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.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Saturday, December 4, 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
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!
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
Netsmartz Workshop.(2001-2010)Real life stories Retrieved from http://www.netsmartz.org/resources/reallife.htm
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