For my first Independent Learning Project I created a podcast. I have always appreciated podcasts as a fun and easy way to obtain knowledge. You can easily, ride to school, walk, run, while listening to a podcast. I, very excitedly, created my own. I had to edit it because my roommates and I couldn't stop giggling at the thought of me creating a podcast and pretending to be a high school English teacher. See, podcasts bring people together! They're fun to listen to and create! My podcast is me reading an excerpt from the essay "Learning Curve" in the David Sedaris book: Me Talk Pretty One Day and asking students to respond in the comments. Here is the link so you, too, can pretend to be a member of my English class:
https://soundcloud.com/sartsfield/ilp-1-participation-english-podcast-me-talk-pretty-one-day
Tuesday, October 18, 2016
#6 - Websites, How I Plan to Use Technology, Sandboxes... oh my!
As technology has evolved, many schools have incorporated it in to their classrooms. Additionally, schools have also begun to use technology to promote their schools and get in touch with their community outside of the classroom. This can be done through websites.
I visited the website of my mother's elementary school, Enterprise Elementary School. I could not access classrooms' websites specifically but there was a vast number of different links, found through easily navigating the sites under the name "Elementary Curriculum". Publicly, website-goers can access links about things going on in the community, teacher information, and a number of other things. It seems that any question a parent may have about the school that isn't classroom specific can be answered.
Here are two images. The first is the homepage and the second is the list of links provided when you click on the link entitled "Elementary Curriculum".
I visited the website of my mother's elementary school, Enterprise Elementary School. I could not access classrooms' websites specifically but there was a vast number of different links, found through easily navigating the sites under the name "Elementary Curriculum". Publicly, website-goers can access links about things going on in the community, teacher information, and a number of other things. It seems that any question a parent may have about the school that isn't classroom specific can be answered.
Here are two images. The first is the homepage and the second is the list of links provided when you click on the link entitled "Elementary Curriculum".
I plan to use technology in a similar way. I want to use technology for good, as an avenue that connects myself and my students to the real world. In the podcasts it describes professional development as the concept of people in a profession further their knowledge. Chapter 7 in our textbook provides a number of different ways one can further their knowledge through technology. This coupled with my desire to use technology to better myself and students will foster professional development and student growth. I envision myself using the many features of Microsoft Word that we have learned to better reach my students both within and beyond the classroom. Making quizzes and tests and letters to parents have all been made easier through discovering the different features offered by Microsoft Office.
Still along the lines of technology, our class visited the Tech Sandbox! This was beyond a shadow of a doubt one of the coolest things I have done all semester. We explored a ton of different technologies found in classrooms and each and every one was unbelievably engaging and fun. I have found that the importance of extracurricular learning and fun (recess) is being forgotten in schools. However, if I incorporate, say, the 3D pen into my classroom, students not only get to learn about that kind of technology, but they also get to have fun and make beautiful crafts in the process. I believe that developing a child's creativity is just as, if not more important than textbook learning. This technology allows students to experience the best of both worlds!
Monday, October 10, 2016
#5 - I Could Really Go For a Sand-Twitch
Web 2.0 tools are advanced technologies which allow us to communicate with one another in a unique way. Examples of these are YouTube and Wiki's. Although the podcast refers it as "passive" I value YouTube in the classroom because of its expansive repertoire of knowledge and information. YouTube can be used to show students a number of different videos that cater to any need a student may have.
An example of a Web 2.0 tool is the following website, https://www.twitch.tv/ . Twitch allows for a person to live stream whatever screen they are using and showcase it to an audience. Students can watch as their teacher leads a lesson from any computer. The sight is easy to navigate, as I, someone with no prior experiencing with live streaming was able to successfully live stream a video of myself playing a game with my brother in an effort to experiment with the website.
I believe gamification is an extremely effective way to reach students. Every time I have played a game in class I have become significantly more engaged in the lesson. Gamification allows for students to receive information in an exciting way. Students participate in all sorts of competitions and games outside of the classroom, so incorporating those things into a lesson allows for students to apply real world knowledge and vice versa.
An example of a Web 2.0 tool is the following website, https://www.twitch.tv/ . Twitch allows for a person to live stream whatever screen they are using and showcase it to an audience. Students can watch as their teacher leads a lesson from any computer. The sight is easy to navigate, as I, someone with no prior experiencing with live streaming was able to successfully live stream a video of myself playing a game with my brother in an effort to experiment with the website.
I believe gamification is an extremely effective way to reach students. Every time I have played a game in class I have become significantly more engaged in the lesson. Gamification allows for students to receive information in an exciting way. Students participate in all sorts of competitions and games outside of the classroom, so incorporating those things into a lesson allows for students to apply real world knowledge and vice versa.
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
#4 - The Digital Divide
Thus far, Twitter has proved to be a fun way to interact with my peers. I don't normally interact with every person in my class on social media but our educational twitter accounts allow me to do this. It is exciting to see the different ways people interpret the going-ons of our course. I've interacted with several people in my class, whether it be through "liking a tweet" or "retweeting" their tweet. Twitter could prove to be helpful in my career by bringing me closer to my colleagues outside of our schools. My mother, a third grade teacher, has a twitter and she uses it to access her school board and fellow teachers in a mature, but relaxed tone.
When I effortlessly use social media outlets like Twitter it's easy to forget that there is a very large population of students who don't have as easy of access to technology. This phenomenon is known as "The Digital Divide". This divide is the gap between students who have access to reliable technology, and those students who do not. The podcast says, "the impact is not just about access, but also knowledge and skills". There are many forms of active learning software that make up the instruments of the Digital Divide, Among these are academic software, productivity software, presentation software, and academic software applications. Within each of these categories are programs like simulations, graphics, drill-and-practice software, educational games, simulations, and tutorials. Many students don't have access to these kinds of software's, and some don't even have access to more common software's such as Microsoft Office, a tool that many teachers incorporate in student projects. Students who rely on the failing, outdated computers of their school libraries are deprived of basic skills students with computers at home may be learning that will better equip them for future learning and careers.
An example of one of the skills a student more acquainted with technology can develop is the ability to properly evaluate a website. This is the ability to determine whether or not a website is good and reliable. When I examine a website I first check to see the domain of the website. If the domain is .gov or .edu I automatically consider the website to be reliable. One can also check the sources of the information provided on the website. A basic rule of thumb to live by when navigating websites for information, however, is to ask yourself the question, "would the person providing this information lose their job if it wasn't accurate?"
When I effortlessly use social media outlets like Twitter it's easy to forget that there is a very large population of students who don't have as easy of access to technology. This phenomenon is known as "The Digital Divide". This divide is the gap between students who have access to reliable technology, and those students who do not. The podcast says, "the impact is not just about access, but also knowledge and skills". There are many forms of active learning software that make up the instruments of the Digital Divide, Among these are academic software, productivity software, presentation software, and academic software applications. Within each of these categories are programs like simulations, graphics, drill-and-practice software, educational games, simulations, and tutorials. Many students don't have access to these kinds of software's, and some don't even have access to more common software's such as Microsoft Office, a tool that many teachers incorporate in student projects. Students who rely on the failing, outdated computers of their school libraries are deprived of basic skills students with computers at home may be learning that will better equip them for future learning and careers.
An example of one of the skills a student more acquainted with technology can develop is the ability to properly evaluate a website. This is the ability to determine whether or not a website is good and reliable. When I examine a website I first check to see the domain of the website. If the domain is .gov or .edu I automatically consider the website to be reliable. One can also check the sources of the information provided on the website. A basic rule of thumb to live by when navigating websites for information, however, is to ask yourself the question, "would the person providing this information lose their job if it wasn't accurate?"
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
#3 - Continued
Due to some extremely frustrating technical issues all I have to offer you of my newsletter are some screenshots taken during my break
#3 - We Have Standards
Among the ISTE standards, there are a series of standards for many of the different fields of education. One of the is the ELA standards, or English Language Arts standards. Among these standards, I feel most comfortable teaching the standard that encourages students to cite their sources while communicating with the world. As we saw last night in the debate, citing your sources and grounding your words in truth can prove to be very helpful in many ways. I feel most comfortable teaching this standard because I feel so strongly about citing sources. I still, however feel under prepared to teach students how to use technology strategically and capably. I don't feel I have the creativity to come up with clever ways to engage my students in technology.
I'm getting my degree in education so I can go on to teach English as a second language to refugees in Nashville. My students would range from all ages, and so would my content and application of technology. For example, some students may not be familiar with computers, so their knowledge of digital citizenship (the norms of appropriate, responsible technology use) would be extremely minimal and need to be cleverly integrated into their learning of the English language. The language barrier would make this difficult. Learning some of the norms of technology would prove useful when assimilating into American culture because it is so regularly used in our country. Because I'm unfamiliar with the exact teaching process of the organization I plan to work for, I am unsure how I would go about integrating technology into my lessons.
This week we had to create a newsletter for class. I have always wanted to find an excuse to use a border on Microsoft Word so learning and using this tool was quite fun. The entire assignment was fun. I enjoyed playing pretend and making up a class, and students, and community. I did however procrastinate, so I would have like to have seen what I could have created, had I given myself more time. Here is my newsletter:
I'm getting my degree in education so I can go on to teach English as a second language to refugees in Nashville. My students would range from all ages, and so would my content and application of technology. For example, some students may not be familiar with computers, so their knowledge of digital citizenship (the norms of appropriate, responsible technology use) would be extremely minimal and need to be cleverly integrated into their learning of the English language. The language barrier would make this difficult. Learning some of the norms of technology would prove useful when assimilating into American culture because it is so regularly used in our country. Because I'm unfamiliar with the exact teaching process of the organization I plan to work for, I am unsure how I would go about integrating technology into my lessons.
This week we had to create a newsletter for class. I have always wanted to find an excuse to use a border on Microsoft Word so learning and using this tool was quite fun. The entire assignment was fun. I enjoyed playing pretend and making up a class, and students, and community. I did however procrastinate, so I would have like to have seen what I could have created, had I given myself more time. Here is my newsletter:
Monday, September 19, 2016
#2 - Words and Rights
As a student, Microsoft Word is very handy. I have used it for a number of different things. It is a necessity when writing essays for school, and I thoroughly enjoyed writing senseless fictional tales on Word when I was younger. Looking back on it, I'm realizing that I have very rarely seen a teacher use word, I have only seen the product of them using word: like a printed syllabus or test. The steps it took them to make those documents has never been given much thought by me. One thing that is universal for all users, is that we all use it to create.
Copyright laws are something that I have also not paid much mind to. I generally just try to avoid anything that could remotely be infringing on copyright laws because the consequences of not doing so are so severe. As a teacher I would continue to hold myself to this self-constructed policy. In doing so I would create learning materials where credit was properly given. I would also encourage my students to do the same. Copyrighting something is fun for no one. The perpetrator has to worry about getting caught, the one who catches them has to handle the situation, and the person's work who was stolen is without credit.
Using twitter has taught me about important ideas and concepts, and not so important ideas and concepts. For example, through my use of Twitter I have figured out a new genre of communication I can have with my colleagues and peers. I can use Twitter as a unique platform to reach a unique audience and learning how to navigate the social media has allowed me to better understand a new and popular technology. Twitter, however, has also provided me with the ability to craft witty statements in my head about life that are 140 characters or less. In my future career, Twitter as well as other personal learning networks can allow me to better connect to those I teach with and provide me with rich, special content that wouldn't be reachable otherwise.
Copyright laws are something that I have also not paid much mind to. I generally just try to avoid anything that could remotely be infringing on copyright laws because the consequences of not doing so are so severe. As a teacher I would continue to hold myself to this self-constructed policy. In doing so I would create learning materials where credit was properly given. I would also encourage my students to do the same. Copyrighting something is fun for no one. The perpetrator has to worry about getting caught, the one who catches them has to handle the situation, and the person's work who was stolen is without credit.
Using twitter has taught me about important ideas and concepts, and not so important ideas and concepts. For example, through my use of Twitter I have figured out a new genre of communication I can have with my colleagues and peers. I can use Twitter as a unique platform to reach a unique audience and learning how to navigate the social media has allowed me to better understand a new and popular technology. Twitter, however, has also provided me with the ability to craft witty statements in my head about life that are 140 characters or less. In my future career, Twitter as well as other personal learning networks can allow me to better connect to those I teach with and provide me with rich, special content that wouldn't be reachable otherwise.
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