Well, fellow classmates, the semester is coming to an end. How sad! Can you sense the sarcasm?
I am going to miss seeing you all on Wednesday nights from 6:00-8:30. I'm going to miss Dr. Wakeman eating my food. I am going to miss Dr. Wakeman's humor, especially the one about me pretty much failing my midterm before I started it. I am going to miss getting scared when Dr. Wakeman's speakers are on and we don't know it. I am going to miss looking at Dr. Wakmean's sailboat on the edm310 blog. I am going to miss when Dr. Wakeman's computer has articles up in a different language.
I am going to miss everybody getting up in front of the class and feeling awkward when giving their powerpoint presentations. I am going to miss not understanding one thing that Dr. Wakeman does up on the big screen and then being lost for the next 10 minutes. I am going to miss talking into the little headset microphone thing for our podcast and playing it back and not sounding like myself. I am really going to miss doing four big project things the last 3 weeks of class.
I am going to miss looking up and seeing Amanda(Brooke) Williams across the way and facebook chatting her before class starts. I cracked myself up. I am going to miss looking across the way at Sean and shaking our heads about all the crap we have to do for school. I am going to miss Daphne asking me a billion questions because she is lost! =) I am going to miss Tommy trying to get us to download music in his powerpoint presentation. I am going to miss that guy behind me being way smarter than me.
As you can see, I will miss a lot of things! It's been fun!
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Last Post!
I did learn things in this class. We also covered alot of things I already did know. I felt like we did stay on the things I already knew a little too long at times, but I guess some people did not know it.
The biggest thing I learned was the whole hyperlink thing. I always wondered how people did hyperlinks and so I am pretty excited I can do that now. I also had never heard of RSS feeds. That's good to know to keep up with certain things like sport pages, weather, etc. I also did not know that google docs had the "document" application. I could never make powerpoints at home because I didn't have powerpoint on my computer, just a viewer. Google Docs definitely came in handy this semester and I am sure it will be handy in the semesters to come. Also, on excel, I learned about how F2 switches to the formula from the actual outcome of the formula.
This may seem kind of stupid, but I did not know how to insert pictures into Word. I would try to do it and I wouldn't open it through insert on Word and so it would just come up as a bunch of symbols and stuff. I am glad I know how to do that now. That seems simple, but I really didn't know. I also didn't really think about the difference between a picture being as text or floating over text.
I also never really knew what podcasts or blogs were. I heard on movies or tv about blogging, but I didn't think educators used it. It's a good way to see what my peers think about things. I wasn't really excited about the podcast, but the program we used to make them was really cool. I downloaded it onto my computer at home.
What would I have liked to learn? I think Dr. Wakeman could have explained WHY we did some of the things we did. Like with the whole float over text vs. picture as text, I'm not sure why they wouldnt all be float over text. I think he covered pretty good what we should know. I think that the whole excel thing should have been more aimed toward what teachers use them for, instead of just random information with money.
The biggest thing I learned was the whole hyperlink thing. I always wondered how people did hyperlinks and so I am pretty excited I can do that now. I also had never heard of RSS feeds. That's good to know to keep up with certain things like sport pages, weather, etc. I also did not know that google docs had the "document" application. I could never make powerpoints at home because I didn't have powerpoint on my computer, just a viewer. Google Docs definitely came in handy this semester and I am sure it will be handy in the semesters to come. Also, on excel, I learned about how F2 switches to the formula from the actual outcome of the formula.
This may seem kind of stupid, but I did not know how to insert pictures into Word. I would try to do it and I wouldn't open it through insert on Word and so it would just come up as a bunch of symbols and stuff. I am glad I know how to do that now. That seems simple, but I really didn't know. I also didn't really think about the difference between a picture being as text or floating over text.
I also never really knew what podcasts or blogs were. I heard on movies or tv about blogging, but I didn't think educators used it. It's a good way to see what my peers think about things. I wasn't really excited about the podcast, but the program we used to make them was really cool. I downloaded it onto my computer at home.
What would I have liked to learn? I think Dr. Wakeman could have explained WHY we did some of the things we did. Like with the whole float over text vs. picture as text, I'm not sure why they wouldnt all be float over text. I think he covered pretty good what we should know. I think that the whole excel thing should have been more aimed toward what teachers use them for, instead of just random information with money.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
The Edible Schoolyard/A Night in the Global Village
How inspiring! "The Edible Schoolyard" was so very inspiring. This podcast takes place at Martin Luther Kind Junior Middle School.It was about how kids are working in the garden and the kitchen as part of their education. The garden part is partly used for social studies. A few of the things mentioned were about photosynthesis, composite, condensation, etc. Also, there is a "kitchen classroom" where they cook and learn different concepts about the kitchen that kids back in the day learned at home. It also talked about how kids are learning about where their food comes from, working in a community, etc. Also, the kids do not feel like it is school, so its a better environment for learning. The kids also get to taste all different kinds of foods from the ground, etc.
Unfortunately, "A Night in the Global Village" would not work. I tried it several times, but every time it would get to "28 seconds" it would go back to zero. I tried to fast forward ahead, but that would not work either.
I think the big thing that these podcasts can do for me, as a teacher, is just broaden my view of education. It can give me good, creative ideas that I have not thought of to educate my students and get them excited about learning. I feel the traditional way of schooling is just plain boring. With entertainment at the root of our existence, nowadays, education has to be modified to fit this age of technology and entertainment around every corner.
It can also give my students a way to kind of have a say in their education. They can watch different edutopia podcasts and can tell me which ones they would like to experience. I also believe that these podcasts can be shown to inspire my students.
Unfortunately, "A Night in the Global Village" would not work. I tried it several times, but every time it would get to "28 seconds" it would go back to zero. I tried to fast forward ahead, but that would not work either.
I think the big thing that these podcasts can do for me, as a teacher, is just broaden my view of education. It can give me good, creative ideas that I have not thought of to educate my students and get them excited about learning. I feel the traditional way of schooling is just plain boring. With entertainment at the root of our existence, nowadays, education has to be modified to fit this age of technology and entertainment around every corner.
It can also give my students a way to kind of have a say in their education. They can watch different edutopia podcasts and can tell me which ones they would like to experience. I also believe that these podcasts can be shown to inspire my students.
iTunes University
iTunes University, or iTunes U, is a remarkable idea. Things can be looked up by category or by specific universities. It is completely free. College students always love hearing that.
As a student, I believe that iTunes University would dramatically increase my interest in lecture classes. I love my hands on/active classes this semester, but during my Freshman and Sophomore year, I hated sitting in class for hours and hours. It is education on-the-go. If I took notes, but did not understand what I meant from what I wrote, I could just go back and listen to the lecture again. Also, I could listen to lectures over and over and rewind to parts that were more difficult to understand and fast forward through the things I already got.
As a teacher, I would probably spend less time repeating myself if my students used iTunes U. Because we all know that teachers get asked the same questions over and over because there is always someone that is not paying attention. Also, as one article said, teachers would have more time for their students, like interacting with them, and not just lecturing them and spitting information at them.
Click here and here for links to the information I found.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Using Ipods in Teaching
I read two articles for this blog post.They are "Ipods in The Classroom" on the CampusGrotto.com and "Duke Sees Growth in Classroom Ipod Use" on news.duke.edu. I must be out of the loop because I have not really heard about the use of Ipods in the classroom, although I think it is a brilliant idea. The two articles I read talked about how Duke University has adopted this use of Ipods.
The main problem with using Ipods in the classroom is that some people abuse the privilege and do not use them correctly. Some people are using them for their intended purpose of entertainment and making it rough for everybody else who is trying to use them to learn. Other than that, everything is else is good. It makes studying easier and more convenient because the Ipod can be taken anywhere, essentially. Class lectures can be uploaded, as well. It's pretty much on-the-go education. With life being so hectic and crazy, this idea seems perfect. I wish South Alabama used this teaching method.
The main problem with using Ipods in the classroom is that some people abuse the privilege and do not use them correctly. Some people are using them for their intended purpose of entertainment and making it rough for everybody else who is trying to use them to learn. Other than that, everything is else is good. It makes studying easier and more convenient because the Ipod can be taken anywhere, essentially. Class lectures can be uploaded, as well. It's pretty much on-the-go education. With life being so hectic and crazy, this idea seems perfect. I wish South Alabama used this teaching method.
Dr. Christie
Under Dr. Christie's Educational Technology Guide, the first thing that caught my attention was the instant messaging part. There are articles about instant messaging, lists of instant messaging "vocab," etc. As a teacher, I need to be up to date on the latest "fads" with the age groups that I am teaching. I need to know how my students tick and what interests them. Although I am still young enough to know the "fads" with kids in school and the "vocab," I will not always be and I can refer to her website to keep me updated.
She also has a page for instant messaging and text messaging that describes what they are. Also, she goes into some detail about the pitfalls and potentials of them. Children are only going to be more technologically savvy as the years go by. The information she gave got me thinking about how I can use this progression of technology knowledge as a way to reiterate life lessons in safety in driving(on phone, texting,etc.), not interacting with strangers(online), etc.
Under her Educational Technology Guide, she has a whole portion for rubrics. She has sample rubrics that I could use, depending on the projects that I want to do. She also explains why rubrics are important. I see that rubrics are important because it gives students a way to kind of grade themselves before turning in assignments. I think that is a really good idea and something I would like to use when I teach. I always hated when I was not really sure what my teacher wanted from me for assignments.
The other thing that caught my eye under her Educational Technology Guide is different roles a teacher can take in the classroom. The different roles a teacher can take are a facilitator, collaborator, curriculum developer, team member, community builder, educational leader, and an information producer. She had some samples of how other teachers have succeeded at these different roles. This can help me by letting me see which roles are best for me in my class or school.
Wikipedia: Is it reliable?
It is kind of intersting that this is our blog post for the week because this is also my group's podcast topic. I did not know about companies, etc. changing information on their wikipedia pages to make them sound better. I guess I never really thought about that. I did not think that people would care that much about what Wikipedia said about them, their companies, etc.
I personally believe that Wikipedia can and cannot be trusted, to a degree. I believe that Wikipedia is alright for a general overview of a certain subject, but not good for details. If you look up "Boston Tea Party," it is good for getting the idea that it was a protest by Americans against the British Government, but the little details might not be correct. It is a good idea to check the sources that are posted and research how trustworthy they are. Also, it is a good idea to look up the same information other places and compare.
I personally believe that Wikipedia can and cannot be trusted, to a degree. I believe that Wikipedia is alright for a general overview of a certain subject, but not good for details. If you look up "Boston Tea Party," it is good for getting the idea that it was a protest by Americans against the British Government, but the little details might not be correct. It is a good idea to check the sources that are posted and research how trustworthy they are. Also, it is a good idea to look up the same information other places and compare.
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