Sunday, September 30, 2012
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Blog Post #5
The Ischool Initiative
The Ischool Initiative and Zeitgeist Young Minds Entry are videos by Travis Allen who is now a college student. He asks the question, " Does technology belong in our schools?". He thinks that it can be a solution to our current education problems. Travis Allen explains the Ischool with the Itouch platform can help schools, students, teachers, and parents. Apple has already so many apps that can help students, teachers, and parents learn and stay in touch with another.
Travis Allen explains that Ischools can help the schools save money by cutting the cost of paper, pencils, and expensive copy machines. He says it can save up to at least $600 per student because there are so many apps that are free to use such as email, world wiki (maps), U.S. presidents, star walk (about the universe), formulae (formulas for math and science), scientific calculator, calendar, and Ihomework. And it will save the environment. "Rethink, retool, rebuild our education institute to better prepare our young for the digital world they were born into" is a powerful statement he used. I think that he has a great and helpful plan to help improve our schools. I think that the students are fascinated with the Apple products such as the Itouch and the Ipad why not let them use them for learning. By using these products, students, teachers, and parents are able to access learning information at anytime and they will always be connected.
Virtual Choir
Lux Aurumque by Eric Whitacre is a virtual choir that is shown on a YouTube video. It is amazing how talented these performers and the creators of this video are. There are 185 performers that have never seen or practiced with each other. It is just pure amazing what they can use the internet for. They are very talented and creative.
Teaching in the 21st Century
Teaching in the 21st Century by Kevin Roberts converted to a video by Dr. Strange for our EDM 310 class is a video explains the changes that need to be made in the classroom to fit our change in technology. He explains that teachers are no longer the main source of knowledge, they are just a filter. And how do we teach our students to handle the new resources they have such as Google, Twitter, Facebook, blogs, YouTube, Wiki, and more. Now students can find information on anything, anytime, and anywhere. So, we need to teach our students how to validate, synthesize, leverage, communicate, collaborate, and problem solve information they get off the internet.
I think Keven Roberts is right that the teacher is no longer the main source of knowledge in the classroom. This affects us because we will not only need to focus on facts, content, but now skill in our curriculum. Skills are now needed because it only takes moments for people to find facts and content on the internet. We now have to teach through Blooms Taxonomy like understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create with these skills. I think that these skills are important for our children to succeed in the future.
Why I Flipped My Classroom
Why I Flipped My Classroom by Katie Gimbar, Dr. Lodge McCammon's Fizz- Flipping the Classroom by Dr. Lodge McCammon, and Flipping the Classroom-4th grade STEM by Ms. Munafo are videos about classrooms being "flipped". Ms. Munafo, Dr. McCammon, and Ms. Gimbar explain that the direct instruction is to take place at home. The instruction is taught the night before the assignment is to be practiced in class. Students watch prerecorded videos on the lesson, practice, prepare questions and discussions for the teacher the next day. Ms. Gimbar tells us that she use to just teach to the middle group of students. And that approach was not effective. She spent 90% of their class time delivering and reviewing and only 10% on application. The rest of the application was to be done at home for homework. But once she flipped her classroom the statics flipped also. Dr. McCammon explains that there is currently to much lecturing in our classrooms and not enough engaging. He says lecture is inefficient, not engaging, and an one shot deal which makes application individual and not engaging. But, Fizz video lectures are efficient, viewed multiple times, and creates classroom time. This way the classroom can focus on differentiated instruction which is engaging.
I think this approach is very interesting to say the least. I think it is something different for the students and the teachers. This approach is not really a foreign concept for me. One of my college math classes was a "flipped class", we watched the lessons the night before the class, wrote down questions for the professor, and practiced. Then in the class the next day we did some more application. So, I think this could be used in the class because I have used this approach as a student. It also creates student responsibility which I think is a great thing for students at any age. It also helps if the students are absent, they are still able to watch the lessons and not fall behind.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Blog Post #4
How to Create a Podcast from Judy Scharf's "What is a Podcast?" is a video and post that explains what a podcast is. I chose this video because I have heard of a podcast before but have never used one. The post explains that it is a radio style talk show. It tells us that you can listen to it from your computer,MP3, or download. The video explains how to create a podcast, edit, and to put it on the internet. I found this video and post very informative for someone like me who has never used a podcast before.
Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom by Joe Dale was a video on his blog where he explains the benefits of podcasting. In the video he tells how it is an effective way for teachers to interact with students outside of the classroom. He says podcasting are also a benefit to students because students are able to listen to assignments anywhere and anytime. By having students preform podcasts, teachers are allowing their students to use creativity and their communication skills. He also talks about the challenges that happen when students are absent for a period of time but with podcasts it can solve this problem in the classroom. Students and parents are able to get the assignments so they will not be too far behind.
I found this video very informational. I think that it is a great idea to have podcasts for students that are absent so that the parents and students are informed about the work and lessons that they have missed. I think that podcasts are a great way for teachers and students to be creative.
Langwitches' Flat Stanley Podcast was a post on her blog which was a podcast. She had her students read as a group the book Flat Stanley. I really loved this because you could hear all the student and their excitement they had for reading. I think by making this assignment a podcast the student have something new to look forward to. I liked reading as a group more than every other one where she had each student read their own line because this way it doesn't put pressure on one student.I really liked this activity for students.
Saturday, September 22, 2012
C4T #1 Summary
Beth Kittle
This month, I had to follow a blogger named Beth Kittle. On her post, Access Isn't Value, she said that having access to data isn't the key to success anymore. And those who just have knowledge are more likely to have to depend on someone else like co-works and classmates. The key to success is having the ability to find information quickly, sort it, analyze it, and act on it. She asked her bloggers if our practices as teachers helping our students become a knower or a processor?
I agree with what Ms. Kittle says about how the key to success has changed. Now, people must have to put the information they have found into good use to become successful. I asked her how do you make your students more of the processor? She answered me by saying by allowing them to be do-ers by creating things and using their communication skills.
Observations from a Waiting Room is her next post about what she observed in a waiting room at a children's hospital in Boston. She noticed that every school aged children were doing their homework and every parent was trying to get their child to focus. She stated some of the conversations she heard about children missing school and homework assignments, and their parents trying to catch them up. She also watched the chronically ill children battle to do the homework while being hooked up to the medical equipment. And how these families do not have any "family time" together since they are always in the hospital and yet their parents are still making them do homework. She wondered to her self about what are we doing as educators? We have had to have more pressure on student progress which places more and more pressure on teachers which makes more pressure on the students and parents to make this progress.
I think she has made a valid argument about what really matters in our children’s learning process and student progress. I think that practice is important with learning but it can become overboard. I think some pressure needs to be placed on the students and parents but just some.
This month, I had to follow a blogger named Beth Kittle. On her post, Access Isn't Value, she said that having access to data isn't the key to success anymore. And those who just have knowledge are more likely to have to depend on someone else like co-works and classmates. The key to success is having the ability to find information quickly, sort it, analyze it, and act on it. She asked her bloggers if our practices as teachers helping our students become a knower or a processor?
I agree with what Ms. Kittle says about how the key to success has changed. Now, people must have to put the information they have found into good use to become successful. I asked her how do you make your students more of the processor? She answered me by saying by allowing them to be do-ers by creating things and using their communication skills.
Observations from a Waiting Room is her next post about what she observed in a waiting room at a children's hospital in Boston. She noticed that every school aged children were doing their homework and every parent was trying to get their child to focus. She stated some of the conversations she heard about children missing school and homework assignments, and their parents trying to catch them up. She also watched the chronically ill children battle to do the homework while being hooked up to the medical equipment. And how these families do not have any "family time" together since they are always in the hospital and yet their parents are still making them do homework. She wondered to her self about what are we doing as educators? We have had to have more pressure on student progress which places more and more pressure on teachers which makes more pressure on the students and parents to make this progress.
I think she has made a valid argument about what really matters in our children’s learning process and student progress. I think that practice is important with learning but it can become overboard. I think some pressure needs to be placed on the students and parents but just some.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Blog Post #3
Peer Editing
Everyone should know and learn how to peer edit. It is an important tool for all students to have. In the video and slide show, What is Peer Editing? and Peer Edit With Perfection Tutorial, it had many important learning skills for peer editing. In both the video and the slideshow it explained what peer editing means and the rules students should go by. They described peer editing as working with someone your own age to help improve, revise, and edit his or her writing. The rules that they suggested were: one, stay positive, two, always start with compliments, three, suggestions, and lastly corrections and to be specific.
I really enjoyed the video Writing Peer Review Top 10 Mistakes. I thought they were so cute. I like how they started out with a tongue twister and when they described the students they used the same beginning letter. The students also used the rules that were in the first video and slide show. For example, they had a "Jean the Generalizer" this student was not specific on any of the corrections on the peer review.
Technology in Special Education
In this video, the teacher uses technology in her classroom to help her special educatoion students. Laptops are used for students that have trouble in cognitive learning and for the nonverbal students. In her classroom, without technology learning can be difficult.
Her student, Corbin, without technology it was hard for him to participate in silent reading. He had to have an assistant to read to him out loud in the hallway away from other classmates. But with the technology of the Ipod Touch's audio books, he is now able to be independent in silent reading, and he can be with his classmates. Other students use technology to talk, write, and read. Technology makes assignments fun and much easier for these students.
In my classroom, I can use the same technology she used and more to help the special education students. I can use the Ipod Touch for reading, Ipad apps to help students with writing, reading, numbers, and learning in general. I also think that technology can make these students more independent which is a great goal.
How IPad Works With Academic for Autism
In this video, it shows a about a child with autism and how he and his parents use the Ipad to help with his academic skills. I loved this video. It was really inspiring to watch him get so excited when he accomplished the skill.
In my classroom to help students with special needs, I would use an app called First Words Feelings. This app helps students to express themselves while identifying and understanding 38 common emotions and feelings. They are able to use pre-learning skills such as matching letters of the alphabet and spelling words. I think it would improve learning because they are able to connect common emotions and feelings with sounds, images, letters, and words while they think they are just playing a game. The teacher is also able to adjust the difficulty level for the needs of the child.
Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts
This video is about a teacher, Vicki Davis, whose classroom is very similar to our class EDM 310. Mrs. Davis has a blog in which the students follow. In her class, she teaches the students how to use technology effectively, just like EDM 310. Her students learn about trends all around the world and how to be active in using it. Her class assignments are set up to be custom to the type of students she has.
Vicki Davis said a very insightful bit of information for future teachers, " You as a teacher do not need to know everything about a subject before you teach it." I think that is a very important bit of information because the students can discover something new, teach it to the teacher,and the teacher knows the students have really learned about the task. Also, the teacher is able to learn right along with the students.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Blog Post #2
Did You Know? 3.0 A John Strange 2012 Version
I watched Dr. Strange's video on Did You Know? 3.0 and I think it had a lot of interesting facts that I would never thought about. Throughout his video, I think he trying to show his students how fast technology is changing and how fast it will continue to change. I also think he was trying to show us how dependent we are on technology and the internet. Like how he said, " 1,393,519 searches are made on Google every minute". It makes you think where did people get their information or answers before the internet. I know it wasn't as convenient as just typing it in. It also shows how rapidly society is changing with the technology for example, "Two years ago 93% of all 8-18 years old in the United States had computers in their homes".
Dr. Strange's video was based off Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod video Did You Know 3.0 and I think in that video it had more about how rapidly everything is increasing like the amount of words, amount of births, and more. In Dr. Strange's video, I wish he would of just stuck with the technology and wouldn't have added anything about India and that "25% of the population of India with the highest IQs, outnumbers the entire population of the United States". I understand why he put it in there because this class is suppose to be teaching the students of the United States but I do not think that it flows well with all the other facts that he has in the video.
Mr. Winkle Wakes
Mr. Winkle Wakes by Mathew Needleman is about an old man that wakes after 100 years to find everything around him change except for one thing. In the business world, he found big tall buildings, different sounds,and different machines that did several different things like print pictures and documents, one that opened the lines of communication.In the hospitals, he found lasers, xrays, and machines that kept people alive. But in the schools it had not changed there where still rows of students taking notes from the teacher at the board with no outside world coming in. Mr. Winkle did find one of those machines, a computer, but it had dust on it and it hadn't been use. Mr. Winkle liked being at school because nothing had changed for 100 years.
Like this video, I think that the business world and hospitals have received more technology changes than in the schools. I think that this is a shame because all the people in those careers start off in school and they should be taught at an early age how to use technology. It will be easier for them in the future.
Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity
Sir Ken Robinson's video on The Importance of Creativity he talks about the range of creativity humans have and how the education system is trying to remove it. He says that no one knows the future but teachers are suppose to teach students for it, but teachers can not teach creativity that is something students are born with. Sir Ken Robinson puts creativity at the same importance as literacy. And if students are not afraid to be wrong the will express their creativity, but education is scaring students out of being creative because people are scared to be wrong, and students won't take chances.
Public Education was created for industrial means in the early 1700s. But now it is mistaken because of the change in technology and the fundamental learning should be more open to creativity with the arts. Ken Robinson says that their is a need to have a new education system with reconstructed fundamental education. And that we need to have hope in our children.
I think that some of what he was saying was true but not all. I think that student should still be able to use their creativity but still need to focus on the certain fundamental skills such as math, language, and then humanities. I think this way because especially in the United States, we run off the middle class. The middle class still needs the fundamental math, language, and humanity skills that are taught in school because the middle class still works in industries. Do not get me wrong I love creativity and I think students should be able to move around and use their brain however they would like but their fundamental skills are more important. The middle class still put their children in dance, music, and art where they can use their creativity.
A Day Made of Glass 2
In Corning's videos A Day Made of Glass 2 and A Day Made of Glass 2 Unpacked it explains what Corning has planned for the future in technology. A tablet is one of the most important things in everyday life. Humans can use it for learning, in the jobs, and more. With this technology, small changes can help the envirnoment. A school can become an energy provider and not just a user. Also with this technology Corning is breaking down barriers in hospitals, schools, and in the home.
I think this technology would change the way humans see the world. They would learn differently and interact differently. This would be awesome in my future classroom way better than a smartboard.
I watched Dr. Strange's video on Did You Know? 3.0 and I think it had a lot of interesting facts that I would never thought about. Throughout his video, I think he trying to show his students how fast technology is changing and how fast it will continue to change. I also think he was trying to show us how dependent we are on technology and the internet. Like how he said, " 1,393,519 searches are made on Google every minute". It makes you think where did people get their information or answers before the internet. I know it wasn't as convenient as just typing it in. It also shows how rapidly society is changing with the technology for example, "Two years ago 93% of all 8-18 years old in the United States had computers in their homes".
Dr. Strange's video was based off Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod video Did You Know 3.0 and I think in that video it had more about how rapidly everything is increasing like the amount of words, amount of births, and more. In Dr. Strange's video, I wish he would of just stuck with the technology and wouldn't have added anything about India and that "25% of the population of India with the highest IQs, outnumbers the entire population of the United States". I understand why he put it in there because this class is suppose to be teaching the students of the United States but I do not think that it flows well with all the other facts that he has in the video.
Mr. Winkle Wakes
Mr. Winkle Wakes by Mathew Needleman is about an old man that wakes after 100 years to find everything around him change except for one thing. In the business world, he found big tall buildings, different sounds,and different machines that did several different things like print pictures and documents, one that opened the lines of communication.In the hospitals, he found lasers, xrays, and machines that kept people alive. But in the schools it had not changed there where still rows of students taking notes from the teacher at the board with no outside world coming in. Mr. Winkle did find one of those machines, a computer, but it had dust on it and it hadn't been use. Mr. Winkle liked being at school because nothing had changed for 100 years.
Like this video, I think that the business world and hospitals have received more technology changes than in the schools. I think that this is a shame because all the people in those careers start off in school and they should be taught at an early age how to use technology. It will be easier for them in the future.
Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity
Sir Ken Robinson's video on The Importance of Creativity he talks about the range of creativity humans have and how the education system is trying to remove it. He says that no one knows the future but teachers are suppose to teach students for it, but teachers can not teach creativity that is something students are born with. Sir Ken Robinson puts creativity at the same importance as literacy. And if students are not afraid to be wrong the will express their creativity, but education is scaring students out of being creative because people are scared to be wrong, and students won't take chances.
Public Education was created for industrial means in the early 1700s. But now it is mistaken because of the change in technology and the fundamental learning should be more open to creativity with the arts. Ken Robinson says that their is a need to have a new education system with reconstructed fundamental education. And that we need to have hope in our children.
I think that some of what he was saying was true but not all. I think that student should still be able to use their creativity but still need to focus on the certain fundamental skills such as math, language, and then humanities. I think this way because especially in the United States, we run off the middle class. The middle class still needs the fundamental math, language, and humanity skills that are taught in school because the middle class still works in industries. Do not get me wrong I love creativity and I think students should be able to move around and use their brain however they would like but their fundamental skills are more important. The middle class still put their children in dance, music, and art where they can use their creativity.
A Day Made of Glass 2
In Corning's videos A Day Made of Glass 2 and A Day Made of Glass 2 Unpacked it explains what Corning has planned for the future in technology. A tablet is one of the most important things in everyday life. Humans can use it for learning, in the jobs, and more. With this technology, small changes can help the envirnoment. A school can become an energy provider and not just a user. Also with this technology Corning is breaking down barriers in hospitals, schools, and in the home.
I think this technology would change the way humans see the world. They would learn differently and interact differently. This would be awesome in my future classroom way better than a smartboard.
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