Group Podcast

Blog Assignment # 5

100 Ways to Use Your iPod to Learn
 This was a very informative page. Obviously it gave you 100 ways to learn with your iPod including tutorials, applications and a section giving classroom help.  One of the things I liked was the iPod lesson plans link which gives you ways to allow the students to learn by integrating iPods into their lesson. I also liked the Create Podcasts link which gives you step by step instructions on how to create a podcast from preproduction to publishing. This is definitely something I think my group will use while creating our podcast for this class.

Eagles' Nest Radio & Class Blog 
I loved this. These 3rd graders are having a blast while learning about Rome, famous explorers and interesting shark facts. I think this page is the epitome of the use of technology in the classroom to engage students in learning while helping them realize that it is actually FUN to learn new things. 

Langwitches Blog: Flat Stanley Podcast 
I was blown away by how creative these kids were at just 5 years old. They did a podcast telling their version of the book Flat Stanley by Jim Brown, and it was so neat! They used the Garageband program to record their voices and add sound effects to the story. It turned out very well. I encourage you to check it out! I hope to be able to incorporate technology this way in my future classroom. 

 

Blog Assignment 4

Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please? By: Scott Mcleod
Scott Mcleod, who is a professor in the Educational Administration program at Iowa State University wrote this post regarding children using technology. Sarcastically, Mr. Mcleod tells parents, teachers, administrators and board members to not teach children how to benefit from technology because all they will do is misuse it. I agree with Mr. Mcleod in the fact that children should be exposed to the many uses of technology, however, I also think that age, maturity and responsibility play a huge role in a child's ability to learn through technology. I don't think it would be hard for a child to be misled in the uses of technology, but with correct guidance they can greatly benefit from it.

The iSchool Initiative

I'll be honest. At first I was a little skeptical of this idea. I viewed it as a way to replace teachers, classrooms and schools all together, but obviously that could never happen. Teachers are needed, and always will be needed, to guide students in learning. The role that technology should play in education is a "helping hand"; something that can make the process a little easier. That is exactly what the iSchool Initiative would do.

This program involved a lot of applications that I liked. Some that I think would be more beneficial to a classroom, and school, are the graphing calculator, book library and Notes. I also like the idea of student's parents and teachers being able to get in touch with one another easily. Although I think it would take some time for the program to reach its full potential in a school, I think this idea would work in schools and save a lot of money in the long run while also helping engage students in a new form of learning.

The Lost Generation

This was a nice perspective on the negative views of the world today. It's so easy to say that the future is not bright, and that we're all going nowhere fast. It's our job to make the changes needed to create a future full of hope, and prove that we will not be the "apathetic and lethargic" generation. I truly enjoyed this video, and believe in its message entirely. If we all started thinking like this a lot more would get accomplished and priorities would be set right again.

Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir 

This was absolutely amazing. Click on the link to check it out! The fact that these people have NEVER MET in one place to practice or have even SEEN each other is beyond belief. Just a small glimpse of how the internet and use of technology connects us all in a common way.

Additional Assignment # 1

Google Squared and Wolf Ram

Google Squared and WolframAlpha searches both give information in a very straight forward, "easy to digest" way. Searches produce all information concerning only what you type into the search box making it easy to compare and break down the statistics given such as when I searched for "country populations".

I did not know about either of these search engines prior to this assignment, but I know that I will definitely be using them in the future. They both seem like a nice alternative to searching through links looking for specific information. I also like the "add on" feature of Google Squared which allows you to create a new column of information by simply labeling the top and it automatically fills in all the other categories for you. One thing I personally didn't like is that a majority of the information given comes from Wikipedia, which I try to shy away from using whenever possible. 
Dr. Strange's comments on these search tools has not altered my thinking on the movie "Did You Know", but using the tools made me realize there are ways to deal with statistics when a lot seem to be thrown at you and can sometimes leave you feeling overwhelmed with information or wondering where they came from. Google Squared and WolframAlpha helped me put some of the facts from "Did You Know" into perspective. 

Map showing Location of the Pitcairn Islands:

 

Blog Assignment 3

A Vision of Students Today



Until this class, every college course I've had has been parallel to the classroom depicted in the movie. I walk in to an auditorium that seats 200 students, sit and listen to the instructor as he reads from a textbook and fills a chalkboard with 4 or 5 pages of notes. Meanwhile, people are falling asleep around me, talking about what they did last night or looking at facebook on their laptop.

While I can say that I did well in these classes, I can't say I remember much of what I learned. I studied, took a test and forgot the information the next day. I've always been a "hand on" learner and believe that, as the movie says, "students learn what they do."


It's Not About the Technology
I would have to say I agree with Kelly Hines. I'm for technology and the benefits it can provide in the classroom, but, as Ms. Hines explains, "technology is useless without good teaching." Unless the technology is used in the best way possible to provide positive outcome it has no value to neither the teacher nor the students. It takes cooperation of teachers to fully reap the benefits that technology offers to students.


Is It Okay to Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?

Prior to enrolling in this class, I considered myself to be "technologically literate." I could send an email, type a research paper, produce a spreadsheet in Excel and create a pretty impressive Power Point presentation.

Shortly after receiving Dr. Strange's email on how to prepare for the upcoming semester I realized I knew close to nothing about computers. Sure, the skills I knew would suit well if I were to work in an office building behind a desk entering data all day, but to benefit an entire class of students in learning through the use of technology? Absolutely not.

I only viewed my computer as something to do work on, but as I complete projects for this class I am learning just how beneficial this tool can be to both me as an educator and my future students in learning.

I agree with Mr. Fisch in that it is not okay to be a technologically illiterate teacher especially in today's educational systems. I also agree with him when he says that "technology is not the end all and be all of education...just a tool to help us teach." and when he states that when people are "unwilling to make any effort to learn new things" they are proving their own ignorance.


Social Media Count

Yet an even bigger realization of the vast expansion of the technological revolution. A lot of the numbers seem unreal. This was completely mind blowing to me.
As far as my professional career as a teacher, I've come to the realization that technology is here, it's here to stay and it's advancing faster every second of the day. It influences everyone in some way or another globally, and although it will take work, I, along with all other educators should take the initiative to stay on top of it as much as possible.


Comment for Teachers

I was assigned to Aaron Eyler's blog. I read his post titled "That 'Let's Do More' Mentality" which talked about how people seem to make a fuss about doing more to improve on a current situation without first asking if what they were doing was even right in the first place. I agree with Mr. Eyler. We should take a moment to step back and reevaluate what we are doing in order to decided whether or not the next steps to take should build on, or take place of, whatever situation we are trying to make better.

The second post I commented on was "Technology as the New Math".He starts his post by saying "we continue to perpetuate a culture that believes an individual is born with some inherent trait that allows them to be “good” at Math", and suggests that we are extending this mentality to include people's technological literacy. Mr. Eyler makes a valid point when he says that it is overlooked when someone says they just "aren't good with technology" and how we need to stop letting students, or anyone for that matter, put themselves down by believing they can't do something, and help them learn that everyone has to work hard at learning a new skill at some point in their life.

Google Presentation

Blog Post #2 Assignment

Video Reviews

Karl Fisch:Did You Know? 3.0
Just the first 35 seconds of this video was an eye opener. So many people, myself included, think that technology is not as much of a necessity as it is made out to be when, in reality, it is coming to the point where it is involved, in some way or another, with our lives everyday. In a way it's sad. Way too often do I find myself being the grandma saying "back when I was younger..." and i'm only 22! When I was in Elementary School, "high tech", to us, was going to our school's ONLY computer lab and playing Oregon Trail. In most of today's schools there is at least one computer in EACH CLASSROOM. Students are making websites and taking tests online. SMART boards have started replacing dry-erase boards (which at the time of their debut were the greatest thing. Some five year old children know more about a computer than their grandparents or, even worse, their parents. This video really put into perspective for me just how much technology is involved not only in our country, but throughout the entire world.

Matthew Needleman: Mr. Winkle Wakes
Mr. Winkle wakes up to find a world connected by technology. Scared and confused, he finds refuge in a school where the routine lectures and books seem similar to the way they were 100 years ago.
I'm reminded of the blog I had to comment on for my Comments 4 Teachers assignment. It was a post by Aaron Eyler titled "That 'Let's Do More' Mentality". It talks about how everyone wants to do more to improve, yet they do not question whether or not what they were doing was right in the first place.
If schools are being conducted the same as 100 years ago and there hasn't been a vast improvement shouldn't we, as educators,learn newer methods of teaching that incorporate technology the way everything else in the world does?

Sir Ken Robinson:The Importance of Creativity
I would have to say I agree with this video. I feel that students, myself included, were brought up and are being taught that being creative means being too different and not being accepted. Even in college when someone says they are majoring in Studio Art or Photography they are automatically asked the question "And...what can you do with that?" Creativeness is definitely not emphasized anywhere near the extent of what it should be.

Viki Davis: Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts
This video was showing how, as educators, we might be expected to know it all in order to teach our students when, in reality, the students are teaching us just as much as they are learning. Students feel a sense of achievement when they learn something on their own, or perhaps even learn something the teacher didn't already know.