Final Reflection

I cannot believe the Fall semester is over and we are now approaching the Spring. I have learned a lot in this class in terms of new and exciting technological tools to use in my future classroom. It has definitely been challenging at times because I have come to realize I am not as familiar with all the tools available in the classroom but I have enjoyed learning more about them. Going into this class I thought I would know a lot about the specific software and tools used within the classroom because I have grown up using the computer all my life. The MS Office screencast assignment was not too difficult but as the semester proceeded I began to feel like I was in over my head. I never realized all of the new technologies used within the classroom today and that we would be immersed in such a vast array of them. The Information Literacy Workshop was the most challenging for me because it required a lot of time and research on specific websites and evaluating their content. This waS also the first time I've created a rubric and lesson plan and it seemed a lot more complicated than I originally thought. The concept map was an interesting way to display information and the program was simple and easy to use. I thoroughly enjoyed the concept of the digital story because it was a way to express your feelings through animation, video and song.
Overall I am glad that I took this course because my main objective was to learn more about the tools and products on the computer that can be used to teach children in the classroom. I definitely think I have a better understanding of these tools and what kinds of assignments I can use them for in the classroom. It was difficult and frustrating at times but I learned more than ever that it is okay to ask for help. These tools will help me in my future field of education because I can use them to teach in a more exciting and engaging way. Students can make screencast to teach others an important skill or I can use digital storytelling to introduce a new topic to the class. Education should be about learning but I want my students to also have fun while they are doing it. So these tools will help make the students enjoy learning and be eager to come to class everyday.

Personal Goals: Twitter, Quizstar, VoiceThread

1.My Twitter account is under https://twitter.com/#!/jschwartz35

I have learned a lot from this tool in terms of how it can be incorporated into the classroom. When I initially thought of twitter I assumed it was only used to put silly statuses and follow celebrities but when I started using it I began to see its potential. In my Politics class my teacher talked about twitter and its effective use at campaigning for NASA. So twitter can be used to communicate within students and teachers but also to provide information about important topics. It is a great way to get people involved in charities and to promote businesses. Teachers can use twitter to put assignments, post links for students to browse and even pose questions to answer directly on their twitter. I started following important newspapers and media figures who interest me so I can get a little bit more insight into their world.

Twitter was pretty easy to use but I think it would of been easier if I was a teacher and had topics to discuss and share with others. This would be a great tool to use within the classroom because it is incorporating social networks which are popular among youth and getting them engaged in learning with them. I am not sure I would use this in my classroom because I will be teaching young children but I can show them how to use it and its importance in the classroom.
The most difficult part about this assignment was that I was not sure how to display my knowledge of twitter because it is about putting statuses as a way to share information but I was not sure what kind of information I was supposed to display. I overcame this by posting some statuses, following people I think are important and gaining an understanding of the true meaning of Twitter.

The use of this technology has really helped my understand the many tools that can be used to integrate technology and education. Teachers as well as students can communicate with each other on Twitter as well as with many important and influential figures. There are endless possibilities on this social networking site because there is so much information to choose from.

2.The Quizstar account I created is: jackie35 password: ct243
Class:Adolescent Psychology Quiz: Adolescent Diversity: Socioeconomic Status and Ethnicity

I really enjoyed this program a lot and I think it will be a great one to incorporate into my classroom. This program is used to create quizzes that students using an account and password can complete online. This is a great way to incorporate internet skills with that of taking a quiz. I could use this program to complete quizzes for the students on different topics we've discussed in class.
This tool was fairly easy to use and it was fun to create questions for an imaginary quiz. They could be multiple choice, T or F and even short answer. I tried to mix up the types of questions so I could show a range of my skills of the program. There were many other features such as setting a timer, number of attempts, creating feedback and directions. I think the most difficult part for me was setting up the students account and making sure the students was signed up for the class. I had to go back and forth between the teacher and student account many times before I mastered that skill. In the end I think it came out great and I am proud of myself that I figured it out. This is a amazing program for teachers to incorporate skills they have learned in the classroom with skills of taking a quiz online. This is an important skill in the day and age because many teachers will use this concept within the course of a students educational career.

3.I believe I have shared with you my VoiceThread through your e-mail but if not this is my account jschwartz176@gmail.com password: jact243
This was a very interesting tool because I was confused at first as to what its purpose was but as I started to play around with the different setting and watched the tutorial on the many effects it has on education. This tool can be used to make videos, picture, text and animation for students and teachers. For students it can be used as a portfolio to display their work, share with others and receive feedback from other students and teachers. This program has a great privacy setting so that only people from the educational field can comment and create voicethreads. Teachers can use this to create videos for students like a digital story or give students projects for them to create. This tool is vast in information and you can use pictures, video, media from many different databases. I would use this tool in my classroom but I think I need to learn more about how to create voice over and what it means for students vs teachers.

I enjoyed using this tool to make a video and I finally figured out how to incorporate my voice which is something I wanted to do in my digital storytelling project. The hardest part for me was making the voice over because I didn't like how my voice sounded but I completed it and I was happy with the outcome.I think this tool was probably the most difficult for me to understand because the only thing I could do was look at videos and make one myself. I saw nothing about creating other types of projects like the tutorial discusses. I really liked how there were many resources on the Internet to choose from and that all my pictures I used loaded onto my VoiceThread without any difficulties.

This tool was a great use of integrating technology and education into the classroom because you can display projects and assignments right on the page and it is safe and effective for teachers and students. It is a great way for students to understand different educational technologies that can improve their skills in computers while learning about a new subject.

Digital Storytelling

If I could do this project over I would definitely spend more time developing my skills in the iMovie program. I was very frustrated with this project because I did not fully understand the program and all of the different. I think that the outcome of my overal digital story was positive. I got a lot of great feedback about the nature of my pictures and the emotion that the song conveyed towards my story. If I could do this project over I would try and find more pictures of my family and add some extra reasons why I believe my grandparents are my heroes.

I would incorporate digital storytelling in my classroom by using it to introduce a topic. So in the case of My Heroes I would talk about doing a project about the people who have made an impact in your life and start by showing this video as an example. The students can get ideas from me and start to brainstorm on who is important in their life. I can also use digital storytelling to give information to students in a fun and exciting way. This tool can be used for any topic and by adding fun pictures and music it can really have an impact on the students understanding of a topic. I believe that I will have the resources,time and I will brush up on my skills when I become a teacher. There is always new technology coming around so I will have to stay on top of all the new ways to reach to students in this age of technology. I think this program is a great way to share stories and learn about new and exciting topics in and outside the classroom.

I learned that it takes a lot of patience to make a movie and to develop all of the appropriate pictures, audio and text to convey a particular message. I had a lot of trouble with the concept of timing the pictures and putting them in the appropriate order. My strengths were definitely that I had a lot of music to choose from and I knew exactly what kind of song I wanted to use for my digital story. I think the biggest weakness for me is that I was not familiar with the program and it was very difficult for me to comprehend it. I liked the overall concept of this project but implementing it was a lot harder than I expected. I did not enjoy using this program because it took me a while to grasp the concept but if I gave myself more time I would of used it to its full potential. The outcome overall was positive and I am glad that all my hard work payed off!

Cyberbullying

I really enjoyed all of the videos we had to watch this week on cyberbullying because they were creative and interesting. They showed real life people talking about their troubles with either victimizing others through the Internet or being bullied themselves. The first video was very insightful because it is true that gossip is just like the feathers in the folktale,"once tossed out into the road the wind would spread them wide and far."(NetSmartz Workshop, 2010) It would be too difficult to catch all the rumors going around so it is important not to spread lies in the first place. The next video is important because it talks about a website that was designed to rate girls based on their attractiveness. The boy in the video did not realize that the information you provide on the Internet can be used in all different ways. One must be careful not to provide information that can be harmful to yourself or others. He realized a little too late that he was bullying these girls by rating them on the Internet. In the next video about giving your password to someone, it goes to show how information on the Internet can fall into the wrong hands. It is important for teachers to share this knowledge with their students and give them a list of things that are safe and unsafe for the Internet. Harassing someone in any way is harmful and unacceptable but on the Internet it can seem more powerful and discreet because you think your words and actions are anonymous. But it is key to know that anything you do on the Internet can be accessed by everyone, traced back to you and can be used to harm yourself or others. When I watched Julie's Journey I was surprised to see that no one was monitoring her computer or that she would agree to meet with "Tom the 56-year-old."(NetSmartz Workshop, 2010). Teachers need to enforce the netiquette of the Internet and show students scenarios that are safe and unsafe. I really believe that if teachers show these videos to students they will grasp the concept of safety on the Internet and that cyberbullying is wrong.

Netsmartz Workshop.(2001-2010)Real life stories Retrieved from http://www.netsmartz.org/resources/reallife.htm

Creating a Classroom that Advocates Safe Use of Technology

It is important to create a learning environment that is safe and effective for students to understand and develop different skills. Teachers are there to promote safety in all that they do and that includes teaching safety on the Internet. It can be difficult to know what kind of information must be copyrighted and what does not need it. So teachers must familiarize themselves with the copyright laws and inform students of these rules. To promote the safe use of technology and the information found teachers can give a lesson to students about the rules and regulations of copyright laws. They can provide different websites and make the students define if the information in a particular website is copyrighted or not. Teachers can also display in the classroom the specific copy rights and wrongs given on the Copyright and Fair Use website. (Starr,2010) If the rules and regulations are clearly provided for students there is no reason for copyright laws to be broken and students can practice safe and legal use of information they find on the World Wide Web.

Teachers can create a positive example for students by following the copyright and fair use laws provided by Educational World website. There are specific guidelines that teachers must use such as only using " a single chapter from a book, poem of 250 words or less, an article of 2500 words or less, a single chart, graph diagram from a newspaper, periodical or magazine." (Starr, 2010) These rules are needed to create order and safety in the classroom. Teachers can give examples of fair use during specific lessons to show the students what fair use means and how it applies to the classroom. So when a teacher is discussing a poem to the students she can describe that it is okay to copy this material because it is under the fair use rules and regulations. Not only can teachers show positive use of technology by following copyright and fair use laws but they can teach students about plagiarism and its effect on the students educational skills. Teachers must "address the larger issue of how students can learn to share their ideas with pride and confidence and with the understanding that mutual knowledge construction is a good thing."(The 2learn.ca Education Society, 1997-2010) Teachers need to address the fact that plagiarism is wrong because it is cheating but also that it is lazy and teachers want to hear students opinions because there voices are important. By teaching students the laws and consequences of plagiarism through a fun and entertaining activity students will learn the rules and dangers of this topic. This can be done by "providing them with pre-culled resource that support their exploration of a topic," as well as "providing students with resources that are ethnically sound such as local newspapers, that are deemed appropriate by our local community."(The 2learn.ca Education Society, 1997-2010)

Starr,Linda. (2010, May 25). Copyrights and copying wrongs. retrieved from http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr280a.shtml

Starr, Linda. (2010, May 25). Is fair use a license to steal?. retreived from http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr280b.shtml

2Learn.ca Education Society.The plagiarism landscape (1997-2010). retrieved from http://www.netknowhow.ca/NKHPLlandscape.html

Concept Map Reflection

I used the Bubble.us software to complete my concept map project and I really enjoyed using it because it was so easy and organized. I typed the url right in and started mapping out my concept, which was great for me because I am not so computer savvy. I liked how the bubbles were big and colorful so for anyone who was viewing my concept map would be engaged and interested. It was very easy to create new bubbles and delete them as well if I made a mistake.I liked how you were able to move the bubbles around if they were overlapping or position them in a certain way. I think one of the biggest selling points for me is that it is the only program you did not have to pay for. The program does not ask for any invasive information, just your username and email address. I really liked this program and I would definitely use it again in my future classroom.

I think the most difficult part of this project was developing my concept and what I wanted to write to convey the message across. It was difficult thinking of the proper sequence and type of wording I wanted to use to teach a child how to tell time. I know it is a process that is simple to explain to someone orally but it is a whole different thing to write it out in a concept map and try using simple language. I didn't know if I should put phrases or just words in the bubbles but I think I explained the concept well in my previous blog. I never realized how difficult it is to explain to someone how to tell time without showing them a clock. I tried to think of it in the most simple terms and tried to explain the concept to the best of my ability. This kind of topic would of been much easier to explain visually but I think this is a great tool to use to introduce the subject and then to show it visually.

I can use this tool of concept mapping to introduce a topic to my students and ask them to give me certain words they think of when I say the word time. They can create a concept map or we can as a class to go through all of the important terms and concepts that are essential in a certain subject. I could use this tool on almost any subject because it is creative and visually stimulating which is key in teaching young children. This kind of tool can be used to display cause and effect as well as the process of the scientific method. It is a very diverse tool to be used in any school setting and grade.
bubbl.us

Concept Map Project: Teaching Elementary School Level Children How to Tell Time

This concept map shows how to teach telling time to young children. This is something that I am familiar with because it is a concept that is essential for elementary level students to grasp. I want to become an elementary school teacher so this topic is something that I will be teaching in the near future. It is important to go about this subject in a fun and creative way so the students will be engaged while still learning the basic concepts of telling time.

Before the students can learn how to tell time they need to learn the terminology connected to time and a clock. The face of the clock is where the number are present and it is usually in a circular shape. The numbers on the clock are important because they represent the hours as well as the minutes so it is important for children to understand that concept. The number 12 on the clock is at the top and to the right is 1,2,3,4 all in a circular motion around the outermost part of the clock. The numbers 12 and 6 are seen as bases because they are across from each other. The number 6 represents half past while the numbers 3, 6 and 9 are quarters.

The big players in telling time are the minute hand and the hour hand. It is important to spend thorough time on the concept of what each means and the difference in length of each. The hour hand is smaller than the minute hand. When the hour hand is on the 7 and the minute hand is on the 12 it is 7 o'clock. So the number 12 is very important when the minute hand is on it but it can be confusing describing the differences between which number the minute hand and hour hand should be on. When the minute hand is on the 1 it represent 5 and 2 is 10 and so on until you reach the 12. It is also important to go through the concept of seconds, minutes and hours. That there are 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour and 24 hours in a day. The concept of am and pm is important as well, that am represents the morning

The concept of telling time is a very complex and needs to be explained in simple terms that young children can understand. This will take a while to grasp but this chart is just a starting point for the concepts that are essential in teaching this subject.Being able to tell time is a part of our everyday lives it helps us get to places on time, gives us a sense of the future as well as the past. This topic to me is very important for children to understand at an early stage in their educational career.

Information Literacy Workshop

I think the most difficult part of this project for me was finding the right website to evaluate. I was originally confused as to what kind of website we could use, so I picked something that was in range of my major. I thought we could choose a website that students could evaluate in their own way so I used a interactive website that had games reinforcing education in math and reading. This clearly was not the correct way to go about this project and I see it now. When I looked at the example rubric it confused me because it had the same type of format, a website that reinforces learning how to spell for young children. I tried to follow that same type of format and it confused me even more on the main topic of this assignment. Once I looked back at the objectives and reevaluated my previous work I realized that I was going about this project all wrong. I needed to find a website that students could evaluate and retain information that will help them further understand how the Internet works. I chose Internet Safety as my topic because I think it is very important before any student uses the Internet that they should learn the rules and regulations first. Once I found a topic that I could get abundant and important information on I knew that I could conquer the rest of the project.

I can apply the knowledge I learned in this assignment to my future profession because as a teacher I will want to use the Internet as a learning tool for my students. So if they learn the basics of Internet safety then they will be better prepared for the dangers of the web. They will know what kind of information is inappropriate and what to do if they find this kind of information. They will learn to be safe and that some people will use their personal information in a harmful way so to be careful of that. I will also use my skills of making rubrics in my classroom because I will now have experience in what I will want to accomplish in my lessons and what criteria is acceptable and what is not. The lesson plan templates were very helpful during this exercise because it enable me to stay organized and focused on what the essential goal of the lesson was. All of these skills will be useful when I become a teacher because I will know how to evaluate my students and what key goals I will want the children to learn as a result of my lesson.
It is very important to teach children at a early age the dangers of the Internet because so much of our academic career and beyond is reliant on the World Wide Web. Teaching the basics now will help them in the future to decipher important information. The web is so vast that it is hard sometimes to know what is real or not. It is important for teachers to guide children on the web because many sites can have false information or can be from people who know nothing about the particular topic. Students need to learn also that not all people on the web are who they say they are and to be careful about giving away too much personal information. It is important to "make meaning out of the overwhelming and potentially manipulative amount of information that now is available and growing everyday."(November, 2010,p.27) The Internet is a big scary place full of a great number of opinions and facts and it is up to the teachers to show children the difference between the two.

Information Literacy Workshop

I found finding the proper website the most difficult for this project because I wanted to use something that was relevant to my field of study, elementary education. It took me a while to find the right website but I search educational websites and looked at the authors credentials. I really liked the type of games they provided and it reminded me of things that an elementary school would use to teach math and reading. I am working in the Hartford Magnet School and I know first hand that these games would be great for the students I am working with. It was also a challenge to create the lesson plan because it had to be so thorough and clear. I used the examples and tried to match the kind of responses that were given. I think this assignment was very difficult for me because there was no specific topic and there are so many websites, rubrics and thing to choose from.

I can use the knowledge that I have learned in this project in my future profession because now I have a great website resource to use when I am teaching and I have learned many new skills. There are so many sites on how to complete a rubric and tools to help teachers it is amazing. Technological advances in education are really important not only for students but for teachers as well. I am grateful for this assignment because it has helped me become more confident in my computer and educational skills. The Internet is a great tool to use in the classroom but it is important to teach students how to use it properly. I will definitely use these skills I have learned in my future classroom, maybe even this website because it is creative and fun for elementary level students.

It is true that the Internet is a great place to get and share information but it can be dangerous if children are not taught the proper way to navigate the web. If students don't learn the etiquette of the Internet than they will fall prey to pedophiles, pornography and other unsightly things that we do not want to expose them to. The Internet is a great tool to use in and out of the classroom but it is important to thoroughly school children in the dangerous of the web. They need to learn how to be safe and then the experience will be a joyful one.

Jo Cool/Jo Fool Website for students and teachers

I thought the Jo Cool/Jo Fool Website was very effective in sharing the do's and don'ts of the internet. It is important for students to know what the purpose of the website is and what kind of website. Giving out personal information is definitely something you should refrain from doing because websites can end up using it for other purposes without your knowledge. I took the cybertour and it really helped me decide what the acceptable thing to do on the internet. It is very important to read the fine print of any privacy policy and as Jo Cool/Jo Fool cybertour says "don't be a fool, read it or weep!"During the cybertour one of the examples was signing up for a website that makes CDs and it was cool because the company offers "copyright music" and "the store protects your financial info by using solid encryption, certified by an independent party you can trust."(Jo Cool/Jo Fool cybertour) I think another important thing for students to know about the internet is that everything you say and do on the internet can be traced back to you.

I took the cyberquiz and got a 15/20 because I did not know some of the statistics of Canadian teenagers. I was surprised at my score because I thought I knew more about the internet but I really learned a lot of things I did not know. I was shocked at the percentage of teenager who have met someone online in reality. Many of the questions were easy to answer but overall I think it is an important quiz for children ages 8-14 should take.

The Jo Cool/Jo Fool for teachers website is a fun and creative way for teachers to advise students in the proper way to use the internet. There are fun games such as "The Second Adventures of the Three CyberPigs."(Media Awareness, 2006) This game for children 9-12 years of age helps them "learn some important lessons about authenticating online information and observing online netiquette."(Media Awareness, 2006) This is a way for students to become familiar with the internet as well as deciphering what is fact and what is opinion. There is also a teachers guide that provides handouts and activities for the classroom. So not only is this a great way for students to navigate the web but it can be incorporated into the classroom as well as at home.

Jo fool or jo cool. (2006,April) Retrieved from http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/games/jocool_jofool/kids.cfm

Tools that would have a positive impact on student learning

I totally forgot to post on my blog this week because I was busy working on the Information Literacy Workshop Project. But I did get a chance to look over the different sites and I found that ReadWriteThink was one that stood out to me the most.I thought the link about after school programs was helpful because it is important for students to have that outside support of parents and teachers. Show in this link http://www.readwritethink.org/parent-afterschool-resources/grade/1-2/, parents and teachers are given ways to learn about reading, writing and creativity. One particular part of this after school resources was a fun handout on bingo which will help "child with cite words and help improve his or her vocabulary and reading."(ReadWriteThink,2010) This website has many important tools for classrooms as well as outside the classroom. It is a great way for parents to get involved in their child's education by getting "tips on how to help a child choose a book," which is part of the after school resources. Teachers can also print out hand-outs, make comic strips, word searches and a lot more. I would definitely integrate this website in my lessons because it is creative, fun and a great way to get parents as well as students interested in learning.
ReadWriteThink- http://www.readwritethink.org/ There are many authors to this link so I am not sure how to cite it. I'm sorry again for not posting sooner.

Reflection on MS Office Screencasts

Positive and negative reactions to the creation of your groups' instructional screencast materials.
I thought that the process of creating the screencasts was fairly easy. We all pretty much knew what we wanted to do and how we were going to go about doing it. One negative reaction I could think of is that there were too many people in the group and not enough tasks for everyone to perform.

Provide a brief summary of the feedback that you received on the Google Form. Was this feedback helpful? Why/Why not? Please explain.

The feedback that my group received was very positive. People did not know how to use track changes so they thought this was a helpful tool to learn and use in the classroom. Many people said that the screencast was thorough and detailed which is important when you are giving someone specific step by step instructions.People also stated that they will use track changes in their future classroom to show students how to correct their papers.

Provide a brief summary on the process of creating the challenge artifacts. Was this process difficult/easy? Please explain.

The process of creating the challenge artifact was not difficult at all because we decided beforehand what we wanted to do. Using track changes on a microsoft word document. We picked a document and highlighted the parts of the document that were incorrect using track changes. Then we created the google form which was not a hard process as well.

Were the screencasts that were created by the other groups' useful/helpful for your teaching/learning? Would you use them in your future classroom? Why/Why not?

The screencasts that were created by the other groups were very detailed and thorough and I think it is a great way to teach someone how to do something online. I would definitely use powerpoint in my future classroom because I am very familiar with it and it is an easy way to share information with my students. Making a grade book in excel was difficult for me because my home computer is an older version than the one the group used. This was a problem for me on both of the screencasts but I managed to find a way around it. I am not familiar with Microsoft Excel so that was difficult for me, on top of the fact that I did not have the same version.

What students might benefit from the use of screencasts? Please explain.
Students that would benefit from screencasts are those that can only learn in a visual and hands on matter. They will benefit from this kind of learning process because they can see exactly what they need to do and follow each step exactly. This is a helpful way for me to learn because I need to see things visually to comprehend a topic.

Would you consider using screencasts in your future classroom? Why/Why not? Please explain.
I would consider using screencasts in my future classroom because especially with younger students it is important to keep them stimulated visually. This would be a fun and easy way to get students involved in the learning process and a new way to display information to the students.

Similarities and Difference between Internet Project, Internet Workshop, Internet Inquiry and Webquests?

Internet Projects are a great way for teachers to start the process of teaching students how to use the Internet. An individual or group creates a project on a website for anyone around the world to cooperate in. One example that Donald L Leu Jr stated in his article was the "Flat Stanley" project which incorporated sending letter to different school all over the world and writing about what was happening in each classroom.(Donald L.Leu Jr.,2001) Internet Projects is a great way to bring not only collaboration within the classroom but in the case of the Flat Stanley project it creates lesson in literacy, letter writing and a way for students to feel proud of all they have accomplished in school.
Internet Workshop is different in that it is a way for students to show teachers that they know how to use search engines and decipher articles on the Internet. Teachers give the students a list of websites and they are asked to perform a task. Important advice on creating a task was "to provide open-ended activity for students," so not everyone comes back with the same results.(Donald L.Leu Jr.,2002) This gives students a chance to explore the resources and really think critically about the questions.
Internet Inquiry gives students a chance to research a specific question that is important to them. It helps students build reading, critical literacy skills, navigational and collaborative skills which are all a part of internet workshop and internet projects but most importantly it develops problem identification skills. They must use Dr Leu's phases of "search, analyze, compose and share," to really understand how to get the information and how to appropriately achieve the answer to their question.(Donald L.Leu.,2002)
Webquests are like Internet Workshops in that teachers gives students resources to find out information on a certain topic but one must be careful in making sure that it is appropriate for students and that it will get them to think analytically.
All of these instructional models are similar in that they are giving teachers a new way to convey information to students and students are learning how to navigate the Internet more effectively. These models all require research and it is important especially with younger children to monitor the websites that they are entering. Many models such as Internet Project and Internet Workshop use collaborative work as a way to educate academically and socially. They are all a great way for students to think critically, analytically and to share their knowledge with the class or even the world.

The Difference and Similarities Between Wikis and Blogs

Blogs and Wikis are very similar in many ways but different as well. In Mr.C's class blog, from Noel Elementary School, he shares videos, other student and teacher blogs, as well as important information for each class he teaches. Blogs are more like a diary because on each post it shows the date. So the viewers know when the information was posted and how it applies to everyday learning. Mr.C also posts tutorials for his students so he can teach them "how to write a dramatic monologue." He lists assignments based on videos that he has embedded onto the blog, one in particular that caught my eye was a video about judging people by their appearances. I believe that it is important to teach children at an early age that judging a book by its cover is not the right thing to do. On the side of his blog he also has many links for students to explore such as the library link and other informational links. I noticed all of the little things on his blog, like the current weather and a link to dictionary.com. He really put a lot of thought into this blog and it shows by all the important tools and feedback from his students. http://mrcsclassblog.blogspot.com/
Wikis are different in a way because they are more like a class website designed for the students to use and the teacher to display basic information. A wiki includes videos, assignments and other websites to explore but its not done on a daily basis. A blog is constantly changing from day to day while on a wiki page maybe the homework assignment will change but the other information stays the same. The biggest difference I noticed between the blog and the wiki is that the wiki has less information and other school have a chance to interact with each other. This is possible on Arjana Blazic's wiki titled "Greetings from the World,"her students interact with others from around the world and share different experiences. Each country posts a comment about their culture and other respond to them. This is a positive and exciting way to teach children diversity, which is one of the most important subjects of todays society. http://greetingsfromtheworld.wikispaces.com/
On a blog a teacher could post a question about a current event and ask the student to blog about what they think about it, if they agree or disagree with the article. On a wiki a student could be asked to embed a youtube video that has relevance to the topic they are discussing in class and respond to why it is important.

About Me

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What makes a good class website? Should the teacher integrate new technologies into her instruction?

I believe a good class website should be organized and clearly state its objectives, whether it be for students, teacher or parents. The website should be aesthetically pleasing to the individual of group of people that the website is intended for. There should be enough information about the course including materials, syllabus, and links to find outside sources needed for the class. Many of the websites that I have looked at have specific areas set aside for educators, students and parents. This is helpful because you know exactly where to look for the information needed and there is no confusion as to where you need to go. Some teacher websites have pictures and quotes that they love and it gives the viewer a sense of their personality and their love for the teaching profession. 


Teachers should definitely incorporate the latest technologies into their instruction because technology is changing so rapidly it is important to keep up with it in the classroom setting. The computer is so much a part of our education that it is essential students learn at a young age how to utilize it to the best of their ability. In todays world students are using instant messaging, search engines, word processor and many other tools all on the computer.   It can be difficult to incorporate new technologies because they are continually evolving but it is important for teachers to include these new technologies so students will be well prepared for the years ahead. Not only are there new tools but strategies on interpreting, evaluating, locating and questioning information on the internet which are all important skills that should be taught by the teacherSo integrating the computer and all of its resources is very important on how a young child will survive in their future years of schooling and eventually in the workforce.

Introduction

Hi my name is Jackie Schwartz and I am a transfer student. This is my first semester at the University of Hartford. I am very interested in Early Childhood Education, specifically grades 1-3. I would like to get a dual certification in Special Education as well but I am still deciding if that is right for me. I am from Westchester, NY and I am 21 years old.  I have worked as a camp counselor in my town for 7 years and that is how I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in education. My goal for the course is to learn everything I can about the important computer tools used in the teaching world. My hobbies include: dancing, reading, going to the beach, and hanging out with friends. I really look forward to learning more about computers in education as the semester goes on!