Everything that I learned in this class was valuable to me. I came into this class having very minimal technology skills and now I feel like I know a little bit of every kind of technology that I would use in a classroom setting. Many of the skills that I learned throughout the semester I used in other classes. I made very nice and clear power points for several presentations that I had in other classes. Also, I used the graphing aspect of Excel to create many graphs, which I used in association with many other classes. I also used the video editing lessons to create a video for a presentation in another class. Overall, I got great grades on any assignment in which I utilized my technology skills learned in this course. Another positive was using MACs, I previously had no experience with using a MAC computer and now that I do have that experience, I actually want a MAC as my personal computer.
I will use all of the skills that I learned in this class in my own classroom in the future. There wasn’t one lesson where I felt like the material wasn’t relevant to my future as a teacher! Therefore, there wasn’t anything that didn’t have value to me :)
The only place where I could see a need for improvement was in the actual assignments themselves. I was confused on many occasions as to the requirements and procedures of the assignments. I realize that there are a lot of assignments but a different approach to the presentation of assignments would have been very helpful to me. A suggestion on that note might be to always provide an attachment with each assignment outlining the exact steps that need to be taken. I know that on most assignments you did that but there were several times in which the attachment outline differed from the WebCT assignment outline and that was really confusing. Another thing was that you went really fast when explaining the processes of the technology. Maybe going through those same explanations twice would be helpful, the first time to take notes and the second time to actually do the processes with you.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Blog #13 / #14
I had a terrible time with the video making process, mainly because my iMovie software and/or the computer that I was working on didn’t work properly. To make matters worse, I was really pressed for time in editing my movie because there weren’t enough fire wires for everyone in the class, so my group had to wait two additional classes until we could upload our video. Furthermore, once we attained a fire wire, it took almost the whole class period to upload the video onto three computers. I am not going to go into details about what specifically went wrong with the technology but I will say that the technology problems seriously affected the quality of my finished video. I was not at all proud of my work and I had to show it in front of the entire class, which was humiliating for me.
I would guess that the problems that I encountered during my movie making process are probably typical to the experiences that my own students can have. Many schools do not have enough technology for every student to “have their own” of everything, and so I will need to be creative in planning projects involving limited technology access. Also, I will need to pre-check that the technology that my class odes use is working properly so that students are not limited in their creations by faulty software. Another thing that is common in classrooms is students being embarrassed to present in front of the whole class. Personally I think that this is an outdated method, which is more likely to create insecurities within students rather than aide them. A way that I can ensure that students remain comfortable in my classroom when presenting their work is to offer the option of more than just one way to present. Students that are really proud of their work and enjoy being in front of an audience can volunteer to do so and students that are maybe a little more shy and/or insecure with their work can choose a different option where students will view their work and provide positive feedback, thereby fostering confidence.
The ISTE article demonstrates the direction that education is going, technology is becoming more and more important for students both in and outside of the classroom. I think that video projects are an excellent way for students to have a fun, hands on learning experience. Furthermore, this type of technology might help students, who are surrounded by technology in their everyday lives, to better relate to the material that they are learning.
I would guess that the problems that I encountered during my movie making process are probably typical to the experiences that my own students can have. Many schools do not have enough technology for every student to “have their own” of everything, and so I will need to be creative in planning projects involving limited technology access. Also, I will need to pre-check that the technology that my class odes use is working properly so that students are not limited in their creations by faulty software. Another thing that is common in classrooms is students being embarrassed to present in front of the whole class. Personally I think that this is an outdated method, which is more likely to create insecurities within students rather than aide them. A way that I can ensure that students remain comfortable in my classroom when presenting their work is to offer the option of more than just one way to present. Students that are really proud of their work and enjoy being in front of an audience can volunteer to do so and students that are maybe a little more shy and/or insecure with their work can choose a different option where students will view their work and provide positive feedback, thereby fostering confidence.
The ISTE article demonstrates the direction that education is going, technology is becoming more and more important for students both in and outside of the classroom. I think that video projects are an excellent way for students to have a fun, hands on learning experience. Furthermore, this type of technology might help students, who are surrounded by technology in their everyday lives, to better relate to the material that they are learning.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Blog #12
My group chose third grade science as our standard for our video project. We thought that science would be a fun subject to cover, considering the context of the assignment. We chose third grade because the majority of our group is looking to teach that specific grade, so we felt that it would be appropriate to work with the associated standards. We are going to do a cheesy version of a child science explorer show. In our video a struggling student is whisked away by a knowledgeable explorer who teachers her all about the desert, oceans, and rainforests. I thought that the storyboard process was a necessary step in creating a video. If we hadn’t done the storyboard we probably wouldn’t have come up with half of the ideas. Making a storyboard forces you to have to picture your ideas and concepts and from there the script kind of just falls into place.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Bog #10
I thought that the filimentality assignment was interesting and fun. I did notice that there were a lot less available resources on the internet than I originally thought there were, fun ones at least. Most of the sights that I found were just the boring read and learn strategy. I think that a Hotlist is a great way to guide students through independent learning. Using the internet to study a subject opens up the possibilities about what can be learned. Meaning, there is a lot more variety on the internet about one subject than in a text book. I read the articles and thought they had a lot of good information. However, my uncle passed away this week and I am having a really hard time concentrating and being motivated so this is the end of my blog for this week.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Blog #9
I thought that the midterm was fairly easy. I was afraid of how hard it might be, considering the scope of what we have covered in the class up until this point. I felt comfortable in all aspects of the midterm. I think that the assignments that we have completed really helped me in preparing for the exam. I would have to say that the the Inspire portion of the test was probably the hardest only because I had to try and summarize what the three different programs were used for. This was only challenging because I had not studied for that. Otherwise, I would have to say that the exam was pretty easy. Don't get me wrong, it was fair and comprehensive. I guess studying the right material and having done quality work on all of my assignments was all I needed to do, to do well on the midterm.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Blog #8
Each of the readings this week focuses on the use of databases in education. The first article, “The World Wide Web: Interfaces, Databases, and Applications to Education”, offers a more technical view of databases. This article points out that a common interface, such as the Web, allows for a more wide variety of accessible databases. It is explained that there are three different parts involved in entering information into forms on the Web. The three components are: database, interface, and the actual Web form. Information gets from the Web forms to the host’s database through a Common Gateway Interface (CGI) script. It is a complicated process but there are prepackaged CGI scripts available. Prepackaged CGI scripts help teachers with the creation of databases without knowledge of the “complicated programming techniques” (p. 41). This article also points out that databases can be used for forums, which can be used to hold online class discussions of pre-determined topics. Also, databases can be used to “hand in” assignments using the computer and conduct online class evaluations.
“The Database: America’s Presidents” talks about how databases can be used to create in class group assignments. This article highlights the shift in fundamental skills from the three Rs to the six Cs. The first four of the six Cs focuses on problem solving and includes: computing, communicating, concluding, and confirming. The final two of the six Cs focuses on information management and includes categorizing and classifying. Managing information found is an important skill needed in relation to the abundance of information that can be accessed through technology. In addition, databases play on the students’ natural tendencies to want to categorize items and information. This article suggests that a database activity be used to introduce the new skills involved in the use of databases. This type of activity is best as a group activity in order to enhance cooperative learning. Databases allow students to “arrange, sort, view, filter, and manipulate data in a variety of ways” (p. 10). The hands on aspect of this type of information based activity helps in the retention aspect of learning.
The final article, “Bells and Whistles: Organizing Data for Whole-Class Use”, also focuses more on the in class uses of databases. It is pointed out that database activities are great for one-computer classrooms. The class is given the task to research a certain topic, enter the found data into the one computer, and then discover relationships between the data. Databases are good for classroom learning for four main reasons. One, it involves working with electronic information, which there is more and more of everyday. Two, creating, defining, and categorizing information involves higher order thinking skills. Three, database use involves such critical thinking skills as: classifying, defining, categorizing, inferring, comparing, and contrasting. Four, the different formats available allows for greater flexibility.
“The Database: America’s Presidents” talks about how databases can be used to create in class group assignments. This article highlights the shift in fundamental skills from the three Rs to the six Cs. The first four of the six Cs focuses on problem solving and includes: computing, communicating, concluding, and confirming. The final two of the six Cs focuses on information management and includes categorizing and classifying. Managing information found is an important skill needed in relation to the abundance of information that can be accessed through technology. In addition, databases play on the students’ natural tendencies to want to categorize items and information. This article suggests that a database activity be used to introduce the new skills involved in the use of databases. This type of activity is best as a group activity in order to enhance cooperative learning. Databases allow students to “arrange, sort, view, filter, and manipulate data in a variety of ways” (p. 10). The hands on aspect of this type of information based activity helps in the retention aspect of learning.
The final article, “Bells and Whistles: Organizing Data for Whole-Class Use”, also focuses more on the in class uses of databases. It is pointed out that database activities are great for one-computer classrooms. The class is given the task to research a certain topic, enter the found data into the one computer, and then discover relationships between the data. Databases are good for classroom learning for four main reasons. One, it involves working with electronic information, which there is more and more of everyday. Two, creating, defining, and categorizing information involves higher order thinking skills. Three, database use involves such critical thinking skills as: classifying, defining, categorizing, inferring, comparing, and contrasting. Four, the different formats available allows for greater flexibility.
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