1. Intro Video:
Doing an intro video can be a very useful tool in the classroom because it is a great way for students and parents to see who the teacher is and what kind of person he or she is. I liked the assignment because it was a great icebreaker for some of us to work together and record each other while being silly and getting the work done. The intro video could be a great use to record students, with parent's permission, and have the class watch them to learn about one another. This assignment met the Communication and Collaboration standard because students used the video to be able to communicate with others.
2. Concept Map:
The concept map is a great way to break down difficult concepts into simple small chunks. I liked this assignment because it showed me how much different information can be in one topic. The concept map can be easily used in a normal or sped classroom. The teacher would just have to break down the information more and more based on the student's ability to understand. This assignment met Technology Operations and Concepts and Research and Information Fluency standards because students used a program to create the concept map and had to do research on the topic.
3. Web Site:
Such as the intro video, a teacher website is a great way for students and parents to find out about a teacher and what is going on in the classroom. I liked this assignment because I was able to talk about myself without having to record a video and it felt much more personal with me writing instead of speaking. The website can be used anywhere and not just a classroom setting so anyone that wants to read about the teacher and what is happening in the classroom can do so from the comfort of their home. This assignment met the Communication and Collaboration and Technology Operations and Concepts standards because students used the website to communicate and they used technological tools to build the website.
4. Voki:
The Voki Avatar could be used as another way to introduce oneself to the class. Personally, I did not care too much for this activity because it felt rather clunky and I did not care for the automated computer voice options that were given. The Voki could easily be used in a classroom and students could create their own to interact with each other. This assignment met the Communication and Collaboration and Technology Operations and Concepts standards because students can use the Voki to communicate and each person has to design it on his or her own.
5. Extranormal:
The Extranormal video is a great way to create scenarios about what to do and not to do. I really had fun with this assignment because it was easy to use and it was free, for a video or two. This could be easily used in any classroom to show the rules of the class and the consequences if the rules are broken.This assignment met the Communication and Collaboration, Technology Operations and Concepts and Digital Citizenship standards because the video is used to communicate the rules of a classroom, or anything, and the person has to create it from scratch.
6. Turnitin Paper:
Turnitin.com is a fantastic tool that every teacher should utilize in his or her classroom. I liked this assignment because it shows that teachers have a great way to catch if a student cheated on his or her papers. I do not believe that this could be used in the lower grades or in a sped classroom because the students do not write many papers in those classes. This assignment met the Research and Information Fluency, Technology Operations and Concepts and Digital Citizenship because to do a report you have to research the information. Also students need to know that turnitin.com searches the internet for the same material to see if it is plagiarized and it shows if a student is being dishonest or if they need to correct some of his or her paper to not be plagiarized.
7. TED Videos:
The TED videos are a great way for teachers to share his or her own thoughts about anything that goes on in a class. There are some very inspirational videos about what teachers are and should be doing in a classroom environment. I liked this assignment because it showed me different perspectives of other teachers from around the world. I just loved the video of John Hunter and the game, The World Peace Game: he created to grab his student's attention. The videos can be shown in any classroom because it can show students new ways of thinking and new games to play to build their knowledge. This assignment meets the Communication and Collaboration and Creativity and Innovation standards because the videos are of teachers sharing their amazing ideas that they have learned or created over the years of working with children.
Monday, July 29, 2013
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
22. What Technology Means To Me
For myself, technology means having new tools to help people with everyday lives. Most people think of technology as just computers or smart phones. But back in the late 19th / early 20th century radios were a huge improvement for communication. The radio was astonishing to everyone 100 years ago but now we barely use the radio because most of us have internet to use Pandora, Youtube, Satellite radio etc. I am thankful for living in this day and age of computers, smart phones, smart boards, tablets and other devices that the everyday consumer can buy and use.
I remember when Steve Jobs first announced his fancy new Ipad. I, along with many others, was very excited and could not wait to get my hands on this new piece of technology. But now it has been over three years since it came out and there are many other new tablets on the market that are better than the first Ipad and it is amazing what such little time can create in the technology world. Technology may not be moving as fast paced as some people have hoped, with flying cars etc. but overall it has a very steady pace with what is being put out on the market. I personally love technology and like most people I use it daily because there are so many things that can be done with it that just makes life easier on everyone.
21. "Privacy" Concerns
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2043327/how-we-sabotage-our-own-privacy-for-deals-and-ego.html
This article is about how some people try to be very secure online by using long passwords, not shopping online or using any social media. It is mentioned that it is nearly impossible to be secure because once anything is done online someone can find a trace of it if they really wanted to do so. A survey was administered across a few countries asking if he or she cared about who can see their personal information online and of course America is one of the worst offenders. Americans do not pay much attention to who can see the information that is posted online. If it is cheaper online then he or she is willing to buy it because it is slightly cheaper and they do not give any regards of who can see what they are doing or buying. Lastly, the article also mentioned the only way to be truly off the grid is to grow your own food, never get sick and have no utilities. This would be near impossible for the average person in this wonderful technology era.
Personally I do not think people really care about what they do online, as the article above proved to be true. Ever since the whole NSA scandal people were appalled at what they were able to do but to be honest anyone with some technological experience can get personal information from someone if they wanted to do so. People, in general, just need to be careful with what they do online. There are some basic things that majority of people do not know how to avoid such as spam/scam e-mails that can hack information on a person's computer. Just make sure you think about what you are doing online before doing anything of importance such as taxes or using a check or credit card.
This article is about how some people try to be very secure online by using long passwords, not shopping online or using any social media. It is mentioned that it is nearly impossible to be secure because once anything is done online someone can find a trace of it if they really wanted to do so. A survey was administered across a few countries asking if he or she cared about who can see their personal information online and of course America is one of the worst offenders. Americans do not pay much attention to who can see the information that is posted online. If it is cheaper online then he or she is willing to buy it because it is slightly cheaper and they do not give any regards of who can see what they are doing or buying. Lastly, the article also mentioned the only way to be truly off the grid is to grow your own food, never get sick and have no utilities. This would be near impossible for the average person in this wonderful technology era.
Personally I do not think people really care about what they do online, as the article above proved to be true. Ever since the whole NSA scandal people were appalled at what they were able to do but to be honest anyone with some technological experience can get personal information from someone if they wanted to do so. People, in general, just need to be careful with what they do online. There are some basic things that majority of people do not know how to avoid such as spam/scam e-mails that can hack information on a person's computer. Just make sure you think about what you are doing online before doing anything of importance such as taxes or using a check or credit card.
Monday, July 8, 2013
20. Younger Americans’ Library Habits and Expectations
http://libraries.pewinternet.org/2013/06/25/younger-americans-library-services/
As stated above, this article is about what young Americans' do and expect in a library. This article states that Americans between the ages of 16-29 go to the library to use the computers and the internet. It also talks about how people 16-29 years of age have used their phone or some other type of technological device to get access to a library website and how have people in that age group have moved away from physical books but now use e-readers instead. Also, the article states that with the use of technology people under the age of thirty finally know what a library can be used for, resources wise, and more and more people are visiting libraries than in previous years.
Personally I visit the library on USM's campus every Tuesday and Thursday this summer because of all of the places it has to study and get work done. I bring my laptop to the library after every class, during my 2-4 hr break between classes, and do the homework that was just assigned to me or work on something ahead of time. Or if I do not have any school work I will plug in my head phones and listen to music and catch up on some netflix time. Overall I am glad that more students / people are using libraries and the resources that it has.
As stated above, this article is about what young Americans' do and expect in a library. This article states that Americans between the ages of 16-29 go to the library to use the computers and the internet. It also talks about how people 16-29 years of age have used their phone or some other type of technological device to get access to a library website and how have people in that age group have moved away from physical books but now use e-readers instead. Also, the article states that with the use of technology people under the age of thirty finally know what a library can be used for, resources wise, and more and more people are visiting libraries than in previous years.
Personally I visit the library on USM's campus every Tuesday and Thursday this summer because of all of the places it has to study and get work done. I bring my laptop to the library after every class, during my 2-4 hr break between classes, and do the homework that was just assigned to me or work on something ahead of time. Or if I do not have any school work I will plug in my head phones and listen to music and catch up on some netflix time. Overall I am glad that more students / people are using libraries and the resources that it has.
19. The Secrets Of Top Students
http://www.edudemic.com/2013/06/what-makes-a-top-student/
As the title states, this article is about how and what students do to have all A's and succeed academically. The first thing the article mentions is that all of the students that were surveyed said they worked hard. They had spent 20+ hours a week just studying and doing homework. Another ting that was mentioned is that they all sacrificed their social lives. With all the time the students spend studying to get good grades, not many of them can hangout with his or her friends as much as they would like. Lastly, the students had good support at home. Not many of them had his or her parent being pushy and causing more pressure. Most parents told their children to just pace yourself and do they best that they could do.
The author spent a lot of time researching this topic because he was an all A student himself but it did not come easy to him and he had to fight to earn his grades. Personally I think that this article is great because people just do not realize how much hard work it takes to get good grades. Sure some might finish a test early and ace it but that does not mean the information comes easily to him or her. For example, I probably would make all A's if I would study the textbook. As a future teacher I know I should read the passages that are assigned but I cannot stand "learning" from a text book and my grades usually suffer. By suffer I mean get B's not all A's that I know I could get if I would just read the text but it's too boring to read all of the information. Mainly because most of the information in a text is filler and not an important part of what the chapter is trying to convey. Overall, I think this was a fantastic article and I hope people will buy his book to learn how to become a successful student.
As the title states, this article is about how and what students do to have all A's and succeed academically. The first thing the article mentions is that all of the students that were surveyed said they worked hard. They had spent 20+ hours a week just studying and doing homework. Another ting that was mentioned is that they all sacrificed their social lives. With all the time the students spend studying to get good grades, not many of them can hangout with his or her friends as much as they would like. Lastly, the students had good support at home. Not many of them had his or her parent being pushy and causing more pressure. Most parents told their children to just pace yourself and do they best that they could do.
The author spent a lot of time researching this topic because he was an all A student himself but it did not come easy to him and he had to fight to earn his grades. Personally I think that this article is great because people just do not realize how much hard work it takes to get good grades. Sure some might finish a test early and ace it but that does not mean the information comes easily to him or her. For example, I probably would make all A's if I would study the textbook. As a future teacher I know I should read the passages that are assigned but I cannot stand "learning" from a text book and my grades usually suffer. By suffer I mean get B's not all A's that I know I could get if I would just read the text but it's too boring to read all of the information. Mainly because most of the information in a text is filler and not an important part of what the chapter is trying to convey. Overall, I think this was a fantastic article and I hope people will buy his book to learn how to become a successful student.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Friday, June 21, 2013
15. 5 Digital Learning Recommendations
http://www.eclassroomnews.com/2013/06/14/lead-issues-five-digital-learning-recommendations/2/
This article is about the concerns that go along with the use of technology. The first is the the solving of the wiring infrastructure in schools. Most technology requires high-speed internet but there are a lot of schools who do not have adequate bandwidth to support all of their students. The second one is to build a national effort to deploy devices in schools. Basically this means that there needs to be some companies that can just donate some technology to schools because not every school can afford computers, smart boards or tablets. The third one is accelerate the adoption of digital curriculum which basically means they want to have a safe way for educational staff to be able to purchase items to use in their class or school. The fourth one is to embrace and encourage model schools. Some schools already have incorporated technology heavily into their school system and other schools need to look up at them and see how they are doing it and with what kind of budget that is being used. The fifth and last one is invest in human capital. It talks about how learning is not between a student and a device but between a student, device and teacher.
Personally I think that schools should use technology as much as they can but alas not all schools can afford to rewire or buy new things. Some schools rely solely on donations from other people because the district is so poor. Although some schools in surban areas flourish because they have plenty of money at their disposal. But these are some major concerns that need to be helped by hopefully some governing agency but only time will tell how schools can handle all of the new upgrades in the digital age.
This article is about the concerns that go along with the use of technology. The first is the the solving of the wiring infrastructure in schools. Most technology requires high-speed internet but there are a lot of schools who do not have adequate bandwidth to support all of their students. The second one is to build a national effort to deploy devices in schools. Basically this means that there needs to be some companies that can just donate some technology to schools because not every school can afford computers, smart boards or tablets. The third one is accelerate the adoption of digital curriculum which basically means they want to have a safe way for educational staff to be able to purchase items to use in their class or school. The fourth one is to embrace and encourage model schools. Some schools already have incorporated technology heavily into their school system and other schools need to look up at them and see how they are doing it and with what kind of budget that is being used. The fifth and last one is invest in human capital. It talks about how learning is not between a student and a device but between a student, device and teacher.
Personally I think that schools should use technology as much as they can but alas not all schools can afford to rewire or buy new things. Some schools rely solely on donations from other people because the district is so poor. Although some schools in surban areas flourish because they have plenty of money at their disposal. But these are some major concerns that need to be helped by hopefully some governing agency but only time will tell how schools can handle all of the new upgrades in the digital age.
14. Schools Killing Creativity
http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html
This is a wonderful video,from 2006, about a speaker named Ken Robinson. He talks about how the school system in every country has Art the bottom subject. Mr. Robinson discusses that schools kill creativity such as dancing, drawing and music. He goes to to say that teachers are killing the creativity at a young age by telling students they will never become a dancer, artist or musician so they should just focus on academics because they will not be able to get a job any other way. Then he goes on to talk about a women, who met who later became a famous choreographer, that told him her teacher said something was wrong with her and she needed to go see a specialist. So when her mother took her to see a specialist he told her mother that nothing is wrong with her but that she is a dancer and she needs to go to a dancing school. Once her mother put her in a dancing school she was immensely happy and then she later on became a famous multimillionaire who is known for some of the best performances in history.
I really loved this video because I agree that creativity is killed in schools. When I was growing up all I wanted to do, as a profession, was to be a video game tester. But year after year my family, who were teachers, and my teachers said that I would never get a job like that so I needed to focus on my favorite subjects such as math and social studies. To this day I still play video games and wish I could be a game tester, but I would have to move to California and not see my family which is also saddening. Luckily enough though I found another dream of becoming a teacher and I plan to incorporate the arts, technology and games into my classroom for children to learn. I believe children learn best when they are having fun and when they are having fun they never realize that they are learning something new.
This is a wonderful video,from 2006, about a speaker named Ken Robinson. He talks about how the school system in every country has Art the bottom subject. Mr. Robinson discusses that schools kill creativity such as dancing, drawing and music. He goes to to say that teachers are killing the creativity at a young age by telling students they will never become a dancer, artist or musician so they should just focus on academics because they will not be able to get a job any other way. Then he goes on to talk about a women, who met who later became a famous choreographer, that told him her teacher said something was wrong with her and she needed to go see a specialist. So when her mother took her to see a specialist he told her mother that nothing is wrong with her but that she is a dancer and she needs to go to a dancing school. Once her mother put her in a dancing school she was immensely happy and then she later on became a famous multimillionaire who is known for some of the best performances in history.
I really loved this video because I agree that creativity is killed in schools. When I was growing up all I wanted to do, as a profession, was to be a video game tester. But year after year my family, who were teachers, and my teachers said that I would never get a job like that so I needed to focus on my favorite subjects such as math and social studies. To this day I still play video games and wish I could be a game tester, but I would have to move to California and not see my family which is also saddening. Luckily enough though I found another dream of becoming a teacher and I plan to incorporate the arts, technology and games into my classroom for children to learn. I believe children learn best when they are having fun and when they are having fun they never realize that they are learning something new.
13. Gaming to Re-engage Boys in Learning
http://www.ted.com/talks/ali_carr_chellman_gaming_to_re_engage_boys_in_learning.html
This video is about a speaker, named Ali Carr-chellman, who is trying to explain what is happening to boys in the lower grades. She first introduced the 100 girls project where every 100 girls that dropped out of school over 200 boys dropped out. For every 100 girls that were put in a title one program over 300 boys were put into the program. She also mentioned that only 7% of the elementary teachers are male so that means 93% of the teachers are women. That means that the boy students may not have a male role model until middle or even high school. Then she related that boys like to play video games and play with action figures but they cannot bring toys with guns to school or even have a knife locked away in their truck in the parking lot without getting suspended. She discusses that boys need to be able to write what they want to write because if a boy wants to write about a tornado blowing through a house and destroying stuff because that is what boys do and there is nothing wrong with them writing about things like that just because it was violent.
I really enjoyed this short video because she had some interesting points. As she said there are very few male elementary teachers out there and I am glad that I will be able to be one of them because that is the profession that I am going to do because of my love for children. Also as she said boys loved to play video games, such as world of warcraft, and there is nothing wrong with that. I personally have played the game for a number of years and I believe that video games can be a great way to connect to all children and not just boys. Mrs. Ali also stated that companies such as blizzard, who run W.O.W, have a lot of revenue to make their games great but other companies just make basically flash card games. But overall Mrs. Ali made very good points in how boys are not being able to do what they want to do or write what they want to write about because teachers are scared of violence. Just because people watch horror movies, shows or play violent video games does not mean they will act out what they see. If boys and girls are also taught good common sense and good morals then there will no excuse for them turning violent in the future. I have played video games since I was 3 years old and I have yet to cause harm to others. I may have wanted to from time to time but the good common sense and morals in me made me not make my plans come to fruition.
This video is about a speaker, named Ali Carr-chellman, who is trying to explain what is happening to boys in the lower grades. She first introduced the 100 girls project where every 100 girls that dropped out of school over 200 boys dropped out. For every 100 girls that were put in a title one program over 300 boys were put into the program. She also mentioned that only 7% of the elementary teachers are male so that means 93% of the teachers are women. That means that the boy students may not have a male role model until middle or even high school. Then she related that boys like to play video games and play with action figures but they cannot bring toys with guns to school or even have a knife locked away in their truck in the parking lot without getting suspended. She discusses that boys need to be able to write what they want to write because if a boy wants to write about a tornado blowing through a house and destroying stuff because that is what boys do and there is nothing wrong with them writing about things like that just because it was violent.
I really enjoyed this short video because she had some interesting points. As she said there are very few male elementary teachers out there and I am glad that I will be able to be one of them because that is the profession that I am going to do because of my love for children. Also as she said boys loved to play video games, such as world of warcraft, and there is nothing wrong with that. I personally have played the game for a number of years and I believe that video games can be a great way to connect to all children and not just boys. Mrs. Ali also stated that companies such as blizzard, who run W.O.W, have a lot of revenue to make their games great but other companies just make basically flash card games. But overall Mrs. Ali made very good points in how boys are not being able to do what they want to do or write what they want to write about because teachers are scared of violence. Just because people watch horror movies, shows or play violent video games does not mean they will act out what they see. If boys and girls are also taught good common sense and good morals then there will no excuse for them turning violent in the future. I have played video games since I was 3 years old and I have yet to cause harm to others. I may have wanted to from time to time but the good common sense and morals in me made me not make my plans come to fruition.
12. The World Peace Game
http://www.ted.com/talks/john_hunter_on_the_world_peace_game.html
This is a video about a 4th grade teacher named Mr. John Hunter who created a wonderful game called The World Peace Game. The game has 50 obstacles to cross and it contains rich and poor countries and the object of the game is to make every country have higher revenue than they had at the start of the game and to complete all 50 of the problems that could occur. The teacher, Mr. Hunter, can not help the students in anyway they have to figure out the problems for themselves and the Mr. Hunter only clarifies information in case they have any questions.
This is a fantastic video to watch how children can still learn history, social skills, math, etc. just by playing a game. The speaker, Mr. Hunter, came from a peaceful background hence him wanting to teach children, or have them figure out, what they can do themselves to solve world problems. It was amazing what the students did during the game because some tried to start wars, some tried to donate money to other countries and others tried to fix global warming and they did successfully many times. It was just amazing to see what children could learn just by playing a game with each other.
This is a video about a 4th grade teacher named Mr. John Hunter who created a wonderful game called The World Peace Game. The game has 50 obstacles to cross and it contains rich and poor countries and the object of the game is to make every country have higher revenue than they had at the start of the game and to complete all 50 of the problems that could occur. The teacher, Mr. Hunter, can not help the students in anyway they have to figure out the problems for themselves and the Mr. Hunter only clarifies information in case they have any questions.
This is a fantastic video to watch how children can still learn history, social skills, math, etc. just by playing a game. The speaker, Mr. Hunter, came from a peaceful background hence him wanting to teach children, or have them figure out, what they can do themselves to solve world problems. It was amazing what the students did during the game because some tried to start wars, some tried to donate money to other countries and others tried to fix global warming and they did successfully many times. It was just amazing to see what children could learn just by playing a game with each other.
11. Cyber Safety
The article I read was called Cyber Savvy: Embracing Digital Safety and Civility, written by Nancy Williard. The first section is called Avoid the Impulse and it discusses how to encourage students to not go to websites that they know are not made for them and what they post online can always be reflected on themselves. The second section is called Read with Your Eyes Open and it discusses the skills that students need to learn about to see if a website is a credible source. For example, information on a .org or .gov website is more likely to be truthful rather than some .com websites such as Wikipedia . It also goes on to discuss other ways to keep children safe by using secure connection channels, monitor how much time they are online and to think before they post.
Personally I really think that this was a very informative article. Almost, if not everyone, should read it and learn what can happen online because there are many people that use social media and post very vulgar/childish things and think nothing of it. Here and now in this digital age some companies are doing research on the potential employee's social media history such as Facebook, twitter etc. to see what the person is like in and out of the work place. Many people will not get jobs because of things that they post are vulgar and inappropriate and that is just sad and for the world to grow intellectually people need to ALWAYS and adult and professional.
Personally I really think that this was a very informative article. Almost, if not everyone, should read it and learn what can happen online because there are many people that use social media and post very vulgar/childish things and think nothing of it. Here and now in this digital age some companies are doing research on the potential employee's social media history such as Facebook, twitter etc. to see what the person is like in and out of the work place. Many people will not get jobs because of things that they post are vulgar and inappropriate and that is just sad and for the world to grow intellectually people need to ALWAYS and adult and professional.
Thursday, June 20, 2013
10. College Hosts Educational Technology Speaker Series
http://stories.illinoisstate.edu/2013/05/colleges/college-of-education/college-hosts-educational-technology-speaker-series/
This is an article about a group of technological expert speakers, called T21 Speaker Series, that held meetings at the college's exploratorium for teachers to show them how to effectively incorporate technology into their classrooms. The room was equipped with interactive whiteboards, a 3-D printer, iMacs, iPads, Chromebooks, advanced recording devices, interactive dry-erase surfaces, and stations for collaboration. It was said that rooms in the schools should not be used just as a computer lab but also for special occasions and events. It also discussed that the people that attended the meetings did not just hear and see about what the technology can do but they were able to use the devices for their selves.
I think it is great when groups such as T21 Speaker Series go around and show teachers and let teachers use the technology that is out there and available for teachers to use in their class. Many teachers are reluctant to use new technology but that is mainly because they do not know how to use it. Heck some teachers, usually the older ones, do not want to even touch tablets because they have to learn something new. But for new teachers, hopefully, they love technology and will incorporate it into their classroom activities and lessons.
This is an article about a group of technological expert speakers, called T21 Speaker Series, that held meetings at the college's exploratorium for teachers to show them how to effectively incorporate technology into their classrooms. The room was equipped with interactive whiteboards, a 3-D printer, iMacs, iPads, Chromebooks, advanced recording devices, interactive dry-erase surfaces, and stations for collaboration. It was said that rooms in the schools should not be used just as a computer lab but also for special occasions and events. It also discussed that the people that attended the meetings did not just hear and see about what the technology can do but they were able to use the devices for their selves.
I think it is great when groups such as T21 Speaker Series go around and show teachers and let teachers use the technology that is out there and available for teachers to use in their class. Many teachers are reluctant to use new technology but that is mainly because they do not know how to use it. Heck some teachers, usually the older ones, do not want to even touch tablets because they have to learn something new. But for new teachers, hopefully, they love technology and will incorporate it into their classroom activities and lessons.
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