Sunday, September 25, 2011

Blog Post 5

Scott McLeod: Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?
The internet is dangerous
In Dr. McLeod’s post, he lists many arguments that can portray the dangers of teaching kids how to use technology. His post is humorous and sarcastic as he asks adults not to teach their children how to use technology. At the end of his post he says that he is going to teach his kids the tools they can learn from technology so they can get ahead in the world. The kids that are taught how to utilize technology will definitely have a “leg up” as Dr. McLeod says, compared to the kids who are left in the dark about technology. Technology is crucial in our society, which is why we as future educators must teach our students how to use the internet and other devices so that they do not fall behind. I think it is also important to point out that there is a danger when using the internet, as Dr. McLeod points out. People do use the internet in ways that can be harmful to a child, but we cannot let the people who abuse the internet stop our children from exploring the wondrous benefits the internet can provide. Instead, we need to teach our children how to be safe on the internet. At schools and at home, adults can block hazardous online content. Adults must talk to children about the dangers of online predators and how under no circumstances, should a child meet with a person who they have met online. If we do our jobs and educate our children about the good and the bad that comes with technology, then I see no reason why we should ban our children from using these tools to get ahead in life.

To find out who Scott McLeod is, I looked at his twitter profile. On twitter, Scott McLeod says that he is a CASTLE director. I typed CASTLE into google’s search engine, and I found out that the acronym stands for UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education. CASTLE provides a variety of tools such as tutorials and boot camps on technology for school administrators to use. Scott McLeod is also an associate professor at the University of Kentucky.


Travis Allen: The iSchool Initiative and ZeitgeistYoungMinds entry
Traditional schooling revolves around using costly items such as books, paper, pencils, copy machines, scientific calculators, and much more. The iSchool Initiative is an innovative program that is all built around one thing; an iTouch. Travis Allen uses his creativity to provide an alternative way to reform the education system by suggesting the use of an iTouch in school. Travis outlines a variety of applications that students will download on their iTouch to use for educational purposes. I really like the iHomework application because it makes it impossible for the students to their lose syllabus. People can easily misplace papers, so this electronic file will be very beneficial. Teachers will also not have to worry about handing out a revised syllabus because the syllabus can be updated directly to the student’s iTouch. Providing fast connections between a student and teach is a very ingenious idea that Travis Allen focuses on in his program.

I like how Travis Allen’s iSchool Initiative focuses on saving resources and creating speedy connections between teachers, students and parents. Travis Allen also does a lot of research on how the iSchool Initiative can save money compared to traditional schooling. I do agree that we need to rethink and reshape our education system to be current, and to do so we should embrace the tools and technology laid out before us, but such heavy reliance does not sit well with me. I feel like there should be some moderation in Travis Allen's program. Relying so heavily on this technology does not seem smart. Teachers will need to have back up plans in case the technology does not work during lessons. What happens if a kid breaks their iTouch? What if it is stolen? What are strategies teachers will use to help those who do not have their iTouch with them in class? This seems risky. Kids are clumsy and break things rather frequently. The rain can destroy an iTouch easily and sometimes technology can glitch for no reason. What would a teacher do if a kid had to wait for their iTouch to be fixed? All of these factors need to be taken into account. I will say that Travis Allen has created a very impressive and well-researched alternative to reform the education system. I just feel that the program will need to be modified before attempting to place the program in an elementary school setting.


Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir
This video left me awe-struck. Eric Whitacre collects videos of 185 singers and creates a compilation of their voices to form a virtual choir. I would never have thought to use the internet to form a virtual choir. Eric Whitacre puts the voices together in a flawless performance. I had a friend listen to audio of the video and they thought that the singers were practicing in a room together like a traditional choir. They were shocked when I told them that the voices were collected on the internet and compiled together to create a virtual choir. This is another example of how technology can be used in such creative and beautiful ways. I really enjoyed listening to the virtual choirs rendition of "Lux Aurumque."


Kevin Roberts: Teaching in the 21st Century
Roberts believes that in order to be a teacher in the 21st century, you need to teach children how to use technology correctly. In Robert’s video, he says that students now rely on technology to provide them with the information that they seek. Robert describes teachers as a “filter” meaning that it is our job to teach the children how to use technology correctly to provide them with the answers that they are looking for. I agree with Roberts that technology can provide the answers to many of our questions at the click of a button. Children can use search engines like Google to find the answers to many questions that they may have, but how will they know what answers are correct out of the possible answers that are provided? Teachers still need to teach children how to find the correct answers. Teachers should let their students know that Wikipedia is not always reliable because anyone can post on that site. Many libraries provide a list of websites and online resources that provide correct information provided by experts on given subjects. Teachers should let that list be available to children so they can find the correct answers.

Roberts questions if our curriculum should be focused on content and facts as it was traditionally centered on, or should our curriculum be reformed to focus on teaching children valuable skills? We as teachers need to teach the children the skills to use tools properly. We need to also lead by example by using tools in a professional manner so that our students will learn how to use blogs and other social networking sites correctly. Teachers need to use technology as a tool in the classroom to help teach their students and keep them engaged in the lessons. It is the job of the teacher to remain current with technology to find a way to engage the students.

Project 9a- Individual Timeline

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Blog Post 4

Eagles' Nest Radio & Class Blog
Creating a podcast is a clever way to get students involved in learning subjects that can be hard to understand. History is full of many facts that students are expected to memorize, and it can be difficult for children to remember all of these facts when taught by a teacher during a lecture. Lectures can be dry and dull for children to listen and learn from. A podcast is an exciting way to get the students eager to learn! Creating a podcast gives the students the chance to actively participate in the material they are learning about in class.

I am very impressed with the level of professionalism that the third graders display in their class podcast. The “All Roads Lead to Rome” podcast is well thought out and it shows. While listening to the podcast, I noticed that the students focus on speaking clearly and slowly so that the listeners will be able to understand all the information that is being presented. The children use inflection to show when they are excited and to grab the listener's attention. The third graders remind me that I need to focus on how I present my information while I am working on my group’s podcast. I need to make sure that my audience can understand what I am saying and that I present my information in a manner that captures my listener’s attention.


Joe Dale: The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom
Learn how to podcast
This video discusses the benefits of podcasting in an informative and easy-to-follow presentation. As future educators, it is important to find educational ways to incorporate technology into our classrooms. A Podcast is a tool that teachers can use to teach their students effectively. I liked how the video suggests that podcasts can be used to help keep students up to date on the information covered in class if a student happen to miss a day of school. Podcasts can keep the students from falling behind in their classes. In college, I have had teachers who have created podcasts for their students to watch. The recordings provided the students an opportunity to refer back to information that was covered during class. I would listen to the podcasts to help improve on the notes I took in class, adding any information I might have missed during the teacher's lecture. I know from personal experience that podcasts can be very beneficial when used in the classroom.


Langwitches
This is an exciting activity that helps a first grade class improve their reading skills! The teachers help the class create an audiobook by recording the student’s voices while they read from a script. This activity gives the student’s a chance to practice their reading skills. Each student is given a section of the script to read aloud while the teacher records what the student says. The students can hear what they sound like, focus on the areas that they need to improve on, and re-record their section again to fix any errors. It gives the students the chance to be creative with how they present their dialogue. When the recording is finished, the class can listen to the audio while following along with the written script. I love how each student is able to provide their own unique and individual contribution to the class project. The students must feel so proud and excited to hear their voices when the audiobook is completed.

I like how the teachers ask for the students to reflect on the podcasting experience when they are finished with the recordings. It is important to know if the students enjoyed the activity and if they have any likes or dislikes when it comes to podcasting. The children may also have suggestions on how to make the podcasting experience even better in the following years to come.

Project 6

Sunday, September 11, 2011

C4T 1 Summary

Ira Socol: The Stories of 11 September 2001
What makes a story great
Ira Socol mentions how telling stories about the events of September 11, 2001 can help heal students. Student’s can learn from listening to other’s stories about September 11, 2001. He includes many of the stories he himself has written about the terrorist attacks. Ira also emphasizes the fact that students should be given the opportunity to heal by writing their own stories about the event. Writing these stories can help student’s express exactly how they are feeling, which can be very therapeutic and help students cope with events. I believe that writing is an excellent way to get the students talking about how they really feel. In my post, I told Ira my story of September 11, 2011. I was in fifth grade when the terrorist attacks occurred, and we were let out of school early because of the attack. The teachers, however, did not tell us why we were being let out of school early. Our school decided that it would be best for our parents to tell us what had happened that day. I told Ira that our teachers did talk to us about what happened when we got back to school. I believe that it is important to talk about difficult events. If you ignore or ban talk about difficult situations, how can you expect anyone to heal? I hope to incorporate storytelling in my classroom so that my students will be given the opportunity to express how they feel instead of being forced to bottle up their emotions.

Ira Socol: Five things to do, Five not to do
Do Not Do post-it
Ira Socol gives a list of five things that he thinks you should and should not do in the classroom. His post emphasizes the ways a teacher can reform how a traditional classroom is structured. For the list of five things that teachers should do in their classroom, Ira suggests providing alternative ways for students or parents to access information, such as utilizing podcasts. He also mentions incorporating variety into the classroom because teachers must remember that all students are individuals and they each have unique conditions for how they learn the best. Ira mentions that teachers should not stress the use of handwriting within their classroom. I commented that since I am an elementary education major, I will have to emphasize the importance of handwriting. Students are expected to follow a specific model of handwriting when they first learn how to write, so if I teach the lower grades in elementary school, I will have to make sure that my students are able to follow the model. I also commented that I would be trying out many of his tips in my classroom, because I believe it is important to use technology and incorporate variety into a classroom.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Project 5

Blog Post 3

Kelly Hines: "It's Not About the Technology"
Technology drawn on a chalkboard
Kelly Hines post “It’s Not About the Technology” explains what educators must do in order to improve the education system. I love how Kelly Hines points out that the way to change education is to change our mindsets. Teachers have to be willing to work to learn how to teach children effectively. I have had teachers who did not use much technology in the classroom, yet I never found their teaching style to be outdated. The teachers encouraged group discussions and debate in the classroom and encouraged us to use our minds. Our teachers were able to teach us valuable lessons by just using the chalk boards and the creativity of their minds. As Kelly Hines says in her post, you can be a 21st century teacher without the use of technology.

However, if a teacher decides to use technology as a way to teach in a classroom, the teacher should know how to use the technology correctly. I had a math teacher in the past who wanted to use smart boards to teach a lesson, but they had no idea how to operate the machine. The teacher then spent the rest of the class trying to figure out how to work the smart board instead of teaching the class the intended lesson for the day. The only thing our class learned that day was that the teacher should either stick to using the dry-erase board in the back of the classroom or take classes to learn how to operate the smart board. Technology should not just become a decoration in the classroom. If a school wants to put expensive technology into a classroom, the teacher should learn how to use the technology in order to make sure it is worth the expense.


Karl Fisch: Is It Okay to Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?
Karl Fisch has definitely taught me something with his post, and it is that I should never be proud to say that I do not know how to work a computer. As a future teacher, it is my job to teach things that will be important and beneficial for the students to learn. Technology is a growing part of our world, which is why it is vital to teach students how to use it properly. In order to teach these students, I must know how to use technology myself. This is one of the many reasons that I am glad to be taking EDM 310 this semester. This class has already taught me so many things about technology and I know that I have so much more left to learn. The important thing is that I am making the effort to learn how to use technology.

Karl Fisch's post makes me think about how many schools will not hire new teachers if they are not technologically literate. Even though that adds extra pressure to future educators, I think it is a necessary requirement that deserves to be enforced. As an employer, you would not want to hire a math teacher who says "I'm not very good at math." You want a teacher to be able to teach what is currently vital to know, and in this day and age, technology definitely falls under that category.


Gary Hayes Social Media Count
As I watch the social media count grow higher and higher, I am almost at a loss for words. I always knew that our generation relied heavily on technology and social media, but it is shocking to see the statistics rapidly change right before your very own eyes! I look down the list of social media, and I realize that I myself rely on many of these sites and applications that are being calculated. This count helps further ingrain in my mind just how important technology has become in this century and why it is important for me to learn how to utilize these forms of technology in the classroom.

I realize that I have a lot to learn if I want to teach my students using technology. One thing I know is that I need to be a good role model for my students by using the social media sites properly. I have heard stories where teachers have posted heated complaints about students on facebook and they have gotten in trouble for their comments. As future educators, we need to realize that everything we put online can most likely be traced back to us, so it is important to be careful to watch what you say. I will make sure that I stay professional when I use sites such as twitter and facebook.


Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today

In this video, Michael Wesch creates a survey on GoogleDocs for 200 college students to share their input on technology and the education system. This video gives the students the chance to voice exactly how they feel, and I was able to see that I agreed with many of the things the students were saying. One reoccurring theme that stands out is how much money is spent, and sometimes put to waste, on education. One male student holds up a sign that says he spends hundreds on books that he does not even open. I can relate to this because I have purchased books that are worth hundreds that I was required to open once or twice to complete an assignment. Many teachers insist that you need to buy these expensive textbooks, and then when you do you find out that you only open the book once during the entire semester. That hardly seems like it was worth the money to purchase the book in the first place. If teachers expect students to spend the money on the books, I think it is key to make sure that the students get enough use out of them.

It is up to the teachers to capture their student's attention while they are teaching, because it is obvious from this video that students get distracted very easily in the classroom. I noticed a trend of technology being abused in the classroom. Some people brought in laptops and worked on stuff that did not pertain to the class or surfed the web. Teachers should provide online resources for the students to browse and reference during their class if they bring in their laptops. I realize that not every student will use technology properly while in the classroom.



Peer Editing

I chose to review my classmate's blog publicly because he did not have many mistakes. If my classmate's post contained a lot of mistakes, I probably would have contacted him privately to provide my edits. I would not want to embarrass my classmate by providing a long list of corrections on his post for everyone to see.

Peer editing is an important way to help provide positive, constructive feedback on other student's work. It is important to point out what you like about a post and what could use improvement. We should also remember not to take someone's advice personally when they are critiquing our work. Sometimes we just need another set of eyes to point out the mistakes we might have missed on our own.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Blog Post 2

Did You Know? by Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod
Do not be afraid of change


After viewing the video “Did you Know” I was left captivated and amazed by the presentation of statistics that dealt with education, jobs, and technology. This video makes me realize how things are rapidly changing and evolving. Even language has changed since Shakespeare’s time! The English language has increased the amount of words it is comprised of by five times the amount used when the playwright was alive. I never really stopped to think of how language changes over the years. Nothing really stays the same; things are constantly shifting to meet our needs and dreams for the future.

Technological advances such as Google’s search engine help student’s complete assignments and find sources for papers, all in the comfort and convenience of the location of their choosing. Have you ever noticed that teachers generally ask for students to provide more internet sources than print sources when writing a paper? The internet provides a faster and more efficient way to find information as opposed to sifting through a library to find a book. Most information that you can find in a book can be found online. This video enlightened me to how much the world can change even in the matter of a few short years. Technology is advancing so rapidly that it is basically impossible to keep up with what is new and up to date. Change can be scary, but it is something that we have to be prepared to handle if we want to be able to survive and thrive in this world.


       Mr. Winkle Wakes by Matthew Needleman
Sign of change


This video reminds me how heavily our generation has grown through the use of technology. It starts with Mr. Winkle, who wakes up to find that the world has changed since he last walked its streets. Mr. Winkle is overwhelmed by the significant amount of change that has occurred following his 100 year slumber. Technology is used to help people out in ways that were never even imagined in Mr. Winkle’s time, and when he leaves his room he finds himself immersed in the fast-paced technological world.  People are now able to speak to each other even at long distances and receive top-notch medical care all thanks to the use of machines. Mr. Winkle helps remind us how technology has become such a huge part of our lives. Those who are from an older generation might be experiencing great amounts of confusion and discomfort because of how technology is so heavily relied on.

The one place that Mr. Winkle finds comfort in is at a school. The structure of the school is familiar, almost parallel to the structure of school during Mr. Winkle’s time. Teachers give lectures, students take notes, and technology seems to be shut away for the duration of class minus a computer that is not even being used in class. Some things do not change and that provides a comfort. School isn’t reliant on technology in this video, which helps ease Mr. Winkle’s worries. This video does highlight that some characteristics of school are the same, but I think that technology is rapidly being integrated into the school systems. Many schools I have been to rely on smart boards and computers to take tests. I think that it is important to find a way to balance the right amount of technology used in the classroom.


Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity
Feed your creativity


In this video, Sir Ken Robinson uses his wit and charisma to present his ideas on creativity. One of the lines in this speech that captured my attention is when Robinson said that he believes that we do not grow into creativity, but that we grow out of it. He believes that education is one of the main reasons that we slowly lose our creativity. Creativity is not held at high value in schools, because you cannot test creativity as you can test subjects like science, math and literature. Robinson makes you question why the arts are deemed as less important than other subjects. My family is full of artists, so I have always been encouraged to be creative through drawing. Not every student has a family that pushes for creativity which is why it is so important for schools to provide the opportunity to develop these skills.

I feel that it is our job as future educators to find a way to incorporate opportunities for children to foster their creativity during school. Art components can be added to other subject areas to provide children the chance to express themselves while learning material required by the state. For example, students can be asked to use clay to create the planets in the solar system. The students are using their hands to create a visual of the planets that they are learning about. When learning about other cultures, the teacher can teach the kids one of the cultures dances. There are always opportunities for educators to integrate the arts into the school day, the problem is finding creative ways to do so.

Cecelia Gault (Young Student in Finland) Interviews Sir Ken Robinson

Cecelia Gault, thirteen years old, attends a creative arts school where she is given the opportunity to express herself. During her interview, she shows how smart and well-spoken she is while asking Sir Robinson her questions. She is also very prepared, having written down questions to ask before she conducted the interview. She has a plan and she seeks to get the answers to all of her questions. As future teachers, we must encourage our students to find creative ways to express themselves. We must get the students to believe that they can do what they put their minds to. It is important to provide the opportunity for students who are not currently enrolled in a performing arts school the chance to express themselves as well.

Vicki Davis: Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

In this video, Vicki Davis encourages her students to become technologically literate. Vicki Davis is able to connect her students to other parts of the world by using the technology in her classroom. I was able to see that Vicki provides guidance when she teaches, but she also expects the students to be able to learn information on their own. This is an incredibly smart tool to help students become independent learners. Students need to learn how to find out information on their own because teachers will not always be there to give step-by-step instructions on how to complete an activity. Students are forced to use their brains to figure out solutions to the problems they might run into. I can personally relate to this because I had an American-Literature teacher last semester who wanted us to be independent learners. When we met in class, he expected the students to lead the discussions and he would only offer guidance when he thought it to be necessary. If the teacher had merely lectured us and didn’t force us to think on our own, I would not have learned nearly half as much as I did in his class. Often in my classes one of the first things a student asks a teacher is what do I need to know in order to pass the class? Students in college still expect guidance from teachers and they get freaked out when they have to learn how to do something on their own.

I was able to see how important technology is and how students can grow as thinkers through the use of technology. I find it interesting that Vicki Davis does not feel that it is necessary to know how to do everything before trying to teach a class. She allows the students to figure things out on their own, and that makes the students proud of their achievements. It is amazing to see how much these students can accomplish when it comes to using technology. I am sure that they could teach me many things I have yet to learn on my own.