This marks the last day of our two week long computers and technology class. I barely survived. This has single handedly been the most challenging, but most rewarding class I have taken in my educational career. It was an obvious challenge for me, because I entered the class knowing the bare minimum. Not only was I unfamiliar with almost all of the things you taught, but I was somewhat uncomfortable even using programs like PowerPoint, Excel, Twitter, etc. I have always been ashamed of my lack of knowledge, but didn’t want to burden the people in my life with countless questions regarding the internet. The reason this class was so rewarding is because I truly felt like I pushed the limits of what I could do. I was so proud of myself during the first week, when I created a Vimio story using pictures from my wedding that I had scanned into the computer. I was also able to set the pictures to music, and add a voice narration to one of my slides. Huge accomplishment!!!
Steve- I think you are a gifted teacher. You faced the challenge of teaching a two week class to a group of students that you didn’t know. You did an excellent job of gauging your audience, and I think you could sense when some of of us were ready to move ahead and others needed more time. You were flexible in your planning and did a great job of adjusting and improvising, when the situation called for it. What an important trait for a teacher to have. Your obvious enthusiasm for technology was inspiring. While I don’t think I will ever use Twitter again, I certainly see many of the benefits that technology has for our 21st century learners. I hope that when I have a classroom of my own, I will not be afraid to integrate technology with the other subjects. I believe, now more than ever, that when students are actively engaged in the learning process, that knowledge is there to stay.
Thanks for everything.
Posted in Uncategorized July 24, 2009
Today our group presented on the website Starfall, which is a popular educational tool among parents, teachers, and young children. Hopefully, everyone was able to see how this site can be used to promote the 5 areas of reading; 1. phonemic awareness, 2. phonics, 3. fluency, 4. vocanulary, 5. comprehension. I have included several additional sites on my blog for those of you who are interested in secondary education. Remember, when we are working with struggling readers, whether they are in first grade or in ninth, we must teach them strategies that foster language arts skills. Please take the time to explore these helpful resources. Thank you.
Posted in Uncategorized July 23, 2009
For the beginning of today’s class, I spent about 15 minutes watching the Australian blogger give a tutorial on how to use tagging. His video was great, because he takes the viewer through the process, step by step. I didn’t know what tagging was before, but now I can see it’s many uses. Tagging actually appeals to my organizational nature, because I like to have my “stuff” in specifc places, where it easy to get to and stored systematically. This is exactly what tagging allows you to do, and if you take lots of pictures, and you take the time to tag them, then it will be very easy for you to locate them later on. The blogger (I wish I knew his name) also showed how tagging can be used to mark your favorite sites on Delicious. Currently I use the old-fashioned “favorites” tab on my tool bar, but I think that tagging gives you lots more options. I might try to use it to create a system of all the homes I am looking at. I find that they are becoming jumbled in my e-mail, so I think that tagging them according to certain properties, like price, location, ect. will be helpful.
The next thing I looked at was the Kidcast podcast. I don’t use Podcasting, but my husband likes to download Rush Limbaugh’s Podcasts, which I like because they help me fall asleep. I could see Podcasts being used in education, where the students can listen to lectures from the comfort of their own home. I am very interested to learn more about the university lecture series that can be podcasted. Oh… and sometimes we listen to Podcasts of books when we take road trips.
Posted in Uncategorized July 23, 2009
When I tagged communication 3 pages worth of sites came up. I tried to navigate through a few of them, but quickly decided that they were inappropriate for students (even the one that was called My Yearbook for teenagers). I finally settled on a site called Joopz, which allows free 2-way-text-messaging from the computer to the phone. I tried it out by sending Alexis a message and it worked. I think it’s pretty cool because it’s a new way to communicate and it’s free. A word of caution though- Alexis and I both agreed that teachers would have to carefully monitor this, because it could be used as a tool to cheat on tests. Another downfall of the site is that messages cannot exceed 100 characters. It was hard for me to get the words out in such a limited space. http://joopz.com/messages
The second site I looked at was calles Raylit, and it came up when I tagged parents+fun. It is a free interactive site for kids ages 3-7. It has over 750 games, including puzzles, music, numeracy, rhymes, stories, phonics, reading, and science. The images were pleasing, but the voice of the main character Cleo was a little slow and annoying. I think real young kids might enjoy this, and it does have some educational value, but anyone over the age of 5 would probably be bored. http://www.raylit.com/
Posted in Uncategorized July 22, 2009
Class was very busy today. We learned how to do Voice Thread, which I have posted on my products page. This was a frustrating activity for me, because I was having trouble recording my voice and then hearing it play back to me. Once this worked out, I didn’t like the way my voice sounded, but the only way to change this was to delete the slide and start from scratch. I did see the practical application for this tool, when you directed us to view the clip on the Great Barrier Reef. Very Cute!
Twitter was fine, but not something I can really see myself doing. Most of my free time is spent doing homework or housework, and I don’t really think anyone wants to hear about that.
The Smart Board presentation was great. I enjoyed seeing a live demonstration and I definitely would explore this on my own. This is an amazing technological device.
Posted in Uncategorized July 21, 2009
I chose to explore Kim Cofino’s website, www.kimandalex.com/kimabout.html. Kim is a graduate of the University of Connecticut, where she received an undergraduate degree in history and political science. She went on to earn a graduate degree in curriculum and instruction from George Mason. Kim’s real passion is travel, which she has embraced by becoming a teacher in interntional schools worldwide. Kim’s current position is as an Elementary School 21st Century Literacy Specialist in an international school in Bangkok, Thailand. Here are examples of some of the things that Kim has done in her own school to bridge the gap between literacy and technology.
Coordinate and facilitate the integration of essential 21st Century Literacy skills across all six elementary grade levels, serving over 700 students and 70 teachers.
Co-plan and co-teach project-based units of inquiry with classroom teachers that embed authentic use of technology in the natural learning environment via the use of laptops.
Merge the technology and library departments into one collaborative team, ISB21, in order to develop vision for 21st Century Learning at ISB, successfully presented to Leadership Team and Board.
Collaborate with the Administrative and Curriculum Office team to develop a vision, infrastructure and plan for successful integration of 21st Century Literacy skills across the curriculum.
Develop curriculum at the team level using the Understanding by Design process, to authentically embed 21st century literacy with the core curriculum, as a model for divisional and school-wide curriculum review processes.
Create and maintain consistent, streamlined communication with both internal and external members of the school community via wikis, blogs, newsletters, magazine articles and e-mail.
Effectively manage the Learning Hub (library), including the supervision of three Instructional Aides, library database, and special events and functions.
Conduct weekly professional development for staff, monthly dialogue sessions for parents, and present at a variety of in-school workshops.
Kim’s website is amazing because she lists all the ways she is integrating technology and literacy in her school. Reading her resume and her posts, one begins to see the changes that the future holds for positions like the school librarian. Kim’s philosophy of education is also a good one to read, because she includes all the language that our courses are trying to get us to feel comfortable using. Below is an excerpt from Kim’s philosophy.My philosophy of education is to provide an inquiry-based, constructivist approach; helping students learn how to learn and instilling processes for lifelong learning through the use of project-based learning experiences developed using the Understanding by Design process. I feel strongly that when students are more active and involved in their education, and when those experiences mirror the real-world through authentic curriculum design, it becomes much more meaningful.
Here are some more examples of what Kim had done in her school:
I developed and implemented the integrated technology program at M’KIS, infusing the curriculum with even more multimedia tools, as well as new web 2.0 tools like blogging, wikis, and podcasts. Over the past two years I have worked with classroom teachers to develop internationally collaborative projects that authentically engage students from all around the world, helping them become effective 21st century learners, collaborators and creators.
Posted in Uncategorized July 20, 2009
In today’s class we had the opportunity to view all of our classmate’s presentations. I was so impressed with what Kristin put together. I liked your idea of compiling a whole social studies unit, using different founding fathers as tour guides. Although my presentation was basic, I now see how photostory could be used as a tool in the classroom. Like I said earlier, I might use it to highlight the sequencing of a story.
Chapter 12 was fairly short. It focused on teachers and the importance of being able to demonstrate a rudimentary understanding of knowledge, skills, and concepts relatd to technology.
Posted in Uncategorized July 17, 2009
I am very pleased with the progress I made in today’s class. Although I found the initial assignment difficult (where we were asked to manipulate photos using the Gimp program), I did enjoy working with Photostory. I was able to piece together a brief story using pictures from my wedding. I was even able to figure out how to add music in the background and a voice narration for the first slide (thanks to Alexis). I think older students would enjoy working on this, and I think that with a little practice everyone could learn how to use digital storytelling. In terms of using this in the classroom, several ideas come to mind. We spend a lot of time in the early elementary grades teaching our students comprehension strategies. One key component of understanding text, is being able to recall the sequential order of important events. I think photostory could be a useful visual aid in helping students to see the order of how something takes place.
The reading in chapter 9 was useful because it had practical applications for the classroom. While I cannot see myself using certain technologies with younger elementary students, I can definitely see the benefit of using DVD’s, streaming videos, live cams, document cameras, and digital cameras. I think that these visual aids can add a whole new dimension to a teacher’s lessons, and of course they benefit those students who are visual learners. Another reason incorporating this type of technology is so important, is to get the students feeling comfortable with it from a young age. Then they won’t be like me and have no idea what they’re doing in graduate school.
Posted in Uncategorized July 17, 2009
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