Blog Assignment 5

The iSchool Initiative

The idea that Travis Allen expressed in his video The iSchool Initiative was excellent. It goes right along with what I have been saying in my past blog posts. It is definitely time for technology to move in the classrooms. Travis Allen also pointed out that by having technology in the classroom, it will cut the cost of education. With iTouch devices being used, there is no reason for pencils, notebooks, printer/copy machines,etc. Everything can all be done on this one device.
In the video Travis mentioned that the cost of school with iSchool would be around $150 a student compared to school without it would be $600. I liked what Travis said in the video Zeitgeist0YoungMind's video. He said "if we want to thrive in the in the information age we must rebuild our educational institutions to better prepare our youth for the digital world they were born into". I totally agree with this statement. From past videos such as A Day Made of Glass, we definitely see that technology is rapidly growing. If we want our youth to be able to function in a world filled with technology, why not begin to teach them how to use it in the classroom?

Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir
The video Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir was amazing. It just proves that almost anything can be done in the virtual world. I just think that is so cool that people from all over the world can come together to make a choir, and harmonize so beautifully, while sitting in the comfort of their homes. Amazing!

Teaching in the 21st Century
In the video Teaching in the 21st century, it points out that teachers are no longer the go to for information. The internet is what everyone uses when they need a question answered. Students are able to find out any information they want because technology and/or social networking sites. The video had some great points in saying how as educators we have to be on top of the ways that technology is changing. By staying on top of our game we, as teachers, can better corporate technology in our teaching as well as learn new ways of teaching.

Flipping Your Classroom

In the videos, Why I Flipped My Classroom by Katie Gimbar, Dr. Lodge McCammon's FIZZ- Flipping the Classroom
, and Flipping the Classroom- 4th Grade STEM by Ms. Munafo they explain what flipping the classroom means. Flipping the classroom is basically getting students out of the same routines of listening to the teacher teach, to getting their lessons online at home. I do like the concept of a flipped classroom, but some students to have low income parents and might not have a computer at home. Other then that maybe being an issue, I love the idea. I do agree that I would rather listen to a lecture via the internet opposed to hearing a teacher in a classroom setting.

Project #3 C4T

Instructions on using Creative Commons Images in Blog Posts
In this blog post Kathleen Morris explains why you cannot use any image from the internet in your blog posts. She goes on to explain that when just any image is used from the internet that the blogger is becoming open to copyright infringement. Copyright infringement is "a violation on rights secured by a copyright". You can get in big trouble for copyrighting. On her blog post she suggest Creative Commons which is an "organization that gives out licenses for people to share their work". When using a Creative Common license you have to still make sure you acknowledge where it came from by adding a caption under the picture. Kathleen Morris goes on to explain how to use a Creative Commons license and to show step by step how to get that image on a blog post. My comment was basically just thanking her for explaining the dangers of copyrighting. I also thanked her for showing in detail how to obtain a Creative Commons license and how to exactly to get the image on a blog post.

Tips and Topics for Student Bloggers
This blog post was just tips on what and what not to do on your blog post. The tips were very helpful and I advice everyone to go look at them. My favorite tip was to never give up on blogging. As I said in my comment I am going to try to continue blogging even after EDM 310. In my opinion, blogging can somewhat serve as a stress reliever. She also listed topic ideas, just in case a blogger cannot think of anything to blog about or may be feeling uninspired. In my comment I once again thanked her for her really good tips and topics. I also thanked her on the advice and inspiration.

Project #5 Presentation

Blog Assignment 4

Listening-Comprehention-Podcasting
In the reading Listening-Comprehension-Podcasting a second grade teacher by the name of Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano uses podcasting to teach her 2nd grade class another language. She explains how convenient a podcast is compared to a word processing program. She expresses how using podcasting help language learners understand the words better because they get to see, hear, read, and manipulate the words. I do agree that podcasting is a great way to teach new languages. It is more interesting and creative than the standard way of learning. It allows the learner to interact with the podcast and makes learning easier and interesting.

Podcasting with First Grade
Silvia Tolisano encourages teachers to use podcasts in their classrooms. In her blog post Podcasting with First Grade she teaches first graders how to podcast. She expressed how excited the kids were to use podcasting as a way to listen to a book being read. She found that the students were happy and excited to record and arrange the script of the book. Silvia also mentioned how students who are usually quiet started coming out of their shells oncepodcasting was brought into the class room. From what I have read I think podcasting is a great idea for the classroom. It gets students out the habit of a "normal" classroom setting. It gets students excited and ready to learn!

The Benefits of Podcasting in the classroom
This video, The Benefits of Podcasting in the classroom, was posted by Joe Dale to state the benefits of podcasting in the classroom. This video demonstrates how convenient podcasting can be for students that may be absent from class. The video also mention student based learning. The approach to learning allows the student to be more involved. The video also says how podcasting allows room for "creativity and innovation".

I have really learned a lot from reading and watching the video on podcasting. I really enjoyed learning all the new information. Using podcasting in my future classroom will be something that I will possibly do.It has so many positives and allows students to get out of their comfort zone and is also beneficial to the students! I'm excited to learn more on this topic and even do my own podcast!

Blog Assignment 3

Thoughts on Peer Editing

In my opinion peer editing is a great way to practice what we will be doing as our profession in the future. I think that students of all ages should learn how to peer edit because it is a very useful skill to have. It is especially important to know how to give and take peer editing in a positive matter. I think a person should always be open to constructional criticism. Teachers especially should always be open about their work being critiqued.

In the video What is Peer Editing? was really helpful. The steps that were broken down in the video (compliment, suggest, and correct) really helped me get a better understanding of how to effectively peer edit. The slide show, to me, said the same thing the video did, just in written form. I did like the way the slide show gave an example of a short paragraph with mistakes, and it gave opportunity for practice if you needed it. The video Writing Peer Review Top 10 Mistakes was really cute to me. I think that it is a good video to show to grade levels that are learning peer editing. I liked how they tackled different ways that students could react to peer editing and the also addressed how to not act while peer editing.

Part Two
I also had to watch Technology In Special Education, How the iPad Works with Academics for Autism, and Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts.

Technology in Special Education
This video was created by Lace Cook and explains the how technology has helped her students' progress. She is a Special Education teacher and shows how important it is for the classroom to keep up with technological advances. The video Technology in Special Education previews different students and they describe how much easier it is for them to use technology verses manual books and assistant readers.

I do also believe that it is important to have technology in the classroom, especially for special education. With the technology of today any disability can be tackled. As in the video, with audio books there is no need for a teacher to read out loud to an individual student, iPads have magnified text for students that have trouble seeing, and iPads and computer can be typed on for students that have trouble speaking. These examples would also be ways that I would use technology if I had the opportunity to teach in a special education class.

How the iPad Works with Academics for Autism
How the iPad Works with Academics for Autism is a brief video showing how helpful an iPad can be with helping children with autism learn. One iPad application I found that could possibly be used for a kindergartener was "Intro to Letters". This app helps the child learn to write their alphabet, by tracing them.

Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts
This video, Harness You Students' Digital Smarts Vicki Davis teaches her students how to electronically connect with different students around the world. She allows them to use blogs and avatars as a means of communication. I liked the fact the she doesn't stop the students from learning things, even if she doesn't know it. She allows herself to teach the students and also for the students to sometimes teach her.

Blog Assignment 2

John Strange: Did You Know
These videos was amazing. I watched both the original Did You Know? 3.0 by Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod and also the Did You Know by John Strange. Both the videos were equally full of information. What I liked most about these videos is that they made me think. Not just think, but imagine how the future will be. I did find it very informing to know that countries that don't originally speak english out number the United States. Some of the facts on this video literally left me with my mouth open!

On the video its says that jobs that exist today will not exist in future, meaning that we will be preparing students for jobs that don't even exist yet. That is just mind blowing to me! The video also asks "Are you ready to be an educator?". This video really made me ask myself that question. It allowed me to acknowledge that fact that educators have a lot to do for students to prepare them for the future!

Mr. Winkle Wakes: Mathew Needleman
Watching Mr. Winkle Wakes really made me think, and I have decided that I'm on the fence about technology in the classroom. I do find it interesting that, throughout the years, technology is advancing everywhere, but in classrooms, and I feel like there should definitely be more technology in the classroom. In the video, Mr. Winkle visited a business office and hospital to find more technology there then he found in the classroom. In my opinion,having more computers could only improve as opposed to worsening classrooms. I think there should be more technology, because the people that work in hospitals and business offices do start off in classrooms, and learning how to use and becoming familiar with modern technology while still in middle and high school is just a plus.

I also think the idea of students sitting in desk whil the teacher teaches is also a great method. As was said in the video, it has been done the same over the past 100 years. So if the same teaching methods are still being used and working today, why change them?

Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity
Sir Ken Robinson is well known for his two famous speeches given in 2006 and 2010 at the TED conference. These speeches are famous for challenging the way we educate our children.

The video The Importance of Creativity was given to challenge people to think, "Do schools kill creativity?" When watching this video I remembered when my little sister wanted to major in art. When she asked my mother what she thought, my mom stated that she was not allowed to major in art, because she would never get a job in it. From society's standards, as Dr. Robinson stated, these type jobs, art and music, are frowned upon. I do also think that as we go through school, we are molded into what society wants us to be. I think that as we grow what we enjoy get thrown out the window because, "that doesn't pay enough" or "that isn't a real job".So, yes I do agree with Dr. Robinson. I believe that it is not so much of schools killing creativity, but society as a whole.

Glass, Teachings, Schools
When watching A Day Made of Glass 2 I was thrilled. To think that is how the future will be is amazing. When the scene of the classroom came on I was literally thinking, Wow, this might be the way I will teach my class one day". It is amazing how eveyone had these glass tablets to do everything with, even pick out the cloths they would wear. It is truely mind boggling how technology is advancing.

Also in the video it shows how hospitals could possibly look in the future. It was cool how the doctors in the video were in two sepreate rooms talking about a patient in the glass, and how the MRI was taken. This video just had me in awe thinking about how the future would possibly be.