Blog 15-last one...

I am excited to say that this class was extremely useful to me! I loved learning about all of the different ways to incorporate technology into the classroom, and this is from the same person who was scared out of my mind of the computer and everything about it. I remember how I was timid to begin the first assignments but as the semester progressed so did I. I am know comfortable to at least try new technologies. I will continue to learn more about technologies because it always changes and I like do it now : ) I am so glad that we, teachers need to take this class, I know it will benifit our students in so many ways.
I will use most, if not all of the programs that I have learned. I loved the inspiration for the students to benifit from those great web designs but I will also use the inspiration data for myself. That program was so neat because we could put pictures of the students up for their folders of assignments and such. I will deffinetly use a newsletter for my classroom because I see that as the most interesting and deffinate way of communicating with the parents. The filimentality website will come in so handy when I have a sub. or just want the students to learn how to navagate on their own. I hope to get up the courage to try video progects with my class but that will be a goal of mine to stretch my abilities in technology.

iMovie

The article “Splicing the Video into the Writing process was a concept that I had never thought of before. They decided to create a video production for the Civil War history Standard they were probably teaching to. I agree with the teachers who put these 21st century idea dealing with technology into place; it is important to realize that teaching communication no longer just incorporates writing and speaking. “Today’s student must be able to communicate with pictures, both moving and still; audio; and text.” It is impossible to get by in college now with out all of the communication areas. I really liked that the teachers stressed that the digital video processes was more about and concerned with the content rather than the production that way students will be spending more time and effort on the knowledge part of it. Students plan, write the script, film, edit the movie together while collaborating the entire time, it is a complete team effort and cannot be done without teamwork. The writing process parallels the digital video process according to the article and the chart is a nice way of seeing how that is so. After the students are done and have seen their work the class invites their parents to see their hard work and the students get to feel proud of what they have accomplished.
Using iMovie was an interesting experience. I wonder if I will be brave enough to use this in my classroom, but I can always do something similar to the teachers in the article and have a coworker help me. It seems like a lot of fun for the students and the teacher . I enjoyed the first part of creating our groups iMove it was nice to have four minds working together and I look forward to the editing process this Wednesday.

Databases

Before last class I had not used database software. I liked using inspiration database because of the creativity that I could implement into what would be simple resource data. My personal favorite is hoe you can place pictures of the students with their name and other information that you want. This software can be used in class for students to do assignments and list any data that would be necessary, but it also can display the data in multiple different fashions. I thought the double bar graph was the best. Now I will be able to use this software without a problem
The article “Bells and Whistles” was an informational article on databases and the many uses for them in the classroom. I can see my fourth grade class really enjoying gathering information and compiling it when you make it fun. The article went over different topics that could be incorporated and collected in the data- “presidents, states, countries, inventions, or books” just for some ideas. Databases are used for any kind of research that could be stored electronically, and that is what we want, to store information electronically. Then, we can reorganize the information, create new ways to present it, define categories and fields, and most of all the information is easy to access and retrieve when you want it. I did not even know that by using databases and having students learn these skills is using their higher order thinking and that is crucial when we teach. It also said that we should include what databases use to be like and what they are know, so that students can grasp the fast changes in technology. When you organize data in you database you can use different types of fields: Popup Menu, Value lists, and Check Boxes all have different functions that they are best suited for and can help clarity in different ways.

Week eleven

The Article we read this week was entitled bridging the Digital Divide: A Building Block for teachers by Colleen Swain, which is the fact that the access and equity of technology can be different student to student for several reasons race of student, education background, income background, gender, or location of the school (11). And it is never alright to have a digital divide rather it is our goal as teachers to close it. This article gave good advice and key points on the topic. It is basically the teacher’s job to examine the effectiveness of the computers and technology at our schools. But it is our job to re-examine our lessons and the effectiveness of our teaching so why not the technology strength also, it only makes sense. At the school, where I do my practicum, I see that the computer lab is definitely ineffective and could be better. Each class goes to the lab one a day for 30-25 minutes but time is wasted getting ready to go, walking there, having to stop to create order with the students, and then the same on the way back. I would suggest a change if I was a teacher there. As teachers we need to make sure that we are using technology in our schools efficiently as possible. Then we need to examine the software and programs used because what might work for some children might not work for others, another reason why labs do not always work, but this could be in classes too. A great technique the article shares is for teachers to keep a journal of the way that we as a teacher uses technology daily or weekly so that we can ensure we are keeping fresh, but even if we cannot change much, we can be a catalysts for change with it.
I strongly agree with the article stating that all teachers and students must be educated to use the computers and technology as a productivity tool and also a tool for learning, research, networking, collaboration, telecommunications, problem-solving, and documents (11). Educators at all levels can aggressively seek resources by themselves and along with their school, from individuals or from companies. It is our goal to shrink the Digital Divide.

The Wiki was a cool new program that I sure I will use in the future. The younger grades might not be able to do it alone and even the middle grades might need to use it in school for a teachers assistance, but I think it is the perfect way for a teacher to see the collaboration and teamwork that we so greatly push for.

WebQuests

WebQuests seem like a great way in get students out of the normal routine of opening a book and reading is to find the answer to a question. Not that that is bad, but like all people we like fun activities and doing an assignment on a computer using the internet would be fun and interesting for students. Some students might not even have a computer or access to the internet in their home, so a project like a WebQuest would be very worth while. In the article, Focus: Five rules for writing a Great WebQuest, I found his information to be enlightening for me as a teacher. He talked about how creating a WebQuest for my students would allow them to use the information that they are given rather than just look at it. The main idea that I like is that these lessons can have a great potential for higher learning when the student must think on a level using analysis, synthesis, and evaluations of what they are doing. Because there are many WebQuest already out in the World Wide Web the author points out that some are better than others and to search for the WebQuests that I can tell a teacher really took there time on in incorporating standards and content but is also currently updated. The acronym focus will remind me of how to create the best WebQuest that I can following his method. WebQuests promote collaboration between students and their peers which can be also be seen with teachers who ask their peers to create a WebQuest together for all of their students. After learning about this program I agree with the other article A Productive and Thought-Provoking Use of the Internet, they stated that a WebQuest “can invigorate a curriculum and enliven a class.” I see learning to use the computer and internet an essential idea and tool that all students need to learn.

Medterm

The midterm was okay. I was nervous about remembering the different way to use the MAC and not knowing what material the exam would cover. The main thing that I could not remember was that darn screen shot and I have heard others say the same thing...oh well I know that I could do the majority of the questions. I am glad that the stuff we are learning is going to be so usefull to us in the future:)

blog seven

The article was interesting, but I have to admit everything that this class brings up is so worthwhile to us that are going to be teachers! (Kissing up aside :-)) I am shocked that I enjoy technology and I am not running the other way any longer. The article “Teaching Students to Use the Internet as a Research Tool” was good to learn that it can be overload for a student…I have felt it before, too much at once. More research tools like the search engines the better for us and I love this stuff and just add it to my folder for teaching.

The excel assignment was great because I had no idea that I did not know so much! I did not even know that there was more than one sheet per page, or that we could rename them. I will totally use this in the classroom all of the time!! My favorite new concept about excel is making the title line that we can highlight, put into a different color and put at an angle, I thought that was cool. I also never knew that the colors on graphs can correspond with other items like names in the chart or in a different graph like a pie graph.