Wednesday, February 29, 2012

C4K for February

three kids in a classroom laughing in front of a computer



C4K#1 - I had to comment on Mrs. Ripps class on Michael's post. He posted on lobster being his last meal he would choose. I commented on how he described the lobster and agreed on lobster being my last meal. It was a great description and a good story.

C4K#2 - I commented on Logan's blog and he talked about his friend named Eric (fictional story). He created a story about two Bis-Gib-Ab-Bird, which is a mixture between a bison, gibbons, crab, and a bird. He tells his story about magical water that allowed the mother bird and son bird to live forever. I commented that he was very creative when creating his story. He put so much enthusiasm into his story and that is what made it so interesting.

C4K#3 - I was assigned to comment on Pipi Ako on caterpillars. They displayed pictures of the metamorphosis stage and asked the question of what this stage is. I answered the question of metamorphosis and that I had to Google it. I commented on the fact that I liked the interaction with the question given and they have a caterpillar in their classroom to see the stages.

C4K#4 - I had to comment on Mr. Salsich's class blog building boats about the properties of matter. His class did an experiment on buoyancy and made a video on the whole experiment. They made boats out of certain materials and then set it in a tub of water and added marbles to see how much the boat could hold until it sank. I commented on the fact that they created a video for viewers to see the experiment and how I never got to do experiments like that when I was in school. Also, I stated that I hope to do experiments like this when I become a teacher and congratulations on the learning experience and I hope to see more.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Blog Post #5

man grasping technology, computerized and digital. Color is different shades of blue





Don't teach your kids this stuff please

Scott McLeod's blog, dangerously irrelevant was more than I expected. At first, I thought he was old fashioned and against technology, but then I realized he was being sarcastic because he allows his kids to use technology. I also like how he ended his blog post with a question. It was fantastic and very interesting. Scott McLeod, I found out, is a very brilliant man. He was the co-creator of Did You Know? Also, he has exceeded in creating programs to enhance technology in education and is a well-known man. He has four separate blogs and recently wrote his first book. What's really amazing is that he is the founding director of UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education (CASTLE). He has made a significant difference in the technology world and education. He is one astounding man who proves that anyone can put their mind to something and succeed in their goals and beliefs.

The iSchool initiative

ZeitgeistYoungMind's Entry

Travis Allen made a significant difference in how to solve financial and technological problems in the education system. He went out there and concluded that iSchool, with all its' applications, can give students and parents that interaction that has been yearned for and he is right! ISchool can benefit everyone and education. Just with the apps we already have, we could create iSchool right now! I did not even know there was this many apps available to people just off an iphone and it is a lot cheaper than what the education system is doing right now! We would not have cut back on staff, we save our natural resources, and we teach students how to use technology efficiently. When I first saw the video he did in high school, I asked myself about how students will prevent from using their ischool device at home and school for social networking and such and he answered that with limiting the access. This is a fantastic idea for education!

His organization will hopefully change all education systems to technology and this country will benefit financially and educationally. Travis Allen created something that is advisable to all education systems. It is just a great idea and since it is president's day, the 2012 presidential candidates should really start looking into this program and they would have my vote! This will fix so many problem! Unemployment, inflation, excess use of our natural resources, and the most important, education!

Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir

I am astound! I never knew someone could do this on the internet, let alone on present-day technology! What he did was just more proof that we can do anything on technology and the internet. He shows us that anything is possible, even with technology and education.

Teaching 21at Century Students

Kevin Roberts sees education changing in a way that technology will suffice all needs of education. Already, students know how to use the internet and technology available, but what about researching ideas and who is going to limit and watch what students do in the internet in schools. Teachers will still have a job if technology intermingles with education because they are "filter" for the subject matter students see. His view seems to be for technology in education and it should be incorporated into the system, but also limit the amount of technology usage in the classroom. Teachers are filters of technology and they teach the students how to use the technology efficiently.

readingrockets

This website is not just about reading comprehension, it has everything from science to math terms that students can better understand. When I become an educator, tools on this website will come in handy like breaking down science terms to better understand them, using apps so students can understand words better and technology at the same time, use strategies in the classroom for comprehension, and using technology to create podcasts of books created by students. This website shows many ways of benefiting technology and comprehension of terms, reading, and strategies of such.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Blog Post #4

vox podcast. man figure, black, holding a mic up in the air

Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom by Joe Dale.

Langwitches

Curriki podcasting collection

There is a lot more to podcasting than I thought. Before these videos/web pages, I did not know what a podcast even was! Now, I understand what a podcast is and how it benefits the school system and creativity in the classroom. In my podcast, I hope to incorporate the required reading material appropriately. I like the fact that you can add sounds into your podcast as well as music and such. I also learned that you can create stories and even have videos of homework assignments. I hope I am able to incorporate podcasting into my classroom because I believe it gives them more than creativity, it allows them to be less afraid of speaking in from of others as well as being able to work well with other students and get to know their classmates. I do agree though, that podcasting brings creativity back into the classroom and every school should begin going podcasting because it is a good way for students to be able to retrieve missed homework and classwork if they miss a day of school instead of having to wait till the next day and fall behind the rest of the class. It is also a great source for parents to know what their children are being taught and what goes on in the classroom. Before, I was a little nervous about this podcast, but now I am really excited to begin!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

C4T#1

blue, see-through head with orbs circling the visible brain of the head. physics

Quantum Press: John Burk

I am commenting on John Burke's blog More on AP From Harvard's Eric Mazur on January 27, 2012. In his blog post, he discusses the AP test and replies to Mazur when he relates Harvard students who do not take the Physics AP to others not in Harvard who do take the Physics AP with a score of 5. Burke believe that the majority of those who made a 5 on the AP were from Physics B, a class that runs through the material quickly. Also, he discusses how Harvard students with a 5 on the Physics AP are a bit overconfident and less like to ask for assistance. Grant Wiggins suggestion, "the fact that earning a 5 on AP physics shows some negative correlation with performance in a college physics course among Harvard students should be very sobering indeed" accumulates in Burke and he believes that taking a course that is based on the AP score is meaningless, and somewhat misinterpreted. He then moves on to relate this testing to the Cold War and the Soviet Union, comparing the AP's to useless nuclear weapons and the burned out students to the economic downfall of the Soviet Union. I responded in my comment that I agree with his stance and that every acceptance exam is difficult to all persons, even Harvard students. I went on to describe my personal experience with the ACT acceptance exam for colleges. Furthermore, I ended with the thought that almost every acceptance exam has a preparation class and even though some material on the exam was not covered, it is not the teacher/professor's fault. They covered the material handed to them that they think or hope will be on an exam not produced by themselves. Students are the responsible ones in college to acquire the material needed and study with the best intentions of succeeding.

I have to go back in time and comment on his blog on January 26 called, Following up on 1 hour of learning with my students. On this blog post, he discussed how his honor students responded to an essay presented to them about one hour learning ritual. His students were very interested in this versus student over-achieving debates and such on global warming and whatnot. he then discussed AP courses in relation to honor courses when thinking about college. AP courses are fast pace and how it doesn't really matter when trying to enter college. I responded to him that I took remedial classes and they actually helped me and when I was in high school, I took regular classes and ended in a 3.7 GPA and a 17 on the ACT and I still got into a great college. I then commented that colleges do not look for extra curricular activities, but GPA and ACT scores.

Presentation Project #5

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Blog Post #3

teacher interacting with a student on a SMART board

Technology in Special Education

I think technology will increase in benefiting Special Education children because, like on the video, they can achieve their goals and succeed in their assignments with the assistance on technology. They are also more efficient with their assignments and faster. I spend my extra time in a Special Education classroom at E.T. Belsaw Mt. Vernon School and those kids recent recieved a SMART board and they LOVE to play educational games on it and be able to interact with the screen projected on the wall. Also, they have one autistic child who loves to draw! He is always drawing pictures for me of fast food restaurants and highways and such. With the smart board, he can draw and color pictures with educational meaning and facts. I have asked some of the students if they like to be on the computer and if they would rather type on a computer or write sentences and vocabulary and they would much rather type it on a computer, but some have trouble with the alphabet and typing. The SMART board helps them identify letters and complete words that the computer presents them. Now, these students can actually type in what they want to search in the search engine instead of me having to type it in for them.

These students have come a long way since they received their SMART board and this is just a small step to technology in the classrooms. They are already excited about what is next to come in technology. Students these days already know about iPads and iPhones and things like that as soon as they hit the shelves and they are intrigued by these new technologies that they are extremely excited about what the school has to offer with the SMART boards. Technology works well with Special Education classrooms, I have seen it and believe that more technology should be awarded to schools. The teacher I assist with, Mrs. Curow, she wrote a paper for the grant to get SMART boards in her room and one other room in the Elementary side of the school. She won and received them almost two years ago and it had made her classroom succeed even more and it educated them on a whole new level.

How the iPad Works with Academics for Autism

I saw an app called Math Bingo on Apples website. This educational game was created for kids to correctly get five bingo bugs in a row my adding, subtracting, multiplying or dividing to get the right answer and they win bingo. This game will definitely keep kids learning Mathematics and having fun at the same time. Like I have said before, technology is advancing and the educational benefits do as well. Schools need to acquire these technologies into the classrooms and for homework. Think about it, you give your students a regular book assignment for homework in Math and they use paper and such to complete the homework. Well, if they could complete lessons online or levels in a game that is based on your lesson for the day, there is no grading paperwork. There is just checking what level each student is on because if they complete the level, they succeeded in that Math lesson for the day. Interesting isn't it? I thought so too. This new technology they have for kids to learn everything from Reading, Science, and History to Math and Writing.

Special needs children can benefit the most because it helps the speak, write and interact with their teacher and classmates as well as complete assignments more efficiently and accurately. Technology will become the new learning key to education and teachers will still have a job because students always need help and always have questions about things. Plus, someone has to be there to teach them how to use these technologies.

Social media Counts

WOW! I am astounded by the amount of data rolling in on those statistics and I had no idea that all these programs and downloads were accessible. It truly amazes me to see that there is that many people per second using this much technology. When it comes to educators, I question how much of this technology is being used now by them. Teaching is more than just lecturing students and giving homework assignments, it is about learning new technologies and advances themselves. I'm not even a educator yet and I have learned a lot more things are accessible to the world now.

Technology has come a long way since it was discovered and the education field is a little behind on its' advancement of technology and the usage of it in the classroom. Technology is meaningful in education and helpful. The Technology in Special Education video demonstrates how effective technology can be for students in the classroom. Every teacher should enhance their ability to be technologically literate. I now know what it means to be technologically literate as a teacher. It means that a teacher should understand how technology benefits their classroom and students and then acquire the technology to use in their classroom and with their students because those students will be adults in our working society and need to know at least the basics of now technology works. It is okay for students to teach the teacher, but the teacher needs to technologically literate.

A Vision of Students today

This video help me learn that technology is important in keeping kids focused on learning and engage them in activities that will benefit them int he future as well as today. I also watched a video that was not on the list called A Vision of K-12 Today on youtube.com by B. Nesbitt and I think this should be included into the assignment because it benefits elementary as well as secondary educators. I thin this video is more focused that the other because it is children and they are what we as teachers will educate and assist. The other video originally assigned opened my eyes to what students do on a computer and throughout their day. They spend most of their time on a technology device anyway, so why not make it educational and intrigue them to do their homework and assignments, at home or in the classroom. If anyone reads this particular post, check out that video, it is very interesting and only 4:09 minutes long.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Blog Post #2

educational technology solutions, exceeding expectations with custom technologies


Did You Know? 3.0

Wow, it is quite amazing how china will be more English speakers than the United States and the reality of technology advancing far beyond what we know today. The thought that technology is going to take over basic learning abilities is somewhat alarming. In my opinion, this will decrease the number of honor students in America more and Americans will rely on computers or their technology devices instead of their brain. Today, the "Jetson" era on television is becoming a reality. Not only that, but computers will eventually be smarter than the average human being and that is even more alarming. Technology has come a long way since just the 1990's and continuing to grow every minute. Text messaging has become the mass media of relations between people as well as social networks like Facebook and Myspace. The interaction between humans has subdued to the Internet instead of face-to-face interaction. Already schools are adding computers to their classrooms to learn basic learning material and this generation of new-comers already know how to use I pods and try to tap on a magazine to flip a page. The newest generation already knows the technologies that our generation just learned existed.

These alarming features of our world are as real as ever. In my opinion, more and more people are relying on technology for everything; reading books, finding true love, teaching our children, and etc. The list goes on and on, but it is up to the consumer on whether they rely on these technologies and mass media networks to find these attributes to society. China will eventually become America due to their attributes to our society and the fact that most Chinese speak English already and the numbers keep climbing. Bermuda is number one largest broadcast network in the world and America is number nineteen. Social networking is the new way to interact among other people around the world, even finding family members across the oceans. As technology grows, mankind is becoming more and more dependent on these technologies to the point that people do not even have to leave their home to survive, just have an Internet connection and everything is just one click away. So, am I ready to be an educator? I am ready to teach our younger generations the basic learning abilities such as Math, Science, Reading, and History without the assistance of an online based program. I pursue the knowledge that is necessary to succeed in life and if technology becomes a necessity, then I must follow what is needed to be taught the next generation of scholars.

Mr. Winkle Wakes

This Video shows that the education profession is not up-to-date with technology, which is how is should be for the most part. Teachers need to know how to use computers, but not let them runt heir classroom and teach for them. Computers are very handy when it comes to taking roll and inserting grades because teachers are overwhelmed with paperwork needed to teach the children. Students need to learn how to read and write and know about the history of the world. Taking into consideration that computers and projectors help students picture what the world was like, teachers are still needed to distribute the necessities of human interaction and lecture on how to do things in the world like read and write and basic math skills to balance a checkbook.

Mr. Winkle Wakes is a video that shows how technology has advanced our societies and that the educational profession has not changed that much and that can be due to numerous attributions. Funding, the lack of knowledge to technology, among other things, but human beings need to know the basic learning skills of 2+2 and understanding how certain things work in the world. Technology helps make things easier like adding and creating a relationship and managing your bank account, but to understand those things, students need to know how they work and why a computer can do those things. Students need to acquire these abilities before they interact with a computer.

Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity

Sir Ken Robinson is quite the funny character, but has a key point in education and creativity. I never thought of education blocking or stubbing creativity. Creativity is in everyone, but creativity is lost when education grows. He gave great examples of how we treat creative habits of twitching and unable to concentrate. Today, we would treat it as A.D.H.D. instead of stopping and thinking that possibly, the child is not focused of these basic subjects and instead, focused on a creative trait like dance, art, or music. True, students need to know the basic subjects, but to get them to actually learn it becomes difficult in each individual child because each child has a different method of learning and different creative thoughts. One child may have to be in motion while another sits still and concentrates hard on the subject at-hand.

This video gives educators a new perspective on how to teach their children and how individual they truly are. Students need creativity to learn the basics. Without the creativity senses in a child, they become a person that may see creativity and know it, but not contain it themselves. Education throughout the years practically eliminates creativity and if not, students seem to dissipate the idea or the actual action of creativity. In conclusion, education does kill creativity if teachers do not grasp that creativity at a young age and incorporate in into an aspect of learning.

A Vision for 21st Century Learning

This video argues that mainly we should use video games as an additive to education for a better educational purpose for children. In my opinion, to a certain extent could this be beneficial for everyone, students and teachers. When education becomes that impacted by technology, there becomes this absence of human interaction. Teachers are more than just educators of math, science, and such, they are role models and teach not only the basic subjects, they teach children morals, values, and basic communication skills like how to talk to an adult and respect for others. Put them on a computer and they lose that sense of interaction and some may say the sense of reality. Video games are a big argument topic when they are still games. When they become an educational source in schools, they will be much controversy to parents and teachers. I would rather interact with students with the assistance of technology like creating other parts of the world on a computer and allow them to watch this educational video, but still have that teacher-student interaction of learning.

Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

The way Vicki David conducted her class is a prime example of how technology can improve education. In elementary education, this would not seem to work well because children at that age should use a method like video games, but to an extent. She was teaching her students to teach, speak in front of a crowd, and how to use technology. Her perspective in her class teaches these kids to be adequate learners and well as knowing what is around the world and what is at their fingertips. TO be able to create avatars and worlds on their own becomes extra knowledge they have for future jobs. Not only does she teach this, she gives knowledge of every aspect of technology and her students teach her things she did not know before. This becomes a great learning environment for students when they learn on their own like EDM310. I have learned that when something is "burp-back education", it truly does dissipates from your brain and forget what was taught. David's as well as Dr. Stranges' way of learning should become a new method of teaching.

I am taking Finite Math right now and my teacher teaches us what to do and then has a booklet that we complete. This is a better form of learning than others. When I was in DS082 Math, it was a computer-based program that was more confusing than helpful. Technology and math do not mix well when math is all computer based. I passed the class, but forgot a lot of the material. In certain subjects, like what Vicki David presented in her class, technology advances education, but in mathematics, it increases that "burp-back education".