ILP: "Design" - Podcast

I decided to do a podcast for one of my independent learning projects.  I think podcasts provide a great way for students to become familiar with a concept.  Podcasts are typically short and to the point, so students can listen to it whenever they want.  I decided to make my podcast about teachers using technology in the classroom and how it is always changing.  I also gave some examples of technologies that are helpful in classrooms.  This podcast is directed towards college students that are trying to become teachers.  The podcast was very easy to make, and I will definitely utilize this tool in my future classroom.  

ILP "Design" - Prezi

I created a Prezi presentation for this lesson.  In this first grade class, the students are learning about plants.  The presentation is very simple and not long.  I believe this will help the students focus more and not be overwhelmed by new information.  I also provided an example slide at the end of the presentation for them to put this new information into perspective.  I think Prezi’s are a better and more interesting way to present things to a classroom.  This was actually my first time using Prezi, but I think it will be a great addition in my future classroom. 

https://prezi.com/rc_0vn1iznof/plant-prezi/

10 The last post

I really liked this week’s assignment because I never knew how to make an interactive PowerPoint before.  This tool will be really useful in making fun review games for my class around test time.  Next time I may change the format of my PowerPoint to a different game other than Jeopardy.  Jeopardy can take a long time because there are so many questions, and I may only have class time for a shorter game.  I also really like how the layouts of certain games are available to us online so it is really easy for teachers. 

I think Data Collection tools will be helpful in calculating students’ grades.  It helps me create an organized list of students’ assignments and tests.  It also provides a fast way to calculate averages, medians, modes, etc.  It’s also nice that you only have to write out the formula to calculate these things once and then you can just copy and paste it for the entire list.  Data Collection tools will end up saving me a lot of time as a teacher and it will also keep me more organized.

One of the topics I found most interesting from reviewing classmates’ blogs was flipped classrooms.  I think this provides students with a helpful tool in reviewing for exams and bringing the classroom home.  These flipped lectures also may help give teachers ideas on how to teach that concept to their students.  I also liked reading about the different technologies people want to incorporate into their future classrooms that we did not previously discuss in class.

A technology-related skill I would like to learn next is Microsoft Publisher.  I have tried to use this tool before, but I found it confusing because I have never learned about it in class.  I think this tool would be good for newsletters, resumes, invitations, etc.  It seems that this tool is very helpful in the professional world, so I really hope to learn more about it in my college education. 

In order to achieve my future educational technology-related goals I will try to stay on top of new technologies.  I will also keep an open mind to new technologies and try my best to incorporate them into my classroom.  I learned many new skills in this class that will help me in my future classroom.  I hope to learn new tools from teachers in the future so that I can successfully utilize all the benefits technology has to offer. 

Survey: Reading

https://fsu.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_3rOkWJ4pbyCJh4N

9 online or personal lecture?

I think the Flipped Classroom is a great resource for students and teachers.  This gives students an easy way to study at home before tests because they have their teachers’ lectures on the computer.  Also, teachers are able to get ideas based off of how other teachers teach certain lessons.  One of my high school classes actually had a flipped classroom.  It was nice during test time, but I didn’t like that we didn’t get that in-classroom lecture experience.  It was easier to remember information when I actually heard the teacher in class.  I believe that it is a good addition to a teacher’s lectures in class. 

http://www.scholastic.com/bookwizard/

This site would be useful in my professional development.  It helps teachers find books depending on the subject, author, etc.  This would help me find proper books for my future classroom, and I can use it in several locations.  This site can be used in the classroom, at home, or in the library. 

This site also provides teachers with student activities and quizzes.  This helps teachers access whether the book they chose was good for their students.  This will help me change the lesson plans in my classroom for future years.  This site is very convenient because so much can be accomplished on this site alone.  Teachers don’t need to assign students to complete activities on a bunch of different sites.  

Before this week’s assignment, I did not know how to hyperlink something to another slide.  This skill will be helpful in presentations if I don’t want to click through all the slides just to get to a slide later on in the presentation.  This will also help students stay more focused.  I also never knew I could look online to get PowerPoint templates.  I always just looked at the different designs that PowerPoint provides us with.  I believe that these other templates provide a more interesting format for students to look at.

8 past, present, and future technologies

I think Personal Learning Environments (PLEs) hold the biggest promise for future education.  These online environments allow learners to target personal learning goals with selected strategies and resources.  This type of learning is especially useful for distant education programs and other types of teaching that can’t be done face-to-face.  Schools and teachers may use PLEs to share their work and social media experiences.  They may also use them to create their own learning tools. 

Another future technology in education is flexible displays.  These displays are flexible, light-weight, and extremely thin.  Students are able to roll them up which makes it very easy to bring them from class to class.  These displays are especially useful for notetaking during lectures.  The purpose of them is to be handier than bringing bulky laptops, tablets, and notebooks. 

The digital divide is the difference between the people who have access to technology and those who 

don’t have access to technology.   I grew up with having access to technology at home, so I feel more confident using technology in the classroom.  The digital divide is an important concept for me to understand for my future classroom because each student will be exposed to different amounts of technology.  I will use technology in the classroom, but I will also teach alternative methods so the students won’t have to rely on it.  

7 PowerPoints and Presentations

I didn’t know much about Bloom’s Taxonomy before this blog. It has six learning domains: remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating. For the remembering domain, I could make one of my slides of the PowerPoint have basic facts that the students already have learned about the topic. This would help refresh their memory without overwhelming them with a bunch of new information. Next is understanding, so I could have them explain ideas or concepts in their own words. This would show me if they really understand the topic or not. The next domain is applying. To cover this in the PowerPoint, I would give an example on how the topic applies to the real world. I could then have the students come up with their own example. For the analyzing domain, I would have the students examine the new topic. There could be a slide explaining different concepts of the topic for students to analyze. For the evaluating domain, I would have a slide with the pros and cons of the topic. This includes weaknesses, advantages, comparing, and contrasting. For the last domain, creating, I would dedicate a slide directing students to create their own ideas about this topic. This includes projects, essays, etc.

According to chapter 4, one example of adaptive learning technology is talking spell-checkers. This supports learners because it reads aloud the misspelled word and then suggests a list or correctly spelled words for the student to choose from. This will help the student learn that they misspelled a word and learn the correct spelling. Recorded books are another example. This technology supports the students to learn and comprehend books better by hearing them than by listening. I have used recorded books in the past in classes. One challenge with using this is that not all students learn better by listening to the book. I personally found it difficult to understand the book when it was a voice recording, so this method didn’t work well for me.

This week’s assignment helped me learn how to make a class website. This will be very useful in my career because it will allow me to post assignments, announcements, and other information for parents and students. I like that this website allows a central location for students to find information. The only downside is the URL may be difficult for parents/students to remember. They also would have to type the URL in exactly to access the website. Next time I would add more photos into my website to make it more visually appealing for viewers. I’d also add more links to assignments for students.

Bullet point alternatives

I this presentation will be very helpful for students because many don't know how to stray away from regular bullet points. This presentation is a good and visual example on how people can change the way they structure bullet points in their presentations.

13 Alternatives to Using Bullet Points in Presentations from Melissa Milloway, MSIT

6 Class websites and technologies

The school website I visited was John G. Riley Elementary School.  One of the tabs in this website links the viewer to all the different class websites.  The list is organized by the teachers’ last names which makes it very easy for parents and students to find.  Without signing in, you can’t see the information provided in these teacher websites.  However, students and parents are able to find information about the teacher, assignments, important documents, etc. on these class websites which can be very useful.  It doesn’t show what grade the teachers teach publically.  (http://www.leonschools.net/Page/2620)

Technology will be a big part in my classroom.  I will utilize it for grading, assignments, and delivering information.  I think Twitter will be a good tool for my classroom.  According to the podcast, it is a less intrusive way to communicate with an audience than email.  This will be helpful for reminders, important dates, and other relative classroom information.  Also, chapter 7 discusses electronic spreadsheets.  These spreadsheets allow you to organize, input, edit, and chart data and produce accurate reports for administrative tasks.  This will help save me time as a teacher from doing lots of paper work.  This way I will be able to spend more time on my students.

I learned much more about google sites and gmail through the Web Resource Evaluation assignment.  I really like that we can use google sites to collaborate with others and share our ideas.  However, it was a little difficult using the site because only one person could edit each page at a time.  This was especially difficult when we were in class working on the group paper and only one person could go on at a time.  This made the process a little inefficient.  Also, students could risk overwriting each other's work if they accidentally are editing the site at the same time.  I could use this for several different things in my future classroom; it could even be made into a classroom website.

5 Students creating websites

There are several different types of Web 2.0 tools including Twitter, blogs, Wiki, and YouTube.  I find Twitter to be useful in the classroom because students and teachers can follow various accounts that relate to what they are learning in class.  They may even be able to interact with famous public figures online.  I also think blogging is a good tool to use because it serves as a publishing platform for students’ work.  Blogs allow for students to receive feedback on their ideas and writing while teachers are able to monitor their activity to protect their safety.  Although YouTube is helpful in sharing relative videos in class, it does not engage students in Web 2.0 tools as much as other tools do.  Therefore, I do not think of YouTube as a useful Web 2.0 tool in the classroom.  I will need computer monitors in my classroom in order for students to work on their websites during class.  I think it would be better for the students to work on actual computer monitors rather than laptops for this assignment because they will have more control while using a mouse (pg. 94-95).

One example of a Web 2.0 tool that can be used in the classroom is Weebly.  This is a free site that allows a teacher or students to make a website or blog.  It is very quick and simple to make an account, you just provide your name, username, and password.  The site then brings you to a page where you can chose whether you want to make a site or a blog.  Afterwards, you are able to choose a theme for your site, and it provides a layout for you to easily create your site.  Once you chose your theme/layout, a box pops up and requires you to choose a domain or subdomain name. <http://www.weebly.com/weebly/onboarding.php>

Now comes the fun part.  Weebly offers so many different options on how to make your site.  Although the theme you chose already has a certain layout, you are easily able to move things around and reorganize them.  Weebly is a great option for teachers to make a class website.  I also believe that students would like to utilize this site.  The design of Weebly is very well done; therefore, students will most likely be able to easily navigate it and form their own sites. 

During the concept mapping assignment, I learned how to utilize websiration.  I have never used this site in the past.  Furthermore, I have never made a concept map online before.  I really enjoyed this assignment because I think concept maps can serve as an effective study guide for tests in class.  They help you comprehend the main points of a subject.  I think concept maps will be a useful tool in my future classroom, especially with elementary students because they are very simple.  In the future, I could maybe add some pictures to help give students a visual to help them remember the concepts.  I attached a screenshot of my concept map below.  

4 The internet and my future classroom

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/8_9/solid_liquids_fs.shtml

SC.2.P.8.3 Recognize that solids have a definite shape and that liquids and gases take the shape of their container.

Simulation

I would use this online simulation to give my students a visual representation of how a solid can change to a liquid and vice versa.  It also shows students what temperature is needed for the objects to be liquid or solid.  We would most likely not be able to do this type of experiment in class because it is too dangerous and second graders are too young to be dealing with that type of heat.  Therefore, the simulation is the best way to be able to show students how liquids and solids transform into each other when heat is added or taken away.

I think that the internet is very useful in student research because it is quick and simple.  It is extremely useful in finding the definition of vocab, finding facts about something, and starting research.  The internet provides the student with thousands of sites about each topic which can be incredibly useful while researching something.  However, not all these sites are valid.  The student needs to be sure the site they are using is credible and accurate before using it for their research. 

Throughout my past research experience, I have evaluated sites by asking myself several questions: (1) does the site have an author? (2) does site provide a date when it was published? (3) does it cite its sources? (4) what is the site’s domain (.edu and .gov are more credible than .com or .org)? (5) does the site have a good and organized design? My methods of research differ from those mentioned in the podcast because the podcast recommends open sources, which are free sources that are especially helpful for new teachers.

I learned several new skills while completing the Web Hunt assignment.  One of these new skills is finding a document that was published after a certain date.  You can also find a site published before a certain date by putting “before:” in your Google search.  Another skill I learned is how to exclude a site from my search.  All you have to do is put the sign, “-“, directly followed by the site you want to exclude and it will not show up in your search.  These skills will be very helpful in any future research I have to do in the future.

• Find a website that allows students to make and edit videos.
• Find a presentation software students can use for projects besides Prezi.

3: Technology in my classroom

I chose Twitter to critique because we have to use it a lot throughout this class.  Twitter provides many different ways to communicate ideas with others including hashtags, retweets, and tweeting.  Twitter is visually appealing.  The homepage shows the “live feed” which shows tweets and retweets from people you follow.  Many companies have started using twitter for promotional reasons.  The brief tweets are a good and effective way to deliver information to a younger crowd. 

In my classroom, I will utilize online discussion groups.  According to page 204 in chapter 9, discussion groups allow for teachers to directly communicate with students and other teachers.  I think this is important in a classroom because students would be able to feed off of other students’ ideas.  The textbook also discusses a tool called “Collaborize Classroom” which is an online learning platform that allows teachers and students to discuss the learning materials.  Students are able to engage in other discussions of students and become more involved outside of the classroom.  These techniques would probably be more suitable for 4^th grade and up because it requires students to think more outside the box than they may originally in a traditional classroom.

On the newsletter assignment, I learned how to properly format a school newsletter and figure out which types of stories to include.  Before this assignment, I never really thought about making a newsletter for my class.  This assignment also taught me how to make a hyperlink to my email just in case the letter was delivered electronically.  I enjoyed seeing my fellow classmate’s newsletters and it game me ideas that I could use in the future.  

Future tech teachers

As a student, Microsoft Word seems to be a necessity.  Whether I am looking up a teacher's notes on PowerPoint or writing an essay for English class, it always seems to play a large role in my education.  I personally like when teachers supply PowerPoints to their students because I like that it provides a visual resource.  I am a visual learner, so this is more effective for me than just a lecture without any props.

Copyright and fair use of materials has impacted my learning experience.  In high school, my teachers used to post videos of their lectures online which was very helpful to me.  However, they were forced to take these videos down because some of the pictures were copyrighted.  As a teacher, I plan to try my best to create most of my materials on my own and use minimal other resources.  I think this will make a more personal and creative environment in my classroom and I won't have to face copyright charges.

Before taking this class, I never considered twitter as a professional resource.  However, it is a great way to communicate and share ideas with others.  I think it is a good idea for people to have separate twitters for their professional and personal lives.  In the future, I think Twitter would be a great resource for teachers because they can share different links and ideas with other teachers about what they are doing in their own classes.

Twitter Information

My twitter name is @meghankristine3.
 
https://twitter.com/meghankristine3

1 Blog One

I believe that computers are a very important part of the educational experience because it is important for students to learn how to use technology in today’s society.  Although some teachers are against technology, it will be imperative for future teachers to utilize what technology has to offer.  I think it is also important for teachers to be comfortable with using technology because they need a good understanding in order to successfully teach their students.  The beginning of chapter one discusses how technology is the center of life in the 21^st century.  I completely agree with this statement because technology has changed how we communicate, get directions, and work.  Technology will continue to evolve over time and will continue to be a huge part of people’s lives.

In the classroom, computers provide numerous opportunities for my future students.    One thing I could do is have my kids make a review game on the computers via PowerPoint.  This would be helpful while reviewing subjects before a test.  The students would be able to learn and get more comfortable on the computer.  Another idea I have is to create a class webpage.  Students could refer to this page for information, reminders, and any questions they have about the class.  This would allow students to learn how to interact with others in the class as well as the teacher online.  In this class, I hope to learn about the best ways to teach children how to do these activities at a young age.

              

           I think the term “digital native” is a great term to describe today’s youth because they’ve grown up with technology.  Children as young as two years old can play game on iPads and computers better than adults.  I have noticed that younger students are much more natural at using different forms of technology compared to most teachers.  Therefore, I feel that we aren’t always challenged in classes to utilize multiple forms of technology.  I believe that education in the future will be much more inclined to utilize technology in every age group.  I think teachers will be much better at using technology in the classroom as more digital natives become teachers.  

0 A bit about me

Before coming to Florida State University I was a frequent tech user.  I used technologies ranging from Facetime to playing online games.  I also participated in social networking.  I mainly use Instagram and Twitter to share my thoughts and photos.  Also, in my English class over summer, I had to make a website for my final project.  We had to completely format the website which was very different from what I've done before.


In EME2040, I hope to learn effective ways to successfully incorporate technology into the classroom.  When I went through elementary school, I didn't use much technology.  Therefore, I am somewhat unfamiliar of how children use technology.  I think technology is an essential part of the classroom nowadays, so I am really looking forward to learning about all the different ways I can use it with my students when I'm a teacher.


Today I learned that I am not very familiar with blog writing.  In the past, I have always written in a more formal style for essays and newspaper stories.  I am excited to see how this class will force me out of my comfort zone with writing and teach me how to write in different styles.  I also learned that I am not used to writing shorter paragraphs.  It seems to be more effective in blogs to write short paragraphs, so I will need to get used to writing in brief sentences and short sections.