ILP "Design"

For my second ILP I decided to do the design choice and for that I would like to talk about my Pearl Harbor Prezi that I made to teach kids about the attack, why it happened, and the consequences of it afterwards. I wanted to do Prezi because PowerPoint is a really one dimensional tool that can only go one way while Prezi has the ability to zoom in and do much more and be more creative with how you can teach the information. I decided to keep zooming in on my Prezi because what I did was go more into the event and zooming in just kinda felt right for the fact that I just kept going more and more into the topic. If you want to look at my Prezi here is the link it is open to the public, so please leave a comment on what you thought of my first attempt at a Prezi.
http://prezi.com/6stnnh1xfhpe/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Blog Post #10

    If I were to become a history teacher data collection and surveying tools would be an important aspect to my teaching and how I would prepare. First of all I would use data collection to keep track of grades, this way the grading will take less time and be more accurate. I would use the surveying tools to create daily questions that could be used to judge how the kids learned and I could also use the tools to ask students what they feel needs to be reviewed before test out of certain units or if they feel like they need to review from the day before. This would be helpful for high school because at that age they would have easy access to internet and computers and so the ease of doing this would make it more effective, if necessary I could make it worth homework but that wouldn't be necessary.

    While reviewing my classmates blogs the topics I found the most interesting were the ones that included the personal life touch because in these posts and options always differed from mine. These included the flipped classroom discussion. I bring this up because I am personally a fan of this method because my school used it and I liked it a lot but then reading through Bella's blog and her option of it not being a good idea because of her experience of kids not doing their homework did help me see the other side to this argument. I also liked the discussion we all had after out trip to the sand box and how different the experience was depending on what you did while there and how everybody seemed to like another piece of tech I didn't see.

    For my next tech skill I would like to learn more about Excel actually. Right now I don't like the program because I don't know all of it's secrets and tricks which would make it more user friendly and Chip friendly. So I think if I learned more about it I would actually like to use Excel and use it more often.

Blog Post #9

    The flipped classroom concept is one that attempts to switch the usual roles of teacher and students inside and outside the classroom. With this concept the teacher will not lecture inside of class but instead pre-records lectures and assigns them for homework. This way once the students come into class they already know the material and they can practice with different problems inside the class instead of for homework. This type of classroom model has been gaining traction inside the K-12 schooling world after it was developed by two Woodland High School teacher and is becoming huge around the country with many of my younger brothers classes doing this now in Middle School. A good example of this type of learning would be the crash course series put together by John and Hank Green with my teachers actually showing us these videos and assigning homework with them included.
https://www.youtube.com/user/crashcourse
 
    The term open is in itself very open and broad so when I searched the term open I got a lot of results but eventually I narrowed that down to open software and Open-office. Open-office is a free, Microsoft office compatible tool that, like all other open content has its code open for change by the person using it. This means that for the more tech savoy they can change that they can change things in the code they may not like or even fix bugs that developers may not have caught. This not only breeds competition between the different software to see who truly has the best one but between the people to see who can create the best individual software.
https://www.openoffice.org/

    The two PowerPoint assignment were actually pretty fun for me to create. I had a blast because I already knew how to use the software and the material so I just had to put it together to make something awesome. In the end I actually did have to learn how to lay out a Jeopardy game and how to turn shapes into buttons that all lead someplace else. I do think I can improve my Jeopardy game next time, I think next time I'll add a wrong answer slide for every wrong answer so that every hyperlink doesn't go bad after one wrong answer but that would also just keep adding slides I really don't want to put into my already huge PowerPoint.

Blog Post #8

   When we toured the lab two weeks ago I was very impressed with the technology that was present and thought it was very cool. However, while I was in school none of that technology could have really helped me. Although the technology was pretty diverse I don't think I would have needed it in school and think I did well with just basic technology.

   Using PowerPoint it would interesting to try to help students at each level of  Bloom’s Taxonomy but it would also be possible. For the first level of Remember I think that I would use PowerPoint to create vocab lists with definitions hyperlinked on a different slide so the kids could practice. For Understand I would create a visual piece to go along with a lecture to make it easier to understand for the students. For Apply I would make PowerPoint a tool for them to use for a project so they can show me not only they know the info but know the basics of PowerPoint. For Analyze I could make a make shift test with hyperlinks either to a slide with the next question or to a slide with incorrect on it so they could practice and test their knowledge. For Evaluate I could have them use PowerPoint to try and defend an option that I would assign them so they could debate it with another group. Finally, for Create I would assign a group of 4-5 kids together and assign them an event and have them use PowerPoint to present their event with all the information they can collect about it in the PowerPoint and that way they can prove that they learned the information about the event. The project will also include formulating ideas about the event and investigating lesser known facts about the event.

    When I think of keeping myself up to date with new ideas and technologies I think of going into new sites and reading articles so for my choice I picked the New York Times. I could have also picked CNN, Fox, BBC, Etc... Any new site really. https://www.nytimes.com/

Blog Post #7

    During the course of this semester I have had the opportunity to play around with different technologies and adaptive tech is no different. This technology allow for people with disabilities to use tech normally like anybody else and I find this very cool because although I personally know anybody with a disability I believe that everybody should have the opportunity to learn to use tech. An example of this tech would be a screen reader, this allows the computer to read what is on the screen. This technology is cool because with it blind individuals are able to use computers normally without much problem. I do however see a problem with this because as it stands now this tech can be expensive and requires a computer so lower class schools and kids may not be able to afford this even at a lower cost than 20 years ago.

    From working with my website designer I learned a few tricks that I though were pretty cool. I really liked learning how to design a website first and foremost because in my option its a skill everybody should have with how technologically advanced the world has become. I also liked creating a website for a museum because that is what I hope my future job is and it allowed me to put my interest on one website. I however didn't like all the tools that cost money and I understand that you have to make money but some basic features like HD Video were not available. From this I learned how to in-bed YouTube videos which was pretty cool. Next time I hope I can make it  little longer and I also hope that in the future I can learn how to put word and PDFs in the webpage. http://chipnettina.weebly.com/

    From using Diigo I learned a few different things. First, I did not know that you could have a cloud sharing bookmarking tool that could allow you to share your bookmarks and notes with others in your group. I was also not aware that you could use the tool to highlight right on a webpage and then save those notes for your group which is very cool. Finally I had no idea that Diiigo was an app on the google app store and that it was free. I expect pretty much all cool tech to cost money and this was no exception however they surprised me and this tool is a great one and its free. This tool could allow me to share websites and news with friends or if I do work in a museum or even in a classroom it would allow me to share my sites with co-workers so they could also use it.

Blog Post #6

    To find a school website and look at their class pages I just went back to my old high school's page and then explored some old teacher's pages because I knew that those pages were not locked and open to see. I first looked at the home page of the website and how it had been changed to be easier to navigate for the students and parents, this also allows doe better organization of material. I then went to a history teachers page because this is also the subject I would want to teach and he also coaches soccer so he has a tab for that off to the side. Not only does he have soccer separated he has his different classes separated so that its easier for each class to find the correct material and not go to the wrong page. In my option this website is laid out pretty well, however the design is a little boring but that doesn't really matter in my option because they are older kids they really shouldn't need a fancy website for learning.

    I envision myself using these tools to accomplish my job easier and more efficiently, of these tools I think that I would use the Microsoft Office suit the most often. This is because of the ability to edit and re-use these tools over and over again that way there is less time spent on making the same plan over and over again. I will also use this the most often because I can share with other teachers and that way I can trade and give out lesson plans and worksheets so I can get fresh worksheets for the students that are different from the ones I create. I also think I would use a spreadsheet to keep track of important info like grades, that way if I were to lose something or if there was a mistake in the grade-book I could use my personal spreadsheet to correct the error.

    One of the pieces of technology that I think would be very useful in the classroom would be the Smart Board that I got to play around with in the Sandbox. This board allowed for the direct interaction with the material on the board and unlike a projector can be touched and written on without worry. I could use this to play study games and teach different information with because I know from my experience if I got involved I learned more effectively and quicker. I also think that because of the ability to pull game templates off their website I could find games that would be fun that I never would have thought about before.

Independent Learning #1

    For the first of the independent learning assignments I will be looking at the experience I had on the class trip up to the sandbox room. First, the basic overview of the experience. The experience was a pretty good one and it was fun to learn about all the new technology and even get to try some of the technology. I had the opportunity to see first hand how virtual reality has progressed and how immersive it truly is. It was also really cool to see the updated Smart and Promethean boards and how they can be used to educate children in the future. I was able to learn new skills that can be useful in the future that way I already know how to use this technology just in case its installed in the classroom.

    The activities that I participated in during the trip to the sandbox was, first, I had used the Oculus Rift and experienced virtual reality for the first time. I also got the chance to try out Google Glass and although I was not particularly impressed it was a cool concept that with the right development could have a lot of potential for the future. Finally, I also had the chance to use the new Smart Board and although I used these boards in school the new boards are very different and very cool because of all the updates that the company has made.