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.

   

Blog Post #5

I believe that web 2.0 tools will be an important resource for the classroom and I think that tools like open content, cloud computing, and gamification will all be very useful in the classroom and can be used to help advance students quicker and more efficiently. These tools like gamification can allow for students to learn and have fun which in turn makes them want to study more and play more unlike with just regular sites, an example of this would be a math game that only advances you after answering a question, this would allow students to want to play it while maybe a traditional worksheet would not get done, not because they don't know it, but rather because they don't want to do it. I don't think however that certain tools like augmented reality can help much just because it doesn't in my option have the platform to develop into a learning tool. The podcast mentions YouTube for finding videos to help teach and I think this is a great use of this tool because with YouTube's ability to recommend videos based on the content your watching it could provide even more content about the same topic with relative ease.

For a Web 2.0 tool that I would use and recommend in the classroom would be Google Docs. This site is a cloud based multi person version of PowerPoint that allows for students to work on the same documents all at once and can support a ton of people. When I was in high school this site saved my life if I was busy and couldn't meet face to face for a partner or group project and allowed for work to get done miles apart. I really like this site and think it would be great to use and all it requires is a google account so I give this site a 10/10 and the link is www.google.com.

I think that gamification hold the biggest promise for teaching in the future. As it stands right now kids love playing all types of games and if given the right game and the time any child would, in my option, love to play games instead of a worksheet and this could also help catch kids who are behind up and give them something to do at home that they would want to do. This technology is already here and my little brother is using it in his middle school and he loves it and learns a whole lot faster with this tool, however as it stands now we need better games that can draw in more kids and still be cheap enough for even small schools to afford.

Blog Post #4

Twitter has been a pretty fun experience to have and share with my classmates in the class. Unlike all other classes sharing twitter has allowed for the class in my option to communicate unlike any other class and although it may not always be used to pass on info it is helping us share thoughts as they happen. For example when I am wondering if anybody else has done the blog post its helpful to see at least one other person say they hadn't done it either so I know I'm not necessary all that behind. I do realize that sharing memes may not always be productive but it does allow us to interact with our classmates and maybe start a conversation another time. I personally have had a thread going with Dick almost every class and it may not be productive but it is fun and stress relieving. Twitter might be helpful in the future because it may help me communicate with students quicker if I don't have access to email and may also allow me to teach basics of social media and how everything stays on the internet easier and in a more fun way.

 The digital divide effects how students can learn to use technology with the resources provided around them, an example of this would be one students having internet access at home and a new computer and using them for everything, homework, social media, and fun while a second student may have a 3 year old computer and no internet access. Student 1 will be more prepared for high ability computer skills and more prepared for a job rather than student 2 who may not know basic skills. This may be caused by the parents not being able to afford the newest tech or even basic internet, it may also just be caused by a lack of money and the schools inability to teach them inside the school. To overcome the home disadvantage I will try what my 4-5 grade teacher did and try to advocate for laptops for the school and use those 2-3 times a week to overcome the lack of technology at home and also I will try to make sure the schools computer lab or labs are open before and after school so kids can stay late or come early for more help if needed.

 After reading Chapter 8 I think that I will use the Reference software the most because for high school age kids need to learn the skill and these tools with help them even past high school and college. This software will help them research information for papers and presentations, this skill will always be useful and will only need updating as time progresses. The least important piece of software for my classroom would be the Imaging Software because for my history class it wouldn't be used very often. The only real time this would be used is when they would need to make visual presentations.

Blog Post #3

The ELA standards technology standards are important to the growth of students and I personally think that these standards are one of the most important teaching standards they are because they are imperative for the modern student to be functional as person in the age of tech. The standard that I feel most comfortable teaching as of this moment is the RHST.7 "MultiMedia" History/Social Studies standard, because of my background as a history major. I feel the least comfortable teaching the RL.7 "MultiMedia" Literature standard just because I don't feel like I have the background to teach the subject and understand it. I feel like for me to teach RL.7 I would need to first develop my knowledge on the subject to a point were I could not only understand but teach it confidently.

 Teaching kids more in-depth History would require access to many different sources and for these kids I think that the best place for me to use to teach them the most important info and the best place for them to go would be portals. There portals can be operated by the U.S Government and other trusted organizations that would have many different primary source documents that will give students a different look at history that I would not be able to teach. Using this tool I would encourage them to use the opportunity to see how each is bias and how even if the information is reliable why it may be lacking other information and by doing this maybe they could learn to look at all sites the same way and judge which is best for themselves because like the real world these portals have to use ads to bring in money. I would be looking for 14-18 year olds so they would have the ability to find and judge their own portals and their usefulness so portals will be a great tool for learning.

 During the process of creating my newsletter I learned the skill of how to create columns on a page and how to embed hyperlinks in clip-art. I enjoyed making the newsletter because it gave me the opportunity to show off my creativity and that made it more fun however I would have liked it if during this process we had learned how to center pictures on each other because it did bother me when I couldn't get clip-art to be symmetrical with each other. I can improve next time by maybe making more use of the grouping tool to move stuff together and this will help me in the future because now I can embed hyperlinks I can make my documents more organized without needed to separate the link and the pictures.

Blog Post #2

As a student Microsoft Office but especially Word has been an important tool in my life and has made writing and learning easier. This tool as a student has allowed for me to write papers with broken fingers and has allowed me to share my thoughts with partners if there is a group project requiring Word and we may not be able to meet to share the ideas in person. Word has also allowed for me to make mistakes and correct them easily without having to rewrite the entire paper like I would have had to without Word at my disposal. Teachers that I have had have also used Word to best benefit students with most of them using it to post assignments on their blackboards for all the students to find that way if you may not have understood it in class this may explain the point more clearly. Teachers have also use Word to make test and study guides but usually you can tell the more experienced teachers because of all my past teachers and professors the more experienced ones tended to use this tool more creatively and makes games and puzzles rather than just standard Word documents.

As a student in the 21st century copyright and fair use have always been a hot topic in all my righting and history classes, this is due to the nature of the world we live in and the relative ease it would be to copy and paste from a random website to make papers and research easier. From my experience I have never had a problem once it was explained why copyright is a big issue but in Elementary and Middle School when it was less clear it was easy for me to copy and paste because I didn't understand the belief that it was stealing even if it was on a public website. As a teacher I think I would explain the concept a little differently than my teachers explained it to me. My teachers tried to explain this issue as solely an online copyright issue how ever I think I would explain it using books rather with the internet, I think I would ask how they would feel if they wrote a book, got it published but it was never popular then another person came along and copied their book, even if they changed a few words, and published it and then that book was widely acclaimed and then ask how different this would be to pulling ideas straight out of a source and trying to pass it off as their own ideas. As a student I have witnessed issues with copyright from classmates being caught copyrighting to first being told to always put sources for pictures to now being told this falls under fair use educational purposes and these issues have also put some of my teachers in tight spots especially when it comes to knowing if to cite pictures or not in the classroom.

Some issues that come up are almost impossible to avoid in a world of technology but most of these issues can be solved with education of the issue and monitoring activity. One issue that comes up is copyright, I would attempt to deal with this issue by educating the kids on why this is important and how if caught using somebodies copyrighted works without citing the source it can ruin your education in higher schooling. Another issue would be Cyber-bullying, this a relatively new issue but a vital one to educate on and for this one I could give some real life examples of the consequences of Cyber-bullying and how those convinced of this crime were punished in real life to try and make the students understand that although it is online the consequences of this can be very real. Finally another issue that you might run into when trying to integrate technology into classrooms could be the Hacking and Malware that has always been an issue on the internet, with these issues rising however I would most likely spend a decent amount of time talking about this issue because not knowing how hacking and malware occur and can impact your life can leave you vulnerable to these people to pray on ignorance. Also because this can lead to identity theft and ruin your life I would spend time explaining how to spot malware bugs and how to put yourself in the best situation to avoid sites that are likely to give you malware to give them the best chance to avoid it.

Blog Post #1

Teachers and students are both influenced to use technology in the classroom on  a daily basis but for both their influences come from different places. For example a teacher is influenced by the new standards set by states and county schools and how the students they teach should be technologically literate by the 8th grade. These standards influences teachers to learn the technology themselves so they can better teach their students and prep them for their lives outside of school and in the real world. Teachers are also influenced to use technology because usually the technology makes their jobs easier and more efficient, for example when a teacher needs to make a lesson plan or take attendance a computer will be able to help the teacher do this quicker and more efficiently and this gives them more time to spend with students helping them with anything they may need or even giving them a little more to themselves.

Students influences for using technology are based on the influences of the teachers, for example while a teacher may need to have a student learn the basics of PowerPoint the students just knows that he needs to use a visual aid for his presentation so this may influence him to use PowerPoint and learn the basics of it without the teacher setting him down and forcing him to use it. Another influence of students may be other students, while teachers have a large influence on students other students have just as big of a role. This may appear in group projects or competitions, when paired up with one another students can show each other their tricks for technology and teach each other what they may not have known apart, this alone can influence students to get better antiquated with the technology they are using.

The ISTE standards are in my option pretty well written and go pretty far in preparing students for the real world and help make sure they understand how technology can help you be a more productive member of the world but also how it can hurt you if not properly understood. Of all the standards the one that stuck out to me and made me happy to see was standard 2a of the student standards about learning how permanent the internet because as of now I don't believe that many people realize this and this could impact their future when searching for a job or applying for college. The standard that I don't think I personally currently meet is the student standard 5a, I can't really use algorithms with information as I lack the skill to make algorithms.

I do agree with the term digital native for today's youths, I think this term and the people it describes fit together very well because when people say digital native its not an insult its just an easy term to describe those who grew up with computers and learned how to use them from a very young age like a second language. I have seen differences between myself and those who are considered digital immigrants, when I see older people get new technology many of them can't just learn out of them box, many of them must be shown how to work it and all the features unlike with me and other people my age and younger, many of us can pull things right out of the box and have it figured out within minutes and learn as we go without much help from the instructions or others. I do think this lack of self learning when it comes to digital immigrants has impacted me and the way I learn with technology, sometimes when my teachers couldn't figure out new tech without help it would delay our classes because they would be to scared to try and figure it out on their own. I do see some differences between myself and future generations of students, I see future generations programming their own computers and integrating even more with technology and less separation between life on and offline when learning and I also see online classes becoming more popular with homeschooling and college students which I can't speak to as a good or bad thing.

Blog Post #0

My prior experiences with technology have been pretty extensive. I first really started using technology in 4th grade because of my teacher and his view that technology was the way of the future and that we should learn it early so we didn't fall behind in life. This continued throughout middle and high school and was very lucky to go to schools with access to good computers and help learning the systems so early on I felt as though I had a good grasp on these systems. I have had a couple computer classes in high school but have not had any in a couple years.

I hope to learn in this class more modern techniques for using technology and how to do this well enough to be confident in everyday life. I also hope to learn how to use Excel properly and how to use this system to organize data in case I need to use it later in life.

I learned from the questionnaire that I tend to learn by doing rather than by hearing and that I would prefer to do it rather than have it shown to me. I also learned that larger concepts for me come first then the smaller things fall into place later in the class once I understand the overall concept.