IWB reflection

IWB Reflection

Completing the Interactive White Board activity was another first for me. Although using the SMART software is similar to creating a PowerPoint, it has its differences too. PowerPoint does not really have anything that sparks active user involvement. Having PowerPoint experience defiantly helped me to complete the IWB and now this new experience with creating an IWB will help me when I create an IWB for my actual classroom.

I can save this presentation for when I do teach about erosion and deposition to an 7-8^th grade class. Depending on the background knowledge and abilities of the students in my class I may need to tweek it a little bit but not too much.

I can have my students do an activity similar to what I was required to do for this class. My students can create their own activities and then peer review each other’s smart board presentations. From what I have observed, I think that many teachers who are new to using SMART board find it very foreign and are using them as expensive non-interactive traditional projectors. They are not grabbing on to the true usefulness that the IWBs are built for. As we have evaluated many other tools in Edu331, it is important to continue to evaluate the tech tools we choose to use for instruction. If the IWB lesson can be done just as well in PowerPoint, then it is being wasted. The key is to make it meaningful.

In order to make an IWB meaningful, I think that it should require the student to use it. Give a man a fish, feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime. By requiring the student to actually use the IWB I will be helping the student become more actively involved in their learning.

Normally here is where I reflect on the experience and tell what its future applications will be once I am a teacher. True I will need to know how to use it in my own classroom, but I have found out that both of my co-operating teachers nest semester have SMART Boards, and they are expecting me to utilize them! So this new tool will be affecting my teaching even before I have my own classroom. I cannot imagine trying to wing it and begin learning about SMART during student teaching. I am glad that I got some exposure during this class.

Technology Inquiry Wiki Reflection.

The Tech Wiki requirement was not easy for me. My research question was "Which innovative technologies can best capture the attention of secondary science students with ADHD?"
The project is designed well to assess teacher education students for what they are able to do with wikis. I had a difficult time because, as I stated in my wiki, I have trouble composing papers. I especially have a difficult time when I have to read multiple papers, draw conclusions, and then create a new whole from what I learned.
The learning experience as a whole was really useful. This class was the first time I had ever used a wiki and before then i thought that wikipedia was a curse word for drawing information from to do schoolwork and papers. I understand now just how useful it can be and that it is more credible than I had once viewed it.
I want to help students who have the same problems in school that i did and sometimes still do. Technology can be a great way to go about helping them. my recomendations were to use blogs and wikis, online timers and planners, and to use concept maps. Learning about how to help these students has helped me to prepare for teaching, expand my resource library, and use more tools that will benefit me in my own personal learning. 
I might use wikis in my classroom, but i know that i will make screencasts. I enjoyed using screencasts as a way to create tutorials. They are very useful and fun to do. Although i like them, i dont agree with doing one as long as 4-5 minutes in one screencast. I think that i would have done better by doing 3 of them 1.5 minutes long. and having three different links to them.

All the links to the Spring Ed331 class wikis

Syllabus https://docs.google.com/View?id=dfhnjdwv_120csjpkndb
What we did in class wiki https://sites.google.com/site/fall2010wwdicwiki/home
Class organization wiki https://sites.google.com/site/educ331fa10cowiki/
               This includes PSA's, Cool tool's, Tech inquiry etc...

WOW

WOW I took everything that I have typed on this blog for class this semester up until now and put it into M-word 12pt font. It comes out to 35 pages, single spaced! and im not even done, i still need to add a couple reflections!

Citation for the books we read in class.

These are the two books that we read in EDU 331, Education Technology.

Collins, Allan, & Halverson, Richard. (2009). Rethinking education in the age of technology: the digital revolution and schooling in america.. New York, NY, USA.: Teachers college press.


Richardson, Will. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms- 3rd ed.. Thousand Oaks, CA, USA.: Corwin Press.

EXIT SLIP and class notes

EXIT
How has my thinking about technology in the classroom changed over the semester. My first blog post highlighted the different electronic tools that can be useful for science. now i feel that ED TECH is more than that. It is about using things tools that utilize how students think and use information.
Creation is key!


Make sure that I use Jeff Boyer as a resource in my own personal learning network in the future. He is really knowledgeable, wants to help the k-12 system with technology, and he can help me in my first years of teaching.


How will I integrate technology in Ella Boyer's science classroom?
Three ways...

I want to have Ella create a podcast of the three most important things she can do during lab to keep safe! After she and her classmates create their podcasts, i will have groups of four share their podcasts in a gallery type presentation style. This will allow students share the most neccessary ways to keep safe in the classroom lab setting.

I will create a wiki page that my students will be incharge of for updating it with thier lab writeups. It will be a central place where the students can share their lab work. with my help they will add pages and links to keeep it organized.

I want to teach Ella new ways to present scientific information and research. As a first step from getting her away from powerpoint i will teach her how to use prezi. Symbaloo can be another good presentation tool that can also be used as a collaborative resource.

Digital Citizenship PSA

http://skilltownusa.blogspot.com/

The digital citizenship PSA was another great assignment for this class. First off, I enjoyed doing it because it was fun to videotape ourselves. Only a handful of students in our class had any prior experience with video editing. I have never edited a video before so this was a new concept to me. Before completing the assignment I understood that it was important and could be valuable to me in the future for teaching.

 Although blogging is useful, I am excited to know more about video editing because i have a good number of great ideas of how it can be incorporate into my science classroom. Ironically, today I was observing at Ben Franklin Junior High and the earth science teachers introduce the big weather prediction project. It requires students to save and interpret data for 4 days from the national weather map, write a script as if they were a weatherperson, use flip cams to film, and then create a weather segment using animoto!

Wow! Good timing for our 331 project! It is important for me to understand the applications and mechanics of using film in the classroom because then I will be able to help my students with their projects. Also I will need to be able to examine a potential lesson plan and detemine if using technology would be efficient and productive.

This project is a great way to teach us how we can use film in our classroom. Other projects I may want to use film for would be to have the students make a Discovery channel like program for an ecosystem project. It would be entertaining to see how the students could make their own Bear Grylls program! The students could make a stop animation of an environmental process over the quarter or year depending on how long the class is.

I have a ton of great ideas for new projects and with my newly acquired knowledge I can think of a effective ways to revamp some of my own favorite science projects i did in school.

Chapter 10 Rethinking

Rethinking education Chapter 10

Currently technology is giving all countries in the world opportunities they never had before. Many countries which may not have had the privileges American are now rising up to this new even playing field. If America wants to keep up with these rapidly improving countries, we will have to rethink our education system.

Learning is happening more and more outside of the schoolroom walls. Learners are striving to become lifelong learners to better themselves and continue their formal and informal education. I believe that technology has the opportunity to excel this process in two main ways. Using technology educators are able to reach more people than before and they are able to connect with those people more effectively. Not all technology can magically do this. To do these things effectively it requires educators who are creative, forward thinking, and reflective to create environments where students and technology can best utilize each other.

One part of using technology to connect with learners better is through motivation. Students are extremely interested in using technology. The k-12 students in today’s classroom have grown up using most of these technologies and they have become second nature to them.  When teachers discourage students from using the tools which they have come to know and love, it conflicts with the student’s interests. Creating learning environments which are anti-interesting for students is not motivational at all. Even when traditional teachers do incorporate technology into the classroom, sometimes it is not enough. Students may not quite admit it, but deep down they are up for challenges. When a teacher is able to incorporate innovative technology, in a useful way, which is new to the students they will rise to the challenge. If it is useful to their future and they find it interesting, it can be very rewarding when they are finished with the project and they have learned something new. It is intrinsically motivational when they feel this reward. This motivation can be contagious to other learners. All in all it leads to connecting with more learners.

As an educator I want to prepare students for their lives once they leave my classroom and the k-12 system. Whether their post high school plans are formal higher education, the workforce, life skills, or informal lifelong learning I want to get them pumped for what I have to share with them because they understand why it will be relevant in their lives. I want to prepare them for their future, not my past. The way I plan to do this is by teaching them the process of how to learn, not to focus on the “knowledge” of knowing the facts that will help them do better on the Final Jeopardy question. Teaching processes will go great in my science classroom because I am already teaching them the process of science!

EXIT SLIP ,teachers using technology, class notes

EXIT SLIP
The idea of using many filters to evaluate a tech tool is a good thing to know.
 I need to remember...
***Using these 3 views is important because it allows us to evaluate the effectiveness of a specific tech tool.
      If it is something that we could do before technology and technology is not able to imporve how we do it,
         then dont waste the time and money to try to use it. And remember to use SWOT analysis on tools.

TEACHERS USING TECHNOLOGY
How she uses technology.
-SMART
-online collaborative progects
-classroom blog
-open online classroom to parents
-post homework assignments online.
-student blogging about current events
    -gives students a an authentic audience that consists of more than only the teacher.

Things we could do before technology, listed above.
   -send home planners, flyers, letters.
   -collaborate with other students
   -cooperative learning
   -engage students
   -students could keep current events journal.(paper form)
   -share perspectives
Things that we couldnt do before technology
   -active blogging
   -anything online
   -use laptops and smartboard
   -recognition of work online.
Things we can now do better with technology.
   -engagement and participation
   -open classroom, communication with parents.
   -current events are VERY current, to the minute!

***Using these 3 views is important because it allows us to evaluate the effectiveness of a specific tech tool.
      If it is something that we could do before technology and technology is not able to imporve how we do it,
         then dont waste the time and money to try to use it.

CLASS NOTES
#3 +good communication with parents
      - unsupervised computer use leads to inappropriate material and getting off task.
JIGSAW have the classroom of 28 count off by 1 to 7. so you get groups of 4. Then, after discussion, have the groups count off by A B C D and have them join the rest of their letter. so you get 4 groups of 7.

Good ideas and quotes for teaching, learning, and writing papers.

Learning between grownups and kids should be reciprical.

"If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." -African proverb

Don’t hope you will, know you will.

"Any teacher that can be replaced by technology--should be." --Arthur C. Clarke
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." -Margaret Mead

"You must lend an ear today, because we are the leaders of tomorrow."-Adora Svitak

Kids need opportunities to lead and succeed.

Possibilities do not go backward, they go forward.

There are questions and problems with the people we used to believe were always right. Be skeptical, ask questions, demand proof, demand evidence, dont take anything for granted. BUT when you do get proof, take it for some truth, remember it. We need to link causation with correlation.

When you start down the road where belief and magic replace science and evidence you end up in a place you dont want to be.

Science is not a company, country, or idea. It is a process.

Block Microteaching Materials

Prezi

     http://prezi.com/gm3tiecyop-u/helium-hula-hoops/

Eye of the Tiger

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf45I1ZI__w 

Grown up version

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwpTj_Z9v-c

Kid version

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CdJTfGiRCI&NR=1 

EXIT Slip and Discussion notes

EXIT
The secondary education system transformation is based on 3 Rs. Relevant, relationships, rigor (high rigor = high expectations and effort).

These are 3 great visions to shoot for to improve the Edu system.



CH 10 Presentation
(+)
Jigsaw strategy- make sure to tell the students "we are going to use the jigsaw activity". This will help them to understand/ remember it for the next time we use it. so that way we dont have to re-explain it next time. give it a name.
        2 group switching strategy

Explicit directions BEFORE letting students free.

(-)
Uhms
Verbal elaboration on each group's summary. Unnecessary because the written summaries already covered it!

Technology Issue Podcast

http://www.archive.org/details/ContemporaryTechIssuePodcast

The process of podcasting was really helpful to experience. Once it is established in my memory of how to do it, it will make for a very quick cool tool to use and have my students use.
The first idea that comes to mind for using this in my science classroom would be to have the students create an exciting PSA highlighting an environmental issue or informing citizens about specific legislation that would help or hurt goals to improve the environment.

Im glad that I was forced to do this project!

Screencast Symbaloo.com

http://screencast.com/t/vicO7bq1wt

Post a link screencast on your blog AND post a reflection for this course task:

* How much effort did you exert preparing for the screencast?
* How does creating and sharing a screencast with your peers impact your future teaching?

I prepared for this screencast by first using it for a while. I wanted to get comfortable with it before trying to explain it's SWOT. I prepared a rough outline for what i wanted to say. Also before making the cool tools screencast i explored Jing/Screencast.com on a bunch of other things. I prepared a few screen image captures to use in my screencast video to make things for faster for me.
The screencast requirement has helped me in a few ways. It introduced the topic to me, i had ever really known much about it before. I learned how easy it can be and how useful it can be to create reusable tutorials. These tutorials can be created by both students and teachers for the use by students and teachers. If not for the screencast project i would probably have never learned about Symbaloo either.
I want to use screencasting in the future for creating tutorials, adding spark to presentations, and allowing students to showcast their work in a unique way.

Exit Slip 11-11 and Class notes

EXIT SLIP 11-11-10
I thought it was interesting to ponder whether I will be a teacher that will fit the mold of the traditional school teacher or if I will be an earth shaker that challenges the system with new ideas. This class sets us up to be mild earth shakers,but there is research that argues for both sides.
I think taht it is important for there to be some challengers in the system. Just like our government, the republicans, democrates, judicial branch, legislative branch, an executive branch are all put in place to create a series of checks and balances. So too should the educational system.

NOTES
Discussion +,-
+POS
Using scribbling (online tool) was good. normally we would use this in a non-face to face way to communicate. in this class we are next to eachother, but there are goo ways to use the tool when face to face is an option. It allows quite people to enter the conversation, lessens the effect of conversation domination.

5 words or less summary. Great. it separates the nice to know and the need to know.

-NEG
They forgot a student in the group lists.
Their online tool didnt work, BUT they did have a quick backup plan.

Rethinking Chapter 9

Rethinking Technology Chapter 9 | What does it all mean?
The chapter begins with the quote, “The future is already here, it’s just unevenly distributed.” – William Gibson. I think this is a great way to think about technology because many feel uneasy about the big changes that we will face “converting” to technology. The conversion has already happened, just not everywhere. Tech enthusiasts need to step up and help others to update their systems. The technology herd is only as strong as its weakest link. When I thought about the quote I came up with a good way to relate. When a chocolate chip pancake has all of the chips condensed in one spot, the rest of the pancake is still a chocolate chip pancake.
For the first time children are becoming more knowledgeable than their parents involving a tool important to society as a whole. They are really smart with in navigating through society’s technological way of life.
There has been a lot of research done about whether or not video games have positive or adverse affects on children. Some feel that video games are a waste of time and actually spoil their educational skills. Other reports show that videogames have immensely helped them to develop their ability to process information and solve problems in an imaginary digital world. Could this help them later on in their lives due to the fact that the internet is an imaginary digital world? It is possible that tomorrow’s work world is being shaped by the gaming world of today. Students interests can often be linked to online communities and online communities are often used by businesses and employers. It is not imperative for students to play video games to receive experience in participating in digital communities, but it is one way to do it. Many of the video games are available with online interaction with other gamers.
The way students practice their reading skills has changed faces. I do not think they read many hard copy books as they did before but they do still read. It is amazing how much information is processed through reading when you consider text messages, emails, blogs, instant messaging, facebook, and other everyday digital tools.
Peer culture and population culture are changing, but are they changing for better or worse? Advertisers have been able to rake in on this group of teen age consumers. Many of the appealing products they offer can be very distracting to a teenager’s education. Some teachers and parents are trying to avoid this. Changing the current way that young students identify themselves, and with others, might be a good thing.
Traditional schools may resist the technological transformation but they will have to compete with the new types of technology driven schools. The government is very attracted to giving funding to the new type of schools. Enthusiasts may be sad to see a lack of giant changes and innovations. What they really should focus on, and be happy for, is how many opportunities that are available to improve existing structures in current school systems.

BWP Chapter 10 | What it all means.

BWP Chapter 10 | What it all means.
The technology revolution is causing the sea of information to continue to grow quickly. The combination of new material, old material, and pre-internet information being scanned and digitized is creating a comprehensive source of info. With so many new sources of information, teachers need to extensively teach students how to become editors/skeptics of online content.

Most of the tools found on the net and the new programs allow/encourage collaboration. This is good because the workplace is doing this too. We must help students prepare for their futures.

I need to show students how to obtain, store, organize, and recall information. The sea of knowledge is growing. That does not mean that our brains will automatically begin growing too. Students will be expected to take in a lot of information and that information will be useless if they are not able to access it when it really counts. I will model use of various tools like Delicious, so that way they can keep an organized collection of material they have learned/ viewed before.

This newest way of education and life-long learning will absolutely require learners to share information and collaborate to synthesis new wholes. Making connections will be vital! These connections will be important because it will help students with their research and to prepare for their future.

Students used to not able to access information outside of school as easily as they can now. In many ways this can be good because it allows students to learn more of what they want and be excited to do it out of class. On the other hand, what if some students just plain don’t like to learn and are not interested what so ever in learning more than they are directly exposed to in the classroom? It is not fair of me to expect them to keep up like the other students who are excelling through extracurricular studying.

Most of the noted “shifts” are directly tied to each other. To sum up shifts 2-5 I could say, teachers and learners alike will need to connect with many others, 24/7, where ever they are because this will provide the best opportunity for constructing meaningful collaborative knowledge. Wherever, whenever, however, together with whomever!

It is amazing how for so long we have felt that the best education came from countless worksheets to be handed out, completed, returned and thrown away. For the fraction of knowledge actually retained in one’s memory after the paper hits the trashcan, we should be working to complete tasks that add to the world around us. Do something that really matters, something will still be evident long after the paper would have hit the trashcan.

I think that the most important idea of this entire book is that teachers need to be good models. Teachers need to model the different tools available to students and they need to model how important collaboration can be. Students have become smarter than the teachers when it comes to working with technology. Instead of constantly focusing on content, teachers will need to demonstrate methods to get to content. Teachers need to be more like coaches that will guide students to appropriate, effective, educational used of these technological tools. One of my favorite quotes is, “Its not about the destination, its about the journey!” That could not be more true when considering the changing roles of teachers in the classrooms. I think that teachers will become much like travel agents. Think about it, when someone is interested in visiting a specific destination but they don’t know the best way to get there or what to expect when they get there, they consult a professional for help. The travel agent is normally not an expert about the specific destination, and probably has never even been there before, but they are experts on the tools to guide you to the right choices. So if we allow the students to become generally interested in a topic of their choice we can help them get there, even if we are not experts ourselves on that specific content.

Exit Slip Thu 11-4-2010

Exit Slip

TEXT: make sure that the text on the screen is visible for twice as long as it takes you to read it. Rule for Any media project you ever do.
I really liked the article Jeff Shared about the Minnesota school that had completely revamped their classroom style. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15322289


In-Class Notes

TEXT: make sure that the text on the screen is visible for twice as long as it takes you to read it. Rule for Any media project you ever do.

IRlo ideas, intruct them to "pay close attention to the phases of the moon" After that have some interactive quiz questions. then replay phases but make them fill some in.

Tech Inquiry Wiki- no more than 2 different fonts. make it attractive, not ugly!
Use the Yes Test on each item.
APA Correct?
do not put "retrieved from database... blabh blah blah" take it out.
2 paragraphs per source? Paragraph is at LEAST 3 sentences.
PODCAST!= MAC + Garage band!

Rethinking Chapter 8

Rethinking Technology Chapter 8 | How schools can cope with new technologies.
Driving Factors of education through technology: Customization of material by providing learners with personalized ways to access information and support along the way. Interaction between computers and users. The computer can quickly give performance feedback to the user. Learner control which puts the student in charge of what they are learning. They can follow a path of information in almost any direction that appeals to them. Students feel a sense of proud ownership because it was their choice instead of someone else’s.
The recent trend of standardized testing and uniform accountability pushes for all classrooms to teach similar material. With technology becoming increasingly popular with students of all ages, how can technologies customization, interaction, and learner control mesh with standardized curriculum? There is going to need to be a compromise somewhere performance-based assessment, new curriculum design, and the new approaches of the digital world.
Performance Based Assessments
Certifications: Academic skills such as passing an exam on English competency for a specific grade level. Once the exam requirements are met, the student can move on to the next level. Generic skills like resource allocation and working with others. Technical Skills such as the certification needed to become a mechanic.
The problem with these skills is that many students may not know the path they want to take in education. Maybe these routes are too specialized. The book argues that students will feel more proud of their ownership over their education. I think that they are more able to become interested in the topics due to their feeling of control, but will that lead to self guidance? I feel that many students would become lost in the sea of following a specific path. Also, they could become certified in a bunch of things that they are interested in but will that combination mean anything to an employer? What if I were to just take a whole bunch of random college classes that were interesting to me but didn’t really mesh in the big picture of a degree. I could argue that I got strait A’s in all of the classes but the employer may not respect that background because I didn’t complete a degree. If the students are able to choose when they want to take the tests, what if the students just never take them. Of course this means that they do not get to advance, and that it should be part of their overarching intrinsic motivation. But will this cause more kids to fail that just have not quite developed that sense of motivation?
New Curriculum Design
Currently student’s age fits to the curricula. Students of the same age are not necessarily of the same mental learning ability. Possibly if the curriculum was fit to the interest of the student, age would not be as much of a problem. Maybe some students would be given the chance to excel in an interest curriculum quicker than if it were based on age.
Possibly work as an apprentice type relationship. Stages 1 – 4. Where 1’s are introductory, 1’s work with 3’s, 2’s work with 4’s, 3’s mentor 1’s and 4’s mentor 2’s. Once they become teenagers they have many options. The state would pay up to a certain amount of certifications no matter what age the learner completed them at. These mixed age classes would be made up of students who picked to be in them, helping to alleviate motivation problems. This is great because it helps answer the “when are we gunna use this” question because they already know how they will.

New approaches in a digital world
Education policy is swinging away from uniqueness and creativity. I really like the idea of bringing AP classes to poorer schools through the use of teleconferencing.

BWP Chapter 9

Chapter 9 BWP | Social Networks: Facebook, Ning, Connections and Communities.
1. Ch. 9 of Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts (131-146); post a reflection to your reflective learning blog:
- How does this reading impact your thinking about technology's role in teaching and learning?
- What will you do differently as a future teacher as a direct result of this new thinking?

The use of these social networks has created an explosion of “Self-directed, peer based learning” that is not often excercised in the school scene. Just as the general theme of this book has been, the self directedness allows people to learn what they want to learn. There are a couple different variations of these sites. Mainly they're friendship based and/or interest based. I normally use Facebook for its friendship based appeal. I am literate with Facebook, so it would be familiar if I wanted to give it a try with an educational application.

Facebook and Ning are potentially useful to educators because they allow the teacher to personalize information to fit a student’s specific interest using a tool that students are already generally interested in.

Whether I use these tools or not in the classroom, I need to understand them. Even if I don't use them in the classroom, understanding how to use these social tools can help me to better mentor my students. I think that young teachers will generally have no problem with being able to relate to the students uses of facebook. The older teachers who do not explore facebook may not be able to.

If educational social pages are done appropriately, students can become very interested in them. Most students use, like, know, and are comfortable with these tools.

Ning is a site that I have not used. It offers opportunities that are a little bit more school friendly. The book gives many examples of how it has been successful in the classroom. Ning users are able to create their own networks either publically or completely private. It is important for me to get used to it before inviting people to my network. Along with educational assets it can be part of a good way to show an example of responsible use of social sites.
The BWP book warns to NEVER ADD APPS because then your site becomes more cluttered with outside garbage and is less school friendly.

Exit Slip 10-27-2010

Keep discussions on task! During our discussion, it took a participating student, to bring the group back to what we should be talking about.
When it comes to course workload, keep in mind that the rule of thumb is actually 3 hours of outside effort per each credit.
We are starting to bring all of the foundation ideas of this class and the text into a summarization.

Rethinking Edu Chap 7

Rethinking Edu Chap 7

read Ch. 7 of Rethinking Education (pp. 105-111); post a reflection to your reflective learning blog:
How does this reading impact your thinking about technology's role in teaching and learning?
What will you do differently as a future teacher as a direct result of this new thinking?
What may be lost and what may be gained? (in the education system and society due to the technology revolution.)

If we look back to the previous revolutions we have endured, we can see how pieces and parts have lived on and how some things have been added. I think this is how the technological revolution will happen too. There will be parts of our traditional education and society that will stick around and benefit the changing technological world. There will probably even be new tech parts that will hinder the entire system. My point is that there will be pros and cons to each component in the future.

What may be lost…

With the specialization of education we will probably see more and more smaller specialized schools and more home schooling. Without less focus on public schooling we could lose parts of our social cohesion. Diversity is good, but with less places for students of different backgrounds to interact it may create more divisions between groups.
Another divide that we may see is the expanding gap between educated and non-educated citizens parallel to the gap between wealth and poverty. We call this the digital divide. Some students have much better access than others to advanced technological tools that can help their education. I think this is very evident already. Some schools are advancing through 1:1 laptop initiatives and others may not even dream such a thing. It is not a matter of slowing down access for privileged students, but making those tools more available to poorer/less affluent students.
Will the increased dependency on using computers reduce everyday personal communication skills? People can go to college, work, and even shop without ever leaving the house or their computer desk. Will this decrease interaction with neighbors, family and friends? Pessimists argue that it will and has. Research has shown that increased use of the internet/computer has caused some people to become more lonely, depressed, and reduce contact with family members and close contacts.
Let the Education Race begin… BANG!

What may be gained…

Learners will become more engaged. When we are able to learn about things that interest us we stay tuned in better. Education can be customized to the learner using interesting topics and specialized help.
Tech optimists argue that because of schoolings competitive nature many students choose to focus on other non academic activities such as sports or drugs. This comes from the fear of feeling that they may fail compared to their classmates that are the “smart ones”. If students are able to have a stronger choice on what they would like to learn, then the ability to compare themselves to other students decreases. They will be more interested and feel more successful.
The combination of allowing parents to take back some of the responsibility of their child’s education and allowing technology to let students be in charge of their own learning will benefit the students.
All in all, it is debatable if the benefits outweigh the costs. Hopefully, these education tech tools will become less expensive and more abundant to schools and outside of schools.

SWOT TEAM Symbaloo

SWOT TEAM Symbaloo
SWOT TEAM! Symbaloo.com
The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats about Symbaloo.com.

Strengths

It compiles your commonly visited sites all to one convenient spot.
It is SIMPLE! FREE for the most part
Recognizable pictures and logos (marketing already knows this and rakes in on it!)
Starts you out with a general template.
Personalized Organization!
It is social. Shares info with other users.
Language selection.
Gives updates about new features for the tool.
IPhone, IPad.
Quick links
You can rate pages, so others can find what they need.
Has a personalized help forum connected to a human tech person. In Community.

Weaknesses
Although it is simple, the tutorials are hard to find. Discouraging. (go to help, no where to be found)
Can get disorganized, if you let it. (Expand the pages.)
I do not like how it adds pages to the top, I think that can lead to becoming disorganized to a new user. Feels like I have less control. I just want to browse, not add pages that might be junk.

Opportunities
In blog, it gives great ideas for teachers.
Classroom organizer, attached to other sites like classroom wiki, google docs, class blog, schedule.
Portfolios.
Public or private sharing
Can assist students with making Screencasts, brings everything together to make it convenient and quick.

Threats/ issues
Some users complained that their page had gone missing and that when they logged in it took them to a blank new user page. There are still some kinks to be worked out.
There are complications when users update to the latest versions of Firefox, internet explorer, and Google chrome. Problem: students often like to have the most current versions.
This page does have a social aspect to it, some school security systems may block it.
SYMBALOO EDU may be accepted easier.

Overall, there are way more strengths than weaknesses.

Thursday, October 21 Exit Slip

It was important for Jeff to explain the difference between peer culture and socialization. It can be misconcieved that peer culture is a good thing to be exposed to, when in all reality it is what often distracts our students.
SMART tips and tricks. I always see people messing up the board by moving things on accident. so the lock feature is good. and the infinite cloning button is good too, especially for "yes" "no" check marks and coins.

Chapter 8 BWP

1. Read Ch. 8 of Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts (111-124); post a reflection to your reflective learning blog:
◦How does this reading impact your thinking about technology's role in teaching and learning?
◦What will you do differently as a future teacher as a direct result of this new thinking?
Technology has taken us leaps and bounds in a very short time with publishing media on the internet. The best way to describe it is easy, photo-video-audio, upload-it-as-you-go, as-much-space-as-you-want, whenever-wherever-you-want.
Until reading this chapter I honestly still didn’t know what a podcast was. I didn’t know that it was a simple audio recording. I thought it was like a full blown audio/video/music edited presentation. I had heard of it and never thought I would be able to do. I hadn’t realized that Dr. Boyer’s class lecture audio recordings were actually podcasts. The way I think of it, I would rather be listening to an interesting educational/informational podcast rather than just be wasting time listening to music while I work out, ride my bike, or drive. It is important to remember that these podcasters are generally everyday people and not professional radio broadcasters using high quality editing software. There might be some static, sound crackly, and be a lot of “ums” and “ahs” but the content is the important part.
Again, convenience is the important theme. Almost any podcast I can add to my RSS so it will organize what I am interested in. I can even download programs that will keep track of what I want on my IPod, manage the files at night while I am sleeping, make sure that I can unplug and go in the morning with ease. It is quick and convenient like many of the other successful tech tools out there.
I have (unknowingly) used podcasts by listening to lectures that I wanted to freshen up on. I would like to keep an audio log of my classes for students who were absent. Better yet, assign one/two kids per day to each make a 3 minute podcast that summarizes what we did. It will be helpful for other students to get a different perspective on what we did. The students doing the recordings would probably feel responsible to do a good job since their peers may be reviewing it later.
Video publishing could probably be a tool to use to interest my secondary students. Students love watch and use YouTube. So if I could mix video publishing into my classroom it probably would be a good thing. An interesting fact about YouTube: video is being uploaded to YouTube at 20hours/minute, that means about 4 years/day, WOW. These videos would be converted to MP4 files that would be viewable on IPods.
Screencasts are a very useful tool in making tutorials to help students work through a tech problem or learn a new tech program. I am a visual learner that works well by following an example. It is a bit of “monkey see, monkey do” but it is the truth.
All of these tools generally have a few things in common. They are quick, easy, fun, useful, and educational. I need to use them and get good before I expect my students to use them, but they can be helpful in making my job easier and more effective. Once I am able to introduce these tools to my students they can use them to benefit their education and their classmate’s too by doing student teaching students activities.

Chapter 6 Rethinking Education

Read Ch. 6 of Rethinking Education (pp. 91-104); post a reflection to your reflective learning blog:
-How does this reading impact your thinking about technology's role in teaching and learning?
-What will you do differently as a future teacher as a direct result of this new thinking?

THE THREE ERAS OF EDUCATION
We are currently entering the lifelong learning era of education. During the apprenticeship era the parents were the main influence on the child’s future. Then during the industrial revolution we shifted to a system that made the state responsible for what a child learns and to help them choose a career path. The technological/lifelong learning era is beginning to shift that responsibility back to parents and individuals. Students are beginning to develop information research skills at an earlier age which is causing them to want to pursue topics that they are most interested in. Parents are taking some of the responsibility back too. The number of homeschooled students is rising. Many parents are providing more learning tools for their children at an earlier age.
Apprenticeship was based on a small ratio between teacher/mentor and student. 1:1-4 was a common ratio. Today it seems to be more like 1:25-30. Computers are starting to be able to offer 1:1 like interaction. Computers can provide immediate feedback to tell a student how they are doing and give suggestions o be able to more fully understand the material. Often there is a human teacher somewhere behind the distant learning machine. Computers are allowing teachers to give students quicker feedback too. It may be quicker, but is it as valuable as face to face feedback? I am not sure, and it is being disputed by many educators from each side. Also, there is speculation that computerized learning takes away from social interaction. In both apprenticeship and computerized learning there is close interaction between student and teacher. More interaction means fewer errors along the way. Specialized education plans with more interaction are better able to keep student in the “wobbly place”. This may be helping students to learn better.
Culture: From adult culture to peer culture to mixed age culture.
During the apprenticeship era there really was not a large group of children who considered themselves as being part of the “youth culture”. They were considered young adults that helped with the family business. Most times it was a serious task because the livelihood of their family depended on them learning the family trade. Into the Industrial Revolution, when students were grouped into age categories, is when the ‘youth culture” began to form. Once this group was formed, and especially now, marketers were able to focus on this identified group and offer products specifically for them. Students that did really value the knowledge school offered were easily distracted by these cool products. This peer influenced culture has really started to get out of control. Some parents have moved their children to home school based programs to avoid the non-academic peer influence. They are helping their children to learn skills that will help them adapt and learn in their quickly changing lives and jobs.
The key to lifelong learning is through interaction with many different media, people, and technology. The advanced knowledge of a student’s own metacognition and knowledge on how to find information will be more important than the information itself.
The apprenticeship times were driven by formative assessment that continually showed students what they knew, didn’t know, and where they needed to improve. They did not receive grades or exam scores for classes. The “classes” were life lessons and real world applications. The recent industrialization method of schooling has given teachers much more responsibility, over larger numbers of students, causing them to move to a summative assessment system that fits a standardized education system. Now we are transitioning to a system where students are becoming interested in learning what they want to learn and value the standardized system less. Educators need to find ways to incorporate the effective bits and pieces from each of these systems that will work together in this technological education system.

Chapter 7 BWP

BWP Chapter 7- Creating, Publishing, and Using images online
Flickr is a great tool to use that combines many of the technology education objectives. It helps students process information in a fun, potentially educational, way and allows students to interactively collaborate with others across the world. It is very accessible because Flickr is free (limited use) and easy, digital cameras are relatively cheap now days, and students like social networks that share photos. The interaction among users is what makes Flickr a potentially very powerful education tool.
Flickr works similar to Delicious in that it uses tags to note the photos topic. This organized system makes it easy for users to search for specific photos that relate to what they are interested in. If I were interested in ongoing research about a topic I could link a tag search to my RSS.
Students can comment on interesting photos taken by people whom they have never met without disclosing any personal information. Students can feel a closer link to the photos because they know the photos are taken by real people rather than using photos from faceless websites. Before reading this chapter, and the chapter about Wiki’s, I would not have thought of these tools as a way to get information about the most current events.
There are great collections of different Flickr tools such as Flickr Toolbox: 100+ Tools For Flickr Addicts, Flickr Magazine Cover, Flickr Color Picker, etc. These can be used to get great ideas that are already out there instead of starting from scratch. Again it is another way that Flickr is so collaborative.
In my classroom I can use it to showcase student’s good work to parents and as an example for other students. I can use it to make other online communication connections with parents. My class can keep a photo log of the field trips that we go on. While talking about field trips, another good idea is to take my students on a virtual field trip or dissection lab when the real thing may not fit the schools budget.
When students view photos across the world they can combine it with Google Earth and GPS locations to keep track of where they have “been”. This is a great way for any subject area to integrate geography into their lesson.
Any use of social online technology in schools also brings a heightened level of security. Educators need to keep their students informed on how to avoid dangerous internet situations. Luckily Flickr does have a good filter system, but I still need to remain cautious about what is being done associated to my class’ photos. It is possible for me to create an account that is only accessible by my class, but this does weaken the social potential of Flickr.
With all of these different conversations happening between students and other Flickr users it may seem impossible to keep up with it. That’s OK, if I utilize my skill learned in Edu 331 I can use RSS to track photo comment logs without even visiting the site. This will save me time and give me another opportunity to expose another tech tool to my students.

BWP Chapter 5- RSS

BWP Chapter 5- RSS
I began my reflection of chapter 4 with some skepticism about wiki and that It may just be a new way to clog up the internet by creating more things to wade through in order to get to the information you are really looking for. It is ironic that this very next chapter is offering a great tool to help me wade through the information to make life and my job simpler. RSS Really Simple Syndicator, organization at last! It seems perfect, “you can read more content from more sources in less time”. WOW! This is going to make my life simpler and I think that it will be very easy to get students to use it. Why? They love things that are fast and easy.
RSS not only will bring info from sites that I request, but it will also search the internet for things that pertain to key words that are of interest to me. It can keep me up to date with the newest posts of information on the web.
I had heard about RSS but I was skeptical because I figured that there would be no way to keep all of it in order and follow it. I figured that it was just a list that kept building downward like an out of control e-mail inbox. Now I know that you can organize it with different folders and such.
I was able to begin exploring the books suggested RSS possibilities and found that I have a lot of learn if I would like to seriously maintain an RSS feed. I think the hardest part will be to acquire an eye for what information is useful and what is not.
I will need to really start to master RSS so that way I will be knowledgeable enough to instruct my students on how to best use it. I will be able to easily draw them into it if I mention the words fast, easy, and say that it will research new information for them. The new age of technology information will be all about how to navigate the growing pile of information to find what you need. RSS, if used correctly, can be a great way to wade through the junk.

Exit Slip and Class notes

Exit Slip:
We packed a lot into 75 minutes today! It was helpful to recieve feedback about out IWB and to get instruction on how to start Scratching! it will be a great tool for me to know how to use and demonstrate for a prosective principal.

CLASS NOTES:
Jeff got an Ipad, ee are free to stop by his office to check it out.

Rethinking chap 5 discussion
WORKPLACE LEARNING
Pro- specific knowledge tailored to company
Con- expensive for company
ADULT EDUCATION
pro- easily accessable, always something new.
LEARNING CENTERS
Pro- group of people with similar interests.
Con- cost, and not located everywhere
EDUCATIONAL VIDEOS
pro- can interest students more than lecture
con- minmal feedback
TECHNICAL CERTIFICATIONS
pro- prepare for specific jobs
FINAL THOUGHT: "These technology developments raise concerns about equity, social behavior, and the cultural cohesion of society." (p.90)

Discussion debriefing
(+) creative grouping, movement around the room, clear voices, didnt project their ideas, allowed time for discussion, demo'ed how to navigate to the prezi show, set a time limit, had wrtten expectations and prompts to accompany auditory directions.

(-) Assign areas for specific groups to meet, deeper commentary(reaction) to discussion responces but at the same time they were against time.

DESIGNING A SCRATCH IRLO
What are the neccassary steps?
At home install SCRATCH.
At school, go to the "having trouble" and get the winscratch zip folder, download to documents, right click winscratch 1.4 and "extract" then go into documents, open scratch(cat face logo).
Step1 create ALL of the objects ("sprites")that will be needed for the activity, even if you dont need them right away. pictures text and all the gadgets.
2. background, many options.
3. Start thinking like a programer. built scripts, they describe how different sprites act.
every script begins with a trigger, means "when i do this, something will happen".

there are A LOT OF resources, including jeff, that will help me with creating my Scratch.

Chapter 5 Retinking Edu

Read Ch. 5 of Rethinking Education (pp. 66-90); post a reflection to your reflective learning blog:
How does this reading impact your thinking about technology's role in teaching and learning?
What will you do differently as a future teacher as a direct result of this new thinking?

The seeds of a new education system are evident because our country’s education system is transforming from a learning system build to accommodate mass numbers of diverse immigrants to something new. These new systems include homeschooling, charter schools, distance learning, adult education, videos, and many others. These often accompany each other such as a child who is home schooled that receives online distant tutoring. Learning is becoming more important to people of all ages rather than just children. I find it interesting that research shows that the score differences due to issues of a student’s race, gender, or background are almost non-existent in standardized test scores of home schooled children. Having grown up in public schools, I have always been skeptical of homeschooling practices. I will further look into the methods of homeschooling to hopefully adjust my public school classroom practices to close the gaps in standardized test scores.

Workplace learning has always been important because it is not common for a new employee to walk onto the job on their first day and know exactly what is going on. Recently this workplace learning has been changing to a system which works to continually educate its workforce throughout its lifetime to adjust for change. Some workplaces feel that graduated college students with specialized degrees still do not have the accurate training to complete their job. These employers began to provide on the job training and started to collaborate with colleges to meet the workforce needs. I am a strong believer that educators need to prepare students for the real world. Whether it be skills for college, the workforce, or lifelong learning it will be important that I collaborate with workplace managers and college professors to determine what they will expect of my students.

The establishment of educational television and videos has been viewed negatively and positively by educators. Skeptics feel that the introduction of television and other visual media has given children the idea that learning is as easy as sitting back and observing. They feel watching is not enough and that concrete learning comes from doing hard work and concentration. Skeptics also feel that this visual media has started to diminish the experience of being a kid because of the increased exposure of adult content on T.V. and media. Enthusiasts believe that these new media venues have provided ways to turn learning into a fun thing rather than a chore. It has become fun for people of all ages. For example, the Discovery Channel has captured the attention many older people to provoke lifelong learning.

I feel that educational media is overall positive. Channels and programs such as the History Channel and the Discovery Channel have even sparked my interest to learn more about new topics. I think that the skeptics have a very good point when it comes to students feeling that learning simply comes with watching. I want to integrate this educational media into my classroom while still valuing hard work and concentration. I feel that it would be very hard to fight against the use of educational videos in the classroom because it is already well established. I think they are a great way to connect with visual learners.

All of the seeds of a new education system show evidence of a changing education system. Only time will tell if they are for the good or bad. We need to embrace the changes and work to better them. I do not think that the changes will be the downward spiral of the public education system as we know it, but we need to adapt.

"Any teacher that can be replaced by technology--should be."
--Arthur C. Clarke

Chapter 6 BWP

read Ch. 6 of Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts (pp. 85-100); post a reflection to your reflective learning blog:

How does this reading impact your thinking about technology's role in teaching and learning?

What will you do differently as a future teacher as a direct result of this new thinking?

In today’s technological world, everything is based on socialization and collaboration. All of this collaboration allows us to connect to more information, teachers, and learning. Students can connect with other students to make sense of the bigger picture and how they fit into it. Twitter is a common Read/Write Web tool that has many opportunities to provide learning experiences. Twitter is called a microblog. It seems that it takes a considerable amount of work to really get twitter to work for you. It appears easy to look at other peoples “tweets”, but not the easiest to get people to follow your tweets. I think that Twitter and cell phone use will need to come a long way before they can team up in the classroom.

Delicious.com is a social bookmaking site. This site has two major components. First, it helps you create an organized online collection of website resources. This is awesome because it is online, meaning that if your computer crashes you don’t lose all of your information that you have worked hard to save up. Second, as I mentioned before, it is collaborative! You are able to link up with others who have the same interests and research common topics. This greatly increases the library at your fingertips. I think that it is cool because if it wasn’t interesting, important, or useful it wouldn’t have been bookmarked in the first place. I am already using delicious and can’t wait to tap that resource once I begin to teach. It could be very helpful for students to begin to use because while moving from computer to computer for different activities, they could access their bookmarks to help them.

Exit Slip 10-7

I learned a bit about "Scratch". I am excited to start using it. It is nice to know that out of the 1million scratch pages, half of them were created by 7-14 year olds. It will be good to create a bunch of reuseable tools that will serve their purpose for at least a couple years in a row. This would really save me some time after they are created.
As far as reseraching information for the inquiry question, be careful with useing info older than 2005. Technology is changing SO fast!. If I do use tech information pre-2005, I better  have a good rationale for it.

***For all these assignments, they are completely NEW to most of us, Dont freak out! The iROL SCARES THE CRAP OUT OF EVERYONE! ASK FOR HELP! JEFF WILL HELP!

Ch. 4 of Rethinking Education

Read Ch. 4 of Rethinking Education (pp. 49-65); post a reflection to your reflective learning blog:
How does this reading impact your thinking about technology's role in teaching and learning?
What will you do differently as a future teacher as a direct result of this new thinking?

Education until the mid 1800s was largely done by apprenticeships. They learned valuable workforce skills from their family and close peers. Then we started to switch to a universal schooling system where most children attended school daily and learned information from classroom teachers. The push for universal education was pushed along due to 4 reasons, the invention of the printing press, the Reformation, the American Revolution, and the Industrial Revolution. We are still in this system of universal schooling but I feel we are experiencing a transition today as we know it. Although teachers are still very important, I think that schooling is moving away from such a teacher centered system. It is moving in the direction which will require a unique mixture of student, teacher, and technology involvement where the student has a choice in what they want to learn and the teacher helps guide the most effective venue for them.

Just as the invention of the printing press allowed for the explosion of information distribution, the internet and technology are having the same effect today. Information can travel from coast to coast and continent to continent in a split second. Currently it is the most popular way for news and information to travel and students, particularly science students, should be proficient in using these technologies to expand their knowledge. Back then, Horace Mann argued that universal education was needed for social cohesion to connect the diverse family cultures immigrating from around the globe.  Now, technology education is needed for social cohesion to help student develop the social skills needed to communicate in this globalizing world which seems to be getting smaller every day. Educators cannot ignore the demand for the technology communication skills needed to drive a student’s success once they enter the workforce.

From the perspective of a young person, such as me, the current structure of k-12 education seems to model the way it has always been. If we step back and look at the system for the past 100 years there have been many additions and changes to the “k-12” system. These changes have occurred to fix problems and make some things better, such as high schools that focus closer on more specific subject areas.  If we project into the future, and imagine how technology actually will or will not play out in the school system, what will it look like? However it turns out, students will probably feel that it is the same as it has always been. 

Many of these transitions have been driven by the increased flow and transfer of information. When a new technology is first introduced it is often accepted, for a while. It reaches a point where resistance to change begins. That resistance grows until something gives way. I think we are currently in the beginning stages of resistance to change.  

I want to help my students develop useful kills which will help them in this fast changing, shrinking, and technological world.

Notes and Exit Slip

Notes:
Presentation comments
-Do not try to talk over students. It will not work at that time, or in the future. 25 students are easily able to talk over me, if it continually happens students will learn that they can get away with it. Try to give check points like "30 more seconds", "10more seconds" so they will begin to quiet down.
-As the teacher, wait until the end of a discussion to interject. If I interject too soon, the discussion will be over. Students will rarely disagree or confront the teacher in a public forum (the discussion).
-student to student conversations and discussions. How do we get the students to carry the conversation so the teacher does not have to interject as much.
My Question- change "help" to learning, students are evaluated by how they learn not how they pay attention. specify ADD or ADHD. -specify secondary. science?

IWB lesson- look into the SMART exchange stuff. make sure to give any credit where it is due.
where do we get graphics? in notebook softwear. use the "gallery" picture tab.
-HAVE and idea before i go to ask jeff for help, or he will not have an idea either.
by thursday, submit a rough draft version of the IWB lesson. peers will give feed back, and i will have time to revise it.

EXIT SLIP~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am especially interested in working on my classroom management skills. I learned a lot about the do's and don'ts of how to manage classroom volume. Also, i have a better understanding about how much a teacher can influence a discussion. I can make or break the discussion depending on when/ how i participate in it.
We are in a transition period between using paper with limited computer use to a system of integrated computer applications. This seems tough, BUT we have always struggled with technology advances in the classroom. It is nothing new, lets embrace it this time.

BWP Chapter 4- Wikis

BWP Chapter 4- Wikis
“Imagine a world where every single person on the planet was given free access to the sum of all human knowledge. That’s what we’re doing.”-Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia founder.
This quote is inspirational yet for some reason still makes me skeptical. This is great because it has been created to help people learn but isn’t this what the internet is already trying to do? Is it really helping us to bring facts together or just adding more web pages to the internet that already exist in other forms?
Wikipedia is another way to say quick encyclopedia with a Hawaiian twist. It is definitely quick and easy to access the information on wiki. This probably explains why it is very popular with students. But Wikipedia is more than just a source of information; it is a combination of skills. The millions of editors in chief are currently making 400,000 changes to wiki every day. This means they are expressing their skills to collaborate, analyze, critique, write, read, research, be skeptic, and more.
I have heard of wiki but I actually did stay clear of it while doing research papers because I knew I couldn’t use it as a source and therefore felt it a waste of time to view. It is becoming more evident to me that one of the positives to wiki is that it is for the most part neutral. The army of editors tries their best to present accurate information in a way that is most neutral. A neutral source may be a good one to use for science research as long as it is accurate.
While using wikis in the classroom it is very important for the teacher to let the students control it. If used inappropriately it will need to be addressed. If used appropriately the teacher should keep their hand out of it because the students will start to value the ownership they have over the page. Letting the student be the editors determine what information is right, wrong, or biased will teach them valuable skills in editing. This would also be a great time to introduce the concept of “soft security”. Often times students find information from one source and accept it as truth and rarely question it. I will make it very clear to them that there is not an all seeing all knowing wiki go who makes sure that everything is accurate and truthful. It is only monitored by other people surfing wiki, but also that it is a good thing because most people really do want to see the right information rather than vandalizing.
Many teachers are very skeptical to allow students to use wiki for information. I think that I am going to allow my students to use it but not encourage it. After all, they are probably going to use it whether I allow them or not. If they do use it then I want to know about it. They will need to follow a few guidelines when using/citing wiki. They will need to cite wiki information with the date accessed, the age, how many revisions have ever been made, and an alternative source that backs up the chosen wiki info. These requirements will more so be a checkpoint for the students to keep them constantly analyzing the credibility of the wiki information.
I will need to do some wiki research myself. I need to become more comfortable with it and possibly look for information that will coincide with my curriculum and will most likely be searched by students in my class.
Lastly, even if I do not encourage them to use the wiki info to complete research projects I do need to still expose them to wiki. If not for research, do it for fun! It will still teach them the important concepts of wikis and how they work and what they can likely trust and what they may want to be skeptical about.

Rethinking Education Chapter 3

Chapter 3 Rethinking

1.       read Ch. 3 of Rethinking Education (p. 30-48); post a reflection to your reflective learning blog:

o    How does this reading impact your thinking about technology's role in teaching and learning?

o    What will you do differently as a future teacher as a direct result of this new thinking?

Skeptics argue that computers will reduce the variety of classroom teaching and learning. They also argue that the commercial media will have too much influence on the classroom learning.

Schools are “remarkably resistant institutions”, they have resisted changes in technology for a very long time.  Changes during the 1800’s from using slate to paper would not be my first thought when I think about changes in technology but, during that time, they were.

The present school system is largely based on a long history of educational methods, especially the past 100 years. It works as a complex equilibrium like a jig saw puzzle. When a new piece is added, it threatens the position and functions of the rest of the system. Many parents, teachers, students and administrators view technology as that piece.

Many schools have responded to the potential risks of technological innovation rather than acting upon its potential opportunities. Appropriate use policies can actually ban uses of new technology that threatens the existing practices.

The introduction of high stakes testing to the classroom has pushed teachers to focus more on specific content and conventional skills. This has caused teachers to feel as if they have less time and effort to devote to developing innovations in the classroom. Some teachers are reliant on using established technologies

 Skeptics are technically correct to argue that the increased use of computers has caused lower exam scores, but there are more factors to consider. As computer typing has become more popular, written test scores have fallen and computer test scores have improved. Typing is very different from hand writing. If I choose to use technology and introduce advanced technology in my classroom, I may want to consider using more computer based evaluations too. When students have low scores I need to figure out if they were caused by a lack in my instruction, a lack in the individual student’s effort, an outside factor, or if there is a problem with my testing methods. 

Skeptics argue that computer use will complicate classroom management. They feel that when students are split into groups to share a computer it is more difficult to control the class. I agree with this for the most part, but there are other options. How about 1:1 initiatives? They feel there is too much room for breakage and vandalism. Recently, I have been observing in a 9^th grade classroom which has a 1:1 laptop initiative. I need to find out more information about how much repair has had to be done to the computers, but I have not observed any problems yet. In addition, the classroom management has been handled very well. Each student having a computer is just like each student having a pencil, it is only another tool that helps the student.  1:1 initiatives are not widely common yet, but I hope that I am able to get a job in a district which has one.

Exit Slip 9-23

Todays class covered a really wide variety of topics! We covered events in the media which directly relate to our class and Wisconsin, presentation pros cons and tips, Smart board tips, resources for interactive SMART lesson plans, and more.

Everytime we talk pros and cons about presentation i pick up new ideas and find where i need to sharpen my own skills. This class focuses on how we will be able to help our students use technology. In a round about way we learn it too, but the Smart Lesson Exchange is great to directly help me with my tech needs and ideas. Any website that is a social connection between teachers is a great way to link their ideas.

In class notes

Presentations:
+Tell the audience what you're going to tell them, Tell it to them, Tell them what you told them.
+Back up plan/improvise according to time - double and triple check the links and monitor when the audience is attempting it.
-NO Ums and Likes! especially not at the beginning of a sentence!
+Speak up, use coaching voice.
+Wait time, 7-10 seconds
+Personal connections and background knowledge.

For technology inquiry expectations
tools? Whiteboards, cell phones, smart...
populations? reluctant readers, children with autism, ell...
OR a combination between tools and populations.
Have a question ready for next Thursday, sooner the better. Is it a yes/no question? if so, reword.

SMART Lesson Plans using http://www.exchange.smarttech.com/index.html#tab=0
By State standards and by content areas

Do the digi auto-bio scavenger hunt.

Add Delicious bookmarks.

Ch. 2 of Rethinking Education

Read Ch. 2 of Rethinking Education (p. 9-29); post a reflection to your reflective learning blog:
  How does this reading impact your thinking about technology's role in teaching and learning?
  What will you do differently as a future teacher as a direct result of this new thinking?

This chapter was from the standpoint of technology enthusiasts, technologists. Technology has heavily made impacts in business and the entertainment industry. It needs to deeply make its way into schools too. The enthusiasts feel technology will revolutionize schools by preparing students for the real world and enhancing the ways educators teach. Putting computers into the classroom in the 90’s was a good start but obviously has not been enough.  The gap between school computer use and workplace use is growing wider.  Also, the gap between school content and knowledge needed for the workplace is widening.

Just as the industrial revolution increased the amount of work done by the human body the technology knowledge revolution is increasing the amount of work the human mind can do. It is largely based on more opportunities to communicate.  Technology is offering “just in time” (JIT) ways to learn by introducing quick help programs, online tutorial, and quick comparison tools. Most people forget most of the things they learn. JIT helps them to quickly freshen up on their knowledge by giving quick answers to help them remember what they once learned.

Textbooks are starting to be designed in a way to mimic web pages by the appearance layout and linking to online material and resources. This is a good thing because when students have to use textbooks they will be able to relate it to the way they learn on the internet. Giving students options to what and how they learn is a way that technology is providing personalized learning choices.

Students are becoming interested in learning what they want to learn rather than learning in the linear fashion that traditional education has been structured. The internet has developed a way to capture the interest of specific demographics. These “push technologies” are compiling past searches and topics of interest by a particular user to give future suggestions on what the user may be interested in. These tools can narrow the user’s interests and can provide better venues to learn the material by presenting the information in terms at an appropriate level for the user’s ability. Student’s desire for personalized learning choices is growing. The No Child Left Behind act is attempting control exactly what everyone should know.  In reality, technology is creating a generation of students who are more concerned with widening what their choice of what they want to learn. Can these two different methods work together? Or are they working against each other?

Simulations are another way which students are using technology to explore their thoughts and guide what they want to learn. Simulations can vary from science lab simulations to video games. They give immediate feedback, offer different situations controlled by choices, and normally increase in difficulty. Using simulations will scaffold learning by giving opportunities for trial and error without real world consequences and posing “What if” situations. When it comes to video games children want to pay attention to find the best outcomes to their choices so that way they will be able to perform better in the later levels of the game.

I found one part that I disagree with the technologists. They feel that educators present too much material before allowing students to apply it. They used the example of a tennis coach teaching all the rules and strategies before letting students try to play. In some subjects, I think it is important to teach the correct way before students have the chance to acquire incorrect techniques and habits.

In my secondary science classroom I will be able to utilize many of the methods presented in this chapter.  In a vast ocean of sources of information students will need to know how to wade through the junk. I need to teach them the best ways to develop their skills to efficiently find the most useful information. Knowing how to ask good questions will help them to find the right information whether in or outside of the classroom. For example, while using Google search. Also, face to face learning and communication is decreasing. I need to guide students in how to communicate with non-face to face ways like e-mail and video conferences.

With many quick self help programs developing, student will be turning to them for their questions. At the same time, I want to model my technological knowledge to my students so they will still be comfortable to ask me for help.

Students want more ways to connect their technological abilities to the real world. Connecting what i teach them in the classroom to what is happening in the real world is important to motivate students to be interested in what I have to teach them. I could teach the foundations of GIS and its applications with concern to our local community. Rather than completing “meaningless” assignments in class, they could do a project directly working with the local community on a project.

Students are being born into this technological revolution. They will, with no doubt, be more knowledgeable in some areas than I will. Embracing this technology and using it to improve my pedagogical methods to interest students will be much easier than fighting this knowledge revolution.

Growing Up Online

The documentary was an hour long but I think that it was put together very well. Frontline covered the effects the internet and technology on today's teenagers. Teenagers are using the internet and technology EVERYWHERE! They use it in groups, alone, at school, at home, and where ever they have reception on their cell phone. Teachers and parents are struggling to keep up with it. The internet is a teenagers place for self expression outside the reach of parents where no one is in charge and it is a continuation of real life. Today more than ever, kids are very comfortable with being public. They want to use the internet as a venue to display their identity in a very dramatic way. Without being face to face with someone else it give teens both the chance to be completely different than they really are and also a way for them to truly be themselves. Autumn Edows (Jessica) was on the computer all day long constantly refreshing and replying, she said "didn't even feel like myself, but I liked not feeling like myself"

The internet is largely fueled by the desire for media entertainment. Students are struggling now more than ever while in traditional classrooms. Students want the impulse fast answers that technology has offered to them. Teachers need to cut through the media and capture their attention. Frontline interviewed a senior teacher who is trying to hang onto the traditional, non technological, classroom.  I could tell she was really starting to burn out. She felt the school arena is sooo different than when she began. I will need to keep up with the technology or else I a. will be replaced by it or b. will become burned out from fighting the technological growth. I do not want to become burned out from something that I have a passion for and enjoy.

Mrs. Skinner, mother of 3 tech savvy teenagers, placed the house's only computer right in the kitchen so it could be monitored closer. That is all fine and dandy but what frontline failed to address was the growing trend of 1:1 initiatives like Stevens Point's 9th graders are getting. If our system is moving toward trying to have a computer for every student, there will be no amount of monitoring in the world which could keep them out of trouble. We need to initiate more service programs that will help students learn how to use the technology responsibly as they age. When it comes to scary mishaps on the internet, are the kids victims or actually participants?

Computers and the Internet are not the primary cause of many of the problems, there are deeper issues.
This is life, how will we learn to live with it? We need to modify the players and the game.

In my classroom I want to keep up with the times and technology. In the long run it will take less energy for me to continually keep learning the new information than it will be for me to struggle with not knowing it. If I can stay up to date, I will be able to prepare my students for their future and effectively guide them to become more responsible while using technology.

BWP 1-3 reflection

BWP Chapters 1-3

I found a lot of things very interesting in the first few chapters. Technology and the internet (www) is definitely changing everything about our lives. The www is especially transforming the ways in which we teach and learn. The technology generation is growing up to be the “Society of Authorship”. Virtually anyone can contribute ideas to this larger body of knowledge called the internet. Young children and teens are especially proficient in contributing to this sea of information because it is the only thing they have ever known. I can remember the very first time I ever surfed the web. I was in 6^th grade (1996) and I was trying to find where yahoo mail was so I could set up an email account.

Today’s youth are born into it. Our text states that largest growing demographic of users are the 2-6 year olds! Traditional education taught students to become readers and writers, now students are also becoming editors, collaborators and publishers. Through social websites created for young children, such as Webkinz, they are learning how to navigate the internet and use technology faster than ever. They are learning how to learn in a very different way than adults did. They learn through navigating the internet, jumping from one URL to another. They learn using parallel methods unlike the progressive linear fashion that adults have learned to use.

Using blogs and related tools can help students and teachers with learning. By using tools like e-portfolios we can track our progress and learn about our own metacognative processes. We can evaluate the changes in the way that we think throughout a class, term, year, high school years, and even career.

In my future teaching there are many lessons that I can remember from this book. Students are using, and becoming comfortable with, these technologies at pre-secondary education ages yet they are being denied the opportunity to fully utilize them in schools. Some schools are leaps and bounds ahead of others when it comes to utilizing these natural skills.

I, along with many educators, must accept the fact that my students will often be more knowledgeable about the technology than I will, but I should not rely on them for it. Guiding student to enhance their tech skills will take more than solely showing it to them. I need to find what I am passionate about and begin using the www and technology to learn more about it. I need to understand it pretty well before I can predict how it will affect the pedagogical aspects of my classroom. Even the most reluctant students will become more interested in the technology if they see me knowledgably using it rather than only throwing it at them for one class period. Once I have showed them I care about it, I can begin to really share it with them by combining our skills.

A great concern with social networks such as blogs, Facebook, and wikis is safety and security. Before introducing a lesson which could require student involvement it is a good idea to collaborate with parents and administrators to get permission. Key points to note while doing this will be how it relates to my curriculum goals, the safety precautions taken, and the general operations of that technology.

Blogs are a very good way for students to have build communication skills. Writing papers resembles a monologue, a blog is a conversation. A good blog will offer the chance for students to carry on reflective conversations about their studies. If designed right, blogs offer a way to organize information. Organization and synthesis of ideas is important to help students excel in the growing use of collaborative learning. Sometimes blogs offer a way for shy students to voice their opinions because of the public comfort they feel through the www. I really want to use E-portfolios in my class. It gives students a way to organize their best work which will enhance their comprehension of the topic.

Blogs can be used to infuse writing into any content area. Educators must teach students how to determine credibility and reliability of a blog. Many blogs contain junk opinions and false facts, but many are credible and very useful. It is important that I teach how to find useful information.