Final Blog Reflection

What do you feel is the most useful technology you have learned this semester?

I definitely think the most useful technology I have learned this semester was the class website. I really enjoyed the Wiki version rather than the Google version though. Since the semester is over and I have time, I will be making a Wiki site rather than maintaining my Google site. This resource will be so helpful for students when they are needing help outside of school time. It will also be very useful for collaboration among students in the classroom in the sharing of ideas and projects, and even study helps.

How do you plan to use this or other technologies in your future classroom?

I will be using a class website to set up group projects, study guides, reading assignments, and general communication between me and the students. I think that all of these methods will be helpful to both me and the students, enabling us to be more efficient in our teaching and learning.

How can you use these technologies to engage your students in "active" learning?

With technology, it is not simply something that can be shown to your students. They have to experiment with it and learn how to use it as well. Often the students will be the ones teaching us rather than us teaching them when it comes to technology. Having my students do projects using any of these technologies will be essential in ensuring that all the students are participants and active learners.

Wiki Project

After using the Wiki and uploading my personal technology project, I can't wait to be able to use one in my own classroom! It was so useful and it is very open to change and contributions from whoever is allowed to edit it. It was also very helpful being able to see other students' projects to get a feel for what other teachers are planning on using in their future classrooms.

Here is a link to my personal technology project. It was so much fun working with the Google Earth software. You can do so many things with it and explore all over the world! I will definitely be using the program in my classroom.

This Semester

This semester my favorite thing that we did in our online class was making our class websites! I can't wait to be able to use this when I become a teacher! Here is a link to my class website.

Personal Technology Project Proposal

I have been exploring Google Earth for the past few days. I think it is fascinating all the things you can do with it and the places you can see. For my project, I am going to use Unit 6 of the Geography standards for UEN, and focus on both Objective 1 and 2. This standard states that students should be able to use geographic knowledge to connect to the current world. Objective 1 states that students should be able to use geography to connect to the past. Objective 2 states that students should be able to use that past knowledge to understand the current world.
As a project using Google Earth, students would choose a place anywhere on earth, and use the technology to explore the actual location. Using their knowledge of geography, they would decide how the civilization which they chose, came to exist in the way it does. Then they would see if this correlates in the methods which we have studied in class, or if it varies from the norm in the civilization's development. By doing this project, students would have to apply what they have learned in the class and it would help them understand the material in a hands-on approach.
This technology will enhance this project because the students can look at the actual location and analyze it from a bird's-eye perspective.

Internet Safety: Sharing with a Parent

After learning about internet safety, I was actually kind of interested to see what my parents had to say about it. I have a younger brother who is in his mid-adolescent years, and he is starting to spend a lot more time on the computer. I was able to share the talk, "Pornography" with my parents. With my younger brother being at that age, my parents were able to see how they can closely monitor him so that he does not get into things that he shouldn't be. I think it was an eye-opener for them to see how readily accessible such things were online, but they were also glad to see the ways in which they could prevent those things from happening.

Internet Safety

While I was reading, I realized just how important it is for us to be so careful while we are on the internet. We also need to make sure that our students are aware of the dangers of the internet. They are lurking on many sites, yet we may not even realize it. Even the simplest things can be wrong if used in an incorrect way. There are so many sites out there that are educational and spiritual, yet the adversary has taken a wonderful thing and used it to promote promiscuity and pessimism. In the "Just a Game" article, it discusses how gaming can take over a person's life and become central to how a person acts and thinks. This also related to Elder Bednar's talk "Things as They Really Are" fireside address. By participating in gaming and online web surfing, it becomes difficult to distinguish between who you really are as a person and the addictions which come from the internet.
As a future teacher and parent, I am beginning to understand the issues that come with the blessing of the internet. As a teacher, I want to encourage the use of the internet as a resource, but I need to make sure it is used as a knowledgeable resource, but that my students are safe while browsing. I can ensure this by investigating sites that I want the students to explore and ensuring that they are wholesome and safe. As a future parent, I can closely monitor my kid's activities and make sure that there is not a lot of idle time spent at the computer, but that there is a purpose in the use of the internet.

Constitution of the United States Video

Making this video was so awesome. I think this type of a project would be very useful for a review for students, or as an introduction when trying to teach a new topic. It would be helpful for the students to have a quick synopsis of what the subject is, in order to prepare them for the upcoming class periods. It gives them a taste of what will be happening. I can see myself using this as a teacher to present different ideas and topics that will be discussed. I can also see my students making these types of videos as a project. By doing so, I think they would learn more about the topic by doing so, because they would have to research for the information. They would also learn more about the importance of copyright because they would have to pull resources to form their video. This project was helpful for me as a future teacher because I have never considered making a video to teach a topic. I will definitely be using this in a future class!

Copyright

"Funny History of USA"
This video is a short, revised version of U.S. history. It is meant to bring humor while at the same time leaving an impression about the content provided. I am not sure that there needed to be credit given to too many sources because it was a home-made video. This video would be a great source in the classroom because it allows the students to see history in a simple view, although it is a bit sarcastic for the topic. Being able to use these videos as a teacher will be very useful, but I can see how easy it would be to overstep into copyright issues. As a teacher, I will need to set the example for my students to understand how important it is to cite different sources that they may use.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26RQuj9-wDo










"Too Late to Apologize: A Declaration"
So the first video I found as a teaching tool is called "Too Late to Apologize: A Declaration" which is acted out by a small group. The song has lyrics which are changed to fit the song "Apologize" by OneRepublic. There are no credits in the beginning or in the end, which is surprising because the song is adopted and revised by this small group. This violates the copyrights we have talked about, because they do not give credit to the original version of the song. I would love to use this in my classroom, because it illustrates the happenings surrounding the Declaration of Independence so well. I am not sure that I would use it though, because the source is not a solid resource.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZfRaWAtBVg

Class Website

For our IP&T class, we got to make class websites! I had never thought of using technology in such a way for the classroom. I can totally see myself using a site such as this for my future classroom. It is a great way for students to stay organized and for parents to stay in touch with the teacher and also the assignments that are due for their student.

It also makes it easier for students to do assignments related to technology by providing them with the resources to do such a thing.

https://sites.google.com/site/msfoxsclass/

Class Websites

I think the idea of having a class website as a teacher is such a great idea! I remember being in high school and thinking that there had to be a better way to coordinate homework and a schedule. As a teacher, I am definitely going to create some sort of website to assist my students. I think it helps the parents as well because they can log on and see what is going on in their child's classroom.

PLN

Twitter Page

Google Reader

For my resources, I found some sites which will aid me in my specific area, being Social Studies and ESL. On Google Reader, I found a site called the NHEC blog. This blog has different teaching ideas including analyzing photos, to how the constitutional section should be taught. Another site is Suite 101: Language Study Articles. This site has articles from different sources that help instructors to teach ESL students. The third site I found is the Workplace Prof Blog. This site has articles that pertain to the professional and outward approach to what is happening in the teaching world. The next resource I used was the PBS Teachers source. This takes different applicable articles and helps us stay informed as to what is going on in the teaching world, and how teachers are responding to it. The last source is Hoopler Clif's-News-Notes. This site is similar to the previous two in that it finds relevant articles to teaching and provides them to an educational audience.

On the Twitter site, I am following a site called Times Education. It is similar to a Times magazine but with all its target towards education. The other site I am following is Discovery Education. This is a twist on Discovery with new research and findings aimed towards education.

Of all the sites, the most useful so far has been the NHEC blog. It goes beyond informing me of what is going on in the world regarding education, and actually helps me find ways to be a better teacher. It can do this through lesson ideas and helps from different sites.

Customizing My Blog

While creating my blog, I added a theme from HotBliggityBlog and then added a picture in the header. I then added an "About Me" section on the right side of the blog. I then added a blogroll with the link to the Class Blog. I will add more blogs once I have access to my group member's pages.