comparing technologies

I have taken a look at three different powerpoint presentations which suggest ways to use specific technologies in the classroom.

The first one, Wordle, creates posters using words. The posters can be about any topic. Students can compile the words onto the poster and create the layout. This can be done as a whole- class project, but certainly works well with individiual projects. There are several suggestions. I would suggest using Wordle to even introduce a unit. Give students the vocabulary words on Wordle, have them tell you what they think they mean and what they think the unit will be about; then have them revisit the website after the unit is completed to assess how much information they gained.

The next is using a visualizer in the classroom. By doing so, students can create short movies and creative pictures. Visualizers also work well when showing things with specific patterns, such as magnetic fields. It CAN be used with a smart board. By allowing this, students can create their works, then have them displayed on the smart board. What's good is that teachers can learn how to display the child's work on the smart board and add new text/ designs to it to further enhance students' learning and understanding. If I understand it correctly, a visualizer seems to be a modern- day projector, that now is digitally enhanced.

The last presentation that I viewed is using audio in the classroom. There s so much to do with audio in the classroom. Students/ teachers can add audio sounds and music to presentations, students can listen to songs that pertain to something being taught in ELA. Students can generate their own lyrics for the songs. Audio can be used to express emotion and set the scene for what you are about to teach the students. Students can also use audio to express themselves creatively and emotionally. There are endless uses for audio in the classroom.

I am glad to see that these three technologies are becoming more prominent in classrooms today. It makes learning much more interesting and fun. I believe that these tools allow students to be hands- on. They create their own work- work that they can be proud of. The end products when using these tools are products that relfect who the students are and the dynamic of the class as a whole.

Creativity

   What is creativity? This is a question that we were asked in class tonight...and I think that it's an important one. Creativity to me is the ability to freely express oneself. When I see the word creativity, my mind automatically jumps to art, music, theater, and dress. I think that these are ways that people express themselves. My family and my best friends are people that I consider to be very creative. My mother always liked art as a young child and used her interest in art to become a master hairstylist. My best friend (A) is an artist who consistenly expresses her creativity through not only her art, but also her clothes and different hairstyles. My best friend (M) is a playwright who uses her creativity of words to write her plays. Not only does this involve creativity of words, but I presume it also involves envisioning who would be a good choice to play the part of her characters if they ever came to life on the stage. My best friend (S) is an artist, photographer, and actress. All three of these qualities together require a lot of creativity. I, myself, am a quiet person who expresses myself through my passion for teaching, music, and the arts. 
    I think that these are mostly intrinsic abilities that flourish when provided the appropriate environments. Since the time that I began school until now, I feel as though schools have made some strides in allowing students' creativity to develop, but there is not nearly enough that has been done. In class tonight, someone stated that schools right now teach the academics so that students can get into college. This is wonderful, yes, but I feel that along with academics, we need to provide students with environments that allow creativity to flow. I say this because as an educator, I recognize that students are more attentive when they are given the opportunity to creatively express themselves.  If lessons capture students' interests, they are more likely to retain the information. As a personal note, I played the violin for 12 years in a district that had no string program. That was my passion. It still is. It taught me a lot of discipline, but I always wished that teachers could have brought more music into the classrooms that I was in. I always had a very hard time with Math right from the beginning, but playing the violin helped me to get a better handle on it because it taught me rhythm and timing. Unfortunately, creativity comes with a price. Technology is coming about so quickly now that people are starting to lose their creativity. Technology is wonderful, but when I am in the classroom, I try to have my students use the technology, but still do activities where they need to think and create their own projects/ pictures/ diagrams/ presentations, etc.
   I am really looking forward to using the tools that I have learned in this class in my own classroom. I think that tools like these will help school districts to see that not all computer programs that will enhance students' creativity are expensive. Maybe then (I can only hope) some people will realize that BOTH academics and creativity are important.
Until next time...

My Voicethread

This is my voicethread- a completely new technology to me. I really liked playing around with the voicethread. I think it is something that I will be able to use in my classroom for just about any subject. The voicethread allowed me to choose a topic and orally comment on why I thought that this topic is relevant/ important. It also allows you to type a comment, although I chose to stick with voice. I like the fact that now anyone who views the voicethread can add their own commentary. Unlike some other tools, you do not have to own the product to comment. I think this is great, because when using this tool with students it would allow them to comment without having to go through a lot of steps. I chose Respect because this is one of the most important things to teach right at the beginning of the year. Many of the classrooms that I have subbed in have become so bogged down with focusing on state tests and other things that they do not have the time to teach about some important things such as Respect. I have seen that many students today do not know what repest is and what it means to be respectful of others. When I get my own classroom, this will be one of the first things that I teach at the begining of the year. The picture that I chose is c/o slumdogging.com. It serves as a good tool for teachers to use as a guide- both for themseleves as well as for their students. Here is  the link to my voicethread (I had trouble embedding it.):
http://voicethread.com/share/1883666/

Webquests

This week we explored webquests together as a small group. I think that webquests are interesting because they provide lots of information in small, easy to read bits which is integral in students' learning. This week we looked at webquests on constructivism and collaborated as a group on creating a powerpoint, visual display, and lesson plan on how constructivism is brought into the classroom. Constructivism is when students are in charge of the information that they are provided. In other words, they are in charge of their own learning. I think that when given the right tools and guidance, constructivism can significantly increase students' learning. Through reading the information for class this week, I realized that not all scholars agree. Some people think that students cannot and should not be in charge of their learning and that the teachers need to be their sole source when it comes to learning. I like to think that students and teachers work together to learn and grow. I definitely like the idea of constructivism in the classroom and I also intend to use the webquest tool as well as many of the tools that we have learned about so far. What about you? Do you agree with Constructivism in the classroom?

Digital Storytelling: My Amazing Amazon Adventure

Digital Storytelling: Telling a story, making a point by using technology.

I chose to talk about my Amazon adventure because I find that the rainforest is a large topic in Science. As a substitute teacher, I have worked with many classes who were learning about the rainforest and the wildlife that lives there. Each time, I tell the students about my adventure there and they become very interested in me telling them what I saw and the new things that I learned. I am extremely protective of the items that I got when on the adventure. However, the use of digital storytelling allows me to share these items with the students without having to bring them to school and worry that they will get ripped or broken. In this case, I would use digital storytelling to teach students about the Amazon and to show them how anoher culture lives. However, digital storytelling can be used for just about any topic. It is a fun way to get to know your students and for the students to get to know you as the teacher.

Professional Development Session

I just attended a professional development session that was put on by Dr. Smirnova and some of her colleagues. The topic of the session was Integrating Technology For Lifelong Learning- the International Writing Exchange. Unfortunately, the session was cut short due to technological glitches, but nevertheless it was still a great opportunity to interact with people from all over the world. Dr. Smirnova was talking about another conference that she attended where they taught teachers how to enhance students' learning of language. Dr. Smirnova was looking to share this information with us when the technology started to show glitches and break up.

I am looking forward to learning about the information that Dr. Smirnova and her colleagues put together because writing is probably the most important part of education today. As a teacher, it is important to share with all students and their families the importance of written language and how we can master the difficult task of teaching students to write properly, while making it engaging, creative,  and fun. During the session, the presenters shared a link with us which describes the International Writing Exchange and has different workshops that teachers can attend to further their understanding of teaching students how to write.

Videos for Integrating Technology into the Classroom

I think that these videos just go to show how important technology has become to our schools. I thought that these videos were interesting and made some valid points, especially the fact that they discuss the use of technology with special education and inclusion students. With so many students being classified today it is important for all teachers- general ed and special ed to figure out the BEST way to teach these amazing children. In order for this to happen, teachers must know what technologies are available to them and to their students. Technology training and the communication that goes along with it needs to extend beyond using a classroom computer. What about technologies that students who have disabilities can use? In order to teach and communicate with these students, teachers must know how that technology works. All students deserve the chance to learn and in order for teachers to reach all of their students, they must know the technology.

Here are some videos, courtesy of Youtube, that I found helpful and interesting and I hope that you gain information from them as well.

Tools For Collaboration

I was just introduced to three new collaborative tools that I feel make are very good for teachers to be aware of. We all know that teachers provide guidance and ideas for their students, but how often do they guide their peers? How often do teachers get together and collaborate on ideas? Hopefully frequently. These three new internet websites are easy to use and are good tools for teachers to use when collaborating with each other. The beauty of the internet is that teachers do not have to be in the same school to collaborate with one another. Who knows, they may not even be in the same country!

The websites that I explored are: Integrating-Technology.com, supercoolschool.com, and Google For Educators.

Integrating Technology: Before logging in, this website offers a video about synchronous (all people participate in discussion together) and asynchronous (people complete tasks individually, then come together to discuss what they learned) forms of communication. This website allows you to join and to take part in synchronous discussions with educators throughout the country. I think that this is a great way for educators to bounce ideas off of one another and to see different points of view on the same topic.

SuperCoolSchool: I am amazed at the idea of this website. It seems as though the traditional classroom is disappearing and the virtual classroom is becoming more of a reality. I like the ideas presented on this website, although I think that it is a little bit ahead of it's time because right now we are in- between traditional and virtual classrooms. With this website, teachers can set up their own virtual classrooms where they invite people to listen to their presentations and participate in group activities and discussions. Personally, I think that this website should be tried with teachers only first, then once teachers master it, branch out and invite our students to participate. I see this website as our future in education.

Google For Educators: This website is a good tool for integrating ideas into our curriculum. For example, there is a post for using Google Earth in Science lessons. The website allows you to join and search for groups, as well as post questions on the discussion board. This is a resource that I will reference in the future.

It's amazing to think how far technology has come when it comes to education and even more crazy to sit back and realize how fast all of the new technology is changing. I think that websites like these are a comfort zone for teachers because they allow us to come together and explore all of these new tools together; as well as discuss any changes that would need to be made when using these with our students.

Team Education Innovation Toolkit

When presented with the idea of completing a teacher toolkit with my team (Team Education Innovation), I at first felt a little bit overwhelmed. However, once beginning the project, I did have fun completing it. The teacher toolkit allowed me to explore many websites related to Literacy that I did not know about or did not know that much about before. It even allowed me to see ways that I can connect Literacy to different subjects. As the semester progresses, we can add more websites and useful tools to our toolkit.I have found websites and lesson ideas that are suitable for young students as well as older students. Since I now know that creating a toolkit is not as intimidating as I originally thought, this is something that I will definitely keep up and use in the future.
Until next time...

Benefits of Blogging in the Classroom

"What is real learning? This is when students are more engaged in learning activities in which they take ownership." When reading the assignment for this week, this quote stood out to me. Learning is when children can explore and expand their zone of proximal development (the space in between what they already know and what they are capable of learning with guidance from a more experienced person). Nowadays, more and more schools are having children write their own blogs. You may ask: "What are the benefits?" "How will this help children to learn?

Keeping a blog allows students to take control of what they are learning. I have learned that Blogs are basically electronic journals where students can type reflections, create discussion questions, and even add videos or images that they feel relate to their topic. Blogs give students a choice of what to reflect on and allow them to see what they may need to improve. Along with reflections, blogging expands students' Literacy because not only will they read and write in their blogs, they will also read the blogs of their peers and post comments for their peers to read and to discuss with each other.

According to David Wetzel,there are several benefits to using blogs in the classroom environment. First, they allow students to increase collaboration and discussions with each other. Not only can students read blogs that their classmates wrote, but students can also access blogs that other children all over the world have written. Students will then be able to read about and discuss any similarities or differences that they may have with people all over the world.Next, it is suggested that blogs allow for continual learning. Students can find information for their blogs in magaines, encyclopedias, informational books, the internet, etc. There is endless information that students can use to create and keep up with their blogs. After finding the information, students can then create their blogs and teach their peers. The benefit that I find to be the most important is differentiated instruction. Blogging allows students to be creative- from the style of writing that they use to the text format to the template and pictures that they add. It allows students to have their creativity infiltrate into their writing.

Aside from increasing students' writing skills, reading skills, and peer collaboration, blogs allow the teacher to see if students fully understand what it is that they are learning. They are a good way for teachers to see what information students are retaining or where there may be confusion.

All in all, I think that allowing students to write blogs will be beneficial. They allow students to be creative, making them more fun and intriguing to write.

Until next time...

New Approach to Learning

In classrooms today, I have seen many new techniques for teaching being implemented. I feel as though right now is sort of an experimental time in education because we are figuring out how to bridge the gap between a classroom where the teacher is in total control and a classroom where the students control their learning process. The pyramid shows the retention rates for passive teaching methods (teacher is in control) and participatory teaching methods (students participate in discussions, conferences, teaching peers etc.). The pyramid clearly indicates that students have a much higher retention rate when they are involved in the lessons. Having done several classroom observations, I find that this is true. The passive teaching style is often only targeted for one group of students and will not reach many of the students in the class. This style often is geared for the more advanced students who do not need futher practice or even further explanation. However, participatoy teaching methods allow all students to be involved in the lessons. All students are guided by the teacher and participate in discussions and collaboration with peers. This piques students' interests and maintins their attention, therefore increasing their retention rates. Also, this method teaches students to listen to others before providing input and learn how to communicate effectively.

Cyber Safety Webquest

I read a webquest the other day about cyber safety. I feel as though this is an extremely imporant topic for people, not just educators, to be aware of. I felt as though the webquest was full of information, but a little bit overwhelming because there were so many tabs to click on. I felt that this may deter some parents from fully reading and understanding the information. I like the idea of a webquest and the fact that we need to collaborate with our group members to create a powerpoint and a poster about the steps to prevent and be aware of cyber bullying. I feel as though I have aken on a large responsibility within my group and at this point have done much of the work. So far, I have begun the poster and powerpoints for this week's projects. I do enjoy learning about new tools and coming up with creative ways to create new powerpoints and visually appealing things such as posters. I do wish at this point that it would be more collaborative so that we all could bounce the ideas off of one another. I have learned a lot this week both about cyber bullying as well as about using new technologies such as google docs to create powerpoints and posters. I am really looking forward to using these in the classroom because I now have seen first- hand how fun and inviting they can be, yet they still give you a lot of content at the same time.

Update: Here are the finished powerpoint and poster links on Internet Safety:
https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0Ac499uaLNr8FZGZ2cTg2cXRfMmdueHAzZGNk&authkey=CIPW-NUK&hl=en

https://docs.google.com/drawings/edit?id=1_DyKQvLaEidoZaiJQ1OgxZv0bEkGPNPZA8WjPKXE4Vg&hl=en

Cyber Safety LetterPop

So last night I saw an extra credit assignment posted and decided that I was up to giving myself a challenge. This is a newsletter that I created for parents about Cyber Safety. I used the readings that the class was provided as well as internet resources for the pictures. Let me know what you think:

http://letterpop.com/newsletters/?id=184443-0a5c88

smartboard session

So...the other day I atttended a seminar on how to use a smartboard. Although I am constantly exposed to a smart board, I have never been allowed to use one in a school before because I did not have the proper training. I am ectatic because I now have a certificate that shows my completion of basic training in smartboard use. I never knew that there were so many functions that the smart board has. Did you know that you can use your fist to erase on the smart board, or write with basically any object if you lose one of the smart board pens? Something that I found particularly interesting was the fact that you can write something on the smartboard and then convert it to text; as well as the fact that the smart board stores information and pictures that you choose from the internet. This makes lessons easier for teachers to plan and far more interesting for students to follow. I thought that the seminar went well and that it taught me a lot about a technology that I had been exposed to but was never before allowed to use. I am very excited t present the schools with my certificate and begin practicing the use of the smart board so that I can further enhance my lessons with smart board activities.