Presentations

When I was putting together my final presentation it had me thinking about ways to use some of the technologies we have been learning about. I have decided I prefer to use the Smart Notebook over Powerpoint, although I do have a better understanding about Powerpoint. With the Notebook I can incorporate different games and other applications into my lessons to make them more interactive and engaging for students. I enjoyed watching other presentations using the same or similar technologies. Through watching other presentations I was able to look at different ways that the technology could be applied. I also learned some interesting facts from the presentations also. 

Podcats

I am unfamiliar with podcasts. I have heard about them but I personally have never listened to one nor made one. When making one I found it relatively easy, especially using Audacity. I enjoyed how I could overlay different sounds in the background in order for it to work well with the audio track I recorded. I feel as though podcasts could be applied in various ways throughout the classroom. I think it would also be fun for students to create their own and share with other students in the class. 

Websites

I have never known how to create a website before. I knew that there were ways for teachers to create their own websites for their classrooms but I was unsure how to do it or if it would be easy to develop and maintain one. As we attempted to use the Google hosting site I was getting frustrated at having limited control over what the appearance of the site was. In order to have slightly more freedom regarding the appearance I decided to switch over to the Weebly hosting site. 

Weebly was not only appealing to my visual tastes, as far as layout and setting adjustments were concerned, and it was very simple to use. I enjoyed setting up my own website for my hypothetical classroom. I think a website for a classroom or teacher is very helpful for students. Many, if not the majority, of students know how to access websites on the Internet. Therefore, students could use a classroom website as a resource in they have any questions, particularly if the teacher keeps up to date on the website and posts homework and other resources. Although a website can be very useful, it also requires quite a bit of work on the teachers end in order to keep it up to date on what is occurring in the classroom.

iPads

iPads are a useful new technology that can be incorporated into the classroom in a variety of ways. They can be both useful for teachers to use apps to take notes regarding how the classroom is running behavior wise or students using different educational apps that may have games to facilitate more learning and discovery or reinforce the learning that is already occurring in the classroom.
I have used iPads for a number of different reasons for both the before and after school program and the summer camp I work for. One way I have used them is I was involved in running a fitness program and was allotted the use of an iPad which I downloaded a number of free games that all focused on healthy food choices for students to take turns playing. In addition there was also some fitness apps that we recorded different data into upon completing different physical activities. The app I had the most fun using was a free silent films app that I used with a class I taught over the summer about silent films. The kids worked in groups and created their own silent films which all turned out to be funny and cute. The kids enjoyed doing this activity and the app I used was pretty simplistic and it allowed the groups to record their skit and then alter it to include text descriptions and music. With all of these activities the kids really enjoyed being able to use the iPads!

Excel

I have used Excel in the past but not extensively, and only in terms of using it as a spreadsheet. I never knew that you could  create something like a seating chart or a timeline using Excel. I liked creating the seating chart. It was relatively simple once I figured out all the tools and how to use them. This is a great use of the program! I work at a before and after school program and I have had to remake seating charts a few times, where I always have to redraw the layout which can be both annoying and time consuming. However, if I use Excel it does not take long to draw out the layout and I can print out a new layout without having to redraw it! This is one use of the program that I can foresee myself using often to help make my job easier!

Cyberbullying

For this research paper I choose a topic that is sadly increasing and a serious issue both in and out of our classrooms: cyberbullying. There have been countless instances where our children have gone as far as suicide as a direct result of the bullying they have received throughout school. But now with the increase in technology, the bullying does not stop when students leave school.  Although cyberbullying may not occur while our students are sitting through our class educators must work with society to take action against this dire issue before it results in the loss of more lives. In many schools some form of education about bullying occurs in hopes of discouraging students from taking an active role in it, but many times little is taught in terms of cyberbullying. Society has focused on teaching our children about how to stay away from predators but little is taught about how to treat or react to their own peers. 

Bullying needs to be eliminated in order to ensure the safety of our students! And now with the advancement in technology we must get ahead and help keep our students safe online as well as in the classroom!

This research has solidified for me the need for awareness among educators about all the technology available to our children; in addition, we need to be made aware of all the negative ways our children are using it. As educators we are focused on all the positive was that technology can help benefit our classrooms but what happens when our students walk out of our classrooms and schools and turn on all the technology they aren't using within our schools. Kids can be cruel to each other and now they are more connected to one another than ever before; therefore, allowing the cruelty to continue even when they are not together. 

With awareness and education we can end this unnecessary cruelty and loss of lives, but we must take action to do either!

How Difficult Can This Be

This video was a very informative one. I particularly like how it was as if we were able to watch as people could experience the learning disabilities that their students may or may not have been experiencing. I have always thought that it is one thing to study and read about learning disabilities in an attempt to better understand them so we as educators can help the students facing them. But to actually have an experience where it is as though you have a learning disability yourself and to be able to go through the same feelings that our students are faced with on a daily basis is something that brings an enlightenment to us that no amount of research and study could ever do. These individuals were able to understand on a deeper and more personal level what a student with a learning disability experiences on a daily basis in and outside the classroom. I wish more of these experiences were offered to people both in and out of the education field so that as a society we could better understand one another. 

There were many parts of the video that struck me as interesting, one of which was when the participants were asked to identify what the poor quality photo was of. This was a simple activity but has a wide variety of was that it could be applied to student learning. A student may be told the information but may not be able to make sense of it or understand it, just like the participants were confused and could not identify what the image was. Some of the participants began to get creative and try to come up with their own idea of what the image portrayed, despite their lack of understanding. This is similar to when students are try to learn and instead of actually understanding the content they make up their own understanding of it, which in many cases is misled and inaccurate. However, as soon as the professor used a visual aide and took the time to show each individual participant suddenly it was as though a light bulb went off in the participants head that allowed them to understand and comprehend what they were seeing. This is one way that we can help our learning disabled children, by simply providing them with the extra tools for them to use in order to help turn the light bulb in their minds on with the understanding of the content. 

It is important for all educators to have a understanding of their students, to know their strengths and weaknesses. With a clear understanding of our students we as educators can alter our instruction and use different tools that will help each of them as individuals to reach their full capabilities. When we have the knowledge of what may work best for one student we can alter our lessons to help that student, and in turn it may help other students as well. Learning disabilities are challenging , especially for the students who must live with them. So as educators we must try to help these students overcome their disabilities and continue to learn and grow, which can only be done if we understand what these students are going through.

Visual Learners

I have always considered myself a relatively visual learner. There are times when I can simply remember something based on seeing it and allowing myself to take a somewhat visual snapshot of it. This is particularly true when I am studying something and I am able to color code the information. In fact during one of my classes in undergrad at Naz I was learning about the different developmental psychologists and I remember all of my information for Piaget was purple, because they both started with "p", and Vygotsky I had all the information in green because verde is green in Spanish and both Vygotsky and verde start with "v". This is just one of the basic examples I remember clearly.

With my own experiences I think it is important to find ways for students to see how something is. This way they can create their own mental images that will help them remember the information. Whether the instruction simply uses pictures or images that help the students understand better, or it is more interactive. I have in the past combined the visual aspect of teaching with kinesthetic activity. A challenging difference for students to grasp is the difference between rotation and revolution of the earth, so I had the students take turns acting out the different actions as though they were the earth. This resulted in a drastic change of understanding with the majority of the class being able to explain the difference to me easily and correctly. The students not only were to see the difference but also acting it out themselves allowed them to grasp the information better. 

Also through math it is important for visual learners to be encouraged to use different strategies that may help them understand more. I have always been decently good at math and mastering the strategies I was taught. However, during my undergrad I took a class on how to teach math and it opened my eyes to how little I actually knew and understood. We used a wide variety of manipulatives to help us as teachers to understand the concepts the students are learning. It made even the most challenging topics become easy to understand and explain. I have always like manipulatives because students can use them to visually represent the very abstract concepts that we are teaching them. I feel as though one of the most challenging mathematical concept we are teaching our students is fractions, both in general and computing them. Fractions were always challenging for me although I did have an understanding of them, but once I used manipulatives to explain them and compute them it was like the fog had lifted and suddenly I understood and could easily compute fractions. Unfortunately in most schools I have been in they do not always use manipulatives to teach fractions but rather just paper and pencil and maybe fraction strips they cut from paper. I think if we gave our students manipulatives and had them play around and construct their own meaning of fractions it would more likely for them to become comfortable with fractions and not struggle in the same way they are now. 

Visual learners need to see what they are learning. It should be common sense to provide all students visual aides and representations to help them learn the materials. It has become easier through the use of technology and the internet to find visual representations associated with any topic you are teaching that could help support all our students and promote their learning.

Webquests

The concept of a Webquest is one that is relevant for both students and educators...

Webquests are relevant for educators in a number of different ways. they can be used in a way that allows for students to discover the information they are learning on their own. Although when developing a Webquest the educator decides the websites the students will be using, at least for the majority of them, the students are responsible for exploring the different provided websites in order to gather and apply the necessary content. This can be an example of indirect instruction where the information is provided by the teacher but the students must do their own exploration of the content in order to make sense of it and to learn from it. This means that Webquests are more interactive and engaging generally for students allowing for the lesson in general to be more engaging and memorable for students as they have to construct the information and they are not just sitting and listening to the teacher. Finally, teachers can scaffold Webquests in order to meet the needs of every student while still providing them with the same experience and allowing them to construct their own knowledge of the topic.

Webquests are also relevant for students. The students are responsible for finding, analyzing, and applying the different information they find when completing the different Webquests. This means that the students are constructing their own information from what the teacher has provided; therefore, it is a more engaging and beneficial lesson. Of course every student may not discover all of the important information so it may be necessary for a follow up activity to be done but the information they do discover will likely be remembered more as they were actively engaged when they were learning it.

PowerPoint

I am very familiar with PowerPoint and the different features that can make any presentation more entertaining and informational. I was using an older version of PowerPoint though and it meant that my choices regarding the designs and colors and formats were very limited. I had become quite bored with them. Once I started using the updated version of PowerPoint I was very excited to see the different designs and formatting options. 

I also think it is quite helpful to incorporate hyperlinks into the presentation to make it more interactive and allow for you as the presenter to easily access material on the internet related to your topic that you wish to share. I am unsure how to use hyperlinks in order to go to other parts of the PowerPoint presentation but I feel as though this could be a very helpful tool. 

The "do's and don't's" that was in the class PowerPoint was a very helpful reminder of the key aspects and formatting of PowerPoint that can help any presenter excel in their display. PowerPoint should be used as a presentation tool and guideline, it should not be overly filled with information that may overwhelm your audience. I particularly liked the idea of picking a light colored background with dark font too keep your audience awake and more actively involved compared to using a darker background that could allow for your audience to start to snooze more easily.

Word!

So I have realized that not only have I been using a completely outdated version of Word, but I have been missing out on some awesome applications for its use. I have been using the 2003 version of Word since it came out, I have had a very outdated computer for a long time simply because it still worked and I could not financially afford a new one. I bought a new computer just before starting this semester, along with all up-to-date software, and it is like night and day. I have always been a fan of Word and decent user of the program; however, I never knew all the cool more advanced things that Word can be used for with the newer versions. I have the 2013 version on my computer now and would never go back to my out of date 2003 version. 

I enjoyed creating the scrapbook page. I am a huge fan of arts and crafts, including scrapbooking. Although it was strange for me to be creating a scrapbook page on the computer, I never knew that there were so many varying options that could be used to change the look of what your producing. I have always used Word simply for essays or simple typing, but there are so many different applications that it can be used for. If students are given the option to use Word in a way that steps away from merely typing up their work the possibilities are endless for what they may create.

I also like the idea about using the editing and comment options offered on the newer versions of Word. I do not believe my 2003 version of Word offered this option but it is a great classroom tool. With schools attempting to conserve paper having an option that allows collaborative editing is beautiful for helping students develop their best work. I have personally used it in one of my undergraduate classes at Naz when we were assigned to write a paper as a group. It was a wonderful tool especially when we were unable to meet with one another because we could send the paper to one another and add comments or change sections. This could be used similarly with a student who may be absent for an extended period of time but has access to a computer with word and the internet. This student could continue to work on any written work and be able to email it to their teacher who could add in comments and help the student with the editing process even if they are not meeting face to face. 

The advancement in technology is a wonderful tool that when embraced correctly can change the classroom for the better!

Week 2

Coming into this course I am aware the controversy revolving around the incorporation of social media into the classroom. Using social media in the classroom can be detrimental to the students in a number of ways; however, the sacrifices teachers make by not embracing this powerful tool may be far greater. Social media can be dangerous if misused by students in way that could put them at risk of numerous things, such as cyber-bullying or being targeted by a predator. Nevertheless, if social media is used properly it can open up a rich new world to students that can be both engaging and educational. I know very little about Web 2.0; however, I have been part of social media in some form or another since high school.

If we leave either Web 2.0 or social media entirely out of education I feel it is robbing students of a number of things. There are students who struggle to share their thoughts throughout classroom discussions but these same children may thrive in a setting that they can share their ideas and opinions through writing, like in a class forum. In addition to this benefit of incorporating Web 2.0 and social media there are many other pros to using either technological resource. In the business field today, or just about any employment field for that matter, it is important to learn how to conduct yourself properly on the internet. It is important for us as educators to teach our students how easy it is for employers to follow up on their employees through social media. It is also vital that we emphasize that once something is on the internet it is out there forever and for anyone to see, despite the precautions we may attempt to take. If we do not teach our students how social media or Web 2.0 works, who will? I understand we are attempting to protect our students but they are growing up in an era that their entire lives can be found on the internet. By the time these students become adults it is likely that technology will rule their lives; therefore, as educators we must show them how to use it safely and even how to use it in a way that could help them become their best and even foster the curiosity that many students lose through just generic instruction. Students are interested in the internet and particularly social media so why not use that to help educate them?


Article arguing for social media 

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