Journal #4

Journal Post #4

Chapter 4 : Integrating Technology and Creating change.

 Focus Question: How can teachers integrate technology into their work as educators?

     This question excites me, I almost feel as though every person in the education field should take a second and ponder about this question; this doesn't just apply to teachers, this could apply to everyone. I'm going to focus on the teachers roll, (For the sake of this blog).
     As an educator, we should be at least one (1) step ahead of our students. Yes there is nothing more enjoyable than seeing our students teach us, but to really embrace integrating technology teachers need to approach it from and educational aspect. I do feel as though  we need to make sure the technological advances we're achieving are still within the students grade window, (assuming they haven't surpassed us).
     Encouraging the use of power point, and more citations from websites, (Allowing us to recognize they understand the five (5) major criteria). I grew up during the "Birth" of technology, some of my teachers were eager to explore the endless world of the internet, and any new programs they could download, and there were others who opposed the internet, and require us to do things the "Old school" way. Granted people have graduated, and become very successful by spending hours on end in a library, but, if we could find the exact same resources in a fraction of the time, wouldn't that mare room for more successes?

Tech Tool: Online resources for lesson planning: Thinkfinity, PBS Teachers, and Gliffy.

     With these resources, (if teachers utilize them) will help sharpen or even develop the skills of many. Not every teacher out there is a veteran, and still even veterans could use a little advise from new teachers. We as a society are only going to advance by communicating. Communication can happen in may different ways, the internet just happens to be the most convenient; we can chat face to face, or check messages when available, my point is, if we explore these sites, display our inputs, and experiences, we as teachers can grow and better our kids. There's no use in teaching if you only know how to teach one way, not everyone learns the same way. So with Thinkfinity, there are an abundance of educational organizations we can embrace and learn from, or Gliffy, where I just discovered it gives tips and pointer on how to set up your class room.

Summery:

    Something as simple as that can be shared and applied, students can only learn what they can see, and what they see is determined by where they sit. I feel as though if they see teachers constantly learning and applying new technologies, it's going to influence them to work harder, and most importantly, together.

Resources:
     Flicker.com
    
Textbook - Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2011). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. ISBN:10 0-13-159611-X, ISBN:13 978-0-13-159611-5    
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Photo credit to Barry Joseph from Flicker 

 

 

 

 

Journal #5

Journal post #5

Researching and Evaluating Internet Information.

Focus Question: What are search engines and how do they work?

     It's almost as I've been using technology "blindly," without actually knowing what a "search engine" was, I've been using them all along. A search engine is anything that you would type a topic of interest into, and it'll find an abundance of information for you automatically. From my text book it says it's a "Software program that uses networks of computers to access from it's database." We type in the "Keywords" an it searches instantaneously.

Tech Tool: Photo and Audio Resources on the Web.

     We all like to associate words with visuals, and sometimes maybe that's the only part someone can take away. By adding photos and audio we can better explain thing by having them pronounced to us, maybe we're reading something above our level and if it's not pronounced right, we can misinterpret the whole concept. One resource I'd like to focus on is "Flickr." I've become very familiar with this site, one that I've never known before. It's a great place to find images, that are appropriate, and also be able to share with one another. (But also remembering to give proper credit to the owner of the image.)

Summary:

     All in all, search engines are like rummaging through an entire library, in the matter of seconds and photo and audio resources are very useful as well. In fact, if you don't know the URL for a specific site, you would use a search engine using the keywords until you found it. Flickr, for example, I had used Google, (a search engine) to find the website, and on that site, to find the image I wanted, I would search for it using their search engine.

 Resources:

Textbook - Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2011). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. ISBN:10 0-13-159611-X, ISBN:13 978-0-13-159611-5    

Journal #9

Journal Post #9

Creating and sharing information with multimedia technologies.

Focus question: What is multimedia technology and how can teachers use it to effectively create and share visual information dynamically in their teaching?

     From reading the text, I've learned that "Multimedia" means "the presentation of material using both words and pictures." This also goes to include, videos, voice, sounds and animation. Also in the book they assume the student's learning will enhance by use several different sources to teach, I happen to agree with this. As we advance into our "Digital world" our students are not going to enjoy caring around large text books with tons of print, they're going to prefer watching a video, or a brief power point. By forcing our students to read lots of text is just going to confuse them if they can't grasp the concepts to begin with; whereas if there's a video with a demonstration, or some other picture or illustration, the student's will actually comprehend the information.

After watching this video I thought about what it would have been like to only have a text book describe this to me. I don't think I would have understood this concept at all if it weren't for a video. On top of that, I didn't even have to leave the comfort of my own home.  

Tech Tool: Digital Projectors.

     Digital projectors are a wonderful invention. Instead of rolling in the giant television hooking that up every time, along with that, not everyone could see, so we would have to move our seats, and get situated, all that takes too long. To have a projector it allows our students to sit where ever they're assigned, and still see the board with ease. I enjoy the digital projectors, especially the newer ones, that don't require the over head lamp that blinds us. I prefer today's smart boards. We can show any kind of document on there, edit it, take extra notes on the board and save it to the file. I've actually has a math teacher who would write all his problems on the board, print them out and give them to us as study notes.

Photo credit to Rebecca Morrison from Flickr

Summary:

     To conclude, I enjoy and encourage using multimedia technology in the class room. With each passing day there seems to be something new coming out in our digital world. With us being so busy, and too many places to commute, having the internet and being able to stay connected by the web, to watch videos, tutorials, gather information, all while saving time, money and different expenses. If our kids today are more capable with using technology I think we should embrace it; who really want's to lug around a ton of books when we can down load them all? Who want's to spend countless hours in the library flipping through pages, or having to find a baby sitter because you have to meet at a specific location. By using multimedia we can use different web casts, and still chat face to face.


      
Resources:
Textbook - Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2011). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. ISBN:10 0-13-159611-X, ISBN:13 978-0-13-159611-5    

Journal # 8

Journal Post #8

Chapter 8 communicating and networking with websites, blogs, wikis, and more.

Focus Question: How can teachers use communications technologies as teaching and learning tools.

     With the world toady being so far advanced in just a short while, we now have access to almost everything at our fingertips, why not embrace it? As an everyday person might use e-mail to relay information, blogs, online discussions or identify a website, they're still using and portraying information. With the use of the web and the internet we can reach out to so many more resources, with the internet we as educators are not limited. Also, most of our students already used these tools for recreational use, so if teachers could mandate a separate account for educational purposes, the students will already know how to navigate their way about the pages, and will be connected to not only just their friends, but their classmates and the teacher as well, even after school hours. As we have just explored in our class, in Google documents we can collaboratively work on an assignment at once without clustering around at a desk, or being loud from verbal discussion. Or we could implement the use of Google Blogger to use as a journal, and instead of passing around a notebook we as a class could access any page all at once.

Tech Tool: Teacher website and blog-building resources.

     I am going to focus on the second approach. Staying connected is a be deal in today's society, not only with personal friends, but in the classroom with your peers as well. At the same time we as educators need to be cautious of how we use the internet, and be cautious of what information may be out there. By using the second approach (Commercially Available Template) this allows us to create many different functions that also happen to be password protected. With this approach we can invite our students to create their own blogs, and instead of using the internet in a toxic way, by the teacher monitoring what is talked about in the posts, maybe the students will steer away from a negative influence and learn to be proactive with the opportunities the internet presents.

Summary:

     All in all I feel as though the internet is a very powerful tool, that can be used to our advantage. We as educators just need to have an open mind, be more educated and explore the different tools we can use. As teachers we should be looking for more ways to communicate with our students, and technology is a wonderful gateway to a better communication path. Instead of our students posting their discussions on other recreational sites such as "Facebook" and the "Twitter" we can open a new door to some proactive sites, such as Google Blogger. It's almost like having an online journal, where if you have a question you can always reach someone or some resource. 

Resources:

Youtube video credit is given to: ahstechteacher

Textbook - Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2011).Transforming Learning with New Technologies. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. ISBN:10 0-13-159611-X, ISBN:13 978-0-13-159611-5    

Journal # 7

Focus Question: 

What are key debates about using computer games and  simulations as learning resources? 

Answer:

This report focuses on the use of games as resources 
to support the educational aims, objectives and planned 
outcomes of teachers who understand that games are an 
important medium in contemporary culture and young 

people’s experiences.


Tech Tools:

The Tech Tool  was about discovering learning using Squeak and Scratch,  which are ways to provide open-ended opportunities for elementary and middle school students to explore and create on the computer.  
Squeak Etoys is an open-source,free,downloadable software that supports inquiry learning and problem solving for mainly math and science.
Scratch is an electronic tool kit that enables students to make their own games, animations and stories, using all technology art. Both programs reverse traditional educational programs and problem solving into digital ways of doing both.

www.squeakland.org 
http://scratch.mit.edu 


Summary : 

High- quality educational software and apps are open-ended and flexible so that the students are challenged to keep exploring the materials. Not so complicated or complex that students become confused. Students also play compute, videos and web-based games regularly for entertainment, but educational uses are increasing. 


photo credit : John Greenler, WEI

VIDEO CREDIT : YOUTUBE

Journal # 6

Focus Question :

What are the advantages and complexities of online learning and virtual schools?  

Answer:

There are many different virtual school instructional and enrollment models. Instructional models range from fully independent self paced (asynchronous) courses to semester based virtual (synchronous) teacher facilitated courses. Class sizes range widely with anywhere from 25 students to as many as 200 students in each class section.

Students keep in contact with teachers and collaborate with other students through web communication tools provided in the course delivery platforms. Students can also communicate by phone, email, and other technology communication practices with instructors. It is up to the student more to engage in the lesson. I think that is one of the complications. Advantage is students can be more flexible on when they get there work done. Not so much pressure.

photo Credit : K.Bullard

Video credit to : youtube

Tech Tool 6.1 -

Pre-selecting websites for students before sending them out into the virtual world is a good idea like they state because it not only narrows the search down for the student but also saves time on pointless searching they will do by having such a big selection. It also helps protect them from not certified sites popping up. If you hand them a list of appropriate sites they will most likely learn the material better because you know the sites have the correct information.

Summary: 

We learned in the reading how technology helps you manage all files digitally and keeps it neat. Bookmarking is an awesome way to have students look up and remember sites for research and also helps you as a teacher save valuable websites for future use more easily. We learned that there are many ups and downs to virtual learning but overall if the student is wanting and willing to learn virtual learning is a advantage more than weakness.

Chapter 3 Journal

Chapter Three- transforming Learning  with Unique, Powerful Technology


Focus question :
Discuss how technology promotes critical thinking and problem solving ?

Answer:

  Technology promotes problem solving and critical thinking "for the 20th century". It gives children alternate ways of thinking and solving. Just because its not written down and its typed out doesn't mean they thought less about it. It all makes the same out come and that out come is the advancement in learning and knowledge that child walks away with.

Tech Tools:

Photo Credit toTilly Smith video

The website is called Stop Disasters  and its a game based website and is rich with many articles of peoples horror stories of being in disasters. I was reading many of them and caught myself just siting scrolling through o the next , next , next. This website is full of explaining and expressing different types of disasters and how it could have been prevented.  

Summary:

As I read though the chapter I really was interested  by the many ways technology can be converted into different lessons and work for all of them ! The problem solving was a big one for me. You really never know how much technology comes in handy until you have it put in prospective like the chapter explains.

Journal # 2 -K-12 Technology Benefits and Drawbacks

Journal # 2

    As I started reading through  K-12 Technology : Benefits and Drawbacks , I tried to look at it from a teachers perspective. There are many good points brought up by Mr. Lynch and also some that i don't totally agree with. 

    "The Internet and other wireless devices all heighten the immediacy for information both within and without the classroom. " I feel this is true because say students are very interested in a topic discussed in class or feel like they want to look deeper into a topic discussed in class they can do this simply by opening the computer and typing it in. No class book is needed at home because they have the internet right at there finger tips. 

     " Where i see a potential problem is in the indirect effect of technology on the comprehension habits of our youngest learners."   I dot agree with . I think if you read it on paper or off a screen its still the same information just hard copy and digital copy. No one can help or change the fact that our world is no longer learning the same way it was ten years ago. If feel that the statement holds true " if you cant beat'em join' em " is a perfect way to explain why technology isn't a threat to learning but a very useful tool .

  He didn't mention how technology is helping sick children be able to feel like they are at school and normal. He didn't mention how technology is getting parents involved more in school activities. 

  So much good is coming out of technology and all its advances, why not just embrace it ?

Girls working at computer
Originally uploaded in K12 Portal.

Image 27211 is a 350 by 350 pixel JPEG
Uploaded: Jan24 11

My Take on Practicing Learning-Literacy

As I read though what David Warlick had to say about his encounter that day with all these accomplished Professionals i tried to keep in mind the name of the Blog. The blog was titled Schools that Practice Learning- Literacy. there were three main ideas i took away from Mr. Warlick's blog , although his whole blog brought up excellent point these ones stood out to me!

 "Teaching is a potent learning skill ", which i find to hold true. I feel that if you are open to learn new things, teaching becomes that much easier. In the classroom let the students teach you something. Showing and demonstrating to them that even the "teacher" can learn new things everyday. It makes them feel accomplished.  Which will intern trigger them to want to engage in your teachings. 

"We can no longer believe it, simply because it was written down. "  also holds true also. How many times have we read one thing and find out its change ,it feels like, over night. In school i learned there are Nine planets because the book said so, well not anymore ! Someone deiced to take a look for themselves and proved us wrong.  Mr. Warlick goes on to say that we are no longer just consumers (just reading and storing literacy) ,we have evolved in participants (reading and learning more to add to what we already read in literacy ).  what goes hand and hand with this point is as follows.

"Information is increasingly networked, digital and abundant. " he explains that in the world today knowing how to use all this new networking skills helps you learn more and more.It helps parents engage in there children's leanings in school and in the community. Everything we touch today has some connection with networking or digital spin on it somehow. It all seems to work in different ways too, but ends up all giving us an abundant amount of information that stands to be quite helpful. 

 It all helps us grow as learners by Practicing Learning - Literacy !!!

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