Two ideas I learned from my peers technology presentations:
-One person in my group used powerpoint in a guided reading group. I never would have thought of this. Because it was a small group setting she was able to involve the students in using the technology.
-I learned about websites available for smart boards.
Showing posts with label S4. Show all posts
Showing posts with label S4. Show all posts
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Internet Safety Awareness - doing...
Report on "doing" the Internet Safety Awareness assignment
-->who you talked with (no names are needed - just a brief description of age)
I talked to a mother of five children. Her children are grown up, married, and some now have their own children. She is 55.
I talked to a mother of five children. Her children are grown up, married, and some now have their own children. She is 55.
-->what you shared and how it went
This woman is a very wise person who was an excellent mother. In her home there was always technology. Her husband was very good at embracing new technologies and teaching giving the children opportunities to learn. Their computers were always in a public place.
She seemed very aware of all the aspects of internet. We discussed different dangers and we came to the conclusion that parents especially, and anybody who uses the internet needs to use common sense and good judgement.
We watched one of the videos on the pbs website, and then we explored my facebook account. It was great fun!
This was a positive experience and it was easy for us to talk about internet safety. It's important to be aware and help parents and the "older" generation know what their children are up to.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Internet Safety
This week the assignment was about internet safety. Here are the questions and answers for this weeks posting.
Reading:
1. What article did you choose to read for your fourth article?
“Entertainment and the Media” from For the Strength of Youth pp.17-19
2-4. What were the most important things you learned from the readings? How will what you have read influence your actions as a parent and/or teacher of children and youth? How can you use what you have learned from the reading to have a positive influence on family and friends?
For me, the answers for questions 2-4 go hand in hand and somewhat overlap, so I will answer them altogether.
These readings reinforced in my mind the importance of taking a stand for our values. In relation to technology and media, I hope to follow the pattern my parents set up as I was growing up. My parents embraced new technology and gave us ample opportunity to use it as well. My childhood experience align with the guidelines and themes in the reading as to how to appropriately use technology in our homes. The guiding principles I got from the articles we are the following:
-teach and educate yourself and your children: know the dangers, the benefits, what to do to be safe, preventative measures
-be aware and proactive: this goes along with the point above, but is more about applying what you know than just knowing. Once you have learned how to appropriately use technology and keep yourself and your children safe, follow through with that knowledge. Use filters, keep the computer in a high traffic area, don’t give out too much information, etc.
I hope to implement these principles as a teacher, and one day, as a parent of youth.
1. What article did you choose to read for your fourth article?
“Entertainment and the Media” from For the Strength of Youth pp.17-19
2-4. What were the most important things you learned from the readings? How will what you have read influence your actions as a parent and/or teacher of children and youth? How can you use what you have learned from the reading to have a positive influence on family and friends?
For me, the answers for questions 2-4 go hand in hand and somewhat overlap, so I will answer them altogether.
These readings reinforced in my mind the importance of taking a stand for our values. In relation to technology and media, I hope to follow the pattern my parents set up as I was growing up. My parents embraced new technology and gave us ample opportunity to use it as well. My childhood experience align with the guidelines and themes in the reading as to how to appropriately use technology in our homes. The guiding principles I got from the articles we are the following:
-teach and educate yourself and your children: know the dangers, the benefits, what to do to be safe, preventative measures
-be aware and proactive: this goes along with the point above, but is more about applying what you know than just knowing. Once you have learned how to appropriately use technology and keep yourself and your children safe, follow through with that knowledge. Use filters, keep the computer in a high traffic area, don’t give out too much information, etc.
I hope to implement these principles as a teacher, and one day, as a parent of youth.
watching:
1. Am I aware of the benefits and dangers children face when online with cyber bullying and online predators?
Wow. I was aware before this assignment of the dangers of the Internet, but not to the extent that I am now, after watching some of those videos. It is disgusting and appalling the extent to which some allow themselves to fall prey to those dangers. I was mostly aware of the danger of predators and addictions to games and things like facebook and myspace. After watching these videos I learned more about the dangers of cyberbullying, support for eating disorders, other addictions, etc.
The internet is a powerful tool for good or for bad.
Often, when children and youth are going through difficult times they find it easier to trust and turn to “friends” online than to their real friends and family.
The Internet offers an escape to fit in and be comfortable to explore their identity.
We must be aware and educate our children about the dangers so they can be safe.
2. Where can I go for information and resources that can be used to teach Internet safety?
Here are a few websites I found the most helpful:
http://www.netsmartz.org/resources/reallife.htm - This website has videos to educate as well as activities, worksheets, etc to do with youth.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/view/main.html - videos about youth’s relationships and interactions online
http://ilearn.isafe.org/ - tips to safety education
3. Am I committed to empowering children by teaching them about internet safety?
Yes. We can and should educate children about the dangers. Show them videos from the resources listed above. Make it real to the children and youth. It’s easy to hear about the dangers and say it could never happen to me, or I wouldn’t do that. Make sure they really understand that the dangers apply to everyone. As a parent, I think the biggest key is to be involved and aware of your children and their lives.
As teacher’s, one idea for an assignment is the following: After watching videos by youth about their experiences play Tracking Teresa, found at http://www.netsmartz.org/resources/reallife.htm. Then have each student go through their postings on their blogs, facebook, myspace, chatrooms, etc and gather all the information they can about themselves, as if they were a predator.
1. Am I aware of the benefits and dangers children face when online with cyber bullying and online predators?
Wow. I was aware before this assignment of the dangers of the Internet, but not to the extent that I am now, after watching some of those videos. It is disgusting and appalling the extent to which some allow themselves to fall prey to those dangers. I was mostly aware of the danger of predators and addictions to games and things like facebook and myspace. After watching these videos I learned more about the dangers of cyberbullying, support for eating disorders, other addictions, etc.
The internet is a powerful tool for good or for bad.
Often, when children and youth are going through difficult times they find it easier to trust and turn to “friends” online than to their real friends and family.
The Internet offers an escape to fit in and be comfortable to explore their identity.
We must be aware and educate our children about the dangers so they can be safe.
2. Where can I go for information and resources that can be used to teach Internet safety?
Here are a few websites I found the most helpful:
http://www.netsmartz.org/resources/reallife.htm - This website has videos to educate as well as activities, worksheets, etc to do with youth.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/view/main.html - videos about youth’s relationships and interactions online
http://ilearn.isafe.org/ - tips to safety education
3. Am I committed to empowering children by teaching them about internet safety?
Yes. We can and should educate children about the dangers. Show them videos from the resources listed above. Make it real to the children and youth. It’s easy to hear about the dangers and say it could never happen to me, or I wouldn’t do that. Make sure they really understand that the dangers apply to everyone. As a parent, I think the biggest key is to be involved and aware of your children and their lives.
As teacher’s, one idea for an assignment is the following: After watching videos by youth about their experiences play Tracking Teresa, found at http://www.netsmartz.org/resources/reallife.htm. Then have each student go through their postings on their blogs, facebook, myspace, chatrooms, etc and gather all the information they can about themselves, as if they were a predator.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Tech Lesson Slideshare
Here is the slideshow presentation of my technology lesson. Enjoy!
What I learned from watching others' presentations:
I really enjoyed looking at other powerpoints about technology integration. The biggest thing for me was just to see how different people integrated technology to give me more ideas of what I could do in my classroom. It was also interesting to see, based on what technology was available, what was integrated. From this experience I have learned that when it comes to technology integration, if there's a will there's a way!
Fact Families Slideshow
View more presentations from vw35.
What I learned from watching others' presentations:
I really enjoyed looking at other powerpoints about technology integration. The biggest thing for me was just to see how different people integrated technology to give me more ideas of what I could do in my classroom. It was also interesting to see, based on what technology was available, what was integrated. From this experience I have learned that when it comes to technology integration, if there's a will there's a way!
Friday, March 20, 2009
aaah technology
My technology-enhanced lesson was on fact families. Prior to preparing for this lesson, I didn't know what they were, so I'm going to assume most people don't and explain. There are 3 numbers in a fact family that all relate to each other. For example, 2,3,5. With these three numbers, you can make two addition sentences and two subtraction sentences.
2+3=5
3+2=5
5-3=2
5-2=3
At my school there is not much technology at all, especially in the younger grades. They don't have any official computer instruction, especially keyboarding, until third grade. I am teaching first. My options for technology in any lesson there are limited to an overhead projector, using the teacher microphone, projecting something from the computer onto a very small tv screen, or going to the computer lab. I chose the last option.
First I instructed the children in class. I modeled the idea using interactive and kinesthetic learning. We practiced in class before going to the computer lab. The ideal technology integration would use the computers for modeling as well, but given the experience my students have with computers and what is available at that school I didn't think that was a wise choice.
After practicing the idea enough in class that I felt the students would be successful using a computer game I found online, we went to the computer lab.
Getting the students to the website took some work, as none of them, unless at home, have ever had any keyboard experience, and many struggle with reading and writing in general. I modeled how to get to the website and wrote the address on the markerboard. The students did a pretty good job at getting to the website, but it took a while.
Once there they loved the game! The game I used put a fact family and the =, +, and - symbols at the top of the screen. At the bottom of the screen were boxes, and the students were to click on the appropriate symbols to fill in the fact family sentences. When they finished all four, they would either get a smiley or frowny face if they got it right or wrong. A voice stated what they were clicking on so they were even receiving multi-sensory stimulation. Such fun! Here's a screenshot of the game:
2+3=5
3+2=5
5-3=2
5-2=3
At my school there is not much technology at all, especially in the younger grades. They don't have any official computer instruction, especially keyboarding, until third grade. I am teaching first. My options for technology in any lesson there are limited to an overhead projector, using the teacher microphone, projecting something from the computer onto a very small tv screen, or going to the computer lab. I chose the last option.
First I instructed the children in class. I modeled the idea using interactive and kinesthetic learning. We practiced in class before going to the computer lab. The ideal technology integration would use the computers for modeling as well, but given the experience my students have with computers and what is available at that school I didn't think that was a wise choice.
After practicing the idea enough in class that I felt the students would be successful using a computer game I found online, we went to the computer lab.
Getting the students to the website took some work, as none of them, unless at home, have ever had any keyboard experience, and many struggle with reading and writing in general. I modeled how to get to the website and wrote the address on the markerboard. The students did a pretty good job at getting to the website, but it took a while.
Once there they loved the game! The game I used put a fact family and the =, +, and - symbols at the top of the screen. At the bottom of the screen were boxes, and the students were to click on the appropriate symbols to fill in the fact family sentences. When they finished all four, they would either get a smiley or frowny face if they got it right or wrong. A voice stated what they were clicking on so they were even receiving multi-sensory stimulation. Such fun! Here's a screenshot of the game:
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Ideas anyone?
As my school does not have much technology available, especially in the lower grades, I think the best type of integration will be through computer games for practice of lesson concepts.
Today for math I taught about fact families. I found a game on the internet that I thought the children might really enjoy, that would enable them to get lots of practice and familiarity with the concept. When we go to computer time this week, I will have the children play this game. It can be found at this website: http://www.ezschool.com/Games/FactFamily1.html
Today for math I taught about fact families. I found a game on the internet that I thought the children might really enjoy, that would enable them to get lots of practice and familiarity with the concept. When we go to computer time this week, I will have the children play this game. It can be found at this website: http://www.ezschool.com/Games/FactFamily1.html
Monday, March 9, 2009
The First Week of the Practicum: technology observations
It was interesting to see what technology Sage Creek had available to students and teachers. I was surprised how little technology Sage Creek actually had. I have taught in title 1 schools in the past that had more technology available than this school. My classroom in Sage Creek has two computers. One is the teacher's computer, hooked up to the internet (but no wireless is available), and the other is a student computer that is used for reading and math tutoring programs. The computer screen can be displayed on the tv screen, but it's small and I don't think would really lend itself to this first grade classroom learning environment.
My teacher wears a microphone, sometimes, that projects her voice into speakers so all the students can hear. She said she wrote the grant to get the microphones and speakers a few years back. Now all of the new classrooms come equipped with that technology.
On Friday we visited the computer lab. The teacher takes her students to the computer lab on her own. There is not a computer technician or specialist that I know about. Our students were learning about telling time. There was a link to a game called "beat the clock" on the school website. The game timed how fast students matched the time up to the clock and their job was to get the best time, or beat the clock. There were also several links to other fun games on the school website, categorized by grade level.
Keyboard instruction starts in grade 3 at this school, and the younger grades don't do as much with technology.
My teacher wears a microphone, sometimes, that projects her voice into speakers so all the students can hear. She said she wrote the grant to get the microphones and speakers a few years back. Now all of the new classrooms come equipped with that technology.
On Friday we visited the computer lab. The teacher takes her students to the computer lab on her own. There is not a computer technician or specialist that I know about. Our students were learning about telling time. There was a link to a game called "beat the clock" on the school website. The game timed how fast students matched the time up to the clock and their job was to get the best time, or beat the clock. There were also several links to other fun games on the school website, categorized by grade level.
Keyboard instruction starts in grade 3 at this school, and the younger grades don't do as much with technology.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Virtual Tour: Music History
I have spent way longer than it probably should have taken me on this assignment. Copy and paste the link below into your address window to download and take my music history tour in Google Earth! Or, you can find the link under my class links on the right. It is the .kmz file - the only file downloaded on that website. Have fun and I hope you learn something new!
http://sites.google.com/site/myiptwebsite/google-earth-files
http://sites.google.com/site/myiptwebsite/google-earth-files
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Virtual Tour Plans
Content:
6th grade music: Standard 1, Objective 3
Discover how songs, singing games, and dances relate to various cultures in the history of the world. (See Social Studies Core.)
Technology:
Google earth is a great technology tool for the student to use to be able to take a virtual tour about music history. At every stop in the tour a different aspect of google earth is focused on, such as panoramio, ruler, 3d buildings, and places. As students complete the tour they will learn and master skills required to navigate google earth.
Pedagogy:
This is a fun and engaging way to integrate technology, music, geography, and history all in one lesson. As students complete the tour their learning about famous composers from
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Deep
I've been having technical difficulties getting my video to work on teacher tube, so here it is on you tube. Enjoy!
Monday, February 16, 2009
Annie Deep in the Ruts
This is a "photo story" I made about my great, great grandmother. My mom used to tell my this story as a child and it was one of my favorites.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Pioneer Storyboard
Here is my storyboard. I choose to use a story about my great, great grandmother. I'm really excited to see how it turns out when I put it all together in Photostory. 
TPACK for Photostory Lesson
Content:
4th grade Language Arts Standard 1: Oral Language-Students develop language for the purpose of effectively communicating through listening, speaking, viewing, and presenting.
Objective 1: Develop language through listening and speaking.
a) Identify specific purpose(s) for listening
b) Listen and demonstrate understanding by responding appropriately (e.g.,).
c) Speak clearly and audibly with expression in communicating
d) Speak using simple and compound sentences with appropriate subject-verb agreement and tense.
4th grade Language Arts Standard 1: Oral Language-Students develop language for the purpose of effectively communicating through listening, speaking, viewing, and presenting.
Objective 1: Develop language through listening and speaking.
a) Identify specific purpose(s) for listening
b) Listen and demonstrate understanding by responding appropriately (e.g.,).
c) Speak clearly and audibly with expression in communicating
d) Speak using simple and compound sentences with appropriate subject-verb agreement and tense.
Objective 2:Develop language through viewing media and presenting
a) Identify specific purpose(s) for viewing media
b) Use a variety of formats in presenting with various forms of media
a) Identify specific purpose(s) for viewing media
b) Use a variety of formats in presenting with various forms of media
Pedagogy:
-analyzing and interpreting viewed media
-communicating thoughts and ideas through spoken language
-making connections to previous knowledge
-distinguishing between fact and opinion
-multiple step directions: restate, clarify, questions, summarize, elaborate
-creating media representations with visual images and spoken language
Students will view my video as an introduction to the lesson. As they view the video, they will be asked to think about the following questions:
-what might be the purpose for viewing this video?
-What message does this story communicate to you?
-When did the story take place?
-Why were they in a wagon train? Where were they traveling to and from?
-What facts can you gather about the time period from this story?
-What might you have felt like if you were Annie’s mother?
Students will then choose a family member or friend to share a story with them. The story can be about family history, personal experience, something the person feels passionate about, etc.
With the information gathered from the interview they will be responsible to restate, clarify, questions, summarize, elaborate as they create their own Photostory video.
Throughout the lesson students will have to think critically and understand and represent their understanding through language.
Technology:
The program used for this lesson is called Photostory. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/photostory/default.mspx
Photostory is a good fit with the content and pedagogy of this lesson because it a technology tool that allows users to create a visual, digital representation using photos or images, voice, music, and more. Students will be able to effectivly communicate their stories in this program as it is easy to use. It is fun and engaging as students will enjoy the success of their work. It is also a good choice because it can be downloaded on any pc for free.
-analyzing and interpreting viewed media
-communicating thoughts and ideas through spoken language
-making connections to previous knowledge
-distinguishing between fact and opinion
-multiple step directions: restate, clarify, questions, summarize, elaborate
-creating media representations with visual images and spoken language
Students will view my video as an introduction to the lesson. As they view the video, they will be asked to think about the following questions:
-what might be the purpose for viewing this video?
-What message does this story communicate to you?
-When did the story take place?
-Why were they in a wagon train? Where were they traveling to and from?
-What facts can you gather about the time period from this story?
-What might you have felt like if you were Annie’s mother?
Students will then choose a family member or friend to share a story with them. The story can be about family history, personal experience, something the person feels passionate about, etc.
With the information gathered from the interview they will be responsible to restate, clarify, questions, summarize, elaborate as they create their own Photostory video.
Throughout the lesson students will have to think critically and understand and represent their understanding through language.
Technology:
The program used for this lesson is called Photostory. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/photostory/default.mspx
Photostory is a good fit with the content and pedagogy of this lesson because it a technology tool that allows users to create a visual, digital representation using photos or images, voice, music, and more. Students will be able to effectivly communicate their stories in this program as it is easy to use. It is fun and engaging as students will enjoy the success of their work. It is also a good choice because it can be downloaded on any pc for free.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
TPACK for The Tech Savvy Teacher
Content:
The standard I focused on for my science lesson was standard 1 from the 3rd grade science core: Students will understand that the shape of Earth and the moon are spherical and be able to list the differences in the physical appearance of the Earth and the moon as viewed from space.
Pedagogy:
I asked students to understand the content through observation, classification, inferences, and processing and analyzing data. The idea of having them pretend they were astronauts on a mission applied the content in a fun, interactive way. Students felt like they were having fun and meeting a challenge instead of answering a boring list of things they were required to know.
Technology:
I used World Wind, a program developed by NASA. The program is intended to allow users to explore the surface of the Earth, moon, and other planets from space. The content asks that students understand the shape and physical appearance of the Earth and moon as viewed from space, and that is exactly what World Wind is designed to do. This technology and content fit with the pedagogy as well because this approach demands that students observe, infer, apply, and analyze their experience to answer the questions that the “mission” asks.
The standard I focused on for my science lesson was standard 1 from the 3rd grade science core: Students will understand that the shape of Earth and the moon are spherical and be able to list the differences in the physical appearance of the Earth and the moon as viewed from space.
Pedagogy:
I asked students to understand the content through observation, classification, inferences, and processing and analyzing data. The idea of having them pretend they were astronauts on a mission applied the content in a fun, interactive way. Students felt like they were having fun and meeting a challenge instead of answering a boring list of things they were required to know.
Technology:
I used World Wind, a program developed by NASA. The program is intended to allow users to explore the surface of the Earth, moon, and other planets from space. The content asks that students understand the shape and physical appearance of the Earth and moon as viewed from space, and that is exactly what World Wind is designed to do. This technology and content fit with the pedagogy as well because this approach demands that students observe, infer, apply, and analyze their experience to answer the questions that the “mission” asks.
The Tech Savvy Teacher
“The World is Round…and full of technology!”
In our day and age we take it for granted that we know the Earth is round, that it is the third planet in the solar system, and even that we know what a solar system is! I remember my teachers trying to bring this concept to life when I was an elementary school student. We made a model of the solar system out of Styrofoam balls, hanging them in a cardboard box with string and paperclips. Then we further explored the surface of the earth by making 3dimensional maps out of clay. I spent hours on my map, trying to mold the mountains just tall enough and the valleys just deep enough. I couldn’t wait to use the water color paints to make the land green and the water blue. I loved these activities as a kid, and I still use them in my classroom with my students. But just as people in the age of Columbus had to adjust to the idea of a round world, today we have to adjust to the wealth of technology at our fingertips and learn how to implement it into our classroom instruction.
The following acticity shows just one way to implement technology using World Wind, a program by NASA. World Wind allows its users to explore the surface of the Earth, moon and other planets from space.
Grade 3, Science standard 1: Students will understand that the shape of Earth and the moon are spherical and be able to list the differences in the physical appearance of the Earth and the moon as viewed from space by observing, classifying, inferring about, processing and analyzing data.
In our day and age we take it for granted that we know the Earth is round, that it is the third planet in the solar system, and even that we know what a solar system is! I remember my teachers trying to bring this concept to life when I was an elementary school student. We made a model of the solar system out of Styrofoam balls, hanging them in a cardboard box with string and paperclips. Then we further explored the surface of the earth by making 3dimensional maps out of clay. I spent hours on my map, trying to mold the mountains just tall enough and the valleys just deep enough. I couldn’t wait to use the water color paints to make the land green and the water blue. I loved these activities as a kid, and I still use them in my classroom with my students. But just as people in the age of Columbus had to adjust to the idea of a round world, today we have to adjust to the wealth of technology at our fingertips and learn how to implement it into our classroom instruction.
The following acticity shows just one way to implement technology using World Wind, a program by NASA. World Wind allows its users to explore the surface of the Earth, moon and other planets from space.
Grade 3, Science standard 1: Students will understand that the shape of Earth and the moon are spherical and be able to list the differences in the physical appearance of the Earth and the moon as viewed from space by observing, classifying, inferring about, processing and analyzing data.
Help students navigate through World Wind to answer the questions for thier mission. Here are some tips:
This is the default screen you will see when you open the program.
Navigation in World Wind is fairly intuitive. Click on a spot and drag the mouse to move around the world.
To zoom in, roll the wheel in your mouse forward/up, and backward/down to zoom out. If your mouse doesn't have wheel, then hold down the left and right mouse buttons as you move the mouse forward/up to zoom in, and backward/down to zoom out.
The layer manager allows you to add and remove features for the program. To make it easier to see the land on the Earth, unselect "global clouds," circled in yellow.
The moon is navigated just at the Earth was. If you don't want place names to show, uncheck it in the layer manager on the left of the screen. On the top of the screen are icons that will give the user a better look at features of the moon up close.
To switch to view the moon, open the file menu, and click moon. This will appear:
The moon is navigated just at the Earth was. If you don't want place names to show, uncheck it in the layer manager on the left of the screen. On the top of the screen are icons that will give the user a better look at features of the moon up close.This is what it looks like zoomed in on the moon.
You can see how easy it is to use technology in the classroom! As a student, wouldn't you have loved playing with this technology to supplement your styrofoam model of the solar system and your 3-D clay map? As a teacher, can you see how this technology makes abstract ideas concrete? Stay tuned for the next edition of The Tech Savvy Teacher: Mapping the world and more with Kidsperation...
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
T what?
TPACK...technological pedagogical and content knowledge. That's a mouthful. The easiest way for me to understand what this acronym means is to break each part up into my own connotations relating to the course interpretation.
Technological = technology...how well we understand and can use technology
Pedagogical = how well we know how to teach
and
Content = how well we know the topics we are teaching
Knowledge = what we know
Basically, as teachers, we can use any cominations of the these terms. We could have great technological knowledge, but not be very good at teaching it. We might know the subject content (content knowledge) and masterfully present it to our students with our pedagogical knowledge, but not know how to integrate our technological knowledge into our teaching. The ideal is a mix of all of the above.
We learned the term "modalities" in our ed psych class. The best teachers use multiple modalities as they teach, reaching all types of learners in the process. That's kind of how I interpret TPACK. We use all the components of TPACK to reach our learners.
I think most of us teachers have the pedagogical and content knowledge down (hopefully!). The trick is the technology part. The kids we are teaching are raised in a world of technology. My nephew could operate the computer better than his mom when he was 5!
For me, something that stood out in the reading was that using a powerpoint reading is NOT considered using technology for learning. Yes, you are using technology, but the kids are not. A powerpoint is serving the same purpose any visual, like a posterboard, serves. The key is to get your students using technology! Don't show them, but let them do!
I love google. For the technologies we explored I played with google earth and google sky. I've only used it a little before, and they have raised the bar! You can change the daylight settings, or watch the sunrise from a particular setting. How cool is that?
For kids, we could have them play with map making and directions. You can click on little icons that give details about particular places. I might have my class write directions of how to get to the doctor, or vet, or park from their house. Figuring that out on google earth is way more fun than just drawing a map themselves. It also makes the learning more concrete.
I also checked out Kidsperation, or Inspiration 8. It's a program that allows you to make awesome visuals like outlines, bubble charts, tree charts, etc. You can even create a visual one way, and with the click of the button the program would convert it to a different type of visual. (multiple modalities...wink wink) I might have a student who learned best with text representations. But another student might learn better with pictures. Viola...just click one button and I have both! This is ideal for group projects or class presentations. Don't ya just love technology?
Technological = technology...how well we understand and can use technology
Pedagogical = how well we know how to teach
and
Content = how well we know the topics we are teaching
Knowledge = what we know
Basically, as teachers, we can use any cominations of the these terms. We could have great technological knowledge, but not be very good at teaching it. We might know the subject content (content knowledge) and masterfully present it to our students with our pedagogical knowledge, but not know how to integrate our technological knowledge into our teaching. The ideal is a mix of all of the above.
We learned the term "modalities" in our ed psych class. The best teachers use multiple modalities as they teach, reaching all types of learners in the process. That's kind of how I interpret TPACK. We use all the components of TPACK to reach our learners.
I think most of us teachers have the pedagogical and content knowledge down (hopefully!). The trick is the technology part. The kids we are teaching are raised in a world of technology. My nephew could operate the computer better than his mom when he was 5!
For me, something that stood out in the reading was that using a powerpoint reading is NOT considered using technology for learning. Yes, you are using technology, but the kids are not. A powerpoint is serving the same purpose any visual, like a posterboard, serves. The key is to get your students using technology! Don't show them, but let them do!
I love google. For the technologies we explored I played with google earth and google sky. I've only used it a little before, and they have raised the bar! You can change the daylight settings, or watch the sunrise from a particular setting. How cool is that?
For kids, we could have them play with map making and directions. You can click on little icons that give details about particular places. I might have my class write directions of how to get to the doctor, or vet, or park from their house. Figuring that out on google earth is way more fun than just drawing a map themselves. It also makes the learning more concrete.
I also checked out Kidsperation, or Inspiration 8. It's a program that allows you to make awesome visuals like outlines, bubble charts, tree charts, etc. You can even create a visual one way, and with the click of the button the program would convert it to a different type of visual. (multiple modalities...wink wink) I might have a student who learned best with text representations. But another student might learn better with pictures. Viola...just click one button and I have both! This is ideal for group projects or class presentations. Don't ya just love technology?
Saturday, January 17, 2009
RSS, Web 2.0, Goodreads, it's delicious....
Well I have to say adding an RSS feed is pretty sweet. It eliminates all that clicking around to check a bazillion differnt websites. But I have mixed feelings about it. In some wierd way, I kind of like having to check a bunch of different websites. I don't know, maybe I have an internet addiction or something. Or maybe it's just a good way to procrastinate doing other homework assignments you just don't feel like doing.
Delicious and goodreads are pretty useful, too. It's nice to have all your resources save in a place you can access online instead of having to save them to your hard drive, or email account, like I used to do. And it's useful to have a network of others that you can see what they are reading or using and share ideas. hmmm...i guess I kinda like technology! The only think I don't like is having a hundred differnt accounts that you have to remember!
Delicious and goodreads are pretty useful, too. It's nice to have all your resources save in a place you can access online instead of having to save them to your hard drive, or email account, like I used to do. And it's useful to have a network of others that you can see what they are reading or using and share ideas. hmmm...i guess I kinda like technology! The only think I don't like is having a hundred differnt accounts that you have to remember!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
week 1 - technology
My technology background... well I remember in second grade we took a keyboarding class. It was awesome. There were games to see how fast we could type, like the racecar one. Did any of you ever have those? Then in high school we were required to take a Word and Excel class. I went to a really small, lame high school so they had to fill time with something. In my art class last semester we learned some basic photoshop skills, which I love! And I have another blog previous to this one, but I don't update it very much. oh...and I LOVE google! Did you know that you can text google on your phone, for free? You can get weather, sports scores, movie times, directions...
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