Thursday, February 15, 2007
How can you effectively integrate technology into your teaching and learning?
There is a plethora of ways that I could incorporate technology into my classroom. Podcasting, Audacity software, Garage Band software, Google Earth, WebQuest's, Inspiration/Kidspiration, Wiki's and blogs are just a few of the things that we''re learned about that I could easily and effectively use in the classroom. One good way to use technology in the classroom is to ask the students what they like to do or use for technology. Since they are digital natives, they are automatically going to know much more than I do. This class, just in the few weeks that we've been together has given me enough ideas to implement technology into all six of my lesson plans and in my performance task. If I could learn anything, I would like to know what technology current middle and high schoolers are using day to day so I can plan around that.
Why might it be important for students to learn with technology?
As we talked about in class, it is critical to include technology in the classroom because our students will be digital natives (those who have technology all their lives) and will be accustomed to it and most comfortable with it. Another reason why technology in the classroom is important is because it allows for many different learning styles and intelligences to be incorporated into the learning process. It could help those who learn by doing, those who learn visually or those who learn mathematically, etc. It could also allow for students with physical, emotional and developmental disabilities to function more normally in a classroom. My group presentation on the SmartBoard and our class activity about diversity in the classroom and software such as the Audacity program and the braille program are specific examples of this. I would have to say that before this class, I didn't think I would need or want to incorporate technology into my classroom, but now I understand how crucial it is. Overall, I would just like to continue learning about more technology and how to use them in the classroom so that I have a very well rounded knowledge.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Wiki
On the wiki I mentioned that I really liked the part about procrastination tips and thought that the wiki looked really good. I think that the wiki could be useful to the block because we could post our feelings and by reading other postings, we could relate to how we were stressed, how we were excited about something in the class, etc. The stress management portion could also be really handy to have without having to track down reliable information. I would use wikis in my classroom to have the students create sites about a certain topic that they were studying. I would also have a class wiki to post homework assignments and keep in touch with the parents and students.
Monday, January 29, 2007
NYT Middle School Article
This article is over how to increase middle school performance and cut down on the rate of behavioral problems among the students. Some educators believe the way to do this is to reconfigure the concept of middle school. A debate ensues when the educators started to disagree on whether or not to incorporate middle schools into the younger grades or the older grades; to coddle them or to force them to mature earlier.
As was mentioned in the article, I don't think that moving the middle grades into the schools for older or younger students will make a difference. The positive change has to come from a restructuring of the curriculum so that more in depth discussion on the material is allowed to happen and that the class sizes are decreased to allow for more personalized attention. As I learned in my psychology class, the biggest problems for middle schoolers academically is lack of challenge and lack of in depth discussion. Simply moving the students to a elementary or high school is not going to change that. Therefore, I think the change needs to come from an entirely different source. I think this debate will most definitely affect my teaching as I plan to teach the middle grades. It will be a constant battle over to coddle or prod my students into one age set or the other while all the while, the genuine problem isn't being addressed.
As was mentioned in the article, I don't think that moving the middle grades into the schools for older or younger students will make a difference. The positive change has to come from a restructuring of the curriculum so that more in depth discussion on the material is allowed to happen and that the class sizes are decreased to allow for more personalized attention. As I learned in my psychology class, the biggest problems for middle schoolers academically is lack of challenge and lack of in depth discussion. Simply moving the students to a elementary or high school is not going to change that. Therefore, I think the change needs to come from an entirely different source. I think this debate will most definitely affect my teaching as I plan to teach the middle grades. It will be a constant battle over to coddle or prod my students into one age set or the other while all the while, the genuine problem isn't being addressed.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Podcasts 2
For my additional podcast, I went to the iTunes store and found a bunch of podcasts by Dane Cook. I chose to listen to the "Turkey Sandwiches Galore" podcast. What I really liked about his podcast was that it was funny and had music constantly playing in the background. In the podcast, he talked about what he had been up to, what movies he was working on, etc. One funny part was him reading through MySpace comments. Although I don't particularly care for Dane Cook, it was interesting to listen to him out of character and not doing stand up.
Podcasts 1
What is a podcast?
A podcast is the combined technology of the IPod and broadcasting, although an IPod is not necessary. It's most listened to on computers, is timeshifted and is not platform specific, so it will work on either the pc or the mac.
Compare/Contrast to another technology:
A podcast is similar to the radio, but with more benefits. Unlike a radio, podcasts can be listened to at any time and can be paused, stopped and skipped around. A podcast can also be saved for later use unlike a radio show. With radio shows, there aren't many options to choose from while there are 65,000 podcasts to chose from and the number is growing daily. Radio shows, on one hand, are very expensive and time consuming to produce while podcasts are very inexpensive and take very little time to put together. Another feature of podcasts is that they can be subscribed to and instantly downloaded, unlike radio shows.
Three usages/ Why use them in the classroom?
Well why not use podcasts? They can be used to send assignments to students, to connect your students to the rest of the world by giving them an audience, to practice in foreign language classes, to study for exams, to record/save oral projects and my personal favorite, to hear famous speeches from history. Also, podcasts are very simple to put together and are very inexpensive for teachers. When implemented, they also increase student motivation to succeed.
Why not use podcasts in the classroom?
The only reason I could think of to not use podcasts would be if the technology such as computers or software were not available to the students.
Having listened to the podcast on podcasting, I feel much more comfortable with how they work and would really want to try it in a classroom. My main thinking before this was that podcasts were really only for radio show type uses but now I see that they are much more versatile. I also didn't know if they were free or expensive to make so finding that they are very inexpensive makes me want to make one that much more.
A podcast is the combined technology of the IPod and broadcasting, although an IPod is not necessary. It's most listened to on computers, is timeshifted and is not platform specific, so it will work on either the pc or the mac.
Compare/Contrast to another technology:
A podcast is similar to the radio, but with more benefits. Unlike a radio, podcasts can be listened to at any time and can be paused, stopped and skipped around. A podcast can also be saved for later use unlike a radio show. With radio shows, there aren't many options to choose from while there are 65,000 podcasts to chose from and the number is growing daily. Radio shows, on one hand, are very expensive and time consuming to produce while podcasts are very inexpensive and take very little time to put together. Another feature of podcasts is that they can be subscribed to and instantly downloaded, unlike radio shows.
Three usages/ Why use them in the classroom?
Well why not use podcasts? They can be used to send assignments to students, to connect your students to the rest of the world by giving them an audience, to practice in foreign language classes, to study for exams, to record/save oral projects and my personal favorite, to hear famous speeches from history. Also, podcasts are very simple to put together and are very inexpensive for teachers. When implemented, they also increase student motivation to succeed.
Why not use podcasts in the classroom?
The only reason I could think of to not use podcasts would be if the technology such as computers or software were not available to the students.
Having listened to the podcast on podcasting, I feel much more comfortable with how they work and would really want to try it in a classroom. My main thinking before this was that podcasts were really only for radio show type uses but now I see that they are much more versatile. I also didn't know if they were free or expensive to make so finding that they are very inexpensive makes me want to make one that much more.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Copyright and Fair Use LR
#3- I would be pretty angry if I bought software that wasn't backwards-compatible. In today's world, where technology is always evolving and improving, it's obvious to that everyone will be constantly in the process of updating or upgrading their technology and while in transition, the need for backwards-compatible technology would be essential. ITunes, for example, is a company that is reasonable when it comes to backwards-compatibility. Although some features may not be available or may be slightly altered from version to version, I can still plug in my two-year old IPod into the latest version of the ITunes software and have it work perfectly. If that wasn't the case, I would either have to never update my software or worse, be forced to buy a new IPod every time a new version was released. I feel that backwards-compatibility must be integrated into the plans of the manufacturers every time they release a new product or new software. It is unfair for school systems and students to be penalized when they cannot afford for all of their software to be the latest version.
Monday, January 22, 2007
Copyright and Fair Use QR
#3- I think that it's ridiculous to have software on the market that isn't backwards-compatible, especially at the rate that technology is evolving.
#4- It's very ineffective to mandate that something in public schools be done when the state doesn't have or won't provide the resources to help achieve the task at hand and I feel that the schools should be able to do whatever they have to in order to meet those requirements.
#6 I'm glad that this isn't considered illegal because it would be a real hindrance for teachers getting information to their students if it were.
#7- I was very surprised to see that material that is not copyrighted can still be used on a password protected site.
#14- This is really annoying and frustrating as an RA because this law makes it so that we cannot formally design programs around watching a movie.
#16- I thought for sure that the use of those machines would be illegal as they unblock the copy protection.
#19- It seems rather petty to not allow the yearbook to use the entirety of the songs as it would only lead to more exposure to the general public for the artist's material.
#20- It makes sense for this to be illegal as it's basically a form of bootlegging and relates to personal gain.
#4- It's very ineffective to mandate that something in public schools be done when the state doesn't have or won't provide the resources to help achieve the task at hand and I feel that the schools should be able to do whatever they have to in order to meet those requirements.
#6 I'm glad that this isn't considered illegal because it would be a real hindrance for teachers getting information to their students if it were.
#7- I was very surprised to see that material that is not copyrighted can still be used on a password protected site.
#14- This is really annoying and frustrating as an RA because this law makes it so that we cannot formally design programs around watching a movie.
#16- I thought for sure that the use of those machines would be illegal as they unblock the copy protection.
#19- It seems rather petty to not allow the yearbook to use the entirety of the songs as it would only lead to more exposure to the general public for the artist's material.
#20- It makes sense for this to be illegal as it's basically a form of bootlegging and relates to personal gain.
QR Blogging
This blogging process is much different than my LiveJournal blog but I have to say that I like Blogger more. It has more and better choices for templates and font options. The only thing I don't like about it is that I have a hard time remembering the difference between my username, my display name and other bits of information. Now knowing about Blogger, I think I will move my blog over from LiveJournal.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
NetDay Results
I was shocked by how much I didn't know about "digital natives." I knew that technology was being incorporated into our culture at a younger age, but I didn't realize how young that point had become. Looking back at what kind of technology was available to my classmates and I in the lower grades, I would have to say that we are on the cusp of being "digital immigrants." All throughout my k-6 years, I didn't know about or use such things as DVD's, MP3's, cell phones or blogs. Even my regular desktop usage was very limited. From the results, I learned staggering facts like 63% of students in K-3 use desktops weekly and 30% have e-mail accounts.
This technology boom is sigificant for the teaching profession as it forces teachers to adapt. However, as the results indicated, a teacher's comfortability with technology isn't growing nearly as fast as a student's. This could have significant repercussions as some teachers will no longer be able to teach effectively for the age range they are working with if they cannot use technology in the classroom. For example, with every new trend that an age cohort undergoes, the teacher will have to adapt. One year, students might be more inclined to use e-mail to communicate, while another year, they might prefer IM. If a teacher is not in tune with these changes then student apathy or other problems might arise.
In general, I was mostly shocked by what I read. The number of advanced technology users and their ages are different than I would have thought. I realized that understanding and implementing technology in the classroom will be a crucial addition to a teacher's responsibilities if they are to teach effectively and reach out to their students.
This technology boom is sigificant for the teaching profession as it forces teachers to adapt. However, as the results indicated, a teacher's comfortability with technology isn't growing nearly as fast as a student's. This could have significant repercussions as some teachers will no longer be able to teach effectively for the age range they are working with if they cannot use technology in the classroom. For example, with every new trend that an age cohort undergoes, the teacher will have to adapt. One year, students might be more inclined to use e-mail to communicate, while another year, they might prefer IM. If a teacher is not in tune with these changes then student apathy or other problems might arise.
In general, I was mostly shocked by what I read. The number of advanced technology users and their ages are different than I would have thought. I realized that understanding and implementing technology in the classroom will be a crucial addition to a teacher's responsibilities if they are to teach effectively and reach out to their students.
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