Post #10

I found it interesting that Marissa plans on using YouTube in her classroom. I can't argue that there aren't informational videos on the web page but I also know that there are a lot of poor intentioned videos as well. I would trust that she would never let her students surf YouTube on their own, especially since the site is blocked on most school networks. I do think YouTube would be an excellent way to improve presentations and class discussions, however, so long as the students are monitored.

I have no idea what they're called but I would like to learn how to use those drawing pads you can plug into your computer. Not only am I completely fascinated by this, I think it would be great to use in the classroom. With this pad, the students could collaboratively created diagrams and charts by taking turns using the drawing pad. This way, all students are actively participating and learning as they have fun.

To achieve my future educational technology goals in the future, I will consistently integrate new teaching tools with old ones. For example, if my students are participating in a digital project, we will be reading real books with paper pages they can turn. Alternatively, if we are reading a book via the internet or other computer based program, we will use colored pencils or crayons and construction paper for our activities. This way, students will remain capable in both technological and traditional ways of learning.

Post #9

I have somewhat stumbled upon the web-based resource that I will write about here; I googled the subject on accident when my computer auto-corrected a typo. Luckily, this website was the first on the list. It is the PBS teachers site. Not only is this website completely equipped with information in each subject, but for each K-12 grade level as well. Within the websites archives, information can be found in several formats; audio, video, off-line activity, etc...

Personally, I would be using this site for middle school language arts. That being said, I spent a good thirty minutes browsing the site's 6-8 Reading and Language Arts archive (http://www.pbs.org/teachers/classroom/6-8/reading/resources/). There, I found amazing teaching tools. For example, the very first link is to a teachers guide to The Diary of Anne Frank which, as I'm sure we're all aware, is required reading at this grade level. IN addition, on the following pages, I found countless poetry readings from many popular poets along with activities and handouts for students. This site has an infinite amount of resources and I look forward to using it in the future.

I mostly see myself using Excel while grading as a teacher. Unfortunately, in middle school language arts, there are few assignments that will have specific numeric grades, as would a math class. However, I will use Excel to record student participation and attendance along with their overall letter grades which will be assigned numbers. For example, A's will be 90-100, B's will be 80-90, etc... Using this program to keep tract of students grades is much more trustworthy and I look forward to using it in my classroom as well as the above mentioned resource.

Post #8

I was at first quite annoyed with the PowerPoint assignments, and as you can see, I decided not to complete them. This is based strictly on the fact that I learned how to do most everything presented to me in class recently when I was about twelve years old; I didn't feel that it was worth the time to complete. However, I did learn some interesting "tricks" this week in class.

I feel that the ability to link slides to one another, as in he second assignment, will be monumentally useful. As an eighth grade language arts student (which is what I am planning to teach), I always found that games were the easiest way to learn. Jeopardy is the prime example; teaching students to know the question rather than the answer teaches them to better analyze knowledge. I also found that using PowerPoint as a way to show one of Aesop's fables to the class is quite a good idea. It will be difficult, no doubt, to teach students excerpts from Shakespeare but, it will be much easier set to pictures on a presentation.

Post #7

I feel that the biggest advantages of using presentation software in the k-12 classroom are convenience, aesthetics, and versatility, among others. It is much more conventient, for example, to download a Power Point and present it to a class than to spend time structuring a lecture and printing out diagrams/hand outs. It's also a lot more entertaining for the student to watch a presentation or participate in a game via a presentation than to sit and take notes for forty five minutes at a time. Mostly, I believe the versatility of presentation software is its biggest advantage; put at Power Point on a flash drive and you can use it virtually anywhere that has a computer. I only see one disadvantage: impersonality. Presentations shown on big pull-down screens may be more visually pleasing but they lack the explicit interaction between teacher and student that comes along with old fashioned lectures.

Post #6

While I feel that Web 2.0 technologies have a promising future, I do not feel it has a place in education; both K-12 and above. Personally, I would use them at home to browse news sources and celebrity gossip. I would not, however, depend on them for lecture material. I don't believe that they are a genuine, academic source, no matter what the content. Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule, however, for now, I am sticking to a no-Web 2.0 zone for my classroom.

I would be flat-out lying if I told you I've never spent a couple hours (or more) poking around Wikipedia or that it was the first source I clicked on after Googling something. It is highly entertaining and, for the most part, informational. Notice I said informational, not educational or factual, simply because it is not. I ran an experiment once on Wikipedia: I located a somewhat popular subject and tacked on two sentences to the "History" section. I had no reference for that information and basically made it up right there on the spot. I checked the site periodically for a few days and I still check it every now and again. It is still there, completely false and nonsensical. I've seen first hand the way facts can be manipulated on Wikipedia and as a result, it will not ever be used in my classroom.

Over the past week I have created a teacher website using TeacherWeb.com. I didn't pay for the entire subscription so I am limited to the free 30-day trial but I have really enjoyed using the web as a means to connect to my students and their families. I found that I could easily update parents through the main page announcements, keep children aware of my weekly schedule, and keep upcoming events on the calendar. I will most definitely be using this website, or one like it, to create a web page for my classes in the future. Not only will my students be technologically advanced in the future, so will their parents. I find that having a website is the single best way to keep an open line of communication between all three parties, students, teachers, and parents.

Post #5

I think it's absolutely unavoidable for students not to use the internet while researching. I personally have rarely used an actual book for research unless 1) the book was the central topic or 2) the teacher forbade the use of internet sources. Students of the future will, sadly, not know what it is to use a real book with real paper pages. Already there are novels, poems, and encyclopedias online; when I am a teacher books will be virtually obsolete, the internet will be our only option.
I feel this is useful because it is much faster and easier to access; it takes a lot more effort to locate a single book among thousands of others in a library than it does to Google the topic. It is most definitely not useful when it becomes a way for students to be distracted and misinformed. Unfortunately, not everything on the internet is trustworthy, this may pose a problem. However, now that I am able to create web resource evaluations I am more confident about avoiding these problems.

As a teacher in a tech-savvy world, there are countless ways to use web-based resources in the classroom. Although I would love to use books as my primary references, let's face it: the internet is easier and faster. I feel that using web-based resources is the most efficient way to create lesson plans, presentations, handouts, and even a teacher website.
Some resources that I would definitely use in my classroom are:
http://www.vocabulary.com/
http://www.poets.org/
http://www.grammarbook.com/

Having stumbled upon pornographic and graphic images myself, I am very concerned about how my students will navigate the internet. I am especially concerned because of the age of my students; I hope to teach middle school level Language Arts (so 11-13 year olds). I know that I would not want my 12 year old looking at boobies and chopped off limbs at any time, especially not at school but, using the internet is unavoidable and the negative websites are as well. Not only could an absolutely innocent and well-intentioned student happen upon something completely inappropriate, problem students could easily access risky websites intentionally.

Post #4

I would create outlines of the day's notes and distribute them before a lecture to guide students note taking. I would leave sections titled with blank bullet points, provide the majority of key concepts in bold with the important words left blank, and perhaps leave a blank spot in which the kids could copy a flowchart from the overhead or some other chart; for this I would use Word.This brings me to the way in which I would use idea maps. Although I might use them in a presentation, I might also use them in grading rubrics, group project assignments, handouts and many other things; for this I would use inspiration.

I would most definitely encourage my students to create outlines, idea maps, and storyboarding skills, especially because I will be an English teacher. All three of these organization tools will aide them in creating essays and stories alike. Not to mention, it will improve their ability to associate different concepts. Also, these skills will be essential in higher education.

Within the last week, I have learned to organize my lesson plans with Inspiration9. At first, I did not see how the program would be useful in my future. However, after exploring the program and becoming acquainted with the way it works, I see the possibilities. I will be able to use the program to my own personal advantage, the program will allow me to create instructional tools for my students as well.

Post #3

In my classroom, which would most likely be middle school Language Arts, I would assemble a daily lesson plan that incorporated the use of Power Point, Inspiration9, and Word. I would begin the day with a handout made in Word on the day's topic. The handout would include new information as well as review questions; the students could refer back to these handouts when studying for a test. I would then give a lecture aided by a Power Point presentation. Within the Power Point I would include videos, interactive games, animations and pictures all surrounding the day's topic so that the students would not grow bored. Then, I would follow the lecture with a flow chart or outline designed in Inspiration9 that included fill-in-the-blanks as a review of the day's lecture. The remainder of the class would be dedicated to group discussion and activities.

For my website critique I chose a blog about cakes that have been horribly decorated, CakeWrecks.com. I feel that this site is very well designed. It employs the multimedia principle and uses well justified text to notify where the reader is on the site. There is only one type style accentuated by a limited amount of colors that have become the CakeWrecks standard; I have been viewing this site for over a year and the colors remain to be blue, white, and orange. Within every blog post, there are multiple pictures with hilarious captions and there is nothing on the page to distract you from the purpose except a few ads along the edges. The author of this blog is very in touch with her audience and does book tours frequently after posting the dates and locations on the blog. Overall this page is well designed and easy to navigate.

I haven't really had any experience with copyrighted material in school before. I suppose I have watched copyrighted videos or read copyrighted books but there has never been a problem associated with them. However, I would avoid problems with fair use in my classroom by always giving credit where it's due. For example, if I borrowed a Power Point from another teacher or found it online, I would just add a line on the title page stating where it came from and that it is not my original idea but, I will strive to create my own lessons from scratch. Within these lessons I will include a column along the right side of each page to notify students of where exactly the information came from. For example, if we were covering The Great Gatsby, I would refer to the chapter, page and location on the page (top, middle, or bottom). As for students, I will instruct them how to properly cite their work at the very beginning of the year and provide them with handouts of examples and thorough directions for the future. Of course, if my students needed any additional instruction I would be there.

Post #2

If I were to detail my history with MS Word, I would bore you with stories small and large beginning when I was about eight years old. Instead, I will hit the high points:
I learned how to use the basic program in elementary school while in computer lab. While there, we mostly held competitions to see who could type the fastest, I never did very well.
I went to a technologically advanced middle school that had been chosen to be a State Demonstration School for Florida. Because the school served as an example of what education was to be like in the future, my classmates and I were given an education that was a bit ahead of its time. All of our assignments, even math and science, were done through the school's network and digital drop box.
By the time I graduated high school I had seen practically every corner of MS Office. Not only was I using it on a daily basis, my teachers were using it to instruct class in place of overhead projectors and blackboards. For example, in algebra, we used Excel as a means to complete homework assignments and submit them electronically. In English, we used Word as a template for outlining essays as well as writing essays and stories themselves.

I would love to use MS Word in my classroom as more than a tool to create newsletters and note taking guides. I would be very much like to use the program as an interactive guide during lectures. While I used the board for charts and diagrams and a lecture as the primary source of information, I could use the overhead projection of a Word document to write notes as I lecture so that my students would have notes specific to everything I've said. Perhaps while I update the notes from my computer, the students notes would update as well leaving blank spots for them to fill in. Of course, this would require that my students all have a computer of their own but I'm sure this is not a far cry from what is soon to be reality.

Although I have harboured the skills necessary to complete most of the tasks we have been given in class thus far, I was never given proper instruction to execute those tasks creatively. For example, if I wanted to I could probably have created a quiz from my basic skills. However, in this class I was given direction as to how I could make the quiz lively and aesthetically pleasing. I had never thought to use graphics as part of a question before and had I not been directed to do so, would have been likely to create boring quizzes for my future students. I am confident that having a quiz that appears to be more fun will be taken in better stride by my students.

Post #0

Prior to taking this class, I have taken Computer Literacy as an online course twice so I am already quite technologically proficient. Other than taking those courses I have led a life surrounded by technology; I had an e-mail account when I was only ten. I haven't had to get film developed in at least five years because my digital camera is my best friend. As a student in the twenty-first century, I never use paper and pencil for anything; I can't even remember the last time I hand wrote an essay, maybe third grade? As well as using Word to write papers, I only use online sources when researching a topic; to me, using a book as a source seems almost archaic.

Hopefully I will learn how to best use my technological knowledge in the classroom throughout the course of this class. In the future I look forward to helping young students learn how to read and write to the best of their capabilities and I know that this class will give me the skills necessary to do that using technology. Just by learning what kind of learner I am I have already been reminded to use words as well as diagrams to teach my students.

During today's activity, I learned that I am an Active, Intuitive, Visual, and Global learner! I already knew that I was a visual learner; even though I love to read books for pleasure I would much rather learn something in class through graphs and charts, pictures and diagrams. I was surprised to see that I am an active learner. I usually find group work excruciating and would much rather work on my own but I do learn better when my teacher gives me an interactive game to play such as "American History Jeopardy" or what-have-you. It wasn't a big shock to learn that I am intuitive, however. The biggest thing I agreed with is that I absolutely hate doing something twice, I never ever ever double check my work. Looking back, it is pretty obvious that I am global as well. Time after time I will not understand anything the lecturer has said until they say, "and this is what it looks like all together." Then, it's like a little light bulb goes off!