Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Finally!
I have FINALLY figured out how to add some pictures and videos as well as music to this blog! I'm really excited about that. I hope that you can read, listen, watch, and enjoy this blog site as I try my best to keep up with a technology that is completely new to me :-)
Monday, February 14, 2011
Weeks 3 and 4 of this course
I feel as though weeks 3 and 4 of this course have been going pretty well. I feel as though it is starting to come together, slowly but surely. Last week, I spent most of my time working on the blog. Our group session tonight went very well. We discussed our opinions on the different technologies coming out now and how we would use them in our classrooms. This week's readings focuses on the use of google docs. I found that this tool can be wonderful, but I don't think that it would fit the learning needs of all students. I think that this would be perfect for a student in middle or high school who learns new things easily and does not need constant teacher supervision. What about students who have higher needs than the other students? How would the use of google docs help them? Frankly, I don't think that it would. I'm not saying to not use this tool; I am just saying to be aware of the learners in your classroom and use a tool that would work for them.
Here is my reflection for the last 2 weeks:
Reflection:
Bloom's Remembering: What did I do?
Student Reflection: What was the assignment? When was it due? Did I get it turned in on time?
Bloom's Understanding: What was important about what I did? Did I meet my goals?
Student Reflection: Do I understand the parts of the assignment and how they connect? Did my response completely address all parts of the assignment? Do I see where this fits in with what we are studying?
Bloom's Application: When did I do this before? Where could I use this again?
Student Reflection: How was this assignment similar to other assignments? (in this course or others). Do I see connections in either content, product or process? Are there ways to adapt it to other assignments? Where could I use this (content, product or process) my life?
Bloom's Analysis: Do I see any patterns or relationships in what I did?
Student Reflection: Were the strategies, skills and procedures I used effective for this assignment? Yes.
Do I see any patterns in how I approached my work - such as following an outline, keeping to deadlines? Yes- I keep on top of deadlines and try to get started early so that I can tweak my projects as the week progresses.
What were the results of the approach I used - was it efficient, or could I have eliminated or reorganized steps? I find my approach to be affective. It's what works for me. Some people don't like to do things this way, but this is how I learn the best.
Bloom's Evaluation: How well did I do? What worked? What do I need to improve? I need to improve on sprucing things up. The content is there, just making things more visually appealing would be nice.
Student Reflection: What are we learning and is it important? Yes, learning about technology is important because we need to know about what we teach our students to use.
Did I do an effective job of communicating my learning to others? No. I will use the discussion forum more often from now on.
What have I learned about my strengths and my areas in need of improvement? How am I progressing as a learner? I am progressing well, I think. I have a very good work ethic and get things done early, but I need to have more patience when awaiting replies from others, especially when they answer questions that I may have had.
Bloom's Creation: What should I do next? What's my plan / design? I plan to continue working on the blog and figure out how to add more features.
Student Reflection: How can I best use my strengths to improve? I can use some of the new technologies to help me further understand how technology works and what it can be used for.
What steps should I take or resources should I use to meet my challenges? Use the discussion forum and my peers for help with any encountered problems.
What suggestions do I have for my professor or my peers to improve our learning environment? It's a little bit overwhelming. Make sure what is expected of us is clearly stated and that the links work.
How can I adapt this content or skill to make a difference in my life and my future/current classroom? I will definitely be using this knowledge in my classroom. I've already begun to tell other teachers about it actually. I will be planning interactive lessons and will most likely have my students create their own blog, even if they use their written journal entries and enter them into the computer as a blog.
As for me with the technology, I am becoming more comfortable. I am having trouble embedding videos and using pictures on my blog, though. I would like to spruce it up a little bit! I hope that you are all doing well with the semester and that things are starting to come together for you.
Until next time...
Here is my reflection for the last 2 weeks:
Reflection:
Bloom's Remembering: What did I do?
Student Reflection: What was the assignment? When was it due? Did I get it turned in on time?
Bloom's Understanding: What was important about what I did? Did I meet my goals?
Student Reflection: Do I understand the parts of the assignment and how they connect? Did my response completely address all parts of the assignment? Do I see where this fits in with what we are studying?
Bloom's Application: When did I do this before? Where could I use this again?
Student Reflection: How was this assignment similar to other assignments? (in this course or others). Do I see connections in either content, product or process? Are there ways to adapt it to other assignments? Where could I use this (content, product or process) my life?
Bloom's Analysis: Do I see any patterns or relationships in what I did?
Student Reflection: Were the strategies, skills and procedures I used effective for this assignment? Yes.
Do I see any patterns in how I approached my work - such as following an outline, keeping to deadlines? Yes- I keep on top of deadlines and try to get started early so that I can tweak my projects as the week progresses.
What were the results of the approach I used - was it efficient, or could I have eliminated or reorganized steps? I find my approach to be affective. It's what works for me. Some people don't like to do things this way, but this is how I learn the best.
Bloom's Evaluation: How well did I do? What worked? What do I need to improve? I need to improve on sprucing things up. The content is there, just making things more visually appealing would be nice.
Student Reflection: What are we learning and is it important? Yes, learning about technology is important because we need to know about what we teach our students to use.
Did I do an effective job of communicating my learning to others? No. I will use the discussion forum more often from now on.
What have I learned about my strengths and my areas in need of improvement? How am I progressing as a learner? I am progressing well, I think. I have a very good work ethic and get things done early, but I need to have more patience when awaiting replies from others, especially when they answer questions that I may have had.
Bloom's Creation: What should I do next? What's my plan / design? I plan to continue working on the blog and figure out how to add more features.
Student Reflection: How can I best use my strengths to improve? I can use some of the new technologies to help me further understand how technology works and what it can be used for.
What steps should I take or resources should I use to meet my challenges? Use the discussion forum and my peers for help with any encountered problems.
What suggestions do I have for my professor or my peers to improve our learning environment? It's a little bit overwhelming. Make sure what is expected of us is clearly stated and that the links work.
How can I adapt this content or skill to make a difference in my life and my future/current classroom? I will definitely be using this knowledge in my classroom. I've already begun to tell other teachers about it actually. I will be planning interactive lessons and will most likely have my students create their own blog, even if they use their written journal entries and enter them into the computer as a blog.
As for me with the technology, I am becoming more comfortable. I am having trouble embedding videos and using pictures on my blog, though. I would like to spruce it up a little bit! I hope that you are all doing well with the semester and that things are starting to come together for you.
Until next time...
Thursday, February 10, 2011
My Picasion Experiment
This is my picasion experiment. I really enjoyed this assignment but I had a very difficult time with it at the same time. I think that it's a fun idea, but there were a lot of glitches that I had both when creating it and when trying to post the assignment. I was trying to take a screenshot this way I could show the team's business card as well as a few other pictures, but did not have success in figuring this task out yet. I thought that the business card would be a great thing to show- representing the unity of the team- but it did not work out that way. I'm still very new to this technology and even had difficulty when posting the assignment for a grade. This is an assignment that I would do with my future students, but only after I have had a lot more practice with it. After all, practice makes perfect. I hope it gets easier as the semester continues on. I wish you all luck.
http://picasion.com/i/18Igf
http://picasion.com/i/18Igf
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
This Week's Reflection on Google Tools
This week was all about familiarizing myself with new technologies that I have never used before...including this blog. I have begun to familiarize myself with webex, wiziq, gtalk, and gmail. So far, they are all a work- in- progress for me. When meeting in our groups last week, my group and I spent over an hour trying to figure out the technology before even getting to discuss the week's assignments. It is a little overwhelming, but I hope that it will come together in the newr future. I am enjoying learning about these new tools, however. I find it fascinating that we can work in groups online and see each other/ talk to each other. The same goes for the online whole group meetings. I am looking forward to the rest of this semester.
Until next time...
Until next time...
Education 1.0 vs. Education 2.0
Education 1.0:
chalkboards
desks
teacher- led lessons
projectors
VCR's
A classroom where students filed into rows each day, lugged heavy textbooks, and watched slides on a projector screen. If students watched a movie, the teacher would sign a tv out, wheel it to their classroom, and play a video tape in the VCR player. Learning was led by the teacher and there was minimal discussion allowed in the classroom. Students were expected to work independently.
Education 2.0:
white boards
smart boards
computers
laptops
collaborative groups
This classroom is an inviting environment where students use the technology around them to learn and interact with their peers. Students often collaborate with their peers and most no longer sit in rows. It is expected that students participate in collaborative projects. When students today go up to the board, they either write on a white board, or use the electronic pens to write on the smart board screen. To watch a video today, the teacher will place a DVD into the computer which is hooked into the smart board. There is no longer the need to find a tv and bring it to the classroom. Rather than watching slides on a projector screen, students can use computers to find pictures on the internet and create their own slide shows and powerpoints. The classroom is interactive and students are expected to be as involved in the lessons as the teachers are. This classroom provides students with many different ways to learn and promotes self- confidence within students. It is a much more interactive classroom where students receive information immediately. It is important for teachers to find new ways to challenge students in this classroom. What may have worked in previous classrooms will most likely no longer challenge students who go to school in an Education 2.0 classroom.
Until next time...
chalkboards
desks
teacher- led lessons
projectors
VCR's
A classroom where students filed into rows each day, lugged heavy textbooks, and watched slides on a projector screen. If students watched a movie, the teacher would sign a tv out, wheel it to their classroom, and play a video tape in the VCR player. Learning was led by the teacher and there was minimal discussion allowed in the classroom. Students were expected to work independently.
Education 2.0:
white boards
smart boards
computers
laptops
collaborative groups
This classroom is an inviting environment where students use the technology around them to learn and interact with their peers. Students often collaborate with their peers and most no longer sit in rows. It is expected that students participate in collaborative projects. When students today go up to the board, they either write on a white board, or use the electronic pens to write on the smart board screen. To watch a video today, the teacher will place a DVD into the computer which is hooked into the smart board. There is no longer the need to find a tv and bring it to the classroom. Rather than watching slides on a projector screen, students can use computers to find pictures on the internet and create their own slide shows and powerpoints. The classroom is interactive and students are expected to be as involved in the lessons as the teachers are. This classroom provides students with many different ways to learn and promotes self- confidence within students. It is a much more interactive classroom where students receive information immediately. It is important for teachers to find new ways to challenge students in this classroom. What may have worked in previous classrooms will most likely no longer challenge students who go to school in an Education 2.0 classroom.
Until next time...
3 Technological Literacies
When learning about technology for the classroom, there are three main literacies that are in effect: Computer Literacy, Information Literacy, and Integration Literacy.
Computer Literacy is a person's ability to use the computer, understand how it operates. Most students today come to school knowing how to operate a computer. In fact, many of them know how to do this better than you or I can.
Information Literacy gives us the tools to use and locate information on the internet and clearly organize this information. With this literacy, students can create their own webquests. The video Information Literacy uses the acronym DISCOVER to describe the process of information literacy:
D-define
I-inquire
S-search
C-collect
O-organize
V-verify
E-express
R-reflect
This acronym can be helpful to students when using the internet to find information and create their own projects. The teacher would first explain each step and what is expected of the students. Each step will have more than one component. For example: For Define, students must write who, what, why, where, or when. It may be easiest if the students were provided a chart with the acronym where they could write down their findings next to each word. Information Literacy is helpful to both the teacher and students because it allows them to look at what websites are of use to them. After the DISCOVER process has been completed, the students can create a webquest which would provide visuals, some text, and links to the useful websites about their given topic.
Integration Literacy is using technology to further enhance the learning of students. This literacy uses every form of technology possible where text can be created- including cell phones. Integration literacy is a student- based approach, meaning that the classroom teacher is not the only person leading the lessons. Students can help other students and serve as peer facilitators, or the computer can even provide students with much of their learning. Integration Literacy is geared to involve all learning styles- from visual to auditory to textile. It allows students to explore on their own or work collaboratively in groups, then discuss with the rest of the class what they have learned. Sometimes, students even surpass what the instructor already knew how to do and therefore can teach their teacher something new about technology.
I have heard people say that technological literacy is the literacy of tomorrow. Guess what...It's not. It's the literacy of now and today's teachers must know how to work with the literacies that are all around us. If the students know more about this topic than you do, that's okay. Give that student the opportunity to collaborate with and teach you. You learn just as much from you students as they do from you.
Until next time...
Computer Literacy is a person's ability to use the computer, understand how it operates. Most students today come to school knowing how to operate a computer. In fact, many of them know how to do this better than you or I can.
Information Literacy gives us the tools to use and locate information on the internet and clearly organize this information. With this literacy, students can create their own webquests. The video Information Literacy uses the acronym DISCOVER to describe the process of information literacy:
D-define
I-inquire
S-search
C-collect
O-organize
V-verify
E-express
R-reflect
This acronym can be helpful to students when using the internet to find information and create their own projects. The teacher would first explain each step and what is expected of the students. Each step will have more than one component. For example: For Define, students must write who, what, why, where, or when. It may be easiest if the students were provided a chart with the acronym where they could write down their findings next to each word. Information Literacy is helpful to both the teacher and students because it allows them to look at what websites are of use to them. After the DISCOVER process has been completed, the students can create a webquest which would provide visuals, some text, and links to the useful websites about their given topic.
Integration Literacy is using technology to further enhance the learning of students. This literacy uses every form of technology possible where text can be created- including cell phones. Integration literacy is a student- based approach, meaning that the classroom teacher is not the only person leading the lessons. Students can help other students and serve as peer facilitators, or the computer can even provide students with much of their learning. Integration Literacy is geared to involve all learning styles- from visual to auditory to textile. It allows students to explore on their own or work collaboratively in groups, then discuss with the rest of the class what they have learned. Sometimes, students even surpass what the instructor already knew how to do and therefore can teach their teacher something new about technology.
I have heard people say that technological literacy is the literacy of tomorrow. Guess what...It's not. It's the literacy of now and today's teachers must know how to work with the literacies that are all around us. If the students know more about this topic than you do, that's okay. Give that student the opportunity to collaborate with and teach you. You learn just as much from you students as they do from you.
Until next time...
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