New School New Technology

Vlog Entry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Va4lgAJVYig

Here is the link to my video blog. Unfortnately, I could not get the video to upload to blogger since my computer cannot load the appropriate program to get videos from my imovie camera to the blog. I have enjoyed the process of writing a blog and will do so in the future.

WOW Project

Today I created and published my final web project for Technology and Literacy class. I twas really interesting to look back over on the work that myself and the students have done. It is crazy that they accomplished so much in such a relatively short period of time. I enjoyed working on the project and watching the students create new and informative project. I used screencast-o -matic to shoot the project. I also used Google Docs to add slides to my project and then published it on Youtube where you can see it here.

The Smart Way

When I first saw a Smartboard in the MSMC education building it was an exciting experience. Before we even used the boards, we had brain stormed different lessons and activities that we as teachers would want to use with our students. When we turned it on we were amazed by all the ways the board could make our lives easier. Every student could now be an active participant with this board and we could directly mark and edit anything we wanted right in front of them. We could create games, quizzes and even timed lessons. A few weeks ago I joined the Smartboard Revolution Ning. I was blown away by how many teachers and educators belonged to the Ning and how much they shared with everyone. There is a whole network of teachers, even whole departments that are willing to share lessons, ideas and technologies with others for the benefit of our students. I enjoyed reading the comments made by the teachers and the ideas they exchanged on the best way to show the students the information we want them to absorb. What is even more amazing is the vast network of podcasts and videos of people explaining new and existing Smart technologies. It seems that Smart technologies have united the teaching world even more than though possible.

Personal Learning Networks

The amazing thing about the personal learning network is that it is what it says it is. Personal. I was not aware of PLN before I watched the video of Will Richardson. As I was listening to him speak, I began to think and realize that through technology, I can create my own little space of internet where my students and others can go to connect and learn together rather than just going through the motions of finding information. Richardson talks about how Facebook and Myspace are constantly visited by our students, so then we can ask why don't we use something of the same nature? I appreciated the graphic created on how to go through the PLN step by step and planning the process carefully. The PLN is a way to have people come to you rather than a whole bunch of people going to a main piece of software and not really playing a role in its life as a place for people to exchange ideas. Students can establish their own PLN through many different ways , even Facebook which can be a place for them to publish their ideas and have people comment and interact.

The Anywhere Classroom

Today, we can chat with friends, do homework and broadcast our lives from the tiny screens of our smart phones. Where and how we can learn is an ever expanding location where any student can be a part of a learning environment. A study was done in New Zealand in which all the students and teachers were given mobile devices and through these devices they all had access to Web 2.0 tools and could attend class and take part in lessons while still using these mobile devices. The idea of this study comes form a student centered learning model where the students can discover and learn by their own means while still being guided by the educator. The most interesting concept of the study was that any space could become one for learning. If you have a phone and an internet connection, then the world of learning is literally at your fingertips. There other upside to this mobile world of learning is that it can become completely paper-less and is never without a direction. The students are learning within the means of their mobile device but still have a "home base" to connect to and receive instructions from. Even after the day is over and the students go home, they can be connected to the teacher and their learning environment this way.

Gaming and Learning

In the first week of class we read a list about how video games can improve and help a student with their education. For module 9, we looked at the gaming/education trend that is alive and well around the world. Math and science seem to be the main subjects that are highlighted within this video game learning culture. This week our group discussed the different games we have seen like leap frog and other gaming devices for younger children. There was also a discussion about how children can watch videos and use hand held remotes to interact with the game. Of course, it came up almost immediately that gaming could also lead to some problems. Many students now today seem ever obsessed with video games and seem to be veering more and more away from traditional learning. While for me, I would be willing to try and using a gaming system in my classroom to help with lessons, I would use it sparingly and would mostly likely only use it as a reward for good behavior. There was also a very interesting article about how our lives are all ready being augmented by technology and that we are in a revolution where our students will get more and more used to having this layered technology present in their lives. I could certainly see how we could incorporate this in the classroom. I can imagine having students looking at something on the Smartboard and then sing their own tools to add information from the comforts of their own desks.