1. In what ways were you most prepared for technology in your classrooms? In what ways were you most unprepared?
2. What is your favorite technology-integrated lesson plan that you have taught?
3. Do you use an online gradebook program or a regular pen and paper system? What are the pros and cons of either?
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Monday, November 5, 2007
Assignment #4
*a link to the lesson I presented in class can be found under the "projects" heading on the sidebar*
This activity meets several education requirementst, including the following:
EALR WA.1 - the student writes clearly an effectively.
Component 1.1 - develop concept and design
GLE 1.1.18 - Uses transitions to maintain fluency, logic, and coherence of information, opinions, or ideas (Grade 10
framework: Writing in the Content Areas).
Component 1.2 - use style appropriate to the audience and purpose
GLE 1.2.6 - Vary the complexity of sentence structure and cadence for effect
NETS for grades 9-12: Routinely and efficiently use online information resources to meet needs for collaboration, research, publication, communication, and productivity. (4, 5, 6), and Select and apply technology tools for research, information analysis, problem solving, and decision making in content learning. (4, 5)
Activity Plan: This Smart Board activity walks students through how to use a Thesaurus, especially synonyms. Students will learn how to use the shade feature on the Board to hide later information, how to use their finger to drag and drop information and data that is formatted to do so on the program, as well as how to write with the pens and use the eraser. Students will participate based on a volunteer basis unless it becomes obvious that I as the teacher needs to call directly on students to keep classroom flow going. Learning will be assessed by adequate participation; as the material covered is mainly review, there is not a lot of new information that will need learned.
Smart Board technology could very well prove useful and beneficial in my classroom; it could especially help in drawing students in and getting them to interact with eachother and the material. A hands-on approach to learning could also help draw out students from diverse backgrounds through bringing the learning down to a manageable level that moves at their own pace. However, if the class was quite large, learning and participation would be minimal due to time constraints.
This activity meets several education requirementst, including the following:
EALR WA.1 - the student writes clearly an effectively.
Component 1.1 - develop concept and design
GLE 1.1.18 - Uses transitions to maintain fluency, logic, and coherence of information, opinions, or ideas (Grade 10
framework: Writing in the Content Areas).
Component 1.2 - use style appropriate to the audience and purpose
GLE 1.2.6 - Vary the complexity of sentence structure and cadence for effect
NETS for grades 9-12: Routinely and efficiently use online information resources to meet needs for collaboration, research, publication, communication, and productivity. (4, 5, 6), and Select and apply technology tools for research, information analysis, problem solving, and decision making in content learning. (4, 5)
Activity Plan: This Smart Board activity walks students through how to use a Thesaurus, especially synonyms. Students will learn how to use the shade feature on the Board to hide later information, how to use their finger to drag and drop information and data that is formatted to do so on the program, as well as how to write with the pens and use the eraser. Students will participate based on a volunteer basis unless it becomes obvious that I as the teacher needs to call directly on students to keep classroom flow going. Learning will be assessed by adequate participation; as the material covered is mainly review, there is not a lot of new information that will need learned.
Smart Board technology could very well prove useful and beneficial in my classroom; it could especially help in drawing students in and getting them to interact with eachother and the material. A hands-on approach to learning could also help draw out students from diverse backgrounds through bringing the learning down to a manageable level that moves at their own pace. However, if the class was quite large, learning and participation would be minimal due to time constraints.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Internet issues
Students today are faced with many internet and computer issues - some threatening and some not. Some threatening issues are: cyber bullying, adult chat rooms, online sexual predators, etc. Some other non-threatening issues are: lack of access to computers or having, say, a Mac whose internet program is not necessarily compatible with all internet explorer websites and programs.
Filters, guidelines, etc. are some helpful things that schools and teachers can do to help guard students from threatening internet issues. As for the other issues, there is often not much that educators can do to help, other than encourage use of public library computers, etc. Also - if as a teacher I knw that there are students in my class with limited or no computer savvy or access, then I can give assignments with alternate choices that do not necessarily need computers.
Filters, guidelines, etc. are some helpful things that schools and teachers can do to help guard students from threatening internet issues. As for the other issues, there is often not much that educators can do to help, other than encourage use of public library computers, etc. Also - if as a teacher I knw that there are students in my class with limited or no computer savvy or access, then I can give assignments with alternate choices that do not necessarily need computers.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Teach42.com
This website is really an interesting one...and I ran across it quite by mistake :) The main text (when I looked at it) was on how to get other teachers and people in general web 2.0 savvy. It also has "lonks" to other programs like Twitter which, as far as I could tell, was a sort of tech/teacher myspace...where poeple could ask questions to others and vice versa. Interesting. Another interesting site was del.icio.so - it seems that it was a site that has links to tech in ed info like "MODEL ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES IN THE SCHOOLS."
All that to say, this may be a site you want to check out :)
All that to say, this may be a site you want to check out :)
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
K12 Online Conference
The conference I listened to was "Cell Phones as Classroom Learning Tools" by Liz Kolb. (A link to this online presentation can be found on my blog under the Projects title)
NOTES FROM THE CONFERENCE:
She has a corresponding powerpoint to go with her spoken presentation...really helpful!!!
1. Audio recording: the teacher could do so and then post lectures online for students to access; the student could record for their own personal reference
- cell recording could be transfered into podcasts (gabcast, gcast, hipcast, evoca) 3 of which are free. it transfers your cell data into a podcast. - no uploading, no hassle. you can set up your account to automatically post to your blog, and many other cool features.
she goes through one of the accounts step by step; the one she used had up to 60 minutes available per recording
2. Phone conferencing (with up to 200 people, depending on the program and account you use)
TalkShoe and FreeConferencePro are two available accounts that do this
3. Note taking (Jott, Brain cast, etc) - they are correlating online programs - either audio or the program will transfer the vocals to typed text.
4. Teachers are also going out and recording authors reading their own works, etc and then playing them for their classes as a sort of "interactive classroom experience"
5. Having kids use their cell phones as research or homework tools - conducting and recording interviews, recording library research, etc.
6. Giving quizzes, etc. over the phone - by having kids call in to the teacher's phone (and thus the program the teacher is linked to) and then follow the prerecorded instructions.
7. Photo blogging (using your camera feature on the cell phone) - using programs like Flickr and Bubbleshare to create slideshows, etc.
8. Video recording - Eyespot, Jumpcut, YouTube, etc are programs that students and teachers alike can use to prepare video presentations for the classroom. This could be useful for classroom projects, especially if the school does not have any available for classroom use.
9. She suggests creating ringtones (as a class project) where the ringtone is classroom information
10. Sending texts: as class reminders, especially (TextForFree, Reactee, etc.)
11. Field trip tools
12. Phone Search Tools (Dictionaries, encyclopedias, calculator, Internet on the phone, etc)
13. Calendar, Notepad, etc - using the calendar and notepad features on cell phones to help organize students and encourage time management and prioritization
* many of these things she outlined, however, are things for the teacher to do...except for perhaps the recording aspects
*many of these programs offer landline options for those who do not have cell phone access
* all of these programs have privacy capabilities and other options available
This was a fairly long presentation, and also fairly redundant, since many of the programs and options she talked about were linked or revolved arund the same topic, such as taking notes or recording lessons. One of the things I had a hard time with was getting my mind around the classroom settings where this type of learning may be useful. I could see it, perhaps, in a newspaper, journalism, photography, or research class...and perhaps even in a very lecture-laden class setting as a recording tool, but in the average everyday class setting, this may prove to be more trouble than it is worth. For myself, I lean more towards the interaction and discussion kind of teaching and class setting, so I really would not have much need for these programs. I think it is important for kids to learn good, solid note-taking skils, and if we give them technological "outs" they will never learn. I also think that this is something where students (and teachers too) could spend more time developing and using these programs that it may cut into time actually spent learning in the classroom.
NOTES FROM THE CONFERENCE:
She has a corresponding powerpoint to go with her spoken presentation...really helpful!!!
1. Audio recording: the teacher could do so and then post lectures online for students to access; the student could record for their own personal reference
- cell recording could be transfered into podcasts (gabcast, gcast, hipcast, evoca) 3 of which are free. it transfers your cell data into a podcast. - no uploading, no hassle. you can set up your account to automatically post to your blog, and many other cool features.
she goes through one of the accounts step by step; the one she used had up to 60 minutes available per recording
2. Phone conferencing (with up to 200 people, depending on the program and account you use)
TalkShoe and FreeConferencePro are two available accounts that do this
3. Note taking (Jott, Brain cast, etc) - they are correlating online programs - either audio or the program will transfer the vocals to typed text.
4. Teachers are also going out and recording authors reading their own works, etc and then playing them for their classes as a sort of "interactive classroom experience"
5. Having kids use their cell phones as research or homework tools - conducting and recording interviews, recording library research, etc.
6. Giving quizzes, etc. over the phone - by having kids call in to the teacher's phone (and thus the program the teacher is linked to) and then follow the prerecorded instructions.
7. Photo blogging (using your camera feature on the cell phone) - using programs like Flickr and Bubbleshare to create slideshows, etc.
8. Video recording - Eyespot, Jumpcut, YouTube, etc are programs that students and teachers alike can use to prepare video presentations for the classroom. This could be useful for classroom projects, especially if the school does not have any available for classroom use.
9. She suggests creating ringtones (as a class project) where the ringtone is classroom information
10. Sending texts: as class reminders, especially (TextForFree, Reactee, etc.)
11. Field trip tools
12. Phone Search Tools (Dictionaries, encyclopedias, calculator, Internet on the phone, etc)
13. Calendar, Notepad, etc - using the calendar and notepad features on cell phones to help organize students and encourage time management and prioritization
* many of these things she outlined, however, are things for the teacher to do...except for perhaps the recording aspects
*many of these programs offer landline options for those who do not have cell phone access
* all of these programs have privacy capabilities and other options available
This was a fairly long presentation, and also fairly redundant, since many of the programs and options she talked about were linked or revolved arund the same topic, such as taking notes or recording lessons. One of the things I had a hard time with was getting my mind around the classroom settings where this type of learning may be useful. I could see it, perhaps, in a newspaper, journalism, photography, or research class...and perhaps even in a very lecture-laden class setting as a recording tool, but in the average everyday class setting, this may prove to be more trouble than it is worth. For myself, I lean more towards the interaction and discussion kind of teaching and class setting, so I really would not have much need for these programs. I think it is important for kids to learn good, solid note-taking skils, and if we give them technological "outs" they will never learn. I also think that this is something where students (and teachers too) could spend more time developing and using these programs that it may cut into time actually spent learning in the classroom.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Distance Learning
This article was interesting because I had never really thought about how far-reaching and involved distance learning could be. To quote the article:
"But these virtual field trips, as Moncrief calls them, go way beyond traditional distance learning. Rather, vRoom offers realtime, two-way communication that includes social networking tools such as instant messaging, application sharing, breakout rooms, interactive whiteboards, and a live webcam—ensuring meaningful communication and offering a project-based learning environment that engages all students in the subject."
I read this and think: "Wow - I would love those experiences!" It is amazing how involved distance learning has become...to think that students can now engage in webcam conversation, instant messaging, and interctive whiteboards is just mind-boggling. The interesting thing, too, is that in order to have this kind of distance learning there needs to be professionals on the other ned of things that are willing to put in the time and energy to enter into conversation, etc. with students.
"But these virtual field trips, as Moncrief calls them, go way beyond traditional distance learning. Rather, vRoom offers realtime, two-way communication that includes social networking tools such as instant messaging, application sharing, breakout rooms, interactive whiteboards, and a live webcam—ensuring meaningful communication and offering a project-based learning environment that engages all students in the subject."
I read this and think: "Wow - I would love those experiences!" It is amazing how involved distance learning has become...to think that students can now engage in webcam conversation, instant messaging, and interctive whiteboards is just mind-boggling. The interesting thing, too, is that in order to have this kind of distance learning there needs to be professionals on the other ned of things that are willing to put in the time and energy to enter into conversation, etc. with students.
"On a Quest for English"
This article was really interesting, which is why I posted a link to it under the special needs heading on my blog. Basically the article's premise was that video games and virtual/online program can be effective tools for helping ELL students master conversational English. At first I was skeptical, especially since one of the games highlighted in the article was World of Warcraft, but as I read I began t see that perhaps the people spearheading this idea may be on to something. The cool thing about video games and virtual programs is that they are available to everyone...and with advances in the internet, people can link to and play with other gamers from across the world.
I encourage everyone to read this article and look for other articles about related things - it really is interesting!
I encourage everyone to read this article and look for other articles about related things - it really is interesting!
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