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.