Final Media Post

This last week I had the opportunity to learn about and successfully utilize the Podcast; Which is a great way to express what is wanting to be said to your friends, family, teachers, cohorts and everybody else, including those on the web. It was quite fun to do and I think that students would enjoy using the Podcast as a form of homework, in-class assignments, or for communication in general. i like The Black Eyed Peas. I feel that those individuals that have a particular interest in music, gaming, and electronics in general would enjoy this form of technology. Simply because it involves exactly these types of things to create one. It would also be fun for them to experiment with adding music to their voices and other things of that nature. Podcasts can also be utilized for those students who have various disabilities involving reading, spelling and other areas. They're able to express themselves through voice which also takes them to a different place to learn rather than having them do the typical paper and pencil or through a text book.

Through out this semester i have had many opportunities in learning and working with some great technology. It is amazing how many different ways technology can be used in the classroom and in every day life. i am excited to be able to use google sites, pod casts, blogger, emails, web quests, digital stories, excel, power points, vokis, hopefully interactive white boards and many more. I have noticed through out this semester technology can be a lot of fun but at the same time it can very frustrating for those that aren't familiar with all the up grades. It it so important that as teachers we are aware of that and to not over load the way we teach with only technology, because not all students will learn best that way. We have learned ways to use all these different tools of technology in the classroom, we have been able to create things on our own, we were able to apply technology into our lessons and actually teach students with it, we were able to experience how little technology there is in classrooms and in schools, and to be able to be upgraded with the latest technology.

Believe In Me
This video clip was about believing in yourself, believing in your colleagues, your parents, your classmates and pretty much putting your belief in the good of humanity. Children need the support of their adult role models to help them get the proper education and succeed in the work place. For a little boy to stand up and give that kind of speech was very moving in my opinion because it showed that he had all the love and support from his role models that he needed. One of the big things that it showed me was that success comes when there is support, love, and desire is present. It was neat to see someone as little as him with so much power, It was just another example to me of how much one person can do if they put their mind to it. It would be truly amazing if everybody in the world were just like him, in that they had a huge desire to succeed and they followed through with it. I think that this world would be an extremely better place.

Pod Cast

Here is my podcast

Week #13

These past few weeks, there hasn't been much technology use going on, but there has been some communicating through the Internet and writing up papers on google docs. The Internet is a great source of communicating, and for the most part is pretty fast. Being able to communicate in more ways than one is so convenient and helps have things written down and documented. During my Field Experience, our cooperating teacher has been emailing lesson plans, worksheets, links, ideas, and much more for us to have in our future teaching career. It is so great to be able to have them on file, and to also make a hard copy of them just in case. Emailing them to us, instead of finding them in the filing cabinet, making copies, this way just works so much better. Emailing also through this Field Experience has been pretty convenient also, where we didn't see the teachers for three it was a good way to stay in contact. Emailing ideas, worksheets or projects to my colleagues that went well in my classroom is a great way to help other teachers also have great experiences. The other day we needed an immediate answer to a question from one of the UVU instructors so we text messaged them, and got an immediate response, which was so helpful. Emails may take a bit longer, but text messages is a bet faster, and basically does the same thing.

Blogging is also another great way to keep people around you updated, and to send messages, invites, or announcements out to a wide range of people. It's also a great way to post reflections, or learning logs for school, which would be a great idea for younger elementary students to become familiar with. It would be fun to be able to blog some homework or different things through out the week. The kids seem to get more interesting and willing to do the assignments or listen in class if it's just worksheets all day long. Blogging can also be great for journaling, and being able to make a hard copy book of all the yearly events and announcements that were blogged through out that year. Being able to post a Voki onto a post on the blogger was a lot of fun, and made the post a lot of fun. Putting a Voki on the class blog for announcements, would be so fun for the students. You could also do class announcements or an object of a lesson on a Voki to start off the beginning of class is a great way to incorporate technology into the classroom, and it's not hard at all.

I hope I have an opportunity to use technology in my classroom, and the students will enjoy the interaction and the excitement it brings. It would also be so nice for schools to get some new technology for the teachers so the students lives can be enriched with technology and so can the teacher as they teach their lessons.

Reflection #12

While doing Field work, I have noticed that a lot of the teachers are still communicating with students through grades on hard copies, and take home notes. It would be so great to see more technology being used, especially from teachers that have been teaching for a while. Not only do the teachers need the update with technology, but so do also the students and parents. There are so many great and effective ways to communicate through technology. There is powerschool, individualized websites, email, and many others. It is also a lot more fun for the students to be introduced to all the technology.

This weekend my husband and I watched LDS conference on the internet, because we were somewhere that didn't have television or cable. It was so great and convenient to be able to still take part in that. The internet is a great source of technology that needs to be used more for teaching tools, and communicating, and discovering. IT seems as though students would get so much more involved in the lessons if they had a chance to do a webquest or research in class. I love the idea of the laptop station for each classroom. It gives every student a chance to use their own computer and have that experience with technology. It seems as though everything is going to start being on computers versus hard copies, so it's great prectice for these younger children.

While teaching our lessons this last week, we did a webquest with our class, and they loved it because it was so interactive and different from what they are use to. Webquests are great for students to get heavily involved in their work, and can explore what they please and learn what is available to them. It is also a fun idea to make one as a class, I think it would get everyone so exciting and they will be learning so much and not even know it. I know as I have done our webquest for class I have learned a ton of stuff but it's been in fun interactive and interesting way. After making one as a class, it's great way to agree as a grade level to have each class make one, and then share them and have each class explore the others. So instead of having just one webquest, each class then has three or four to use for lessons. It's a great way to collaborate with other teachers and classes. While preparing our lessons we also used the internet and sources like UEN for ideas, which was a big help, and helped us make sure we were staying within the curriculum for the students. It was also helpful for the teacher because instead of teaching pointless stuff to the class, we taught stuff they actually need to know.

When I become a teacher I hope to be able to use all the great technology that is out there, it may take some extra money and time to get it, but it's so worth it. Students deserve to learn with technology and now days it's just something they need to know or atleast be introduced to. There are too many great fun and amazing technologies out there that teachers and students aren't using.

Reflection #11

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In the classroom, the teachers main teaching resources are the white board, overhead, and worksheets. They have one computer for the children to play on at recess, and the teacher has his laptop, which is mainly used to take attendance.
There definitely needs to be some technology integrated into this school, and in this classroom. These children only know how to learn by lecture, pencils and papers.


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An Elmo is a piece of equipment that the teachers can check out of the library to project books, pictures or other things they want to show the students in a larger view. It's very expensive so they could only afford to get one for the time being, but it's a pretty cool piece of technology. You lay the book or picture on the flat surface, and the projector puts it on the wall for everyone to see, instead of having to make overheads for each thing, and they can also be larger than just paper size. I would definitely like to use this type of equipment in my room when I become a teacher. It's makes teaching more interacting and fun for the students.


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The interactive whiteboard is something I definitely would like to teach with and use in my classroom. It's is so fun for the teacher and the students. It is very interactive, and involves the students to a degree that a normal whiteboard or overhead can't do. It has some great programs, and to be able to also show videos, clips, and other online sources is great for the students to be able to get introduced to that. They may be a lot of money, but they would be well worth it. It's a great source of technology, and can be used for so many different things. It would also be great to have other teachers or colleagues that have these sources of technology also so you can teach one another, and become educated to better teach the students.

The mobile lab is also great for students, especially when they only get once a week in tbe school computer lab, with no computer teacher. The students will be able to have the time to do research,webquests, discover new things, and the teacher is also allowed to teach in a whole new way. It's great for the students to be able to follow along with the great web resources as a class, instead of only using technology and computers for direct instruction. It also gives the students more experience and knowledge about computers in general, and also the teacher to stay in tune with all the technology. I would definitely like to have a mobile lab for each of my students, and to be able to teach in such a great interactive way.

Reflection #10

This last week we have continued working on creating Web Quests, which has been fun to see how it all comes together. It offers exploration, activeness, creativity, and more. Web Quests are also fun to use to communicate lesson objectives and the curriculum to my students. They are able to learn and explore on their own. Web Quests also allow students and parents to work together to explore new topics and know what's going on in the curriculum. Parents are able to know what their child is learning and get a chance to help teach their child, just not the teacher. This web quest assignment as also helped me to understand how to use web quests more efficiently, and know what's going on. 

There is a lot ot things to be learned through out the media and it's great to be able to use it more and more in the classrooms. The way we have been working in our pods could be a similar way it could be done with my colleagues, or others that are creating web quests with me. It takes team work, dedication, research, and everyone just doing their part. it is fun to be able to create a tool used by students and other people to learn from. Making web quests are a lot of fun, and open a whole new way of doing things. I love using power point, but I love even more how interactive this power point is. When students get to interact with others, and with media it's a great learning cycle to have in the classroom. 

This week I have started a new job, and it's been amazing to see how much I have been using the technology we have been learning about, or that has been mentioned in class. I have been a lot with Excel, which is a lot of fun and really helps me keep things organized, and helps generate numbers very easily. Excel helps the process go faster, and more efficient. I have also been doing a lot with email, which helps a ton with saving time on the phone, and being able to also see it and just not hear it helps a ton. Emails are also great to be able to save information given that will need to be used down the road or multiple times. I have also been using different company websites that are used to promote business, and help generate revenue. It's a great way for customers to see what the business is all about, what to expect, contact information, any other important information. These websites are similar to our classroom sites we created to also help students and parents to see what the teacher and classroom is all about. Rules, homework, expectations, schedule, projects, announcements, and other things the teacher wants to post. I just get concerned because it's an open site, which it worries me about viewers, and what they are viewing it for. 

Video

"We Didn't Start The Fire"

This video clip was so fun to watch, and covered a lot of interesting material, in such a short amount of time.  It was very creative, and rhymed very well.  It was a great idea to also have the words and the date the events and people occurred in case people couldn't fully understand what the person was singing.  It was interesting to see the different events that took place in each era, and the progression that took place in the world.  This clip could also be used to compare the world today and see how much the world has progressed since then.  This could be a great clip to show maybe to older kids to see the important people through out earlier times of the world, and also certain events that took place that made an impact on the world.  It could also be fun for the students to make a clip of their own as a  class of the era they are living in, and the different things they have went through and things they have experienced.  For little kids it may show to many sex symbolisms and drugs, although it was a big part of life, it maybe wouldn't be appropriate.  I personally really enjoyed it and it was a fun way to learn something new.  I think students would really enjoy this clip.  

Reflection #9

This week in media we discovered Web Quests and how great they are to use in the classroom, and for both students and teachers. It's a fun new way to learn, and explore new topics. Web Quests will help me communicate with my students through discovery and allowing them to do assignments at home. This way of learning could be my way of communicating to some of my students if this is their way of learning. It is also a way to communicate to them specific things I want them to know, or to explore. (If I created my own for them). Web Quests are also a great way for the teacher to communicate with the parents with what they should be learning and know. It is a great way for parents to help their children learn at home, and help them understand the material. It is also a great way to communicate to the parents what is being taught to their children in class. I can also collaborate with my colleagues through a web quest by sharing some web quests I have created on my own that I taught to my class, and worked. It would also be a great project to do as teachers to create one together for the grade being taught. It's also a great idea to communicate to the other colleagues different and fun web quests they used to help them also better their lessons. Web Quests I think will be very popular for my students when I start teacher, because it's a student-directed lesson. There are allowed to learn and discover on their own. There are so many great lessons and information on the web, and it's a chance for them to utilize it. Students also love technology, and it's a great way to get them introduced to the technology out there, and new ways of learning. Web Quests are just learning from a lecture, paper and pencil. It's a whole new concept and any kind of change with learning or within the classroom, helps the students get re-motivated to learn. Not only are they popular for just the students but also my colleagues. Web Quests aren't only fun for the students but teachers can also have a lot of fun doing them, or making them. It's a new way of learning and teaching, which is always great to have new ideas. It is a very effective way of teaching, that doesn't allow the teacher to just stand in front of the classroom and lecture. They also enjoy creating them, to help better direct their lessons and encourage learning. In order to achieve classroom objectives in the classroom by using Web Quests is to first search the right topic, allow student discovery, and be there for questions or assistance. Web Quests allow students to be independent learners, and also allows teachers to teach the objective also, plus some. Most Web Quests are also very specific in their directions to help guide the students to correct information, which also is helpful. The students are having fun and learning at the same time, and that is a very important or should be a very important objective in the classroom. As the children are learning facts they are also learning objectives about technology. Some pros of a Web Quest is the the chance students get to use technology in school more than just writing papers in the computer lab. It also gives them a chance to use it at home to also help get their parents familiar with the technology also. It allows independence, self discovery, exploration, a new concept of learning, fun and interactive, student directed learning, and there are many other great things this way of learning can help students. It is also great for the teacher to explore also and direct lessons in a new way. Web Quests can also be done at home which is very beneficial if the students doesn't complete ttheir assignment or is absent. Some cons of a Web Quests is the technology if the students don't have access to a computer, or the internet at home. It may also take some students more time and may be harder to understand. It may also be a longer learning process for some students, and a different concept that may be hard to catch on to if they haven't done much with computers or the web. There may not be enough time in the computer lab to complete the quest, so they may have to take their work home. Video Surface Computing This new computer, surface computing is so interesting. I love how they keep coming up with such great ideas of new technologies. This computer would be great for sharing things to large groups of people, such as doing a presentatin on a certain topic, photo sharing, or designing somehting together. They have the ability to do hangs on things that they normally would sitting at a table, but just not on paper. It is great how you can manipulate more than one thing at a time, which is great for different occupations. It is amazing to me how they could take a picture and place the camera on the surface computer and the picture pops right up, which can then be placed on another device such as a cell phone. It is so quick and easy. It will be exciting to see where these types of computers will end up.