Website

Over the course of this semester, as we were making projects and reflecting on the process, we were making a website using Google Sites.  This is a web-based tool that is free to everyone with a Google account.  We had a list of things that the website had to include, which were really helpful and a good format for us to demonstrate the final projects that we had to do.  We created our websites in the beginning of the course, and were asked to turn in the final products of our digital story, diagram, flipchart and digital imaging presentation under the Technology Projects section.  We were asked to have two of our own choice pages to represent what we think is important to have on our classroom website in the future.  I think that there are some really important things that I will have on my classroom website, but didn't do for this one because I don't know my students yet.  I don't know what their at-home computer use is, and I don't know exactly what it will be in the schools either.  However, all of the projects and especially this website, have really helped me get a better vision for what technology in the classroom might look like.  I appreciate all the projects, but this one is by far my favorite to show off to my friends.  I love that there are so many helpful tools that were built right into our workbook/packet that matched the rubric and gave me insight to how to do these things in the future.
It was frustrating to me to have to deal with the details of the website.  I didn't like the original layout, so when I tried to be creative and play with the font and color a little bit, it didn't quite turn out.  It was distracting and hard to read, but at this point I didn't care that much.  I was over messing with it and a little fed up.  Then, about a month ago, I picked back up and starting working on the layout again.  I made sure it was more concise and looked good to match the content I had worked hard to put into it. 
I didn't like how strict the rubric made this project feel.  I didn't really feel like I could do my best creative work, because I was meeting the strict demands of the rubric.  That's not to say that my Website didn't turn out great; it did!  There were some great things on the rubric, but I just wish that there had been a better way to be creative with the project.
Overall, I am really happy that we did this project. I feel like I am better prepared and can refer to this website for future endeavors in the technology world. 

From Hollywood to the Classroom: Making Movies!

This week in 486, we made our own movies!  Dr. B gave us some instruction on how to use the program iMovie (which is suprisingly way easier to use than I thought) and let us work.  We were to create a movie with educational purpose in our classrooms.

Before this project I had a little experience with iMovie.  I worked for a really large church a couple of summers ago, where they produce all their own videos and media.  I loved getting to help with creative ideas for the videos and watched a lot of the videos being created in iMovie.  I recently got a D-SLR camera that has video function.  When I had more time over the summer, I decided to play around with it a little bit.  I have always loved video production and watch music videos 24-7.  So I got the idea to make a music video for a friends birthday to a song we like to laugh about.  Some friends and I filmed the video and I edited it in iMovie.  

Last time I used iMovie, I was less than an expert, but it was fun to play around with.  However, this time around using iMovie for the classroom was a great way for me to learn more of its features.  I enjoyed having the instruction from Dr. B and thought it was helpful for creating this assignment.  The hardest part was going to be finding pictures to use that weren't under copyright.  So, I decided to cut some losses and just take the photos myself.  I created an instructional process video on how to make a paper puppet.  I would use this in my classroom, to show the students while I pass out materials to use to make our own puppets!  I love puppets for the classroom to use during reader's theater or just reading in general.  This really helps the words come to life for the students, so I have been planning on using them.  And how better to get puppets in the class than having students make them!  This is why I wanted to create this How to Make a Puppet video.  I think that the students will pay attention better to a video as direct instruction than me. 

Diagrams Galore!

This week, after turning in last week's hefty assignment, we started working on creating diagrams.  This was a pretty basic week in terms of new things that we learned.  I had never used the software Inspiration before, but it was easy to catch on to.  I made a diagram that looked like a web with all the organelles in a plant cell.  As I was creating it, I was thinking that it seemed a little to elementary for me to be spending so much time on, but then I realized "duh! The students in my class will be creating the diagrams." This helped me stay focused on the project.  Here is a screen shot of my diagram.

I again enjoyed the practicality of using the state standards to keep this relevant to our classrooms.  I can really see myself letting my students use this program to do similar activities.  There are tons of examples on our class website, which were really helpful for me to see how to use diagramming in various ways. 

IWB Pro!

So after a long week of trying to make the perfect Promethean Board set up and another long week of rest on Spring Break (praise the good God in Heaven), I think I have gotten a ton of great information on Interactive White Boards!

This week we have been working frantically to create our own page on ActiveInspire to teach a lesson based on a curriculum standard.  I really enjoyed that this project is real life.  I will be able to use this for my future classroom! Granted it needs to be 2nd grade and I will have to have an IWB.  ah. details! But I really enjoyed being able to see myself using it to teach as I was creating it.  I learned several new tricks for interactivity with the board.  We learned how to create tables and pull-to-reveal as well as many other great forms of interactivity.  When we were learning them on Tuesday I thought to myself "do teachers actually use these types of interactivity in their classrooms?"  Prior to this I had only seen it used to write on and model handwriting and math problems.

I wrote a little last week about my prior knowledge on Smart Boards and how I have seen them used in the classroom.  So, I wanted to give you a little update about something else wonderful I saw this week!  At the school I have been shadowing at the Kindergarten teacher that I was observing used one of the types of interactivity!  I had even been looking at this same design in the Promethean Board website (http://www.prometheanplanet.com/en-us/).  It was a cool moment of connecting what we learn in our classes to what is happening in the actual elementary classroom.

Interactive White Board

This week was the beginning of learning to use the Interactive White Board! I am really exited about getting to know these boards better.  Before getting into the Education Program last year, I hadn't heard anything about them except maybe someone had mentioned before how cool SmartBoards are.

Since getting into the classrooms, however, I am convinced these things are going to change our world.  Every classroom that I have observed in has one of these boards and I have observed some wonderful things going on with them.  Each class used them differently based on the teacher and the grade level.  In a Kindergarten classroom the board was used by the children to come up and use during a math lesson where the students were using visual representations of blocks to show the number 17.  I saw the board being used in a classroom where the students could come up and trace letters and numbers to demonstrate what the other children should be doing on their worksheets.  In a third grade class the board was being used for a memory matching game where the students were trying to find cause and effect relationships.

Because of these experiences and learning briefly about the IWBs in class and through the book, I am very convinced that I will be using an IWB for a while in my classroom.  I want to be proficient in using it and I can't wait to use this week to get better at creating flipcharts.  I am excited to get to know the specific brand, Promethean.  This is the board that we use in our 486 classroom and from what Dr. O'Bannon has told us, I think this a great company that has really cool resources for teachers.

I'll catch everyone up next week on my thoughts about IWBs after I try hard to become proficient at them this week! Wish me luck!

Digital Imaging

This week in Technology Class, we have learned a ton about Digital Images.  We used Picasa Web albums to create a slideshow about a topic that we chose.  We used our new knowledge of Creative Commons and Copyright laws to grab photos from the internet that go with a topic that we decided on.  I used pics4learning.com  It's a fantastic website with a ton of images that are well organized and easy to find for use in the elementary classroom.


Also, we did a digital scavenger hunt.  This was a really fun, hands-on activity that helped me to learn the basics of digital imaging.  I learned that digital images that come out of our cameras and iPhones are jpeg format.  On the iPhone they are set to 72 resolution, which is perfect for sharing on the web!  We had a list of things we needed to find all over the education building.  Once we found these things and took pictures of them, we made a google presentation (similar to Powerpoint) to display our findings.  This was a really cool project and I enjoyed doing it a ton.

Here is the link to my Google Presentation : https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/14T-nIQaId5zYUErS2FyRPWC3wRc0lKWEDjHkU5x_Pz4/edit?usp=sharing

Opposites

Resource Wiki

This project was so great!  I really enjoyed exploring the web and asking my teacher friends about some of the best educational websites.  I really loved getting to play the games, which were super fun, and then evaluating them for their value in the classroom.  Each one that I evaluated were awesome, because I think I was recommended some great ones.  I got a couple from a list in Parenting Magazine. I enjoyed getting to think like a student for a moment and then a teacher in order to get a good idea about the website before I wrote an annotation about it.

What I really am appreciative of in this assignment is all the resources I will have from my fellow classmates.  There are a ton of websites that I now have on my radar, and from what I can tell, they are all awesome! This was a great assignment and I am not sad at all to have put much time and effort into it.  

Educational Wikis

As a whole, for Technology class, I am still missing the big deal with Wikis.  I get how they can be helpful with group collaboration online, but in a classroom setting, I don't know why they seem to be presented as more useful or accessible than websites or other collaboration sites.  Every one that I encountered for this blog post was a classroom's Wiki where they had posted things they have done or a teachers Wiki where other teachers can come and get resources.  Maybe they are easier to access or safer for children? ...oh, I don't know.  But anyhow!  I am going to give you my review of the best educational Wiki for the elementary setting I could find on the two sources provided to us for this assignment.

I was searching through Educational Wikis and came across this one titled 2nd Grade Class Wiki.  When I clicked on it, the colors were appealing, it had a fun logo and welcoming banner.  I was surprised then to see the site turn into something I didn't understand.  It took me a while to gather that it was a Wiki where children in a classroom have used the space to present and organize information they have learned and gathered in class.  There is a fun section where the children are reading some poems that they wrote and the teacher used some function to write feedback to them in text bubbles, which I thought was so neat!  There are fun little animations and creative use of the webspace.  I think it looks disorganized and was hard to follow.  I wonder what purpose it actually serves in the class and how much of the information is posted by students or by the teacher.  Is it just a tool where the students can show their parents something cool they have been doing in school on the home computer?  Is it a means of assessment?  I wish there were more discussion of this on the page to inform random viewers like myself.  Overall, I gained some unique information of creative things you can post on these Wiki sites, but am still wondering what place they have in my classroom.  

Inquiry Based Activity

This weeks adventure in technology was quite different from those of the past weeks!   We created an Inquiry-Based activity for students to log onto the page (created in a Wiki) and follow directions and links.  The students have access to the information through various media such as videos and informational sites.

I really enjoyed doing this activity through a media that we had already learned! It really freed me up to put effort into the content of my activity.  I really saw this as a potential lesson that I could use in the future and not just a frustrating task that I will never again use.  I love the idea of kids getting to do their own research through other websites than the ones they see all the time.  They get to see information in a new way than teachers lecturing to them or reading about it in a book.  This is exciting for children and I think it's helpful to get them engaged in the learning process.  Overall, this was a good use of my time.  It was great to learn on my own different websites on teaching standards and compiling the information into a lesson for the kids.  

WebQuests

WebQuests were something I knew nothing about before entering Technology class last week.  So, if you, like me, feel inarticulate about WebQuests, I have got news for you.  These are some of the easiest and coolest sites for helpful teaching tools!
AWebQuest is an inquiry-oriented activity in which some or all of the information that learners interact with comes from resources on the internet.  So, basically it is a sight where teachers can direct their students to for information, project guidelines and research tools on a broad variety of subjects.  WebQuests are designed to promote higher order thinking rather than just a regurgitation of facts that students should know for a test.  They are designed to promote deep understanding in a classroom setting.  Since these sites are being used by a variety of learners, they should be very easy to read and understand.  They should lead to accurate information-filled, working websites for research on a topic.  They should outline a task to help learners engage fully and get to know a topic.
I do question a little how practical WebQuests are for the classroom.  I can forsee many issues with these.  As we observed a few of these sites in class today, I learned that it could be easy to create a inefficient site.  Also, most classrooms do not have access for each child to be at a computer, so if they are constantly referring to directions for a task, it isn't practical to not have it written down instead.  The research I can see the pros for, but easily links can be disabled or lead to irrelevant sites. And there are definitely issues with internet, like the one we ran into today.  The internet on campus was not working very well and we weren't able to proceed with class as planned.
Just a few thoughts!

Wikis!!

So this week in Technology, we have been introduced to the wonderful world of Wikis!!

To be honest, I had no idea what a wiki was until 3 weeks ago.. I mean, don't get me wrong, I am culturally relevant.  I know what Wikipedia is and have heard of scandals happening on Wikis, but I had no knowledge of how they worked until recently.  Wikis are pages that allow members to create and edit them and turn them into a website.

So this is why Wikipedia is said to be an unreliable source.   Volunteers edit the encyclopedia style information and cite their sources on the bottom of the page.  It is true that anyone could go in and edit the pages in Wikipedia, but it is highly monitored, so it rarely puts out incorrect information.

I have learned so much about the usefulness of Wikis in the classroom.  This week we made Wiki pages that were "All About Me" and used them to introduce ourselves to the class. (You can view my page here.)  I did however think, "in an elementary classroom, really?"  So, since then I think they have more relevance than I was thinking they would.  Especially for students in upper elementary, these sites could be useful tools for study guides, math problems, a calendar.  One of my favorite new options is question and answer.. If students need help on a project, they could put it on the Wiki, then other students or I could answer.  This could even be great for questions that parents have! Because chances are if one parent has a question, then others will want to know the same thing, and it would be great to have it all in one place!

All in all - check out Wikis.  I loved reading the Wikipedia on Wikipedia.  

What to Expect. Readers and Writer.

Hey all!!
I don't know much about technology, however I always seem to be on my computer researching and googling everything I can think of.  I love to learn and want to share this passion with children as a teacher!  I am currently enrolled in the education program at the University of Tennessee. I am a Senior with a major in Psychology from Murfreesboro, TN.  I love to hang out with my friends, dance, eat Mexican food, travel and read.  And this is my story of technology integration.
We all know that feeling when you read a blog or something awesome on the internet, and think I could never do that.  Well, the more I learn, the more I realize. I CAN!  So, as I walk through Technology 486 at The University of Tennessee, this is where I will be posting my thoughts and hints about why integrating technology into our lives and classrooms is so important.
I expect to learn more about the importance of technology in an Elementary classroom and how to use the practical tools that will allow my students to learn through the internet.  I expect to be able to use an interactive white board, create movies, make presentations, and learn to make these things fun and engaging for my future students.  I am sure that I barely know the extent of what I have to learn!  And I am ready to be schooled on the use of technology.