Good Bye For Now!

Well guys this has been a great class. Thanks Dr. Strange for all of your insights and help. This really has been the most helpful class. Good luck to all of you!

Final Posts

1. First off I started my very first blog in this class. I love it! I love how I have been able to view other blogs, comment on them, and have others from around the world comment on my blog. I have learned so much just about blogging! I have not learned a lot about wikis but I am wanting to learn. Also, Google Docs has been a great program that I have enjoyed learning about. These google docs allows you to create presentations, share documents with others, and create so much more. I know that my school now uses Google Docs and it is a great help for teachers to collaborate.

I also have enjoyed creating podcasts. Who knew all of the great things you can use podcasts for! I enjoyed creating these with my fellow classmates and posting them to the web. Comments4kids and Comments4teachers was a great experience. This experience allowed me to interact with other teachers and students from around the world.

Now the sites such as Delicious, ACCESS, and ALEX has been very helpful. Delicious has helped me bookmark websites and helpful information for teaching. ACCESS and ALEX are great for future reference.

I do have to say that one of my favorite programs that I learned and used a lot was SKYPE. SKYPE is great. I used it to interact and stay in contact with my fellow classmates in this class. Also, my husband's family is from Bosnia so I have been able to use SKYPE not only for school but for my personal use. I think it's great that this is a free program. It does have it's glitches at times, but it's great!

Overall, I am sure I forgot to mention some things that I learned in this class but I really enjoyed it. I am currently teaching sixth grade now and I took this class to renew my teacher's certificate. I am really glad that I took this course as it has helped me learn so much more about the new technologies and programs that I can use in my classroom.

2. There is not really anything that I wanted to learn in this class that I did not. I learned a lot more than I ever thought I would.

3. There isn't anything that I learned in this class that I don't feel as though I should have learned. This class was very informational and helped me learn things that will help me not only in my classroom but at home.

4. This class did excite me. I was very excited after I recorded my first podcast and did it correctly. I was also excited when I figured out how to compile movies in iMovies and create them the way that I wanted them. I thought that was really neat.

5. I found everything to be somewhat challenging but in a good way. I think learning should be sometimes challenging. I did not find anything too hard or intellectually challenging.

6. I was not bored with this class at anytime. To me, there was nothing to be bored about. I enjoyed all of the projects and blog posts. At first I didn't really understand how this class would work and what the projects were, but then I understood as we went through the classes.

7. I would not really change this course in any way. Even if you added assignments and new programs I don't think that there is anything wrong with that. Some students may complain about the work load, but in reality it was not that bad. I did not feel overworked in this class. The only thing that seemed a bit confusing was where our next assignment may be. It was hard to keep up with the Google Docs, email, class blog posts, and syllabus just to make sure I didn't miss as assignment. I was continually checking everything to make sure I finished and did everything. There was no list to go by. But, overall I really enjoyed the class very much.

8. I do think that I am technology literate. I have learned quite a bit of things in this class and I have actually taught a few teachers at my school some things. I think that my technology literate level is Good. I know I can always learn more.

9. I am currently teaching now but I will maintain my technological literacy by continuing to blog and use the other programs that I started and learned about. I also will be going to workshops about using Smartboards. I know that I will get better once I start using these programs even more in my classroom. I hope that Mobile County Public Schools will soon be able to access the Internet more easily and maybe even use Skype!

Project 14 How to Use a Smartboard

Amy Stork, Sherik Butler, and I did a presentation on how to use a Smartboard. What we did was we did the actual presentation in class. We wanted to present this in class so we could actually use the Smartboard as we presented. When it comes to a Smartboard teachers can really do things that are hands on with their students. There are games, talking calculator, hands on writing, typing. Students are able to actually come and touch and use the Smartboard themselves. This has the students actively engaged. Take a look!

Project 8 "Sit, Stay, Good Dog!"

I chose to teach my dog how to sit. I have a boxer named Cooper who stars in this video. This video starts out by showing you how to get started teaching your dog how to sit and stay. I end the video by showing you how to teach your dog how to lay down as well. Cooper did a great job and the video was fun to create. I hope you enjoy!

April 25th post

7th grade student's PLE

What a great video. This student obviously knows what she is doing. This is very inspiring. I think it's great that her science class is paperless and has the students working online al the time. They are learning responsibility and so much more. This student uses her PLE for reflections, note taking, creating things, and a lot more. She explains how her PLE and having to work online gives students the sense of responsibility that is really great. I know that I am just starting my PLE. My PLE is not as thorough as hers but I liked the way she has hers all set up in one place. These students are able to do so much. She also creates digital posters that I found to be interesting as well. When she takes notes the system she uses keeps track of where she finds the information. This is great. I have a long way to go to get as organized as her.



2 Questions:

What's my sentence? Well, I really have never thought of that question in that sense. I will have to think of my sentence. This question really makes you think of your purpose as an educator. What is a teacher's purpose? What do we intend on doing for our students? Parents? Once I find out this answer, I will have a better understanding of my days as a teacher.

Was I better today than yesterday? Another great question. I know that I have not thought about this until now. This is a good motivator. We all should be better tomorrow than we are today. I don't think we always are, but we should strive for this. This is a great motivator for us as teachers and for everyone.

2nd Post on my PLN

My PLN.... Well I can say that I have had fun creating my PLN. My PLN started with a few websites on Delicious and meeting a few teachers through EDM310. I am now adding more and more sights to my PLN such as Mrs. Rose's Kindergarten class Blog and great sites for using the Smartboard.

I now follow Mrs. Kelly Hines on Twitter and she is always posting tweets. Not only have I explored many new educational sites and blogs, but I have also spoke to other teachers at my school about technology in the classroom. Most teachers that I have come across feel the same as I about technology. The local teachers in my PLN are not able to use technology like the other teachers I have come across in other areas around the world. Mobile Public Schools are limited when it comes to computers in the classroom.

Overall, I am now starting to use ALEX in the classroom. It allows me to look up lessons and interesting sites to use in the class. Thanks to Dr. Strange I am able to continue learning about PLNs and enlarge my own Personal Learning Network.

Project 13 Videocast

Check out our videocast!

It's Time For Technology Talk

Project 15 Interview

For this project I interviewed a local teacher Ame Clements. She teaches eighth grade and she actually teaches a technology class. I asked Mrs. Clements how she used technology in her classroom on a daily basis. In this video you will hear what she has to say about her classroom and how technology plays a major roll in it.

Comments4kids Week 14

This week I commented on Mrs. Cassidy's student Kayla. Kayla posted a comment about getting a new dog. She named her new dog Maks. I commented and told her that I liked dogs and animals and that I have two dogs of my own, Maya and Cooper. I asked Kayla what kind of dog she got. She also commented that she may have had to take the dog back because Dylan was allergic to it. I asked her if they had to take it back. Great post Kayla!

April 18th Blog Post

Do teachers need to be technologically literate? Do teachers need to know about the Internet? Do teachers need to teach their students about the Internet? Watch this video and tell me what you think.



What an interesting video. This child is right. Are we going to be teachers that don't even know the Internet? I have said it before and I will say it again. Just like the Zax video we just watched. Time is changing. Schools have still seemed to stay the same. Teachers need to be learning more and more. We should not stop our education after college. I think teachers should all take EDM310 and learn all of these new technologies that I have learned. I graduated college in 2005 and I had already taken EDM310. Boy have things changed. I am taking this class to renew my teacher's certificate, but I really have benefited from this class. This class has changed for the better. I have learned many programs that I didn't know, I have experienced interactions with other teachers from around the world, and I have found new teacher resources and websites to share with my students. I do think that teachers need to be technology literate. Our students will pass us up when it comes to technology. We should be teaching them about the Internet and sharing their thoughts and ideas with the world. What do you think about this? Are you ready to incorporate technology in your classroom?

Vocaroo Comment

For my Vocaroo project I commented on Amy Stork's (Class G) April 11th post.

Why Post Work?

I think it is very important for students to post their work to blogs. Students are able to learn, have an audience, create, smile, get excited, and many more things. Students not only learn how to use blogs but they also learn how to venture out and learn about other people and see what their friends have posted. They can also meet new people and talk to people all over the world. What a great advantage for students. Not all students have this advantage. I found actually many inspiring things that are great examples of why students should post their work to blogs. Check them out!


This video sums it all up!

Here is a kindergarten blog that I found to be very interesting. These students are creative and the teacher posts things about their days. The teacher seems to post most of the articles on this blog, but it is still all about the students!
Mrs. Rose's Kindergarten Friends



Now this is a fun blog. Mrs. Yollis' Classroom Blog!
This video shows the students learning about North America. Mrs. Yollis updates her blog regularly and shares her students' work.

Comments4Teachers Jenny She

My Comments4Teachers assignment for these past two weeks was about Jenny She. Jenny's blog was "created to record my experiences ,reflection, learning, sharing and any other things that matter to my career as a teacher." Jenny has this posted on her blog. Also, Jenny is a primary school teacher in Auckland New Zealand.



My first comment April 6, 2010

Hello Ms. She. My name is Tiffany Lindell Karamovic. I am taking a college class entitled EDM310 for Dr. Strange at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, AL. One of my assignments was to visit your blog. I will be following your blog and keeping up with your ideas for the next couple of weeks. I am glad he assigned me to your blog. I read your post and was very interested. The class that I am taking is actually about technology in education. I am also a sixth grade teacher her in Mobile. I have just recently learned how to use imovie and all of it's features. I am still learning. In the class we are taking, Dr. Strange is teaching all sorts of programs and things that will be very helpful to us as educators. I am glad that you have come so far. It seems as though you have done a great job. Come visit our class blog if you get a chance. Click here! My own blog.


My second comment April 12, 2010

Ms. She,

I was glad to see your post. I have used a technique like this in my classroom. We call them "Centers" and not taskboards, but they are very similar. I like that with taskboards the students can actually go and see where they are supposed to be and what they are supposed to be doing. In Centers the students are in certain groups and go do certain things while the teacher completes guided reading with a group. The other students that are not in the guided reading group are assigned to a certain center. Teachers can either create their own center depending on what they are working on that week or month, or they can have a set center such as computers. I also see students getting frustrated when they have to leave a certain center that they have not completed. I will try your technique. I am sure this will work much better and the students will get the full benefit of the center. I will also try the taskboard. That will also help with confusion and questions. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and ideas.

Comments4Kids Week 13

Hossanah's favorite thing to do at Camp.....

I was assigned to the CLASS OF YEAR FIVES AT PT ENGLAND SCHOOL blog. The student's name was Hossanah. He posted a blog post about his favorite thing at camp. Hossanah loved to skate. He even used great descriptive words to explain a time that he fell. He said he got right back up and continued skating, even though it hurt little. I told Hossanah to keep up the good work and to keep blogging!

Dear Kaia

What an inspiring story. All three of these sites are very inspirational. Kaia will really enjoy looking back at all of her accomplishments. Kaia’s blog showed all of the pictures she took while outside her home with her father. I think it’s great that her father did this for her. Now others are able to actually comment back to Kaia personally. Mr. Chamberlain’s blog showed us how him and his students were able to communicate to Kaia rather than just writing comments. This way, Kaia was able to hear the comments and better understand that other people are watching her and reading about her. The older that Kaia gets, the more she will understand. I think creating a VoiceThread was a great idea for Kaia. Her father was also able to show her and explain to her about other people looking at her blog and pictures.

Kaia’s father’s post was also inspiring. Kaia’s father had some rally good points. I do not have children yet, but I can see how it may be hard for parents to put all of their trust in teachers when it comes to the web. I know Kaia’s father originally started this site to share photos with family. Then it became a way to document her life and now he is sharing Kaia’s story with people all over the world. Kaia’s father mentioned how he is almost scared at this, but he thought about it as a teacher. He thought that if he needs to be able to share these ideas and technologies with students then he should be able to for his own child. Sharing your child with the world is a scary thing. Even though there will be many lessons learned, is it ok? Is there more harm than good? Kaia’s father comes up with a very good set of questions. “What is the value in this experience? Is the risk of exposing ourselves and our children online worth the connections that will be made and the lessons that will be learned?”

Wordle

My Wordle Picture!

Comments4Kids Week 12

"This is me on our zoo trip. I saw the giraffe and she was a beautiful elegant walker." ~~Angelo from Room 2

This description was under Angelo's picture he drew. I wrote Angelo and told him what a great description he had about his picture and that I really enjoyed the colors in his picture. Seeing pictures and writings of these young students really do inspire me. I enjoy Comments4Kids each week.

Morgan Bayda

What an intriguing teacher. I have really enjoyed reading about Morgan Bayda’s thoughts and ideas. Ms. Bayda grew up in Regina, Saskatchewan. I read about how much she enjoys extracurricular activities. Ms. Bayda enjoys basketball (which my husband loves), piano, and outdoor activities. I also like to do extracurricular activities. I like to run, dance, and do anything outside really. Ms. Bayda, in general, loves kids. She stated, “There is almost nothing more beautiful than a child who has just made a brand new discovery about their world!” I love this comment. I truly love to teach. I am anxious and willing to learn new things. I think that all teachers should be open to new ideas and new technologies that may be open to them. Classrooms are still the same, teachers are still the same, but life in general is changing. These kids are growing up in such a different and new world. It’s exciting, but we as future educators need to be excited as well.

Ms. Bayda explains that she has a respect for students. It is always nice to hear a teacher say such positive things. Some teachers that I talk to each day at work are negative about their job and their students. Now there will be days that are rough and the students may be challenging, but teachers still need to stay positive. Ms. Bayda states that she is taking or has taken an Ed computer class. With this class she has learned all about PLN’s, Twitter, Wiki's, and other useful resources. Since I am also taking a class that is very similar, I can compare my experiences. Before I took this class, I didn’t even know about some of the helpful sites and technologies that I know about now. I know that with EDM310, I will be able to use these resources in my future classrooms. It makes me excited to think about the future and to learn more and more each day.

Timetoast Timeline

I did my timeline on the History of Cell Phones. I googled the history of cell phones and gathered information on when phones were first introduced. I found this site to be very interesting and a great tool to use. I can use this tool in the classroom for projects and such. On my particular timeline I just gathered information and compiled it together. I attached pictures I found from Google Images and quoted where I got the information.

Here is my Timeline.

Comments4teachers Alan Stange

My first comment March 24, 2010:

Hello Mr. Stange. My name is Tiffany Lindell Karamovic. I am taking a college class entitled EDM310 for Dr. Strange at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, AL. One of my assignments was to visit your blog. I will be following your blog and keeping up with your ideas. I am glad he assigned me to your blog. I read your post and was very interested. The class that I am taking is actually about technology in education. I am a sixth grade teacher her in Mobile. Technology is our future. Teachers direct class and students use pencil and paper to regurgitate what they have learned. I can see how students in this time and age would get bored with that, day in and day out. I really enjoyed watching this clip. It opens many different thoughts and ideas about technology in education. If teachers were told to use cellphones to teach at my school, they would probably laugh at the idea. I know that sounds rough, but it's the truth. We need to reach our students and like you said, challenge them to think and learn in unfamiliar ways. I wanted to share with you our class blog. Also, here is my blog.

Formative Assessment on Prezi

My second comment March 29, 2010:

Mr. Stange,
Very interesting concept. Thank you for sharing. This is an interesting way to think of grades ~ "school’s drug of choice – grades!" I know as a teacher, I am required to keep so many grades per week and quarter. This humor was insightful. I enjoyed watching the ideas from Joe Bower on how to use other tactics rather than grades. Student-self assessments are a very good idea as well as teacher assessments. Thank you for sharing these ideas with us.

This blog that I was assigned to is "A PrairieSouth Staff Sites weblog; here you will find random thoughts on public education in Southern Saskatchewan, particularly the impact of technology on fostering learning."

Take a look!

Survey

My survey was a general survey. I asked my classmates questions about their life and questions about EDM310. I also asked my classmates if they believed teachers need to be technologically literate. One student's response was "Our students are going to be extremely technology literate, so we need to learn ourselves. As teachers, we also need to incorporate some of the skills we've learned in this class in our own in the future." I agree with their response. I received other responses that were similar as well.

I also found out that most of the students that were included in this survey are juniors in college. 76% of the students are not married. I found out that most students enjoyed this class this semester and feel as though they have completed all of the assignments that have been posted as of now. I am posting my results so you can take a look.


My survey results!

Comments4Kids Week 10

This week I was assigned to Mrs. Kolbert's Class blogs. I read Jessica's blog post entitled "Funny Signs Part 2". Jessica has been posting pictures of funny signs that she has found. I have posted a few pictures for you to see. I told Jessica that I really enjoyed her post. These signs made me laugh!! Enjoy!

Comments4Kids Week 9

This week I was assigned to Kindergarten Days class blog. I read about their day 109. These kindergartners had 71 more days in kindergarten. On this day the students started out by working on their calendar and working with patterns. They had a very full day. Throughout the day they went to art, the computer lab, and read a book, Five Little Ducks. The students also recorded a song that went with the book. They liked that. The students couldn't go outside because it was raining. I enjoy how the teacher posts her class blog as they are short and to the point sentences. I really like it. I commented back the same way that they wrote on their blog. I left my blog so they can visit me!

Lisa Nielson " The Innovative Educator" Comments4Teachers

For Comments4Teachers I was assigned to Ms. Lisa Nielsen's blog. Ms. Nielsen created this site "to enable her to share information, ideas, and resources with other innovative educators as well as begin to grow a community interested in educating innovatively." Ms. Nielsen does keep up with her blog and updates it regularly. These are the three comments that I posted to Ms. Nielsen's blog.

First Comment March 2nd:

Hello Ms. Nielsen. My name is Tiffany Lindell Karamovic. I am taking a college class entitled EDM310 for Dr. Strange at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, AL. One of my assignments was to visit your blog. I will be following your blog and keeping up with your ideas. I am glad he assigned me to your blog. I read your post and was very interested. The class that I am taking is actually about technology in education. I agree with you. I am also a sixth grade teacher her in Mobile. I know that at my school students are blocked or restricted on many sites. Students are not able to access these learning communities and technologies. I don't agree with some of these comments to your post. Technology is our future. No, I don't think that technology should be the primary focus, but times have changed. Teachers direct class and students use pencil and paper to regurgitate what they have learned. I can see how students in this time and age would get bored with that, day in and day out. Parents also play a huge role in this online learning experience. If parents are aware of this online learning community, they can be shown how to monitor their children and help them. I really enjoyed your ideas. It sounds as though you are excited to present at the Conference in April. My blog for our class is here! I will be posting a blog post to my blog about my visits to your blog on or before March 21. I am anxious to follow up. Our class blog!

Second comment March 5th:

Ms. Nielsen,
I hope this Webinar went well for everyone. It seems as though many teachers and educators would greatly benefit from TEDxNYED. As I commented before, I am taking a technology class for the University of South Alabama for Dr. Strange. He has had us read some articles and ideas from Michael Wesch which is one of the presenters at this Webinar. I have been looking into the TEDxNYED website. Thank you for posting this information. I will share this information with my classmates and some faculty at my school. I am also going to look up TEDxNYED on Twitter to find out more information.

Third comment March 8th:

Hello Ms. Nielsen! This is an interesting clip. What a great question. If learning has not happened, has teaching occurred?? Do we hold teachers to a higher standard? My thoughts, and my thoughts only, are that teachers are held to higher standards. I know that at the end of each quarter at the school I teach at, the teachers are reviewed according to their EQT scores. How did your students do? Were your students proficient? So, this is a great question. I liked the other comment from Meg Hill. "Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself." ~~ Chinese Proverb. This is very true. Ms. Nielsen, thank you for sharing this strip with us. Do you think teaching has happened if learning has not occurred?

ACCESS (Alabama Connecting Classroom, Educators and Students Statewide) program

ACCESS is program designed to “create equity through additional educational offerings for all Alabama public high school students.” This program provides advanced courses to all high school students in the state of Alabama. ACCESS allows students to take courses that may not be available at their high school. This program allows students to receive advanced diplomas and take courses that was never possible until now. It doesn’t matter where the students are, if they are in the state of Alabama, this program is designed to help students achieve their goals more easily. With ACCESS students use video conferencing, emails, and real-time chat sessions to complete these courses. ACCESS has opened students to another world. The state of Alabama created ACCESS to help expand access to students, no matter where they may be, to accomplish their school goals.

ACCESS is a very helpful and creative idea. I think that students would find this very helpful and useful. The more and more parents, students, and faculty that are opened to this program, the more the students will benefit. This program was started November 1, 2004. From then on, ACCESS has progressed and improved to help students achieve their goals. So far, when teachers, administration, parents, and students are introduced to this program, they are all open to this program. Students can only benefit from these new technologies. Not only are students furthering their education, but they are also finding out and using new technologies to do this. With the help of online teachers and courses, the sky is the limit for our 21st classroom students!!

ALEX (Alabama Learning Exchange)

ALEX is a project created by the Alabama Department of Education. This program was designed to share all types of educational materials and information through a single website. With this website teachers are able to view the Alabama Course of Study at a touch of a button. It leads you directly to the grade level and subject area you are looking for. This is much more convenient than having to find it through Google or the Mobile County Public website. ALEX also has a link to lesson plans. You can also look up lesson plans for a certain grade level and subject area. These lesson plans have been approved to correlate to the ALCOS. Teachers in our same area and under the same Course of Study have uploaded and shared their lesson plans for other teachers. Next, this website also has a “Teacher Zone”. With this link, teachers are able to view technology tips for their classroom. This can be very helpful, especially to the teachers that are beginning to learn about the new technologies. There is a “Web Resources” link on ALEX that also has correlated web links for teachers to use in their classrooms and lessons.

ALEX has a link called “Podcast Treasury”. I really thought this was interesting. What a great idea. This link has different podcasts that students may enjoy. Teachers can view and listen to these podcasts and use them in their lessons as well. Overall, ALEX is a great site for local and state wide teachers and educators to use. It has all of the needed information all in one. I really liked the web links that this site has. The web sites include interactive sites, live web cams, and really fun examples. Teachers can look up professional development and read material that may answer questions they may have. I think teachers should all know about this site and have it bookmarked if possible. I will be able to share this with the teachers and faculty at my school in case they are not aware of it.

Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture

What an amazing story. After watching this video I went on to watch the other videos about Randy’s story. I was in tears. Randy Pausch was a wonderful man. His story was very uplifting and real. Mr. Pausch started out his Last Lecture by talking about his personal story and stating he had 3-6 months to live. He also stated he bought a beautiful house and just bought a MAC. He was about to talk about his childhood dreams, how to help others, and the lessons he learned. Mr. Pausch was a funny professor that was very helpful and knowledgeable. His childhood dreams were to be in zero gravity, be in the NFL, be an author of an Encyclopedia article, to be Captain Kirk, win stuffed animals, and to become a Disney Imagineer. How inspiring. Mr. Pausch, in my eyes, accomplished all of his dreams.

When it came to zero gravity, Mr. Pausch went through a tough obstacle to get there, but he did accomplish his dream. For 25 seconds, he got to experience zero gravity while on a plane with students. He first could not go as a faculty member, but he wanted to say he was a journalist just so he could go. In the long run, HE DIT IT. His next childhood dream was to be in the NFL. No, he didn’t actually make it to the NFL, but while he played football and listened to his coach, he realized that people who care correct you to make you better. He learned life lessons while playing football. He kept his letterman jacket and wore it because he could. This story is very inspiring. How wonderful to have these wonderful memories and lessons learned. His next dream was to write in the Encyclopedia and he accomplished that dream. He wrote on virtual reality. Now when it came to being Captain Kirk, he did get to meet him. He created a virtual lab that Captain Kirk wanted to see. He did learn about leadership with this experience. It seems as though we all should learn lessons throughout our lives in our everyday different situations.

His last two childhood dreams were to win large stuffed animals and to become a Disney Imagineer. Mr. Pausch showed pictures of himself with all of the large animals he won throughout his life. He even brought them into the lecture. That made him happy. He accomplished another dream. His last was to become a Disney Imagineer. I noticed he had a Walt Disney shirt on while he was presenting. You could tell that was a big part of his life. His application to Disney was first rejected and he hit a “brick wall”. Not all brick walls are bad. They just make us work even harder. He met John Snoddy and went to lunch with him. In the end, he helped create the Aladdin magic carpet virtual reality game/product. He accomplished another dream!! After he accomplished his dreams he wanted a way to help other accomplish their dreams so he became a professor. He had a class to create virtual reality worlds and his students, by far, surpassed his goals for the class. He keep telling them they could do better even though he was amazed by their work. The students then had other faculty, parents, friends, and other students in line to watch their presentations. What a story. He also touched on “Alice” which helped students to think they were learning computer programming while there was a “head fake”. They were having fun while learning something hard. Mr. Pausch loved that.

He explained that our family, parents, friends, classmates, and professors are all here to help us accomplish our dreams in life. This is so true. So how do you get people to help you? Mr. Pausch answered this by saying this: Be earnest and apologize when you mess up. In the video, his wife’s birthday was the previous day and he had a cake brought out for her. The entire room sang Happy Birthday for her. She was in tears. His wrap up told us all to not complain, but to work harder, be good at something, wait to find the best in every one, and be prepared. What good advice. His final words he talked about what the “Head Fake” was. He said this Last Lecture was not for the audience, but for his kids. This entire story was very touching and powerful. I enjoyed watching this and continued to watch other videos about Mr. Pausch’s life and thoughts. I would really like to purchase his book and read it. I have seen many reviews about it and they said it was well worth it. I know that Mr. Pausch’s family and students miss him very much, but there is no doubt that his ideas and thoughts will never be forgotten.

Comments4Kids Week 8

I was assigned to a class blog that was explaining their 105th day of school. This blog was real neat. The teacher makes daily posts about the students' day. On this day, it was James' birthday. They started out their day by writing thank you notes. They colored buses and went out to the bus and decorated it with the thank you notes. The news came and took their picture. They were on the news that night. Also, they added a green heart to their calendar as it was the 105th day of school. Then, the students read the book Hush and then talked about their blog. They saw that a man named Tom liked their blog and he is from England. The students then went to lunch and came back to do centers. At the end of the day, James' parents brought birthday cake and ice cream to share with the class!! Yum. I told the students that I really enjoyed reading about their day and to keep up the good work!

Progress on my PLN

It took me to do some good research to really find out what a PLN is. I actually found the “Networked Student” video when I was researching it before I knew it was an assignment. A big tool that is helping me a bunch with my PLN is Delicious. Anytime that I come across a website that I find useful and helpful to me as a teacher, I have been bookmarking it to my Delicious. I am now finding other people who have saved the same website to their Delicious account and I am researching their websites. I have found some really helpful sites by viewing other people’s bookmarks. I have used Skype to stay connected with my classmates as well. I have been exploring with Twitter, Diigo, and google docs. If I only had all the time in the world I could sit and research a bunch of information. I enjoy doing my blog assignments for this class as well because that also helps me to broaden my PLN. I know the more and more that I explore and comment, I will meet even more people and find even more helpful sites. Creating and expanding my PLN is fun, but like I said, it takes time.

Toward a New Future of Whatever- Michael Wesch

What a great video. Mr. Wesch first started his presentation off by talking about how society amuses themselves to death. He talked about his 200-400 students that he has and showed a picture of his class and compared it to a picture of the American Idol Auditions. He explains that people seem to have no sense of significance. This is true. People seem to feel as though they need to make themselves feel important or significant in order to amuse themselves and be positive about themselves. I see his comparison. I know when I was in college, students didn’t seem engaged and sat in a class just like his and followed along as the instructor spoke; knowing that was the right thing to do. Students are now able to walk and access the Internet at a touch of a button. Mr. Wesch continues to talk about the definition of the word “Whatever”. He explained that before the 1960s “Whatever” meant “That’s what I meant.” In the late 60s, the definition changed to “I don’t care, Whatever.” In the MTV generation he showed an example of the Simpsons and “Meh”. I remember a few of those changes, but this really made me think. People have become self-centered and don’t know how to know themselves.

In my life, I know I say “Whatever” at times. I have tried to sit and think of exactly what I meant by saying it. Mr. Wesch goes on to discuss uTube. Everyday there are over 1,000,000,000 videos uploaded on the Internet. That in itself is a hard fact to grasp. 99.9% of those videos are irrelevant to us. One of the most recent videos that we are all aware of is the “Charley Bit Me” video. People have recreated this video and it has gotten a lot of views. Why is this relevant to us? It’s not. We as humans have come to use this medium, uTube, to communicate to the world. Mr. Wesch’s students made good points when they created their own videos about how they are conscience about how they look before they record themselves, but in reality they are only talking to a camera on a computer. It is too easy to reach the world by using uTube. You may only be talking to a computer, but anyone in the world can view your video. Mr. Wesch had an example of MAD V who is the person that created a very responsive video by writing messages on people’s hand. This was the first actually that I had seen of this. I personally do not stay current with uTube videos.

Every once in a while a friend may show me a uTube video that is funny or something I may like, but I am probably one of the few that don’t keep up with uTube. Watching this video made me realized just how many people upload videos and watch videos each day. Just think about the future. If there are over a million videos uploaded daily now, just think. As a future educator, we as teachers will see many more advancements. I think we will see more than we know. It is an exciting thing if you think about it, but also scary in a way. I know that when I was taking my undergraduate classes at South, we would sit in our classroom and listen to lectures. I am sure some classes are still that way. I took EDM 310 when I was in college. I remember that we would meet in a computer lab and have certain topics to comment about. Now that I am taking this class to renew my teachers certificate I see how much things have changed in five years. This class is now very engaging and has helped me learn a lot!

The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler

I really liked this assignment. When I was researching websites and looking at blogs for my PLN, I found this video. I actually emailed Dr. Strange about this video and told him to take a look at it as I thought he would enjoy it. This was obviously before I had looked at our assignments for this weeks posts. I watched this video a couple of times. The student that created this did a very good job. I first watched this when I was trying to better understand about a PLN. The thought of students creating PLNs in the future really is exciting to think about.

When asked the question, "Why does the networked student even need a teacher?" I then watched this video again. Really, this video sums up the class we are taking right now. EDM310 with Dr. Strange includes all of the networks and technologies that this video explained. When I think of this question, I think of Dr. Strange. Why do we as a class need Dr. Strange? Well, he is here for guidance, he helps us learn how to use all of these new technologies, he models them, and he is our connected learning core. Without our teacher, we would not know about these new technologies or how to use them. I know that I have emailed Dr. Strange and spoke with him a few times about not only assignments but about how to use these programs. If it weren’t for our teacher, we would not know the direction to take. We would have to learn these things and explore them on our own.

Am I ready to be the teacher of a networked student? I am on the verge of starting to learn to be ready. This class in itself is a great starting point. I am not ready right now to take on a bunch of networked students. With all of the new ideas and programs that we are being opened to we all will one day come to a class that is far more advanced than they ever have been. We as educators need to learn with them. Just as Dr. Strange gave us the Comments4Teachers assignment, and he even stated that this is his first year trying this assignment with his students. We need to give him the good and rough points about this assignment. He is learning right along with us. I really would like to follow up with Ms. Drexler and see how this assignment went with her students in the fall. I am sure they will do great and that in the process they will learn a lot.

Richard Miller: This Is How We Dream Parts 1 and 2

Richard Miller’s videos really summed up the change that is present in our generation. In Part 1 of Mr. Miller’s presentation, he talks about the greatest change of human history. He started with explaining that writing used to be a solitary activity that ended with a book that joined the other books in the library. Now those books are out of print and found on Amazon for 59 cents. He talked about how our workspace has changed from pencil and paper to our desktop. He did a project and was able to quickly find anything he needed on the web. It was in minutes he found the needed information. This is an incremental change, not a fundamental change. We are all sharing knowledge forever.; our thoughts, new ideas, and resources. During the election, people could go to the Washington Post and find out the progress and votes at a click of a button. Mr. Miller’s points are real. They are exact.

Part 2 of his presentation started off by stating that all of the new material added each day to the web changes instantly. New ideas and facts are created with the information already posted. Mr. Miller mentions Jonathan Harris and his work. He also explains iTunes U and how the academic lectures benefit students. These ideas belong to our culture. In our generation, when we find information on the web, we cannot only use it to create new ideas and learn, but we can also get behind it and see how it is used. We have yet to create the availability that we need to share and educate everyone, but Mr. Miller believes that that time will come. He continues and emphasizes that we need inspiring teachers and newly shared pedagogies. This is not only about the new technologies, but it is about what these new technologies allow.

Mr. Miller’s presentation was well planned and had a lot of great points. There are many new technologies in our generation. I think there are so many people in the world that do not even know what is available to them. Just as he stated, we as educators should use these advancements to better our learning and teaching methods. We can start by seeing what is there and then creating our own ideas and blogs. Mr. Miller said he created a document in uTube and within three months, there were over 9,000 views. People had posted his document in their own blogs. This then changed his travels and daily plans. I know that since I have started this class, I never knew the possibilities of the computer. I think it’s great that I have a blog now and we are leaving our URL’s and emails when we research our assignments. Every time we leave a comment on someone’s blog, we are giving our own thoughts and ideas about things. This then may be a starting point for other ideas around the world. We can take what we learn and share it with others and our students. As Mr. Miller said, “This change is HUGE.”

Comments4Kids Week 7

This week I viewed a blog from Hackham East Schools in Adelaide, South Australia. This class is of boys and this is their second year as bloggers. I commented on a post entitled "Fruit Friday". This post stated that the students bring different fruits each Friday. They have a student cut the fruit and then they eat it. This is not only a healthy activity, but fun. I commented on their blog post and told them that I could try this with my students. I think it would be a nice treat!!

Comments4Kids Week 6

This week I was assigned to a blog from Pt England School. The first post I was to comment on was not working so I commented on the previous blog post. This post was a picture of the new set of students that are now in charge of the blog for this year. These students will be posting assignments, videos, and pictures of their class' activities. I posted a comment and told them to keep up the good work!!

Dr. Scott McLeod

After reading Mr. McLeod’s most recent comment, I went back to the original post on his blog and read come of the comments. I also went to the links that he provided for us to look at. I especially liked “Educating Trumps Blocking” by Kimberly Moritz. I agree with Ms. Moritz and think that when it comes to schools filtering their computers, it needs to stop. Kids will be kids, BUT like she said, “Stop filtering everything, teach kids how and where they can go on-line while in school, and give consequences to the 2% who make a mistake.” She made another good point in her article. Kids are and should be monitored while using computers. There are programs that allow you to monitor the student’s computers while sitting at your desk. I used this program last quarter. It was amazing!

Also, Mr. McLeod expresses that filtering needs to stop as well. By filtering and blocking the Internet, students get the message that they are not trusted. In reality, they aren’t and that is why they are blocked. Students will have to fend for themselves when it comes to these new technologies if they continue to be blocked all the time. I know at the school I teach a lot of websites are blocked. How can we as future educators bring all of the interesting new ideas and technologies to the classroom if we are blocked from most of them?

Using iPods in Instruction

http://www.learninginhand.com/ipod/index.html (had trouble making these links live.. sorry)
This site is entitled “Learning in Hand”. The creator, Tony Vincent, is a technology specialist that has created this amazing educator’s resource. Tony taught 5th grade in Omaha for 6 years. He helped teachers learn many of the new technologies and use them in their classrooms. Tony compiled all that he knows about technology into this very useful site. In his recent blog, he has the DO’s and DON’Ts of using iPod Touches in the classroom. There are so many things on this website that will help teachers and future educators in using and finding out about new technologies in the classroom. Take a look if you get a chance!!

When I researched about Duke University using iPods, I found this report:
http://cit.duke.edu/pdf/reports/ipod_initiative_04_05.pdf
This report is a summary of the first year that Duke introduced using iPods in instruction. The reports states that, “the iPod increased the frequency and depth of student interaction with audio course content through portable and flexible access offered by the iPod.” It also stated that there was, “Greater student engagement and interest in class discussions, labs, field research, and independent projects.” This very informative report included statistics, other benefits, comments, and specific class applications. It seemed as though students were more engaged in their classes. After reading some of the comments on this report, some of the students found that being able to record lectures and group activities helped them to better their understanding of the course. I really enjoyed this article. This article just proves that by using iPods and other technologies in instruction not only benefits the students but also the faculty.

iTunes U

How interesting and helpful is iTunes U! What I did was I went on my iTunes on my MacBook Pro and I clicked on iTunes U. I went to the different universities. The first movie I clicked on was at Auburn University and it was from the college of Education. I watched part of it and the topic was Private Practice for a class. The video was really funny at first. There were two men, Mike and Randy, and it was their first video attempt. They couldn’t stop laughing for a while. The video overall seemed to be full of information on the topic at hand. Here is a link: http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/auburn.edu.1392433795?i=1679205158
After watching a few of these I went to others. I really like iTunes U. I found all sorts of podcasts and videos from different universities. I was not familiar with iTunes U until this class. I think iTunes U is very helpful to students and teachers.

I know as a student, iTunes U would allow me to stay updated on my classes and be more involved with my class. My professors would also benefit. Once they create a podcast and/or a video clip of their lessons, they have them for future references as well. Out of a few of the other videos and podcasts that I listened to and watched, this one was about the topic at hand. http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/bama.ua.edu.2897382591?i=1803099860
This video was about podcasting from the University of Alabama. The instructor of this presentation entitled his PowerPoint “Podcasting as Pathway to Engaged Learning”. I watched some of the presentation and the presenter posted his thoughts on podcasting. He states that, “podcasting provides digitally stored audio” for the students. This is a good point. Students are more likely to have either a Smart Phone or iPod. So when it comes to podcasting from universities, students can easily go to iTunes and download needed material. Another great video if you get a second to check it out.

Dr. Alice Christie's Web Site

Dr. Alice is an Arizona State University President’s Professor Emeritus. She taught in K-12 schools for twenty-five years and recently retired from Arizona State University. Dr. Alice now conducts workshops internationally and nationally promoting technology in education. On Dr. Alice’s website she has a section entitled “Searching the Web”. In this part of her website she lists a number of Search Engines, Research Sites, Search Tools, and links to help use Search Engines effectively. She has a link on her website that brings you to this diagram. Even further, Dr. Alice placed links on this diagram to various online researching resources.

After I clicked on these links and read some of the material, I added her website to my favorites on my computer! Dr. Alice not only has links to very helpful reading material, but she has links to live web cams, simulations, and even web links to reference sites on all subjects. I almost couldn't stop clicking! By looking at her sight and being a teacher myself, I know that almost everyday I am on the web looking for lesson ideas and fun activities for my students. No matter what the objective is, I am sure I will be able to use her website to benefit the students. I really enjoyed looking over her site. I will probably use this sight on a daily basis!!

Skype

I wanted to post a blog about how I have been using Skype this semester. So far I have used Skype quite a bit. I started using Skype in the beginning of the class. I stay in contact with a classmate in this class and we discuss blog assignments and classwork. Amy Stork and I use Skype just to talk as well. Now that we are also working on our podcast, I have been using Skype to stay in contact with my podcast partners. Skype is really an interesting tool.

My husband is from Bosnia. Every since I have learned more about Skype, we have been able to talk to his parents that are still in Bosnia. Skype has helped us stay in touch with his family. I know that I will use Skype throughout the remainder of this class as well as for other personal things. I really have enjoyed it. You can talk to everyone!!!!

"What I've Learned This Year" by Mr. McClung

I really enjoyed this entry. I am glad Dr. Strange had us read this post. In my comment to Mr. McClung, I told him that I am a third year teacher in Mobile, Alabama. When I read his entry it sounded similar to my first year of teaching. I remember my student teaching and I was so worried about my superior watching me and scoring me on my "well planned out" lesson, that I did forget about my audience. During my first year of teaching I had teachers, parents, and some students telling me things that they thought I needed to know about teaching. When I realized that I was the only who taught my students day in and day out, I realized I had to do things on my own. After many of my "well-planned out" lessons did not work as I had planned them, I also realized that things may not go as planned. I actually learned a lot when they didn't.

My students and I grew together throughout the year and by the end of the year we had a blast. I changed my expectations and realized that not every day was going to be perfect. Now, in my third year teaching, I am still learning new styles, ideas, and technology. Every time I try something new with my students, I find it interesting to see if it works or not. During the journey though, I have had a lot of fun. I will be learning more and more each year and it makes me excited. I enjoy what I do and realized that not every year is the same. I thanked Mr. McClung for sharing his first year experiences and thoughts. I thoroughly enjoyed reading his post.

Wikipedia

What an interesting concept. After reading these articles and listening to the podcast about the Wikipedia, I am now questioning if anyone can trust what it says. Ever since Virgil Griffith created the Wikipedia Scanner, people have been questioning this reliable source of information. I know this is news to me, so I am sure that many people do not even know about this. Virgil Griffith is a grad student from Cal Tech that first became curious about the editing that was going on with Wikipedia. Virgil then created a scanner that allows people to trace back the IP address of who was editing or changing the Wikipedia entry. The Wikipedia has always allowed people or companies to edit or change any entries posted. After Virgil Griffith realized that Congress members’ offices had been editing their own entries, he got curious to see who else was editing entries. After creating this scanner, people are now able to trace back the editing to the companies that are doing it.

Diebold, a leading maker of voting machines, the FBI, Walmart, and a variety of politicians are editing and changing the Wikipedia entries about their companies. Is Wikipedia a reliable source of information? In one of the articles, it stated that children that are doing research on a certain topic should not just use Wikipedia for a reliable source of information. Students should also use another source of information to back up their findings. In my opinion, this makes me question the Wikipedia. I know that I will share this information with friends and family. Just as the podcast stated, I do think that this could possibly be lead to bettering the Wikipedia, but as of now, I am not so sure.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12823729

Comments4Kids Week 5

This week I was assigned to a post of two 9-10 year old students from England. Their post was a fictional story about a girl that was attending a science fair. In their story they wrote about a "blood red radioactive spider" that jumped out of nowhere and bit the girl. They continue to tell what happens to the girl after the spider bit her. They used a great variety of descriptive words in their writing. They also had about 15 comments on their story already. These comments were from many different people of all ages. I commented on their post and told them that they did a great job on the story. I told them that I especially enjoyed the ending as it left the reader in suspense about what will happen next. I enjoyed reading their story!

Comments4Kids Week 4

The student I commented on was Emma J. She wrote a paragraph on the author, Ruth Spiro. She writes the Fizz books. Emma talked about how the author told the students a hint about her next book. She also posted how she was like the author. I commented on her post and told her that it sounded like she enjoyed the author visit. I told Emma to keep up the good work and that I enjoyed looking at her blog.

Tiffany's Presentation

The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom

I watched this video clip on podcasting in the classroom and thought it was great! The teacher in this video really took time to plan out his lesson using podcasting and even incorporated other teacher’s voices in it. From the teacher’s comments, the students seemed to have enjoyed the lesson. Not only was it visual but it was also audio. Podcasting is a great way for students to use their higher order thinking skills, project based learning, and it promotes creativity. Students can use role play to create a podcast as well. I found that students enjoyed creating a podcast and listening to one as well. It sure beats reading out of a book and answering questions or listening to a lecture and taking notes.

Another point this video showed was that students that are absent or sick could stay current on their work with podcasting. If a student is sick and not able to come to school, podcasting can be very beneficial. Students may feel as though they are getting behind on school work. Instead of not being able to do anything until they get back to school, the student is able to sit and listen to the missed work. If teachers take the time and create a quick podcast on their lessons, students are able to take advantage of this technique and listen to missed work at home. The teacher and the student are saved from a big headache. I would love to incorporate this into my classroom.

Podcasts

SmartBoard Lessons
While listening to these six podcasts, I noticed some differences and some similarities. The first podcast I listened to was a SmartBoard Lessons Podcast. This podcast started off with a gentleman introducing his day. He explained he was getting coffee and about to talk about how to use a Smart board. This podcast was very interesting as he was talking while he was carrying on with his normal daily life. During the beginning of this podcast, you could hear background sounds. He was in line to get a coffee and soup as he was talking about Smart boards. You could tell that he did not plan this podcast and was just talking as he went through it.

KidCast
The next podcast I listened to was KidCast episode #61 and 62. This podcast started out with an intro and music to introduce the topic for the episode. While I listened to the beginning of this video, I could tell he had planned out his episode. I listened to episode #62 as well and the intros seemed to be the same. In each one he started talking right away about the topic at hand and there was no background noises. The Smartboard podcast was a lot different from the KidCast. They were delivered in different ways.

ConnectLearning
The next podcast I listened to was ConnectLearning episodes 91 and 92. I noticed a very quick music intro in these podcasts and the gentleman talking was quick to state the topic. He also quickly stated is whereabouts. He was at a school in both podcasts. In episode 91 it seemed as though he was interviewing a principal about one of the school’s new programs. The principal was in the podcast and shared his thoughts and answers to the hosts questions. In the episode 92, the host was still at a school and was in a ,meeting with a bunch of school media specialists. They discussed podcasts in schools. There was more than one person that talked about their opinions on podcasts in their school system. I found these podcasts most interesting out of all the ones I listened to.

EdTechTalk
I then listened to episode 62 of EdTechTalk. This podcast episode was a conversation between a few ladies. They even had a guest from Australia speaking with them. They had a topic and they interviewed the guest. It was a laid back podcast yet they sounded as though they had pre-planned the questions. They laughed and talked about their daily lives and the topic of the iPod and iPhone. I listened to another episode about a professor getting interviewed as well. She mainly talked about what she does and her way of teaching. This podcast did not seem to keep my attention very long.

MacBreak Weekly
The second to last podcast I listened to was MacBreak Weekly episode 176. When I first started listening to this podcast, it reminded me of a movie. This podcast kept my attention and sounded very professional. It had sponsors that they listed in the beginning and there were more than one person talking. This podcast sounded like a radio show in a way. The gentlemen were talking about the new Apple event and what to expect. I enjoyed this podcast.

This Week in Photography
The last podcast I listened to was This Week in Photography, episode 126. This podcast was very similar to the MacBreak weekly. This podcast was about racism in photography. The gentlemen discussing the topic were photographers and they were talking about what and how they shoot pictures. The sounds in this podcast reminded me of the KidCast and MacBreak podcasts. It was three people talking and this podcast also had sponsors. The gentlemen were discussing personal experiences and giving their input and thoughts. Out of all the podcasts, I enjoyed the MacBreak Weekly and how it was produced. I really enjoyed ConnectLearning podcast as well. This podcast kept my attention as he was actually on site speaking with principals and media specialists. The topics were interesting to me as well. Overall, I learned how podcasts can be different and similar. I noticed what I enjoyed as a listener and what I would not do in my own podcast. I am new at listening to podcasts, so these were a good variety to listen to.

Here’s What’s Coming! (iPhone used by 1 year old baby)

This is a one year old! This video shows us how a one year old can use an iPhone. After watching this video I realized that any child at any age can learn how to use and operate an iPhone. Kids take in everything they see and hear. This child could not complete a sentence, but he was very comfortable using the phone. He knew how to turn it on, open it, and search for pictures. That is incredible. I can only imagine what this child will be accomplishing in a few years.

The iPhone is a very friendly device and this just shows how easy it is to use. After I watched this video, I showed my husband. He was in shock. It reminded me of a friend of mine that has a two year old. The other day she was just telling me that her daughter knows how to open her iPhone, find pictures, and call someone. I almost didn’t believe her, but then her two year old daughter showed me herself. She even told me what she was doing as she did it! My friend told me that her original iPhone had a break in the screen so she gave it to her daughter to “play with”. She then said a few days later her daughter figured it out!

They Are First Graders! Are You Ready? (Little Kids…Big Potential)

This video is about a first grade class that blogs on a daily basis and uses new technologies in their every day class. The teacher, Kathy Cassidy, shows how her students blog, use their websites, use Wiki, and shows how they use Skype. These students know how to create videos as well. The students in this video are very uplifting. When they talk about their blogs or videos they seem very confident. I think it’s great that these students are able to learn these technologies and programs at such an early age.

This video made me think a lot about the students of tomorrow. How are the teachers going to keep up with the fast growing technologies? Will we as teachers be able to introduce or explain all of these new innovations? I know for myself that I am just now learning some of these programs. I am open to learning, but these first graders seem to know more than I do. Technologies are improving daily. Although these new technologies are not the only way to learn, they are helping students read and write. These students were able to see their spelling mistakes on their blogs and correct them on their own. Again, this video was very inspiring.

They Are First Graders! Are You Ready? (Media Literacy)

This video is about students in a first grade class that are learning a lot of new things. There is a girl in this video that distinguishes the differences between a fiction book and a non-fiction book. She explains in detail the differences of each. This video also shows a young girl showing you how to follow the steps to finding her blog. She knew every step to take. Also, a young boy explained the importance of blog comments. He stated that you are to only leave positive comments on people’s blogs. He understood the importance of being helpful while commenting on other people’s blogs. This is a first grade class!! I just learned how to blog recently!

I think back to when I was in first grade. I remember learning to read and write, but I do not remember using computers. I think it’s great that these students have to the opportunity to learn these new technologies. I wish every school had enough computers in each classroom for students to be able to explore new innovations. Mrs. Cassidy as a teacher has provided a positive and creative atmosphere for these students. I know these students will be able to accomplish so much more as they continue in school. These kids were great!

Gary Hayes Social Media Count

Our technology world is moving right along. These facts prove that our world, (for the most part), is keeping up with technology. If we don’t learn ways to learn and teach with our students, their future will be effected. Technology is always going to improve. We need to make sure we are improving with it. I think of how many times I send text messages and how much time I spend on the Internet. As I sit and write this blog entry, there are millions on the computer as well. It is hard to grasp all of these concepts. Technology is expanding each and every day.

What does this mean for my professional career? This just proves that we as teachers need to stay current with today’s technologies. We may not learn about every new idea that has been introduced, but we should always be learning. No matter what the challenge, we as teacher need to be models to our students. If we learn and share our findings with our students, they will not only pass their findings along, but they too will learn and grow with each new concept that comes their way. Technology is always changing. We need to move forward and learn!

Karl Fisch: Is It Okay to Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?

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.~ Karl Fisch

Mr. Fisch talked about how teachers and parents are not literate with the new technologies in our 21st century. It is true that if the students in the 21st century are not literate with new technologies, the jobs they will have will be very difficult to conquer. Just as reading and writing were essential for school many years ago, it is now essential for students to be aware and learning the new technologies. Teachers as well need to learn and be aware of these new technologies. In the future, students will have jobs that require them to know computers and certain programs. I know that some jobs now require people to be computer literate. It will be even harder for our students to get a job in the future if they are not introduced now to all of the new innovations.
I understand teachers have a lot on their plate. I am a teacher now, and I know that teachers have a lot of requirements as it is to complete each and every day. On the other hand, teachers should not only use school time to further their education on new ideas. Teachers need to stay open minded and open to new ways of teaching and learning. Teachers need to experience learning with their students. Continual learning is important. Everyone is always learning.

"It's Not About the Technology" by Kelly Hines

Kelly Hines’ article was very well delivered. Ms. Hines stated that she believes technology is only a tool. Some teachers have been teaching for many years. Today, there are smart boards, programs, and new innovations that those teachers may not be aware of. I also believe that teachers need to be open minded and open to learning about these new things. I am teaching 6th grade in Mobile County. I know that it seems as though my students are teaching me each day about something new they have learned about new technologies. Yes, I do believe technology is an important factor in learning, but only if it is implemented in a useful way.

Ms. Hines listed four things that teachers need to recognize when it comes to a new generation of learning:
1. Teachers must be learners.
2. Learning and Teaching are not the same thing.
3. Technology is useless without good teaching.
4. Be a 21st Century Teacher without the technology.

These are very good points. Teachers have to be open to learning themselves. Just as Dr. Strange said in our class, teachers need to be open to new things, as times are changing and improving.
Learning and teaching are two different things. I do believe they can happen at the same time, but they are different. Technology is a wonderful tool for the new generation, but only if teachers put forth the effort to learn and properly use these innovations. If a teacher can find ways to prepare students with the capacity to be creative and innovative, those children will be well prepared to face the future. ~Kelly Hines

Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today

What a video! I was really impressed with this video. All of the facts that students had about their daily lives in a college class were true. I know that in my college career, I had a few classes that I did not attend regularly. I graduated with my bachelor’s degree in 2005. As I watched this video I tried to think back of all of the classes I took and all of the information I learned. The truth is, that over half of the information I learned in my college courses is now forgotten. I know that I found everything and anything else to do rather than school work. Did I pay attention in every class all the time? No. Did I fail and make bad grades? No. The truth is that there are many other technologies today than there used to be.

Classes in college are sometimes so big that the teachers don’t ever know each student. The teachers only know names. Students go to school every day in Elementary School, Middle School, High School, and now college because that is what they are told is the right thing to do. It becomes a drilled routine. There are new technologies these days that students are more interested in than a chalkboard and lectures. If I could add to this video, I would include the thoughts of the college teachers. What do the teachers think about today and how students are learning?

Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

Vicki Davis is a teacher in a rural town in Georgia. Ms. Davis has opened the eyes of her students by using the most updated technology. The students in her class learn different technology each day. In this video, Vicki Davis states that teachers don’t necessarily need to know the material they teach before they teach it. The students in her class teach her more than she knew about different programs in her class. This video is very uplifting and positive when it comes to technology. Students learn in all different ways. Pencil and paper is not always the way to go. Teachers should be open to new ideas and not just stay in their ways. Things have changed a lot since when I was in college 5 years ago. I took this class in 2005. This class in itself has change immensely and has improved in technology. I see the changes are a positive thing and will teach me a lot of new programs and ideas for my classroom.

Did You Know?

This video is very interesting. It states many facts about the past, present, and future. Within the video, it states that other countries such as India and China are more populated and more advanced than the United States. It states that 25% of India’s population with the highest IQ’s is greater than the total population of the US. That fact in itself is astounding. How can the Untied States be so far behind? Most people from other countries can speak more than one language. Why can’t most of us? Jobs are always changing. Times are always changing. Jobs that exist now may not exist in a few years. This video stated a good question when it comes to Google. With all of the Google searches that go on each day, this question comes to mind. How did we find out all of these answers before Google? Our English language has expanded immensely since the Shakespeare times. With watching all of these facts and statements, it is hard to take it all in. The last question explains my thoughts well. “What does it all mean?”

The Importance of Creativity

This video really does make you think about our future. In this video Ken Robinson talks about the unpredictability of the future. He believes creativity is just as important as literacy. I agree with him. He also stated that children are not afraid to be wrong. People today feel as though they cannot be wrong. Our society in itself has tamed our minds to think it is not okay to do anything wrong. Even as adults, you have to be prepared to be wrong. If you are wrong, you learn with a more open mind. Mr. Robinson speaks about the core subjects in today’s schools. Math and language arts are drilled in the schools and if there is time left, the other arts are introduced. Children dance and play just as much as they learn math or any other subject. Teachers are more interested in taming children’s minds rather than focusing on anything else. More and more people are going to school and getting degrees. In the past, a 4-year degree got you a job. Now, in our economy, it’s hard enough to find a job with or without a master’s degree. Mr. Robinson talked about people and how they find their talents. He shared a story of a friend who found a dance talent in an interesting way. We all have the gift of imagination. Children should be encouraged to use their imagination and not to be scared to be wrong. Wrong answers lead to right answers that also lead to many other things.

Mr. Winkle Wakes

This video is about Mr. Winkle that wakes up after being asleep for 100 years. Mr. Winkle wakes to a very different time and place. He first came to a tall business building full of unfamiliar noises and devices. Mr. Winkle did not like what he saw or heard. He was very disturbed about his findings. All around him he saw many people on computers and pictures printing on paper. He felt very uncomfortable. Mr. Winkle decided to leave and go elsewhere. He then came to a hospital and heard similar things as he did in the office building. Mr. Winkle saw more devices and heard more unfamiliar noises. He saw machines keeping people alive and making every breath for them. This made Mr. Winkle very upset again and he left. Mr. Winkle walked and walked until he came to a school. As he wandered around the school he noticed that things are the same as remembered them. He noticed children were actively listening to their teacher and taking notes about their every word. Mr. Winkle did notice one of those devices he had seen at the office building and hospital in the back of the room. This device was not being used. This school made Mr. Winkle feel better as school had stayed the same.

This video shows us that schools in today’s world are not changing as quickly as everything else. As a teacher in Mobile County, I notice there are not working computers in every classroom. Computers are not used in daily lessons. It seems as though computers, smart boards, and projectors are only used at a convenience. With the world changing the way it is each day, I strongly agree that children should be introduced to these new ideas much earlier. I remember when I was in elementary school. I compare that to today in the classroom and things have not changed that much. Schools are getting more and more new advances, but I don’t think they are keeping up with the progress of our new advances.