Goodbye Everyone

I just wanted to take a moment to tell everyone goodbye. I have really enjoyed this class and getting to hear and read about everyones opinions and ideas. I hope that you all enjoy your holidays and good luck with your careers. I am sure I will see most of you around in other courses but for those of you that I wont see, goodluck to you all! Also, Mr. Wakeman thankyou for being so helpful when we didnt understand stuff and always being available to answer questions. I know you said this is your last time teaching this class so goodluck to you! -Happy Holidays!

What I've Learned

In EDM 310 we covered a wide range of material, from basic blogging to personal learning networks. I found the class to be overwhelming at first because of the amount of material that was going to be covered, but in the end I learned so much.

1. Google Docs- I learned about google docs which is something I never knew existed. I liked learing about this because it is easy to access and make documents.

2. Podcasts/vodcasts- I now know how to make a podcast and a vodcast. Also, I now acutally know what they are and how they are helpful. I will use podcasts to help teach. I would like to record podcasts of my lectures so my students can access them at any time.

3. Twitter- I learned that twitter can be used for educational purposes and not just to constantly tell people what you are doing. I have followed teachers on twitter and I have actually learned a lot from their tweets.

4. Personal Learning Network- I started making a PLN which is a network of people you contact via the internet. You can learn about topics and get new ideas from these people. PLNs can be very helpful for me when I start out my teaching career.

5. iTunes University- I never knew this existed! I think that this is very cool and a great teaching tool. I learned that I and my students have access to lectures from some of the top professors. Also, you can access podcasts on almost any topic.

6. ACESS- I learned all about this program, this was actually what my podcast was about. I learned that most high schools in Alabama are now using this. I feel that it is very beneficial to the students because they are able to access their class at any time. Also, they offer numerous AP courses which is great for our students who want a head start.

7. ALEX- I learned about this great site that offers different ideas for almost any subject. There are many different tabs on the site that will help you throughout your teaching career.

8. Excel- I FINALLY learned how to use excel. I have always been so confused about this program but now I can do formulas and even lay out a gradebook. This was my favorite part of the course.

I enjoyed learning the things I did in this class although, I would have liked to learn more about Microsoft Office programs. In addition, we learned briefly about Skype but I didnt get to see how it would be beneficial to me. I wish we would have actually used Skype in the classroom so we could have seen how it works. But since we did not and I still do not know how to use it, I probabley will not use it again.

This course did excite me. I was excited to record our podcast and to see how it all came together. It was exciting to me because it was something new and something that I had never done in another class before.

No I was never bored in this class. I actually never had a chance to be bored. I had to always pay close attention or I would have gotten lost on what we were doing.

Although the Excel part was my favorite I found it to be intellectually challenging. I felt this way because I had to remember the formulas and place everything in the right place. It became very tedious to click and drag and move things around on the spreadsheet.

The only thing I would delete or change in this course is Skype. It should either be deleted or used more in the course.

I feel that I am a technologically literate teacher at this moment. I feel that I am good at the programs and tools that I use. I plan to continue learning and getting better with them. I know that technology changes all the time therefore, I am going to be constantly changing and learning new things.

I will maintain my skills by continuing to use the tools and programs I learned from in this course. Also, I will take courses to better my understanding of new and upcoming technology throughout my teaching career.

Personal Learning Network

For my EDM 310 class I was assigned to create a personal learning network (PLN). This is an online learning network of people. You can get information and ideas from the people you contact in your network. For my PLN I used twitter to find and contact others on the use of technology in our classrooms.

I contacted wmchamberlain and teachernz on twitter. I have been following their tweets and getting some good information. I find that they both post videos and links with interesting information about schools and about technology.

Unfortunately, I had only a short time to work on my PLN but I do see the importance and the helpfulness of having a PLN. I plan to continue working on my personal learning network and plan to use the information I find to help me in my career.

Seven Stupid Mistakes and 7 Brilliant Things Teachers Do With Technology

Today I read three interesting lists, 7 Stupid Mistakes Teachers Make With Technology, 7 Brilliant Things Teachers Do With Technology, and Classroom Rules. Each of these lists were very informative and interesting to read. After reading each list I chose the two that I felt were the most important.

From the 2 Stupid Mistakes Teachers Make With Technology I chose "Not backing up your data." This to me is probley the most stupid mistake you can make as a teacher. We put so much time into our work and our lesson plans and the moment our computer crashes or we lose our flash drive all that work is gone. Teachers need to make an effort to triple back up their work.
The second most important from this list is "Not supervising computer using students." Although there is security on the computers it is just stupid to still not supervise because as soon as that child runs across something innappropriate, you are responsible. Teachers just need to take action and watch and help their students using the computer. In the long run this could save a teacher from getting into a sticky situation with parents.



From the list 7 Brilliant Things Teachers Do With Technology I feel that "Creatively finding and using resources," is a great thing for teachers to do. By researching and putting your personal touch on your resources then your students will learn more. They will learn more because you will be more passionate to teach something you have researched and made your own. In addition, "Put kids in touch with the world," is a wonderful action for teachers. By creating things such as blogs, or keypals you are widening your students horizons. Now days you can talk to people all across the world. Technology is a fun and easy way to culture your students.

From the list New Classroom Rules I really like "Come to class everyday, unless you would rather just go online. This is a very true statement a majority of classes are changing to online courses. Before we know it all students of every grade will be having their class time online. Also, "Bring required materials, including your laptop and cell phone everyday." This rule is not farfetched either. Almost every student already has or is required to have a laptop, and pretty much all of them have cell phones. I think it is great to take advantage of the technology that the students already have at home. By using their personal devices they are likely to be more interested in learning.

At The Teachers Desk-Professional Blogs

Today I examined the professional blog At The Teachers Desk. I explored the many gadgets on this page such as the live traffic feed, the world wide visitors, and the labels section. This professional blog is laid out very well and is easy to navigate.

In addition to just looking at the blog I also read a few of the posts. One of which was the post titled "How Do I know Im Not Just Being Selfish." This post caught my attention because he stated that he finds himself more interested in helping other schools incorporate technology than he does with his own classmates. Also, he asks why are we pushing technology so hard? This is a good question because the more I go through school the more I am seeing and learning why technology is being pushed. Technology is being pushed because technology is up and coming and our students will be required to know how to use it once they graduate. I also read the post about his skype call with the ESOL students along with many other posts. I really enjoyed reading the posts and learned a lot from what he wrote.

After looking over this blog I now see the importance of a professional blog. A blog allows you to post your thoughts, feelings, and experience for everyone to see. I feel that experience is something that should be available for everyone, especially new teachers. By posting it you are helping your future co-workers. I will definately look to some professional blogs for ideas when I start my teaching career. Also, a professional blog is a great way for you (the person writing the posts) to get feedback likely from other teachers. It is always good to get a second opinion on a thought or idea that you have. This feedback may help you to better your idea or to come up with even more. We can all learn a lot from each other even if we have never met. By having a professional blog you are opening up many doors for yourself and many others.

Michael Wesch

Today I watched Michael Wesch's video Toward A New Future Of Whatever. At first he started his speech by talking about the impact of technology on our culture. He stated that when the media changes then our conversations change. Which is very true, everyone molds to the new, cool, and "acceptable" idea. Everyone has to have the nice new technological device and everyone has to be a the new social network. He used the example of television. He stated that people think they have to be on the tv to be soemone. He talked a lot about MTV, when MTV first came it out was the cool thing and everyone wanted to watch MTV. He showed a clip of the Simpsons from 1992 where they stated they were "the MTV generation." Then a clip from 2001 where the kids are asked if they want to go out to "Block land" and their response was "Meh."

I feel that these two clips are very interesting and very true. I admit my generation is just like the "Meh" clip. We are more interested in tv and the internet than we are about going out to see nature and parks. I see it in my college classes now, people come to class and play on facebook the whole time, or text, or listen to iPods. Its like nothing can interest us anymore, nothing is quiet as stimulating as technology.

Another interesting thing he showed was a picture of a class who seemed uninterested and then a picture of American idol with excited people. This is very bad for future teachers. It is going to be harder to interest our students. We are basically going to have to sing, dance, and jump through fire to get them to pay attention to us. Yes, thats extreme but kids these days are only interested in video games and television. I see it now in kids as young and 3-5. It seems that every child 3 and up has some sort of portable game system, thanks to the parents who dont want to deal with them. I work at a department store and I cannot tell you how many times I see they kids dragging behind the parents quietly playing their Nintendo DS. Also, younger and younger kids are walking around with cell phones. Not just those phones designed for kids that only dial two numbers (their parents). No these kids are walking around with iPhones.

Overall technology has its pros and cons. Unfortunately for teachers it is going to be harder to keep their students stimulated in class without doing so with a new technological device. Before we know it the old fashioned way of teaching will be over.

Why Post Student Work Online?

Many people ask why students should post their work on the internet, for everyone too see. Many also say that it is unsafe for the students. Well I can tell you that there are many reasons for students to post their work online and there are also safe ways to do so. One major way is to not post any personal information like where you live or attend school. As far as why they should do it, here is one great example Landslide Video. I watched this video and it was very touching in fact it almost brought tears to my eyes. To see a class get together and sing a very meaningful song just brings joy to everyones faces. So why not post this? I feel that joy and happiness is something we all need a little bit more of, especially in these tough times. I cannot find anyone who can say that the things children say and do don't make them crack a smile. So if for any reason, students should post their work so they can brighten the days of many across the world.

Another reason students should post their work is for communication. For example, students can blog about events in their lives and many all over the world can read these. I realized the importance of this when I watched this video Dear Kaia. This little girl's father has been helping her with a blog. He noticed one day that students from all over the world were leaving comments on her posts. He soon realized how great of a thing this was and had a conference call with a class from acroos the world. Students everywhere will benefit from the connections they will make with all kinds of students from many places of the world.



Also, if students post their work and research online it can constantly be used by other people. It is so wonderful that we can use each other, people from all over the world, for information and knowledge. Someone may have researched and discovered or even experienced something you needed to know about then they posted it online. Amazing now you have access to that information. For me that is a good enough reason in itself to post your work online.




In addition to communication and happiness, another reason is that by allowing and requiring students to post their work to the web, they get the much needed practice on the computer. Before we know it all of the jobs are going to be computer based and the schools are already trying to go to computer based classes. If anything, the students will benefit from their trial and error in posting their work. Soon every child will be a master at uploading and posting their work for every one to see.

ACCESS

ACCESS or Alabama Connecting Clasroom, Educators and Students Statewide, is a new distance learing program that has been set up for high school students. This new program has been very successful in the Alabama schools that have tried it thus far. This ACCESS program offers students the chance to take classes online. Many students tend to benefit from online classes because they can access the course and information any time, any where.

The ACCESS program offers many class choices ranging from English to chineese and many math classes. Also, they offer advanced placement courses for students with exceptional abilities. Some of these courses can be taken for a college credit. This is a great program for students who can excel in AP courses because they can get a head start in college.

In addition, many students who come back to high school after dropping out will benefit from this program because they will never have to set foot inside a classroom. Many students who come back to school may have jobs and other priorities and cannot be in the classroom 5 days a week. ACCESS makes it easier and possible for these students to graduate.

I really like the ACCESS program and I feel that it benefits the students greatly. Although I do feel this way I also do not think the program is for everyone. Some students need to be in the classroom but there are many who will enjoy and excel in this program. I would like to teach through ACCESS because I would enjoy seeing my students benefit from this type of learning environment.

Alabama Learning Exchange

ALEX is a great resource for teachers, students, and parents. On this site you can find many great resources and links to help with education. One of the most helpful links on this site is the lesson plans section. You can choose any subject and any grade and be given a lesson plan for that subject. Also, on the ALEX site you can acces the Alabama Course of Study, the course of study helps teachers make sure they are teaching the skills needed for that grade level. Along with the ALCOS and the lesson plans, ALEX also offers a personal workspace, weblinks, podcast treasury, and professional learning.

After searching this website I feel that this would be a very helpful tool for me when I become a teacher. I could get on this site and search for ideas for my lesson plans and also find the professional development programs. Also, it would be very helpful for me to choose from some of the podcasts listed on the site to teach my class or even have my students access them on the site themselves.

I really like that this webiste is easy to navigate and will be easy for students to use. I find that this is a great tool for students looking to do research for school. Students can get information on almost any subject on the ALEX site. Overall, this site benefits everyone from teachers to students. I am glad I now know about this resource and I will enjoy using this when I become a teacher.

Dear Kaia

Today I listened and read some a few blogs between a young girl named Kaia and Mr. C's class. In EDM 310 we have an assignment called comments for kids. In this assignment we leave comments on kids blogs from around the world. This is how the students found Kaia's blog. The class begin leaving her comments on her blog, which her father was helping her compose. Her father soon noticed the comments pouring in and decided to contact Mr. C. They decided to do a skype to allow the students to ask questions. Kaia's father told the students that Kaia might have a hard time reading and grasping the comments they were leaving on her page. The students then decided to create a voicethread and a video.

I also read the blog Singing Hearts: Intrepid Teacher by Kaia's father. He tells us about how he started his daughters blog. He read a book called The Last Child in the Woods,this book made him worry that his daughter was not getting enough fresh air or nature. He then decided to go out with her and explore their surroundings. Kaia and her father took pictures of everything. He stated that his daughter had so much fun and was so proud of her pictures. He then asked her if she wanted to see her pictures on the "big screen." Of coarse she said yes, so he then proceeded to put her pictures into a photo essay on her blog. This is when he started to notice the comments pouring in from all around the world. He could not believe the connections she was making with so many people.



I feel that this is such an amazing way to use technology. Students in a different part of the U.S. got in touch with the father of the girl whos blog they had been commenting on. Technology has grown so much and we can use it in education in many ways. By being able to leave videos and use skype with others we are creating numerous connections for our students. Also, it gives us a fun way to teach the students to use technology. I forsee this being a regular teaching tool in the very near future.

The New Media Literacies

I watched the video New Media Literacies. This video discusses the skills you need to have to be able to participate in the vast opportunities on the internet.

The skills listed in this video are: Judgement, negotiation, appropriation, play, multi-tasking, transmedia navigation, simulation, connective intelligenece, performance, distributed cognition, and visualization. I feel that all these skills are 21st century and people do need to obtain most, if not all of these skills to be successful.

I feel that I obtain quiet a few of the skills. The skills I believe I have are judgement, negotiation, play, multi-tasking, and visualization. I am semi successful when it comes to technology but I feel that if I were to obtain all of these skills I would be a very successful technological teacher.



In addition to viewing the video I did more research into the New Media Literacies Project. I found a overview of the project on this site New Media Literacies. I learned that this project at MIT that explores how to equip students with social skills cultural competencies that are required to raise understanding on the importance of being technologically literate.

Also, the White Paper identifies three of the major challenges these are: the participation gap, transparency problem and ethics challenge. The participation gap is the unequal access to opportunities, skills, experience, and knowledge that will prepare youth for participation. The Transparency problem is, the challenges that young people face in learning to see clearly the ways that media shape perceptions of the world. Also, the ethics challege is considered to be, the breakdown of traditional forms of professional training and socialization that might prepare young people their increasing roles in public media makers. All three of these challenges are critical to this project. Once these gaps and challenges are taking care of, young people will be able to grasp the skills needed for the 21st century.

The Networked Student

Today I watched The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler. This video is based on students using the internet and other technology to find and use information for their courses. The example in the story was a boy who had a psychology class in which he met two times a day online and he had no textbook. So what was he to do?

The video talked about connectivism. This is being able to be connect with everyone. The boy in this example went straight to the internet to start building his learning network. He did many searches on the psyche and find many different ways to access information. These included: subscribing to podcasts, reading blogs, sending e-mails to professors and other educators on the subject, using skyp to set up a conference with the class, and much more. By the time this student had finished his research he had basically built his own online textbook. Even after his Psychology class is over he and everyone else will be able to view all of his hard work. His work will be available for other students later researching this same topic.

Now, they asked why does this student even need a teacher? Well there are many reasones. Some of which are: The teacher teaches him how to build a network, how to know the difference in good and bad information, how to properly and politely ask to use information. Also, the teacher hopes that at the end of the course the student will maintaine their personal learning network and continue to use those skills in the future. After all, those are the skills we will need in the 21st century.

Now as far as trying this out with middle school students, I feel that this is a high school grade level or higher. I still feel that at middle school age the children need to the structure of a classroom. This is a great idea for high school and college level studetns who should have already built up some discipline to take a course like this. I personally feel that I am not ready for classes to be like this. I still strongly believe in the old time classroom where the kids come to class everyday and take their homework home at night. Now there is nothing wrong with integrating technology into the classroom since it is going to be required in the upcoming years but, I think that it should not be the backbone of the course.

This Is How We Dream

Today I listened to Richard Miller's This Is How We Dream: Parts 1 and 2. These videos were about multimedia prints. He talks about how much is possible with multimedia documents. He states that this is not like the library anymore, where once you leave its gone but, with multimedia if you exit out of the site, its still there. Therefore, its always accessible.

Miller also talked about how you can compose moving image based material on the computer. He says this is an incrimintal change and not a fundamental change. I feel that if I were given the directions and resources to create these type of documents on the computer that I would be able to do so. I also feel that my student would be as well. When given the instruction and resources the students will succeed. I believe this is due to the fact that they are introduced to technology at such an early age now.

Part two talks about being able to compose on iTunes U. Educators are now able to post online lectures and share information with not only students but teachers as well. Also, with multimedia we can broadcast our information world wide. For example, teachers can teach to students on the other side of the U.S. I feel that this will be beneficial for me as a teacher. I would like to record my lectures for students to be able to listen to whenever they need to. This is also a great tool for students because they can access information when needed.

Multimedia production has grown so much and I feel that teachers and students should take advantage of the wide variety of ways to compose information on the web. We can use blogs, iTunes U, Facebook, and many more. Miller states, "its fascinating, how could we not be excited about this?" I agree how can we not? We have so many more resources to teach with than ever before. So we need to take advantage of it.

Using iPods In Instruction

Many people do not realize that iPods can be used as an educational tool in the classroom. I visited many sites and found numerous ideas on how to incorporate iPods into the classroom. I also came to find that you can use them in all grades. One of the sites I visited was iPods in the classroom. This site gave me the idea to use iPods in elementary classes by having appropriate music on there to play in class. I have always learned that music is a great way for students to learn and an iPod is an easy, convienent way for the teacher. Also, for older students iPods are a great way for students to catch up on a lecture they may have missed or for them to watch a videcast about a subject they are not understanding. Another great use of the iPod is for students to be able to record themselves when reading. This is a tool I wish I had when in school because I could never remember what I read and would retain it better if I could listen to it.

I also found a school who launched an iPod shuffle reading program. For more information click here. These school teachers would upload stories onto the iPods and send them home with the students that night. According to the site it was a great success. The teachers stated that the students were more motivated to take the iPods home to listen to the stories. I love this idea because it gets students excited to listen to the stories. Many children now days are more inclined to listen, or watch something rather than raed it.

In addition, I also researched Duke University iPod Experiment. The University gave first year freshman an iPod to use for their studies. They used the iPods in about fifty classes that ranged from foreign languages to music. Also, many students learned that you could download files onto the iPods and use them to listen to lectures. In the end,the results of this study is that 60% of students used them for educational purposes. Now Duke University is giving out the iPods to the classes that used them the most.

iTunes University

Today I learned about iTunes University, which is available in the iTunes store. Before this assignment I had never heard of this before and I'm sure many others haven't either. I never considered that using my ipod could be educational. For an introduction to iTunes University click here to watch the video.

With iTunes University you can download educational podcasts, videocasts, class lecture from select colleges and even select classes. I love this idea because you are able to listen and learn anywhere at anytime. I feel that the use of iTunes U would be very beneficial for me as a student and a teacher. As a student I love the idea of being able to have lectures available just incase I have to miss a day of class. In addition to available lectures, I would be able to find other helpful information thru iTunes. With iTunes U there are many different catagories of subjects.

Also, this would be a great tool for teachers as well. I would pick a lecture on iTunes and assign it as homework for them to listen to and then write a response paper. I would maybe make this a blog assignment for the class, very similar to what we do in EDM 310. This would be a great way to integrate technology and hopefully hold the students attention. Also, I would have the students listen to podcasts about what the subject of their next test. I visited the website, New Scientist which stated, "new psychological research suggests that university students who download a podcast lecture achieve substantially higher exam results than those who attend the lecture in person." I believe this is true becuase the students are outside of the classroom and are more likely to pay more attention to technology.

Overall, I feel that iTunes U is a great tool for teachers and for students. It has it benefits for both parties and I would definately consider using this as a teaching tool in my classroom.

Dr. Alice Christie

Today I visited Alice Christies webpage. Her site has many wonderful ideas to help teachers use education in their classroom. You can choose from any topic and there are lots of examples of each topic as well. To explore her site Click Here.

I focused on the topic of Educational Technology. Within this topic Dr. Christie speaks about e-portfolios, which I'm sure all education majors are aware of these. We use foliotek, which is a type of e-portfolio, to display our work. Dr. Christie states, "to give a portfolio purpose and structure, it should be organized around standards and reflect growth toward those standards." By setting up an e-portfolio for students they are able to retrieve past assignments and see their progress. I feel that this is a very useful teaching tool. Not only do the students get to practice uploading and transferring documents, they get to see their progress, which can be very rewarding. In addition to this site I also viewed an article co-authored by Alice Christie titled eportfolios: Constructing Meaning Across Time, Space and Curriculm. In this article she gives an example of a student using the eportfolio to submit her assignment. Also, she explains in more detail the contents of an eportfolio. She states, "A portfolio can be as simple as a collection of a student’s best work or as complex as an
alternative assessment procedure. It can be a learning strategy or an elaborate assessment."

I would use eportfolios in my classroom so students would be able to have a copy of their assignments. I think this is a great idea because, one of my least favorite things in school is turning in an assignment and never getting it back. I feel that most students value their work and would enjoy being able to access them at home. In addition, using eportfolios will help integrate the use of technology into my classroom.

Wikipedia

In the past I have used wikipedia for research. I now know that wikipedia cannot be trusted. After reading Virgil Griffith's post I see that information can be easily changed. Anyone and everyone can change and forge information on wikipedia. I feel that wikipedia can never be trust but used only as a starting point.

Even with Virgil Griffith's wiki scanner I still believe that this site cannot fully be trusted. Many people simply do not care if they are linked to their information or in fact, the people who posted the information may not know it is wrong. Also, many people and bands will make their site look polished and enhance their information. Therefore, I still will never use wikipedia as a reliable source. If you believe that wikipedia is a reliable source then you should view this article and video. Scanner Tracks. The facts will blow your mind.

As a teacher I would not advocate using wikipedia to my students. I do not want to give my students access to wrong information. I strongly feel that I would forbid any information from wikipedia. I would tell my students to only use wikipedia as a starting point, a way to point them in the right direction. Students would be able to use wikipedia to gather ideas to further research. I want to send my students into the world with good sources and wikipedia is definately not one of them.

Virgil Griffith (creator of wiki scanner)

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

Today I watched Randy Pausch's Last Lecture. Randy Pausch caught my attention from the very beginning of the lecture. He started off talking about his cancer but yet he was still so happy and energetic. He starts to make jokes about his disease he even states, "I am in good shape now," and then gets on the floor and does push ups. Not your typical lecture huh? That what caught my attention. Pausch has great stage presence and a knows how to capture an audience. In addition to his great stage presence, he caught my attention by using meaningful quotes. One that caught my attention was when he was talking about his disease and stated, "we cannont change the cards we are dealt but we can change how we deal them." He then stated what we were NOT going to talk about. This is a unique approach to a lecture, it allowed the audience to know that this wasnt going to be a lecture about his disease, his family, or about religion.

Randy Pausch then began to talk about his childhood dreams. These were: being in zero gravity, playing in the NFL, writing an article in the World Book Encyclopedia, being/meeting captain Kirk, and being an imagineer at Disney. He went on to explain how he got to be at zero gravity because of a project he worked on with his students. Then he told us that no, he never did play in the NFL. He played while he was younger and had a great coach. One of the most meaningful quotes I took from this lecture came from the story about his football coach. Pausch explained how his coach rode him hard one practice and Pausch was told that it was a good thing because, if someone rides you hard to do better its because they care about you but if you are doing something wrong and they do not push you to do better, its because they have given up. I think this is a great piece of advice for everyone, especially teachers. As teachers we need to realize that we are going to be pushing students everyday and maybe the same student the whole year but, we do not need to give up because as soon as we give up, we give the students the chance to give up on themselves.

Another great piece of advice I got from this lecture is this quote, "Experience is what you get when you didnt get what you wanted." I feel that this is a good life lesson for everyone and this needs to be taught to students as well. Randy Pausch also learned this lesson from his experience with football. After football his next goal was to be an imagineer. He went through many obstacles trying to get there and got shot down many times. He then stated that brick walls exist for a reason: "They are there to prove how badly you want something." I believe that teaching this to your students will make them work harder. Put up some brick walls, everything will be ok, and your students will learn more and you might just learn something from your students as well.

Pausch also talked about the course he taught, building virtual worlds. He showed a video and pictures from his time teaching this course. At first he told a story about giving a two week assignment and the students turned in amazing work. He was shocked and didnt know what to do so he called his mentor who told him to go back and tell his students they can do better. He told him this because he didnt know where to set the bar. Pausch then gave one of the best pieces of advice I think I could have as a teacher, dont set the bar anywhere because, if you dont set it your students will keep growing and getting better. I completely agree! If we as teachers do not set the bar then our students will be forced to do better and forced to learn more. This is what we want right? So lets take the advice from this lecture and use it to our benefit and to our students benefit.

At the end of the lecture he talks about getting people to help you. He mentions you have to get other people to help you! This is such good advice because many people do not like to get the help of others. Many people try to do things on their own and some are successful but many are not. Future teachers especially need to get the help of others. We need to listen and learn to the experiences of other teachers.

In conclusion, I absolutely loved this lecture. It was very moving and helpful to me and I feel that I learned many life lessons from Randy Pausch's last lecture. I will most definately take this advice into my future career as a teacher. "Dont complain, just work harder," a quote all teachers and everyone need to do!

Is It Okay To Be A Technology Illiterate Teacher?

Today I read the blog Is It Okay To Be A Technology Illiterate Teacher by Karl Fisch. He had some pretty powerful statements about teachers who are technology illiterate. He believes that there is no excuse for teachers now days to be illiterate in technology. He compares technology illiterate teachers to people who cannot read. Karl Fisch states, "If a teacher today is not technologically literate -and is unwilling to make the effort to learn more - it's equivalent to a teacher 30 years ago who didn't know how to read and write."I have to say that I agree with him on this. If you are illiterate with technology, then it is going to be hard to survive in the education field. Technology has grown so much and it definately is not slowing down. If we, as teachers, do not step it up and learn this technology then we are going to be completely useless to our students. I feel that it has gotten to a point where the students now know more than the teachers. In fact, I have a professor who is very technology illiterate. She cannot seem to figure out how to use the PWRS clickers in the classroom.She will spend 30 minutes of the classroom trying to figure it out and then she gives up.(we have still never used the clickers). Although this is a new technology, the students have to tell her how to use it. In a way, having a teacher who is clueless about the technology we use is a total turn off for me. I feel that she will not be able to teach me anything that I do not already know. Now, this may be a little extreme but technology is the backbone of most of my courses. I strongly believe that upcoming teachers need to be required to be literate in technology and forced to continue their education when new technology arises.
Karl Fisch also states that many teachers and people seem to be proud that they are technology illiterate. I see this happening everyday. For example, I have many teachers who state that they have no idea how to use the computer. Also, on a daily basis I hear employees state that they do not know how to work their registers. They try to use the technology as an excuse to not understand or do the task at hand. We all just need to grab ahold of technology and learn atleast the basics. After all, we all know technology is not getting any smaller, it is only growing. By the time the students we are teaching in elementary school graduate, technology is going to be so much more advanced. We need to take responsibility and be able to teach our students everything they need to know about technology. Karl Fisch states that in order to teach it we have to do it. We need to begin our education now and be committed to learning new things about technology. Everything we know is going to benefit our students and ourselves.

A Vision of Students Today

A Vision of Students Today
I watched the video called A Vision of Students Today and was blown away by some of the statistics. Although this video is much like my college life now, I didn't realize how much of this stuff was going on. It is amazing to me to think that we pay so much for college but yet many do not put in the effort. Also, we spend much more time on facebook than we do online for school work. One of the statistics from the video was, I complete 49% of the readings assigned to me. This is amazing and I wonder if students would be more inclind to read their assignments if they were on the computer?To me it seems that many students go to college for all the right reasons and have intentions to do the assignments. But I believe that students today need to be taught differently. We need to be taught with the growing technology because when we get out of school, we are going to need those skills to get a job.
In addition, another statistic caught my eye, 18% of my teachers know my name. This is crazy to me! Teachers need to know their students names but it is almost impossible due to the large classes. If we are going to continue with the classroom setting then colleges need to lower the student to teacher ratio. With large classrooms it makes it hard for the students to get one on one help from their teacher, which can be very important. Instead of having a one on one talk in person, you now have a one on one talk through e-mail. This just is not the same.
At the end of the video it is mentioned that some think technology can save us. I believe that in a way this is true. Our society has gotten to the point where everything revolves around the computer or their cell phones. If teachers start using the computer for their lessons then the students will benefit from it. I feel that college students are likely to learn more while in front of a computer rather than in front of a book. Now, this may be a scary thought to some of you but it is the truth. We are now a technology based society and its only getting worse. Its out with the old and in with the new. No more books and handouts, strictly e-mails, blogs, and podcasts. Now this change will be very helpful for some students but horrible for others. I am still a strong believer in having help from your teacher in person. But there are many students who are not stimulated to learn unless they are in front of their computer. Therefore, I do believe that technology alone may save us.

What I've Learned This Year

Today I read a very informative blog called, "What I've Learned This Year". This blog is written by Mr. McClung, a first year teacher. He goes into detail about the things he learned his first year of being and elementary school teacher. I found many of his suggestions and comments to be very helpful.
Mr. McClung mentioned that many teachers forget to make their lesson plans appropriate for their students. This is a huge problem, we as teachers need to make sure our plans are made with the students in mind. In addition, he says that teachers get so caught up in what their superiors think and seem to forget that their audience consists of children. I can see how and why many teachers would do this, but we need to keep the most important people in mind, and that is our students.
Another great teaching tip he gave was to be flexible. We need to remember that our plans are not always going to be perfect. In fact we may have to change our lesson plans completely due to unexpected events, you just never know in an elementary classroom.
The most valuable information I got from this blog was to be reasonable. He states that we as teachers need to be reasonable with our students. We do not need to expect them to be perfect. Most importantly we cannot expect every child to be able to accomplish the same task and receive the same grade. We as teachers are going to wish for all our students be make straight A's but we have to realize before we get into the classroom that it is not going to happen.
Overall, I learned a lot from Mr. McClung's blog. It was great to read feedback from someone who has experienced it.

The Technology Literate Teacher

Today I watched last semester's EDM 310 class videocast. The topic was Tech Literate Teacher. I found this to be a very interesting and informative topic and discussion. I strongly suggest that you watch this videocast. You can find it by clicking this link,Tech Literate Teacher.
Although I found this videocast to be very well constructed, I feel that there are some improvements that could be made. At the beginning of the video I felt that everyone should have been more energetic when introducing themselves. In addition, I feel that the students should have looked more at the camera when introducing themselves. I believe they should have done this even though it is a podcast because, there is still a video camera there and it makes the viewer feel more involved if they look at the camera. In addition to the occasional look at the camera, there was also a few times where the students needed to speak into the microphone and not hold their heads down and read their notes.
I felt that the topic was very well known by all students. I learned from watching this videocast that it may be beneficial for me to have some notes prepared for my podcast. Having notes will allow me to quickly access some of my thoughts and keep me from forgetting any important comments I would like to make. One other critique I have is that each student should have equal speaking time. I felt that two students imparticular talked the entire time. Each student needs to make an effort to voice their opinions. By having each student contribute, the conversation becomes more interesting and more beneficial to the viewer. Having four different responses may lead to the viewer gaining more knowledge about the topic.
Overall, this videocast was very good. I felt the students and teacher knew a lot about the topic and were very organized in their layout.

After visting the EDM 310 class blog, I then visited the Langwitches Blog. On this site I found some really amazing posts and ideas for podcasting. I found this site to be incredibly helpful to me. I read the first post on the page called "Producing A Podcast." This post is done by a teacher who gives ideas about doing podcast in elementary school. She mentioned that you could have the children do a podcast to get them interested in the subject they are studying. I feel that this is a great idea because children will have more fun producing something than just sitting and studying.
This blog also explained ways to prepare and plan a podcast. The post states that you should decide the theme or purpose of the podcast, prepare your students, give your students lessons in editing, give each student their own segment, have good musical transitions, and have closing credits listing the student's names. I feel that all of these steps are very important for creating a podcast. I will use some of these steps myself when preparing for my EDM 310 podcast. Also, I would like to separate my EDM 310 podcast into segments. By doing so, each student will have their time to speak. In addition to the other information, this post also lists the many ways you can record a podcast. This was very useful to me because some of them I never thought of to use.
In conclusion, I really enjoyed this post and the Langwitches Blog site. The information was very useful and the site was organized and easy to manage. I will most definately take this information into making my EDM 310 podcast.

Podcasting

Today I listened and learned about podcasts. I listened to four different educational podcasts. They include:




SmartBoard Lessons Podcast

KidCast

EdTechtalk.com

MacBreak Weekly


The first podcast I listened to was SmartBoard Lessons, episode 11, "Year End Ideas." In this podcast they spoke about using technollogy such as ipod touch in the classroom. Joan Badger is trying to get this in her school district because she feels that there are many useful applications you can download for your students. In addition, Joan Badger brought up the website Math Movies where there are scenes from movies listed that have math in them. They both though that a great project for students would be for them to find movies with math scenes in them over their weekend. I have to agree with their idea, this is a great way to get students interested. Aside from the ideas I learned for the classroom I also learned a little about how podcasting is done. I learned that you can be miles and miles away from one another and still be on the same podcast. I believe they call this "streaming." Also, Joan Badger mentioned that she has links posted to the podcast where viewers can go and download or look at the sites.
After listening to SmartBoard, I then tuned into MacBreak Weekly, episode 155. This podcast talked all about technology and podcasting. I learned that they use skype and mi-fi in their podcast, which I am still not completely sure what those two applications are. In addition, they also spoke about the different people involved in podcasting. I learned that there are a lot more people involved than the one or two people speaking. He mentioned he had to hire a clapper, snapper, and so on. Not only did he have to hire those extra people,he also explained how he has to have different takes for each little bit of clapping. This podcast taught me that a lot of work goes into making a successful podcast. In addition to their talk about podcasting, they also focused on apple products such as the ipod, iphone, and MacIntosh computers. They gave thoughts and ideas on how in the future you should not have to drag pictures from place to place and have all the overlapping sites. I really enjoyed and learned a lot from listening to this podcast.
The third podcast I listened to was Kidcast, episode 62, "Thoughts on Video Podcasting." This one focused solely on video podcasting. I learned that video podcasting can be very useful in the classroom. For example, if you are teaching a subjecgt that has some nonverbal action, it is beneficial for you to use a video podcast versus a audio podcast. Another reason to use video is when you have a visual model you need to explain. Although video podcasting seems to be becoming the medium he states that it is important to choose your type of podcasting based on your audience. Out of all the podcast I enjoyed and learned the most from this one.
The last podcast I listened to was Edtechtalk episode 45. The topic of this podcast was how people can grow as a professional. I personally got nothing from this podcast. I felt that this podcast was very unorganized and off topic. In fact, I had to skip through the entire first part of the podcast to get to something meaningful. Once I found some talk about their topic I learned that they too used skype in their podcasts and that they had a lot of people call in to voice their ideas. One of the major problems they find with teachers is that they are not motivated to continue their education unless there is something in it for them. I agree with their statement, in the society we live in today people are rarely motivated to do anything unless there is a prize waiting for them at the end. In the end, this podcast was the least useful for me.
Overall, I really enjoyed listening to the podcasts. I feel that I have a better idea as to how they work as well as some good ideas for the classroom.

Media Rich Post

Michael Jackson

(CNN) -- The Los Angeles coroner has concluded preliminarily that singer Michael Jackson died of an overdose of propofol, a powerful sedative he was given to help him sleep, according to court documents released Monday.
Los Angeles' coroner Dr. Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran reached that preliminary conclusion after reviewing toxicology results carried out on Jackson's blood, according to a search warrant and affidavit unsealed in Houston, Texas.
The affidavit outlines probable cause for search warrants of the offices of doctors who are believed to have treated Jackson.
The Associated Press is quoting a single law enforcement official, who says the L.A. County Coroner has ruled Michael Jackson's death a homicide. The Los Angeles County Coroner's office told CNN they had "no comment" on the report. An LAPD spokesman says the story did not come from their department.
The 32-page warrant said Dr. Conrad Murray, Jackson's personal physician, told a detective that he had been treating Jackson for insomnia for six weeks. Murray said each night he gave Jackson 50 mg of propofol, also known as Diprivan, diluted with the anesthetic lidocaine via an intravenous drip.
Worried that Jackson may have been becoming addicted to the drug, the Houston cardiologist said he attempted to wean him from it, putting together combinations of other drugs that succeeded in helping Jackson sleep during the two nights prior to his death.
But on June 25, other drugs failed to do the job, as he recounted to detectives in an hour-by-hour account that was detailed by detective Orlando Martinez of the Los Angeles Police Department:

Next Generation Learning

Alright, this Next Generation Learning video may have swayed me a little. I am typically a hard core believer in the fact that, teachers should teach with art, music, and activities rather than technology. But, this video showed me that this would be really a neat idea for students. It made me think about when I was in school, I loved my art projects and games, but I would have really enjoyed some of the things mentioned in this video. Out of the whole video there was only one thing I disagreed with, and that was the WII.

Technology has come a long way and there are many new and exciting tools we can use to teach with, but is one of these really a WII gaming system? Believe me I think the WII is a great invetion, and I love it, but I do not think it should be in a classroom. What ever happened to recess? You know, getting outside, having fresh air, being able to run and interact with your fellow class mates. Yes the WII may give the students some exercise and may help them with focus, but playing outside or playing games inside would stimulate them just the same. I feel that students need to interact with their classmates instead of interacting with a video game.

Now like I said, I am all for the old fashioned way of teaching, but this video had some really neat things that I wouldnt mind having for my classroom. One of which is the white board that students can write on and it can be used as a computer. I like this because it gets the students involved, they get to come up in front of the class and share their knowledge instead of plugging their answer into a computer. In addition to the white board, I really like the voting systems. I believe this is another great way to keep your students entertained and focused.

In the future, I would have to admit that I would like to have some of these tools in my classroom. I strongly believe that with the way our technology is growing it wont be long before all the schools have the latest and greatest technology. Every teacher will use the technology available to them in their own way. I personally, will use it very minimally if possible whereas, Vicki Davis used it to its full potential.

Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

After watching the video on Vicki Davis and her classroom, I realized some of the positives for using technology in a classroom. Although, I got some good ideas for using technology to teach, I still stand firm in my beliefs that technology should not rule the classroom. Now, I know that we are growing and things are simply just not the same as they were when were in elementary school, but I think that some teachers should teach without a major technological influence.

Vicki Davis teaches her entire class on the computer. I heard her say they use google docs, they blog, and even play an online avatar game. I agree that for a student this is very cool. I found that by using these programs with older children that it would be a good way to keep them entertained in the classroom. Because when we think about it, what do kids do when they go home? They either get on the computer or play video games. Therefore, having a very technologically advanced class would be a smart idea. Another pro for using technology is that students will be prepared for almost any job when they get out of school, because even now almost every job requires you to have some computer skills. In addition, Vicki used the internet to connect her students with others throughout the world. This is a great way to culture your students and have them interacting with other kids.

Now, I know that those things sound great but I feel that there are also many down-sides to this technological class. For one, what is the point of the avatar game? From what they showed on the video it looked just like a video game the student would play at home. I personally just do not see what these students are learning from this game. Secondly, since our students are already constantly using technology outside of school, we should teach them other ways to learn and have fun so they can be well-rounded individuals. Finally, have your students write letters to pen pals, this will keep them cultured as well, and they get to practice writing correctly.

In the end, there are many ways to teach, and each teacher will find what works for them the best. Vicki Davis found that the computer and technology worked best for her and her students, I just happen to believe that there are better, more affective ways to learn than by using computers. But as we know, the most important goal we have as teachers is to make sure our students learn and can succeed when they get into the world.

The Importance of Creativity

Ken Robinson's lecture was very entertaining, creative, and very true! The school system is set up to teach children only what we think is the most important and that is, the basics. Chidlren are no longer given the freedom of creativity through activities such as: dance, art, music, or drama. Although, the basic math, english, science, etc is very important, creativity should be held to a higher importance as well. Allowing children to be creative will help them to learn better. When a child is up and moving to music or creating a picture they retain information better. If you sit a child at a desk all day and lecture them on multiplication and grammar all day, they are not going to pay attention therefore, they will not retain the information. A professor of mine said "if you gave your best lecture in the forest, did you teach?" Many of us answered "yes" but, the answer is no. You cannot teach if no one is there. So if you keep your students in their desk all day they will not mentally be there therefore, you are not teaching.

Students should be praised for the creativity instead of steared away from it. Who knows how many great actors, musicians, or artists have been taken away from us because their creativity was blocked in school. I think that teachers today need to find a way to teach the basic skills through something creative. Have your students sing about grammar, sing about the states, and even math. Teachers need to learn to use their creativity in the classroom, it will benefit your students. Once the teacher finds a creative way to teach those basic subjects that we find so important then, our students will start to enjoy learning them. I have always heard that children learn better when they are moving and from my personal experience with children, that statement is true!

Ken Robinson stated that the arts are placed at the bottom of the list when it comes to subjects in schools. He was right with this comment, and it is only getting worse. With the economic crisis schools are having to cut back on their budgets therefore, they are taking arts out of the schools. I know of numerous schools right now that no longer have art class because the schools cannot afford the supplies. Instead of spending the money on art supplies schools are spending it on updating the computer labs. Now, I do believe computer labs are important but at the elementary level these students should be coloring, painting, dancing, and singing. Let these children unleash their creativity at school.

Also, Ken Robinson mentioned that ADD/ADHD was not invented back in the day. Kids who were fidgity were considered to be creative. Now if a kid cant sit still or wants to move they are rushed to the doctor and diagnosed with ADD/ADHD and put on medication to calm them down. This is ridiculous to me, I mean come on, THEY ARE KIDS! Kids are going to want to move and be active. Think about when you were a child, could you ever be still for longer than 10-15 minutes tops?! I know I couldnt and I know of many kids who still cant. Kids have not changed, they still want to be active. I believe that bringing arts back into the school will not only make it more enjoyable for the children, it will also make it easier and enjoyable for the teacher. Although, many teachers have gotten lazy with projects. They dont want to do art projects because its messy or they dont want to deal with all of their students moving around the classroom. Those teachers I think need to re-evaluate. Most teachers go into education because they care about children and their education and we all know that kids learn more when they move and be creative.

Overall, I think that arts needs to be mandatory in the school system. Children need to be able to express their creativity at school. When children start enjoying themselves at school then they will start learning and retaining more, and thats what we all want right?

Did You Know?

First of all let me just say one thing, wow! This is amazing and scary to think about all of this. This video had so much information that I never knew was true or maybe I did but just didn't think about it. I knew that our technology was rapidly growing but had no idea to what extent. I mean to think that the amount of information in a week of the NY times exceeds the information one would learn in their lifetime during the 18th century is amazing! We have grown so much since that time and the knowledge seems to be endless! I guess the question that is on everyone's mind after watching this video is, "is this a good thing?"

In many ways the growth of technology can be a very good event. By having the latest and greatest technology we are opening ourselves and our youth to an endless amount of information and opportunities. The internet alone stores information that our youth could possibley never learn in a classroom. Then there are the opportunities, advancing technology opens a wide variety of different jobs. The more technology grows the more different jobs will be available. Like the video said "the amount of technical information is doubling every 2 years," this means by the time the children in our classroom are in the workforce the technology and information available will be more than we can even imagine. Our youth are going to have endless opportunities and their knowledge is going to be so complex.

Now, I know that this growing technology seems like a great thing but, I feel otherwise. With the rapid growth of technology and information, the things our students are learning in school now will not be useful by the time they get into the workforce. Also, with the growth of technological devices our children get distracted from books and studying. The video mentioned that India has more honor students than the US. I believe this is because our students rely too much on internet sources such as google and wikipedia. We, as teachers, need to find a way to keep our students entertained in the classroom without relying on technology. The US is getting away from the way we used to be. Everything we do is on the computer, ipods, iphones, and much more. We are even meeting our significant others, friends, and families on the internet, instead of in person. The video stated a scary statistic, "if myspace were a country it would be the 5th largest in the world." Now, if that isnt scary, I dont know what is.

There are many pros and cons to the rapid growth of technology, but I feel that we need to slow it down a little. We need to go back to the basics and not rely on our devices to get us through a day. Before we know it we will be teaching kindergardners how to use their latest iphone to do their homework. It might even be a requirement for elementary school kids to have a phone that has internet capabilities. I know I, as a teacher, will not want that to be the case. I want to be able to hold my students attention and teach them without needing to use technology. So, i know we all enjoy our ipods, laptops, and iphones but we need to ask ourselves if we are going too far.

First Post

My name is Kimberly Wright but everyone calls me Kim. I live in Fairhope, Alabama but I am originally from Knoxville, Tennessee. I lived in Knoxville since I was five years old but decided to move to Alabama in the summer of 2008. I based my decision to move on the fact that my parents agreed to pay for my college if I moved down here with them. I found this offer quiet entriging considering I was paying for my school when I was in Knoxville. When I moved down to Fairhope I got a part time job at Belk, in the shoe department. I absolutely cannot stand my job but it pays the bills and for the gas it takes me to drive from Fairhope to Mobile for school.

I am a junior at the University of South Alabama and I am pursuing a degree in Elementary Education. This has always been my degree of choice but unfortunately my family talked me into a different major for the first two years I was in college. I started out being a psychology major because they convienced me that the money was better, which it is, but I changed my mind and decided to go with what I am passionate about. I have always loved and worked with children therefore, I decided to go into this degree and disregard the pay. I have about two years left until I finish my bachelors degree and can begin teaching in a classroom. In addition to my bachelors degree, I hope to complete a masters degree in education and even possibley consider a PHD in order to become a principle. I plan to teach for about five years while taking night and online classes to obtain my masters and PHD.

Outside of school, I am a very outgoing person. I love to be outside, play sports, be with my family, and enjoy life to the fullest. My one passion is traveling but unfortunately I have not been able to do this as much as I would like. I am hoping that one day I will be able to travel to all the places I would love to see. I also enjoy photography, I would eventually love to be a photographer on the side. Overall, I feel that I am a very well rounded person who is driven and enjoys many things in life.