How will the communication tools/social networking tools learned so far help me communicate with my students? I think that WebQuests are wonderful for communicating effectively with my students. Although the internet can be viewed as a dangerous place for children, WebQuests make it a safe way to teach. The teacher/creator of the WebQuest chooses the websites that the students will be using, so the students are restricted to those websites. The teacher also is responsible for making sure those websites are safe. WebQuests are a great way to introduce a unit, or to wrap up a unit. It is important to make sure, before making a WebQuest, that the students will have access to computers (one per student). It is also important to make sure the questions on the assessment can be found on the websites in the WebQuest.
How will the communication tools/social networking tools learned so far help me communicate with my students' parents? I think that a classroom website is a great way to communicate with parents, as long as all the parents have access to the internet from home, work, or somewhere else. The parents can pull up the class site and check out what their children will be doing that week in school. It is very important to keep parents informed. It is also a good idea to have a link to your email from the class site, so parents can email the teacher about any questions they have while looking at the website. Student work, class videos, calendars, WebQuests, digital stories, and much more can be posted on the class website for the parents to follow along with. Also, it is important to post any homework or long-term assignments on the website so the parents are aware of what is expected from their children.
How will the communication tools/social networking tools learned so far help me communicate with my colleagues? If I would like to share any of my lesson plans with other colleagues, I could just email them to them. Also, I can share my WebQuests with my colleagues to help them use technology in their classrooms. The biggest thing that will help me collaborate with my colleagues is email. Email is so quick and easy, and it's so simple to ask a question and get an instant response. The principal will be able to email out any kinds of announcements to the parents and to me and my coworkers. Also, if my coworkers and I wanted to collaborate our lessons and ideas and make one large activity for our students to all do together, we could do a google doc or a chat room. That way, we would all be able to compile our ideas. If I had something that I wanted to share with the other teachers in my grade, all I had to do was forward the email to all of them. The only time this would pose as a problem is if one of my coworkers wasn't familiar with such technology, and therefore I would have to print any announcement or idea and put it in his/her mailbox.
Why are these tools so popular with my students? Any new kind of technology use is exciting for students to use, especially in school. What kind of excitement would students get out of writing a paper when they could type it instead? If we taught the students in the classroom how to use Skype or had them all make up their very own email address, they would be very excited about this because they are using technology instead of reading a textbook or doing research at the library. Instead of doing that, the students could do a WebQuest and research information that way on the internet. In this activity, they could compile all of their notes in a Microsoft Word document, or a class-wide google doc, and then (if it was in Word) forward it to me. That way they would get practice with several kinds of technology tools all in one activity.
In which ways might I employ the communication tools/social networking tools learned so far to achieve classroom objectives? It's easy to fulfill classroom objectives through technology tools online (i.e. virtual tours, 3-D games, etc.) All I'd have to do is take a look at the objectives and find a tool that fulfills that objective. For example, if one of my objectives was about learning about Egyptian tombs, I could find a tool that was possibly a 3-D exploration through an ancient tomb. That way, the students could use the tool to explore the tomb by themselves instead of me lecturing about the tombs. The students are able to search for the objectives on their own as long as I provide them with the tool to fulfill that objective.
What are the pros and cons of the communication tools/social networking tools learned so far? There are many pros of Digital Story, and the way I see it, there are much more pros than cons. As I've said repeatedly in this blog, Digital Story allows the students to use their imagination and be creative. It allows the students to explore the impact music has on a story. It also is able to be used in all age groups. The students can use it in any subject as well, from art to history to science. I feel like it is a more modern approach to a book report, and it allows the students to give their final product a personal touch. A con would be that not all students would be able to catch on to the technology as fast as other students, and if the students were to work on it in a group setting, all it takes is one person who doesn't know how to use the program and that person does nothing to help out in the group. In the same way, if there is one student who understands the program better than others, it is very possible that that student does everything on their own and the work is not distributed throughout the entire group.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Week 10: Technology in the Classroom
The elementary school that I will be doing my field work in has virtually no access to technology. I thought I would use this week to talk about the importance of technology in the classroom. This entry will cover all classroom technology, ranging from overhead projectors to internet access.
How will technology in the classroom help me communicate with my students? Through technology, the students will be more interested in learning than if they were to just read out of textbooks. For example, if I showed something using an overhead projector, the students would be more likely to look deeply at it than if I handed out a piece of paper with that same information on it. Technology in the classroom is something that is being introduced to schools more and more, and for good reason. Technology is much more engaging than how teachers taught back in the 1970's. Also, technology allows students to reach their teachers from home via email. The internet can be a wonderful learning tool in the classroom, as well as outside of the classroom. However, the internet can also be a dangerous place, so whenever the internet is used in school, supervision of the students is a must.
How will technology in the classroom help me communicate with my students' parents? Through email and text messaging, the parents will be able to contact me whenever they want to with any questions they have pertaining to their children's' education. Also, the parents will be able to access the class website, so they will be able to see what their children are learning in school at that time by viewing the class calendar. I would also have all of my students' grades posted online, so the parents will be able to see how their children are doing in school. I know my parents always looked forward to progress report time, but with access online to my grades, my parents would always know how I was doing.
How will technology in the classroom help me collaborate with my colleagues? If I would like to share any of my lesson plans with other colleagues, I could just email them to them. Also, I can share my WebQuests with my colleagues to help them use technology in their classrooms. The biggest thing that will help me collaborate with my colleagues is email. Email is so quick and easy, and it's so simple to ask a question and get an instant response.
Why is technology in the classroom so popular with my students? My assumption is that almost every student is in contact with technology every day of their lives. If they are at school for 6 hours out of their days, it would be a treat to them if they use technology during their time at school. These days, the students are surrounded by technology everywhere they go. If technology is used as a teaching tool in an interesting way, such as a digital story or a WebQuest, the students will be interested in it because they know that they are being given the privilege of using technology.
Why is technology in the classroom so popular with my colleagues? For adults, it has become so much easier to communicate through the internet and text messaging. If the principal is planning to push back the time of a meeting, all he has to do is forward a text message to each of the coworkers attending the meeting, or he could send out an email to each of the workers. Also, teachers can keep all of their lesson plans on a zip drive or a folder on their computer. That way, if they would like to share any lesson plans of their with other coworkers, they can just forward them to them.
In which ways might I employ technology in the classroom to achieve classroom objectives? Any objective can be reached through technology. Also, any lesson plan can be tweaked to incorporate technology in one way or another. For example, instead of using a textbook, you can have the students research online. Or, instead of reading a story, a digital story can be used. Or, instead of handing out a worksheet, an overhead can be used and the students can write the answers down on a piece of paper.
What are the pros and cons of technology in the classroom? The pros of using technology is that there is always something new that is coming out to use. The internet can be used in so many different ways, from online games to WebQuests. Also, email allows the students and parents to have 24/7 contact with the teacher from home or work. The cons are that, well, the internet is very dangerous for students, especially when they are sent to school by their parents who expect them to get a wholesome education. When the teacher makes the decision to give her students access to the internet, she takes it upon herself to make sure every one of her students is protected from the dangers of the internet.
Video Response: I think this video is a great way to show a timeline. It's quick, but so is the song. This is an example of a great way to do a digital story to an education and clean piece of music. The fact that it's quick makes the students pay closer attention so they can absorb all of the information. As we learned in class, the amount of time a clip is on the screen is a powerful aspect to a digital story, but it is only a good idea when it makes a point. The point of being quick in this clip is that it is a timeline, showing how fast events happened. Plus, the song is very fast.
How will technology in the classroom help me communicate with my students? Through technology, the students will be more interested in learning than if they were to just read out of textbooks. For example, if I showed something using an overhead projector, the students would be more likely to look deeply at it than if I handed out a piece of paper with that same information on it. Technology in the classroom is something that is being introduced to schools more and more, and for good reason. Technology is much more engaging than how teachers taught back in the 1970's. Also, technology allows students to reach their teachers from home via email. The internet can be a wonderful learning tool in the classroom, as well as outside of the classroom. However, the internet can also be a dangerous place, so whenever the internet is used in school, supervision of the students is a must.
How will technology in the classroom help me communicate with my students' parents? Through email and text messaging, the parents will be able to contact me whenever they want to with any questions they have pertaining to their children's' education. Also, the parents will be able to access the class website, so they will be able to see what their children are learning in school at that time by viewing the class calendar. I would also have all of my students' grades posted online, so the parents will be able to see how their children are doing in school. I know my parents always looked forward to progress report time, but with access online to my grades, my parents would always know how I was doing.
How will technology in the classroom help me collaborate with my colleagues? If I would like to share any of my lesson plans with other colleagues, I could just email them to them. Also, I can share my WebQuests with my colleagues to help them use technology in their classrooms. The biggest thing that will help me collaborate with my colleagues is email. Email is so quick and easy, and it's so simple to ask a question and get an instant response.
Why is technology in the classroom so popular with my students? My assumption is that almost every student is in contact with technology every day of their lives. If they are at school for 6 hours out of their days, it would be a treat to them if they use technology during their time at school. These days, the students are surrounded by technology everywhere they go. If technology is used as a teaching tool in an interesting way, such as a digital story or a WebQuest, the students will be interested in it because they know that they are being given the privilege of using technology.
Why is technology in the classroom so popular with my colleagues? For adults, it has become so much easier to communicate through the internet and text messaging. If the principal is planning to push back the time of a meeting, all he has to do is forward a text message to each of the coworkers attending the meeting, or he could send out an email to each of the workers. Also, teachers can keep all of their lesson plans on a zip drive or a folder on their computer. That way, if they would like to share any lesson plans of their with other coworkers, they can just forward them to them.
In which ways might I employ technology in the classroom to achieve classroom objectives? Any objective can be reached through technology. Also, any lesson plan can be tweaked to incorporate technology in one way or another. For example, instead of using a textbook, you can have the students research online. Or, instead of reading a story, a digital story can be used. Or, instead of handing out a worksheet, an overhead can be used and the students can write the answers down on a piece of paper.
What are the pros and cons of technology in the classroom? The pros of using technology is that there is always something new that is coming out to use. The internet can be used in so many different ways, from online games to WebQuests. Also, email allows the students and parents to have 24/7 contact with the teacher from home or work. The cons are that, well, the internet is very dangerous for students, especially when they are sent to school by their parents who expect them to get a wholesome education. When the teacher makes the decision to give her students access to the internet, she takes it upon herself to make sure every one of her students is protected from the dangers of the internet.
Video Response: I think this video is a great way to show a timeline. It's quick, but so is the song. This is an example of a great way to do a digital story to an education and clean piece of music. The fact that it's quick makes the students pay closer attention so they can absorb all of the information. As we learned in class, the amount of time a clip is on the screen is a powerful aspect to a digital story, but it is only a good idea when it makes a point. The point of being quick in this clip is that it is a timeline, showing how fast events happened. Plus, the song is very fast.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Week 9: WebQuests and Voki's
How would WebQuests help me to communicate with my students? Ask Will Smith!
Get a Voki now!
How will WebQuests help me to communicate with parents? Ask J.Lo!
Get a Voki now!
How can I use WebQuests to help me communicate with my coworkers? Ask my Australian cat!
Get a Voki now!
Why are WebQuests so popular with students? Ask this beach loving sumo wrestler!
Get a Voki now!
In which ways might I employ WebQuests to achieve classroom objectives? Ask this kid who's stuck in the 70's!
Get a Voki now!
What are the pros of WebQuests? Ask my husband!
Get a Voki now!
...and a con of WebQuests? Ask my seventh grade english teacher!
Get a Voki now!
Get a Voki now!
How will WebQuests help me to communicate with parents? Ask J.Lo!
Get a Voki now!
How can I use WebQuests to help me communicate with my coworkers? Ask my Australian cat!
Get a Voki now!
Why are WebQuests so popular with students? Ask this beach loving sumo wrestler!
Get a Voki now!
In which ways might I employ WebQuests to achieve classroom objectives? Ask this kid who's stuck in the 70's!
Get a Voki now!
What are the pros of WebQuests? Ask my husband!
Get a Voki now!
...and a con of WebQuests? Ask my seventh grade english teacher!
Get a Voki now!
Friday, March 6, 2009
Week 8: Engrade Day
I'm going to talk about email and the internet being the social networking tools, because the more I think about it, the more I realize how important email is in a school. I try to think back before email existed and I can't help but wonder how people communicated, other than phone, in a fast way. Email has changed the ways of communication, and that has brought several benefits to the classroom.
How will these communication tools/social networking tools help me communicate with my students? If my students are at home and have a question about an assignment or a classroom related topic, all they have to do is log on and email me. If a student doesn't have access to the internet, they can either call me or go to their local library to use the internet. Obviously it'd be a wiser choice to just use the phone instead of drive to a library to email me, but there will be assignments that require online research, and in that case, the student could just go to the library. If I give my email address out to students and assure them that they can contact me at any time through email, of course I would want to make sure I check my email AT LEAST once a night, and then one more time in the morning. There are other ways to communicate with my students through the internet besides email. There are video chats and chat rooms that I could set up to communicate with my students. The students could set up their own chat room in study groups and communicate with each other too.
How will these communication tools/social networking tools help me communicate with my students' parents? Just as the students can email me with questions, the parents can email me with questions as well. I also plan to have a class website (now that I know how to make one) and on there will be information about the class, what we are learning in class, and what the students are doing in class. There will be samples of the students' work and a calendar with upcoming events. I think this is a great way to use the internet in the classroom because the parents can know everything that is going on in school just by logging on to my class website. Also, just as the students can do a video chat with me, this option is also open for the parents to use with me as well. I just really believe that it is so important to keep the relationship with the parents tight because working with the parents is almost as important as working with their children. They are leaving their children in your hands as the teacher, and it is important to build a trusting relationship so they feel that their children are safe in your classroom.
How will these communication tools/social networking tools help me communicate with my colleagues? The principal will be able to email out any kinds of announcements to the parents and to me and my coworkers. Also, if my coworkers and I wanted to collaborate our lessons and ideas and make one large activity for our students to all do together, we could do a google doc or a chat room. That way, we would all be able to compile our ideas. Email is so great to use with those who you work with because of the forwarding option. If I had something that I wanted to share with the other teachers in my grade, all I had to do was forward the email to all of them. The only time this would pose as a problem is if one of my coworkers wasn't familiar with such technology, and therefore I would have to print any announcement or idea and put it in his/her mailbox.
Why are these tools so popular with my students? Any new kind of technology use is exciting for students to use, especially in school. What kind of excitement would students get out of writing a paper when they could type it instead? If we taught the students in the classroom how to use Skype or had them all make up their very own email address, they would be very excited about this because they are using technology instead of reading a textbook or something "blah" like that. Instead of reading a textbook, the students could do a WebQuest and research information that way on the internet. In this activity, they could compile all of their notes in a Microsoft Word document, or a class-wide google doc, and then (if it was in Word) forward it to me. That way they would get practice with several kinds of technology tools all in one activity.
In which ways might I employ these communication tools/social networking tools to achieve classroom objectives? I think that through emailing and chat rooms and such, the students can learn how to work together and take teamwork to a whole new level. Instead of having the students do research in the library using books, they can do research on the internet (with my supervision or the supervision of a parent if it's at home) and still achieve the same objectives as if they were to use a book.
What are the pros and cons of the communication tools/social networking tools? Pros: Email provides a convenient and fast way of communication between teachers and parents, teachers and students, and teachers and coworkers, at any time of the day. The internet provides the students with endless sources of learning. It allows learning to become engaging through WebQuests and online activities. Instead of reading a book and taking notes, the students can surf the internet (using provided websites to avoid getting off task). This, leads me to my cons. Cons: The internet can be a very dangerous place. Through emails, all it takes is to open an infected chain letter and your computer is infected with a virus. Also, children may get off task and wander to websites which may be inappropriate for children their age. This is why it is so important for children to be supervised when they are doing ANYTHING online.
Video Reflection: Of all of the videos I've watched for this class so far, this was the one that amazed me the most. When the video says "We are living in exponential times," it couldn't have been more right. That is the perfect sentence to describe the world today. These statistics really show how much the world relies on the internet and technology. What really got me was when they said that if all the users of MySpace made their own country, they'd be the 5th largest country in the world. That amazed me!
How will these communication tools/social networking tools help me communicate with my students? If my students are at home and have a question about an assignment or a classroom related topic, all they have to do is log on and email me. If a student doesn't have access to the internet, they can either call me or go to their local library to use the internet. Obviously it'd be a wiser choice to just use the phone instead of drive to a library to email me, but there will be assignments that require online research, and in that case, the student could just go to the library. If I give my email address out to students and assure them that they can contact me at any time through email, of course I would want to make sure I check my email AT LEAST once a night, and then one more time in the morning. There are other ways to communicate with my students through the internet besides email. There are video chats and chat rooms that I could set up to communicate with my students. The students could set up their own chat room in study groups and communicate with each other too.
How will these communication tools/social networking tools help me communicate with my students' parents? Just as the students can email me with questions, the parents can email me with questions as well. I also plan to have a class website (now that I know how to make one) and on there will be information about the class, what we are learning in class, and what the students are doing in class. There will be samples of the students' work and a calendar with upcoming events. I think this is a great way to use the internet in the classroom because the parents can know everything that is going on in school just by logging on to my class website. Also, just as the students can do a video chat with me, this option is also open for the parents to use with me as well. I just really believe that it is so important to keep the relationship with the parents tight because working with the parents is almost as important as working with their children. They are leaving their children in your hands as the teacher, and it is important to build a trusting relationship so they feel that their children are safe in your classroom.
How will these communication tools/social networking tools help me communicate with my colleagues? The principal will be able to email out any kinds of announcements to the parents and to me and my coworkers. Also, if my coworkers and I wanted to collaborate our lessons and ideas and make one large activity for our students to all do together, we could do a google doc or a chat room. That way, we would all be able to compile our ideas. Email is so great to use with those who you work with because of the forwarding option. If I had something that I wanted to share with the other teachers in my grade, all I had to do was forward the email to all of them. The only time this would pose as a problem is if one of my coworkers wasn't familiar with such technology, and therefore I would have to print any announcement or idea and put it in his/her mailbox.
Why are these tools so popular with my students? Any new kind of technology use is exciting for students to use, especially in school. What kind of excitement would students get out of writing a paper when they could type it instead? If we taught the students in the classroom how to use Skype or had them all make up their very own email address, they would be very excited about this because they are using technology instead of reading a textbook or something "blah" like that. Instead of reading a textbook, the students could do a WebQuest and research information that way on the internet. In this activity, they could compile all of their notes in a Microsoft Word document, or a class-wide google doc, and then (if it was in Word) forward it to me. That way they would get practice with several kinds of technology tools all in one activity.
In which ways might I employ these communication tools/social networking tools to achieve classroom objectives? I think that through emailing and chat rooms and such, the students can learn how to work together and take teamwork to a whole new level. Instead of having the students do research in the library using books, they can do research on the internet (with my supervision or the supervision of a parent if it's at home) and still achieve the same objectives as if they were to use a book.
What are the pros and cons of the communication tools/social networking tools? Pros: Email provides a convenient and fast way of communication between teachers and parents, teachers and students, and teachers and coworkers, at any time of the day. The internet provides the students with endless sources of learning. It allows learning to become engaging through WebQuests and online activities. Instead of reading a book and taking notes, the students can surf the internet (using provided websites to avoid getting off task). This, leads me to my cons. Cons: The internet can be a very dangerous place. Through emails, all it takes is to open an infected chain letter and your computer is infected with a virus. Also, children may get off task and wander to websites which may be inappropriate for children their age. This is why it is so important for children to be supervised when they are doing ANYTHING online.
Video Reflection: Of all of the videos I've watched for this class so far, this was the one that amazed me the most. When the video says "We are living in exponential times," it couldn't have been more right. That is the perfect sentence to describe the world today. These statistics really show how much the world relies on the internet and technology. What really got me was when they said that if all the users of MySpace made their own country, they'd be the 5th largest country in the world. That amazed me!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)