4/26/10

Today was our last class! We were given a scenario to act out either the part of the teacher, the PTA parent, or the principal to talk about using technology in the classroom. Half of the class used cameras to record their discussion, and the other half was supposed to use science sim to chat. My group was supposed to be using science sim, but we had a lot of technical difficulties so we ended up spending the entire time trying to get it to work right. So I guess what I learned is that technology can be a great tool in the classroom, but if it doesn't work right then we will end up wasting time- although I guess in some cases we can learn new things by problem solving when it doesn't work. All in all, what I learned in this class was that balance is the key to using technology in the classroom. It's great to try new things, but if we completely rely on one tool then that can lead to problems.

4/19/10

Today we went into a classroom in Edith Bowen to see how a teacher implements technology in his classroom. It was exciting to actually see how great these resources can be. He uses ipods, websites, a wii, other computer games, and other technology. I wished that I could have been a kid in that classroom! They probably don't realize how lucky they are to have such great resources available to them. One thing that I got out of our visit was that it is possible to keep the students on task even when they are using things like ipods, and that is good to know since that is one of my concerns.

Then we came back and did website evaluations:

1. What form(s) did you like/dislike? Why?: I liked the "MidLink Magazine" evaluation because it wasn't just a yes or no, you could rate criteria from 0-4. That was better because some websites partially met the criteria and there was a way to record that.
2. Were there any hidden secrets about a website you discovered by using an evaluation form?: One of the websites looked legitimate, but I realized that there was no author or creator mentioned with contact information and the website was not run by a familiar organization. In this case I would want to verify any information I found on that site by checking others.
3. What is the value of using a web site evaluation process?: Evaluations can be used to determine the credibility, usefulness, and quality of a webpage.
4. Are there times you would/would not use a formal evaluation?: Yes, if I was just playing around or not researching something I would not worry about using a formal evaluation, I would just informally check for certain things. I would use a formal evaluation when deciding whether or not to use a website in my classroom.

4/5/2010

Today in class we talked about webquests. I like the idea of being able to have more options online that are not available in the classroom. There are just some things that we cannot physically explore in the classroom, and I think virtual explanations could be the next best option. However, I do not think that I would use these webquests very often; I believe that it would be better if the students used them as a supplement to what we do in the classroom. I have not used this exact thing in my school experiences, but I have done the same basic things on my own without specific instructions like they give. One problem with it is the children could easily be off-task and use the internet for other things than the project. I do want to implement inquiry-based lessons because when the students honestly have questions and are allowed to investigate the topic on their own with the teacher guiding them, what they learn will be more meaningful to them. I would just rather use hands-on, personal and group exploration than virtual exploration, but I guess that virtual exploration is better than none at all.

3/29/2010

Today we explored the ScienceSim. It's a MUVE, which is an online virtual world that can be used for simulations, role playing, building, and social events.
MUVEs can be used to train tutors where they can practice responses to the student's errors as well as right answers. It can be used to chat with others with a visual aspect added to the usual words. Another thing that would be cool to use would be a replica of something that a class is learning about to explore it, like some place or time in history, and it could become more meaningful to them. Mostly it would be useful as long as it works correctly, although the students might also learn how to problem solve when it doesn't work right! :) I have never created an avatar or anything like it before, so today's lesson was a new experience, and I learned a couple things about how to explore and experiment.

3/8/2010

We practiced making surveys on google docs today. This could definitely be useful in my classroom both to use inside the classroom for quizzes and things like that, and to send home to parents to find out their opinions and concerns. Using electronic things like this could save a lot of paper and money without sacrificing the activity. We have also used this survey tool as UAEYC-USU officers to find out what days would be best for us to have our club's activities. (Readers- you should come to UAEYC-USU activities!) This is the survey I created today: https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dFJjbEQ2OVRzdlVScFNzRDJNNkw0OHc6MA

3/1/2010

So today we worked on spreadsheets in Excel. I have learned how to use it before, but that was a few years ago and I haven't used it since and so I forgot a lot. It was good to refresh my memory. I would use this for gradebook in my future classroom and I'm sure it would be useful for other things as well. We also learned how to use a poll where the students can text their answer for the question anonymously so their neighbors don't know what their answer was. It's useful because we can see the results right away.

2/22/10

Today we learned about word processing. I never really thought about offline collaborative stories before- but it's a great idea! It's kind of like a game that I've played, but it would be useful in the classroom as well. We also talked about google docs and learned how to create one. I have used google docs before, but I've only edited them, never created one or shared one. Google docs (and calendars) would be really useful in the classroom for group projects and it would also be great to use to communicate with parents and other teachers.

Class on 2/16/10

Today we learned how to upload videos to our blogs using tools in firefox:



And we learned about copyright. I never realized before that you don't have to do anything but record your idea on a medium in order for it to be copyrighted- I always thought that it had to say "copyright" or have the symbol somewhere on it for it to be copyrighted. I also learned about rules for a teacher to use copyrighted things in the classroom- like only using a certain number of things or words, and including a notice of copyright on it somewhere.

YETC

Wow! The resources that Nathan showed us in the YETC are so exciting! There are so many cool things available to us that we could use in our classrooms. He showed us things like Spelling city, Mathematics worksheet factory, Storylineonline.net, Format factory, Pioneer-library.org, Kiddierecords.com, zacbrowser.com, zotero.com, wikispaces.com, Xmind, and Phun, plus lots more that are linked to the YETC website that we can search through on our own. I think my favorite of these so far would be the storyonline.net- I would love to use it to motivate kids to want to read because they are probably familiar with the people that read the stories. The math worksheets factory is really useful too because it would be really simple to individualize worksheets for my students. I also want to share some of these websites with my little brothers because I think they would have a lot of fun and learn new stuff too: it would be cool if they got more excited about playing with them instead of normal video games! I just can't imagine if I am this excited about it, how excited would my students be about it? Although they're probably more used to it than I am... Just in the ten years since I was in elementary school they have added so much technology into the classroom. My little brothers, in 3rd and 5th grade, have computers in their classrooms and they don't think anything of it but it would have been a big deal for me at their age!

Practice Post

Hello! This is my first blog for this class.