Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Project 10


After viewing this slide show, I am interested to learn more about the Turning Point Student Response System. It is essentially like the clickers we use here at South. It enables teachers to use it in conjunction with other forms of technology like smartboards and such. Questions can be inserted at the end of a presentation or lecture.
The students answers are displayed in graph form so the teacher can monitor the students understanding. Once all answers are received the correct answer is displayed on screen. Kids say they like it because everyone gets to answer and they don't have to be afraid of getting it wrong because only they and the teacher know which answeer they chose.
This is a great tool because it allows the teacher to see the progress or lack there of, of each student and the class as a whole. Students who are shy may be more inclined to participate in the lesson using this tool. As long as the do not have a problem with dexterity it seems like this tool would be fairly easy for most any student. I hope I have an opportunity to use this tool.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Post 6

The Networked Student
I watched this video intently. I think that this idea is a lot like the way EDM310 is structured. I am a hands on people person. This format could be great for those students who work well on their own and do not require extra instruction. This format would be more useful (i think)in the high school or university level than lower levels as it would require a lot of dedication and focus that a younger student may find trying.
I think in any situation a student needs a teacher. As I mentioned in an earlier post students have enormous amounts of information available to them at any time. Teachers can assist these students in learning how to process,analyze,validate and utilize all this information. Teachers can help students navigate their way through the maze of the world wide web. They need to be able to understand how to differentiate between fact and opinion and how to tell if the facts are being skewed to represent the writers point of view. Who will a student ask if he thinks a piece of information is wrong or being misrepresented? Google? No, his teachers!!!

7th Grader's PLN
After Watching the video on PLN's like symbaloo, I really like the way it is being implemented here. Encouraging students to verify the info they gather and ask others if they are correct. this a a good way to teach kids how to write well. This I must say, is not a skill I learned before I got to the university level. Sure I could put together a sentence but write a solid paper? No. This teaches them how to find quote and properly cite it as well. I like that they can put it all in one place in neat organized folders. As a very UNorganized person this is great. Never lose an assignment again!! Imagine that.

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Post #5

Krissy Venosale is a very passionate science teacher. After an afternoon of extra-curricular robot building she says, "I leave a day like today thinking about all the times I hear that there is no ‘time to teach science’ in America’s classrooms today." She wants her students to WANT to learn. She quotes WB Yeats saying, “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” Light it. She also believes in hard work. She says "Rigor is deep thinking, often, and consistently. Even rigor can be fun." Krissy is a hard working passionate teacher who loves her students and loves her job.
Here are a few things Krissy says about her school: Creativity would ooze from every pore in the building. There would be colorful walls, comfy seating, nooks, and crannies where kids could collaborate, discuss, dream, and learn. State tests? Cancelled. We’d learn to read for the joy of reading, do math because problem solving is important, and learn because we love it.Seriously, there would be a big treehouse, IN the library. I love all of these ideas that make school an inviting place so that kids want to come and learn. I also like the idea that there be a special place where kids can show their appreciation for their teacher because teachers want to know they are making a difference. School is such a pivotal part of our children's lives. We need to strive from them to love it! Encourage and nourish their desire to learn new things and allow them to explore further when a subject interests them. In a dream world imagine all the things we could do! But seriously we don't live in a dream world so, we could start small. We could miniaturize all these plans to fit our classrooms and go from there.

Eric Whitacre
These two posts discuss the way this video is put together. It is amazing the way so many people can be "brought together" through the use of technology. I was just amazed.

Kevin Roberts:Teaching In The 21st Century.
Kevin makes a lot of very valid points. Kids don't really need us for information. They can get that "anywhere, anytime" their access to information is widespread. I agree we have to teach them how to validate, cross refernce and use the information they find. I also agree they must know how to apply all of this to real world applications.
Students must be "engaged." I very much concur. If students are not actively participating they will lose what they've been learning. If we don't engage them and challenge them then we are fostering the burp-back mentality that Dr. Strange speaks of so often. We must stoke the fires of excitement to learn. explore, analyze, and apply all the information they have available to them.
Flipping the Classroom
In theory I like this approach for one or two subjects when integrating it. An all at once transition may be overwhelming for students and parents alike. But I really like the idea of previewing the lesson before class so that the student can watch and rewatch the lesson. They can try sample problems and come to class with substantive questions. As long as students who need to can have time to view the lessons at school this could be an invaluable tool.

C4T #2

The first post is essentially a list of proposed things to answer the question "How should communities assess their schools’ integration of digital technologies for learning and teaching?" They include but are not limited to:Adequate personnel resources for supporting technology integration (e.g., learning technologists, information technology support staff)The role of technology use in class instruction (e.g., student v. teacher use, consumption v. production, replication v. acceleration or transformation of learning and teaching),Accessibility of adaptive technologies for students with special needs. Ongoing, content-specific professional development for teachers that focuses on pragmatic solutions to technology integration in their context, and student and family access to learning technologies after/away from school. If we can get just these ideas integrated into all our classrooms it would be great!
For this post I chose to go back a few posts because the others were not very substantive.In this post the author writes of three "visions" for use of technology in education. He seems to be arguing the even with the best hardware , without good software and the knowledge of how to utilize both the students and teachers will not be able to use technology to its full potential. He states, "Used well, the computer extends the breadth, depth and complexity of potential projects."

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Project 2 Wordle

Post #4

Podcasting with 1st Grade
I really enjoyed this. The children created an interview. They took turns being the interviewer or being interviewed. This was a great way for kids to learn about the events that took place in their book. The kids did such a good job. This is a wonderful tool for teaching history lessons because the children learn to ask the questions as well as answer them. This is a way to integrate technology into a history lesson.

Flat Stanley Podcast
What fun. The kids were really enthusiastic about this one. they each got to be "Flat Stanley" and tell about their "trips." They each told where they had been what they had done there, what it was like and how they got home. They each did this with such detail. At the end when they returned they got the teacher to "unflatten them. This was a fun way the kids to learn about places other than their hometown. One child went as far as Israel where the Israeli prayed for rain and another went hiking in Alabama and learn the chant Roll Tide.

Benefits of podcasting in the classroom.
This was an interesting piece. I had not thought of using a podcast/vodcast like a study guide but why not? As a unversity student I have recorded lectures and listened to them later. A vodcast would allow a student to hear as well as see what a teacher is presenting. I reaaly like this idea. It is a great way for students to get extra input. Also it is a innovative way for kids to share what they have learned, like with mock interviews with historic figures.

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Special Blog post #1

Facts can be used to show all kinds of things. They can used against a point or for a point it all depends on how the facts are presented. I noticed the way the facts were presented and thought about the population size difference but didn't know the answer so I just kept going. We have to notice and check these things especially as teachers we must be observant at all times.

Wolframseaerch
This is a pretty neat tool. I searched "compare mobile, Al and Fairhope, Al. I found all sorts of information: population density, how far it is from one city to the next, the weather in each city. Also it gave statistic on "education attainment" in which the stats seemed a bit skewed on their own but when looking at them in conjunction with all the other factors like population and income they made a little more sense. I did a couple more like Mobile, Al compared to Moscow, and Mobile, Al compared to Beijing, China, and for some reason these yielded little more than population, elevation and weather. For toots and giggles I put in Apples vs. Oranges in the search field. You would believe the data.Among these were per serving size: fiber, calories, fat even density to name a few.
Students could use this a million different ways. It is always neat to learn new things. This is a great tool. when I learn something new I am always saying oh so it's kind of like.... I am a very visual learner so if I can compare it to something it makes more sense. So for students this could very well help the to see differences and similarities to a whole range and variety of things.

Social Media Count
This is a very interesting and telling tool. Technology is exploding right before our eyes or in some cases behind our backs. We must realize technology is growing exponentially in ways that could forever change the way we teach and learn.
Social networking, blogging and things like video classroom where children across the world can share a lesson together. Maybe even kids who are sick and can't come to class could do so through the use of technology. It is very exciting to learn about new technology and to put it to use.