it. 

I liked how the professor created a check list for us to go through about our annotative bibliography.  It was easy to see what he wanted and we know what he is requiring for us. I think before a project was due in my classroom I would create a checklist for my students so they can see clearly what my expectations are. 

Chapter 9: Social Networks

I thought it was rather funny that the book addressed Facebook as a tool to use inside the classrooms.  Many schools around the state block social networking sites like Ning and Facebook.  I also am sure that many teachers would be against using Facebook in their classrooms.  One of the major concerns of teachers who are skeptics of social networking sites is putting to much information about yourself out online.  It is not your mission to create friends through social networking sites.  As teachers we would be creating profiles as interest groups for students. 

Social networking sites would be a great way for students to carryout discussions between students.  The book mentions that students who may be a little shy in class, have more encourage to speak up in conversations online.  I would love to be a third grade teacher someday and was a little stumped how I could include Facebook into my classroom.  I don't think Facebook would have the same motivation as using the social networking site with high school students.  I feel that the site would be great to comment on their opinions and practice typing out different lessons.  It would be important to have the students not use their full name and also keep few pictures online.

I also would allow parents access to this sight so they can see the different work their students have completed.  Parents could see the different conversations they are having in class.  This would also be a good place for students to place different current events they found online.  Social networking sites are good teaching tools to inform students about the importance of watching what you post online.  Today, when cyber bullying is a huge problem, it is important to teach students rules to properly behave online.  Facebook and Ning are only a few sites that teach this importance.

Reflection on Screencasting

http://screencast.com/t/mOfanLCL 

The screen casting for my Cool Tool took a lot of work.  I spent a lot of time getting familiar with the website.  It was an easy to use, user friendly website.  However there were a lot of different applications teachers can use in their classroom.  It also took a little bit of work to record the screen cast.  I had planned out all the different things I wanted to say however when you recorded the different information you were unable to rewind your material.  If you made a mistake you needed to start over from scratch.  I found it easy to record small bits of my screen cast which ultimately took more time than going through the screen cast in one take.  I also had to start over after I realized that I was just talking and not moving around to different elements of the website.  A good screen cast will click on different pages and show what the site all has to offer.  

I think this is an awesome tool to use in the classroom.  Now it is beneficial for students to not miss any class time.  If we are doing something important on the computer we can show students who are absent that day what we did in class.  This way students could be on the other side of the world and still receive the information they missed in the classroom.  I think this would be an excellent tool to show different examples of different math problems students need to complete for homework.  When I was growing up my parents were never able to help me with my homework due to the fact that they didn’t know the method the teacher was teaching us to solve the problem.  Parents can look at the screen cast you created and help their students with homework.  Or even better, if a student is lacking parental support at home they are able to come back during their own time and look how to solve the problem.  

I feel that screen casting is a great tool to use inside the classroom.  It may take a little time and preparation to create the screen cast however there are many benefits for your students. 

Exit Slip 10/28/10

From discussion today we learned that you should take the innicitative if you are in the classroom and have a lack of technology.  There are always funds available if you are not in a area witha  lot of technology.  We discussed the webanar in class. This is a good idea and would be a great idea to have for confrences in the classroom.  I think it would also be helpful to help students with problems in homework. 

There are many different steps for pod casts. First pick a topic.  Make sure it is contempory(recent) and relating to technology within PK-12.  Create a script.  Make sure you tell your opinions about what the topic is. 

Chapter 7: What may be gained? What May be lost?

One thing America takes pride in is its great diversity among each other.  Going across the country there are a great amount of different cultures.  As teachers a big part of teaching and classroom management is teaching the acceptance of diversity.  However this concept of teaching different cultures might be challenged with the development of cultural based education systems.  A Hispanic educational system might use Spanish literature however never even cover a different culture.  Teachers have worked hard to have students accept each other for who they are, only to have technology to diminish the progress.  I feel that online schooling which is based culturally should have a set standard to help teach the diversity and pluralism with in other people. 

Schools that jump on to the technology bandwagon, however, have a lot to gain.  For one students will be more engaged in their work.  Technology allows students to choose topics that interest them, and teachers will be able to have a broad topic range to accommodate the interests of every student.  Today teachers are accused of teaching a mile wide and an inch deep.  With the incorporation of technology teachers are able to deepen the depth of their teaching to allow students to use their own interests.  Technology also allows students to become more accountable for their learning.  In the past teachers needed to engage their students but working hard to create lessons that targeted individual students.  

I believe that technology has its pro’s and cons as well.  My biggest fear is that our world will become very individualized that we will not need the help from others in our daily life.  Right now computers are man’s best friend but what happens if the internet is down or your computer breaks.  Students will need to learn how each individual element of technology works as a backup method for technology.  If we have technology does that mean that writing and cursive is going to become outdated.  What about math facts or dictionaries? As long as students are able to use technology and understand the background behind the technology there are many powerful items teachers can use to incorporate technology in their classrooms.  School districts can save money by incorporating online textbooks and printing less paper which allows money to be put into hiring good teachers and allowing technology in the classroom.  Teachers can step out of the box in their teaching methods to provide teaching methods to many different learning styles. 

Podcasting, Video and screencasting, and Live Streaming

Before reading this chapter, I had a vague idea of each concept but really wasn’t sure what each method of technology was, and how to incorporate each into the classroom.  I was familiar with podcasting because I used to listen to different podcasts in high school that incorporated the current books I was reading.   I feel that I can easily incorporate podcasting into the classroom today.  As a teacher I could have a radio show where students tell parents what is all going on in my classroom.  This would be a great method for parents to see what their students are accomplishing at school.  I am an ESL minor and would love to use podcasting as a method of tracking individual improvement in learning English.  I would love to have a poetry unit and have the students create their own podcasts on the different poems they authored.  Podcasting is also an easy way for you to go back as a teacher and reflect on your student’s improvement.  It would also be a good idea if you student will be gone for an extended amount of time to use a pod cast to learn material. I was talking to a teacher who said one of his students was going to miss 3 weeks of school to visit his father in CA.  As a teacher, who are you to tell the parents that your child cannot miss 3 weeks of school. On the other hand, missing three weeks causes traumatic setback to any student.  A teacher could podcast each lesson for the student to listen to. This way, when the student returns they won’t be as far behind.   

Video and screencasting would also be a good way to incorporate learning in the classroom.  When I was in High School, we always made Spanish videos to illustrate our learning of certain material.  Students can create videos to illustrate the plot of a certain book.  Complete different interviews of students.  Teachers could also screencast difficult material on the web.  For example if a student is doing a math problem at home, the teacher could have example problems online and how the teacher worked through them.  I know when I was a child; my parents could never help me with my homework because they didn’t understand the method of solving the problem.  This way parents could see the method the teacher is using to solve the problem and the students can see the screencasting to answer problems independently. 

I have heard of live streaming before on different reality TV shoes.  They had these to allow the viewer to log in at any time and check what is going on inside the show.  However this can be used for educational purposes as well.  When I logged into the live streaming website (http://www.ustream.tv/) I instantly logged into a live streaming video from 60 degrees under the water, close to the Great Barrier Reef.  Students can easily log into different parts of the world and see what is going on.  This method would be great for teaching different cultures to students or even different science material.  How cool would it be to have a live streaming video of a space probe going to a different planet or of different people in china going to work.  This way, students can see a firsthand experience without leaving the comfort of their own home.    

Overall there was a lot of beneficial information in this particular chapter that I can carry out in my classroom. 

Exit Slip 10-21-10

Today in class we discussed the book chapter.  The group did a great job putting the class in different groups.  We talked about smart boards and how we should lock our images into place.  Accidents happen, and kids will move items out of place by accident.  It’s better to take the steps to prevent problems than deal with them while teaching. It was helpful because Professor Boyer discussed how to group objects together.  This is something that I need to do in my IWB lesson.  We should be paying attention to color choices and size of font.  You would want to make sure you can see the screen once projected.  We need to make sure that we don't put too much text on the screen. 

We talked about the benefits of using Skype to talk with problems.  This would be a good tool to use to for busy parents to communicate with parents.  You could even have students troubleshoot you if they are working on a project and help them virtually. 

I think the swat analysis is a good idea, because we will be able to familiarize yourself with different tools to use in the classroom.  I think it will be a good way to see all these tools and pick and choose the ones we can use in our own classroom.   

We need to make an annotative bibliography for class next week.  I am a little scared to create my own wiki because I have never needed to make one.  I think this will be a learning experience. 

Chapter 6: The 3 Eras of Education

Chapter 6 of the book talks about the different eras of education.  The reason schools are the way they are today is because immigrants from various countries were entering the country at an alarming rate during the Industrial Revolution.  Before this rise in immigration, the majority of the education was done by apprenticeships. Children would learn the family trade from their parents.  They would learn how to read and write basically to succeed in their family business.  Women would learn how to cook and clean, if they were farmers they would learn specific farming tasks.  If I was born back then I would have hated having to clean and take care of the house for the rest of my life.  If students did go to school, it would be for 1-2 years in order to read and write. 

The reason this system changed is because immigrants were arriving and were unable to apprentice to find work.  These people who were new to the country needed to be educated to find a job and survive in the new country.  Schools popped up to educate children on reading and writing.  Eventually states mandated all children to attend schools taking the responsibility off parents and placing responsibility on the state government. 

Today we are on the front of a new wave of education. The responsibly is taken off the states and returning to the parents and students.  For the first time in centuries students are able to learn the information they feel is necessary for success.  Virtual schools are the a huge tool for allowing students to pick their education. While virtual schools are paving the way for lifelong learning I feel it may hinder students.  When students attend schools they are socially interactive through out the entire day.  They learn how to work through problems and deal with other students.  Students attending schools also have instant feedback from teachers.  Students are also monitored by the teachers for different learning problems and other disorders.  I would be worried if a student was in a virtual school and struggling because the teacher was unable to find a learning disorder. 

I feel that I am more of an advocate for technology in schools rather than virtual schools mostly because I feel that I wouldn't do well in a virtual school.  However for certain students, this type of education is the best method for them.  I feel that students should find what ever works as an individual.  This may be using technology in the classroom, or attending an online school. 

Fun with flicker

This chapter gives proof that a picture is worth a thousand words. The one thing I liked about flicker is that students can upload anyone's picture as long as it isn't copyrighted. As a teacher I would love to have my students go on virtual field-trips all around the world. Flicker is one online tool that would allow this to happen. Students could pick their own places to travel to or study as a class. If students are doing reports on different countries they can use flicker to illustrate the facts they learned.

Flicker would also be a powerful tool to keep parents in the loop of their child's progress in school. Parents can visually see different activities the students are performing. Also if a student is away on a vacation you could log into flicker and have students see what they are missing at school. Students would be less lost when returning back to school.

I like how the text linked flicker to Google earth. Students can follow people as they travel around the world and see progress digitally. They gave the example if following a sailor around the world. Students could track the progress along with seeing through pictures how the world changes as you change longitudinally and longitudinally.

Overall flicker is just another powerful tool to use in the classroom. However like the text mentions needs to be closely monitored because contains some inappropriate material.

Exit slip 10/14/10

The group that discussed today did a very good job presenting.  They were organized and had a good idea to split the group up by different colored squares.  They spoke loudly and created an organized method for designing classroom discussion.  One thing they could work on is creating a more generalized discussion so that everyone is involved in every aspect of the discussion.  The second half of class we discussed how to use scratch.  I feel better about using scratch inside the classroom and to use it for making my iRLO.

Chapter 5: The Seeds of a New System of Education

          This chapter really made me think about the nontraditional school.  The chapter started off talking about the benefits of home schooling and virtual classrooms.  The chapter gave an example of two Hispanic sisters in California whose parents work full time and send their school to a Hispanic virtual school.  These students, because their parents are motivated to give their children a good education, are going on quality field trips and learning many different things if they were stuck in a general school.  The students are able to socialize with other children their age by going to the local YMCA.  Before reading this chapter I felt that online schools left out some valuable parts of the education system.  However, whether we would like to admit it or not, a few students get left behind in public schools.  In this case it might be alright to have the students take learning into their own hands by attending virtual schools. 

            This chapter also reminded me a lot of my dad as well.  When I lived at home, we would come home and see my dad tuned into the PBS channel watching his nature shows.  Me and my sister (who had been at school all day) would get annoyed with him because we were already learning for 8 hours at school and the last thing we wanted to do when we got home, was to sit and watch more educational shows.  However he was at work for 8 hours at a factory where little thinking was done.  This just proves that as humans our learning is never done and we are always yearning to learn more.  Maybe this is why many years after a student graduates from high school they return back to college for more education. 

                After reading this chapter it is hard how I would implement my new found knowledge into an elementary school classroom.  The chapter talked about video games that represent stimulation for children that would enhance learning for children. I myself played SIMS when I was a child, however I don’t feel that I learned anything from the game.  Maybe if the game was played by a child of a younger age there might be more learning involved.  While reading this part, I kept thinking of girls playing with barbies.  Aren’t these children simulating different situations and outcomes that may or may not happen.  Instead of having the computer generate out possible outcomes the child must be creative about the different possibilities of each situation.  Sims could also be used for a history class or science class where cause and effect are prevalent to learning.  Today I was in a classroom where the students were learning about the cause of planting sugar cane in Australia which effected the destruction of the great coral reef.  To learn about this teacher could create a Sims where they learn the outcome of their actions.