Technology Inquiry Wiki Reflection

My Wiki!

     I exerted quite a bit of effort, over a span of many months, on this course task. I spent many days finding what I thought were appropriate informal and formal resources and writing my annotated bibliography. Right away I knew what additional resources I wanted to include, so I added these to my wiki. I then spent many days writing my introduction and best practices section of my wiki. Once I had this completed, I worked on the screencast. As usual, the screencast was probably the most difficult part of the entire task, probably because I am a bit of a perfectionist. I only had to record my screencast about 8 times, which is a step up from my previous experience with Jing.
 
     I really learned a lot from this inquiry wiki assignment. I not only learned how to help my niece (and other students with autism spectrum disorder) use technology to learn and grow, I also learned how to work a wiki. Wikispaces was not always cooperating with what I wanted, but overall, I am happy with the wiki that I came up with.

     This task was a very valuable experience for me as a teacher and as an individual. Through this assignment, I learned more about autism spectrum disorder, technologies that help students with autism spectrum disorder, and how to set-up a wiki. I am now more familiar with wikispaces, and would be ready to use wikispaces in my own classroom. Before this task, I had heard of and read about wikispaces and wikis, but I never actually created one. I now understand some of the functions and limitations on wikispaces and am more knowledgable about this tool. As a future teacher, I will need to try out technologies before assigning my students to use them; this course task helped me to experiment with a wiki and learn about it, before I get into my own classroom and set up a classroom wiki or have the students make wikis.
    

Day 14-Exit Slip

     Today we looked at things that we have learned throughout the semester. We talked about how we will integrate technology into our classrooms, such as using a SMARTboard, blog, podcast, social bookmarking, or iRLO. Dr. Boyer brought up taking a Wii remote and making it into an interactive whiteboard...I need to look into this, if I do not have an expensive SMARTboard in my classroom.

     Looking back over the semester, I have learned a lot about technology. I knew basically nothing before this class; I did not really even think about using technology in my classroom. I used to think that using technology in a classroom meant using computers or using powerpoint. Now, I know how to use technology, and I know how to incorporate technology into my classroom to make it a more interactive environment. I now understand better what technology is. I have learned to use many, many tools and I plan on incorporating many of these tools into my classroom. I plan on using blogs, iRLOs, SMARTboards, and podcasts. Some of these technologies I had never even heard of before this semester. This semester, I was challenged to learn new things and take a new perspective on technology use in the classroom; I feel that because of this class I will be a better teacher in the future.

Ways to Integrate Technology

     Three different ways that I will integrate technology into my classroom are through the use of a SMARTboard (if available), blog posts, and interactive reusable learning objects. I teach first grade and I have a SMARTboard in my classroom. I integrate technology into my classroom by using the interactive functions of the SMART technologies. I will have a student-centered learning environment, where my students get to come to the board and actively participate in my class. I want my students to make discoveries and come to their own understandings, and I feel that the SMARTboard allows students to really get active in their learning. I also have a classroom blog. I do not have my students write blog posts, but rather I use the blog as a communication device with parents and to create an open classroom environment. I post relevant information (homework assignments, calendars, events) and classroom experiences so that parents can have a feel of what is happening in my classroom. I also include Scratch in my classroom. I will create iRLOs that can further my student's thinking and help them practice skills. These are just a few of the technologies that I will incorporate into my classroom.

iRLO Reflection

     I really enjoyed making an iRLO. I had never heard of Scratch before this class, and although it was frustrating and difficult at first, I had a lot of fun making this project. I spent many, many hours and days making my iRLO and then re-making my iRLO. Even after watching the tutorial videos, it was difficult to figure out how to use each of the commands and how they go together to get the action you want. After some trial and error, I was able to get my final iRLO to be pretty much the way I wanted it. I would have liked to make the questions pop up randomly, but I couldn't figure out how to do that. I changed and practically re-made my entire project after we had our peers critique them. I received some very good comments and suggestions on my iRLO, and I used these comments to re-make my project. I had to change many things, such as making the project more interactive. I also did not realize that the green flag was such a powerful "start" command. At first, I did not realize that the green flag command could be used to set things back to the original, start position. After some more trial and error I was able to make my project reusable and interactive.

     I think that Scratch is a really cool tool. Designing this iRLO helped me to see that I definitely want to make more iRLOs, in the future, for my classes. I think that iRLOs are fun, engaging, and can be very educational. I really like the idea of using and designing iRLOs to make mathematics (and other classes) more fun for students. This project opened my eyes to see how "games" can be used effectively to educate my students on the material we are learning. Sharing my iRLO with my peers allowed me to get some extremely helpful feedback; it also allowed me to see errors in my iRLO that I had not seen before. Overall, I had a lot of fun designing my iRLO, despite the frustration, and I will continue to make more iRLOs as a teacher.  

Day 13-Exit Slip

     Today in class we looked at technology integration. We watched a video and took notes on how a teacher integrated technology into her classroom. The following are my notes:

• smartboard
• online collaboration-world wide...tools: wikis, twitter, skype, to get started look online (such as epals)
• cooperative learning
• teacher daily blog..assignments (open classroom)
• student computers and laptops (mobile lab)
• student blogs w/current events and classroom activities...more motivated to write and become active members of society
• No photocopies...online text/electronic text

     We then looked into what of these things the teacher could do before, couldn't do before, or could do before but better now. We should use technology when it allows us to do something that we couldn't do before or we could do before but better with technology.
    
     We then split up the class to read and reflect upon some brilliant and stupid things that teachers can do with technology. My expertise was in number 5-negative and number 5-positive discussed admitting your ignorance and allowing students to teach us when they know more. We used a jigsaw method of grouping and regrouping to become more knowledgeable about a variety of topics in a short amount of time.

Day 12-Exit Slip

     Today we discussed chapter 10 (the last chapter) in Rethinking Education. We discussed what the future might look like if technology is not included in the learning environment. Will schools survive? Will students continue to be motivated to learn? Will they go elsewhere for their education? Dr. Boyer brought up the point that even in kindergarten, children can use technology. If we aren't using technology in the classroom, are we meeting our student's needs to the greatest extent possible and available? During discussion debrief, we also discussed the difference between teaching students breadth vs. depth.

     We then engaged in a media search task. We found artifacts (online video, podcast, SMART Notebook lesson, Scratch project, and online game) for a grade level/content area and posted them to our delicious accounts. This was actually a fun task to do. We were able to search for things that are interesting and pertain to a topic/grade that we are planning on using in the future. This was actually very helpful. I found quite a few interesting mathematics websites, videos, lessons, and games.
    
    

PSA Reflection

Digital Storytelling PSA

Our royalty free music was provided by incompetech.com.


     At the start of the semester, when I heard that we would need to make a video PSA, I was very apprehensive. Now that it is all said and done, I really don't think that it was all that bad. It was actually quite fun and cool to use Movie Maker and to record our PSA. My partner, Casey, and I spent a fair amount of time completing this task. We met a couple of times to brainstorm ideas, come up with a plan, and then execute our plan. We decided that we would make a PSA on identity theft. Our goal was to design a PSA that would be geared towards elementary school children (around 5th grade). We showed our audience that people can get kidnapped online, just like they can get kidnapped on the street. In our PSA, there was a girl named Anne Brown, whose identity was stolen online. Thankfully, we were able to find a handful of our peers who were willing to volunteer as actors and actresses in our PSA; our actors and actresses each said the line, "I am Anne Brown." This was supposed to clue the audience in that Anne Brown's identity was stolen, because all of these people could not be Anne Brown. We then told our audience to never give our personal information online, such as your full name, telephone number, address, credit card numbers, or passwords. Overall, I think that our PSA turned out really nice. I hope that it gets the message we were trying to say across.

     As a future teacher, there are many ways that I can include video/PSA in my class. I could have my students make a video re-enactment of a historical event. My students could act out a book or play. I could also have my students make a short video about online safety, such as this PSA. I think that having students make a video of what they are learning about is a great way to reinforce information in a creative and unique way. I also think that group work is a great thing to encourage in school, so having students work in small groups to make a video would also be good at having students practice collaboration and team work. As a teacher, I think that I will include at least one project where my students will make a video of some sort to demonstrate their understanding of an event or idea.

Interactive Whiteboard Lesson Reflection

     This A contract task of designing an interactive whiteboard lesson was actually a lot of fun to do. I enjoyed creating a lesson that I very well might use in the future. This task was not too complicated and it allowed me to be creative. I spent about 7 hours designing my lesson. The hardest part of this whole task was deciding on a topic and deciding how I would go about instructing this topic. Once I decided on a topic, ideas quickly started to flow. I decided I would make a lesson on money. I wanted to focus on younger elementary students, first or second grade, so I knew that I would need to design a lesson that introduced the topic of money slowly. I decided that I would start off by having some slides that examined the different coins and their monetary value. I then decided to have the students examine what the coins looked like, front and back. Lastly, I decided to have the students practice adding coins together. Before my peers reviewed my lesson, I had made my problems a little too complicated for first or second graders, but after my peers gave me some helpful tips, I revised my lesson so that it was more age appropriate. I did not have a lot of trouble in SMART Notebook, everything was pretty easy to use and explore. I found an infinite cloner tool that was extremely helpful, especially with a lesson on money. Overall, I am very happy with my interactive whiteboard lesson. I think that it uses a lot of really cool interactive tools, and I think that it effectively introduces the students to monetary value. I had a lot of fun creating this interactive lesson and I am now a lot more comfortable with designing lessons for use on the SMARTboard. One thing that I really liked about creating this interactive lesson was that I was able to include things that I could not have incorporated into a lesson as easily or effectively without the use of technology. I was able to hide objects until I wanted them to be shown; I was able to move words around, circle objects, and reveal solutions to problems when I wanted them revealed (by using the tab feature). All of which would have been extremely difficult to do in a traditional classroom without the use of technology.

     As a future teacher, this task was extremely beneficial. I was able to practice making a standards-based lesson for potential students, something I will definitely need to do in the future. I was also able to practice making learning interactive and fun. I was able to see how I can use interactive tools to create a more student-centered, interactive learning environment. This task also allowed me to practice using and getting to know the SMARTboard. Although I may or may not have a SMARTboard in the school I teach at, I am now prepared to use the SMART technologies to improve my instruction and engage my students in interactive technology for learning.

Rethinking Education: Chapter 10

     I thought that this chapter really summed up the lifelong-learning concept. I agree with the book that people should continue to learn throughout their lives, but I don't know if I entirely agree that the schooling system should be changed as dramatically as the authors suggest. I think that we need to rethink education and learning, but I think that a schooling system should still be set in place. I think that elementary schools teach essential skills that all people need, regardless of what occupation they choose to go into. I think that all people need to learn these basic skills that are taught in elementary schools, in order to go on to more independent lifelong-learning options of schooling. I think that in the middle or high school, students should begin to have more say in their education and learn things that stress their goals and interests. At the same time, I think that students should only have a partial say in what they are taking for their schooling. I do not think that students should be allowed to only take courses that will help them become a veterinarian, because as the book stated, "Most Americans in the next 20 years will likely have a succession of careers"(pg. 136). If people generally switch careers throughout their lifetime, would having a student focus on learning to become one thing really benefit them if they end up changing their career later on? I think that students should get to choose content that interests them, but I think that there must be guidelines and that these students must also take other classes that make them a more well rounded individual.

     I really like what this chapter stressed about teaching students how to learn and how to find reliable resources. I think that schools should be preparing students to become real-life problem solvers. I really liked the idea of having a career counselor or apprenticeship program in high school. I think that students should test the waters a little before they settle on a career. Students should have some idea of what they are getting into before they design their education around a particular career in high school (with the new model of education that meets the learner's interests). Along with having career counselors, I think that integrating the use of computers in schools is also a good idea. I really liked this statement, "Such individualized learning [through the use of computers] would remove the stigma of looking bad when you don't understand something that others grasp"(pg. 132). I think that computers could help reduce the embarrassment that some students face when they do not understand something in class and are then called upon. 

     As a future educator, I do not know what the educational system will look like 10 years from now. I do not know how society, technology, and schooling will change. What I do know is that I want to help students learn, regardless of how or in what setting I must help them in. I want to help my students succeed in life. I want to motivate my students and meet my student's needs. I want to help my students achieve their full potentials. In order to do all of these things, I must be willing to try new things. I must be a lifelong-learner.  

Day 11-Exit Slip

     Today in class the chapter 9 discussion group led discussion. We discussed how we would use technology to meet the standards for our specialty. The discussion group used Slide Rocket to make their presentation (new cool tool). Once again the topic of saying, "I need someone to ..." came up. This is a good way to get responses because nobody really wants to respond but if you need them to they will. The topic of grading came up during debrief, and I would have to say that I agree that a 90, 80, 70 grading scale encourages students to not take risks. I think that the way that this class is graded, through expectations met or expectations not met, is a great way to grade things. I think that this encourages students to do their best, while taking risks, because they do not have to worry so much about losing points; the student either met expectations or did not. We then went over the homework expectations for the week.

Discussion Activity for Ch. 9

     I would include in-class computer time so that my students would have time to use the technology and finish their assignments during school hours. I would also offer time before and after school for students to come and use the technologies that are necessary for the assignment. I think that one technology I would be using in the upper elementary grades would be Geometer's Sketchpad. I realize that my students would not have access to this software on their home computers, so I would need to make sure that I offer ample time to use the software during school hours.

Contemporary Issues Podcast

• My podcast can be heard at:             http://www.archive.org/details/Ed.331ContemporaryIssuesPodcast

• I found my article at: http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3751073 .

• I used Kevin MacLeod's http://www.incompetech.com/ for my royalty-free music and sound effects.

     I spent a couple hours finding an article, reading the article, and writing my script. It only took me four tries to get my podcast recorded. I then imported my music clips and inserted them in where I wanted them to go. All of the steps up to this point were rather simple to do, but the next step of exporting my project was very difficult. I had downloaded the LAME encoder file but it would not let me locate the lame_enc.dll. When I tried to export my file it wouldn't let me, it said something about not having administrative approval. I spent about an hour and a half re-downloading the LAME file and trying to figure out how to export it as an mp3, but I just could not figure it out. I then downloaded the older version of audacity (I had been using Audacity 1.3 Beta) and was able to get the encoder to work on the older version. I then quickly re-recorded my podcast on the older version and added my music/sound effects. I was a little confused at what the sound effects were supposed to be (I used incompetech.com for my music, but I could not find any sound effects like clapping, so I just used short sound clips for my sound effects).
  
    The article I used was rather interesting and discussed the use of cell phones in school to assist in learning. Although I had a very difficult time exporting my project, I think that making podcasts can be something that I incorporate into my teaching. I think that recording my lessons and posting them on our classroom blog would be a great way to keep parents informed of what is going on in the classroom and to help students who may have been absent to catch up on what happened in class. I think that podcasts would also be good for my students to create. I think that students would have fun researching a topic and recording their information in a podcast. I know that I had fun (except for the exporting part). I also think that it is good for me to share a podcast with my peers, because it helps me to practice using a tool that I could definitely see myself using later in my career. I think that it is important to practice using tools now, outside of the classroom, so that when you do use these same tools in the classroom, you will know how they work. I also think that making this podcast prepares me for professionally discussing current issues with my peers. I was able to find an article that was current and interesting; I was also able to share this article with my peers through some simple technology. In the future, I very well might be making a podcast to share interesting contemporary issues with my colleagues.

Rethinking Education: Chapter 9

     It is easy to see how technology has progressed and become more influential to society over the years. It is also easy to see the technology gap widening as the years and technology progress. "For the first time in history, children are more comfortable, knowledgeable, and literate than their parents about an innovation central to society" (p. 122). I think that this quote is really something to consider; children may be more capable in a future society than adults, if adults refuse to learn new technologies. I think that it is important for adults to try to be life-long learners, who are willing to learn new technologies. I think that technology is a really powerful and fun way for students and adults to learn to problem solve and virtually communicate. I think that although students are spending more and more time on the computer, and less time getting physical exercise, computers can be used to benefit students. I also think that with more and more video gaming systems, such as Nintendo Wii, that encourage students to actively participate in the game, children will actually be able to be physically active while playing fun video games. People also worry that video games and computer time hinder a child's ability to communicate with others and learn valuable social skills, but I think that technology actually provides a means for people to speak their minds more and communicate more. I think that blogs and online social networking sites allow students to connect with friends and family and share ideas and comments with one another. I also know that video games and virtual environments are very effective tools to help children who have autism learn social skills; although perhaps video games and virtual worlds will never be a large part of the classroom curriculum, I think that they are powerful assets that should be used in the home to help students learn new things and skills. As far as parents go, I think that parents should try to connect with their children by playing video games with their children and using instant messengers/facebook to communicate with their children in a way that their children enjoy. I think that as the years progress, technology too will progress; it is up to us to stay connected to the current technologies, so that we do not end up getting left behind (we also need to make sure that we as educators do not end up putting our students behind by not giving them enough time to use and learn about technology).

     As a future educator, I hope to encourage my students to learn how to problem solve, especially through the use of technology. I think that problem solving is integral to all subject matter and especially to real life situations. I hope to integrate technologies into my classroom, to promote students to use technology to help them to learn.

Day 10-Exit Slip

     In class today the chapter 8 discussion group presented. They discussed the new curriculums and changes that may be implemented in the future. Dr. Boyer brought up folk pedagogy (how we were taught influences our biases of how others should be taught), and how this can hinder our ability to look at new and different changes in education. Do we jump to criticize to quickly without even analyzing the pros and cons of a curriculum or other changes? We then discussed some Scratch tips and tricks. We must make sure that our Scratch project is reusable. This is something I will need to tweek with my own Scratch...I don't know how, but I will have to figure it out. I need to make sure that when the student is done using the Scratch project, they can redo it without having to reset all the sprites and costumes. I also need to make my numbers reusable. I now think that I have a lot of work ahead of me to fix all of these problems. We then need to evaluate our technology inquiry wiki page and how well our page meets the "yes test." I need to get rid of "retrieved from" from my formal sources. Lastly we went over homework expectations for the week.

Chapter 10 Discussion Reflective Activity

     If these curriculum changes were to take effect, I would feel very nervous for my students. I think that these curriculum changes could benefit students who do have an idea of what they want to do in the future, but I think that it could put undecided students at an academic disadvantage. I would have to say that I currently would oppose the curriculum changes, simply because I worry about the basic skills and over-encompassing knowledge that the students may be losing. I think that students need time to explore their interests, so perhaps implementing the curriculum in the middle school years would be more appropriate, because in middle school (rather than elementary school) you are more realistically thinking about the future. I also oppose these curriculum changes, because I wonder how the arts would be incorporated or neglected.

Cool Tools Screencast Reflection

My Cool Tool Screencast:      http://bit.ly/aJyQyo


     This was quite a difficult task for me. I spent several hours getting to know my site and preparing my script, and I spent at least 2 hours trying to get my screencast recorded halfways decent. During the screencast I found myself verging away from the script that I had prepared, which then got me a little lost. I found myself pausing the screencast multiple times and even starting the whole screencast over at least ten times; perhaps it is just the perfectionist in me, but I found this assignment to be extremely hard to get to be the way that I wanted it to be. I ended up posting a screencast that I was not completely happy with, because I just couldn't seem to fit everything in that I wanted to say. I even ended up not having time to say any of my threats. One threat that I did not get to list was the possibility that schools may have banned the website unknowingly, becasue it at first glance almost seems like a game website (however when you actually explore the activities you see the educational value in them). Another threat I listed was that if you had your whole classroom in a computer lab doing an activity on Kerpoof.com, you might run into some students doing their own thing; as a teacher, you would need to monitor your students during the activity to keep them on task. I also did not know how to go about editing my screencast, to get rid of a dreaded um, that I said! I found that the five minutes really went by fast ... too fast! I felt a bit rushed during the "make a drawing" demonstration, I looked up and saw about 30 seconds left, so I quickly tried to say something about the activity, but ended up getting a little flustered and I did not even say anything that I had planned on saying. I had meant to discuss the gradient option of the coloring pen and the educational value of the activity, but I ran out of time. I also meant to detail more clearly the educational value of each of the activities, but I ran out of time and only slightly skimmed the educational value. As you can probably tell in the screencast, I actually ran out of time and was cut off mid-word of saying technology; time was definitely my enemy in this assignment. I was not sure how to go about editing my screencast, but if I had known how to edit it, I think that I could have had a more polished finished project. I tried to save one screencast and ended up losing it entirely, so I had to start over and I decided I wouldn't try to edit the screencast. I would have to say that my written script was much better than my actual screencast; the written script had all of my strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats listed out very clearly and in an orderly fashion, but in my screencast, things did not come out so smoothly. Although I had quite a few difficulties in getting this assignment to be half-ways decent, I had fun trying out new tools and examining a really cool and free website, Kerpoof.com!

     This assignment allowed me to see that imperfection is okay. Making a screencast also enabled me to try out new things and to explore a really cool educational site. I really like the idea of using a screencasting tool inside or outside of the classroom. I think that screencasts can be very good tools to use in a classroom, to explain how to use new technology or how to do an assignment (especially if a student was missing that day). I can definitely see myself using screencasts in the future, either by making them myself or by viewing others screencasts. Being able to post my screencast and to view my peer's screencasts allowed me to quickly analyze a wide range of very cool tools. The screencasts quickly showed me how 20-some sites can be effectively or ineffectively used in a classroom, which is very helpful and time-saving for me. As a teacher, I will need to collaborate with other teachers and share my ideas; I feel that screencasts are similar to collaborating with others. Through a screencast, you could share your thoughts about a particular website and then your peers or fellow teachers could quickly grasp your ideas and evaluate the site as well. A screencast could allow peers and colleagues to efficiently share their ideas with one another and walk one another through the important points of a site. I feel that screencasts are able to be used as another essential form of collaboration in the educational workplace.

Rethinking Eduation: Chapter 8

     This chapter was very interesting; I felt like I was taking a journey into the future. It is hard to imagine a time when schooling as we know it will be completely different, but in reality, this is probably not that far off. I think that moving away from standardized tests and towards a credential/performance based "test" is a great idea; it was hard to imagine, but I thought that it was interesting and a really cool idea. I think that students would be able to perform better and earn higher "grades" on credential or performance tests, and these tests would better represent the student's actual knowledge and comprehension of the material. I also think that credential/performance based certifications would allow for students to master material that is of interest to them and that is at their own pace of learning. I have always thought that standardized tests seemed to be flawed in their design, because they are administered all at once, on a specific day that the school has planned; the standardized tests of all the students are then compared and the student is deemed as competent or incompetent of the material, based on one test. I think that all students have potential, but when pressured with answering one test, students can underperform. I think that certifications allow for flexibility and are much more student-oriented.

     I am not sure if I entirely agree with or understand what this chapter was talking about regarding picking out a particular curriculum and then sticking with it for many years. The chapter discussed that every child, with the help of their parents, would pick out a curriculum that interests them, such as families, ecology, sports, or dinosaurs. The students would then stick with this curriculum and develop deep understandings regarding the topic, while traditional academic skills (reading, writing, mathematics...) are interwoven within the curriculum. I guess I do not fully understand how this concept would work; wouldn't this type of program promote parental interests for their child, rather than the interests of the child (if the child's interests differ from that of the parents)? Ideally this could be very effective method of designing a curriculum, but how can a child know what they want to become; don't children usually change their minds about what they want to become? If a child has been in a curriculum designed to help them become a doctor and then the child at age 16 decides they are going to become an ecologist, what happens? Will the child have to start over with different curriculums?

     I think that this chapter had some very good ideas, but I am not entirely sure if these ideas will ever fully come into fruition. One thing that I completely agree with was the following, "We do not need to start a new education system from scratch. Designing a better education system means understanding where the existing pieces can best be reshaped, brought together, or played down"(pg. 113). We do not need to completely get rid of the current education system to meet the changing demands of society and technology, rather we must add new things and adjust other things to make a better overall educational system.

     As a future educator, I hope to help my students reach for the stars. I want to encourage my students to find out what they are interested in and what they want to do when they grow up. I will try to help my students become adults who will make a difference in the world, and I will try to encourage my students to use technology to assist them in their futures. I do not know what the future holds, but I will adapt as a teacher so that my instructional strategies truly help to better my student's futures.

Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts: Chapter 10 & Epilogue

     I think that a major theme of chapter 10 was that there are many shifts that must occur and are occurring in both society and technology. To better reach our students we must be willing to adapt, modify, and change the way that we go about instructing; we must teach for the youth of today, not the youth of our past. The biggest point that stuck out to me while reading this chapter, was the idea of educators taking on more of a coaching role. As I have been learning in my mathematics education classes, teachers must step back and turn their classrooms into student-centered environments rather than teacher-centered environments. Teachers cannot simply show and tell everything in the classroom, rather teachers must help students become independent thinkers, learners, and do-ers. Students typically remember information better when they have made their own connections and have come to understand the topics on their own (with, of course, teacher facilitation). It is sometimes hard to think about the role of a teacher as being a coach, because growing up, that was not the case; what it really must come down to though is that education must meet the needs of its current students. What worked in the past is not what will work in the future, in terms of education. Teachers must help students become functional, outside of the classroom, in the real-world. With so much information available for our students on the web, teachers must instruct students on proper digital citizenship. Students are going to be using technology, the question remains whether they will use it appropriately or not; it is up to educators and parents to teach children how to get the most out of the web, while avoiding inappropriate use. Teachers must also encourage students to be readers, writers, and reviewers of information of the web; teachers can do this by making assignments (in the upper grades) that require posting their answers (which may be words, pictures, movies, etc...) to the blog or web.

     Change can be scary, but things get better with time!

     As a future educator, I want to encourage my students to be independent learners (not learners who do not communicate, but learners who do not rely heavily on the teacher). I want my students to be prepared for the real-world, and I want my students to be successful. To help my students be successful, I must be willing to utilize the current technology to foster thinking and growth in learning. One thing that worries me, is how I will incorporate the read/write web into a first or second grade classroom; I think that it would be difficult to do all that much with first/second graders, but I think that I could have a blog where I post some of their assignments and crafts so that the parents could be more intouch with what is happening in the classroom. I do not know how much a first grader could be expected to do on the web, but I think that education in the upper elementary and middle school could definitely benefit from the use of the read/write web in the classroom.

Day 9-Exit Slip

     Today we discussed chapter 7 of Rethinking Education. During the chapter discussion, we were allowed to examine a particular gain/loss situation and we were able to decide whether the gain outweighs the loss or whether the loss outweighs the gain. Sometimes it is difficult to pick which one outweighs the other, because sometimes they almost seem equal. I thought that the group did a very nice job of using the SMARTboard and encouraging a lot of class participation. One thing that Dr. Boyer brought up during the debrief, was the importance of locking objects to allow to move so that you avoid objects from going straight to edit-mode, when you want to simply move the object. After the chapter discussion, we examined how to use elluminate. Elluminate can be used for web conferencing, webinars, and virtual office hours. It looked like a very cool tool to use, but when I tried to access it, there was an error message and it would not allow me in. We then discussed the podcast assignment. It is important that we identify a contemporary issue, related to technology, that focuses on PK-12 learners. (Contemporary issues are issues that were in the news within the last year.) For this podcast, I will need a 90-minute script, with lead-in music and lead-out music.

Rethinking Education: Chapter 7

     This chapter really made me think about the future society and education. It is hard to imagine what the future will hold for us and what new technologies will come about in the next 10, 20, or even 30 years. I think that technology and society will change in the future, and I think that it is important that we, in the field of education, also adapt and change with society and technology. This chapter talked a great deal about the digital divide, and I do worry about the digital divide that will be created as society and technology continue to progress. I think that with advancing technology, there will be a difference in the availability and ease of access of such technology for all people; however, I can also see the vast opportunities and resources that advancing technology could create.
    
     On a more positive note, I believe that education will be much more engaging and personalized in the future, with more technology. Learning will be more customized to meet the individuals needs, interests, or abilities, which I believe can be a very powerful and motivating thing. I also like the idea of accessing knowledge at anytime and anywhere. I think that, for those who have computers and the internet readily available, technology can only mean more useful and to the point learning. Along with this idea, I think that it is a real shame that technology is not readily available for all people. What will happen to our society as technology progresses and the digital divide widens? I think that this is a rather scary concept to consider.
    
     As a future educator, I hope to provide my students ample time to use technology and access technology. I will need to consider the fact that some or even perhaps most of my students may not have computers or the internet readily available at home. I will need to provide sufficient computer time for my students, so that if I assign something that requires the use of technology, my students will equally have the necessary equipment and time to complete the assignment. On a similar note, the chapter discussed the competition found in public education today; I hope that as a teacher, I will promote a learning environment that encourages all students to learn. I think that there is no way to completely avoid competition, but I feel that if I make learning more individualized and help my students see the importance of lifelong-learning, they will not desire to be so competitive. I think that competition can be avoided, somewhat, by the way that a teacher sets up homework assignments and classroom rewards; if students are not compared to one another on homework assignments, but rather compared to their own progress, I feel that they will be less competitive.

Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts: Chapter 9

     This chapter focused on social-networking sites. When I think of Facebook, I think of personal, at home, social-networking; I never really considered Facebook to be a tool that could be used in the classroom. I think that if appropriately set up and maintained, such as the account that Jim Meredith set up for his social studies class, Facebook could be a very valuable asset to a middle or high school classroom. I think that the whole idea of social-networking sites is very good, but I think that it must serve its place outside of school. I think that there may be too many capabilities on Facebook, too many games and activities, that you do not necessarily want students using in school. If Facebook were to be used in school, I think that you would have to do a lot of set-up work, to make sure that your students are protected to the fullest extent possible on the web, and that the site is set to more of a private setting. I think that if Facebook were used for educators or librarians to post and comment on educational topics, it could be a very powerful tool. I agree that Facebook has some powerful capabilities in connecting people, communicating, and sharing ideas, however, in regards to using Facebook in the classroom, I think that we really need to consider what grade level or age would be most appropriate to use Facebook with. The other social-networking site discussed in this chapter was Ning. I actually thought that Ning could possibly be a better, safer, more controlled site to use in the classroom than Facebook. Once again though, I think that Ning is most appropriate for use in the middle or high school grades (especially with an age requirement of 13). In both of these social-networking sites I liked the options of being able to make the site completely private or public. One recommended site that I really liked on Ning was ArtSnacks (tinyurl.com/yvmcjh); this site sounds extremely interesting and creative. I think that ArtSnacks could be really useful to use to get ideas for how to get students in the elementary grades to be creative and make art. (I really liked the idea of incorporating mini lesson videos on a social-networking site!)

     I think that this chapter is good for explaining how you can use Facebook on a more personal level, but I do not really forsee myself using Facebook or Ning in my classroom. I think that a blog or wiki would be more suited to my needs in my classroom. I think that if I taught in the secondary level, Facebook or Ning would be much more appropriate and would get the students excited to learn, but in the elementary schools, I don't think that Facebook would be very appropriate.

Book Chapter Project Reflection

     I led discussion today, along with Jason and Kelsey, on chapter 6 of Rethinking Education. I think that everything went well and according to plan. Personally, I read the chapter over at least 3 times, trying to really understand it and pick out the most important information before meeting with my group. Collectively, our group put quite a bit of effort into our discussion. We met twice before actually presenting, so that we could all brainstorm ideas and then practice the actual discussion. I think that together, we were able to lead an effective discussion that encouraged the class to apply the readings to their lives and futures as educators. As nerve-wrecking as it is to teach/lead discussion for your peers, I actually (and surprisingly) enjoyed doing it. I think that facilitating a discussion really opens your eyes to quirks that you need to work on as a future teacher. One thing that I have been working on is eliminating the use of "you guys" from my vocabulary. Today I found myself, out of habit, saying "you guys," and as soon as it came out of my mouth I thought, "Oh no!" This is something that I will obviously have to continue to work on eliminating. Leading discussion also helps me work on my listening skills; I find myself listening more and more to what the class is actually saying when they give a response and I then try to respond to their given answer beyond a, "good answer" comment. I think that both facilitating a lesson and simply discussing the chapter with my peers impacts my future teaching, because I will be able to see how different people view the same material; in class today and in previous discussions I have seen multiple perspectives that I otherwise would not have seen. I also think that discussing the content with my peers is similar to what I will be doing in team meetings or faculty meetings, as a teacher. I will need to not only feel comfortable with my elementary students, but I will need to feel comfortable with my fellow teachers, staff, and parents.

Day 8-Exit Slip

     Today in class Jason, Kelsey, and I led discussion on chapter 6. We then discussed some SMARTboard tips and tricks. Locking objects is a very important thing to do when creating a SMARTboard lesson; locking objects prevents students from accidentally messing up the page and moving things that are not meant to be moved. If you did not lock objects in place, that were not meant to be moved, some students may get embarrassed or flustered if they accidentally moved the object. I think that as educators we must look out for our students and try to create environments that do not embarrass our students; we need to plan ahead and think about some unwanted things that could occur, we then need to change these unwanted things so that they will not occur. We also discussed how to group objects, infinitely clone objects, and position objects. Something to keep in mind, is that we should never have smaller text than size 36 on a SMARTboard lesson; there should also never be more than 36 words on a page unless the situation appropriately calls for more than 36 words.
 
     We discussed the SWOT analysis for our Cool Tool Screencast. We must analyze our tool and make a listing of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the tool. While we are showing the different aspects of our tool, we need to share the SWOT analysis. (A potential threat could be an issue with student's privacy or if the website would be blocked, perhaps if it is like a game.)

     Lastly, we filled out a mid-semester course evaluation survey.

Day 7-Exit Slip

     Today in class we discussed chapter five of Rethinking Education. We discussed different forms of schooling, such as home schooling, distance learning, and adult education. An interesting thing that came up during the debrief was that we should never ask, "Does anyone want to share?" Instead use, "I need someone to share." We also discussed how we will address the digital divide in our classroom. Should we just not use technology because not all of our students have internet? What will we do as teachers, avoid technology or adjust the time constraints? I think that a good way to approach the digital divide is to offer ample time for students to complete assignments using technology and to also provide computer time (after school, before school, recess, lunch, or during class time). We then looked at Scratch and examined some of its capabilities. We discussed how to make sprites, scripts, and backgrounds. Lastly we discussed homework expectations for the week.

Chapter 5: Rethinking Education Discussion Activity

     I think that home schooling has many benefits. When students are home schooled they are not exposed to as much violence and negative peer pressure, including such things as alcohol and drugs. Home schooled students are also allowed to participate in activities that they might not have been able to participate in, in a regular public school. As a future teacher, I don't think that home schooling will completely impact the number of students in public schools, but I feel that it is definitely an option to consider if you have the time, money, and means to do so.

Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts: Chapter 8

     I think that podcasts are great tools to be used in the classroom; they have so many uses that can really assist a teacher in teaching the student of today. Podcasts can be used to record a lecture that can then be posted to your classroom blog; lecture recordings are great tools for students who had to miss class for an emergency (or for other non-emergency reasons) or for students who need that extra time to listen to the lecture and take more thorough notes. Podcasts can also be used for assignment purposes, where the students make a recording of something (perhaps a president's biography) and then the class must listen to 3 or 4 of the podcasts and answer questions regarding what they heard. Podcasts could also be handy in recording school music recitals that could be posted or played on a school website or web blog. One important note that I really liked in this chapter was the following, "Before you get your students podcasting, I would urge you to try it out first...You need to experience what you are asking your students to do"(pg. 117). I feel that it is very important that before we go assigning our students to do something involving technology, we should be a least a little bit familiar with the capabilities and processes involved. I like that in this class we are getting so many opportunities to try out different forms of technology, and get to know them, so that if we wanted to use them in our classrooms we would have some familiarity with them.

     Similar to podcasting, video publishing is another tool to consider using in a classroom setting. I don't think that I would use video publishing all too often, but I think that it would be a handy tool to use for a project or two each year (in the late elementary years). I think that students would really enjoy making a video about some concept or historical event that they are learning about; videos will most likely insprie students to get involved and learn about the material so that they will know what they are talking about in the video.

     The last topic discussed in this chapter was screencasts. I think that screencasts are really amazing information/help systems. Screencasts could be used in an educational setting to explain how to do a computer-related assignment or any other computer-related function in the classroom. I think that screencasts are really ingenuitive; they can be very helpful in a classroom to help walk students through a process, step-by-step. I think that screencasts could be very useful at the beginning of the school year to explain how to set up a blog or to explain how to find everything on the school web blog. 

     As a future teacher, I hope to motivate my students and get them excited to learn by integrating the use of technology in my classroom. I think that I would use podcasts and screencasts as devices that would assist my students in understanding assignments. I would try to post lecture-type podcasts to my classroom blog, so that students could listen to them later, if they wanted to. I would also consider having projects for my students to do that would involve either making a podcast or a video of a particular topic we were learning about.

Rethinking Education: Chapter 6

     This chapter discussed the three eras of education. The chapter recaped the apprenticeship and universal-schooling eras and then examined the lifelong-learning era of today. It was interesting to read about how schooling has changed from being primarily taught by the parents at home, to being taught by outside teachers, to being taught anywhere through the use of technology. During the apprenticeship era, parents or relatives taught children the trade or craft of the family; children did not learn mathematics, science, and grammar as they do today, instead they learned the trade that was necessary for them to succeed in society. The next era following apprenticeship was universal schooling. Universal schooling brought about some changes to the things children were taught and the expectations that went along with these subjects. With universal schooling, for the first time, students were made to attend a school outside of their home. The school, similar to apprenticeship, was designed to teach students the skills they would need to succeed in society as an American; however, with universal schooling, the students learned how to be an American by learning traditional American values and subjects. Within universal schooling there were also vast changes. At first schools aimed to teach students everything that they needed to know to succeed as adults in society, but as knowledge began to expand it became impossible for schools to teach all of the knowledge; schools then decided that it was important to teach students to learn how to learn and how to find useful resources. I think that this is a very important concept; teachers cannot teach students everything, rather they must teach students to be resourceful and to seek out their own knowledge of things that they question or are interested in.

     It was interesting to read about the changes that occurred throughout the years, to get to the lifelong-learning that we see today. At first schooling was taught through apprenticeship, by one person to two or three other people. This learning was very individualized and thus very successful. I think that individualization is a large factor in helping students understand content; when students are encouraged to ask questions and seek advice, they will be more likely to do so and will be more likely to learn. Schooling has also changed from being primarily done in the home to being done in a separate building, to now being done anywhere (through the use of computers and the internet). Students can and will find information that they are interested in, on the web, but we as educators must teach our students how to be resourceful on the web and use the sites appropriately. 

     As a future teacher, I hope to encourage my students to learn how to learn. I hope that I will be able to teach my students the skills necessary to be successful adults. Students need to learn more than just the content in mathematics class, they must also learn how to succeed when they do not have a teacher available to help them. I hope to help my students become independent learners, who will try new things, and grow as learners. I hope to inspire my students to be lifelong-learners.

Rethinking Education: Chapter 5

     I liked this quote at the beginning of the chapter, "Once developed, the institutional structures of schooling have remained fairly constant over the last 90 years. But the society surrounding the schools has experienced constant change"(pg. 66). I think that this quote summarizes what we have been reading over the last few weeks, society is changing and the schooling system is not meeting these changes. The schooling system seems to be very rigid and not very open to new technology or change in general. With a schooling system that is so rigid, it is easy to see how many people will and have already shifted to educating their children elsewhere. People can now be educated through home schooling, charter schools, workplace learning, distance education, adult education, learning centers, and educational television. With so many personalized and current ways of learning, it is easy to see why people would want to use these newer educational systems.

     In the last few years, I have seen quite an increase in the number of people choosing to home school right in my hometown. You know that home schooling is a growing method of educational instruction when the number of people choosing to home school increases by 29% in just 4 years. There has also been proof to show that home schooling is successfully improving student learning; home schooling students score significantly higher on standardized tests in every subject. I believe that these high scores can be correlated to the number of hours of individualized, one-to-one schooling that take place in the home. Home schooling is designed to be more of a student-centered approach, where the students are not shown exactly how to solve problems, but rather, asked to use their own reasoning skills to come up with their own conclusions; I think that this has a major impact on a student's learning. If a student attends a public school and is never allowed or encouraged to try things out for themselves, they will not succeed or even be internalizing much of their learning. When students, such as those students who are home schooled, are allowed to try things out and learn from their own experiences, they will internalize and recall information later. I think that the key to home schooling and why it is producing positive outcomes in test scores is that it is student-centered, rather than teacher-centered. As hard as it is for me to say, being a future teacher, I think that there are many benefits to home schooling children, such as individualization and avoiding some peer, alcohol, and drug pressures; I think that the public school system could, if anything, learn from what the home schooling system is doing. I think that if public education could become more student-centered and more "current" the public schools would see higher standardized test scores as well. Although there has been an increase in the number of people choosing to home school their children, I don't think that home schooling would ever completely take over the realm of education; there are far too many people who cannot home school because they must work to provide for their family.

       The other educational systems discussed in this chapter also seemed to be good ways to individualize education. I thought that education in the workplace was a good idea; companies can train their employees to have the knowledge necessary to be contributing fully to the company; I think that simulations provide an excellent, although not completely realistic, opportunity to prepare workers for what they will be facing in their field of work. The distance learning topic was also very interesting to me. I think that this is a great way for students to broaden their knowledge base, especially to things that interest them. I think that distance learning can also benefit smaller schools (like helping smaller schools compete with larger schools), by providing classes that otherwise would be unavailable to the students. The idea of a learning center was new to me. It sounds like a neat way to instruct, using technology, in a small one-room environment. I think that like home schooling, learning centers also stress individualized learning.

     As a future educator, I hope to encourage my students to reach for the stars. Like the home schooling environment, I hope to provide my students with a learning environment that is student-centered and that will foster as much learning as possible. I hope to encourage my students to reason, communicate, and prove their understandings. Most of all, I hope to meet the needs of all of my students so that each student will benefit.   

Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts: Chapter 7

     When I saw that the chapter this week was all about Flickr, I was intrigued. I did not know how the chapter would suggest integrating Flickr into a classroom. I have heard of Flickr, and I understand the concept of Flickr, but I did not really know how Flickr could be used in a classroom setting. After reading the chapter, I see that Flickr could be useful in uploading pictures from a class field trip, project, or event; these pictures could then be used to show parents (or students) what is going on at school functions or in the classroom. I thought that a good option provided by Flickr was the ability to restrict who views the photos. I think that if the photos were restricted to parents and students, Flickr could be a useful tool to aid in communication with parents. Another useful component of Flickr is the annotation tool. The annotation tool allows you to add text to any part of the photo. This tool could be extremely useful in providing information about the event, project, or experience. I think that the annotation tool also allows people to learn and express their knowledge of the photo/environment.

     Outside of the classroom, I think that Flickr could be extremely useful in providing accurate and fast information, via pictures or videos. As the book discussed, there are oftentimes pictures of natural disasters and historical events that are posted on Flickr faster than on other news outlet sites; this would be extremely helpful in getting many points of view (and many images) of the same event. Flickr would also be useful in showing students many pictures/slideshows of these events to help them visualize the historical situation.

     As a teacher, I feel that Flickr could be a helpful resource to use when preparing a lesson, but I do not think that I would actually have my students make their own Flickr accounts. I think that I would have my own Flickr account and transfer the photos of the classroom projects or field trips to my classroom blog. I do not think that I would use Flickr by itself in my classroom; I would use Flickr to publish photos and then move those photos to other classroom sites. I think that I would, if I had the proper means, use my Flickr account in my classroom to bring up photos for a story writing time, where the students would write a story to go along with the given picture.

Day 6-Exit Slip

     In class today, we discussed chapter 4 of Rethinking Education. I really liked the website that they brought to our attention regarding the National Center for Education Statistics; this website is a good resource to keep handy, because it allows us to look into different statistics regarding a school we may want to teach at in the future. A good point brought up during the debrief was the question of how to encourage participation; how do we get our students to volunteer? Do we force people to volunteer? Do we wait and pray for volunteers? Do we ask good questions that are not vague? Honestly, I do not really know how to answer this question, but I think that the best way to get volunteers is to ask good, interesting questions.
     We also discussed the iRLO assignment. I am definitely a little apprehensive about this assignment; it sounds complicated, but I hope that once I play around with Scratch it won't be quite as intimidating. I think that the idea of Scratch is great, but I am a little unsure of my ability to program things.
     Something to keep in mind regarding the inquiry question assignment is that we should have formal, peer-reviewed articles and informal research (such as blogs or wikis). A good tool to use for this assignment, for finding articles, is the UWSP Library article quicksearch link.
    

Rethinking Education: Chapter 4

     It is interesting to think about the development of schooling in America; Sometimes I forget that schooling as we know it today has not always existed. It is easy to get wrapped up in how the schooling system works today, and forget that it has been changing and evolving over the years to come to be the system that I know today. It was interesting to see the evolutions that took place to "get the ball rolling" and start universal schooling. When I was reading about the history of universal schooling, this quote really stuck out to me, "The invention of the printing press led to widespread development and diffusion of knowledge. As more and more knowledge accumulated, there was a continual increase in what children needed to learn to succeed in the adult world" (pg. 51). So not only has the setting of schooling evolved over the years, but what is being taught in school has also evolved. As the world progresses and expectations are raised, the future generations must evolve to keep up with the progress; If students were taught the same things today as things taught in the early 1900's, would they be able to live and contribute to society? No! The information and the way that students are taught has been evolving over the years and should continue to evolve to fit the knowledge and skills that society expects. Another rather disturbing quote in this chapter was the following, "As the [schooling] system became more rigid, it ceased to evolve as the society around it continued to evolve, and so in recent years, it has become more and more out of sync with the demands of a continually evolving society" (pg. 56). I think that it is a shame that nowadays the educational system seems to be at a standstill, afraid of change. Where would we be today if in the 1900's people were too afraid to try new things especially new technologies? I think that just as the schooling system had to evolve in the late 1800's, to meet the needs of society, so too should it be evolving to meet the needs of society today. (It was interesting to even read about how and why things like compulsory attendance, tests, textbooks, and graded schools were introduced into the schooling system.) The way I like to think about why technology such as SMARTboards and blogs should be integrated into the school system is by thinking about how technology such as blackboards and overhead projectors came into the school system; There was a time when the overhead projector did not exist, but then one day people felt that these tools would aid in the process of educating students. Perhaps eventually people will see the need of newer technologies to assist in learning, hopefully this realization will not take too long so that our students will not have to be the ones to suffer for our skepticism.

     As a teacher, I hope to integrate the use of technology into my classroom. Perhaps I will not have materials, such as computers, readily available, but I will make adjustments so that my students will still be prepared for the ever more digital future. Looking back at how much schooling has already changed since I was in elementary school, I know that I must be ready for change throughout my career as a teacher.

Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts: Chapter 6

     I think that collaboration is very important both in school and in life; Collaboration helps to connect ideas and expand knowledge. I feel that the social web is a great medium for collaboration to really flurish among people. One such collaboration medium is Twitter. I have heard about Twitter before, but I never used it; I never felt that Twitter was an application that would be of real use for me. Now that I have read more about how Twitter can be used in an educational setting, I have a greater understanding of why people use Twitter, but I still do not think that I would use Twitter. Twitter, to me, sounds like more of a hassle than a blessing. I think that teachers can connect through other mediums that they are already using, whether it be blogs, wikis, or delicious accounts, I do not think that teachers would also need to have a Twitter account (unless of course a teacher finds that they really enjoy using Twitter and it would save them time to connect with others). I am not trying to say that Twitter is a bad application, but I feel that for me personally Twitter would not be an effective tool to use.

     I really like social bookmarking services, such as delicious. Before taking this class I had never heard of a social bookmarking site; Now that I have a Delicious account, I find myself adding tons of bookmarks that I find. It is a great resource because you can access it from any computer anywhere in the world. It is also a great resource because you can find additional information that pertains to what you are interested in, through the use of tags. The other day I added Starfall to my Delicious account (my nieces Donna and Lucia love this site) and after adding this site, it showed that almost 19,000 other people have also bookmarked it; Clearly this must be a very good site, I certainly think so. I then clicked through some other sites that were similar to Starfall, and I ended up finding a ton of other great websites for young children to help them learn to read. By looking at other peoples tags I have also found tons of educational websites that I have saved for future reference. I am finding that my Delicious account is very useful! There was a lot of emphasis in this chapter placed on using Diigo, but I feel that Delicious is more of my style of social bookmarking, because it is so easy to use. I think that for someone who wants to annotate, highlight, and make notes on a site, Diigo would be more for them; For me, I am at a place where I only care to save websites and get links to other relevant websites, so Delicious works.

     As a teacher, I do not think that I would use Twitter in my classroom, however, I would definitely be using a blog in my classroom. I think that I would encourage my students to have delicious accounts, since I find it to be a great personal website. I would consider having my students link their delicious accounts to me somehow so that I could tag items for them, but I do not think that I would go as in depth with delicious as the text described. As I said earlier, I think that delicious is a great tool, but I just do not think that it would be something that I could use in an elementary classroom (perhaps I could use it if I taught 8th grade).

Day 5-Exit Slip

     Today in class Abe and Candice led the discussion on chapter 3 of Rethinking Education. I really liked that they had us connect the material to our personal lives, making learning more personal, by posting a reflection to our blog. We aso discussed the importance of wait time when lecturing; We need to give our students 7 seconds to process the question, after 7 seconds we can re-phrase the question if no one responds. 
     We also discussed the Interactive Whiteboard Lesson assignment. It is important that our lessons are actually interactive and go beyond just a whiteboard lesson. We then discussed how to use SMART Notebook to design our lesson (this was very helpful). It was also really helpful to view the capacity lesson and see some ideas for designing an IWB lesson. The SMART Exchange and SMART Lesson Activity Toolkit websites are also great resources, not only for this assignment, but for life!

Rethinking Education Ch. 3 Discussion Activity

     Someone who motivated me growing up was my parish priest, Father James Benzmiller. He was my role-model and someone who I wanted to grow up to be just like. He was always very kind, trustworthy, respectful, and honest. (I even named my cat after him and learned how to play the organ, because he played the organ.) Father Benzmiller motivated me to always be honest and try my hardest. I hope to also be able to motivate my students to try their hardest and always be honest in their work.

Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts: Chapter 5

     When I first started reading about the RSS, I thought that I would never use it. An RSS aggregator sounded like something that would only make my life more complicated; I didn't think that I would ever have enough time to actually read through all of my feeds on a daily or even weekly basis. I also thought that an RSS feed would be a lot like my spam folder in my email account, a destination filled with stuff that I don't need to know and don't really care about. As I read into the chapter some more and started to learn more about the capabilities of the RSS, I thought that perhaps I could handle using it. Now that I have finished reading the chapter, I think that an RSS is not such a bad thing, or a complicated thing. I think that after you get through the initial set up, an RSS feed actually saves you time and brings you current, relevant, and interesting information. An RSS aggregator is personalized, not irrelevant! An RSS also does all of the work for you, so why not use it. (I find it to be really cool that an application can find information that fits what you care about, and bring all of that information to one place for you.) 
     I honestly do not think that I would ever have my students use RSS, because I plan on teaching elementary students; however, I feel that high school teachers could definitely have their students learn about and use an RSS aggregator. I think that the RSS would be a great application to teach a history, english, or any high school class to use. For me though, even if I taught older elementary students, such as middle schoolers, I would be teaching mathematics and I do not really see the need for introducing RSS to middle schoolers in a mathematics classroom. Even though I do not think that I will ever introduce my students to the RSS, I will definitely use it myself and encourage my colleagues to do the same.

Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts: Chapter 4

     "Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge. That's what we're doing" (Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia founder). Wikipedia allows people to collaborate with one another to gather and revise information on any topic. I heard of and used wikipedia before, but I never fully understood the capabilities of wikipedia (or of wikis in general). I think that wikis are really great tools, because they allow a lot of little (and unkown) experts to come forward and add their two cents to a given topic. Wikis allow for a greater and more truthful knowledge to exist. It is easy to see how more truthful and accurate information will exist when anyone can add to the content, rather than a single expert being the only who can have a say on the topic. A wiki seems to be a very versatile tool. You can use wikis to post and do just about anything you want; How cool is that!
     One thing that I always questioned regarding Wikipedia was the open access to edit. I always wondered how they protect the information from people who just want to make trouble and ruin the site. I think that it is really smart and comforting to hear that there is a last saved option that can be used when a person tries to erase the information or mess with it. It is nice to think about the thousands of good people out there who are actually trying to keep accurate information, who correct mistakes and fix the problems that some people create on the wiki. 
     After reading this chapter, I feel a lot more comfortable with the idea of a wiki, and with the idea of using wikis in my own classroom. I think that wikis would come in handy with older children, but I am not sure if I would want to use a wiki with younger students (under 3rd grade). I think that with older students I could use a wiki space for a book project or for a community history project. Regardless of whether or not I personally decide to use a wiki in my classroom, I will definitely encourage my students to use wikipedia on their own; I will encourage them to add their knowledge to any topic that they feel well versed in. I will explain how they should properly use wikipedia and other wikispaces, and I will stress that when they are doing research on a topic they need to always use multiple sources and engage in triangulation.

Rethinking Education: Chapter 3

     It was interesting to read about the technology enthusiast's point of view last week and see how it compares with the technology skeptics point of view this week. In the reading, I found this quote to be interesting, "The school system relies on common and well-tested technologies. The basic material tools for schooling are paper, pens, pencils, and chalk...Blackboards and overhead projectors provide cheap ways to support teacher explanations and sharing work"(p. 33). This statement is very interesting. At some point the schools must have integrated overhead projectors (at some point in time they did not exist). If schools could integrate the use of pens and overhead projectors, how come they cannot now integrate newer, better, more efficient technologies? Perhaps it is the cost, but I think that schools should analyze the overall year-to-year benefits that will come with the integration of newer technologies. I do not think that all schools and all teachers should be forced to integrate new technologies into their classrooms, but I do believe that teachers should be educated on what new technologies are available; Teachers should then decide whether or not these newer technologies will be beneficial to their student's growth and learning.
     I understand that technology, such as computers, can be expensive, but I really do believe that the benefits that come along with technology (especially in a technology world) far outweigh the initial cost. I think that the ideal situation would be if every student had a laptop that they could use in their classes, which would eliminate a cluttered room and a lack of computers for all students. Since most schools do not provide computers to their students, I think that the next best thing would be to give the students plenty of time to finish their work; If you have your students make a blog, you could give them a week to get the assigned writing done, so that all students would have an equal opportunity of getting to a computer and completing the assignment.
     I found some of the arguments against technology integration to be quite trivial. To say that computer usage in a classroom would be too noisy, I think, is quite absurd; There is plenty of noise in a general education classroom already, without computers. I think that the noise that comes with computer usage is beneficial noise, because it is the noise of students learning. Another argument that the skeptics have is that computers decrease student's scores for writing with pen and paper; I think that this statement is probably true, but by saying this the skeptics are not really proving that computers are horrible pieces of technology. I think that computers allow students to process their thoughts more quickly, even if their ability to write quickly and efficiently on paper is diminished. I think that in a world where professional writing is done with computers, students should be encouraged to write with a computer, rather than a pencil and paper. 
     I agree with the skeptic's argument that computers should not replace teachers, since teachers are unique and provide their students with many things that technology cannot; Rather than technology replacing teachers, I think that technology/computers should be used to help teachers give more effective lessons. As a teacher, I hope to encourage my students to use technology. I will try to integrate technology use into my classroom by giving my students ample time to complete their assignments that require the use of technology.

Day 4-Exit Slip

     In class today, the first group led their Rethinking Education discussion for chapter two. I really liked how the group used quotes to highlight the chapter; The use of quotes also let us reflect on the chapter, without actually reteaching the chapter.The group had a really good website for everyone to look at, it was www.brainpop.com. I think that if your school would pay for the membership, this website would be really cool to use with your teaching. I thought that the debrief of the discussion was a really effective way to help all of us become better teachers. I liked the idea of using a positive column and a delta column (change). I think that instead of listing things that people do wrong, listing things that people can change and do better in the future is more constructive. I also thought that the website SMART Exchange was a really cool resource to keep in my delicious account for when I am teaching. I really liked the section that lets you look at lessons that incorporate the Wisconsin standards, called standards-correlated lessons. I hope to get a chance sometime this weekend to really look at this website in greater depth. Something that really got me thinking today, was something that Dr. Boyer mentioned; He said that education is the only field in which we still consider whether or not we should be using technology. I think that this is really interesting. I think that we need to encourage the use of technology in the field of education, so that our teaching methods will be more beneficial for our students' learning.

Rethinking Education: Chapter 2

     One of the main ideas that I took from this chapter, was that schooling should be relevant and should prepare students for the future. I think that technology should definitely be integrated into schooling, but I think that even with technology integration there must be a limit. I do not believe that students should simply be playing video games, (or other interactive gaming technologies) that simulate certain real life situations, throughout the school day. I think that technologies should be integrated but they should not be the only way or method that students are learning from. I think that teachers are vital to a sound education, and I think that some formal methods of teaching are instrumental in preparing students for the future. We must find the middle ground, where technology and formal education can come together to best benefit the students.

     It is interesting to read in this chapter that a learner wants to be in control of what he/she is learning. I never really stopped to think about this before, but this statement is really true. Do you want to learn something that you have no interest in and know that you will never ever use later in life? No! You want to have control of what you learn; You want to learn things that interest you. Nowadays, people can use the internet to learn "just-in-time." If somebody needs to know how to cook lobster or do almost anything, they can look it up online (there is no need to take a class); People can not only look almost anything up online, but they can look things up online when it is relevant to them, when they really need to use the information. Technology also allows people to have things customized to fit their interests and wants.

     One thing that I will take from this chapter and implement in my classroom, is the need for students to reflect. Reflection is so important in school and in life. When we reflect on our progress and our work, we gain perspective on how we are doing and what we need to change. I think that technology really does allow students to reflect more, and I hope to encourage my students to use technology to help them reflect on their learning, their thinking, and their progress. Depending upon which grade I end up teaching, I would like to have the students make their own blog site where they will be able to write out their reflections, similar to what we are doing for this class.

Day 3-Exit Slip

     Today we discussed some tips and tricks to giving a good presentation. When I give presentations, I usually have a hard time slowing myself down and giving my students enough wait time; In the future, I hope to increase my wait time in the classroom and while giving presentations. It is also very important to talk professionally while giving presentations; There is nothing more distracting than a presenter constantly saying like, uh, and uhm.

     In class we also went through a Rethinking Education discussion. I really enjoyed the "get off the fence protocol." This discussion activity really encouraged participation and helped facilitate discussion by grouping similar thinking students together to discuss why they agree/disagree/have no opinion with the topic, "Technology makes life more difficult for teachers." This topic really got me thinking. I at first disagreed with this statement, but as I was listening to some of the other arguments, I began to float between no opinion and disagree.

     Some things that we did near the end of lab today included discussing how to evaluate websites and how to use the SMARTboard. I thought that the triangulation idea was a really strong point to take from today's class. It is really important that we stress to our students the need to have multiple sources when researching a topic and the need to cross check data. It is also important that we use triangulation in our own research (we need to do what we ask of our students).

Evaluating Websites for Credibility

     When we ask our students to research something online, we must prepare them with the how-to's of evaluating whether or not a website is credible. I would explain to my students that when they come to a webpage and they find a lot of really good information, they need to look for the five W's before believing everything on the site. Students need to look who wrote and designed the website; Was the creator of the site someone who might actually know what they are talking about? The students then need to look what the purpose of the site is and whether the information differs at another website (obviously your students should be using more than one website for a research assignment). Next, the students should consider where the information is coming from and whether other links or materials are cited on the site. Then students should look at when the site was created and last updated; Is the information still relevant? Lastly, the students need to consider why they feel that the website is credible and believable. After taking into account the five W's, students may still end up using websites that are not credible because it can sometimes be that hard to tell credibility; The important thing is that we caution ourselves against false truths and do our best to find credible sources online. I would also encourage students to make a simple judgement call on a website based on grammar. If the website has grammatical errors in every sentence, clearly it may not be the best source for quality information.
    
     It was rather interesting to look at these four clearly unreliable websites that are currently online. I found the "All About Explorers" website to be quite amusing. It was interesting to find out that the site was put together by teachers who wanted to demonstrate to students that just because a website looks nice and has a lot of information, doesn't mean that the information is accurate. On first coming to these four webpages, it was hard to immediately determine credibility, however, after clicking through a few parts of the site, you come to see that the information is not quite what you were looking for. Thus it is always a good idea to analyze the website you are using information from and make sure that it truly is reliable and credible.