When I attended the i-pod class from the district, we ran into several glitches that were time-consuming. Updating to the new i-tune version took forever. Then some computers had additional issues. Downloading the apps wasn't quick either. Like any type of technology, time and version upgrades were also factors. In the SBISD apps list, I found information that was already not valid, like a youtube that had already been removed by the user. It was not easy (not obvious to me), to replace my old i-tunes icon on the computer for the new one. But I got through it although it took time (again, my two left feet). The classroom is not immune to these unforseen down times.
Favorite tools: I liked Wordle and digital story. I think I would use both for students to work on habitats. Wordle to create a list of vocabulary words and a digital story to show their understanding of a specific habitat including flora, fauna and the climactic conditions that make the combination possible.
Transfomed thinking about the learning that will take place in your classroom:
Technology is an instrument for apps that we use in our daily lives for work or for personal use. Issues like battery life, internet access, viruses, response time, compatibility between versions upgrades and prior versions, slow response time, time out, error conditions, they are all glitches that we have to live with. It can easily frustrate the newbie. It is the cost of technology. Yes, we will have times when it won't be available for one reason or another, but there will be many more times when things will run smoothly and it will save us time through the use of a different learning modality.
For instance, when someone thinks understanding of an app has set in, a revised version without the look and feel of the old one appears. The floppy disks, the diskettes, the large, bulky computers are all history. Digital has replaced analog. Digital has replaced traditional film negatives. And we continue to evolve and adapt as we have done over the centuries. This is an important message for our students. Exposing them to the i-pod/i-pad/Apple and the Dell laptops is no longer a nice to do, but a must do.
Unexpected outcomes from this program:
While working on the individual items, I kept being remined of the article "The Most Daring Education Reform of All" (Diana Senechal, Spring 2010 issue - American Educator) which covered in depth and found it very enlightening. The author warns against the danger of throwing out the old to replace it with the new, "While some of these ideas, taken in moderation, have the potential to enhance a curriculum, reformers have often carried them to extremes, forsaking intellectual study in the name of 'real life'."
As teachers, it is our responsibility to develop many skills like the ones in 11Tools while continuing to develop problem solving, task analysis, evaluating and sythesizing skills. Over the decades, there have been several movements to transform education. We are currently going through the 21st century movement driven in great part by the advancement in technology. But it is up to the teachers in the classrooms to assess the need for technology as opposed to paper/pencil/brain work in a given subject/assignment.
In some cases, the technology is an integral part, and in others, it may be a distractor. It is not an easy task to discern sometimes what to choose. When all is said and done, it boils down to being able to create a in an informed manner. It will take time, but I think it can and needs to be done. Just like applications we learned a year, two years, a decade ago and are now obsolete, the same will be experienced by todays' students. The important skill here is getting them used to the ever changing environment (technology and otherwise) and creating a thinking population that can take what they learned and extrapolate from it into the new. The key is not quantity, but quality and depth of teaching. Technology is here to stay and will either help or hinder any learning, depending on how it is used.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
"11 Tools" Post #11 - digital citizenship
When using any type of technology, students need to be aware of certain rules and procedures to follow.
1. The most important one for me to convey to students would be, as would be for anything else including supplies and textbooks, respect for the equipment. Treat the equipment carefully as if it was your own. Return it to the place where you got it from and make sure you place it exactly the way you found it. I would have the students share times when someone took something of theirs and returned it broken or lost it. How did they feel about it? I would ask questions like, how much do you think this cost to replace? Do you think it could be replaced if there was no more money? Who would it end up affecting? I would have them put together a rule that they think they can live with to insure the equipment is used carefully.
2. Information posted may not always be accurate or true. I would ask students for ways to check out their source. (Look at more than one source. Compare to published information if needed.) Why is this important? To be able to make informed decisions. I
3. Be authentic. Like any written form, it is OK to read and learn from it and even model the style. Great artists modelled each other (the modernists, the cubists, etc.), but do not copy verbatim other people's work. You can paraphrase or quote. But copying and taking credit for others work is not only plagiarism, it is lso illegal. I will ask them what they think could happen to them and how do people find out if they did plagiarize. They will become aware that there are apps to detect plagiarism and laws in place.
1. The most important one for me to convey to students would be, as would be for anything else including supplies and textbooks, respect for the equipment. Treat the equipment carefully as if it was your own. Return it to the place where you got it from and make sure you place it exactly the way you found it. I would have the students share times when someone took something of theirs and returned it broken or lost it. How did they feel about it? I would ask questions like, how much do you think this cost to replace? Do you think it could be replaced if there was no more money? Who would it end up affecting? I would have them put together a rule that they think they can live with to insure the equipment is used carefully.
2. Information posted may not always be accurate or true. I would ask students for ways to check out their source. (Look at more than one source. Compare to published information if needed.) Why is this important? To be able to make informed decisions. I
3. Be authentic. Like any written form, it is OK to read and learn from it and even model the style. Great artists modelled each other (the modernists, the cubists, etc.), but do not copy verbatim other people's work. You can paraphrase or quote. But copying and taking credit for others work is not only plagiarism, it is lso illegal. I will ask them what they think could happen to them and how do people find out if they did plagiarize. They will become aware that there are apps to detect plagiarism and laws in place.
And I have one more item that I feel is necessary to discuss with the students.
4. Safety. Be careful what you post. Be careful who you grant access to your information. It is important how you word what you write. Good manners are important no matter what the media. I would elicit examples from students of what they would think would be inapropriate to post for public access and what are the dangers they see. We would then create a chart so that they are constantly reminded of what is and what is not appropriate and the reasoning behind.
"11 Tools" Post #10
I attended a district session on i-pods conducted an Apple rep. I enjoyed downloading an app for a museum site that offered many printable forms and information about course material. The map and weather apps are also very neat. I typed in our school address and used my fingertips to zoom in and zoom out. For weather, I checked out the current weather in Bordeaux, France and in Panama, Rep. of Panama. I can see students tying in temperature in different cities/countries to their location on earth (latitute and longitude). The i-pod is much smaller than a laptop and fits easily in the student's palm. Fingertip versus keyboard. Mmmmm.
One app I found would serve the students well for vocabulary and spelling, was Hangman. I liked the comments I read on this app.
The email app is a nice feature. I was wowed by the ease of use, zooming in and out on a friend's one. If extensive text is not going to be written, it would definitely be a very good app. I checked out a few comments by users. I found they mostly use i-pods for mail, music, and games. But then, games can have an educational objective tied to them. My son uses his mostly for music and prefers his laptop for other applications. Must be because of the size of the screen.
In the classroom I would include apps in social studies (states and capitals, identifying landforms), math (working with shapes, apps for specific skills like addition, subtraction) and grammar constructs (identifying certain parts of speech, and access/reading of good writing). I can see all kinds of special ed uses, especially with pictures and menu screens.
Possible issues I would have with the use of technology would be the easy way students can cut and copy information (plagiarizing), the ability of the i-pod to only display on the projector movies and slideshows, and the current inability to project the i-pod screen itself to show the navigation process.
One app I found would serve the students well for vocabulary and spelling, was Hangman. I liked the comments I read on this app.
The email app is a nice feature. I was wowed by the ease of use, zooming in and out on a friend's one. If extensive text is not going to be written, it would definitely be a very good app. I checked out a few comments by users. I found they mostly use i-pods for mail, music, and games. But then, games can have an educational objective tied to them. My son uses his mostly for music and prefers his laptop for other applications. Must be because of the size of the screen.
In the classroom I would include apps in social studies (states and capitals, identifying landforms), math (working with shapes, apps for specific skills like addition, subtraction) and grammar constructs (identifying certain parts of speech, and access/reading of good writing). I can see all kinds of special ed uses, especially with pictures and menu screens.
Possible issues I would have with the use of technology would be the easy way students can cut and copy information (plagiarizing), the ability of the i-pod to only display on the projector movies and slideshows, and the current inability to project the i-pod screen itself to show the navigation process.
"11 Tools" Post #9 Jing & Skype
How the screencast could help students and how you might have students use Jing.
When I look at all the new and improved technology that is out there for free, I think back to The Jetsons and instant visual communication from the home and the car (skymobile). I wish the writers of that show had thought up some episodes inside the classroom. I think screencast is a very good tool to help students capture images to add to their work. It reminds me of the camera feature in ActivInspire. It surely beats printing out an image and then scanning it to a jpeg file to import into a document, very time-consuming steps that I had myself gone through in the past. So glad technology keeps improving.
Skype with students and sharing across the district, the state, the nation, or the world!
I believe that Skype can help students from different schools, districts, states, countries to communicate and share in their learning. My son is working on a project at the University of Texas retrofitting the telescope at the McDonald Observatory in West Texas, and he doesn't have to actually go to the site or be face to face for meetings. Technology makes this all possible.
My husband teaches a globalization class at the university level. This is an online class where a number of professors in different universities and different countries co-teach. The students are also from different universities in different countries. The course was created both in English and Spanish and there were students from 9 countries signed up spanning several time zones all the way to the Phillipines, Europe, North and South America. Videos were created, synchonous and asynchronous communication was included.
As the technology improves and the communication becomes more available, students will have the opportunity to engage in conversation, presentations, and research even outside of the classroom walls without leaving the classroom. This reminds me of the ad where students in Middle America teleconference with students in a classroom across the world. I can't even remember what the ad is about. I was in awe of how far technology has been able to take us.
Skype
I have watched my son communicate with a friend of his that was studying in Japan at least 3 or so years ago. It was real time and reminds me of the newest version of the i-phones that just came out. I think the only thing you have to be aware of is the lighting and the directionality of the camera. Having a headset was also important for clarity.
In the case of our students, I would like for them to be able to communicate through Skype with students of other countries to discuss things like specific types of habitats or fauna abroad. One issue to be considered is the other group's accessibility to the technology and internet availability.
When I look at all the new and improved technology that is out there for free, I think back to The Jetsons and instant visual communication from the home and the car (skymobile). I wish the writers of that show had thought up some episodes inside the classroom. I think screencast is a very good tool to help students capture images to add to their work. It reminds me of the camera feature in ActivInspire. It surely beats printing out an image and then scanning it to a jpeg file to import into a document, very time-consuming steps that I had myself gone through in the past. So glad technology keeps improving.
Skype with students and sharing across the district, the state, the nation, or the world!
I believe that Skype can help students from different schools, districts, states, countries to communicate and share in their learning. My son is working on a project at the University of Texas retrofitting the telescope at the McDonald Observatory in West Texas, and he doesn't have to actually go to the site or be face to face for meetings. Technology makes this all possible.
My husband teaches a globalization class at the university level. This is an online class where a number of professors in different universities and different countries co-teach. The students are also from different universities in different countries. The course was created both in English and Spanish and there were students from 9 countries signed up spanning several time zones all the way to the Phillipines, Europe, North and South America. Videos were created, synchonous and asynchronous communication was included.
As the technology improves and the communication becomes more available, students will have the opportunity to engage in conversation, presentations, and research even outside of the classroom walls without leaving the classroom. This reminds me of the ad where students in Middle America teleconference with students in a classroom across the world. I can't even remember what the ad is about. I was in awe of how far technology has been able to take us.
Skype
I have watched my son communicate with a friend of his that was studying in Japan at least 3 or so years ago. It was real time and reminds me of the newest version of the i-phones that just came out. I think the only thing you have to be aware of is the lighting and the directionality of the camera. Having a headset was also important for clarity.
In the case of our students, I would like for them to be able to communicate through Skype with students of other countries to discuss things like specific types of habitats or fauna abroad. One issue to be considered is the other group's accessibility to the technology and internet availability.
"11 Tools" Post #8
Videos can be used to introduce or summarize a concept in the classroom. It helps with visualization (tie words with pictures) and is one more learning modality for the student. Some students need to have more exposure from all angles to a concept in order to retain the information.
1. I chose this video in youtube because it addresses landforms at a higher vocabulary level in Spanish so that the students can be, if not necessarily remember verbatim, at least exposed. Over time, meaning should set in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nwi8yTNHBW8
2. From Discovery Learning, this video about George Washington Carver reinforces the student's L2 vocabulalry. Mr. Carver is part of the list of famous people in the social studies curriculum. Through him, some facts about plants and soil rotation (science) is introduced as well as how peanut became another cash crop after cotton. While we study and discuss Mr. Carver in L1(Spanish) during social studies , the L2(English) vocabulary enrichment takes place during language arts. The study of this character is a criss-crosses severa subjects (social studies, science, and language arts).
http://player.discoveryeducation.com/index.cfm?guidAssetId=6482DF7C-3168-4F16-A55B-347E9DE4DC05&blnFromSearch=1&productcode=US
1. I chose this video in youtube because it addresses landforms at a higher vocabulary level in Spanish so that the students can be, if not necessarily remember verbatim, at least exposed. Over time, meaning should set in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nwi8yTNHBW8
2. From Discovery Learning, this video about George Washington Carver reinforces the student's L2 vocabulalry. Mr. Carver is part of the list of famous people in the social studies curriculum. Through him, some facts about plants and soil rotation (science) is introduced as well as how peanut became another cash crop after cotton. While we study and discuss Mr. Carver in L1(Spanish) during social studies , the L2(English) vocabulary enrichment takes place during language arts. The study of this character is a criss-crosses severa subjects (social studies, science, and language arts).
http://player.discoveryeducation.com/index.cfm?guidAssetId=6482DF7C-3168-4F16-A55B-347E9DE4DC05&blnFromSearch=1&productcode=US
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
"11 Tools" Post # 7
PhotoStory video
I find that in third grade, the majority of my students are still listing of events when they write. Creating a digital photo story is a way for students to work on the different traits that make up a good story. They can start by working on sequencing events (beginning, middle, end). Then they can move on to other traits like voice, development of their ideas, fluency and conventions. This should get them past the point of just listing events in their writing.
I can see students using PhotoStory for personal narratives, field trips, and class projects on non-fiction material in science and social studies. A good example would be a biography of someone who contributed to our history like Helen Keller, Louis Pasteur, or George Washington Carver.
Teachers can use photo story to introduce a lesson or summarize a unit of study. (S)he can use a story to tie in to other subjects like math.
I like the built in functions for imbedding voice and music to the photo frames. It makes the pictures come to life.
I find that in third grade, the majority of my students are still listing of events when they write. Creating a digital photo story is a way for students to work on the different traits that make up a good story. They can start by working on sequencing events (beginning, middle, end). Then they can move on to other traits like voice, development of their ideas, fluency and conventions. This should get them past the point of just listing events in their writing.
I can see students using PhotoStory for personal narratives, field trips, and class projects on non-fiction material in science and social studies. A good example would be a biography of someone who contributed to our history like Helen Keller, Louis Pasteur, or George Washington Carver.
Teachers can use photo story to introduce a lesson or summarize a unit of study. (S)he can use a story to tie in to other subjects like math.
I like the built in functions for imbedding voice and music to the photo frames. It makes the pictures come to life.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
"11 Tools" Post #6 WIKIS
I like the idea of students using their wiki to increase their participation in language arts assignment especially in the area of editing and revision. I can see them reinforcing vocabulary as they continuously reenter their story to reread and add as a group. I find that students have issues with elaboration and fluency because they think they are done writing when they have finished the first draft. It is difficult to convince them that a piece of writing is never done; it can always be revised and made better. They want to move on to the next thing, whatever that might be. Sharing and editing each others work, will allow them to pull on higher level skills of synthesizing and evaluating their own work, the work of others, and their group work.
As an aside, when setting up a wiki or any other application, I see some issues that may affect a learner in the choice made. Each choice is programmed in a different manner. The look and feel on the screen is different. The steps and processes required for setting up secured fields, different levels of security access, valid users, protected sections, etc. differs from panel to panel. What seems to be clearly written to some, may not be to someone else, kind of like reading a foreign language. These differences may not be an issue for those who breath and speak GUI (grapical user interface), but for those who do not day in and day out do so, it can be overwhelming and very time-consuming. Let us not forget that there are more than 8 modalities of learning and learning many of these new applications are in the self-learn category. At times the interactivity is not very intuitive either.
Some sample wikis ideas for use in the classroom, by teacher, the team or the department:
For students, wikis like http://wedderburn-grade34.wikispaces.com/The+Ocean can be setup for them to show their research on different science topics or read up on it, or to link up with sites to practice certain skills like skip counting in math. Student work can be available for a larger audience.
Teachers can use or access wikis to track and get information on different library resources or access other links. Interactive and collaborative learning can be shared at the grade, department, or school level.
As an aside, when setting up a wiki or any other application, I see some issues that may affect a learner in the choice made. Each choice is programmed in a different manner. The look and feel on the screen is different. The steps and processes required for setting up secured fields, different levels of security access, valid users, protected sections, etc. differs from panel to panel. What seems to be clearly written to some, may not be to someone else, kind of like reading a foreign language. These differences may not be an issue for those who breath and speak GUI (grapical user interface), but for those who do not day in and day out do so, it can be overwhelming and very time-consuming. Let us not forget that there are more than 8 modalities of learning and learning many of these new applications are in the self-learn category. At times the interactivity is not very intuitive either.
Some sample wikis ideas for use in the classroom, by teacher, the team or the department:
For students, wikis like http://wedderburn-grade34.wikispaces.com/The+Ocean can be setup for them to show their research on different science topics or read up on it, or to link up with sites to practice certain skills like skip counting in math. Student work can be available for a larger audience.
Teachers can use or access wikis to track and get information on different library resources or access other links. Interactive and collaborative learning can be shared at the grade, department, or school level.
Monday, June 21, 2010
"11 Tools" #5 Tagging and bookmarking
This is a very helpful tool. I checked the videos for using Delicious and Diigo, and decided on Delicious. The videos made it seem very simple to setup and manage, although easier said than done. I guess it must be my two tech left feet I have. Nonetheless, I found my way around and setup two sites and bookmarked and tagged them. I can certainly see how this social bookmarking could benefit others within the network in order to share relevant, as well as new, information. It can make use of one's time more effectively as well as efficiently. Two websites I found interesting and useful for my teaching needs are:
http://www.tlsbooks.com/
http://www.amnh.org/nationalcenter/online_field_journal/
http://www.tlsbooks.com/
http://www.amnh.org/nationalcenter/online_field_journal/
For tags I used words like science, worksheets, museum. Students can use this resource to bookmark and tag interesting resources that addresses a classroom topic during their research. I see it being used by students cooperating in writing research papers, classroom discussions, etc. Teachers can use it to find and share resources or discussions.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
"11 Tools" Post # 4 Google Docs and Google Read
I am very interested in the google doc application for teacher documents so that we can divide out the work without so many copies floating around. It makes it much easier to read and edit when the changes go directly to the one and only copy. It also makes it easier for each teacher to work on his/her own portion and still see how it fits in the overall picture. I created and uploaded a spreadsheet for our lesson plan for the 1st week of class and shared it with two other colleagues for them to input a different section. That is definitely an improvement to having multiple copies of the same document. I can see students with their own google accounts, editing their group writeup working separately on their part but still together on the project. I like the google reader to follow blogs that are of interest to me without having to remember what the blogsite is or having to log on to the different sites. I have added my 5 blogs to follow.
The google reader is a very helpful tool to keep the sites we are interested all in one place. There is so much out there and it is just not possible to remember all the sites. But with the reader, a brief glance and you can easily find what you are looking for.
The google reader is a very helpful tool to keep the sites we are interested all in one place. There is so much out there and it is just not possible to remember all the sites. But with the reader, a brief glance and you can easily find what you are looking for.
"11 Tools" Post # 2
Building an online education community and participating in a PLN is a quick and easy way to exchange opinions in technology and see people's comments. There are far too many apps and it becomes difficult to decide which one is best for what we have in mind. They are constantly being recycled and changed. The current labor force has to work with computers and computer apps. To be able to facilitate and expose students to the various apps is important.
One of the concerns in posting comments is how we word our thoughts. Just like children were taught manners, the same applies to what we write when we comment on people's sites.
In choosing my 5 sites, I even ventured into the other schools and found very interesting insights from different teaching perspectives, for instance physical education. I liked reading what others are doing and sharing possible use for those apps. I finally picked the following ones: Online Gadgets, Rabbit Thoughts for 11 Tools, But It's Summer, and Hard at Work.
One of the concerns in posting comments is how we word our thoughts. Just like children were taught manners, the same applies to what we write when we comment on people's sites.
In choosing my 5 sites, I even ventured into the other schools and found very interesting insights from different teaching perspectives, for instance physical education. I liked reading what others are doing and sharing possible use for those apps. I finally picked the following ones: Online Gadgets, Rabbit Thoughts for 11 Tools, But It's Summer, and Hard at Work.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
"11 Tools" Post #3 Generators & Mashups
Image generators or mashups samples: Wordle and Bookr.
I like Wordl for students to create their own using the vocabulary in a unit of study in either science or social studies. I think the different patterns that can be generated will excite the kids and in the process help them build vocabulary. Goodbye to the old, boring spreadsheet!
After searching and picking the pictures in Bookr for my book, I got stuck pretty badly trying to figure out how to bring the pictures into my book. I tried different things from downloading the pictures to my desktop from entering my email and blog name to no avail. All for naught. Couldn't figure out how to get those *&((^%% pictures into my book. Had to go from the book page by tag (mountains, islands, etc) and pick from the limited thumbnail pictures flashing across as fast as Speedy Gonazalez, sometimes having nothing to do with the tag word. But, I did get the book done: "Accidentes Geográficos". I can already see the students looking for pictures to fit the description of their vocabulary word so that they can create their own book individually or in groups. I can see it being used in a project.
I like Wordl for students to create their own using the vocabulary in a unit of study in either science or social studies. I think the different patterns that can be generated will excite the kids and in the process help them build vocabulary. Goodbye to the old, boring spreadsheet!
After searching and picking the pictures in Bookr for my book, I got stuck pretty badly trying to figure out how to bring the pictures into my book. I tried different things from downloading the pictures to my desktop from entering my email and blog name to no avail. All for naught. Couldn't figure out how to get those *&((^%% pictures into my book. Had to go from the book page by tag (mountains, islands, etc) and pick from the limited thumbnail pictures flashing across as fast as Speedy Gonazalez, sometimes having nothing to do with the tag word. But, I did get the book done: "Accidentes Geográficos". I can already see the students looking for pictures to fit the description of their vocabulary word so that they can create their own book individually or in groups. I can see it being used in a project.
Monday, June 14, 2010
"11 Tools" Post # 1
At first I was nervous because it had been a while since I used my blog. Wasn't sure how much I had retained. Once I got over logging in and remembering/resetting my password, I was able to get into the blog and look at all the neat things I had posted. I thought the current avatar was great back when it was created. But once I created the VOKI and gave it voice, I prefered the new one. I tried to use the microphone option thinking that it would pick it up from the computer built-in mike (tiny whole on top of the turn on button), but it wouldn't let me. It did work for Jolynn in an advanced ActivInspire class I attended last week. So I gave up and used the text option instead. I am looking forward to learning more.
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