A Future of Whatever!

I really enjoyed this assignment. Mr. Wesch is an extremely sophisticated and brilliant man. He seems so passionate about technology in education, and it seems like he does an amazing job working with his students. Mr. Wesch and his class brought up an interesting viewpoint about social networking that I have never thought about before. When I get on youtube, I just watch the videos. I do not think about who the people are that made or participated in it, nor do I think about their reasoning behind it. I just simply watch.

Now that I think about Mr. Wesch's observation, I completely agree with all of it. It is like these people can and are being someone completely different than who they are, and then they present it to the world. Or, they are being themselves and are bearing all kinds of personal information out on the line, for anyone to see or hear. Why is this so easy? Because they are sitting in a room by themselves staring into a camera. Like the video mentioned, it takes away all of the social anxiety that comes with making eye contact, or telling a deep dark secret to someone.

I think this does compare to my personal life and my college experience, because these are the social networking sites I use. It is awkward for me to have a face to face conversation these days, because I am so used to sending a tweet or writing on someone's wall. I am not sure what this means for my future career. I think that I will encourage my students to use networking sites, so they can reach the rest of the world.

The Networked Student

This video was C-U-T-E! It was so simple, but it got the point across, which I really appreciate. Technology in education is such a hot topic, and a lot of videos and speeches are so boring and over the top that it completely loses the audience and its meaning. It was nice to watch something so simple. This video laid out the basic principles of the point it wanted to make, and it worked. It put it in a real world sense of view; it definitely kept me entertained AND informed.

I am completely prepared to introduce networked learning in my classroom. ( Although, I am hoping that their previous teachers would have introduced it). It is vital that our students understand that there is a big world beyond books, and they can connect to any part of it that they wish. They should research and hear the views of people from all over the world, not just from me. For example, if we are studying biology, then I will do my best to set up a Skype session with a biology professor. For whatever we are studying, I will encourage and lead my students in the right direction to find out more and various information on the topic.

One of my favorite parts of the video was about the purpose of the teacher. It has never crossed my mind, but with all the hype about online learning and technology in our classrooms, it brings up a valid point of why we even need a teacher. This video did a fantastic job of reinforcing the quality of teachers. First of all, there has to be someone there to encourage our students and introduce new ideas. Some of our students from low income schools do not even have access to a computer outside of school. These students need to be encouraged to be a part of this big world through social networking. Also, these kids need someone to explain the difference between valid and invalid research, and how to differentiate between the two. The teacher is ultimately the backbone of the adventure, and must be there to show her kids the way.

This Is How We Dream

This video and speech never reached a point, in my opinion. After watching and listening several times, I am still not sure of the purpose of it. I understand that it was encouraging us to write using media applications, but it never gave any ideas or examples. It also seemed to me that the speech had nothing to do with what was being shown in the video. I feel like the two should have been separated.

I do feel that I am prepared to make my classroom a watching/listening environment. I know that I personally get tired of reading books and basically re-writing what it says for an assignment or a test. The times are changing at a fast pace, and books and paper just do not cut it for today's students. Students are more apt to pay attention to a presentation on a SmartBoard rather than reading a book, because technology is what their lifestyles and culture is now centered upon.

It does seem that Dr. Miller and his crew feel strongly on this idea, and have done a lot of research to support it, and I give him kudos for that. A lot of teachers are simply stuck in their ways and think change is a bad idea. It takes people like Dr. Miller to create videos and give speeches to get the word and the information out there, so change can happen.

Here is a video that basically gives you every possible idea for using an IPod in you classroom.

I suggest you watch it, but I will summarize it for you.

The point of the video was trying to prove that you could store hundreds of paper files, a dozen technological devices, a ton of test scores, ( you get the point) or you could have one tiny ipod.

A few ideas..
Podcasting- record a lesson, learn a new language
Audiobooks- listen while you read
Video- animate a story by your class by using pictures
Demonstration- make a how-to-video, ITunes U, share online videos
Flash Cards- make your own or download
Presentations- convert power points, share charts, graphs and visuals
Reference-download a dictionary
Games- create your own quizzes
Living Text- write, listen, or watch a word ( great for speech and special education teachers!


Thats not even half of the examples this video provides, so WATCH IT!

Duke University thinks Ipods are so important in education that they give them to incoming freshmen. Yes, give.
Read about it here.
...And here

A paragraph from the article...

"Expanding the use of information both in the classroom and in the campus community is part of the school's overall goals, said Tracy Futhey, Duke's vice president of information technology. The school is looking forward to ideas from the faculty and students about additional uses for the devices, Futhey said. The student newspaper, for example, might use the iPods to distribute a daily audio editorial."

ITunes U

ITunes U is genius. I can't believe I have never explored this resource until now. I have a mac and an ITouch, and I could have been using this tool all along, but did not really know about it. Not only will this be great when I am a teacher, but it is helpful to me as a student. I am able to listen to lectures from the world's most renowned universities. I subscribed to Stanford's link and enjoyed listening to their podcasts on education. It is rather mind bloggling to me that the idea is simply... giving away free instruction that some students are paying thousands of dollars for by attending these universities. Granted, by listening to it you aren't going to receive a degree, but still, the thought is pretty interesting. I found an article by The Washington Post that talked a little bit on this topic... Enjoy.

Click here to read the article, "Is ITunes for You?

Since I have never used ITunes you, I was not sure of where to start. So, I googled the topic, and the website I found most useful was the apple site giving an introduction to the tool. It explains what it is for, how it works, etc. I enjoyed this video which is a basic introduction to ITunes U.

This resource is not only for universities. It contains a section for K-12 Instruction from around the world. Just like the university section, not just any school can be a part of it, it is only a select few that really know what they are doing and are getting some great things done.


Click here guys. Too funny.

I found this under Texas A&M "Wired Study Tips"

www.alicechristie.org

Click here to explore this website!


I loveeeddddd this site. I could spend hours and hours exploring it. She has a ton of useful information for current and future teachers. It is a great starting site for someone who is new to using technology in the classroom. The section I found most interesting was the constructivism link located under the Educational Technology tab. I am a huge supporter of constructivist teaching and learning in the classroom, so obviously I really enjoyed this link. When you click on the constructivist tab, you first read an explanation of this theory of learning, followed by seven principles that support this theory. Dr. Christie then provides SERVERAL wonderful links to examples of teachers facilitating these principles.

Constructivist Section

Here are a few of my favorite examples...

Mrs. Silverman's 2nd Grade Class:Stellaluna's Friends
KidSpired Tales

I hope you enjoy these examples. I am sure that the students really enjoyed making these projects, and as you can tell, they learned a lot!

My Mexico Presentation : )

Wikipedia Scam

Wow! I had no idea about this. I always use Wikipedia as a source for anything; It is usually the first website I go to. This guy is super smart for discovering a way to uncover who has edited what and when in Wikipedia. It is such a wake-up call for folks to understand that you can't always believe what you hear, or READ. We usually believe anything we see or read on the internet just because, well, we feel like it is an accurate source, but apparently it is not.

I think that is a great thing that this grad student discovered this. We can uncover the truth about politicians, big corporations, or musicians. We can see the things that they do not want us to see. We can finally see the truth. Wikipedia is something that most of us feel that we can rely on, and we now know that is not the case. Fortunately, there is now something we can do about it.

Podcast Help!

The websites were extremely useful, I learned so many things about podcasts that I previously did not know. The website I found most useful was is.gd/2cd21... The video about podcasting in the classroom had so many wonderful ideas and it definitely convinced me that using podcasts will be a benefit to my classroom. I liked the idea of uploading your lecture to a classroom blog so that parents can listen and learn, and also for students that are absent can hear the lecture and ultimately do not have to miss any important materials.

What I found to be the most useful on this website was the videos explaining garageband and audacity. I have a mac and completely forgot that I had garageband; I have never even used it. The video explained absolutely everything I would need to know when using this application. This will help me so much when my group and I make our podcast. I was originally pretty stressed out, but now that I know how to do this ( and have also watched 1st graders make a podcast!) I feel rather confident and excited about this project.

One Year Old With IPhone

I have to say this video did not really surprise or impress me. Lots of one year olds can remember repetitive actions, like this one is displaying. He simply remembers which button does what, and remembers to slide his fingers to see a new picture.

Don't get me wrong, it is pretty amazing that babies are now using technology. I went to YouTube and searched for more babies/IPhone sort of thing and there were tons of videos! This means that by the time these kids get to Kindergarden they are going to be pretty incredible. As a future teacher, I have to make sure I am up to date with the latest technology; I want to keep up with my students.