Thursday, April 29, 2010

crossword (NETS I, III)

For this project i used microsoft excel to produce a spreadsheet to make a crossword puzzle about myself. By following the tutorials it made the process easy to create and fun to do, and now i feel comfortable enough to use it in my classroom.

iMovie

 
NETS I, II, and III
In this project i created a PSA for cal state san marcos on hate crimes. I was able to use my creativity to put together a short movie with digital aged programs like imovie. It is a way to communicate to other students, making them aware of the hate that takes place on our campus.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Journall #10 (NETS V)

In this activity i was able to reflect on research that i found on a cool website and share my own thoughts and ideas on issues regarding technology today.  I took the role of a teacher and used that perspective when thinking about these issues that would come up or help the classroom in the future.

Go Paperless! 
by: Amanda Mott and John David Son

Ever thought of having a paperless classroom? That would entitle access to computers, but not so much the paper. A fourth grade class tried it out. Each student sat in front of a computer all day. (But this could also lead to eye problems for the students in the future.) The majority of their assignments were done online. Also with a paperless class it would mean that the teacher must be aware of different ways of learning. To do math and spelling online is so much different than actually writing it out. A paperless classroom seems so simple and worth while. It seems expensive to make sure each student has a working computer, but think of all the money each teacher will save from not having to print out all the assignments and homework and examples. it all adds up.

What about students that need scracth paper for math?
I am a visual learner, and writing things out for me not only helps me remember, but i can visually see each step and figure out exactly how i got to that answer. With a paperless class would they be able to have scratch paper to check thier work and write out all the math problems? 

How do you keep the students from cheating?
With all these technologicl advances it seems so nice to have a paperless classroom, but how do ou keep your students from cheating? There are things such as dictionary.com where students can look up words and easily cheat on a spelling test. If each student has a computer in fronot of thier face who knows what page they are looking at, where as when they had a piece of paper on thier desk you can tell if they open a book to try and look up a word. You wold need a class that you can trust.

Journal #6 (NETS I, V)

In this activity i was able to use Nets V as i posted a journal, but i was also able to use NETS I with my creativity and student learning that takes place when making a blog. In this journal entry i explained what blogging was and how it is used.  I also took the role of a teacher and decided what age levels could use blogging in the classroom.

BLOGGING!
Blogging is an online public weblog where you can post entires about just about anything. In a blog it's interesting to learn about what people are learning and doing. It's convieniant when you have friends who live far away, blogging makes it possible to keep in touch with them through the internet. Wesley Fryer from the tools wants to use blogging in his elementary class. He feels that it will help with students getting better at typing, but finds it difficult for them to interact with each other. Emily on the other hang is having her 7th and 8th grade students blog twice a month. She feels that it is a good way to incorporate lots of web 2.0 tools into the classroom. I think that blogging is an awesome idea. It can be used at just about any age level as Wesley is using it for elementary, and Emily uses it for middle school students, and I'm in college and using it. It's nice that it can be made public or private so that just a teacher and the peers can read it, or the whole world! Blogging not only helps with learning and becoming profiencet at typing, but it helps with sentence building and making journals. The best part of all; blogging can be used in any class subject, and it's free and easy to create!

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Inspiration (NETS I, II)

In this activity i was able to use my creativity to make an artistic picture that showed what i learned and how it related to all the work that i did in this calss. I was able to develop a digital age image and post it on my blog for viewers to see.

Powerpoint Rubric (NETS I, IV)

In this activity i was able to use NETS I which helped promote student reflection, understanding, and thinking in a creative way that would make young students interested in what it had to say. It's a rubric made of modern Southern California lingo and helps create responsible social interactions using digital-age communication.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Journal #9 (NETS V)

 In this Journal i learned about skyping and how it can be used in the classroom. NETS IV was used as i learned about internet safety and how when using skype how i need to, as a teacher, be aware of what my students are doing, and as a parent, need to monitor what my children do on the internet. 


Playing with Skype
by Travis J. Weller

I've heard skype used for many things, although i have never used it for myself. Playing with skype is about a teacher who felt the need to have composers at his 8th grade classes performance. Travis goes to explain all the materials needed to make this possible and the outcome that his class recieved from it. Because of the easy-to-use skype, which allows someone to be seen via the internet and to be heard just as well as in person, travis uses skype to have his class be introduced and talked to by a well written composer. With the use of skype Travis had the composers introduce thier musical pieces before the class played them, which also gave the composers the opportunity to be at the concert without having to leave thier home. The 8th grade teacher goes on to explain how easy skype is to use, and the fact that it's free is just a bonus.

How effective do you think Skpye will be in the classroom?
I think that the idea of using skype in the classroom sounds brilliant, but after reading this post it seems more difficult then it sounds. In order for the teacher to have the composers successfully at his classes performance there were many materials needed that not all schools will have. Other than that it was noted that some college kids came to help with the behind the scenes, and it doesn't go into detail aboout how much work they actually did in order for this to be successful.

What else could skype be used for in the classroom?
I think that skype could be used in the classroom without having to go through a bunch of trouble. Instead of a class going on a fieldtrip, they could have a virtual fieldtrip using skype. To do this a tourguide to a museum would be followed around as he/she explain where she is going and what the students are viewing. Skype could also be used to be introduced to an author of a book that the class is reading, but if the author is too old or too far away to visit it would be a neat experience to be able to interview or talk to them via skype.

Journal #8 (NETS I, IV)

 In this Journal I wrote about proper internet safety which is part of NETS IV, i also realized and wrote about the fact that everyone starts at the beginning which includes NETS I which is learning and growing using creativity. 


Navigate the Digital Rapids
By Julie Lindsay and Vicki Davis

Digital citizenship is the idea that people learn to become familiar with and have proper use to using the internet and other technologies. In the 21st century, digital is all around us. Everyone starts at the same place, the begining. In this feature on ISTE these two women use white water rafting as an analogy to using technology. When you first start it's difficult and sometimes frustrating and you want to give up, but you start to get used to it as you go and you learn from experience. Of course there will always be "rapids" but they won't be as difficult as the first time you came across them. Internet safety is very important, especially as our world is leaning more and more on technology; so become a digital citizen seems like a great idea. When students are put in charge of admin rights they develope online citizenship on thier own.

How do you plan to get through "digital rapids?"
When faced with a digital rapid in my classroom i would like to be able to help my students get through them, in order for me to do that i would need to learn more about technology myself. I think that in this day and age it's very important for teachers and students to be well aware of the internet and how it works, not only the internet, but technology in general.

Do you think Digital Citizenship can be helpful?
I think that digital citizenship is a good thing, it is very similar to the teenangles. Teenangles are ones that protect themselves and thier friends from misusing the internet. With digital citizenship you are implying that you know and will use technology correctly. With things like this in our world it will help us stray from improper use of the internet and hopefully allow for less abuse in the world.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Journal #7 (NETS III)

In this journal i learned about Virtual Field trips which incorporates to NETS III when you model and facilitate use of emerging resources to support research and learning.  This journal models digital learning in a new and different way.

The Beginner's guide to Interactive Virtual Fieldtrips
by: Jan Zanetis

With the world we live in today, our economy is sadly in a downfall. I remember when i was younger field trips happened a couple times a year with no problem. Today the students are lucky if they get ONE field trip a year. Field trips are meant to be fun, they take learning to a different level that takes place outside of the classroom. With this new idea, fieldtrips can be taken inside the classroom, but have the same effect of an actual field trip. All that is really needed for this not-so-costly fieldtrip is a h.323 system and videoconfrencing equipment called a codec. Something exciting about this equipment is that most schools already have the equipment, it's just used for otehr things. Fieldtrips to informational places like museums and historic places can be easily visited through this new virtual fieldtrip. Similar to skype, the students can interact with the "tourguide" at the museum and ask questions and get the same experience as they would if they were actually there, just without the stress of the teacher making sure the students don't brake anything or that there are enough chapperones. We live in a media world now, and this is just another step into the technology way of life.

Will children still find this type of fieldtrip fun?
I think that the word "fieldtrip" get kids excited, and i think that the younger children won't really know the difference if they go on a fildtrip in thier classroom or if they leave the campus. However, i think that the older students, like 5th and 6th graders, might find it less exciting to go on a fieldtrip, but not leave the room.

Is it possible to get the same experience of a fieldtrip via virtual internet compared to an actual fieldtrip?
I think that this idea sounds so interesting and it's great that it would cost so much less than an actual fieldtrip. However, i don't think that a student would get the same impact that they would if they actually visited a museum or a monument. It seems that a student might get figity after watching a "fieldtrip," similar to watching a long movie during class time. When the student walks around and is in a new enviornment they are more interested in thier surroundings.