Kyan's Post Kyan' Story about Room 7's Experiment on Volcanic Eruption! This was a very cute video of how the class did this experiment. Kyan did a very good job on explaining the steps of the project, but he was a little hard to hear, I believe he was a bit shy. For his age however, it was a very good effort at using the web to share the class' experience with the volcano experiment. I feel like that if someone Kyan's age can do something like a youtube video, I should be able to do it with just as much ease, and without fear!
This is How We Dream part 1 and 2: I enjoyed listening to Dr. Miller and what he had to say about the new direction of learning and working. I agree with his that it is so important that we embrace the technology that the internet has to offer, but at the same time I have to be honest and say that it scares me, and I'm sure others feel the same way. Computers today are able to do so much more than many users never imagined was possible. I love using my computer and exploring the internet and it's innovative tools everyday, but I am also intimidated by the fact that my computer is definitely much smarter than me! I want to be able to use internet and media in my future classroom everyday if i can, but first I have to overcome my fear of the system. I have so many questions about computers that I don't know where to start, and I always fear that, in this growing age of technology , my students will know more than I will, and they will actually be the ones teaching me. I'm glad to be able to take a class such as EDM310 now so that I can get my feel wet before I enter the classroom so that I will be aware of what tools are available on the internet to use and share with my students. This is How We Dream Part 2:
The Networked Student:
The facts in this video gave me chills all over! The Networked student seems to only need a teacher to oversee their work, but not to actually teach them the subject matter. The teacher of a networked student is there to teach the how to use the network part, not so much the actual lesson being taught. I can't say enough how amazing it is to see what a powerful tool the internet and computers have come to be! Though it scares me a bit to imagine that in as few as 5 years all my future students could come to solely rely on the internet as their teacher and just ask me for help on how to use it, I am still quite eager to become a teacher. I feel like as a teacher of the networked student I would be a tour guide for students entering the future of the planet. Though the internet would be the main source for scholarly knowledge, I would be the tour guide, if you will, to their success. That feeling is the most incredible feeling of all! I couldn't be more encourage, nor my confidence boosted more without the help of videos like this and a class offered to me such as EDM310. The fact that Mrs. Drexler is going to try this concept of learning with her students in the Fall is awesome I and hope that it goes exceptionally well. I believe that the internet and using media in the classroom is a great way to help get students motivated in today's world. Due to the fact that young people have so much easy access to computers when they are at home these days, it would be hard to believe that they would not want to have access to such an incredible tool while they were at school too, only to find out about how much more it has to offer educationally when they were in the classroom.
My current PLN is a very basic one that pretty much sums up my day-to-day life currently. I used Portaportal to help me categorize what I do daily and it allowed me to post the links to my most used websites to see it visually. It turns out that a PLN is like a personal mapping device so that the user can prioritize what they need to get done, or to use to see what they are currently getting done. For myself, I have websites such as Facebook, Blogger, South Alabama, and a few craft websites listed. I do my school work right now as what I would consider my full-time job, and then when I'm done with my work for the day I relax with a craft, baking a dish, or socialize with friends. So for me, my PLN includes my job, and my hobbies. I have also included Dr. Paige Baggett's blog in my PLN because she was a former instructor of mine, and because she was very influential to me. She has helped me in so many ways to build wonderful ideas of ways I can incorporate art into the everyday classroom. i love art so much, it is such a huge part of my life, and with what I have learned from her I am so much more eager to use art in my future classroom with students of any age! I plan on using my PLN more and more to map out the road of my educator career!
C4K #1 post: I was assigned the blog of Leopold Primary School for my C4K post. The children of this Australian classroom are so adorable and eager to learn! I enjoyed watching the podcast they used to make their origami boxes, and even made one myself! Podcasting is a great tool for the classroom at any grade level, and these students were all able to work as a group to produce beautiful origami art boxes. It was very enjoyable to learn from students younger than me, and I learned a few tips on using podcast in the everyday class agenda. Who knew that I didn't have to be the teacher all the time, and I can simply implement a podcast for instruction on how to make an origami box if I myself do not know how to explain it to my students?! 2KM at Leopold Primary School
"No More Moas" by Duncan Scott I really enjoyed this podcast! I loved the added animation and photos of the students sharing the book. I learned what a Moa was and how they went extinct 500 years ago. I also remembered after watching the podcast that the Moa was featured on a TV show I watched this year called "Destination Truth" on the Syfy channel! It's such a small world, it really is. The students did a great job describing the book in a very clear way, that anyone could understand outside of New Zealand. Their accent is one that is very heavy, and is sometimes spoken in a way that is mumbled, making it one that can be hard to translate. This podcast was done very well, and the story shared was very interesting.
This one was a bit harder to understand. I got that this book was also about a bird, but I really had to rely more on the pictures in this podcast. Again, I state that the animations are a big help, and I believe they would be a great way to help in motivating students to watch podcasts of all types.
"Duster" This was another well done podcast! The girls were better at annunciation, and therefore I was able to understand the podcast better. I believe it is very important for clarity of words when creating a podcast even if video is available in case there is a problem after publishing. If nothing works but the audio after publishing, a student listening would be able to clearly hear what is going on in the podcast. I really enjoyed the story of "Duster" and the pictures included were great!
"Getting Board" These kids have all produced such interesting and cool podcast! The photos are great because I feel like I know them after watching each one. I really enjoyed the images from David Hill's book "Getting Board" because they reminded me of the way Roald Dahl illustrates his books. This story was very cute and would be one that I would recommend to my students at this reading level.
"The Archway Arrow" This podcast was another one that was hard to understand without the pictures. It seems that the girls in the New Zealand 5 year class had a harder time enunciating in a way that the podcast came out clear enough for anyone to fully understand the broadcast. The pictures truly helped me to get the full timeline of events in the story. All of these podcast, however, were very fun to watch and would be a great way to encourage a class to read then share their book over a podcast!
Smartboards: http://interactivewhiteboards.blogspot.com/ This was the blog I found that seemed to be pro-smartboards. I really have only heard good things about interactive white boards up until this assignment. I love that technology is being used in the classrooms, and I disagree with The Innovative Educator Blog because I feel like technology and spending money on it is what it is going to take to get our students to learn these days. It is very unfortunate, don't get me wrong, but it is what we as teachers have to face today. As technology moves forward growing more and more popular by the SECOND, even us teachers have to accept the newest gadgets. As far as I'm concerned I love the smartboards because they are a way to get students' attention. "hey kids look at this...isn't this neat?". The smartboard and Prometheus boards can do so much, and come with so much pre-loaded teacher friendly stuff that I only see it as a perk, and a great addition to any classroom. I also disagree with Why I Hate Interactive Whiteboards. I feel very strongly that buying an interactive whiteboard is just as bad as going out and buying a whole schlew of computers for your classroom, only to then have to worry about regulating what students watch, wonder if you bought the right ones, and worry about how much money you spent! If a teacher just buys an interactive whiteboard, then the class can rely on the teacher to access the podcast, and class-oriented/appropriate websites and be worry-free. Now, also an interactive whiteboard is going to be like any other developing technological product; by this I mean they are going to have bugs, glitches, and won't be what every teacher wants it to be, until the newer model comes out. But, let's face it, technology develops in this way everywhere!! Look at the iPod, it started big and bulky, then went smaller, and again smaller, then bigger again, then skinny, then touch screen, and then finally turned into a PAD and/or a PHONE! Technology changes so fast that I feel like it is unfair to judge a product until either improvements are made to it (which seems like a sure thing to happen), or until another product is designed to replace it.
C4T comment: I'm hesitant to comment on this day's post, because I am some what uncertain as to what is the goal of the discoveries you post. I know that today's post was about a science web-site, but are these discoveries one's that you hope to have your students use, or ones that will be used by you? I did however enjoy the 25 apps to boost your productivity site. I'm always in need of help in that field. I do say I love that you share so many different websites in one day's post, it's nice to have a variety. Please be sure to check out my blog for my EDM310 class through the University of South Alabama on June 30th.
Chipper and Dummies: These movies were very fun to watch! Chipper made me laugh because I have sometimes felt the same way as she did since the beginning of the class, but I have pushed through it. EDM for Dummies was funny too, but honestly I have learned quite a large amount of information on my own; so much that it even surprised me! I am really enjoying the class, and if I were to make a movie I would want to do it about the positive side of the way this class is taught.
