Post #10

I was reading a few blogs of my classmates. I really found some to be quite interesting. For example, Desiree Siegel writes about how YOUTUBE is a valuable educational resource. Of all things, I found this to be truly unique in the fact that the site is a blog in its own sense as people from all corners of the globe post videos of all genres, some certainly useful. I will certainly consider it now as an educational resource as before it hadn't occurred to me just how useful it could be. 

The next technology related skill I would like to learn would be how to design a website. The reason I would like to do this is because I feel I could create a teacher page that would be really useful to my students. I could post assignments and important dates, even cool sites. The creation of a class website would keep students interconnected with the class and the internet. I would like to learn to make it user friendly and functional. 

I think that in order to acquire certain skills I may have to by teaching software, or check out various how-to sites. The amount of educational technology is infinite, and there is just so much I could do. Slowly, I need to incorporate it into my academia and my future goals as a teacher. 

Post 9

In the future, I plan on being an elementary school teacher. As technology becomes an increasing part of society, I think it will be a big part in teaching as well. There are many tools and resources available the can enhance teaching students. I think that one particularly valuable resource I might use in the future is the one I'm using now. Blogger is a great resource. It is a reliable tool that can allow me to post links to useful sites. It also can help me post assignments and important dates. It can help keep my class and students' parents updated.
What's awesome about it is that it's accessible to everyone, not just Blogger users, so kids can see it and not have to be a user. It's also great because it's highly accessible from any Internet connection. What's really great is that the student or parent wont have to be in class, they can be at home to see what's due and the like.
As a teacher, I will use Excell in different ways. First and foremost, I will use it as a grade book. It's such an easy to use, useful tool that would make a great and functional grade book. I could also use it as a template for keeping log of student achievements (stars and such). This is particularly useful for elementary students, like around 4Th grade, who love encouragement.

Post 8

My last Power Point assignment explore several techniques as it followed a fairy tale in digital form. I let the viewers pick which way the tale went by providing links to different pathways that the tale could end. It was a really interesting concept, being able to use technology to spurt creativity, such as in my particular presentation. The only thing negative I could possibly say is about the creation. The problem with creating links to different story paths is that when they reach their next destination then choose another and so on. That means that you have to make many many many story paths, many links, which got a bit confusing. Luckily my stories weren't to in depth that the organization was impossible, but such techniques require a lot of time and skill, that maybe its not the most practical format at times. 

 

When using audio visual resources with out the computer one can resort to cassettes and CD's for audio to enhance the learning environment, to pictures and 3D exhibits for non computer visual resources. It is always possible to integrate the several learning and teaching resources, be it from computer or not, like using music to compliment a presentation.  

I've tweaked my presentation skills which will be quite useful in perfecting presentations. I've also used learned Excell which I can somehow integrate with my elementary student, seeing how I've switched majors. 

Post 7

I feel that the biggest advantages of using presentation software in a k-12 classroom  would be that you can present your lesson over and over again with a guide that you can modify and save and store the lesson on a disk for future use, each time you plan to teach that material. It's really great that you don't have to prepare a whole new lesson for each group of students that you teach. What's also great about using presentation software, such as Powerpoint is that you can insert speaker notes for the teacher, that can be really helpful in keeping one organized. The flexibility of presentation software is amazing: modify, reuse, link to websites, movies, sounds!!! All really helpful in keeping material on target, up to date, and students interested. 

   Some disadvantages would be that they can limit active learning, meaning that the students sit and watch, rather than hands on activity to enhance there learning. While they do keep the presenter on target, their rigid format can often inhibit including ideas that are not on the teacher's or presenter's outline often to to much of an extent. Another risk with using presentation software is that it is prone to technical difficulties, such as faulty links, or incompatibility problems. Furthermore, more complex slides may take a lot of time to download, which can be annoying to the teacher and students. Also, flashy additives to the presentations can be overused and often be distracting to students and push them away from absorbing the material. 

Lets say I wanted to teach my students a particular lesson on Hamlet. Well, if I wanted to target each dimension of knowledge, I might include text as well as a link to a video of the play being presented, such as a particular scene, target their visual and audio learning, as well as informational. 

One issue related to educational technology that interests me is the effectiveness of using the internet  responsibly for research as a student, and the teachers responsibility to make sure students aren't abusing resources by plagiarism or by using sources you cant trust. It is important to understand that the range of variability of the quality of information on the Internet.    That is why it is often useful to use a web resource evaluation for your students to assess how trustworthy the information is. Also it is important to understand that all plagiarism isn't directly intentional, yet you need to teach your students, if expecting responsible use of the internet, how to watch out for plagiarism. 

Post 6

The problem with students using Wikipedia as a resource is that their is no guarantee that the information is reliable. Also, anyone, even you or me, has access to the information. This means any random person can alter it, or add information, which could very possibly be faulty. As a future teacher, if a student approaches me with Wikipedia as a source, I would more often than not, reject it as a source, and tell the student to find a more reliable source.
Generally, some great alternatives to Wikipedia, are sources from .edu domains. Also, sources from databases and online books are reliable.
In the last week, I have acquired skill on using PowerPoint. I think this will be great as a future teacher, to give presentations and display though in an organized manner to my students.

Blog # 5

As a future high school teacher, a future English teacher, I more than expect students to use the Internet for research support. I imagine Internet databases and websites being applied to research papers, essays requiring external sources.
Sparknotes, Newsbank, even online dictionaries, are all great support for student work. Sparknotes should never be used as a replacement to student reading, but it's great as a guide to understanding characters, symbols and themes.
A concern as a teacher, probably a 12Th grade teacher, is that student may abuse resources such as using plagiarism. Some students can get caught in the trap of copying Internet sources, rather that using them responsibly as helpful aid to thought and the like. I also worry about students choosing bad sources in their research, leading to faulty information in their own work.

Post #4

As a prospective English teacher, when in the classroom, I will more than likely be analysing poems, novels, even essays with my students. Often it is necessary when analysing plots and ideas to organize you thoughts. Several tools such as outlines, idea maps, storyboards, and flowcharts are extremely useful in delivering ideas to students in an organized and understandable manner. For example, say we are examing the plot of Hamlet. By developing an outine of the sequence of events and the consequences that develop from them, will make it easier for student to grasp just how things went down. Students as well should use such tools to plot their own ideas when planning to write. As an English teacher, I imagine that essays will be frequent in my class in order to assess my students understanding of material and their progressive writing skills. Idea maps, flow charts, outlines, and storyboards are a great way to organize your thoughts which you plan on incorporating into an essay. It is extremely important that writing is organized and planning before you bring your pencil to the paper is a great way to ensure that you don't deliver a jumbalya of ideas.
As a teacher, I wouldn't require that my student use such tools, rather I would encourage it greatly. Writing is a personal thing. If one student can write magnificently without a plan, then it is up to them to decide whether or not they want to make the step before they write. I would encourage planning for everyone, especially for student who have trouble particulary in conveying organized ideas in their writing. However, i would not make it a mandatory step in the writing process.
In my Intro to Ed. Tech class, I learned how to used Inspiration software, a concept-mapping tool. I find this software extremely useful, in fact, I plan on using it as a teacher. There are so many ideas that can be conveyed. For example; teaching students how to plan out their essays and stories, or trying to organize plots of novels and plays into a coherent diagram that is understandble and can be applied towards analysis of the peice of literature. Concept mapping is important, especially in a subject such as English.