When discussing mLearning and the widespread use of tablets in classrooms all throughout the world, every teacher thinks about how integrating such tools into the class will effect classroom management. This article discusses the managing of a classroom full of iPads in a way that protects, respects, and engages the students and the iPad.
For most teachers, the prep time involved in whatever lesson or use of technology is important to consider because most teachers do not want to take away from instructional time to deal with lack of procedures in how to use the technology. Therefore, the author of this article suggests that each student in the class be assigned a particular iPad which they can pick up from the charging station and take their seats. This provides both the educator and the student with a clear procedure of what to do when entering the classroom.
In regards to how the iPads should be protected and respected by the students, this article suggest that the student assigned to the iPad understand they take "ownership" of the mLearning device. The teacher should ask each student to polish their screen before placing the iPad in the charging station at the end of the day and to always observe a "clean hands" policy. In this particular classroom, each iPad will have a case but in some classrooms simply a screen protector is provided.
All of these management procedures lead to the integration of the iPad and mLearning into the classroom. The author's hope is to become a paperless classroom because of proper management and use of the iPads. Teachers can allow for students to use the iPads for note taking, worksheets, tests, and reports. Not to mention the move toward digital textbooks.
In order to accomplish this goal, the teacher must begin the year with a few days of practice of the procedures required to properly use the iPad. This will help avoid any questions of what a text box or how to highlight something in the notes app during instruction time.
Overall, the key to any functional classroom is good classroom management. Teacher that desire to incorporate iPads or other mLearning devices must consider what procedures and classroom rules they will need in order to incite best practice for using the devices in the classroom. Having these clear procedures will help the students learn how to work hard in your classroom while integrating the mLearning. Classroom management is vital and determining procedures that work for my classroom will be something I will have to consider if I ever have the opportunity to incorporate this kind of technology.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Making the iPad an aid for special needs students
Just the title of this article intrigued me, Verbally- Turn the iPad into a Useful Speech Impediment Aid for the Disabled. I love words and in my future classroom I hope to instill a love of the English language and all the vocabulary that goes along with it. However, I know that I will face the challenge of having students in my class that hate words and language because they struggle with speech disabilities.
Nancy Messieh, author of this article, explains how teachers can utilize an app to help improve student mastery of language in the face of speech impediments. The app verbally is an assisted speech solution that changes the iPad into a communication helper. Verbally could help the communications of students with Apraxia, ALS, traumatic brain injuries, Parkinson's, cerebral palsy, and muscular dystrophy. On top of the aid this app provides to students with any of the listed disabilities, it also would aid in teaching students that are learning English as their second language.
Verbally has several different pronunciation guides. In fact, there are two tabs in the app one for words and one for phrases that are commonly used. Students may tap on a word and either just listen to the word or add to the sentence or phrase they would like to hear. One draw back reported about this is that it is not possible for the user to add or delete words or phrases from the grid of existing words preloaded onto the app.
Other great features of the app are the additional buttons on the typical iPad keyboard. There are three buttons: repeat, bell, and speak each word. The repeat button allows for students to learn through the repetition of a selected word or phrase. The speak each word button allows students to listen to any words or phrases typed into the screen automatically. The bell chime button proves helpful for gaining another's attention.
Overall, this app seems very useful. I do think that the lack of flexibility in the removing or addition of phrases and words seems quite limiting. However, I still would use this app for any of my students that desired additional help in a creative way. I like the pronunciation guides for the use with ESL or ELL students because I know that more and more our students are needing these kind of tools to help enrich their language development. If I had an iPad this app would most definitely be on it for my classroom.
Nancy Messieh, author of this article, explains how teachers can utilize an app to help improve student mastery of language in the face of speech impediments. The app verbally is an assisted speech solution that changes the iPad into a communication helper. Verbally could help the communications of students with Apraxia, ALS, traumatic brain injuries, Parkinson's, cerebral palsy, and muscular dystrophy. On top of the aid this app provides to students with any of the listed disabilities, it also would aid in teaching students that are learning English as their second language.
Verbally has several different pronunciation guides. In fact, there are two tabs in the app one for words and one for phrases that are commonly used. Students may tap on a word and either just listen to the word or add to the sentence or phrase they would like to hear. One draw back reported about this is that it is not possible for the user to add or delete words or phrases from the grid of existing words preloaded onto the app.
Other great features of the app are the additional buttons on the typical iPad keyboard. There are three buttons: repeat, bell, and speak each word. The repeat button allows for students to learn through the repetition of a selected word or phrase. The speak each word button allows students to listen to any words or phrases typed into the screen automatically. The bell chime button proves helpful for gaining another's attention.
Overall, this app seems very useful. I do think that the lack of flexibility in the removing or addition of phrases and words seems quite limiting. However, I still would use this app for any of my students that desired additional help in a creative way. I like the pronunciation guides for the use with ESL or ELL students because I know that more and more our students are needing these kind of tools to help enrich their language development. If I had an iPad this app would most definitely be on it for my classroom.
Tech, Teachers, and Media Literacy
The article I chose to review for this selection is written by Jessica Prois and she explores the fact that with the educational world becoming more and more mLearning based, Tech owes teachers more media literacy.
She recalls that when she first began attending educational workshops she always thought, "How can this help my school and students?" Now, she can relate to the importance to the answer of this question. Prois says that as an editor now she must think in much broader terms and research the newest education ideas and who they affect.
At a recent conference, Prois asked some students if they used the iPad apps for Shakespeare or NASA in their classrooms. Their response shocked her. They stated, "Oh no, our school is much more academic than that." This comment forced her to think deeply about how a teacher can discern which education apps are bets suited for the classroom and which just "look like Angry Birds."
In this contemplation, she realized that we often emphasize the importance of teaching our students media literacy, but where the responsibility lies to educate teachers on media literacy is still confused. Prois advocates that app creators "have a developing responsibility to show educators how to maximize technology's educational value." Once teachers are taught how to utilize these programs for the best potential, they can confidently endorse them to students, administrators, and parents.
Educators more and more must be able to accomplish that goal of learning for mastery and then endorsement because parents are more and more hesitant to accept the use of technology within a classroom. Teachers have quickly come to realize they must navigate the waters and find content rich applications that apply to the classroom setting.. Prois says when talking about incorporating the SMART board into her classroom, "Beneath that big screen of blinking lights, there was curriculum aligned to standards. The same must hold true for education apps."
Prois discusses the newer apps of Project Noah and Toontastic under the umbrella of great educational apps and opportunities to open the world up to students through technology, however, she states that neither have direct teachers' guides or accompanying lesson plans. While most teachers can create lesson plans around the apps without guides or planning prompts, providing teachers with the media literacy still seems fitting for app developers.
Overall, I believe Prois has a very strong point. The use of mLearning is fantastic for our classrooms and students, but if we as teachers are not educated enough on the best use of these educational apps then our students will suffer and so will our instructional time on task. Too often in my experience students could have learned incredible skills had the teacher had better mastery of them him or herself. Therefore, I possess the same sentiments as Jessica Prois when she says, "As such, if app developers provided some media literacy for teachers on all of these new apps, it would make technology integration in the classroom just that much easier." If we as educators can learn how to master software applications, we could truly change the face of education and engage students in a new, better way.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Abandoning Textbooks for iPads!?!?
My reading through this article explores the reality of one school that completely gave up computer labs and new text books in order to purchase iPads for every student. It cost them a total of $500,000 for each of the iPads however the principle Patrick Larkin used the existing budget by cutting the cost from the textbook, computer lab, and new language lab budgets. Larkin seemed quite positive in his outlook of all the good it would do for students, teachers, and his school. He states that they would utilize old books and everything the iPad and internet have to offer.
Larkin's positive attitude was not necessarily experienced by all of his staff members. In fact, the high school's history chair Todd Whitten said he was afraid the students would spend all their time playing video games and communicating with friends. However, Whitten found that as long as he was attentive so were his students. Afterall, teachers also always have the option of turning them over and off.
Students also had a voice in the changes occuring at Burlington High School. Within the article the author embedded a short youtube video that conveys student thoughts. One student stated that the iPad was extremely beneficial for her because it allowed instant access and useful for contemporary literature. Eddy Gilber said the most useful aspect of the iPad was the wifi access because he is always staying after school and participating in several events so having wifi allows him to get work done anywhere. Another student stated the organization aspect of the iPad helped him keep track of all his school work because everything is in one central location. Patrick, a senior at BHS, stated the iPad is particularly useful for his music sheets. Espcially the new app called notorize that allows musicians to take notes helped him know when to skip a certain section or play a different chord. All of this student feedback provides more support for the expanding of mLearning, especially the use of iPad technology.
Overall, I would love to work for a school in which my students are provided iPads. The educational possibilities it provides would well be worth the lack of new textbooks and computer labs in my opinion. Also, I agree with the students that spoke about organization--particularly boys--everything being in one central location for a class would be helpful to a teacher and student. The other creative features and cultural aspects provided at the touch of a button also fill me with great joy! I want my students to strive towards individuality, culture, and engagement with the world around them. If iPads create a pathway to that, sign my classroom up!
Larkin's positive attitude was not necessarily experienced by all of his staff members. In fact, the high school's history chair Todd Whitten said he was afraid the students would spend all their time playing video games and communicating with friends. However, Whitten found that as long as he was attentive so were his students. Afterall, teachers also always have the option of turning them over and off.
Students also had a voice in the changes occuring at Burlington High School. Within the article the author embedded a short youtube video that conveys student thoughts. One student stated that the iPad was extremely beneficial for her because it allowed instant access and useful for contemporary literature. Eddy Gilber said the most useful aspect of the iPad was the wifi access because he is always staying after school and participating in several events so having wifi allows him to get work done anywhere. Another student stated the organization aspect of the iPad helped him keep track of all his school work because everything is in one central location. Patrick, a senior at BHS, stated the iPad is particularly useful for his music sheets. Espcially the new app called notorize that allows musicians to take notes helped him know when to skip a certain section or play a different chord. All of this student feedback provides more support for the expanding of mLearning, especially the use of iPad technology.
Overall, I would love to work for a school in which my students are provided iPads. The educational possibilities it provides would well be worth the lack of new textbooks and computer labs in my opinion. Also, I agree with the students that spoke about organization--particularly boys--everything being in one central location for a class would be helpful to a teacher and student. The other creative features and cultural aspects provided at the touch of a button also fill me with great joy! I want my students to strive towards individuality, culture, and engagement with the world around them. If iPads create a pathway to that, sign my classroom up!
The iPad is changing Schools! article summary/response
As stated in previous blogs, I love Apple products. Therefore, I whole heartedly agree with the statement that iPads are changing the way in which we do school for the better. However, I also know that I am quite a bit biased. Anyways, I decided to select the article written on June 3 of this year about some of the ways in which the iPad is changing our education techniques and school systems.
The article itself states something that I, too, agree with. Kaufman writes, "...I feel the iPad itself won't make the difference. What is truly needed is a rethinking of the 'how' as well as the 'what' in schooling. Teachers must become much more learning facilitators and coaches." Making this point before becoming enraptured with the tools and features the iPad offers remains vital because while the iPad is great there is never going to exist a substitute for a teacher in a classroom full of students.
With that foundation in mind, the iPad holds great significance in the impact it is making in schools and on the school system's use of technology and integration. The development of apps has changed the face of learning. According to the article there are hundreds of apps specifically designed for learning such as: doing research, taking notes, writing papers, creating presentations, making films and more.
In California, a school district uses the iPads to help teachers deliver physical education programs to students. The school uses the SPARK PE curriculum on the iPad which provides teachers the ability to waste less time on administrative tasks and also gives students a visual of individual training skills and interactive dance videos. Paul Rosengard, the executive of SPARK states, "Mobile technologies are allowing physical education teachers to better manage their classes and keep students engaged. As we move to a focus on inclusion and participation of all students in PE, technology allows instructors to better track the data that addresses individual student improvement." This is only one of the ways listed that iPads are being used in classrooms all over the U.S.
Another way iPads are changing education is the 1:1 concept. Each student receiving an mLearning device within their classrooms improve the availability of thousands of educational opportunities that were not available before. Avenues to aiding special needs students with auditory or visual disabilities or autism are also being expanded through the widespread school adoption of iPads in school systems all over the world.
Overall, I cannot believe all the ways that iPad technology opens up worlds of possibilities to students and teachers. I have to say that being able to explore the iPad apps and all the different features and tools provided by the product has made me anxiously await the day that allows me to utilize everything I have learned. The iPad would be one of my first technology tools to integrate into my lessons. I have already brainstormed dozens of possibilities for uses. Therefore, this article just furthers my excitement at all the ways this one creation could aid students all over the world learn about the millions of differing human experiences available to them in their lifetime.
The article itself states something that I, too, agree with. Kaufman writes, "...I feel the iPad itself won't make the difference. What is truly needed is a rethinking of the 'how' as well as the 'what' in schooling. Teachers must become much more learning facilitators and coaches." Making this point before becoming enraptured with the tools and features the iPad offers remains vital because while the iPad is great there is never going to exist a substitute for a teacher in a classroom full of students.
With that foundation in mind, the iPad holds great significance in the impact it is making in schools and on the school system's use of technology and integration. The development of apps has changed the face of learning. According to the article there are hundreds of apps specifically designed for learning such as: doing research, taking notes, writing papers, creating presentations, making films and more.
In California, a school district uses the iPads to help teachers deliver physical education programs to students. The school uses the SPARK PE curriculum on the iPad which provides teachers the ability to waste less time on administrative tasks and also gives students a visual of individual training skills and interactive dance videos. Paul Rosengard, the executive of SPARK states, "Mobile technologies are allowing physical education teachers to better manage their classes and keep students engaged. As we move to a focus on inclusion and participation of all students in PE, technology allows instructors to better track the data that addresses individual student improvement." This is only one of the ways listed that iPads are being used in classrooms all over the U.S.
Another way iPads are changing education is the 1:1 concept. Each student receiving an mLearning device within their classrooms improve the availability of thousands of educational opportunities that were not available before. Avenues to aiding special needs students with auditory or visual disabilities or autism are also being expanded through the widespread school adoption of iPads in school systems all over the world.
Overall, I cannot believe all the ways that iPad technology opens up worlds of possibilities to students and teachers. I have to say that being able to explore the iPad apps and all the different features and tools provided by the product has made me anxiously await the day that allows me to utilize everything I have learned. The iPad would be one of my first technology tools to integrate into my lessons. I have already brainstormed dozens of possibilities for uses. Therefore, this article just furthers my excitement at all the ways this one creation could aid students all over the world learn about the millions of differing human experiences available to them in their lifetime.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
How the Amazon Kindle Fire Fits Into Education response
After reading the last article about the Amazong Kindle and the supremely bad reviews it had gotten I decided to read a little more about it in this article written by Joseph Baker. He states quite the opposite view of Audrey W. Joseph writes, "Educational aspects of this new competitor are endless, from basic applications to the most useful tools teacher can use in order to maximize their time with every student."
Clearly this is a very different sentiment. He goes on to introduce the specs of the Kindle Fire. Baker covers the basics: The fire is just under a pound, has a 7" multi-touch display and has a resolution of 1024x600 and is protected by Gorilla Glass. The Kindle uses Google's Android operation systems that allows Kindle owners access to the app store on Amazon's website. These apps can aid in education. Teacher in classrooms may log on and purchase different apps that they find useful to their students.
Another feature that many educators complain about is the lack of an actual hard drive on the mLearning tablets, but the Amazon Kindle Fire offers owners cloud storage. Kindle owners are allowed 5 GB of free storage on Amazon's cloud drive and the Fire can synchronize the files via Wi-fi. Amazon also publicizes that if users need more storage they can upgrade for a yearly fee. Another nice feature this offers is the ability of users to swap music and store spreadsheets, and photos. Also, anything purchased from Amazon will be stored for free.
The Kindle Fire also provides students and teachers the ability to rent textbooks from Amazon. This feature is exclusive to the Kindle Fire and isn't available through the other Kindle products. Baker asserts that, "...this will undoubtedly change the landscape of $700 (or more) textbook expenses per semester, and allows teachers to directly pull from their own texts in order to teach." He continues to discuss the "green" aspect of the Fire that saves the constant reprinting of texts that teachers revise as the years progress.
Overall, Baker states, "Anyone not wanting to spend the $400-$900 for the Ipad will have a much better option in the Kindle Fire. For students on a limited income who have a budget for every semester, the Fire will more than pay for itself."
I have to say that I appreciate the aspects that he pointed out on the positive side of the Kindle Fire. I still see the negatives the Audrey pointed out in her article, but at least it is helpful to see what the Fire offers students. His information about the educational apps and the storage capabilities are extremely helpful regarding the Fire's use for education. Overall, I feel much more confident that they could be used as tools for mLearning in a high school literature course especially with the text book rental. I still am not persuaded to negate the Ipad's educational purposes over the Fire's, but it has definitely given me some information to consider when looking at incorporating mLearning devices into my future classrooms.
Clearly this is a very different sentiment. He goes on to introduce the specs of the Kindle Fire. Baker covers the basics: The fire is just under a pound, has a 7" multi-touch display and has a resolution of 1024x600 and is protected by Gorilla Glass. The Kindle uses Google's Android operation systems that allows Kindle owners access to the app store on Amazon's website. These apps can aid in education. Teacher in classrooms may log on and purchase different apps that they find useful to their students.
Another feature that many educators complain about is the lack of an actual hard drive on the mLearning tablets, but the Amazon Kindle Fire offers owners cloud storage. Kindle owners are allowed 5 GB of free storage on Amazon's cloud drive and the Fire can synchronize the files via Wi-fi. Amazon also publicizes that if users need more storage they can upgrade for a yearly fee. Another nice feature this offers is the ability of users to swap music and store spreadsheets, and photos. Also, anything purchased from Amazon will be stored for free.
The Kindle Fire also provides students and teachers the ability to rent textbooks from Amazon. This feature is exclusive to the Kindle Fire and isn't available through the other Kindle products. Baker asserts that, "...this will undoubtedly change the landscape of $700 (or more) textbook expenses per semester, and allows teachers to directly pull from their own texts in order to teach." He continues to discuss the "green" aspect of the Fire that saves the constant reprinting of texts that teachers revise as the years progress.
Overall, Baker states, "Anyone not wanting to spend the $400-$900 for the Ipad will have a much better option in the Kindle Fire. For students on a limited income who have a budget for every semester, the Fire will more than pay for itself."
I have to say that I appreciate the aspects that he pointed out on the positive side of the Kindle Fire. I still see the negatives the Audrey pointed out in her article, but at least it is helpful to see what the Fire offers students. His information about the educational apps and the storage capabilities are extremely helpful regarding the Fire's use for education. Overall, I feel much more confident that they could be used as tools for mLearning in a high school literature course especially with the text book rental. I still am not persuaded to negate the Ipad's educational purposes over the Fire's, but it has definitely given me some information to consider when looking at incorporating mLearning devices into my future classrooms.
The Kindle Fire as an Educational Tablet? response
The fourth article I chose to read for my EXPAND project was about the use of the Kindle Fire as an educational tablet. The article was very interesting when considering higher learning. Jeff Bezos revealed the tablet as a competitor of the Ipad and predicted that it would be extremely popular in education based upon its cheaper price tag of $199. However, the author of the article states, "I was skeptical as I felt as though there were a lot of things--the focus on Amazon book store content, privacy questions about its Silk browser, problems that libraries in particular have had administering their Kindle accounts, for example--that I thought would make K12 schools less than thrilled about adopting them."
Her sentiments remain true of most reviews I personally have read about the use of the Kindle Fire in a classroom or even library setting. However, her article then shifts the focus on higher education use. At a college level the competitive price remains great because most students cannot justify the amount of money needed for an Ipad on top of the purchase of a laptop for school. Also they do not have to depend upon the school to purchase the technology for them. However, this pricing still does not compete at the level they need because the savings for the actual tablet doesn't change the lack of savings on the actual digital textbooks. But Watters points out that college students don' seem to be adopting digital textbooks the same way they were 3 years ago. Many state that the difficulty in taking notes, sharing books, and lack of cost savings deter them from purchasing and utilizing an Amazon Kindle Fire.
Amazon has started to target more of these consumer desires by developing Kindle Textbook Rental programs and allowing members of Amazon prime an Overdrive account. These efforts continue to strive for a higher place on the e-book market, but Kindle Fires lack the specificity for the educational market that the Ipad's possess. Watters concludes by stating, " I still think lots of college students will opt for the new Amazon tablet. Nonetheless, let's not fool ourselves into thinking that that will make the Kindle Fire an educational tablet."
Since I have never used the Kindle Fire tablet myself and have no real background in its educational value, I somewhat am hesitant to completely agree with the author of this article. I think that her points are well substantiated and she seems to have a real grasp on what the Kindle Fire lacks, but I would have liked to see more information on the benefits of using the Kindle Fire in the classroom. Her information was helpful to consider as I venture out into the field and perhaps will one day have to make the choice of what kind of mLearning device to use. I do have to say that after the majority of what I have heard I still side with Apple although the Ipads are more expensive the apps that I have discovered while taking our course has made me appreciate their place in a classroom. As for the Kindle Fire, I think I will have to do some more research.
Her sentiments remain true of most reviews I personally have read about the use of the Kindle Fire in a classroom or even library setting. However, her article then shifts the focus on higher education use. At a college level the competitive price remains great because most students cannot justify the amount of money needed for an Ipad on top of the purchase of a laptop for school. Also they do not have to depend upon the school to purchase the technology for them. However, this pricing still does not compete at the level they need because the savings for the actual tablet doesn't change the lack of savings on the actual digital textbooks. But Watters points out that college students don' seem to be adopting digital textbooks the same way they were 3 years ago. Many state that the difficulty in taking notes, sharing books, and lack of cost savings deter them from purchasing and utilizing an Amazon Kindle Fire.
Amazon has started to target more of these consumer desires by developing Kindle Textbook Rental programs and allowing members of Amazon prime an Overdrive account. These efforts continue to strive for a higher place on the e-book market, but Kindle Fires lack the specificity for the educational market that the Ipad's possess. Watters concludes by stating, " I still think lots of college students will opt for the new Amazon tablet. Nonetheless, let's not fool ourselves into thinking that that will make the Kindle Fire an educational tablet."
Since I have never used the Kindle Fire tablet myself and have no real background in its educational value, I somewhat am hesitant to completely agree with the author of this article. I think that her points are well substantiated and she seems to have a real grasp on what the Kindle Fire lacks, but I would have liked to see more information on the benefits of using the Kindle Fire in the classroom. Her information was helpful to consider as I venture out into the field and perhaps will one day have to make the choice of what kind of mLearning device to use. I do have to say that after the majority of what I have heard I still side with Apple although the Ipads are more expensive the apps that I have discovered while taking our course has made me appreciate their place in a classroom. As for the Kindle Fire, I think I will have to do some more research.
Will Kindle Change Education? article response
The third article I chose to read was published by Scholastic Administrators and was followed by the heading, "E-book reader advances are pushing printed textbooks closer to extinction." This heading caught my attention very quickly because while I enjoy the new technology of the tablets, I pray that we never cease to have an actual book to hold while reading our favorite story. However, the reality remains that the invention of Kindles, Nooks, and Ipads has changed the way we use books in education.
The article discusses how Chris Edwards, a teacher at Fishers High School, in Indiana utilizes Amazon Kindles in his classroom. Edwards states, "I see it as an update, not simply of the book, but of the library." This frame of mind is widespread around the country. Many educators see the potential of having handheld e-readers for their students.
The article continues by discussing the benefits of classroom Kindles with the assertion that allowing e-readers in the classroom with produce higher literacy and availability of texts. Daniel Witz says, "For the longest time, distribution of reading materials has been highly inefficient in getting the right material to the right student at the right moment." With the use of Kindles students can hold around 1500 books and can download copies of the books they need without having to wait for their teacher to have a physical copy or for the library to receive the book.
Another feature the article highlights as a significant help to the classroom is the text to speech feature. Using this feature of the Kindle students with vision problems, language barriers or lack of reading fluency can face their challenges with confidence. Chastity Pick is cited in the article saying, "...the Kindle's audio function could be invaluable for special needs students...kids who need to hear as much as see."
All of these benefits are greatly in favor of using Kindles and other handheld learning devices, however, many schools face significant hurdles before incorporating them into their school system. The article particularly speaks out about the cost hurdle. Kindles cost around $299. Therefore, purchasing enough even for just one classroom of 30 students would be a significant cost for a school system on a budget.
Overall, I have to agree with the majority of the information presented in the article. I never would give up the mountains of hardback and paperbound pages of the stories I love at home for a Kindle version. However, for my classroom that is an entirely different story. I would love to have the resource of Kindle or Nook or especially and Ipad. They do allow mLearning to occur in and out of school as well as provide so many features that a simple textbook cannot. If schools can figure out a way to invest the money into the tools I am certain that children would be more apt to taking ownership for their own learning and growth and be engaged by the material. I know that if I were in their shoes, I would be excited for the opportunity!
The article discusses how Chris Edwards, a teacher at Fishers High School, in Indiana utilizes Amazon Kindles in his classroom. Edwards states, "I see it as an update, not simply of the book, but of the library." This frame of mind is widespread around the country. Many educators see the potential of having handheld e-readers for their students.
The article continues by discussing the benefits of classroom Kindles with the assertion that allowing e-readers in the classroom with produce higher literacy and availability of texts. Daniel Witz says, "For the longest time, distribution of reading materials has been highly inefficient in getting the right material to the right student at the right moment." With the use of Kindles students can hold around 1500 books and can download copies of the books they need without having to wait for their teacher to have a physical copy or for the library to receive the book.
Another feature the article highlights as a significant help to the classroom is the text to speech feature. Using this feature of the Kindle students with vision problems, language barriers or lack of reading fluency can face their challenges with confidence. Chastity Pick is cited in the article saying, "...the Kindle's audio function could be invaluable for special needs students...kids who need to hear as much as see."
All of these benefits are greatly in favor of using Kindles and other handheld learning devices, however, many schools face significant hurdles before incorporating them into their school system. The article particularly speaks out about the cost hurdle. Kindles cost around $299. Therefore, purchasing enough even for just one classroom of 30 students would be a significant cost for a school system on a budget.
Overall, I have to agree with the majority of the information presented in the article. I never would give up the mountains of hardback and paperbound pages of the stories I love at home for a Kindle version. However, for my classroom that is an entirely different story. I would love to have the resource of Kindle or Nook or especially and Ipad. They do allow mLearning to occur in and out of school as well as provide so many features that a simple textbook cannot. If schools can figure out a way to invest the money into the tools I am certain that children would be more apt to taking ownership for their own learning and growth and be engaged by the material. I know that if I were in their shoes, I would be excited for the opportunity!
Monday, July 23, 2012
NOOK CLUB! -Gilbert school article response
The second article I chose to read for my EXPAND work is the article written by Hayley Ringle of the Arizona Republic. In her article, she explores how an elementary school librarian and principal are trying to expand their library and promote higher student motivation to read. Sonoma Ranch Elementary School recently formed what they call a "Nook Club." The school bought Nook electronic reader to use for multiple groups of sixth graders to check out and read on it for two weeks.
The librarian sites that the goal is to give all sixth-graders the opportunity to read at least one book on the e-reader by the end of the school year. She sees the e-readers as a tool to help encourage student literacy without placing any limitations on the students. Her view is as follows: "...school librarians should be early adapters of new technology to take leadership roles and to train teachers in how to use them as well." The article presents the facts that she is not the first to hold such a view in fact Ringle states that in Clearwater, FL a school issued 1200 Kindle e-readers for students to use instead of hard copy textbooks.
The principal too joins his librarian in the vision for the use of mLearning tablets, such as the Nooks, in his school system. He states, "Our hope is to transform our library into a 21st century library." Principal Terry Maurer, as well as the librarian Georgvich, do not want to shun the traditional hard copy book, but want to expand their students ability to access books and be motivated to read. Also, the mLearning tablets offer significant savings and instant access to books that are included in series. For instance, the writer cites the significant price differences for The Hunger Games series to be "$17.99 per hard copy book and $5.00 for the e-book copy."
Overall, I think that the use of the Nook tablets to further student literacy is great! I love the idea of forming a "Nook Club." In fact, I could see the usefulness of something like this in a high school language arts classroom as well as the elementary school. Literature circles are a widely used teaching and grouping tool and the use of mLearning tablets would enhance this type of learning. The tablets would provide students with the ability to access the internet and perhaps have an ongoing google doc literature circle discussion about a particular series.
For instance if the group of sixth graders were all reading the popular series of The Hunger Games, which might be a little more mature than sixth grade reading level, but nonetheless they could be given a group of questions to consider as they read the first book of the series during the two week check out time to be discussing together on a google doc. All of this could be done at the touch of their finger tips because of the accessibility of the Nook tablet given to them.
While I myself love traditional hard copy books that I can write in and underline and collect on a bookshelf I absolutely see the benefits to providing students and libraries with the mLearning tablets such as the Nooks. They do have a much more instantaneous aspect to them than a traditional paperback or hardcover book and also the technology provided by the mLearning devices provides much more than just a book. This trend is incredibly encouraging in what it could accomplish in respect to promoting student literacy.
The librarian sites that the goal is to give all sixth-graders the opportunity to read at least one book on the e-reader by the end of the school year. She sees the e-readers as a tool to help encourage student literacy without placing any limitations on the students. Her view is as follows: "...school librarians should be early adapters of new technology to take leadership roles and to train teachers in how to use them as well." The article presents the facts that she is not the first to hold such a view in fact Ringle states that in Clearwater, FL a school issued 1200 Kindle e-readers for students to use instead of hard copy textbooks.
The principal too joins his librarian in the vision for the use of mLearning tablets, such as the Nooks, in his school system. He states, "Our hope is to transform our library into a 21st century library." Principal Terry Maurer, as well as the librarian Georgvich, do not want to shun the traditional hard copy book, but want to expand their students ability to access books and be motivated to read. Also, the mLearning tablets offer significant savings and instant access to books that are included in series. For instance, the writer cites the significant price differences for The Hunger Games series to be "$17.99 per hard copy book and $5.00 for the e-book copy."
Overall, I think that the use of the Nook tablets to further student literacy is great! I love the idea of forming a "Nook Club." In fact, I could see the usefulness of something like this in a high school language arts classroom as well as the elementary school. Literature circles are a widely used teaching and grouping tool and the use of mLearning tablets would enhance this type of learning. The tablets would provide students with the ability to access the internet and perhaps have an ongoing google doc literature circle discussion about a particular series.
For instance if the group of sixth graders were all reading the popular series of The Hunger Games, which might be a little more mature than sixth grade reading level, but nonetheless they could be given a group of questions to consider as they read the first book of the series during the two week check out time to be discussing together on a google doc. All of this could be done at the touch of their finger tips because of the accessibility of the Nook tablet given to them.
While I myself love traditional hard copy books that I can write in and underline and collect on a bookshelf I absolutely see the benefits to providing students and libraries with the mLearning tablets such as the Nooks. They do have a much more instantaneous aspect to them than a traditional paperback or hardcover book and also the technology provided by the mLearning devices provides much more than just a book. This trend is incredibly encouraging in what it could accomplish in respect to promoting student literacy.
THE UNQUIET LIBRARIAN response
In looking at the mLearning topic, I chose to read first the article written by the unquiet librarian. In her blog article she discusses her decision to cease purchase of Amazon Kindles for use in her school library because of their new End User License agreement.
She recounts that Amazon now requires a separate email for each device and for management of ebook accounts which must be 1:1 for K12 schools. This new policy enforces 1:1 ratio in all K12 and school libraries with only an offer to purchase a subscription to Overdrive in order to handle the back end management.
The unquiet librarian called her Amazon Kindle education representative to discuss the new licensing agreement and the limitations it places upon schools. Her representative tried to be helpful, but restated the fact that they were working on more back end management tools, however, those tools would not be available for some time. She ended that conversation with the feeling that Amazon did not value the needs of educators in the K12 setting and was not being responsive to her expressions of that frustration.
Therefore, she states that she will still continue to utilize the ten Kindles that her library possesses, but for the next year she has chosen to purchase Barnes & Noble's nook simple touch instead.
I felt this blog was very helpful and interesting from an educator's point of view. The main focus of integrating these mLearning technologies is to encourage student learning and make the tools available to the students. Therefore, the unquiet librarian had some very important points in the impracticalities of Amazon Kindle's new licensing agreement terms that required the differing email addresses for each Kindle and each ebook account. I agree with her decision based upon the impracticalities because if the purpose of the technology is to make it accessible to every student than the licensing policy makes this task much more difficult. On top of that, the fact that Amazon is not providing any kind of back end management aid without a purchase of a subscription to Overdrive seems incredibly unrealistic to implement the Kindle technology into the K12 school system.
Overall, I think the unquiet librarian does not seek to discredit or discourage educators from utilizing Amazon Kindles as a mLearning device, but I do think she offers a unique perspective on the features and requirements of the particular use in the K12 school systems. I hope that Amazon has taken some of her feedback and worked to respond to the educator consumers' needs when purchasing their Kindles for the purpose of mLearning in the schools.
She recounts that Amazon now requires a separate email for each device and for management of ebook accounts which must be 1:1 for K12 schools. This new policy enforces 1:1 ratio in all K12 and school libraries with only an offer to purchase a subscription to Overdrive in order to handle the back end management.
The unquiet librarian called her Amazon Kindle education representative to discuss the new licensing agreement and the limitations it places upon schools. Her representative tried to be helpful, but restated the fact that they were working on more back end management tools, however, those tools would not be available for some time. She ended that conversation with the feeling that Amazon did not value the needs of educators in the K12 setting and was not being responsive to her expressions of that frustration.
Therefore, she states that she will still continue to utilize the ten Kindles that her library possesses, but for the next year she has chosen to purchase Barnes & Noble's nook simple touch instead.
I felt this blog was very helpful and interesting from an educator's point of view. The main focus of integrating these mLearning technologies is to encourage student learning and make the tools available to the students. Therefore, the unquiet librarian had some very important points in the impracticalities of Amazon Kindle's new licensing agreement terms that required the differing email addresses for each Kindle and each ebook account. I agree with her decision based upon the impracticalities because if the purpose of the technology is to make it accessible to every student than the licensing policy makes this task much more difficult. On top of that, the fact that Amazon is not providing any kind of back end management aid without a purchase of a subscription to Overdrive seems incredibly unrealistic to implement the Kindle technology into the K12 school system.
Overall, I think the unquiet librarian does not seek to discredit or discourage educators from utilizing Amazon Kindles as a mLearning device, but I do think she offers a unique perspective on the features and requirements of the particular use in the K12 school systems. I hope that Amazon has taken some of her feedback and worked to respond to the educator consumers' needs when purchasing their Kindles for the purpose of mLearning in the schools.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Maps for Thursday July 19
Google Maps is amazing because it allows you to find just about anything you ever wanted to find. You can switch between different views such as terrain view for our area in the Smoky Mountains to show the terrain of the mountain area. Also the maps features allow you to have a picture view of what you are searching for. For instance, if I wanted to find directions from Brooklyn, NY to Manhattan, NY with a view from my car the picture would show what the Brooklyn bridge way would look like when crossing over into Manhattan. With this you can also pan around and look at what you could expect to see on the opposite sides of you.
A few of the features I had no idea google maps offered was the ability to get more info and review a listing. Like the example given of the pizza place, I had no idea that you could get details of the hours and read reviews of the restaurant as well as review it yourself. The ability to claim the restaurant as a business owner as well is new to me. Creating your own maps was also another feature I had no idea existed. Google maps like the other google products allows you to share the maps with other friends and perhaps make map for a planned road trip. This will be something to keep in mind for me in the future. Also this could be useful in a classroom because the students reading Grapes of Wrath in my literature class could create their own map that tracks where the family travels! How cool.
The lesson plan I selected for further exploration of google maps was the To Kill A Mockingbird Lesson. The created map virtually took students through the plot summary, vocabulary, author information, awards information, and characters through "Stops" on the map. It was amazing. Each stop had significant information about each feature for instance the character Bob Ewell had a description and picture from the feature film. Another feature this lesson plan offered through the map was a quiz. Through the "stop" a link was provided to a quiz on Sparknotes that allows for students to gage what they just learned through going from point to point on the map. This would be extremely cool to incorporate into a classroom especially with novel units that have multiple aspects to consider when studying.
A second lesson plan that I examined was the social studies lesson plan on World War II Battle Areas. This lesson was a great use of the google maps and very practical application as well. The students go from point pin to point pin reading about the different battles and the point pins allow the students to not only read and learn the information about the battle but also to learn the geography! This lesson truly incorporates historical fact, context, and geography in such an organized fashion that many students would probably be able to retain the information about the different battles in their long term memory as well as their short term.
Overall, google continues to astound me. I thought that maps was simply helpful for traveling from here to Florida on spring break, but exploring this further has taught me there are so many more personal uses for google maps, but more importantly there are so many educational and classroom applications to be utilized through google maps.
A few of the features I had no idea google maps offered was the ability to get more info and review a listing. Like the example given of the pizza place, I had no idea that you could get details of the hours and read reviews of the restaurant as well as review it yourself. The ability to claim the restaurant as a business owner as well is new to me. Creating your own maps was also another feature I had no idea existed. Google maps like the other google products allows you to share the maps with other friends and perhaps make map for a planned road trip. This will be something to keep in mind for me in the future. Also this could be useful in a classroom because the students reading Grapes of Wrath in my literature class could create their own map that tracks where the family travels! How cool.
The lesson plan I selected for further exploration of google maps was the To Kill A Mockingbird Lesson. The created map virtually took students through the plot summary, vocabulary, author information, awards information, and characters through "Stops" on the map. It was amazing. Each stop had significant information about each feature for instance the character Bob Ewell had a description and picture from the feature film. Another feature this lesson plan offered through the map was a quiz. Through the "stop" a link was provided to a quiz on Sparknotes that allows for students to gage what they just learned through going from point to point on the map. This would be extremely cool to incorporate into a classroom especially with novel units that have multiple aspects to consider when studying.
A second lesson plan that I examined was the social studies lesson plan on World War II Battle Areas. This lesson was a great use of the google maps and very practical application as well. The students go from point pin to point pin reading about the different battles and the point pins allow the students to not only read and learn the information about the battle but also to learn the geography! This lesson truly incorporates historical fact, context, and geography in such an organized fashion that many students would probably be able to retain the information about the different battles in their long term memory as well as their short term.
Overall, google continues to astound me. I thought that maps was simply helpful for traveling from here to Florida on spring break, but exploring this further has taught me there are so many more personal uses for google maps, but more importantly there are so many educational and classroom applications to be utilized through google maps.
Picasa and Paris
To keep with the theme of my thought pattern for the evening I will use some pictures of Paris I found on a google image search.
BEFORE
AFTER
These are my images. I really enjoyed using Picasa. The two features that I found most helpful was most definitely the editing features it offers. There are too many times that I have taken pictures and gotten people or images in the picture that I didn't want to display in a scrap book. Therefore, the cropping feature really excites me. Another cool editing feature is that you can adjust sizes. So many times I have got to picture kiosks in order to enlarge images of mine from a trip or of my friends and I so having that feature through Picasa is really useful and practical to me.
Another feature of Picasa that I, being the OCD person I am, appreciate is the organizing feature. I love that fact that it organizes your pictures into folders and albums so that you can view associated pictures together. This lumping allows the album to be shared with friends and family as a part of the share feature of Picasa. I know that it is sorta a two feature like but the organization allows for the sharing to happen well. Therefore, while I like the share feature, I love the organization of Picasa! Overall, this is a very interesting tool and could be used in a classroom with some teachable students.
BEFORE
AFTER
Another feature of Picasa that I, being the OCD person I am, appreciate is the organizing feature. I love that fact that it organizes your pictures into folders and albums so that you can view associated pictures together. This lumping allows the album to be shared with friends and family as a part of the share feature of Picasa. I know that it is sorta a two feature like but the organization allows for the sharing to happen well. Therefore, while I like the share feature, I love the organization of Picasa! Overall, this is a very interesting tool and could be used in a classroom with some teachable students.
Sites!
Google sites remains a great way to integrate technology into the classroom and communicate with students. If I were to ever teach a French classroom this is what my site would look like:
https://sites.google.com/site/cammiesclassroom/
The topic I chose for my site was a French classroom website. I chose the topic because it was practical practice for me because someday I do hope to create a classroom website. I chose the topic of a French Class because I love the language and wish that I could have a high enough proficiency to be licensed to teach in that subject. Therefore, I am living vicariously through this assignment and pretending that this is my site and I can post pictures of the city of light that I wish to visit someday :)
https://sites.google.com/site/cammiesclassroom/
The topic I chose for my site was a French classroom website. I chose the topic because it was practical practice for me because someday I do hope to create a classroom website. I chose the topic of a French Class because I love the language and wish that I could have a high enough proficiency to be licensed to teach in that subject. Therefore, I am living vicariously through this assignment and pretending that this is my site and I can post pictures of the city of light that I wish to visit someday :)
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Game Based Learning!
Earlier this week when we discussed the rise of game based learning in the education world, I was fascinated. After looking more in depth at these ideas I continue to love the results and the students it is reaching.
The first game based learning link I looked at was a Macro game case study. I read about Kate Fanelli and how she has turned her math class into a game and provided engagement and student learning for at risk children. Her school accepts students that struggle with intense emotional issues that cause manifestation of emotions through work avoidance, school avoidance, acting out in class, reluctance to work without aid, and poor relationship skills. Ms. Fanelli has learned that game based learning has combated some of these negative manifestations and engaged these at risk children in a way that provides them the same educational opportunities as students with stable emotional background. She has the students work through her course "Mathland" with a lesson with step by step instruction, a practice problem section, and finally a mastery test. All students must work through the 20 levels with each of these three sub levels of work. This game provides students with the ability to actively participate in their own learning and try again if they don't succeed the first time and results in more success than failure. Her first year of implementing this program Mathland students had a 17% improvement in statewide assessment. This model is amazing and I love that it is reaching the students that truly deserve to learn and enjoy their successes.
The second game based learning link that I researched was the Question to Learn site. I love the idea of the game based learning being the foundation of the school. This develops the exact skills that students need to be prepared for in our world today such as problem solving and higher order thinking skills. In looking through their curriculum they had each grade separated 6-12 and their courses were separated into domains such as "Being, Space, and Place" that looks at social studies and English language arts or "The Way Things Work" that studies math and science. The link between the subjects provides students a more realistic way to look at learning and a more realistic functioning of the world itself. Our daily activities are not broken down into Spanish class or Algebra, but instead a combination of all subjects often at the same time. Also another aspect of the school that I really loved was that they had specific future careers that the school could point out their students would have the potential to go into after completing each grade and the multiple domains within. Some of these included: learning scientist, inventor, economist, engineer, political strategist, writer, international relations, and a judge. All of these fields are exceptional and fields in which our students will have many opportunities to fill in the future.
Overall, these links have provided more information that furthers my curiosity and love for the idea of making learning game based. I think that it engages the students, links the reality of their future to the skills they need for that future, and allows them to most importantly LEARN! What else could be more important?
The first game based learning link I looked at was a Macro game case study. I read about Kate Fanelli and how she has turned her math class into a game and provided engagement and student learning for at risk children. Her school accepts students that struggle with intense emotional issues that cause manifestation of emotions through work avoidance, school avoidance, acting out in class, reluctance to work without aid, and poor relationship skills. Ms. Fanelli has learned that game based learning has combated some of these negative manifestations and engaged these at risk children in a way that provides them the same educational opportunities as students with stable emotional background. She has the students work through her course "Mathland" with a lesson with step by step instruction, a practice problem section, and finally a mastery test. All students must work through the 20 levels with each of these three sub levels of work. This game provides students with the ability to actively participate in their own learning and try again if they don't succeed the first time and results in more success than failure. Her first year of implementing this program Mathland students had a 17% improvement in statewide assessment. This model is amazing and I love that it is reaching the students that truly deserve to learn and enjoy their successes.
The second game based learning link that I researched was the Question to Learn site. I love the idea of the game based learning being the foundation of the school. This develops the exact skills that students need to be prepared for in our world today such as problem solving and higher order thinking skills. In looking through their curriculum they had each grade separated 6-12 and their courses were separated into domains such as "Being, Space, and Place" that looks at social studies and English language arts or "The Way Things Work" that studies math and science. The link between the subjects provides students a more realistic way to look at learning and a more realistic functioning of the world itself. Our daily activities are not broken down into Spanish class or Algebra, but instead a combination of all subjects often at the same time. Also another aspect of the school that I really loved was that they had specific future careers that the school could point out their students would have the potential to go into after completing each grade and the multiple domains within. Some of these included: learning scientist, inventor, economist, engineer, political strategist, writer, international relations, and a judge. All of these fields are exceptional and fields in which our students will have many opportunities to fill in the future.
Overall, these links have provided more information that furthers my curiosity and love for the idea of making learning game based. I think that it engages the students, links the reality of their future to the skills they need for that future, and allows them to most importantly LEARN! What else could be more important?
Search with Google
On a daily basis I use google for the primary reason of their search tool bar. It is on every web browser I have and on the home page of my smart phone. Therefore, this GAIN is extremely useful to me because it builds upon the information I already use with google search every day.
I chose to look at google images search in section B. While I knew that you could search for images using the images tab at the top of the page, I did not know that you could actually load an image and search for similar images. Also, the advanced image search allows for more specificity in the search so if I searched for images from the Vietnam War, it would not bring up different photos of celebrities that have nothing to do with it as a basic search would, but it brings up specific images depending upon the keywords or what colors used in the image or the region the image is from and many other things. The other feature of the advanced image search that I especially see as useful in a classroom is the SafeSearch option. You can turn on filtering so that if you take your class to the computer lab and use this search option they will not be exposed to certain images. Again if they were doing a project on the Vietnam War and you didn't want them to see specific violent images then you could set a strict filter. This tool is great to use for classroom projects!
The second tool of google search I looked at was the section C about custom search. This feature allows for websites to customize their search boxes to their specific needs in their website. This could be especially helpful if you created a classroom website for your students and you wanted to customize it in order to help them better navigate the web page. Also this tool could be used in the classroom to help students better use resources on other web pages that have the custom google search. This feature provides relevant search results and helps with time management and simply finding exactly what you need. Overall, would be great for research projects and quick in class assignments.
The last part of google search that I really liked was the Google Alerts feature. I had no idea that Google offered such a tool. This would be perfect for a classroom setting like mine in which students will at some point have to complete a research assignment and perhaps a large research assignment at that and having an alert to bring you an ongoing information stream would be extremely useful and practical. For instance, this would be fantastic for my current assignment for Dr. Bond's class that every time new information about brain development and autism came up I could read more about the subject of study. The amount of availability and custom needs given attention by google astounds me. This search tool makes it much easier to stay informed and in the loop of current information about different topics and aids in further learning.
Overall, google search is just as useful as I always believed it to be, but these features especially bring a new level of access, ease, and usefulness for my future classroom than I ever knew before.
I chose to look at google images search in section B. While I knew that you could search for images using the images tab at the top of the page, I did not know that you could actually load an image and search for similar images. Also, the advanced image search allows for more specificity in the search so if I searched for images from the Vietnam War, it would not bring up different photos of celebrities that have nothing to do with it as a basic search would, but it brings up specific images depending upon the keywords or what colors used in the image or the region the image is from and many other things. The other feature of the advanced image search that I especially see as useful in a classroom is the SafeSearch option. You can turn on filtering so that if you take your class to the computer lab and use this search option they will not be exposed to certain images. Again if they were doing a project on the Vietnam War and you didn't want them to see specific violent images then you could set a strict filter. This tool is great to use for classroom projects!
The second tool of google search I looked at was the section C about custom search. This feature allows for websites to customize their search boxes to their specific needs in their website. This could be especially helpful if you created a classroom website for your students and you wanted to customize it in order to help them better navigate the web page. Also this tool could be used in the classroom to help students better use resources on other web pages that have the custom google search. This feature provides relevant search results and helps with time management and simply finding exactly what you need. Overall, would be great for research projects and quick in class assignments.
The last part of google search that I really liked was the Google Alerts feature. I had no idea that Google offered such a tool. This would be perfect for a classroom setting like mine in which students will at some point have to complete a research assignment and perhaps a large research assignment at that and having an alert to bring you an ongoing information stream would be extremely useful and practical. For instance, this would be fantastic for my current assignment for Dr. Bond's class that every time new information about brain development and autism came up I could read more about the subject of study. The amount of availability and custom needs given attention by google astounds me. This search tool makes it much easier to stay informed and in the loop of current information about different topics and aids in further learning.
Overall, google search is just as useful as I always believed it to be, but these features especially bring a new level of access, ease, and usefulness for my future classroom than I ever knew before.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Google Earth for Friday July 20th
Google Earth remains one of the coolest google applications I have ever used. There are so many resources linked to the newest version listed in the A section under the link for educators. Google Earth 6 provides teachers the ability to let their students explore: mars, distant galaxies through sky, the moon, climate change, historical imagery, the ocean, as well as the usual trees, parks, neighborhoods, and forests aspects. One new feature as well remains especially applicable to social studies teachers--U.S. Presidents section of Google Earth provides teachers and students the ability to learn about U.S. presidents and tour their birthplaces. On the more creative side, students can also design their own galaxy with the liquid galaxy feature of Google Earth 6.
In looking at the high school selection of section B I was able to read about some ideas to incorporate Google Earth into my high school classroom. The idea that was by far my favorite just because of my subject specialty was the "Study the poetry of place." In this idea, students were able to incorporate three aspects of their curriculum-poetry, history, and geography-in their learning. Google Earth provided a new way to analyze our ideas of place. The teacher created a class project in which the students could create a podcast of each poem they studied and embed it not the place mark so they could be listened to. How amazing! So for example a student could read a Langston Hughes poem and embed it into Harlem, New York. I so want to design a lesson in my poetry unit for the future that uses this feature. Another use of Google Earth in my classroom with be as we discussed tracking the characters in a novel such a The Grapes of Wrath where the characters move from place to place.
In looking through section C, I went to the link about Google Earth for educators. I was excited to see some of the resources they had provided. For example, they had a lesson plan library designed specifically to incorporate the use of Google Earth. Some of the lessons were very fascinating there was a lesson over the Renaissance for grade 7 in which the student had to select a specific contributor to the Renaissance movement and locate on Google Earth their home cities and present them to the class. What a great way to explore the cultural aspect of the Renaissance! Also, the Google Earth for educators link had a 'projects for my subject' section that explored my specific subject of Language Arts. For example, one teacher when teaching the novel The Golden Compass asked the students to discover locations from within the film. Another project was to have students explore literature through Google Earth exploring the specific places mentioned--like in The Sun Also Rises, the students could explore the city of Paris and then experience the bull riding streets of Madrid!
It is so magnificent how we can actually share with our students and they can collaborate with classmates to explore the world in which we live currently and also the world in which we previously lived through the historical mapping features as well as explore new worlds of the future by designing your own galaxy! Google Earth provides so many tools to teachers and allows for us to really connect the subject matter we are teaching to actual reality that is relevant to students. Overall, I cannot wait to use this in my classroom!
In looking at the high school selection of section B I was able to read about some ideas to incorporate Google Earth into my high school classroom. The idea that was by far my favorite just because of my subject specialty was the "Study the poetry of place." In this idea, students were able to incorporate three aspects of their curriculum-poetry, history, and geography-in their learning. Google Earth provided a new way to analyze our ideas of place. The teacher created a class project in which the students could create a podcast of each poem they studied and embed it not the place mark so they could be listened to. How amazing! So for example a student could read a Langston Hughes poem and embed it into Harlem, New York. I so want to design a lesson in my poetry unit for the future that uses this feature. Another use of Google Earth in my classroom with be as we discussed tracking the characters in a novel such a The Grapes of Wrath where the characters move from place to place.
In looking through section C, I went to the link about Google Earth for educators. I was excited to see some of the resources they had provided. For example, they had a lesson plan library designed specifically to incorporate the use of Google Earth. Some of the lessons were very fascinating there was a lesson over the Renaissance for grade 7 in which the student had to select a specific contributor to the Renaissance movement and locate on Google Earth their home cities and present them to the class. What a great way to explore the cultural aspect of the Renaissance! Also, the Google Earth for educators link had a 'projects for my subject' section that explored my specific subject of Language Arts. For example, one teacher when teaching the novel The Golden Compass asked the students to discover locations from within the film. Another project was to have students explore literature through Google Earth exploring the specific places mentioned--like in The Sun Also Rises, the students could explore the city of Paris and then experience the bull riding streets of Madrid!
It is so magnificent how we can actually share with our students and they can collaborate with classmates to explore the world in which we live currently and also the world in which we previously lived through the historical mapping features as well as explore new worlds of the future by designing your own galaxy! Google Earth provides so many tools to teachers and allows for us to really connect the subject matter we are teaching to actual reality that is relevant to students. Overall, I cannot wait to use this in my classroom!
Ipad Apps!!!!
Tonight exploring the different iPad apps only increases my desire to have one in my classroom and makes my love for Apple as a company increase. I love the level of creativity and incorporation of different subjects and standards it allows.
One of the first apps I looked at was History tools. I find history fascinating and considering how much its implications have on literature, having a good knowledge and context contributes to better teaching of a particular short story, novel, or play. History tools works through pulling up the current date and it lists several interesting facts in history about that specific day. So for instance it lists the summary first, then a born today, died today, today's events, feast day, holidays, and my events sections. You can choose to add an event or choose a different date. I really love this app because it would allow for students to see the relevance every day they live has in life. Also, it would provide a history teacher a creative bell ringer assignment for beginning of class work by assigning students a writing prompt from it each day. Overall, I think that this would be useful to create relevance and also to allow students to look up certain events or create events for a project allowing them to see they take part in history making.
A second app that I have to write about even though I spoke about it earlier is the Shakespeare app. I just cannot express how much I would use this in my classroom. Every student in public education reads at least one Shakespeare play a year if not more. Curriculums are based around units in drama and Shakespeare remains the most famous playwright to ever live. This app would provide students not only the text of every Shakespeare play which is hard to find anthologies for classroom texts for decent price, but it also provides students tools to help navigate the world of Shakespeare. They can use the portraits to see pictures relating to Shakespeare himself or specific plays. A glossary is also provided that allows them to grasp some of the more archaic words used by Shakespeare to portray a certain mood or scene or rhyming scheme. They can search for quotes to use in a paper perhaps or use a concordance to find exactly what they need. There is just every tool you could think to need as a teacher teaching a unit on Shakespearian drama and text.
The last app that I looked at was the dictionary app. How this app works is through bringing up a home page that allows you to search for a word's definition in the dictionary provided. It also has features such as a word of the day. For example, today's word was requisition. This app defines the word gives the part of speech and gives a thesaurus and phonetical pronunciation. Also, this app provides a Spanish translation as well. This tool would be especially useful in a language arts or foreign language course or for ESL learners. I like this app because too often when teaching writing and grading writing (in my experience at Johnson as TA) students have a very limited and weak vocabulary. So providing them a dictionary that engages them to use it to better their writing and understand the proper use of a certain word excites me! I also like the word of the day feature in a language arts classroom because it constantly exposes students to new words and expands their vocabulary. This will also help with standardized test like the SAT that test verbal capabilities.
Overall, the iPad ceases to amaze me as far as its capabilities to engage students and provide them with hands on, instant tools that were never provided to me when I was a student. I cannot imagine the amount of information I would have retained through the exposure to something educational and fun at the same time. There are just thousands of possibilities!
One of the first apps I looked at was History tools. I find history fascinating and considering how much its implications have on literature, having a good knowledge and context contributes to better teaching of a particular short story, novel, or play. History tools works through pulling up the current date and it lists several interesting facts in history about that specific day. So for instance it lists the summary first, then a born today, died today, today's events, feast day, holidays, and my events sections. You can choose to add an event or choose a different date. I really love this app because it would allow for students to see the relevance every day they live has in life. Also, it would provide a history teacher a creative bell ringer assignment for beginning of class work by assigning students a writing prompt from it each day. Overall, I think that this would be useful to create relevance and also to allow students to look up certain events or create events for a project allowing them to see they take part in history making.
A second app that I have to write about even though I spoke about it earlier is the Shakespeare app. I just cannot express how much I would use this in my classroom. Every student in public education reads at least one Shakespeare play a year if not more. Curriculums are based around units in drama and Shakespeare remains the most famous playwright to ever live. This app would provide students not only the text of every Shakespeare play which is hard to find anthologies for classroom texts for decent price, but it also provides students tools to help navigate the world of Shakespeare. They can use the portraits to see pictures relating to Shakespeare himself or specific plays. A glossary is also provided that allows them to grasp some of the more archaic words used by Shakespeare to portray a certain mood or scene or rhyming scheme. They can search for quotes to use in a paper perhaps or use a concordance to find exactly what they need. There is just every tool you could think to need as a teacher teaching a unit on Shakespearian drama and text.
The last app that I looked at was the dictionary app. How this app works is through bringing up a home page that allows you to search for a word's definition in the dictionary provided. It also has features such as a word of the day. For example, today's word was requisition. This app defines the word gives the part of speech and gives a thesaurus and phonetical pronunciation. Also, this app provides a Spanish translation as well. This tool would be especially useful in a language arts or foreign language course or for ESL learners. I like this app because too often when teaching writing and grading writing (in my experience at Johnson as TA) students have a very limited and weak vocabulary. So providing them a dictionary that engages them to use it to better their writing and understand the proper use of a certain word excites me! I also like the word of the day feature in a language arts classroom because it constantly exposes students to new words and expands their vocabulary. This will also help with standardized test like the SAT that test verbal capabilities.
Overall, the iPad ceases to amaze me as far as its capabilities to engage students and provide them with hands on, instant tools that were never provided to me when I was a student. I cannot imagine the amount of information I would have retained through the exposure to something educational and fun at the same time. There are just thousands of possibilities!
Google Drawing
Google drawing is a great addition into the google drive applications. It has many of the same drawing features as the draw feature in Microsoft, but again Google has added several features that allow for a stronger connection to artistic design. You can add shapes and colors just like in paint, but drawing allows you to collaborate like the other google applications. For instance, you could be working on a project and be able to share that drawing with your teacher or partner or perhaps just a peer to ask for feedback and the chat feature allows them to give you real time feedback on whatever you are working on. Another neat feature of Google drawing is that you can save it as a PDF! Also, you can easily insert a google drawing document into a google docs document. All of these allow for great collaborations, creativity, and communications.
The lesson plan listed to look at was a great way to explore the use of google drawing in a classroom setting. It was an elementary language arts lesson called book buddies. The lesson paired younger students with older students and asked them to develop a book together. This lesson utilized the drawing feature of google by asking the students to digitally draw the setting of the story and some sketches to base the story upon. The students then were asked to write their story about the sketches they developed in the google drawing application. This lesson plan incorporated technology, writing, creativity, and grouping in a fun, engaging way.
Even though the lesson and most of google drawings application would benefit an elementary classroom, I think that I could somehow develop the same lesson plan with more complexity for high school age students. Especially, given that many high school age boys would prefer to sketch in their notebooks than actually take notes about the subject they are learning. This could work great for a Shakespeare project that the students could draw the different stagings for each act of the play of Julius Caesar or Romeo and Juliet. There exist hundreds of possibilities for this application. I hope to use it someday!
The lesson plan listed to look at was a great way to explore the use of google drawing in a classroom setting. It was an elementary language arts lesson called book buddies. The lesson paired younger students with older students and asked them to develop a book together. This lesson utilized the drawing feature of google by asking the students to digitally draw the setting of the story and some sketches to base the story upon. The students then were asked to write their story about the sketches they developed in the google drawing application. This lesson plan incorporated technology, writing, creativity, and grouping in a fun, engaging way.
Even though the lesson and most of google drawings application would benefit an elementary classroom, I think that I could somehow develop the same lesson plan with more complexity for high school age students. Especially, given that many high school age boys would prefer to sketch in their notebooks than actually take notes about the subject they are learning. This could work great for a Shakespeare project that the students could draw the different stagings for each act of the play of Julius Caesar or Romeo and Juliet. There exist hundreds of possibilities for this application. I hope to use it someday!
Friday, July 13, 2012
Finders Keepers!!!
Looking through these three tools, delicious, google reader, and library thing I have become more excited about doing my research papers...at least as excited as you can be about doing research papers :)
Anyways the first program I looked at was Delicious. It was very interesting all I had to do was sign up and it took me directly to my own page. I was able to create a stack as soon as I signed in. For me it was about Teach For America because that is one website I will be using ALOT in the next few days as I write my research paper about education reform. Then I browsed the related links in the side which were very interesting. There was one stack by someone called nicmaffel about book design that had several different articles about different covers and designs of hundreds of books. This was very intriguing to me...a total bookworm. I also used the search option on delicious and just searched the word literature and it came up with 154,459 results! I could have spent a very long time looking through all these but in the press for time I didn't. However, when I have spare time it's amazing to me all that I will be able to read about using this tool.
The second "keeper" program I looked at was RSS or Google Reader. As google will tell you, "Google Reader helps you find and keep track of interesting stuff on the web." Basically they allow you to subscribe to your favorite websites and keep up with new information as it is posted. I have to say out of the other google products we have used, reader was a little more confusing to figure out how to subscribe and not to get items on my feed that I certainly wasn't interested in, but after I got a hang of it, I was really excited. Reader is like a marquee at the bottom of CNN or FOX news reports with the headlines of the most recent stories of all the things I am interested in knowing. Sometimes it seems to pull things I really could care less to read about, but for the most part I subscribed to New York Times Education and it pulled up at least 15 articles. What a neat tool!
Finally I looked at Library Thing. This tool, as a literature teacher hopeful, seems priceless. I plan to have a classroom full of books so having a tool like this to use would be extremely helpful. I only added a few books but it was really easy to use and find the books that I searched. I also love the recommendations tab. For someone like me who loves to read, I count on book reviews and friends' and teachers' recommendations constantly for new books to add to my collection of personal enrichment reading. Therefore, I cannot express how much I will probably use this tool. The forums tool was also very interesting because potentially teachers could have their own forum on this site about a certain writer or book being used or banned from the classroom. Very interesting site that I hope to use more when I have a little bit more time.
Overall, these tools were very intriguing to me and I hope to go back and spend more time with each of them to get a better sense of how I could use them for school and for my classroom.
Anyways the first program I looked at was Delicious. It was very interesting all I had to do was sign up and it took me directly to my own page. I was able to create a stack as soon as I signed in. For me it was about Teach For America because that is one website I will be using ALOT in the next few days as I write my research paper about education reform. Then I browsed the related links in the side which were very interesting. There was one stack by someone called nicmaffel about book design that had several different articles about different covers and designs of hundreds of books. This was very intriguing to me...a total bookworm. I also used the search option on delicious and just searched the word literature and it came up with 154,459 results! I could have spent a very long time looking through all these but in the press for time I didn't. However, when I have spare time it's amazing to me all that I will be able to read about using this tool.
The second "keeper" program I looked at was RSS or Google Reader. As google will tell you, "Google Reader helps you find and keep track of interesting stuff on the web." Basically they allow you to subscribe to your favorite websites and keep up with new information as it is posted. I have to say out of the other google products we have used, reader was a little more confusing to figure out how to subscribe and not to get items on my feed that I certainly wasn't interested in, but after I got a hang of it, I was really excited. Reader is like a marquee at the bottom of CNN or FOX news reports with the headlines of the most recent stories of all the things I am interested in knowing. Sometimes it seems to pull things I really could care less to read about, but for the most part I subscribed to New York Times Education and it pulled up at least 15 articles. What a neat tool!
Finally I looked at Library Thing. This tool, as a literature teacher hopeful, seems priceless. I plan to have a classroom full of books so having a tool like this to use would be extremely helpful. I only added a few books but it was really easy to use and find the books that I searched. I also love the recommendations tab. For someone like me who loves to read, I count on book reviews and friends' and teachers' recommendations constantly for new books to add to my collection of personal enrichment reading. Therefore, I cannot express how much I will probably use this tool. The forums tool was also very interesting because potentially teachers could have their own forum on this site about a certain writer or book being used or banned from the classroom. Very interesting site that I hope to use more when I have a little bit more time.
Overall, these tools were very intriguing to me and I hope to go back and spend more time with each of them to get a better sense of how I could use them for school and for my classroom.
Forms
Exploring Google forms has been another interesting adventure! I followed the tutorial to a T and it came out incorrectly. I soon realized after asking for help that I had no idea how to use this self grading aspect of the forms. Creating the actual quiz was relatively simple, however, trying to set up the formula to grade Elise's quiz was quite difficult for me. I didn't realize that clicking anywhere could freeze the form's columns or rows. With your help, I did slightly learn how to set up the self grading aspect. I still will need ALOT of practice in order to really perfect it and feel comfortable using it in a classroom though.
The lesson plan I looked at this evening was the Writing for Context, Audience, and Purpose. The lesson plan was very straight forward. Essentially the teacher asks the students to create a newsletter about their classroom for the purpose of sharing the things they have learned. The teacher separates three students to be editors. These editors must use google forms to design a poll for the class based on the shared readings, pop culture, news, or events. They will track the responses using the forms tool. On Friday those students will be asked to share their findings with the class and they will publish the web page as well.
Overall, I loved the use of the google forms for the lesson plan purpose of polling. Very interesting point of view on how to use google forms. I never thought of that before, but honestly I might be able to do something like that much easier with forms than set up my own self grading quiz! Who knows? I will continue to play with this feature of google though because I am certain that if I can learn to use it well then it will be very beneficial and time efficient.
The lesson plan I looked at this evening was the Writing for Context, Audience, and Purpose. The lesson plan was very straight forward. Essentially the teacher asks the students to create a newsletter about their classroom for the purpose of sharing the things they have learned. The teacher separates three students to be editors. These editors must use google forms to design a poll for the class based on the shared readings, pop culture, news, or events. They will track the responses using the forms tool. On Friday those students will be asked to share their findings with the class and they will publish the web page as well.
Overall, I loved the use of the google forms for the lesson plan purpose of polling. Very interesting point of view on how to use google forms. I never thought of that before, but honestly I might be able to do something like that much easier with forms than set up my own self grading quiz! Who knows? I will continue to play with this feature of google though because I am certain that if I can learn to use it well then it will be very beneficial and time efficient.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Gmail, Google Calendar, and Igoogle
Gmail is truly astounding! I love the features that it provides especially the labels and the sorting abilities. For someone who has two jobs and personal emails and school emails all coming to the same email address on outlook right now, the capabilities of separating mail into folders and clearing my inbox was truly a great find! I can't believe how much time I could save by switching to gmail on a more permanent basis than just for the purpose of this class. Also, gmail's ability to customize was very cool. I feel that it truly personalizes everything. The organization of the whole email program makes it so incredibly attractive and useful to me. Also, the gmail features for educators such as the ones we are researching in class and using makes it completely worth setting up an account on top of the other awesome features.
Google calendar is another great tool that I had no idea existed. I love writing in my personal planner and making to do lists. I especially love being able to cross tasks off my to do list, but thats another story. Anyways google calendar offers amazing features at no cost! The first feature that I especially loved was the get your calendar on the go. The fact that my google calendar can sync to my mobile phone and send me notifications or I can have alarm messages come directly to my phone makes it so useful to me. I lead a very busy life and to keep all my responsibilities straight I do use a planner on a daily basis so a mobile calendar like this would be very useful to me. Another feature I really liked was the Tasks list. As I stated before, I love making lists to keep track of everything I must do in a day. I constantly use post its at work making lists upon lists of things I need to accomplish by 5:00 before I leave to come to class. Then when I come to class I make lists of things I must accomplish by the due date or the beginning of the next day. This tool is seriously invaluable to me now. I can't imagine how much more useful it will be when I am a full time classroom teacher and I have 5 classes with 30 students and different lesson plans and pacing to keep track of.
Igoogle seems very interesting and useful. I have to say I am sad I will only be able to use it for another year or so. It seems very similar to the Aol and Msn home pages except that it is customized to me! This is great because a lot of times I would love to read the top stories on CNN and look at the new movies coming our or see the artist of the day, but I don't have time to search. I google brings all of this to me by me simply opening my browser. I love it! The quote of the day feature is especially drawing to me as a literature person who loves words and the science of putting words together. I believe quotes can sometimes be the most beautiful or ugly statements language has to offer. Therefore, I of course have a quote of the day on my I google. I also added BBC and Facebook to my page which are things I could never get on a home page of any other sort. I really love the tool of I google and could see it being really useful in a current events course because of the many different news agencies listed for access. Also, the word of the day feature could be used in my language arts classroom as a way to incorporate English with technology.
Overall, these features made by google are fascinating. I wish that I google was going to be available for a longer period of time but perhaps I can use it for student teaching this spring. The other two, gmail and calendar, will definitely be in use for a long time :)
Google calendar is another great tool that I had no idea existed. I love writing in my personal planner and making to do lists. I especially love being able to cross tasks off my to do list, but thats another story. Anyways google calendar offers amazing features at no cost! The first feature that I especially loved was the get your calendar on the go. The fact that my google calendar can sync to my mobile phone and send me notifications or I can have alarm messages come directly to my phone makes it so useful to me. I lead a very busy life and to keep all my responsibilities straight I do use a planner on a daily basis so a mobile calendar like this would be very useful to me. Another feature I really liked was the Tasks list. As I stated before, I love making lists to keep track of everything I must do in a day. I constantly use post its at work making lists upon lists of things I need to accomplish by 5:00 before I leave to come to class. Then when I come to class I make lists of things I must accomplish by the due date or the beginning of the next day. This tool is seriously invaluable to me now. I can't imagine how much more useful it will be when I am a full time classroom teacher and I have 5 classes with 30 students and different lesson plans and pacing to keep track of.
Igoogle seems very interesting and useful. I have to say I am sad I will only be able to use it for another year or so. It seems very similar to the Aol and Msn home pages except that it is customized to me! This is great because a lot of times I would love to read the top stories on CNN and look at the new movies coming our or see the artist of the day, but I don't have time to search. I google brings all of this to me by me simply opening my browser. I love it! The quote of the day feature is especially drawing to me as a literature person who loves words and the science of putting words together. I believe quotes can sometimes be the most beautiful or ugly statements language has to offer. Therefore, I of course have a quote of the day on my I google. I also added BBC and Facebook to my page which are things I could never get on a home page of any other sort. I really love the tool of I google and could see it being really useful in a current events course because of the many different news agencies listed for access. Also, the word of the day feature could be used in my language arts classroom as a way to incorporate English with technology.
Overall, these features made by google are fascinating. I wish that I google was going to be available for a longer period of time but perhaps I can use it for student teaching this spring. The other two, gmail and calendar, will definitely be in use for a long time :)
Spreadsheets
I work with Excel on a daily basis in the admissions office here at Johnson. Computing the total amount of CIY students we have coming as guest of the university or laying out key check out or even just compiling a list of addresses of the different places the travel teams are traveling this summer, there are so many possibilities.
Google spreadsheets is very similar. You can make tables and graphs from the data in spreadsheets just as in excel. The nicest feature of the Google spreadsheet is once again it offers collaboration. I know that this tool would be the most helpful and easiest part for me to master. I continually correct data someone else enters in our office and the collaborative tool of Google spreadsheet would easily allow me to correct the errors in real time and would also provide double checking on my own work from my supervisor.
The most difficult feature for me would have to be the freezing rows and merging of cells. This is difficult to me on a typical excel spreadsheet. Therefore, Google spreadsheets being a new tool at my fingertips it will take time for me to become familiar enough with the program to really feel like I can use it with full potential.
The lesson plan that I examined more closely and really felt it utilized the Google spreadsheet to the best of its abilities was the high school science lesson on the Elodea sprigs. The students were broken up into groupings of three. Each team member then individually performed an experiment using the Elodea. They all did the experiment at differing positions in the room which alters the results of the experiment. The use of the spreadsheet to collaboratively keep track of each experiments data then allowed the group to compare the differences between the three sets of data through not just the use of the data sheet but also converting the data into a graph. This spreadsheet could also be accessed at home to allow a chat feature that lets the students discuss their conclusions. How amazing! Truly, if I were to ever become a science or math teacher this tool would be in my toolbox.
Overall, I found Google spreadsheets to be just another fantastic unknown tool that we have learned about so far this week. I can't wait to tell my supervisor about the possibility of using this in drafting of events and data at work. Maybe someday I will be able to find a creative use of it in a language arts classroom as well.
Google spreadsheets is very similar. You can make tables and graphs from the data in spreadsheets just as in excel. The nicest feature of the Google spreadsheet is once again it offers collaboration. I know that this tool would be the most helpful and easiest part for me to master. I continually correct data someone else enters in our office and the collaborative tool of Google spreadsheet would easily allow me to correct the errors in real time and would also provide double checking on my own work from my supervisor.
The most difficult feature for me would have to be the freezing rows and merging of cells. This is difficult to me on a typical excel spreadsheet. Therefore, Google spreadsheets being a new tool at my fingertips it will take time for me to become familiar enough with the program to really feel like I can use it with full potential.
The lesson plan that I examined more closely and really felt it utilized the Google spreadsheet to the best of its abilities was the high school science lesson on the Elodea sprigs. The students were broken up into groupings of three. Each team member then individually performed an experiment using the Elodea. They all did the experiment at differing positions in the room which alters the results of the experiment. The use of the spreadsheet to collaboratively keep track of each experiments data then allowed the group to compare the differences between the three sets of data through not just the use of the data sheet but also converting the data into a graph. This spreadsheet could also be accessed at home to allow a chat feature that lets the students discuss their conclusions. How amazing! Truly, if I were to ever become a science or math teacher this tool would be in my toolbox.
Overall, I found Google spreadsheets to be just another fantastic unknown tool that we have learned about so far this week. I can't wait to tell my supervisor about the possibility of using this in drafting of events and data at work. Maybe someday I will be able to find a creative use of it in a language arts classroom as well.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Presentations!
Google Presentations offers a new way to collaborate and work on presentation software other than the common use of Microsoft Powerpoint. I have had thorough experience with Microsoft Powerpoint since for most of my life I have had nothing else. I recently have learned the apple software for presentations called Pro Presenter. It is very similar to Powerpoint too with a little more video and audio capabilities. The actual set up is very different as well between the two. Google presentations seems very similar to Powerpoint.
Presentations gives users the ability to embed text, audio, images, and video just as Powerpoint. However, the unique aspect of Google Presentations is the capability to create edit and share a presentation with other users. Presentations functions similarly to Google docs in this way. It functions off the cloud and therefore does not have a specific alignment with a particular software either. Only one version of the document exists. Again this can allow you to share only one presentation with others and allows for less confusion between the differing drafts of the same presentation. Users can edit the same presentation and upload the most updated because of the editing anywhere feature.
A specific lesson plan that I looked at for the use of Google presentations in the classroom was the middle school language arts lesson. The teacher focused the lesson on the idea surrounding create your own adventure story books. It was fascinating the assignment students were required to do with the use of this tool. The students were asked to create together on slides one through three the beginning of their story. Then they each were responsible for different points in the plot through working on the same presentation just simply on different slides. Therefore, the collaboration was still ongoing, but the students each created a different more unique story to their own imagination which encourages individual creativity. Finally, they will each edit the other's work on the Google presentations document and will present it to the class. This was such a great tool for demonstrating in a language arts classroom the value of story, creativity, and differing human experience. Utilizing Google presentations allows for collaboration and editing, but also allows for a larger purpose of showing students that they each have unique points of view that cannot be offered by any other living soul.
Overall, Google presentations seems to be a great tool to use especially for business. In the classroom, students working in groups could perhaps work on a presentation due the next day at the same time at home if they have access to the internet instead of having to meet at one student's home to work together. This free access enables a lot of flexibility when working together in groups. Also, this would be of great use for lesson plans. Teachers working together in the English department could help better each other's presentations for lessons to students in different classrooms and offer different perspectives.
Presentations gives users the ability to embed text, audio, images, and video just as Powerpoint. However, the unique aspect of Google Presentations is the capability to create edit and share a presentation with other users. Presentations functions similarly to Google docs in this way. It functions off the cloud and therefore does not have a specific alignment with a particular software either. Only one version of the document exists. Again this can allow you to share only one presentation with others and allows for less confusion between the differing drafts of the same presentation. Users can edit the same presentation and upload the most updated because of the editing anywhere feature.
A specific lesson plan that I looked at for the use of Google presentations in the classroom was the middle school language arts lesson. The teacher focused the lesson on the idea surrounding create your own adventure story books. It was fascinating the assignment students were required to do with the use of this tool. The students were asked to create together on slides one through three the beginning of their story. Then they each were responsible for different points in the plot through working on the same presentation just simply on different slides. Therefore, the collaboration was still ongoing, but the students each created a different more unique story to their own imagination which encourages individual creativity. Finally, they will each edit the other's work on the Google presentations document and will present it to the class. This was such a great tool for demonstrating in a language arts classroom the value of story, creativity, and differing human experience. Utilizing Google presentations allows for collaboration and editing, but also allows for a larger purpose of showing students that they each have unique points of view that cannot be offered by any other living soul.
Overall, Google presentations seems to be a great tool to use especially for business. In the classroom, students working in groups could perhaps work on a presentation due the next day at the same time at home if they have access to the internet instead of having to meet at one student's home to work together. This free access enables a lot of flexibility when working together in groups. Also, this would be of great use for lesson plans. Teachers working together in the English department could help better each other's presentations for lessons to students in different classrooms and offer different perspectives.
The Web: Browsers
It amazes me still how many possibilities the internet and the world wide web make available to the human population. Web browsers exist no differently. There are several that we discussed this evening. I have used the main four at differing times in my computer life because I sadly have a computer that seems to only be compatible with a specific browser for a few months before it stops working efficiently. Anyways, tonight I decided to explore camino, opera, and sea monkey.
Camino was the first web browser that I explored. When I opened the page I immediately noticed the fact that it asked me to update for best browsing experience flash player. Also, I noticed that it invited me to visit the website which made me remember the fact of the separate packaging of different web pages and home pages within or separate from the total website. The interesting aspect of camino that I found was that their search tool was google. Also, I liked the fact that the graphic for the bookmark tab was a picture of an actual book with a green bookmark. For book worms like myself, it doesn't take much to make me excited about the use of the pictures of books. They truly add life to everything :). Almost everything else was very simple and similar to many other browsers I have used.
Opera was the second web browser that I looked through. Again, the first thing I noticed when opening the browser was the recommendation marked by a huge exclamation point in a red triangle to upgrade the version of opera. This just emphasizes more and more how important it remains to these browsers that the software is up to date in order for the browser to function at highest speeds and best capabilities. One interesting feature of opera was that it was set up as a website would look visually. It has tabs at the top of the screen directing users to home, browsers, add-ons, community, developer, and company. The help button was marked by a question mark which I thought was an interesting incorporation of a graphic. Again I also noticed the search tool utilized on opera was google. The last interesting feature that is slightly different for me was the language drop down selection tool at the bottom center of the page. Opera offering the availability of several languages fascinates me!
Finally, the last web browser I selected for discovery was sea monkey. Sea monkey too was set up in the format of a web site with differing placement of tabs at the left hand side instead of the top like in opera. One interesting aspect about sea monkey was that it seems to have connection to Mozilla. Also, unlike the other browsers the search tool is not specified by google, but only a button at the top of the page with a magnifying glass graphic. The bookmarks was marked differently as well with a file folder in blue as the book marks tool and a purple file folder as the most visited. The home was marked by the graphic of a house instead of just the tab called home. Also the ability to print is graphically noticeable where as the other sites it is not.
All of these browsers have similarities, but also differences. I have to say out of the three I researched this evening I would most likely utilize Camino myself. Currently, I am very happy with Safari, but if I ever choose to venture out this has been extremely helpful to know my options.
Camino was the first web browser that I explored. When I opened the page I immediately noticed the fact that it asked me to update for best browsing experience flash player. Also, I noticed that it invited me to visit the website which made me remember the fact of the separate packaging of different web pages and home pages within or separate from the total website. The interesting aspect of camino that I found was that their search tool was google. Also, I liked the fact that the graphic for the bookmark tab was a picture of an actual book with a green bookmark. For book worms like myself, it doesn't take much to make me excited about the use of the pictures of books. They truly add life to everything :). Almost everything else was very simple and similar to many other browsers I have used.
Opera was the second web browser that I looked through. Again, the first thing I noticed when opening the browser was the recommendation marked by a huge exclamation point in a red triangle to upgrade the version of opera. This just emphasizes more and more how important it remains to these browsers that the software is up to date in order for the browser to function at highest speeds and best capabilities. One interesting feature of opera was that it was set up as a website would look visually. It has tabs at the top of the screen directing users to home, browsers, add-ons, community, developer, and company. The help button was marked by a question mark which I thought was an interesting incorporation of a graphic. Again I also noticed the search tool utilized on opera was google. The last interesting feature that is slightly different for me was the language drop down selection tool at the bottom center of the page. Opera offering the availability of several languages fascinates me!
Finally, the last web browser I selected for discovery was sea monkey. Sea monkey too was set up in the format of a web site with differing placement of tabs at the left hand side instead of the top like in opera. One interesting aspect about sea monkey was that it seems to have connection to Mozilla. Also, unlike the other browsers the search tool is not specified by google, but only a button at the top of the page with a magnifying glass graphic. The bookmarks was marked differently as well with a file folder in blue as the book marks tool and a purple file folder as the most visited. The home was marked by the graphic of a house instead of just the tab called home. Also the ability to print is graphically noticeable where as the other sites it is not.
All of these browsers have similarities, but also differences. I have to say out of the three I researched this evening I would most likely utilize Camino myself. Currently, I am very happy with Safari, but if I ever choose to venture out this has been extremely helpful to know my options.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Keyboarding
Type written communication has come a long way. I remember my grandmother typing on an old type writer when I was a child and believing that she was incredibly smart because of how agile she was in her fingers' moving over the keys. Even since I took my freshman keyboarding course, good typing skills have become even more easy to attain due to the design of current keyboards and the use of technology on a daily basis in our world today.
The first program I tried was the Speed Typing Online test. It was extremely educational in the reality of my theoretical typing abilities. I scored a 96% accuracy rate with 52 words per minute. The program was extremely easy to use and was very straight forward in how you were to be evaluated. I believe this tool would be useful in a classroom setting to quickly evaluate student typing abilities. Also, this program offered difficulty in words and passages selected for timed typing. I was timed on a passage from both the Odyssey and Beowulf. Overall, I found this tool helpful and interesting.
The second program I tried was on the free online typing games site. I did the game called typing trek and this program was not as easy to figure out how to play. The game is set up into a grid and you collect targets on the grid by typing the letter the target is highlighted upon. Overall, this was much more difficult for me than just speed typing, however, it did utilize a different skill set. I believe this game would be useful to those visual spatial learners that work well with images. Also, the grid aspect would be useful for mathematical minds too! Even though it required more thought, this was a great challenge.
The third program I looked at was typing.madefun.net. This program was great because it looked at several different aspects of typing including: theory of typing, the study of fingering, training exercises, tracking for strokes, tracking for false beats and erroneous key strokes, evaluation of words per minute and more. I chose to do an exercise in the letter a. Therefore, I was typing things like abs, aabab,ababa act, etc. Overall, it seems like gibberish, however,when given real words with those key stokes within them, I was able to perform at a higher proficiency because of the practice with the smaller key stroke practice. This program would be very helpful for beginning typist and would allow for progression and quick feedback.
These programs truly have come a long way since the idea of typewritten communication was developed. I love old type writers, but recognize how efficient the keyboard truly is for our ever increasing speedy society. These tools will be useful for me as an educator because the technology and keyboarding world is the one in which we currently live and my students will continue to develop in a world of increasing technological advancement. I will have to prepare them to compete for jobs and to be fully capable of living in this brave new world, therefore this education activity was very helpful.
Google Drive/Documents
As the video indicates, "going google" is a new innovative way to collaborate, correct, and communicate on documents. It is fairly different from Microsoft Word in that it doesn't have exactly the same features, however, the use of google drive and documents is extremely relevant in education and my future classroom.
My partner and I collaborated on a google doc together during our time earlier for our class assignment, but we explored more of the editing possibilities during our GAIN time. I specifically wrote incorrect spellings and sure enough as I kept typing Jennifer was able to go back and correct my mistakes. It was amazing! We both enjoyed learning how to explore the peer editing aspect of google documents.
I have a bit of experience with google documents myself. My church history class here at Johnson utilized a google document for class notes and study guides. This document allowed us (60 students) to collaboratively keep track of the hundreds of people Professor Mead told stories about that were deeply connected throughout church history. This is just one way personally that I have had experience with the use of google documents in the classroom verses the use of multiple different separate word documents. Google documents allows for one copy instead of the confusing multiple copies of the same desired result.
One of the fascinating ways the secondary teachers utilized google docs in the classroom lesson plans was in a language arts classroom on a lesson about a historical novel, in this case My Brother Sam is Dead, students were asked to use a google document to collaboratively gather questions for each chapter as they read the novel. Also the class used the google documents tool to interact with selected vocabulary words and the teacher remained a collaborator as well and could go back and correct student misunderstandings of different definitions. Overall, in the classroom the use of google documents could be helpful in engaging students, and formative/summative assessments.
A second lesson plan out of the several I looked at that I loved was the collaborative book review lesson plan in the secondary school purpose section. The teacher used the tool of google documents to allow students to keep their reviews on one google document. This allowed students to review the some of the same novels and offer differing perspectives upon the same author and story. This remains so relevant to me as an educator because I believe that each person has their own perspective and approaches literature/story with differing life experiences. Therefore, each of us offers a unique perspective upon the human experience portrayed within the same novel as our best friend also reads. More often than not, the experience we bring to the story conveyed with deepen and stretch the thought of others. Therefore, the use of google documents in this particular lesson is perfect.
Overall, the experience I have gained this evening on google documents will deeply strengthen my ability to incorporate technology into the classroom, but will also aid in grouping and collaborative learning techniques. This was extremely helpful!
My partner and I collaborated on a google doc together during our time earlier for our class assignment, but we explored more of the editing possibilities during our GAIN time. I specifically wrote incorrect spellings and sure enough as I kept typing Jennifer was able to go back and correct my mistakes. It was amazing! We both enjoyed learning how to explore the peer editing aspect of google documents.
I have a bit of experience with google documents myself. My church history class here at Johnson utilized a google document for class notes and study guides. This document allowed us (60 students) to collaboratively keep track of the hundreds of people Professor Mead told stories about that were deeply connected throughout church history. This is just one way personally that I have had experience with the use of google documents in the classroom verses the use of multiple different separate word documents. Google documents allows for one copy instead of the confusing multiple copies of the same desired result.
One of the fascinating ways the secondary teachers utilized google docs in the classroom lesson plans was in a language arts classroom on a lesson about a historical novel, in this case My Brother Sam is Dead, students were asked to use a google document to collaboratively gather questions for each chapter as they read the novel. Also the class used the google documents tool to interact with selected vocabulary words and the teacher remained a collaborator as well and could go back and correct student misunderstandings of different definitions. Overall, in the classroom the use of google documents could be helpful in engaging students, and formative/summative assessments.
A second lesson plan out of the several I looked at that I loved was the collaborative book review lesson plan in the secondary school purpose section. The teacher used the tool of google documents to allow students to keep their reviews on one google document. This allowed students to review the some of the same novels and offer differing perspectives upon the same author and story. This remains so relevant to me as an educator because I believe that each person has their own perspective and approaches literature/story with differing life experiences. Therefore, each of us offers a unique perspective upon the human experience portrayed within the same novel as our best friend also reads. More often than not, the experience we bring to the story conveyed with deepen and stretch the thought of others. Therefore, the use of google documents in this particular lesson is perfect.
Overall, the experience I have gained this evening on google documents will deeply strengthen my ability to incorporate technology into the classroom, but will also aid in grouping and collaborative learning techniques. This was extremely helpful!
Monday, July 9, 2012
TECH 1 Mac OS
I have been using computers the majority of my young adult life. My father works in media communications and video editing so I have also had experience with Macs. We actually bought him the new Lion operating system for Christmas.
One interesting feature of Mac OS Lion X that I learned about from atomic learning was about the stacks feature. It functions similarly in my mind as the traditional windows symbol on the Microsoft computer. From the stacks you can access the different applications and documents saved on your computer. This is so user friendly and very simple. It is great for me because I often lose things :)
The second interesting feature that I found was the differing window views that Mac offers. For instance, the list option allows you to see many applications at the same time so if you have several hundred documents or applications you are looking through more can be listed at a time than if you were to use the grid view, however the grid view makes the icons bigger and more visible. Also, the column view allows you to see items that are often hidden. Very good information if you will be using the computer or operating system for several different functions.
The third feature of the Mac OS that I found interesting was the switching between application to application. This allows ease in multitasking and gives you the ability to go between two different documents perhaps in the classroom you may be working on a letter to the parents and need the addresses from a pages document. With the switching between application feature, it remains easy and expedient to have two applications open at the same time and work between the two.
Overall, I have been fascinated by Mac OS for most of my life. The kind of work that my father is able to do on his little Mac Book Pro for editing of his television shows with Final Cut Pro is amazing. I currently am looking at investing in my own mac, but have just not decided which product to buy. So this has been very educational for me. Thank you.
One interesting feature of Mac OS Lion X that I learned about from atomic learning was about the stacks feature. It functions similarly in my mind as the traditional windows symbol on the Microsoft computer. From the stacks you can access the different applications and documents saved on your computer. This is so user friendly and very simple. It is great for me because I often lose things :)
The second interesting feature that I found was the differing window views that Mac offers. For instance, the list option allows you to see many applications at the same time so if you have several hundred documents or applications you are looking through more can be listed at a time than if you were to use the grid view, however the grid view makes the icons bigger and more visible. Also, the column view allows you to see items that are often hidden. Very good information if you will be using the computer or operating system for several different functions.
The third feature of the Mac OS that I found interesting was the switching between application to application. This allows ease in multitasking and gives you the ability to go between two different documents perhaps in the classroom you may be working on a letter to the parents and need the addresses from a pages document. With the switching between application feature, it remains easy and expedient to have two applications open at the same time and work between the two.
Overall, I have been fascinated by Mac OS for most of my life. The kind of work that my father is able to do on his little Mac Book Pro for editing of his television shows with Final Cut Pro is amazing. I currently am looking at investing in my own mac, but have just not decided which product to buy. So this has been very educational for me. Thank you.
Class One
I read the professional blog called Hey Jude: learning in an online world. Her recent post was fascinating. The title was "The Busy Trap and Change." She quickly discusses the current lifestyles that many people live in our world today. Her quote from the Times article remains incredibly insightful and impacting: "The present hysteria is not a necessary or inevitable condition of life; it's something we've chosen, if only by our acquiescence to it."
This blog was incredibly personal to my current lifestyle. I am working two jobs and attending school full time...busy only begins to describe my life. Therefore, as Judy laments in her blog that she too falls into the "busy trap," I also fall into the trap of business in my own life.
Hopefully, I will learn how to balance everything and find peace and time for God, family, and friends as I go along in my "busy trap" life.
This blog was incredibly personal to my current lifestyle. I am working two jobs and attending school full time...busy only begins to describe my life. Therefore, as Judy laments in her blog that she too falls into the "busy trap," I also fall into the trap of business in my own life.
Hopefully, I will learn how to balance everything and find peace and time for God, family, and friends as I go along in my "busy trap" life.
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