February 28 Homework

This is How We Dream Parts 1 & 2




After watching the movies This is How We Dream Part 1 and 2, I think that children and young adults are already producing multimedia. It may not be necessarily what we want them to produce, but it will be easier to transition them to producing multimedia for academic purposes than trying to get my generation to transition. My generation is the in-between generation. When I was young, we did not have the same technological opportunities that the next generation has had. People of my generation are, for the most part, unwilling or have no desire to learn about all the technology available to us. I think as the next generation grows up, goes to college, and enters the job force, this will not be a conversation we will be having. Instead, it will be about a new technology that their children will have grown up with that they do not have now. To answer your question about whether or not I am ready to write with multimedia, at this point I would have to say I am not comfortable with it, but I am willing to try. I have stepped so far out of my comfort zone so far in this class, what's one more step.


The Networked Student



I liked how this video was done. Very simple but very effective. To teach a networked student, you must be a networked teacher. You can not expect the student to learn what you can not teach them. In the video, the speaker says that the teacher is the one who teaches him to take advantage of learning opportunities. For that to happen, the teacher has to take advantage of teaching opportunities. I hope to be that teacher. To answer the question "Am I Ready" to teach a networked student, I don't know if you can ever be ready. It will always be a work in progress.


Michael Wesch



I really enjoyed watching this video. I loved the history of whatever. I thought it was funny how even the Defense Department found the need to brief the soldiers returning home on its meaning. I liked what he had to say about YouTube. I have personally never put any video of myself on YouTube. For me, I think it is fear of seeing myself as others see me. I have a picture in my mind of how I appear to others and I don't want that image changed. I think it is also an issue of self confidence. I have seen some of those ugly comments, and I do not want those comments made to or about me for me to have to see. Some people are fine with posting videos online. My 9 year old daughter is one of them. I think it does give some people self satisfaction and makes them feel famous because people could potentially see them online. I am not saying I will never post a video of myself on the internet, because 6 months ago I would have said I would never write a blog. Stay tuned. We will see.


Comments4Kids

For my Comments4Kids assignment this week, I post on Ethan's blog post. He made some great arguments for every student to have a laptop, even mentioning how much paper that could save.

Comments for Teachers

The blog I have been reading and commenting on over the past few weeks is Adventures in Pencil Integration. The blog is written by John Spencer as Tom Johnson. The premise of the website is that Tom Johnson works for a small school district in the year 1897. He is writing about his journey to move into the twentieth century with pencil and paper integration initiatives. I found the blog as I was searching for sites to add to my PLN. The blog is a very entertaining read. It has made me take a look at some of my fears of using or trying new technology in a different light.

Here are the comments I made on Mr. Johnson's blog post:

I found your blog as I was searching for sites to add to my PLN as part of an assignment for my EDM310 class at the University of South Alabama. I shared this site with my professor , Dr. Strange and he gave me this site to follow as an assignment for the next few weeks. Please feel free to check out my personal blog and my EDM310 class blog.
Your blog post was very interesting. I like the word mentor instead of friend. As a future teacher, I hope to be a mentor to many students, but am not necessarily interested in being their friend. I like the idea of including the parents in the process of mentoring. I think the parents should be there anyway.

It is so interesting you wrote about PLNs in this post. We are working on those as an ongoing project in my EDM310 class at the University of South Alabama. I had no idea what a PLN was, where to go to begin to build one and how it could be useful to me. The more I research, learn and build my PLN, the more I am beginning to see how useful it can be. I see now that this will not be a project that will ever be 'finished', but instead will evolve throughout my teaching career.

I shared this post with Dr. John Strange, my EDM310 professor at the University of South Alabama. He only eats macintosh apples.

February 21 Homework

Dr. Alice Christie's website is a great resource. She is obviously very knowledgeable and excited about technology in the classroom. I have already bookmarked her page Search Engines and Subject Directories for Kids not only to help me find kid friendly search engines for my students, but for my own children at home as well. The research sites she list will be great and helpful resources. I love the virtual field trip idea. Field trips are very expensive these days. My daughter's 3rd grade class is going to the New Orleans Zoo and it is costing $35 per person. The cost can prohibit so many people from going on a field trip. Time and distance is also a factor. With the virtual field trip, you can go anywhere and never leave the classroom. I also enjoyed looking at her photography. What she did with the daisy picture in Photoshop CS2 as far as color goes was beautiful. I loved how she was able to manipulate the contrast to create new, colorful pictures.

I think iTunesU is a great way to continue learning once you leave the college classroom. You will have access to knowledgeable teachers and you can listen or view only what you need at the moment and in your own time. As teachers, we will have to be constantly learning and adapting to new technology as it becomes available. I think itunesU could become a very useful tool to us as teachers.

I googled iPods in instruction to see if I could find any information. I found a great research brief titled Using iPods for instruction. It listed several ways to use the iPod in several different class setting from music appreciation to art history. IPods can be used by all students from K-12 including Special Education students. The website also listed several online resources.

This week on my Comment4Kids post, I commented on the blog titled Endless Ocean . They are using the game Endless Ocean for the Nintendo Wii as a tool for their learning topic. The students were very excited to find a sea lion and seals on there boat after having been away for a bit.

Project 2: Google Presentation

February 14 Homework

I was really surprised to see how many companies have changed or embellished information on Wikipedia. I use Wikipedia often and, for the most part, was trusting of the site. I don't know how trusted a source it can be with the current policy of letting anyone update or change information. Of course, you will have people like myself who will trust the site completely because they do not know people or businesses are changing information for there own self promoting reasons. I will still use Wikipedia(it is very convenient), but will verify information, especially if it is for something I will be putting my name on.
Mr. McClung's post was very insightful. What a great first year to have learned so many career lessons. I think as education students, we all have certain ideas of what we expect our future classroom or school to be like. I think it would be interesting to revisit those ideas after actually being in our own classroom for a year or two. It is always easier to say what one would or wouldn't do before they have had to deal with that situation.
This week, I commented on Payton's blog for our Comment4Kids assignment. He likes baseball and I related him to my son who also loves baseball.

February 7 Homework

I can't believe how fast this semester is going and how much I am learning in EDM310. I few weeks ago, I was unsure what a podcast was or why I would even need one, much less even think about doing one myself. Now, here I am preparing to do a podcast with a fellow classmate. I posted on a previous blog entry that podcast would be a great tool in the classroom if a teacher was ever out. I have since learned that there is so much more a podcast can be used for. Teachers can interact with other teachers from all over the world and teach students from all over the world. I could use a podcast from a teacher in Japan to teach about culture or other topics my students may be learning. I could teach students in Germany about hurricanes. The teacher of the future will be a teacher of all and not only of his/her classroom.
I also commented on Sidney's blog from Mrs. Deyenberg's class. The class is also reading AR books and must accumulate points just like my daughter's class. Sidney is doing very well with AR points. It is nice to know that other children are required to read AR books and that it has as much emphasis place on it as my daughter' class.

January 31 Homework

Before I was given this assignment, I was not sure what a podcast was or how to find them. I thought you had to have an Iphone or Ipod to get them (don't laugh at my technological illiteracy). I can see how very useful they can be. What a great tool for a teacher to be able to use especially if she has to be out of the classroom for some reason. Students can stay up to date on work if they are sick. Lots of possibilities.

Smart Board Lessons was informative and made the most of his time. On www.wiki.answers.com, it said Americans wait in line about an hour a day. Why not make the most of it and share some great ideas? On the Kidcast podcast I listened to, I felt like I was listening in on a telephone conversation. I may have enjoyed it more if it was giving me useful information. It showed me that you have to have interaction from both sides to have a good podcast.

I like how Connectlearning included the audience in his podcast. It gave several viewpoints from teachers. I felt involved in the conversation even though I was not speaking. EdTechTalk featured a conversation between someone here in the US and someone in Austarlia. How amazing is that. The fact that you could create a worldwide conversation to be used and heard around the world is wonderful and could be a great asset in the classroom.

MacBreak Weekly and This week in Photography both seemed like talk radio. I am not a big talk radio listener. I am not saying this is a bad format, but for me and my classroom a think a different format would be more interesting. I also thought they were both very long. I think a shorter podcast with a very specific subject may be a better option for students.

Iphone used by 1 year old
It does not take long for young children to catch on to new technology. It is amazing that this 1 year old can operate an Iphone. This child will be in Kindergarten in 4 years. I am sure he is not the only child that can do this, and they will all probably be in my class in 4 years. I have alot of homework to do!!

Brenda Fluker
I agree!!! If you shut your students out of the class by not letting them participate (whether it is 1st grade or college level)in a classroom discussion they will eventually shut you out and not learn. No one will benefit...not the teacher, not the students. As for the 'ah ha' moments, that is why I am going into the teaching field. I taught 2 year olds in a preschool and I loved it when they finally learned to sit Indian style. A seemingly small thing that was huge to me and them. I could almost see the light bulb flicker on in their eyes.

1st graders in Mrs. Cassidy's class
Look at their classroom. All the computers. My daughters classroom has only 2 computers for 19 students. Most of the time they are only in use for taking AR test. Her class doesn't have a Smartboard and will not be getting one this year. Third grade is the only grade level at her school that does not have Smartboards. My children are not learning the same way Mrs. Cassidy's class is learning. They do not have the technology or the equipment to learn this way. My son is in the 1st grade. How far behind is his class compared to Mrs. Cassidy's? How will this affect him in college and in job opportunities? I have alot of teaching to do to my own children.

Media Literacy
I am so proud of the students! They seem to think this is just the way it is. The do not seem to think they are doing something that, to me, is amazing. I hope to do half the job Mrs. Cassidy has done in teaching my students and getting them excited about learning.

January 24 Homework

Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today
I think students today learn differently today than students did 20 years ago. I know this because I was a student 20 years ago. People starting college today grew up with the 'world at their fingertips' literally. They have not known a world without cell phones or internet. Cell phones and internet are great learning tools. These tools need to be integrated into the classroom as much as possible. I think so much more is expected of students today than 20 years ago. Students today are required to do so much more work. Most of that work is computer work; blog, threaded discussions, Powerpoint presentations, ect. EDM310 would not have even been a requirement 20 years ago. To this video, I would add a video made 20 years ago with college students and compare it with today's students.

It's Not about the Technology by Kelly Hines
I agree with Kelly. Teachers need to be learners, especially in this day of advancing technology. You can not be an effective teacher unless you can connect to your children. If you can not connect with your students, you can not teach them. If you have to learn new teaching methods, how to use a smartboard, anything that will improve your students learning, you should be willing to do it. People today going into the teaching profession grew up with ever changing technology and the need to learn it. They had to. I think we will begin to see a wider gap in teachers who are willing to learn and teachers who are not through test scores and overall effectiveness in the classroom.

Karl Fisch: Is It Okay to Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?
I agree with this post and several of the comments. What is the definition of technologically illiterate? I think at this time, it depends on who you are around. If you are the one called on when someone has a computer question, you are the literate one. Even if it is something very easy to figure out(at least to you). It just goes to show, we are not all on the same page yet. Until we are all willing or have the means to learn about technology, we will have technologically illiterate people. I think the reading/writing analogy was great. Looking back at the beginning of the 20th century, students had to leave school at an early age to help out on the farm or work to help their parents out. There was more illiteracy. Once students had more opportunities to stay in school, you had less illiteracy. I think the same will be true with technology. Once it is avaliable to all, you will have less technologically illiterate people.

Gary Hayes Social Media Count
Those numbers are moving very fast. I just tend to think they may be a little exaggerated. If not, it proves, as a teacher, I will have to be constantly learning new technology and adapting it to my teaching. Even as early as 2nd grade (the grade I would like to teach) students will have access to this technology. I will have to keep children engaged and that will only be done through the technology they are familiar with.

January 17 Homework

Did You Know? 3.0 by Karl Fisch
Wow!!! The world seems to be changing and growing at a faster pace than ever before. I was surprised to see that India has more honor students than America has students. I would like to know if that statement is based on percentages or a student to student ratio considering how much faster the population of India is growing versus America's population. I do hope the information about jobs is incorrect. I would hate to think that people are changing jobs every year to year and a half. I also find it hard to believe that 1 in 8 couples married last year (2007) met online. I am curious to know if that number is based on worldwide marriages or just marriages in the U.S. I do agree with Mr. Fisch that technology is growing and evolving at a rapid pace. I have seen how much technology has evolved over the last 20 years. This video definitely gives me something to think about as I move forward in this technology class and in my teaching career and, for that matter, in life.

Mr. Winkle Wakes by Matthew Needleman
Unfortunately, I think this video was on target. Mr. Winkle woke to find new technology in businesses and hospitals, but schools had not changed in the last 100 years. Our students do not have access to the same technology that is a requirement for many jobs. It is a sad commentary on the state of our education system in the United States. I think there are some cost effective ways to bring some of the new technology into the schools. Most students have cell phones and instead of banning them from campuses, they could be used as a learning tool. For example, I think students could use their cell phone and text answers for a test to their teachers. Not only would this save paper(a huge expense), but keep students more engaged in the classroom.

Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity
I found this video fascinating and insightful. I completely agree with Sir Ken Robinson and his viewpoint on the relationship between creativity and academic education. I think that when the creativity is taken out of the education experience, you tend to lose students individuality and they become more robotic in their learning. I think part of the problem is that teachers have had their creativeness taken away by strict education standards and the time frame in which these standards have to be taught and tested. There is no time to 'stop and smell the roses'. I also agree with the notion that we tend to medicate our children instead of finding alternative outlets for their energy. I think there are better ways to keep them focused and involved in the learning process without medication. Some children will need the medicine, but I think it should be the exception and not the rule.

Vicki Davis: Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts
I really enjoyed watching Vicki Davis and how she took her class out of the classroom with leaving the building. There is so much information available to our students if we just have the means of getting it to them. I also like and respect the fact that she was open to learning from her students. I know as a mom, I am learning something new from my own children all the time. I think it is important for students to understand that what they have to say can be valuable and can even teach the teacher.