Over the course of this semester, I have learned about several useful tools which I will be able to equip myself with in order to reach every student to the best of my abilities. Each of these tools can be used in any classroom, to reach a wide variety of students. These tools will allow me to be better equipped in reaching and staying in contact with students, parents, administrators, and other teachers. Over the course of this final blog entry, I will discuss how each of the projects will come in handy in my classroom next year, the things which I need to work on to make the resources more effective, and how I will be using these projects in the future.IT645 has given me several resources, which I plan on implementing into my classroom quite frequently next school year.
The first set of projects dealt with meeting with parents prior to the start of a new unit to discuss what each student should expect. The project had three required portions; a flyer for each student to bring home to their parent, a progress chart at the meeting for each parent to examine the progress of their child, finally a PowerPoint quiz so that the parents can see an example of how the students review for a test. All three of these assignments were quite easy and I have used, or will use each in the fall. Next school year I will be holding parents meetings at the start of every 9 weeks so the parents can be aware of how their child is doing in my class, and what they can expect to be happening in future. The progress chart is something that I already use in my classes, I generally only print one out however when I have a parent teacher conference. I plan on using progress charts quite frequently next school year, in order that students will have a better idea of the progress their making in my class. The final was the PowerPoint quiz review. This is something I have used over the course of the past two school years and I believe it is one of the most effective technology tools for review. I generally play jeopardy with my students and allow them to use whiteboard in my class. This is always something every student enjoys participating in. These first set of required projects were not overly complicated, but very useful in a middle school classroom.
The next set of assignments dealt with creating a puzzle, test and rubric for a state project which I used in class, and a trackstar site for student, and parents to access for frequently used websites in my class. I chose to have all the projects dealing with US states and Capitals. With the exception of trackstar, no project was extremely difficult and each came along quite nicely. I had difficulty with the trackstar account because I did not place the http:// in front of the website. Therefore I was not able to have the website homepage. Once I figure out that minor problem the assignment came together easily. The biggest problem I had was uploading each project to my blog. The puzzle was a word scramble which I used for review, as they sorted the names of US Capitals. The test I did not use in class, while a useful resource I prefer to make my own test in class. The rubric I found extremely useful. When it comes to grading a writing assignment or project the only fair and accurate way to grade a paper is by using a rubric. That way I can be fair to each and every student. The final assignment dealt with reviewing websites for its content and lay out. I found this assignment to be not very effective for parents and students. It could however be useful for teachers to use these forms as a way of assessing the websites for important information which is necessary to find out before students use the site. From these five assignments without question, the rubric will be the one I use the most in the future.
The next assignment was setting up a website to use in class. Overall this was my favorite of all the projects, and the one I will use most in the coming years. The website was developed much easier than I originally anticipated. I have several features on my site which I will use next school year. The homepage of the site had a variety of announcements such as word of the day, upcoming dates of events, and the student of the month. Also on the website viewers can find my philosophy on education, and how they can get in contact with me. Next year I will also be sure to have important documents such as permission slips, and course syllabi. I also have websites linked to my site, so that students, parents, and other teachers and administrators can access all possible information about my class in one easy spot. This website is going to be by far the most beneficial tool for me in my future endeavors in education.
The final set of assignments I created a listserve to stay in touch with parents and coworkers. Along with this I was also created a short movie for my students, about the diversity of South America. The listserve took no time to create, and was quite simple. A listserve can be very beneficial to a teacher because it allows teachers to get in contact with a number of recipients with just one message. With this type of communication is far easier than having to send home newsletters each week. If enough parents show interest next school year, I will definitely be using this form of communication. The second portion of this assignment was the creation of a movie. Before starting the movie I felt that it would be extremely difficult to complete. However in the end it was not hard at all. It was just a matter of playing around with Windows Movie Maker to learn how to use it. Once I took some time just to learn the program the project came together very easily. I created a short movie about the diversity of the South American culture which I used in my 6th grade Social Studies Class. I believe once I become more familiar with Movie Maker I will be making more movies in the future.
Over the course of the last four months I have learned several useful resources to use in my classroom in the coming years. As technology develops it is the responsibility of the educator to familiarize himself with any technology which could be used to reach each student. As educators we must do everything in our power to reach each and every student, therefore no student will be forgotten or left behind.
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Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Week 13 Reflection
Week 13: Chapter 11 and 12. What are the legal, social, and ethical issues arising in the Digital Age?
With the increased reliance on technology in and outside the classroom, other issues have also increased during this digital age. Legal, social, and ethical issues have all arose over the past decade and can not be easily ignored. Legal issues are surfaced around copyright laws. Copyright laws do not imply however within the classroom. These rules are called fair use rules. It is always important to ask yourself what is the intended use of the material? What type of work is it? The amount of the work which you will use, and finally, what type of impact does this kind of use have on the market of the work? (Table 11.1). Another issue is privacy. Privacy comes in many different aspects. This most common involves online privacy. Parents must give permission to a school district to use the name or picture of their child. The final aspect of the legal issues in the digital age is acceptable use. According to Lever-Duffy and McDonald the most common area of acceptable use has to do with the internet (404). Each student should be familiar with the acceptable use of the school district. The school district normally issues an acceptable use policy for the entire district (404). Overall, legal issues while may be complicated must be followed in order to make sure that the school and students are within compliance of the rule of law.
The second set of issues is social issues. While not as extensive as legal issues, they are still extremely important. The one major issue pointed out by Lever-Duffy and McDonald is the access which students have to computers. Many times poorer school districts might not have as many computers of that of wealthier districts. Along with this, a study by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration showed that only 46% of households that make between $35,000 and $49,000 own a computer (407). While some suggest that students are at a disadvantage because of their economic status. Generally school districts are well stocked with computers, and if a student does not have a computer at home they do have the opportunity to use one at their local library. There have been steps taken to make sure local communities can be afforded by public organizations, such as schools and libraries at a reduced price (408).
The final and most prevalent issues surrounding the digital age is that of the ethical issues. Ethical issues include freedom of speech, and academic dishonesty. Freedom of Speech is a highly debatable issue. While the internet is without question a “forum for sharing ideas and opinions” (409), many believe censorship should be enforced when pertaining to people placing their own opinions on the internet for all to see. It is important for teachers and students to understand that all information should be access from educational websites. Therefore they will not have to worry about delivering misinformed information to their audience. The final issue is that of academic dishonesty. Academic dishonesty is running ramped through American schools by way of plagiarism. While many times plagiarism is completely involuntary it is still a major issue which must be faced. There must be more efficient education of students to allow them to learn exactly what plagiarism is, and how to avoid it. One step which has been taken to avoid academic dishonestly is by way of the creation of websites such as turnitin.com which monitors and analyzes papers for plagiarism. Overall while there are many issues that face teachers and students in the technological age, but none compare to the benefits which it gives.
With the increased reliance on technology in and outside the classroom, other issues have also increased during this digital age. Legal, social, and ethical issues have all arose over the past decade and can not be easily ignored. Legal issues are surfaced around copyright laws. Copyright laws do not imply however within the classroom. These rules are called fair use rules. It is always important to ask yourself what is the intended use of the material? What type of work is it? The amount of the work which you will use, and finally, what type of impact does this kind of use have on the market of the work? (Table 11.1). Another issue is privacy. Privacy comes in many different aspects. This most common involves online privacy. Parents must give permission to a school district to use the name or picture of their child. The final aspect of the legal issues in the digital age is acceptable use. According to Lever-Duffy and McDonald the most common area of acceptable use has to do with the internet (404). Each student should be familiar with the acceptable use of the school district. The school district normally issues an acceptable use policy for the entire district (404). Overall, legal issues while may be complicated must be followed in order to make sure that the school and students are within compliance of the rule of law.
The second set of issues is social issues. While not as extensive as legal issues, they are still extremely important. The one major issue pointed out by Lever-Duffy and McDonald is the access which students have to computers. Many times poorer school districts might not have as many computers of that of wealthier districts. Along with this, a study by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration showed that only 46% of households that make between $35,000 and $49,000 own a computer (407). While some suggest that students are at a disadvantage because of their economic status. Generally school districts are well stocked with computers, and if a student does not have a computer at home they do have the opportunity to use one at their local library. There have been steps taken to make sure local communities can be afforded by public organizations, such as schools and libraries at a reduced price (408).
The final and most prevalent issues surrounding the digital age is that of the ethical issues. Ethical issues include freedom of speech, and academic dishonesty. Freedom of Speech is a highly debatable issue. While the internet is without question a “forum for sharing ideas and opinions” (409), many believe censorship should be enforced when pertaining to people placing their own opinions on the internet for all to see. It is important for teachers and students to understand that all information should be access from educational websites. Therefore they will not have to worry about delivering misinformed information to their audience. The final issue is that of academic dishonesty. Academic dishonesty is running ramped through American schools by way of plagiarism. While many times plagiarism is completely involuntary it is still a major issue which must be faced. There must be more efficient education of students to allow them to learn exactly what plagiarism is, and how to avoid it. One step which has been taken to avoid academic dishonestly is by way of the creation of websites such as turnitin.com which monitors and analyzes papers for plagiarism. Overall while there are many issues that face teachers and students in the technological age, but none compare to the benefits which it gives.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Week 12 Movie and Listserve
This latest set of projects was perhaps the most complicated or difficult of the semester, mostly due to my nervousness and unfamiliarity with the programs. I was quite unsure at first on how to approach the assignment, especially the movie in particular. Overall however the assignments came together and were quite easier than I anticipated. The first assignment was completing a listserve. I never knew how to complete a listserve, but upon following the simple directions outlined on the class website I believe I will be using it in the future. Listserve’s are very beneficial for whole group communications between the teacher and the parents of his or her students. Listserve’s can be beneficial in the aspect that teacher’s can notify all the parents in a class of changes to the schedule and the class as a whole, rather than individually. Also another beneficial aspect of a listserve which I plan to employ in my class next year is when it comes time for me to send out my weekly newsletter. Originally this year I used to hand out a news letter every Monday, however now I can simply email every parent. That way it is much more likely that each parent receives the newsletter, without relying on the student to deliver it. The only negative to this idea is that I must have every email of every parent in order that I am able to send out the needed information. Overall a listserve is a great way to communicate between parents and the teacher.
The second project was by far the more difficult of the two. I have never used Windows movie maker, or any other movie maker software before. So needless to say I had no idea when I first started how to create the movie. I decided to create a short movie which I will use in my 6th grade class which deals with the cultural diversity of South America. My movie consisted of about 20 slides, and last only about 1 minute and 30 second. The purpose of the movie is to give each student a preview about what they will be learning in terms of South American culture. I had initial difficulty recording the voice over for the movie. However, once I began simply playing around on the program the assignment came together. I hope to one day in the future create longer movies, that include actual footage to share with my students.
Movie
Listserve
The second project was by far the more difficult of the two. I have never used Windows movie maker, or any other movie maker software before. So needless to say I had no idea when I first started how to create the movie. I decided to create a short movie which I will use in my 6th grade class which deals with the cultural diversity of South America. My movie consisted of about 20 slides, and last only about 1 minute and 30 second. The purpose of the movie is to give each student a preview about what they will be learning in terms of South American culture. I had initial difficulty recording the voice over for the movie. However, once I began simply playing around on the program the assignment came together. I hope to one day in the future create longer movies, that include actual footage to share with my students.
Movie
Listserve
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Week 11: Chpt 9 and 10
Week 11: Chapter 9 and 10
Question #3- What is distance education? What type of support are critical to the success of distance education? Why?
While distance learning has been in existence since the mid 1800’s when correspondence courses in Europe used a mail system, distance learning has become extremely prevalent since the late 1980’s into the 1990’s. (Lever-Duffy and McDonald, 367) Using this class as a perfect example, distance learning is defined as “education when the teacher and student may be working from different locations and/or different times” (Lever-Duffy and McDonald, 364). This deliverance of instruction has grown extremely popular in recent years with the evolution of the internet, and the full time working student. In distance education technology is without question the key for this type of learning. Without internet access and sometimes even webcam capabilities make distant learning impossible. According to Lever-Duffy and McDonald, distance learning was originally developed to deliver education to students in rural areas (364). Online learning has allowed full time workers to further their academic growth without sacrificing their careers. According to the text a number of states have developed online high school programs that offer credits state wide. In the past twenty years distance learning has grown drastically.
The support for distant education is extremely important, and depending on what type of instruction you are dealing with the support will be different. Synchronous and Asynchronous instruction are your two options in dealing with distant education. Synchronous technologies are for instant communication, while asynchronous is for non-instant communication. Synchronous technologies are tools such as telephones, broadcast videos, radio broadcast, internet chat, or video conferencing. All these tools allow students to interact instantly with teachers regardless of location. Asynchronous technologies are as important for that type of education. These tools consist of voice mail and fax, video and audio cassettes, internet conferencing, and email. These tools allow student to work at their own pace and not always be obligated to a certain time or location for class. Overall distant education is one of the fast growing learning tools in America, from the University of Phoenix to online classes at the University of Southern Mississippi students across the globe are enrolling in classes with students who speak different languages and have different cultures.
Question #3- What is distance education? What type of support are critical to the success of distance education? Why?
While distance learning has been in existence since the mid 1800’s when correspondence courses in Europe used a mail system, distance learning has become extremely prevalent since the late 1980’s into the 1990’s. (Lever-Duffy and McDonald, 367) Using this class as a perfect example, distance learning is defined as “education when the teacher and student may be working from different locations and/or different times” (Lever-Duffy and McDonald, 364). This deliverance of instruction has grown extremely popular in recent years with the evolution of the internet, and the full time working student. In distance education technology is without question the key for this type of learning. Without internet access and sometimes even webcam capabilities make distant learning impossible. According to Lever-Duffy and McDonald, distance learning was originally developed to deliver education to students in rural areas (364). Online learning has allowed full time workers to further their academic growth without sacrificing their careers. According to the text a number of states have developed online high school programs that offer credits state wide. In the past twenty years distance learning has grown drastically.
The support for distant education is extremely important, and depending on what type of instruction you are dealing with the support will be different. Synchronous and Asynchronous instruction are your two options in dealing with distant education. Synchronous technologies are for instant communication, while asynchronous is for non-instant communication. Synchronous technologies are tools such as telephones, broadcast videos, radio broadcast, internet chat, or video conferencing. All these tools allow students to interact instantly with teachers regardless of location. Asynchronous technologies are as important for that type of education. These tools consist of voice mail and fax, video and audio cassettes, internet conferencing, and email. These tools allow student to work at their own pace and not always be obligated to a certain time or location for class. Overall distant education is one of the fast growing learning tools in America, from the University of Phoenix to online classes at the University of Southern Mississippi students across the globe are enrolling in classes with students who speak different languages and have different cultures.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Week 10 Website review
The most recent project of this semester, has been my favorite. This project consisted of me creating a website for my class. I found this project to be very beneficial to my class, and I plan on using this very site for my class next year. Overall the assignment was not very difficult to create. Upon opening the page the viewer will see a short welcome notice from me. Below that the viewer will find the student of the month which once the school year begins will be updated each month. Below that on the home page viewers will find the word of the week and the homework assignments for each week. Along with this are all the announcements which are prevalent to the students and their parents. On the left side of the page there are several tabs which will direct you to different sections of the site. Such as course information, homework, and means of contacting me. The “Meet Coach Hotard” tab consists of my teaching philosophy, methodology, and my personal biography. You can also find on the left hand side, class announcements, class calendar, and useful links. I have had a very difficult time uploading links onto the page. However, despite that difficulty the assignment was not difficult and quite enjoyable.
Coach Hotard Website
Coach Hotard Website
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Week 8 Reflection
This past reflection presented a few more road blocks than the prior project. This project consisted of several assignments, however none of which were overly difficult. The assignment consisted of making a puzzle, project rubric and quiz using an internet wizard for all three. The second requirement was web reviews for both content and design of two websites which I use in class. The third and final assignment was making a track using trackstar to keep record of all the website used in class no one project was overly difficult and all were mostly enjoyable.
The first review puzzle I created, I actually used in class. It was a word scramble for US capitals which I gave to my students as a review game in class. Each student participated and was given bonus points based on how many capitals they unscrambled. The second was the project rubric, this rubric I hope to use one day in the future. This site I find will be very beneficial because I am constantly assigning small projects in class, and this rubric site will allow me to grade more fairly by using the rubrics which I create. The final sheet I created was a quiz for my 6th grade class. It was a quiz on the US capitals, which went hand in hand with the review puzzle. Overall all three of these tools will come in very helpful in the future when it comes to assessment.
The second portion of the assignment was the web review. The two websites I chose to review were MrDonn.org and eyewitnesstohistory.com. Both of these sites I use on a weekly basis. While Mrdonn.org is not easy to navigate around and is suited more so than teachers, rather than students it still has quite a few activities and interactive games which students can use to review major topics in both US and world history. The second website I assessed was eyewitnesstohistory.com. This is perhaps my favorite website for my students to use in order to gain a firsthand account of events in American history. This website is easy to navigate and has firsthand video, audio and written accounts of major moments in both world and American history. I would suggest this website to any social studies teacher who is hoping to reach their student and hope they gain more of a firsthand understanding of major events in history.
The final and most difficult portion of the assignment was the trackstar site. I had problems with this site, because I originally realized that I did not enter http:// prior to the URL and there for the track was not creating a direct link. Once I fixed that problem the rest of the assignment came along quite easily. I used several websites which I use quite frequently in my class, such as eye witness to history which is again, a great source for first hand accounts of historical events. Other sites which are included on my track deal with early American movies, and other interactive websites, such as National Geographic for Kids. Overall I believe I will be using trackstar in future classes in order for my students to have a place where the can access frequently visited sites.
Trackstar
Rubric
Test
Answer Sheet
Puzzle
Content1
Content2
Design1
Design2
The first review puzzle I created, I actually used in class. It was a word scramble for US capitals which I gave to my students as a review game in class. Each student participated and was given bonus points based on how many capitals they unscrambled. The second was the project rubric, this rubric I hope to use one day in the future. This site I find will be very beneficial because I am constantly assigning small projects in class, and this rubric site will allow me to grade more fairly by using the rubrics which I create. The final sheet I created was a quiz for my 6th grade class. It was a quiz on the US capitals, which went hand in hand with the review puzzle. Overall all three of these tools will come in very helpful in the future when it comes to assessment.
The second portion of the assignment was the web review. The two websites I chose to review were MrDonn.org and eyewitnesstohistory.com. Both of these sites I use on a weekly basis. While Mrdonn.org is not easy to navigate around and is suited more so than teachers, rather than students it still has quite a few activities and interactive games which students can use to review major topics in both US and world history. The second website I assessed was eyewitnesstohistory.com. This is perhaps my favorite website for my students to use in order to gain a firsthand account of events in American history. This website is easy to navigate and has firsthand video, audio and written accounts of major moments in both world and American history. I would suggest this website to any social studies teacher who is hoping to reach their student and hope they gain more of a firsthand understanding of major events in history.
The final and most difficult portion of the assignment was the trackstar site. I had problems with this site, because I originally realized that I did not enter http:// prior to the URL and there for the track was not creating a direct link. Once I fixed that problem the rest of the assignment came along quite easily. I used several websites which I use quite frequently in my class, such as eye witness to history which is again, a great source for first hand accounts of historical events. Other sites which are included on my track deal with early American movies, and other interactive websites, such as National Geographic for Kids. Overall I believe I will be using trackstar in future classes in order for my students to have a place where the can access frequently visited sites.
Trackstar
Rubric
Test
Answer Sheet
Puzzle
Content1
Content2
Design1
Design2
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Week 7 Reflection# 6
Week 7: Question #2
What is the difference between asynchronous and synchronous communication? Name and describe the Internet communication tools that fall into each category.
According to Lever-Duffy and McDonald the internet offers several possibilities of communication. These communications are both asynchronous and synchronous communications (253). Synchronous communications is defined as same time communications such as chatting or videoconferencing which can be produced through a webcam. Asynchronous is defined as time shifted such as email, discussions, or mailing list. Both methods of communication can be very useful in the education world.
The most prevalent in terms of asynchronous communication is email. Everyday nearly every educator uses email to communicate with parents, administrators, and other teachers. In order to have an email a teachers simply needs an email address. This entails a user name and password for a server. Generally each teacher will have a professional email which will be provided to them by the school district’s server. Emails allow for you to write virtual letters to others, receive letters, and store them for later reference. It is wise to create folders within your email account which allows you to store certain emails in certain areas to access them more easily. For instance, I have folders for all personal, professional, and other emails.
Another asynchronous communication tool for computers is discussion. There are several terms for discussion, such as bulletin boards, clubs, and forums or message boards. Discussion boards allow people to post messages and await either public or private responses. This type of communication allows for various groups of people to read and respond to certain post. Lever-Duffy and McDonald points out that discussion can be used for teachers to interact with other teachers no matter where they are located and students to do the same (259). Discussion is asynchronous because a post can be responded to at anytime, not immediately. The final asynchronous communication tool is mailing lists, which are also known as listserve. This tool sends emails to names placed on an entire list. They resemble all other personal email messages (259). According to Lever-Duffy and McDonald, listservs are beneficial to educators because it allows teachers to receive and send emails to other colleagues all at once.
There are two main types of synchronous communication tools, chats and video conferencing. Synchronous communication allows for instant communication with different parties. A chat is for two or more internet users to meet in real time. This virtual space is known as a “chat room” (260). Another form of chat is instant messaging. Instant messaging (IM) is a one on one chat which can be started whenever two users are online at the same time. However, while chats may be useful in many arenas, I do not believe that school is one of them. Too often chat rooms are infiltrated by people who can have access to our students. Another form of synchronous chat is video conferencing. Not only through video conferencing can users see one another, but they can also hear and talk to one another. Video conferencing has been developed immensely in the past few years, and it is now easier than ever get in contact with users around the world.
What is the difference between asynchronous and synchronous communication? Name and describe the Internet communication tools that fall into each category.
According to Lever-Duffy and McDonald the internet offers several possibilities of communication. These communications are both asynchronous and synchronous communications (253). Synchronous communications is defined as same time communications such as chatting or videoconferencing which can be produced through a webcam. Asynchronous is defined as time shifted such as email, discussions, or mailing list. Both methods of communication can be very useful in the education world.
The most prevalent in terms of asynchronous communication is email. Everyday nearly every educator uses email to communicate with parents, administrators, and other teachers. In order to have an email a teachers simply needs an email address. This entails a user name and password for a server. Generally each teacher will have a professional email which will be provided to them by the school district’s server. Emails allow for you to write virtual letters to others, receive letters, and store them for later reference. It is wise to create folders within your email account which allows you to store certain emails in certain areas to access them more easily. For instance, I have folders for all personal, professional, and other emails.
Another asynchronous communication tool for computers is discussion. There are several terms for discussion, such as bulletin boards, clubs, and forums or message boards. Discussion boards allow people to post messages and await either public or private responses. This type of communication allows for various groups of people to read and respond to certain post. Lever-Duffy and McDonald points out that discussion can be used for teachers to interact with other teachers no matter where they are located and students to do the same (259). Discussion is asynchronous because a post can be responded to at anytime, not immediately. The final asynchronous communication tool is mailing lists, which are also known as listserve. This tool sends emails to names placed on an entire list. They resemble all other personal email messages (259). According to Lever-Duffy and McDonald, listservs are beneficial to educators because it allows teachers to receive and send emails to other colleagues all at once.
There are two main types of synchronous communication tools, chats and video conferencing. Synchronous communication allows for instant communication with different parties. A chat is for two or more internet users to meet in real time. This virtual space is known as a “chat room” (260). Another form of chat is instant messaging. Instant messaging (IM) is a one on one chat which can be started whenever two users are online at the same time. However, while chats may be useful in many arenas, I do not believe that school is one of them. Too often chat rooms are infiltrated by people who can have access to our students. Another form of synchronous chat is video conferencing. Not only through video conferencing can users see one another, but they can also hear and talk to one another. Video conferencing has been developed immensely in the past few years, and it is now easier than ever get in contact with users around the world.
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