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.

Reflection

Ok I had this blogged by Sunday night, the correct date and time is at the bottom, I accidentally posted it on my Ed Psych blog, sorry.

This week we looked at engrade, which is very helpful for our media class for us to locate our grades. It is a very easy and free way to access grades and at the same time not have them be public. It's easy to access for teachers and makes them from papers, grade books, binders, and other inconvenient things. Communicating through engrade with my students and their grades would be very effective and also easy for them to access at home. I would keep them updated and they would be able to see what they are missing, and can take care of any problems with me as soon as they see something wrong. Students can also access an online attendance sheet through engrade to also help them stay caught up. It would also be very helpful with communicating the students grades to their parents also, instead of them being in the dark with scoring, projects, in-class assignments, and homework. They will be able to stay caught up with the progress of their child, and also help their child stay caught up. Parents can also contact me if they see any problems also with the grades and scoring of their child. Teachers are also able to post online assignment calendars for students and parents to view to also help them stay current. Teachers can easily safely connect with students and parents online to answer questions in a private and SPAM-free environment. Engrade could be a very popular thing, and is nice for children to be able to stay current with their scores and what is going on with their grades on a daily bases. I also love that it's their own, it's not public and use private for the student, cause grades can be a very touchy subject. Like we did for class it's a great idea to have the students go home and view their engrade, sign it, have a parent sign it and turn it back in for points. It's a great incentive, but yet they are benefiting from it. Video-Did You Know 3.0 This video clips are so interesting because as the years go on technology becomes more and more advanced, which also advances occupations for all the people through out the world. It was funny to see that I fell under or will fall under the category of having 10-14 jobs by the age of 38. I have switched jobs so much, but once I get my occupation that will all change. It is so interesting to see how people use and depend on technology so much for communication and other means in their life. My space is a program that expanded at such a rapid rate I think for the good and the bad. It is interesting to think who or where people went to ask the type of questions they ask google just a few years ago. We definitely are living in exponential times. I would have to agree that text messaging is out of control now days, but it's just going to keep expanding. Internet is definitely a faster and more efficient way to communicate to the world, which is a great advantage we have now days. Technology is definitely out there and growing at a very rapid rate. It is a dominate feature in our lives.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009