Cool New Tools

Today we learned a lot of new things.

Tiffany and Kelly did a really nice job on their presentation and teaching us how to recognize whether a website is credible or not. I think that this is a very useful tool because as a student, I was never taught that. AS an adult now I am able to identify whether a website has good information, but children will not have as much knowledge as we do. I think that this is a very valuable thing to teach students.

I really liked the Scratch website as well. This website is a really fun place and it can help students create interactive projects that they feel proud of and are also fun. This project will be a learning experience for me and I think that I will gain a useful teaching tool. It would be good for students to be able to play a game made by their teachers or themselves.

I liked that we went over our inquiry questions in class today. It was nice to have validation of my question that I chose and also nice to hear from my fellow students about ideas on it or ways to make my question better.

Watching the Autobiographies was an interesting thing, I enjoyed learning more about my classmates. Rachel's was a surprise when my face showed up on her important people in her life. I was surprised and very touched. I think these are a unique way to see and learn more about my fellow Cohortians.

Fact or Fiction?

The book states that there are two areas to evaluate when you and your students are determining whether a website is credible or not. These two areas are relevancy and credibility. How well does the website relate to the question you are asking?
Evaluating the credibility of a website involves evaluating the source of the information and evaluating the treatment of the subject. The book suggests asking some questions when evaluating the sources of the information provided on the website. Some examples of these questions are:
• Who provided the information? Why?
• Does the author of the site have credibility in the field?
• Do you recognize the organization the published the site?
• Does the organization have a vested interest or bias in the information presented?
• Is a bibliography or resource list included?
• Can we check the sources?
The next thing to do is to evaluate the treatment of the subject. The book provides a list of questions to check into this as well. Some of these questions are:
• Is someone trying to sell us a product or point of view?
• Is the intended audience clear?
• Does it follow a logical presentation of sequence?
• Are there ideological or political biases?
• Is this primarily advertising or marketing website?
• Are there any gaps in logic, or is there missing information that is relevant to the subject?
A final step is to find two other sources on the same subject and see if the material on the websites is the same. This process is very important for students to know so that they know when a website will provide them with credible information and when it will not.
*Questions taken from “Meaningful Learning With Technology” by: David Jonassen, Jane Howland, Rose Marra, and David Crismond

Lets Talk Books: Booktalk

At first I didn’t know what to do for my Booktalk. I wanted to do something interesting, but I couldn’t think of anything to do. I read and re-read my book a few times. It was a book from my childhood, so I didn’t mind reading it a few times. Something that I like about the book that I chose, Eloise, is that she is different. She isn’t like other six year olds; I mean she lives at the Plaza! She does kids stuff, but she does it her way, I think children can really relate to that and I wanted that to be come through in my Booktalk. I think that by making the narrator Eloise it showed her spunky and sometimes eccentric nature. I put a lot of work into my Booktalk and I am proud of my finished product.
I used Photostory to make my Booktalk and I think it was an easy to use program. I had never used this program before and I learned a lot by using it during this program. I think that this program could be useful in class. I think that I could use this in class. After reading a story children could be asked to tell the main character, plot, main theme, conflict and as a class we could make a Booktalk together. Not only would this be a good way for students to practice main ideas in a story, but it would also introduce them to new technology. Students would love this and they could share with other classrooms, which would give them a sense of ownership with their work.

Investigating With Technologies

This chapter talked about how to search. Initially I didn't think that I was going to gain a lot of new information, I can't count the number of times I have searched for something on the web, but after reading I have found that I learned a lot not only about my searching techniques, but also how to help my students gain knowledge in searching the internet for information.

I liked the four-step process that the book suggested using. I think that these steps:

1. Plan
2. Use strategies to search the web
3. Evaluate
4. Triangulate sources (Jonassen & Colaric, 2001)

Help to focus students’ search and keep them on the right track. The Internet is a big place and sometimes you can get lost in trying to find what you are looking for. I think that these steps can help guide a student towards the information that they want.

I also liked what the book said about browsing not being thinking. Students need to keep thinking about what it is they are trying to learn. “The educational secret to the Internet is intentionality,” I think this quote is important to keep in mind when we are searching the web and when we are teaching our students about the Internet.

From this chapter I learned that students can use the internet to gather information, conduct experiments, and use others to help them in their investigations. Previously I knew that the Internet was a valuable resource, but I didn’t think about students gathering information from it in my classroom. I thought that they would use the Internet at home and that I wouldn’t have to teach them. Now I know that I will have to help my students learn how to search the Internet and teach them ways to use it in learning.

New Thinking from Class Today 1/14/10

I thought today's class was very interesting and I learned a lot of new information. The video that we watched for homework was very informative and provided an insight into some concerns that society has with the amount of technology being used today. I think that my thinking on this definitely changed, being proactive instead of reactive in keeping our children safe and honest online. I think it will be better to embrace the new changes instead of fight them, change is inevitable. Which leads me into our nest topic that I found to be very interesting, Kindle.
I think that this is a new way of books, text books. We grew up with physical books and so this concept seems to be foreign and not as intimate as reading hard copies. I think though, that it is something that is going to be beneficial.

A new technology that I really enjoyed today was Prezi. I have always used powerpoint and so this new way of doing presentations was a refreshing change. I think that it is better way of presenting information and I can not only use it in this class, but in my other classes and in my future classroom. My thinking about presentations changes today by seeing this because it showed me that the information I give as a teacher should be accessible for students and not hidden, which is sometimes the case in powerpoint.

The Matrix that we were shown today also helped me to change my thinking about learning from and with technology. I really liked this matrix because it showed where using the with and from are appropriate.

Growing Up Online

I think that this video made me realize even more that students today rely heavily on the internet and all of the things that are associated with it. I knew that kids today used technology more than their parents and teachers, but I didn’t realize how young it started. I think that the teacher that talked about cheating and the internet had a good viewpoint. It is a change in times and there is no way to fight it, only to modify and change things to fit in with the changing times. I think that as teachers we need to do several things:

1. 1. Modify our teaching to incorporate and use technology so that students learn the most in the most effective way.

2. 2. To lay down new rules. If we don’t want students to plagiarize from the internet then we need to teach them how to correctly site things from the internet. Instead of banning the use of these materials we need to make them useful to the students and in a way that will benefit them.

3. 3. Make them aware of the safety issues of the internet and keeping their information private. Explain to them the dangers of the internet and predators. Let them know where they can go to get help if a problem arises.

I think that if as a teacher I am able to keep learning about new technology and adapt my teaching to fit with these then my students will also benefit from the new ways of teaching and technology.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, than 10 pictures must be worth 10,000 words!

I really enjoyed this assignment. I found it to be very interesting and something that I not only liked doing, but also something that I have connection to. It helps my classmates learn something new about me or just see something that they didn’t before through pictures. It also helps me learn about my classmates. People tell stories all the time, but seeing a story through pictures adds another dimension. They say a picture is worth a thousand words and I think that this project helped to support that theory. I think that it was also a unique project because I could only use 10 pictures. This meant that I had to pick the ones that I liked the most and the ones that were the most meaningful for me. Because of Facebook and other technologies, such as digital cameras, there are many more pictures out there available to view and use. This made it necessary for me to only pick one event for me to focus my video on, this was difficult! I could make hundreds of videos with my pictures and did in fact make a couple of extras.

I feel that I put the most effort into picking the pictures I wanted to use in my video. After that I spent a good deal of time trying to make the order appropriate for my pictures and the captions had to be important and short enough, but still get the point across. I had to go back and take some pictures and captions out so that the video was a better quality and everything fit into the allotted time. The music was another thing that I had to decide on, it had to match the theme of my pictures and convey the mood I was striving to achieve.

I think that this would be a good assignment to use at the beginning of the school year. It can be a unique way for teachers to get to know their students. You could ask them to do one on their family so that you could learn about the relationships there. More importantly by assigning these kinds of projects it gives students a sense of accomplishment. I know that I am proud of my mini movie and I can’t imagine the joy that an elementary student would get out of making their own movie. I think that this would be a very rewarding experience for students.

A New Generation Means a New Role for Technolgy

This chapter has put a different look on technology and its role in the classroom and also the role of students and teachers. I really liked the new roles of the teacher and student laid out in the preface. I think it provided unique reflection for me and other future educators. I liked how it talked about teachers giving up some of their authority so that students can learn and explore on their own. This is different from the way that most of us learned; teachers are seen as the primary knowledge holder and give the information that they have back to the student.

Since we have these preconceived notions about teaching and the roles in the classrooms it will be difficult for teachers to change, but it will be beneficial for the students and teachers. I think that teachers have as much to learn from the students as the students have to learn from the teacher, especially in the field of technology. By letting the students explore on their own teachers can learn with the students.

As a future teacher I am going to try and learn to let my students have some of the authority and be in charge of their own learning experiences. I want their knowledge of technology to help the in learning. I want them to be able to use the tools that are out there and available to them so that they can learn and grow more.

New Thinking from Class Today 1/7/10

Today in class was a little overwhelming! There is so much new technology out there that I don't even know about. I am excited to learn more and be able to do more with my future class. I never really thought about how much kids today know even more than we do, it's a really different kind of learning, that can be a bit daunting.
In order to be a successful teacher, though, I know that it is important for me to adapt and change as both the technology and my students change. In order for me to make connections with my teaching an my students' learning, I need to be able to change and adapt my knowledge of technology.
My thinking has changed from viewing myself as "in the know" to viewing myself as "in the constantly learning". Technology is constantly changing and in order for me to be a great teacher instead of a mediocre teacher I need to change with the times.

Technology's Role in Teaching and Learning

What is technology’s role in teaching and learning?

• Technology’s role is to supplement a curriculum.
• Teachers can use technology such as computers, Smart boards, etc. to help students learn in different ways.
• It can be used to help students practice and understand a concept from a lesson better.
  
• Different Resources (i.e. internet)
• Giving students a different hands on experience
• Helps teachers to branch out and change teaching habits
• Communication
• Global Networking