Week 8What have you learned in this class? When signing up for this class, I really had no idea what to expect. While, I may be the “go to” computer person in my family, I do not consider myself to be a technological person at all. I was pleasantly surprised with this class and I have learned a lot in this class. While I may not have a classroom of my own yet, I know that students all learn at different paces and in different ways. Having a flipped classroom also us as teachers to meet the different learning styles of all the students. It allows me to provide students with content in different formats so that I can reach all my students. I would say that the biggest thing that I took away from this class is that there are so many free resources available out there for teachers to use. As technology grows and changes, more resources will become available to us. In this class, I learned about 10 specific tools that could help me in a flipped classroom; some I liked more than others. Project 1: Lesson Plan and Weebly Blog I have always planned on using lesson plans in my classroom, but dread having to create them. I other classes that I have had to create a lesson plan for, it has always seemed like a long and detailed process. I was relatively surprised that I actually liked the lesson plan I created for this class. Out of all the lesson plans I have created so far, I find that this lesson plan is the most organized and concise enough that it is easy to follow. I definitely will be using this format for lesson plans in my class if possible. As for Weebly, I have mixed emotions about it. I like the idea of it, but found it to be very stressful and time consuming. I am one of those people who have no qualms about talking and speaking, but when it comes to writing my ideas and thoughts down, I panic. I am one of those people who always second guesses what I write and still feel that it is not exactly what I want to say. I mean, I take an average of 3-5 minutes to write out a simple text or email because I rewrite it so many times. I feel that I probably took longer on writing these posts than an average person. So overall, with the time it takes me on blogs and the panic and stress I feel about writing my reflections down (yes, even this one), I do not think I liked this aspect of the class. I really do not see how this can be used in the classroom. Project 2: Survey I have never used Google survey before and was very surprised at how easy it was to create. I really enjoyed this tool and feel that it can be used several ways in the classroom. Surveys are a great way to gather information from students. Outside of asking students about technology (which I think is a great survey), I can use this as an end of the year/semester to see what students thought about the class and if there is anything that they would like to see changed or added to it. I found Google Forms very easy to use when creating the survey and will definitely be using this in my future classroom. Project 3: Google Docs and Google Slides Google Docs and Slides were another tool that I really liked. These tools were something that I was familiar with already having used it for different classes in my graduate program. There are several things that I really like about these tools. The thing that I like about Google Docs and Google Slides is that it allows for collaboration. I am a strong supporter of group work and I believe that these tools will be great for students to use when working on projects together. With these Google tools, students can work on the assignment in different locations at deferent times and as the documents are shared and edited, all group members will be able to see the changes in real time. Due to the strong collaboration aspect of Google Docs and Slides, I will with out a doubt be using this in my future classroom. Project 4: Podcasts The best way to put it, is that I am indifferent when it comes to podcasts. Through Vacaroo, I had no trouble creating and downloading a podcast, but I did not really love it (nor did I hate it). While it may not be my favorite tool to use, I do how it can be positively used in the classroom. While I am primarily a visual learner, I understand that not everyone learns the same way. This would be a great tool for those who are auditory learners. While I really do not see myself using this in my classroom, if I was to use this, I would use it as a review tool to go over content students may still have difficulty with or may have missed in class. Project 5: Videos This is another one of the assignments that I am on the fence about. Ultimately, I really do like the idea of creating videos for the class, but I found them difficult to create. I think that as I became more familiar with the program (Movie Maker 10), it may be easier for me to create. With that said, once I have created the videos, I know that I can always reuse them. I do believe that this would be a great tool to use in the class if I had the time (and talent) to create the videos. A tool like this is great for both visual and auditory learners and would be a great change for students. Overall, I think that this is something that I would love to try in my classroom. Project 6: Edpuzzle (Interactive Video) This was my first time hearing about Edpuzzle and all I got to say is that I loved it. I think that this is a great tool to use in any classroom. I love the idea of taking any video and using it to create assignments and quizzes. This is also a perfect tool to make sure that students actually watch the video and understand its content. I love that through Edpuzzle, I can cut videos I get off of youtube and incorporate questions in it for students answer. With Edpuzzle, I can assign students to watch videos at home instead of in the classroom where you will be pausing it throughout to ask questions. By having the questions put into the video for them also holds them accountable and makes sure that they understand what is going on in the video. Edpuzzle is something that I will constantly be using in my classroom. Project 7: Website While I did not like the Weebly blog, I did love the Weebly webpage. I think that this have a teacher/class website is an excellent thing to have. I really like the idea of having a site that students can access and have everything they need provided there. With the website, the students will be able to access the content for the unit that they are studying as well as assignments that they need to complete. This is also a great place for them to check out any additional resources I may have for them to check out. All the content that they need for the class will be on the website, so the students should not have any excuses as to why they didn’t know or do something (unless of course internet is down or something). While it was time consuming, once it is set up it is very easy to use. Using a course website is something that I will definitely try using in my future classroom. Project 8: Padlet Padlet is one of my favourite tools. The way I see it, Padlet is another great way for students (and teachers) to collaborate. As a teacher, I can post additional resources that the students may find helpful. I can also have students share additional resources and videos that they found helpful. Overall, Padlet is a great place for students to share ideas, videos, files, and images with one another kind of like and digital information board. I can definitely see myself trying this out in my classroom. Project 9: Rubric and Quizzezz RubiStar and Quizzes are two other tools that I liked. I find that having to create a rubric from scratch is very tedious and time-consuming work. I found that using RubiStar allowed me to easily create a rubric that was easy to edit. One bonus to RubiStar is that it gave me several ideas for potential project in my future classroom. This is something I will definitely be utilizing for projects and other assignments. Quizzezz is another tool that I actually liked. Quizzezz can be used in many ways in the classroom, including homework, quizzes, and study guide. I really like that with Quizzezz, I can create my own quiz or use one that has been already created. I think that it is an excellent game site as well and I will be trying it out in my classroom. Project 10: Thinglink and Scoop.It I actually liked Thinglink and think that it is a great tool to use. Thinglink is an online tool where you can upload an interactive picture and attach links to files, websites, and videos. I think that it is a great resource to use and provide additional resources for students to review on their own time. This tool would be especially help students who are visual learners. Scoop.It was actually my least favourite out of all the projects. I like the idea of it, but it seems to be very similar to Padlet, which I would prefer. With Scoop.It, the teacher can share documents, articles, websites, and videos with students. Personally, I think Padlet does similar things and is a bit more visually appealing compared to Scoop.It which to me seems vary bland. I also think that at this point, there are so many other tools previously mentioned that I would prefer to try in my classroom first. Strong and Weak Points I think that one of my strengths is that while I do not consider myself to be a technological person, I do know my way around the computer and I learn new skills pretty quickly. I think that another strength is that some of these projects I enjoyed doing, so I think it will be easier to incorporate them in my classroom. As for my weaknesses, I have several. First, I think that videos are one of my weaknesses and I think that this is because of unfamiliarity with the software. Using 1-2 more times may help build my confidence. I also think that my lack of creativity may also be a weakness. I do not really consider myself to be a crafty/artistic person and a lot of these projects require creativity; just hoping that the more I use these tools, my hidden creative side will come out. Lastly, I need to remember that not all students learn the same and I am hoping that by incorporating some of these tools, I will be able to meet the various learning needs of my students. Will you integrate these technologies into your classroom? Why or why not? I think that as technology continues to change and become a bigger part of our society, it is imperative that teachers incorporate technology into the classroom. Technology makes it easier for me as the teacher to differentiate instruction to meet all the learning styles in my classroom. Also, Technology allows for the teacher to provide information to the students more easily and effectively. Technology can also make learning much more interesting and fun especially when using game sites such as Quizzezz and Kahoot. Since many of these tools are simple and easy to use, I really do look forward to incorporating technology in my classroom. I am even willing to try some of the ones I had difficulty with including creating videos. What are your future learning goals? I would love to continue learning about new technological tools that are out there for teachers to use. I know that technology is ever changing and that it is important to keep up with those changes, so I would like to do professional developments and go to conferences to continue educating
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Week 7: Projects 8-10Chapter 11 Question 2 Privacy is a controversial issue in the Digital Age. Schools have an obligation to ensure student safety, both physical and virtual. When using the Internet or the network, this requires keeping close tabs on student’ activity when they are using computers. Do you think this violates students’ privacy? Justify your opinion and consider both points of view. No, I do not think that keeping an eye on students’ internet activity violates their privacy. It is the school’s responsibility to keep students safe, both physically and virtually. This means monitoring them using the internet. Students, especially young students, are not always aware of the consequences of putting their personal information out there on the internet. They just see a game they want to play that may require their name, email, and/or age; they do not know the dangers that providing such information can pose. As teachers, it is our responsibility to monitor internet use, and make sure that they are used properly. Some may argue First Amendment rights, but schools often have policies in place about internet and computer usage and since the computers are school property, the rules must be followed. The school and the teachers have the right to monitor students’ internet usage. Lastly, students are at school to learn; they should not be using the internet for anything outside of that. Chapter Twelve Question 1 As emerging technologies continue to affect education, there is little question that the role of the teacher will change. Imagine yourself teaching a class in 20 years. How do you think your role would be different from the typical teacher’s role today? I think it is hard to say how a teacher’s role is going to be different in twenty years compared to today. There is constantly new research showing what works and what does not and there are many factors to consider. In the years to come, as more and more teachers use it, technology will play a much bigger role in the classroom. Overall, I think that in twenty years, the teacher’s role will be significantly different. Classrooms will have become computer/internet friendly and the teacher must be able to provide the resources that the students will need. I think that technology will continue to play a bigger role in students’ education, allowing students to have more customized learning. Technology will allow for differentiated instruction with the teacher providing lessons in different formats to meet each students’ learning style. I also think that learning will be more student driven with the teacher guiding the students’ learning as the students take a more active role in their education. Lastly, I feel that there are going to be more virtual classrooms. Padlet: I think that Padlet is a great resource to use in the classroom. I could use this as a place to provide students with additional resources to use for lessons. Students can also use this page to share any resources that they may have found useful that has not been provided. Lastly, this is a great place for students to upload their work and or research and have other students comment on it. RubiStar: Rubrics are a good way to help students understand exactly what the teacher is looking for and how their projects are going to be graded. I find that rubrics can be difficult to create, but RubiStar made the whole process so much easier. Definitely using this in the future. Quizzez: I really liked Quizzes. I liked that it is very user friendly and that I can use it for multiple purposes including homework, individual work, or live games. I would probably use this for a quick, fun quiz game to make sure that the students are understanding the new content that is being introduced. Thinglink: This is another cool tool I can use to provide additional resources to students. I really like it because it is clean, neat, and visually appealing. I think this tool would work best on students who are visual learners. It is very easy to use and interactive for students; I would use this in my classroom to provide additional resources on a specific topic. Scoop.It: Of all the educational tools we used this week, this is my least favorite. I see a lot of use and benefits from it. It is another good way to provide students with additional resources, even explaining to them why you chose it, but I prefer Padlet and Thinglink. It also did not help that this gave me the most technological trouble, being very slow to load and all. I do not really see my self using this in my classroom. Code: 075920
Week 6: Project 7Chapter 9 Question 2 The Internet is a public communication area that many believe is protected by the First Amendment. Others believe that its contents should be moderated and the public protected from inappropriate content. What is your view on this controversial issue, particularly in light of the extensive use of the Internet in schools? I do believe that what people write on the internet is protected by freedom of speech. In many cases, it is a way for people to express themselves and what they believe and that is protected by the First Amendment. With that said, I think people should be cautious with what they put on the Internet, because once there it will always be out there and that can hurt them or careers down the road. Having the internet protected by the First Amendment can come at a cost with people putting inappropriate content out there. As teachers, I think that we have the responsibility to make sure that our students do not come across such content while they are doing school work. So, at school, teachers should make sure students access appropriate sites. If the teacher provides sites for students to use, then they need to vet those sites and make sure that there is no inappropriate content on the site and the content is subject related only. Another way to make sure that students do not access inappropriate content is to teach them how to properly use the internet and show them how to make sure a site is a reliable source. Chapter 10 Question 3 What role do you think distance education will play in education as the Information Age unfolds and technologies improve? What advantages and disadvantages for teachers and students do you foresee? I think that as technology and the information age improve, distance education will continue to play an increasingly important role in education. For me personally, all my classes for graduate school has been through distance education and I have found that I like it. I think that while there are a lot of advantages through distance education, there are some disadvantages as well. Advantages:
Week 5: Projects 4-6After completing the podcast and video projects, reflect your working experiences of creating multimedia materials, the challenges you encountered during your creation. You also want to focus on how you will use these technologies into your own classroom? How can authoring software help you teach and your students learn? Make sure to use Chapter 7-8 as your reference. You need to upload your movie to youtube and embed youtube video to the end of your blog. You can embed vocaroo audio to your blog as well but the link will be expired soon. So I want you to download your audio as MP3 file and upload it to your blog. You will also post the interactive Edpuzzle video class and access code to the end of your blog so that your readers will be able to access it. So overall, I found this week's projects to be very educational and enlightening. So I'm going to begin with aspects of the projects that I liked. surprisingly, I actually didn't mind the podcast. I found it easy to organize what I wanted to say and Vocaroo was very easy to use. If I decide to try flipped classroom, I can see myself using it, though it may not be my go-to tool. Out of the three projects, the one I really liked is the Edpuzzle. I will definitely be using this in my classroom. It doesn't matter what subject you teach, I think it is a perfect tool in any class. One way I can definitely use it 4 is when showing old footage in history class to make sure that students understand what is going on. I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier, but an example of me using Edpuzzle for the Space Race lesson plan is having the students watch John F. Kennedy's Moon Speech at Rice University. In the video, I think incorporate guiding questions in the video to make sure the students understand what JFK is saying. My least favorite of the three projects was the movie story. Aside from not being to text savvy and having to learn the software, I found it difficult to line up the audio with the pictures and making sure it all fits. If I was to do a video presentation in a flipped classroom, I'm going to stick to doing a video/audio recording through PowerPoint. overall, there was a lot I took away from these projects and I definitely can't wait to try and Edpuzzle in my class. Podcast Movie Story Interactive Video Code: figebja |
AuthorMy name is Saiva Baker and I am a graduate student at USM working on a Master's in Teaching. ArchivesCategoriesBlogroll:
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