Blog Post #13

Option #2

My Teacher Is An App

Online Education

Online schools are becoming the way of the future. Many jobs require the use of a computer in some way or another. Whether is recording, receiving or sending data, by hand held, laptop or desk top computers everyone at some point in their lives will have to become computer literate. What best way to prepare the future workers and leaders of tomorrow to becoming familiar with them than to require hands on training during their formative years. For many years the traditional classroom has prepared students for the real world and has provided students with the resources that will have to be used by them upon graduation. Requiring students to take at least one virtual class prior to graduation is a great way to introduce this technological dimension into their lives

Students and parents choose partial or full virtual classrooms for many reasons. Through personal experiences I have gained new appreciation for the ability to be able to learn through the virtual class curriculum. At age 5 after only 5 months of kindergarten my god-brother was stricken with a debilitating disease that caused him to miss almost 2 years of school. With the help of home bound teachers and virtual classrooms he was able to catch up with his peers and allowed to return to traditional school in his correct grade level.

Each summer during high school, I also took the opportunity to enroll in virtual school for several reasons: it allowed me to take additional classes that my hectic schedule wouldn’t allow during the school year, to make up grades in classes which I thought I could do better and to take classes that were not offered during the year due to class size restrictions. The ability to combine traditional and virtual schooling has not hindered us in any way, actually it has done just the opposite. Those who fail to take advantage of the opportunity do so are giving themselves a clear disadvantage in the workforce of the future. I sternly believe that all students whether full or partial should be encouraged to use the virtual schools that are being provided.

Special Assignment

According to Dr. Strange I missed the metaphor from the article Don't Let Them Take Pencils Home. Even though I clearly knew that Tom Johnson was not really talking about a pencils, I still used the word "pencil" in my comment. EDM310 is a class about learning the different kind of technology and how it could be used in the classroom to enhance the teaching process. A metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable. In this case the pencil is a metaphor for a computer. The only reason I refereed to a pencil is because that was the term Mr. Tom Johnson used in the article. For example if a friend and I were talking about apples then why would I want to change it to oranges?

Next, metaphors are meant to disguise a hidden meaning or to be creative or funny. However, they are not meant to be taken seriously. Daniel Pink says that "you discover metaphors your world will become richer and more vivid and that you will be inspired to create your own metaphor in writing, thought, or other parts of your life" To help aware us from missing metaphors again, Dr. Strange gave us a special assignment.

Smartboard Part 2 Lesson Plan

C4K # 10

Ms. Yollis blog was very informative and descriptive because it displayed information and pictures on interesting topics. There was a wiki on fuel cells, and how fuel cells are used and how they work. As of November 13, 2011, Ms. Yollis has 75,679 visits on her class blog; and on the class blog for EDM310, there are about 51,308 visits. The visits are from all over the world. Ms.Yollis honored the Veterans by having a video up and a flag, she also had Halloween stories. Also there is maps, capital building pictures, animations, and how to video's for the students to look at. There is a link to all the kids blogs.
While looking at Ms. Yollis blog I saw a link to one of her students blog and I left a comment for Nick. Nick took a trip to Spain and had a great time. He went to a Fiesta and told us about the bullfights. I told Nick that if I ever went to Spain I would love to go see a bullfight and go to a Fiesta. On the front page of Ms. Yollis's blog there are several links to different places. For instance; there is a link to Meeting the Bloggers, Time Zones of Friends, and a Video: How to Comment. The most informative part to Ms. Yollis's blog for the students is the Welcome to Mrs. Yollis' blog. There is a link to the spelling words, math help, homework, reading, and much more. This blog is a way to enhance technology in the classroom.

Final Project Report

For our final project, my group members and I have been working on integrating all of the technology we worked on in class such as; Skype, smartbored, imovie, blogger ect, and come up with a movie. Also to help communicate throughout the group we have created a document spreadsheet, where we can leave each other comments and ideas by using Google Docs.

Blog Post # 12

1. Watch this Video: Productivity Future Vision (2011) 6:17
Write two paragraphs explaining how this video will effect education in the classroom.

Productivity Future Vision is a video that expresses the new world of technology, and how it could be used to become more organized. This relates to education because being an educator or a student causes for more organization. Meaning, one has to have time management and have discipline to do the assignments and finish the work. The video expresses how the new system pad can manage a days work with direct access to anything you want to know.
Since technology is becoming more advanced and is growing all over the world, technology should be a big part in the classrooms. A school should not be how it was 50 years ago when everything was done on paper and pencil. Sadly most of the schools still do have the same tendencies from back in the day. I feel that if everything around the school system is based of technology then the school system should be apart of the same transition. Also I feel that the reason school's are so behind in not having a lot of technology, is because of the money issue.

2. Watch this video: The Magical Classroom
Write how this video can change education.

This video expresses how powerful a smartboard can be and how useful it is in a classroom. When used right, the smart-bored can be used to teach any subject you want the students to learn. Smartboards bring a new error in teaching and can be change education as a whole. Most people think that during school you learn nothing that has to be toward what you want to do in life. And I feel that this is true. Education is behind in the new world of education and it needs to be fixed. Education should be very creative and express different personalities while learning the curriculum.

Skype Interview

Blog Post #11

The video Little Kids...Big Potential is an amazing video about first grade students in Ms. Cassidy class who want to learn. The students like to write in the our books, but they like to do blogs the most. One of the boys in the class said the reason he likes to do his blogs is because "people see it and they give us comments." I feel that that is a good way to get the students interested in writing. It gives them hope and freedom. The students want to become better writers and they want to learn. The students blogs are online portfolio's of their work. It shows how the students are doing and how much they grow each day just by writing and interacting with technology while incorporating that is the lesson plan. The way the students comment on the other students blog is to " never ever say bad stuff, only say nice stuff".
Next, the students use their webpage to find things on the internet. "You can click on the pictures and it will take you to the places you want to learn." The students really want to get involved with the activities because it is very fun to them. On the webpage the students can learn many different subjects from working on the alphabets to counting coins for math. I feel that the webpage is a great idea because it allows the child to learn on their own with the help of technology to guide them in the right direction. We are know in the age of time where technology is becoming the main source of learning. By starting the children out using the different technology in the classroom, you are automatically getting them familiar with the new idea of learning and with the world. Not only do the students do their work in the classroom, they can also go online at home and practice more to become better.
Next,the students also use wiki's in the classroom. The students use the wiki's when they want to learn about tradition and other things. The students asked other people around the world what traditions are such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter, and people commented to give the students a better idea of what they are. The same concept went for what is a ritual. The students also make videos on the thing that they have learned. It helps them to understand the topic better and they are able to upload it on their blogs. Incorporating technology in the classroom is very important to me. Technology is a big part of our society and it is good to get the younger children involved at an early age just like Ms. Cassidy did with her first grade class.

Ms. Cassidy's Skype Conversation
Ms. Cassidy is a first grade teacher who incorporates technology in her class. She lets the students blog, skype, do wiki's, and many other things that deals with technology as wee seem in Little Kids...Big Potential. Ms. Cassidy got involved in technology about 10 years ago because she was suddenly given five computers in her class room. She wanted to incorporated computer in her classroom so she did a little research and found different blogs. Ms. Cassidy also got a federal grant to work on her technology journey, which was very helpful to her. In order to make sure the students are protected with their identity, Ms. Cassidy never post last names, only first. Also she sends a letter home letting the parents know what they student will be doing in the class. The parents like to see their child's progress through their blogs and online website. Ms. Cassidy feels that technology is not going away. Blogs make a difference in students learning because it creates an audience. The students develops relationships with other student around the world through Skype.

The other teachers at Ms Cassidy school does not want to adjust to the change in teaching. Ms. Cassidy also thinks that all teachers should be technology literate. Students need to start developing their own online networks. Collaborating is very important when it comes to education and technology. Ms. Cassidy has really helped me to get idea's for my classroom. Her approaches in teaching is very useful and will go a long way in everyday life. I would really like to use as much technology in my classroom, that will help my students understand what is going on.

C4K October Summary

Jacey
Jacey is a 5 year old little girl who loves school and her family. Her project was to create a wiki, and she did an amazing job. Jacey's wiki was able to talk and look around. She is very talented and creative. I told Jacey to keep up the great work just like she is already doing know.

Mr. C's Art Class
On Mr. C's blog, he posted pictures of his 7th grade art class. The pictures I saw were very creative and descriptive. The students were able to draw a picture of anything they wanted. One boy drew a picture of a green dragon.

Charm
Charm's assignment on his blog was to give a logical and creative thinking challenge with using only five objects. Charm's topic was that He was stuck outside on an snowy day, how would you protect yourself? Although Charm and his partner failed the assignment, I still encouraged him to continue the hard because it will pay off one day.

Mr. McClung World
My assignment was to leave a comment on 10/26/11 Writing a Letter on Mr. McClung's World. The students are learning how to write professional letters, along with writing letters to the community and the local schools, and other places while using the same method they used for writing professional letters. Mr. McClung is doing an amazing job with his 8th grade class. I thanked him for his hard work and dedication to the students.