August 30, 2010

In today's class we learned about Webquest. A Webquest is an inquiry-based activity for students to work with on the computer. A webquest has 5 parts: Introduction, Tasks, Process, Evaluation, and Conclusion. Webquest can be an individual assignment or a cooperative learning assignment. Students are not just looking up facts about a subject; they are using higher order thinking skills to inquire information about a subject. Webquest can be fun and engaging for the students making the learning process enjooyable instead of dreadful. I will incorporate webquests in my classroom to help the students have a fun and enjoyable learning experience.

September 7, 2010

Today was our last class. Everyone presented their portfolios that we worked so hard on over the last week. We also presented our web quest assignment to the class. Everyone's was great. Then we worked on putting all our assignments on livetext. I have really enjoyed being in this class and have learned so much about technology and how to integrate it into the classroom. Everything that I have learned will be very useful in my own classroom one day.

Today in class we discussed assistive technology which is technology specially designed to aid individuals with disabilities.
Alternative to the Computer Keyboard - The magnifier can help students with vision problems use the computer. Students with hearing problems may use an e-reader to help them hear things on a computer.
Intellikeys - alternative keyboard with larger keys and change the layout for students needs
Alternative to computer monitor - to enhance the visual display on the screen of the computer monitor. Speech can be added to the computer's output for young nonreaders, older students with reading difficulties, and students who are blind. The speech synthesizer is a common way to add speech.
Software designed for students with special needs - Talking Word processing programs are available for students who are blind or with physical disabilities. Calculators with print output can help students with disabilities do their math and print it out instead of writing it down.
Communication board - This can be as simple as a piece of cardboard with pictures, letters, or words on it.

August 16,2010
Tonight we discussed security issues, ethics, and emerging technologies in education. We talked about why people would send others viruses on the computer. This would be just because someone wanting to harm others for no specific reason. We disscussed the computer ethics for educators.

Computer Ethics

• An educator will not use a computer to harm others.


• An educator will not interfere with others' computer work


• An educator will not look at others' computer files


• An educator will not use a computer to steal


• An educator will not use a computer to lie


• An educator will not use copy or use software without paying for it


• An educator will not use others' computer resources without permission


• An educator will not use others' work


• An educator will think about the social impact of the programs he or she creates


• An educator aleays will use a computer in a way that shows respect and consideration for other people.

We discussed web page guidelines


Web Page Guidelines

• Always protect the identity of your students


• Never list students last names, telephone numbers, home addresses, or e-mail addresses


• Use only first names of students on web site, but never with other identifying information, such as photographs
• Use caution when including ditigal pictures of classrooms; avoid pictures that include close-ups of students


• Never provide links to sites that are not appropriate for K-6 students or educational setting


• List the function of all linked web pages. Link only to pages that inform, explain, or teach a concept to students.


• Avoid providing links to sites whos primary purpose is selling noneducational products and services, unless relavant to the subject under discussion


• Avoid linking to sites that are not updated on a regular basis


• Provide links to pages that help you achieve instructionaland curriculum goals


• Avoid discussing controversial issues on your page or linking to web sites that discuss controversial issues, unless the issue is part of your curriculum


• Carefully read and follow all guidelines and policies that your school district provide

We talked about copyright and we discussed how to make a website. We looked at some teacher websites and talked about we liked about each website. I have listed some of the websites that I liked for you to view.

teacher website that I liked:

http://teacherweb.com/FL/SunsetLakesElementary/MrsRaude/apt42.aspx I liked this website. It included a section about the teacher, a parent's corner, the teachers blog, a homework section, a projects and activities section, links to math games, a teacher's file cabniet that included pictures of centers, information about bloom's taxonomy, and information about higher order thinking skills.

http://teacherweb.com/AK/Appleton/Applebee/t.aspx This website include information such as a section about the teacher, a classroom blog, a password protected section for grades, a section to list events, announcements, field trip information, homework, and the mission statement for the class.

http://teacherweb.com/HI/KahaluuElementary/Trela/apt2.aspx

http://teacherweb.com/FL/PineViewSchoolfortheGifted/Bradly

Video Reflection
Dr. Damiri assigned a video for the class to watch and write a reflection on. The video was on copyright laws and the fair use policy. It was a workshop held at Standford University by a panel of professionals. The purpose of this workshop was to try and get the state and federal governments to allow access to information. Gaining access to information can be very expensive and being able to have access to the information would help students, teachers, and small research companies be more productive. This was an interesting video with the panel of professionals sharing some of their companies policies. Click here to check out the video. It is in the upper right hand corner of the page.

8-2-10

We started class with our weekly quiz. After the quiz we discussed technology intergration and the learning process. We did an activity in groups where we took a standard and figured out how to use different aspects of technology to teach that standard to ALL children. We can use powerpoint to show digital images of landforms to students, we can use programs such as excel to record student grades, and we can use translation software to translate for students who do not speak english. These are just some of the ways we can use technology in the classroom; there are many more. We talked about free websites that we can use to help students learn and we are doing evaluations on some of these websites. I will disscuss some of those next week. Technology is a great tool to use in the classroom to keep parents informed, help students understand concepts and skills, and to give students extra practice in the subject areas that they are having a little trouble.

In tonight's class we discussed how a classroom newsletter could be useful to teachers and parents and we learned how to design one. Classroom newsletters can be used to inform parents of things that are going on in the classroom, ask for parent volunteers for various projects, inform parents of upcoming events, and to announce awards and accomplishments achieved by the students.
We also discussed multimedia and digital media. Multimedia includes text, graphics, audio, video, and animation. It is a program used to help with instruction and is not really interactive. It can be used to teach parts of the body, the four seasons, or the solar system. Digital media allows us to create new forms of interaction, expression, communication, and entertainment in a digital format. Examples of digital media are You Tube, Wiki, PowerPoint, CD's, and simulations.
We learned about computer-based Instruction which is used because it reduces time, teaches new skills, gives instant feedback, and is a self-paced study. We also discussed the advantages of electronic books. It would be very useful to have textbooks on a device like the Kindle2 because they would be easier to carry and you would have them all in one place; easily accessible.

7-19-2010 What we learned in class

Today in class we learned about different software applications and how they can be useful in the classroom. There are many different programs that can be useful in business, schools, and in homes and personal business. Application software that might be useful in the classroom is word for notetaking and gradebook software. For home and personal use, word can be used for legal documents and excel for budgeting and taxes. The most widley used group of application software is for communication. Outlook can be used for email and chat programs such as yahoo messenger and AIM can be used to instatly chat with someone. We loked at Kidspiration which is a software application for K-5 students. It supports EEl and ESL students by using strategies such as pictures of concepts and sight vocabulary. These types of software programs give students more opportunities to grasp new concepts. We disscussed WIKIs and went over our blogs that we have been working on. Wikis can be useful in the classroom because they allow a group to colloborate with others on one document.
We looked at googledoc which is an online program that saves time and effort on group projects. A project can be put on googledoc and everyone can make corrections or add material right to the website. This is a good program for working together in a group on a project; wish I had known about it earlier because it would have saved me lots of time and energy!
Application software can be used in the classroom to make learning fun, engage the students, and help students master a concept!