My Experience in EDM 310

Personally, I loved this class. At first, I have to admit, I wasn't completely sure about it. As the class went on, I started to click and I began to enjoy it more and more. I really learned a lot from this class that I never knew before. I have always been pretty good on the computer and could most of the time figure things out if I had to, but this class has definitely made life a lot easier for me. Creating the web-site itself has shown myself that anyone CAN do it. Not just "computer geeks" or "smarter people", I can actually do this!
I have to admit also, that Dr. Strange was a little intimidating at first and thought it was all over and I was going to struggle. After all, this class was most helpful to me this semester. Dr. Strange was and is a great instructor and knows his stuff. He is so concerned that we, as students, understand this stuff and not just doing it robotic. The most helpful part of this class was the fact that Dr. Strange posted his instructional videos for all to watch and learn on their own if they didn't understand it the first time. This was a great, great thing for me. It helped me get through this class and really let me stop, rewind and watch over and over again and make sure I know it! It was a great little surprise to the class. I would totally recommend that to any instructor if you want your students to succeed and really learn from the course!

Wikipedia post

I really learned a lot from this assignment. I have heard of Wikipedia and know,basically what it is but never really understood exactly what it was until now. Reading these comments and blogs about Wikipedia is a little scary I have to admit, but very interesting. They said on the podcast that about 9o% accuracy from the site and most should be trusted that it is the companies changing these comments and not just someone in the building. If wikipedia has always let it known that there can be changes made to the information inside, then anyone who uses the website should be cautious.
It is a little strange to understand that any information on the site can be changed or manipulated. It is comforting now knowing that it can't be trusted all the time and I would be very careful using any bit of information in any research I got from there. On the other hand, you can find some great information on the site and can be helpful in researching any and everything. So, there is definitely some pros and cons to Wikipedia but isn't that with anything in life. If you are being truthful and and honest then there is nothing to worry about!

I Tunes U -Stanford "Growth" vs. "Fixed"

The Stanford Video "Growth" vs. "Fixed" was very interesting to me. It totally opens your mind and let's you see learning from a different perspective. Sometimes, people do not have the confidence or think that they can learn something or do something when all they need to do is open their minds and believe in themselves. If you don't believe in yourself then how are you ever going to get anywhere. This video teaches us that some students might need a little confidence boost to help them want to learn new things. Growth is always optional; if you want it, it is there. We just have to go for it. We have to teach these students that they are never done learning and will continue to learn from their mistakes throughout life.
This video very much affected me. I have never really thought that maybe some kids do not believe they could ever be smart; but it is so much a reality. As I watched this video it really reminded me a lot of myself. I have always been a pretty good student and coasted through high school with C's and B's (maybe one A) and was happy about it. Now that I have come back to school, and am a little older and more mature, I have to strive and tell myself that I am smart and can learn this stuff. I have really experienced this myself and understand why and how some students can feel this way. So, as a teacher I will be more aware if this and will help these children as much as I can.

I Tunes U Teachers' Domain Total Solar Eclispe

This video is perfect for elementary school children. I choose the total solar eclipse animation video because I really caught my attention and kept it, so I know it would be great to help students learn about the earth, moon and sun. The eclipse of the sun can be confusing to young students hard to understand at first. This video shows great animation and totally explains this rare sight that only comes around every eighteen months.
I could definitely use this video in the classroom and I am sure the children would learn from it. I t clearly shows the solar eclipse, the moon passing in between the earth and sun. It explains the whole process and how the sun and moon are different sizes but look the same to us from earth. I think I would let my students watch this video after we studied the text book and began to learn a little about the solar eclipse. Again, very educational video for students to watch and learn.

http://oedb.org/library/beginning-online-learning/100-ways-to-use-your-ipod-to-learn-and-study-better
This is a link to a website called, 100 Ways to Use Your IPod,which teaches students many different ways that students can incorporate ipods into schooling. I was shocked to see how many different ways that ipods could used in the classroom. I have an ipod and had no clue that it could do all this stuff and i am very excited to maybe try one or more of these uses and see how it works out. I think it is great that some classrooms are allowing these ipods to be used because I think that it gives students many different ways to be involved in the classroom and helps with testing and lectures. Yes, it is true that students may be tempted to skip class lectures but I think that the students that feel this way will do it anyways. There are other important things that are done in the classroom that students should be present for and students know that. I personally do not think that it would cause more absences but I do think it would encourage students to learn.

The Duke University IPod experience was very interesting to read about. I totally agree with it and think that it proved that it gets students excited and eager to listen to lectures. Reading all the student comments and the reported outcomes shows that it is great and students loved it, mostly, but there are also some drawbacks to it. Yes, one can have problems with the device or maybe one doesn't even know how to use an ipod and have to take another course to get familiar with the ipod or maybe a student has trouble downloading or transferring data to your computer but I think the good outweighs the bad. I think it is a great idea!!! Plus, if it is the case that students are not familiar with these kinds of technology it will be a great way to get students more technologically inclined. It will encourage students to learn how to use these devices along with others.

"Best of...2007" May 2007 Customer Service

I decided to post on the customer service blog because I can really relate to this. Sometimes, customer service can be really helpful but a lot of times they just make me more confused than I was before. When I have a problem with technical things, such as, when I am learning something new on the computer, you ask someone to help and they do just that, but basically they just do it for you. Not many people take the time to really teach you how to actually do the thing you are trying to do, they just do it for you and expect that you learned it that quick. I would appreciate when being walked through something by a costumer service representative that they would slow down and understand that the reason I am calling is because I don't know how to do it.
On the other hand, yes, as teachers, we are a certain kind of "customer service" representative to our students and parents of students. we, also, need to slow down and take the time to really teach these children who are there to learn. Along with the students, the parents also need to understand what is going on in their children's school life and that also depends on us as teachers.

Is it ok to be technologically illiterate teacher?

I think that it is still a little bit acceptable today for teachers to a bit behind in the technology department but it is not to far down the road that it will not be acceptable. Everyday technology is taking over more and more and I think that people need to accept it and not try to fight it. There is no getting around it that the world is going that way and that teachers need to be learning about it and learning to incorporate it into their lesson plans.
How can we as educators teach this to our students when we don't fully understand it ourselves. You have to know it to teach it. I do agree that in 20 years you will not be able to be successful if you our technologically illiterate. It is also true that teachers, especially educators that have been in the field a long time, have a lot on their plates and it can be a scary thing to learn after doing it a certain way for so long. That is why it is so important that we teach our students now so that they are experienced for the future.

International Schools 2

This is Stephen Downes from Moncton, New Brunswick. He has become a leading voice in education concerning weblogs in education, metadata, and related issues. He came up with a list of things he thinks that students should learn before they go into their careers and be successful in life, no matter how old you are. He teaches his students to learn how to write 5 sentence e-mails, power point slides, etc....

international schools that blog

This school is in Tirupati, India and is called Sri Padmavathi Womens University. The teacher, Mr. Bernie Poole, says that most of his students have never used a computer in their life. He says that learning to use the computer is like riding a bike and says that 5 out of 50 students, today, still are having a little bit of trouble. He insists that in todays world teaching students to use the computer is vital in the world today.

ACCESS school #1

Mrs. Dudiak's second grade classroom in Frederick County, MD uses blogs in their classroom. Mrs. Dudiak and her students went on a field trip to Native American Farm and when they returned, instead of discussing the trip, she allowed them to express their feelings on their class blog. She allowed them to post pictures and talk about their thoughts. She found that some students that were relatively shy, came alive when they were able to respond online. Mrs. Dudiak and her peers believe that using blogs is easier and a more fun way to keep up with assignments and other school news. http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2004/08/19/technology/19blog.jpg

Melanie Sullivan and Betsy Blumberg at John Eliot School in Needham, have joined the population of bloggers over the past couple of years. Mrs. Sullivan and Mrs. Blumberg have found that they can keep parents more involved by posting comments or even class assignments and grades so they can keep up with what their children are doing. Blumberg mainly used her blog to alert parents of grades and any trouble their children were having. Mrs. Sullivan used her blog to express different ideas to other teachers and let them know what is and is not working for her.
http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/Globe_Photo/2006/09/07/1157623142_5166.jpg

ACCESS

ACCESS seems to be a great new tool for educators to use in the classroom. ACCESS offers many opportunities to teachers as well as students. during high school there can be many different scenarios that can make it difficult for students to keep up their work which can make a difference in graduating or not. ACCESS offers these students an opportunity to catch up their work allowing them the chance to walk with their classmates.
ACCESS also is great in many different ways. For example, it offers advanced level courses that may otherwise be unavailable to students. Like I said earlier, it is great for those students who need to accelerate graduation or make up courses. It gives students confidence in technology skills and it allows the opportunity to interact with other students outside of their own school. It minimizes teacher shortage and alos improves grades. ACCESS offers interactive and web-based education to students and teaches students and instructors 21st century technology. Experiences with ACCESS has been mainly positive and 82% of teachers and staff reported that virtual school experiences were as good or better than other, traditional courses.

ALEX 2

ALEX is a great website for teachers. It allows much information to be searched and much information to be found and used from this website. One can get useful tips on lesson plans and you can also store and post useful lesson plans. Also, it allows you to search through courses of study and it, in detail, explains what each course is about. ALEX also allows you to find different web links and explore different avenues.

ALEX also gives you a great tool, called webspace. In this, teachers can post ideas and also look at other teacher's ideas and learn from others. It also gives the latest news around the country in education. It allows us to enhance our professional growth.

ALEX

ALEX is a great website for teachers and students. It would really be helpful to any new teacher just beginning their career. I would definitely use ALEX in my classroom and personally on my own. this website gives so much that teachers can use. there are helpful lesson plans for any subject that you are teaching and it brings up any kind of lesson plan you can imagine. It also gives students or teachers a great example of any specific class you would like to know more about.

For students it is also a great tool. I would definitely use this website and have it available in my classroom. I would let the students browse the site at age appropriate levels and get more information on things they have questions on. It would give them a chance to try and find the answers to questions they may have or to just browse. This site gives you, as a teacher, and as a student, great tools to use if needed. It also allows you to browse other sites and search for more information.

Fish Bowl

I thought that this movie was very interesting. It shows just how far we have come in the technology world today. It is very interesting that the largest English speaking country will be China. That is very interesting in deed. I can see, in my own home, how much the internet and the computer effect children today. I have a 6 year old son and he can come in the office and get right on the computer and knows how to get to his page where he can play educational games and look at kids stuff. It really surprised me but it is comforting that they are teaching this in the schools.

January 10, 2008

today is thursday january 10, 2007.

my 1st post

testing testing 123