Week 14

“Bells and Whistles”

This article discussed the usefulness of using databases to in the classroom. Computers are hard to come by in some school districts, and some classrooms would be lucky to receive at least one computer. Databases allow students to collaborate and gather information in an organized manner. Using databases, “…students use higher order thinking skills because they create and define categories (or fields) in the database. Setting up a database and retrieving information from it are intellectual exercises that require students to develop and use such critical thinking skills as classifying, defining, categorizing, inferring, comparing, and contrasting.” (.28) Using a database project in the classroom will have a large value to the students by letting them search for relevant information and coming up with ways to arrange the information.

“The World Wide Web”

Electronic databases are now replacing old school ways of filing information. The World Wide Web has increased efficiencies and made databases much more accessible. If more teachers were more comfortable using technology then databases would make their lived much easier. One example the article discussed was “Asynronous Discussion Group”, where the class could participate in online discussions. Any class member could add notes at anytime, and the database is very well organized and searchable. Another helpful tip lets students turn in the assignments through the interface. This is a double wham, which could teach your students to go paperless as well as being comfortable with using the computer. The teacher could respond using the database as well.

“The Database – America’s Presidents”

It is important for the education process to keep up with technologies and teaching students about the importance of communication. The article states, “Students mastery of each literacy depends on a new prerequisite skill: the ability to evaluate critically, organize, synthesize, and manage the vast information resources that are now accessible through our emerging technologies.” (P.8) The article suggests that students should begin learning how to collect, organize, categorize, and sort the information starting at a young age. By letting the students use modern tools for their assignments, will make the information that they learned more relatable to how it will be used in the real world and more memorable.

Week 13

In the article Digital Divide, they discussed the importance of using technology in schools. Although some schools may not have the resources, there are many ways to change that. Most importantly it is up to the teacher to incorporate learning with technology. Teachers have the influence of bringing the importance of computers to the attention of the school.
The article stated, “…labs often reinforce the idea that computers are simply “extra” or “special” instead of an integral part of the learning process.” What tends to happen in schools as well is the limited access to the computer labs; they are often locked up, unless a teacher schedules an appointment. One way to improve computer labs is create an open atmosphere where students can use the computer labs before and after school.
Within the classroom, it is imperative that teachers create an appropriate computer station that will reflect the type of learning you want from you classroom. The way a computer lab is set-up, is an opportunity for students to collaborate and learn how to work together cooperatively. There are many different techniques that will allow for different types of learning.
“We must educate all teachers and students to use the computer as a productivity tool as well as a tool for learning, research, networking, collaboration, telecommunications, and problem-solving.” Teachers play an important role of teaching the importance of using computers. We as teachers need to be up to speed on the latest pieces of technology, find programs that will benefit our students’ knowledge, and come up with ways to find funding to improve the schools access to computers and technology.
Wiki’s are another cool piece of technology that can be used in my classroom. A wiki is a piece of software that allows users to freely create and edit webpage’s content. Almost anyone can write, edit, and read wiki’s. This can be seen as both a pro and con. Sometimes the wrong person can get into a wiki, thus the validity of a wiki is also weak and vulnerable. However to extreme opposite can be true. Wiki’s are constantly updated, grow rapidly, and are constantly changing. Wiki’s are a new way for open communication between people, that allow for growth of subjects. This is a way that students can openly communicate and create their own page on subjects. Since it is available for anyone to see, their work will be amazing, valid, and well thought out. The students can work together to create a wiki on any subject!

Week 12

Filming Process—From a teacher’s perspective

Allowing your students to express themselves through film, is a fun and exciting way for students to convey their thoughts. It gives the students a chance to be creative and see how much time, work, and effort it takes to actually make a commercial or general film. I had the chance as a student to use film for many of my own projects when I was a high school student. I was generally a shy, quiet type in the classroom, but the minute I was in front of the camera, my true colors shined through. From my experiences with using film, I believe it gives chances for all the students to stand out, a time to shine J

As a teacher it is important to let your students know the process of what it takes to create videos, from the storyboard to the finish polished product. Videos generally tend to be a group projects, it allows students to see their role in film and come together to form their ideas on how they see the film working! Group work is a vital part of education, as in life and secondary schools many things are done in groups. It is challenging creating something and seeing eye to eye with group members on how to make the finished product. Being able to work together in harmony and listening to each other’s thoughts openly and will be the most powerful part of a filming process in the classroom. I would love to bring film into my classroom, but I will have to be creative when incorporating it into a math curriculum.

Reading – Splicing Video in the Writing Process

There is a lengthy process when it comes to creating videos. It is an amazing process that will allow students to take a topic and learn it inside out when creating their own video from beginning to end. No matter what the topic may be, from history to math. The students get the opportunities to produce films in their eyes. Producing a film the students must work in groups and come to a common ground, learn about the subject together, create a script, a storyboard, and agree on how to present the subject as a team. The entire process forces the students to understand the content and how to create a finished project that shows what they have learned.
The production aspect of video making is the crucial part of video making. Some students are very serious about the way characters must act, and some students were not made to act. Creating videos are serious business! It is a great way for students to learn how multi-task, learn how to do things outside of their comfort zones, and step up to the plate when call upon. As teacher, this is a fun project to give to your students; much more is learned than just learning about the content of the videos. It is an energizing way to let your students express themselves. Most importantly the students learn how to create a script to get the whole project working to begin with. Learning how to writing scripts, working in teams, and learning how to create a finished project is what is taken home at the end of the day.

Week 11

Movie Making

I had a wonderful time with my group creating this video. The overall process was very simple; the only difficult part was creating the overall general idea of the way to present. When I was younger I used to make videos all the time! I have become very savvy and comfortable using video cameras, but not some much on the editing side. The ease of editing your own movies at home has changed a lot in the past 10 years!
Max helped the group create the wonderful idea of what our commercial was going to be based on. We wanted to go with funny in the overall presentation of our commercial. You will just have to wait and see what it is all about, not that you have not seen the storyboard.
Completing the storyboard before filming defiantly eased the overall process of filming. We knew exactly what needed to be done! As a group we finished a lot faster than anticipated! It was fun, easy, and problem free!
I am excited to edit the video in class next week, as I have never used a program on the computer to edit my videos. When I was younger, we used the old school way of rewinding, trying to get to that perfect point of where to record. I am grateful to be learning how to use this program, as it will help me in the future, especially the near future. For one of our group projects we are planning on making a video as part of a presentation!
Overall, this was a fun and excellent learning experience!

Copyright Articles

As a teacher it is imperative to set a good example for your students. Teachers can set a tone of what appropriate uses of technology are and can have lasting, positive effects on their students. I believe new teachers can bring, add, and teach other teachers how to properly set an example and educate our students to use technology mature manner. Technology and education has a long way to go as far as curriculum and importance goes.
As school needs to take the necessary precautions to protects themselves as well as their students when it some to copyright laws. There are many different sites to help students and teachers to keep themselves well informed and safe from copyright laws! The following websites can help anyone keep themselves out of trouble:
Educator's Guide to Copyright and Fair Use & Software Industry and Information Association
One important way that will be a very powerful tool as an educator, is asking permission to use the different resources and having a confirmed copy that what was used is acceptable. Here is a copy of the form that will be very useful to teachers:

Sample Copyright Permission Request Template

Dear [Name],
I am a student/staff at [name of school]. I would like to use [specific description of the material] in the following manner [specific description of how the material will be used]. Do you hold the copyright on this material? If you hold the copyright, may I have your permission to use your material in this way? If you grant permission to copy this material, I will properly reference your ownership by [describe how ownership will be referenced]. I need to have your answer by [date].
Sincerely,
[Name]

The copyright Quiz, was quite the challenge, I felt as if I knew nothing. Reading the articles helped to understand some of the important laws; however, I still have a long way to go as far as understanding what is right and wrong. I may even be breaking some of these rules! The overall importance of learning about copyrights is to give credit where credit is due and protect others work. Knowing the laws will only empower your students, the school you work for, and your community!

Week 10

Three Websites designed and created by educators:

http://teachers.sduhsd.net/jpatterson/

This is a link to a teacher that I had when I was a student at La Costa Canyon High School. His page is simple and concise, which is what I like about his site. He clearly states the exactly what is expected in his classroom and posts the homework for as well.

http://teachers.sduhsd.k12.ca.us/jmachado/mywebquest/index.htm

This is a web quest put together by another teacher that I during my high school years. It is interesting to see who has been keeping up to date with technology and creating inclusive projects for their students. Times have changed since I have been a student! So, should have the curriculum in schools!

http://teachers.eusd.k12.ca.us/clivingston/

And this is another teacher’s webpage, whose class I was enrolled in. I took this teacher’s class when I was in 5^th grade. It amazes me to see who has come up to date by providing websites for their students and parents. Her page helps both the students and parents know what is going on in the classroom and how to best guide the students to success.

For this weeks assignment we had to create our own WebPages, which was quiet the challenge. The basics of putting the pages together were simple and easy to use. Thank you for showing uses all the secrets that Google has to offer! The difficult part was making up all the aspects that were required to complete the project, especially homework/calendar of events! I am not that creative when it comes to making stuff up! So, I kept everything very generalized. This was my first experience writing a syllabus, and attempting to think about what I would like my students and parents to know! Hope you enjoy the site.

The article about electronic editing hit home for me. I feel that this is a very new and important way for students, teachers, and peers should use. This program is available in Microsoft Word, under tools à Track Changes. When the student who wrote the paper submits the paper to for editing, the paper is returned with suggested changes. This way the student can see where their changes need to be made, as well as frequent editing needed. My boyfriend will actually use this when editing my own papers. This has been helping me immensely, especially since I have been out of school for so long. This would be an amazing way for education to go; the students will get more out of writing using a program like this!

MS Word Count: 421

Week 09

Links to Student created videos in the Classroom:

http://www.internetcampus.com/gdvid.htm

http://www.bham.net/bieff/guide1.htm

http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Research/NECC_Research_Paper_Archives/NECC_2004/Yildiz-Melda-NECC04.pdf

After looking through the following websites, the most valuable and important is the relevance that media plays in a student’s life. It is an often overlook aspect of what is significant for our students to learn about. The power of the media and television is a crucial tool to know how to digest. It can be very confusing, controversial, and create a plethora of problems for our students. Yet, it could also have the extreme opposite effect! In a nutshell, they need to learn how to recognize the difference between facts and propaganda. Thus, it is important to teacher our students how to understand what is being presented to them.
Going even further allowing students to create their own videos allows insights to the psyche of students and allows expression to how they feel or see certain subject matters. Video production is a very subjective matter to attempt to teach our students, however it is to teach the basic concepts. The world in general is moving towards to videos for everything that is seen, it is a new expression that can be shared with the world! It is up to our education system and how they decide to incorporate an essential part of the way to world communicates into a curriculum. It can be a very creative process where students have the power to create videos based on certain topics they are learning in class, a re-creation of a topic. All in all, right now the importance of videos in schools is understated and needs to be added to all school curriculums.

Week 08

This week our team was allowed to evaluate a software program. We chose to look at Renaissance Responders and their use in a classroom setting, which you learned about in our Presentation. We were also asked to evaluate the following website: http://www.evalutech.sreb.org/criteria/index.asp. This site explored software programs and their feasibility and quality in the classroom. It will be a helpful site to use in the future, in examining software that I will bring into classroom, seeing how well it really does work. It will help guide a teacher who may not know much about technologies and what aspects need to be looked at. Another amazing thing about this website is the ability to see if the technology is paying off with your students. There are so many choices on picking the perfect piece of technology, and this site will help guide educators into the right direction, especially with your student’s special needs, since one school can be very different from the next.
In addition the project this week that turned out fantastically, I had a comment on some of the homework submitted. When we submit our homework through e-mail and what not, and we were docked points, how are we supposed to know that we did something wrong? It would be nice if we could get feedback on what we did not do right, so we can fix it in the future. Working in my group this week worked out splendidly. We came together and worked well creating our presentation. I am very happy that everything worked out in the end! Patience really is a virtue.