What?
In Instructional Media I have learned how to create a class website, using Google tools and applications, create and use blogs, share documents over the web, tap into the online social networks, create WebQuests, and create Digital Stories along with countless other little technology must haves along the way. I have taken three main ideas from this class and will summarize them here:
1. Technology in the classroom is essential.
This might be my biased opinion but we live in a technological savvy era where most kids know more than we do about many of the technologies available to them. I think as teachers we can best teach them and they will best learn through the use of technology in our classrooms including computers, the Internet, cell phones, music and video.
2. Class websites can help keep students and parents informed while keeping assignments and due dates organized and clear.
I have really enjoyed learning how to create a website that is user friendly and allows me to keep my students and their parents up to date at all times. I feel this is an essential part to getting parents involved in the learning process and letting students take the responsibility for their learning.
3. Students need to be aware of the risks involved with technology as well as how to keep themselves safe.
Internet predators and cyberbullies are real and students need to be able to stay safe and use technology wisely. They need to be made aware of the dangers and know how to act if they encounter questionable situations. Also parents need to be made aware of these dangers as well and be educated about their children's choices and activities. I also want my students to know how to use technology in a legal and ethical way.
So What?
This course has been one of the most useful courses that I have taken. I feel that I have learned so much useful information about the different technologies available to me as a teacher. I feel that all of these things will make me a better teacher and help me to better connect with my students. I feel prepared to create a real class website and connect with my students. I feel that I am very well prepared to start teaching and to meet the NETS standards. I'm well on my way to designing and developing digital-age experiences and activities that will be useful to my students. I also feel very informed about Internet safety and feel strongly that students should be taught how to stay Internet safe. I feel that I can now meet some of my professional goals and create meaningful learning for my students.
Now What?
I will definitely have a class website available to my students for each course. This was one of the main reasons I was excited to take this course. I want my students to be able to access assignments, assignement descriptions, schedules, and announcements 24/7 through our class website.
I'm also looking into using the WebQuest and Digital Story as a final project for my students at the end of the year. I want them to be able to apply the concepts that they have learned throughout the year and create a fun project displaying to me and others what they have learned.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Digital Story
What?
Digital Stories combine pictures, music, and narration to create feelings, tones, and meaning that cannot be brought together through other media techniques or teaching styles. Meaningful learning is more likely to occur through this collaboration of music, moods, and visuals. There are many different movie making programs available to teachers, students, and anyone that wants to make a movie about something. I chose to use Photo Story 3 which is a very simple and user friendly program. I really liked the ease of putting together a movie with this program because students could use this program with very little instruction to create assignments and projects for their school work. I think Digital Stories are great for most any content area because of the infinite possibilities that can be produced. However, subjects such as history and language have some really moving topics that work well with Digital Stories and can really get the students involved.
It was difficult to find a topic to create a Digital Story about mathematics. Although not unachievable, it does require much thought and creativity. I chose to take a field trip with my students and show them some of the geometric shapes in the real world. I thought this would be affective to help create interest at the beginning of the year in geometry as the students could see how geometry plays a part in their world. I would really like to show this video as an introduction and then assign the students to create something similar relating mathematics to their lives and portraying that through a digital story.
So What?
Through this assignment I once again had my eyes opened to the endless possibilities and different teaching techniques that are out there and available to me. In all of the many math classes that I've been through, never once has a movie been played that helped me better understand my content area. I like this idea of digital stories because it is new and fresh for the students of today and can grasp their attention using the things that they so love, technology.
Through this experience, I was able to really work on developing my skills with creating digital-age learning experiences.
Now What?
One of my professional goals is to teach math in a way that has really been used before but that is also very effective in order to help students really learn math. I think that digital stories could be a good way to really get them engaged in the learning process and expecially in application type problems. I will also continue to stretch my creativity in order to help students best learn and connect with the concepts that I will be teaching them.
Digital Stories combine pictures, music, and narration to create feelings, tones, and meaning that cannot be brought together through other media techniques or teaching styles. Meaningful learning is more likely to occur through this collaboration of music, moods, and visuals. There are many different movie making programs available to teachers, students, and anyone that wants to make a movie about something. I chose to use Photo Story 3 which is a very simple and user friendly program. I really liked the ease of putting together a movie with this program because students could use this program with very little instruction to create assignments and projects for their school work. I think Digital Stories are great for most any content area because of the infinite possibilities that can be produced. However, subjects such as history and language have some really moving topics that work well with Digital Stories and can really get the students involved.
It was difficult to find a topic to create a Digital Story about mathematics. Although not unachievable, it does require much thought and creativity. I chose to take a field trip with my students and show them some of the geometric shapes in the real world. I thought this would be affective to help create interest at the beginning of the year in geometry as the students could see how geometry plays a part in their world. I would really like to show this video as an introduction and then assign the students to create something similar relating mathematics to their lives and portraying that through a digital story.
So What?
Through this assignment I once again had my eyes opened to the endless possibilities and different teaching techniques that are out there and available to me. In all of the many math classes that I've been through, never once has a movie been played that helped me better understand my content area. I like this idea of digital stories because it is new and fresh for the students of today and can grasp their attention using the things that they so love, technology.
Through this experience, I was able to really work on developing my skills with creating digital-age learning experiences.
Now What?
One of my professional goals is to teach math in a way that has really been used before but that is also very effective in order to help students really learn math. I think that digital stories could be a good way to really get them engaged in the learning process and expecially in application type problems. I will also continue to stretch my creativity in order to help students best learn and connect with the concepts that I will be teaching them.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
WebQuest
What?
WebQuests are activities used by educators that allow their students to think, analyze, and work through information using different sites and resources from the Internet. This is a great way for students to work through things and discover content material on their own or in groups. This kind of discovery learning is more meaningful to the students. Because of the variety of information that is available online, WebQuests are very versatile and can be used for any content area. Using online interactives and games is also very fun and engaging for the students and can help keep their interest for topics that may otherwise be a little dull.
I think that I could use WebQuests in my mathematics classroom from time to time to break up the monotony of the traditional lecture style instruction. I think there are some great topics in math that the students could definitely discover and learn about on their own thru the use of a guided activity such as a WebQuest. I choose to do a WebQuest about the uses of mathematics in the real world so that I could use this during the first few days of class in order to help students to make connections and see the relevancies of the material we will be learning to the uses in their own lives.
So What?
This assignment has really helped me to branch out and find the other resources that are available to me and my students to make their learning a meaningful experience. I feel like this is a great assignment to help students use math in ways that are most like how they will use math after high school. Teaching my students to use technology, specifically the computer and the Internet in a safe and ethical way, is a very important aspect of my job as a teacher in these times. I feel that it is my responsibility to help them think through things and be able to logically reason through different problems so that they will be prepared for problems that they will encounter in their lives.
For this specific WebQuest, I feel that I’ve found some very good resources for my students to go through and find new information that they may not have thought about before. I was able to find several different interactives that will give them a chance to work with the math skills they previously have acquired and see how they are applied in the real world.
Now What?
Part of the reason why I wanted to be a teacher is to help others gain a love for math and see the possibilities that are out there using mathematics. For this reason, I choose to create a WebQuest that helps the students to see the bigger picture and see just where they are going with the different concepts that they will learn through their high school math experiences. Another reason that I wanted to create a WebQuest of this nature is because of the different interactives that are included that allow the students to see that not all math is boring and useless. They will also hopefully gain a greater appreciation for the different varieties of mathematics in the real world. I hope to accomplish these goals even further by always helping students to see the bigger picture and realize all the many applications that there are without completely overwhelming them.
WebQuests are activities used by educators that allow their students to think, analyze, and work through information using different sites and resources from the Internet. This is a great way for students to work through things and discover content material on their own or in groups. This kind of discovery learning is more meaningful to the students. Because of the variety of information that is available online, WebQuests are very versatile and can be used for any content area. Using online interactives and games is also very fun and engaging for the students and can help keep their interest for topics that may otherwise be a little dull.
I think that I could use WebQuests in my mathematics classroom from time to time to break up the monotony of the traditional lecture style instruction. I think there are some great topics in math that the students could definitely discover and learn about on their own thru the use of a guided activity such as a WebQuest. I choose to do a WebQuest about the uses of mathematics in the real world so that I could use this during the first few days of class in order to help students to make connections and see the relevancies of the material we will be learning to the uses in their own lives.
So What?
This assignment has really helped me to branch out and find the other resources that are available to me and my students to make their learning a meaningful experience. I feel like this is a great assignment to help students use math in ways that are most like how they will use math after high school. Teaching my students to use technology, specifically the computer and the Internet in a safe and ethical way, is a very important aspect of my job as a teacher in these times. I feel that it is my responsibility to help them think through things and be able to logically reason through different problems so that they will be prepared for problems that they will encounter in their lives.
For this specific WebQuest, I feel that I’ve found some very good resources for my students to go through and find new information that they may not have thought about before. I was able to find several different interactives that will give them a chance to work with the math skills they previously have acquired and see how they are applied in the real world.
Now What?
Part of the reason why I wanted to be a teacher is to help others gain a love for math and see the possibilities that are out there using mathematics. For this reason, I choose to create a WebQuest that helps the students to see the bigger picture and see just where they are going with the different concepts that they will learn through their high school math experiences. Another reason that I wanted to create a WebQuest of this nature is because of the different interactives that are included that allow the students to see that not all math is boring and useless. They will also hopefully gain a greater appreciation for the different varieties of mathematics in the real world. I hope to accomplish these goals even further by always helping students to see the bigger picture and realize all the many applications that there are without completely overwhelming them.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Google Notebok
So I just wanted to tell you all about my latest adventure on the web. With a new big assignment waiting for me to conquer, I have started using Google Notebook to keep track of all the websites and things that I want to use later in the project. It's great because instead of bookmarking a whole bunch of websites or writing down a bunch of URL's, I just paste them into a "notebook" that saves them for me and let's me comment about them and keeps them all organized for me. I can label the different websites or start another notebook. It's great! I wish I would have known about this tool sooner. Oh and the other awesome thing about it is that I have Google Notebook added to my iGoogle page so I can easily access it from one spot! Way cool! Give Google a try...you're bound to love it!
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