Jennys Survey Says

I chose the following question to put on my google form in order to learn more about my classmates. Using google forms can be very beneficial in the classroom. This type of technology can be a way to allow teachers to get to know their students. Something fun to do would be to make maybe an interest inventory at the beginning of the year so that you can try and incorporate those topics in with the curriculum. This type of form can be useful to lots of other people as well. You could even use this with the parents of you classroom children. I found this to be a very useful tool.

Fun Media Equals Creativity

In Sams video we get to see how through the use of media we can be creative learners. Perhaps the biggest take away from this video was that not all children shine in the same way and by letting Sam use media she is able to shine and perform at her best. By using technology some students are alowing themselves to step out of the box and come up with new and different ideas.

In my experinces over the years of course my use of media has increased. I can remember when cell phones first came out and everyone talked on them all the time. Now like Sam points out in the video people are texting more than talking. Things have changed in just a few years. I really like the point about the baby doll. Sam says, Iwasn't given a baby doll I was given a video camera. Well when I was younger my mom didn't have a video camera. They were too expensive. This just shows you how much our society is advancing.

So in the education field I only see technology growing bigger and bigger. I think all of the videos we have seen in class relate to one another. I have said before that as teachers we have to be willing to learn. The video talks about the boy understanding how his parents felt by getting advice from the younger generation. Well as a teacher I have to be willing to allow my students to teach me. It is also all about trail and error. I can't be afraid to try new things. Part of the good thing about technology is that there is plenty of room to explore.

Tony's Resale

I chose to do my presentation on my business Tony's Resale. This is an upscale consignment shop located in Norman Oklahoma. I decided to take this opportunity to advertise for the store. I am very pashionate and proud of my store. This is one of my many accomplishments to look back on later in life. Hopefully I will lead some of you into the consigning world and allow you to save money and make money as well.I plan on actually using this presentation in the future. I would like to make a website for the store and put these pictures on it. This was a very useful assignment for me. From this class of everything we have done I see myself taking away this presentation more than anything.

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Born into the New

Orientation into second life is much like orientation into our own life. This video presents some of the major difficulties the E Learning System is facing.

The main point I took away from this video was that users of second life need to have a familar place to begin orientation in. When teaching people to use second life we need to remember to try and find ways that get that person involved. Often people are confused when they enter into unfamilar teritory and so we need to make second life a confortable environment for the users.

I know absolutly nothing about second life. The closest thing growing up for me would be video games. Video games are sort of like second life to me. I think that this video is right when it says that entering into programs like this is at times very overwhelming and confusing. This is why orientation is so important.

I can't see really using anything like second life because I know nothing about it. Just as the video talks about most people when in an unfamilar situation don't want to learn. But if I were to use any type of second life system in my teaching I would now know that I should put orientation in a classroom setting for the students. This will create a familar environment for them to learn in.

Wanting to be engaged.

Parallel Play is extremely important in todays classroom. This video shows us the importance of engaging student through the use of wikis. The main thing I took away from this video was that you can't just set up thing you want students to learn and then expect them to do it. Students have to want to be engaged. So as this video disscusses some ways of doing this would be to find out what your childrens interests are. By simply doing this children will not look at some project as work and a chore but rather fun and experience to learn.

I like how wikis give children a new way to express themselves. In my education we never had ways to really do this. The only classes I can remember were web design. Maybe if someone in class designed a good web page they would get recognized. Now with things like wiki you could show all students work and even allow students to make contructive comments.

This video gives me great ideas to use wikis in the classroom. As long as I can use them right. According to the video if the wiki offers students choice, novelty, variety, and authenticity students are learning. I have thought of ways to use wikis. Maybe have students do science projects or book reports. Wikis could be used for all subjects. Maybe at the beginning of the semester I can make surveys and find out my students interests and then design my assignments around that.Overall when used right wikis allow for great classroom colaboration.

Power of Sharing Apps

Follow the yellow brick road to the world of apps. This was an excellent way of demonstrating the importance of apps.

The most important thing I took away from this video was that the apps are there we just have to find out where they are and how to use them. The end of the video really stresses the importance of sharing. Sharing is the key.

The video discusses search engines, widgets, research apps, communication and collaboration. In the past I have always gone to the library to do research or just went to a google search engine. Now there are so many options. Options I never knew were out there. These personal learning networks are allowing kids to think more outside of the box. I don't remember getting so into depth about any of these apps. I never questioned things like this because I didn't understand them.

What I will take away from this video and hopefully use someday in my own teaching are all the free website available. I want to be able to give my student good resources. I also want students to be able to critically think about things. I was never taught a lot about safety on the Internet or what we call digital footprints. I am using things like myspace and facebook and not even realizing they could potentially hurt my future if misused. These are things I want to teach my students. I also want to teach them that part of learning is sharing.

Wizard of Apps

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Keep the Lid on It!

Some of us are parents now and others may be parents in the future. I got inspiration to do my voicethread on fire safety from an experience my friend and her daughter had. My friend was in the kitchen cooking dinner for her family. Her daughter, to make a long story short, got burnt pretty badly. I have a two year old daughter and I feel that sometimes as parents we don't think bad things like burns will ever happen to us or our children. The scary thing is that they do and all they take is one second.

Better safe than sorry!

Digiteen Project was a look into our future and the digital world. With new websites like myspace and facebook we have to be careful of what our children are publishing on there pages. The video shows us ways to take digital images add sound or voiceover and address serious topics such as, texting while driving. Think about how easy it is to find people on the web today. Then think about how many people you know that have picture and personal information that can be compromised. This is a serious problem that our future generation is facing. It can only benefits us as teachers to teach our children to be able to distinguish between fake and real websites. In school I was always taught that anything the has edu or org on the end of it is a reliable source. The problem today with that is that people are hacking into things and changing them. In this video the teachers chose to allow the students to teach about online safety. This approach worked well for the students. Most of the students said that they learned more about the topic because they were doing the researching and then forming the projects to teach others. Almost all classrooms are getting computers in them today. Even if it is two computers and not one for every student. The problem with this is that if the teacher steps aways from the desk her information could be compromised. Also we need to know where are children are going on the web. If we are turning to all this technology I think it is very important we know how to operate it.

Learning Things We Love.

The video project learning an overview is all about the children learning not by a classroom setting but by a hands on approach. Today teachers are finding that children would much rather be active doing things they want to learn about rather than what they are told they have to do. This makes sense to me because I feel some students are learning things they will never again use in their lives. We should be allowing them to learn information they will be able to put to use. There are many ways for kids to express the things they use through power points, orally, and even written. As said in the video the children are becoming the directors of their own learning. Eventually when I make it to my own classroom I would love to allow my students to be able to learn what they want. This isn't always possible in classrooms because of the certain curriculum we have to have and also all the testing. But even just doing something as simple as asking the children their top five things they want to study could help. This shows that you are interested in what they like and it allows them to be active. Then maybe I could work it into my lessons somewhere. Also I really don't want my children to be stuck reading text books all the time. I think that works well for some children but not all. Overall the video was a great look at allowing children to explore and learn more.

Two weeks down!

Two weeks down and many more to come. At first things were a little overwhelming. I know this class is going to be a challenge for me. I am excited to take away lot's of new teaching tools that I can use someday in my future classrooms. I have found it fascinating watching these videos in class and seeing all these young children that can do more with technology than I can. Wes is a great instructor. I really feel like he is here to not only teach but to help in any way that he can. I have enjoyed reading several of our classroom posts. I left two comments on both Rachel's blog and Witney's blogs. I look forward to having fun in this class this semester and learning more with you all.

Links to Learning

New Zealand teacher Kiwi shares her learning techniques of classroom 9. In this video six year old children are being taught reading, spelling, physical education, music, and even math using tools such as learning hubs, blogging, and white boards. The teacher has found things like emails and YouTube to be useful in teaching many lessons. The video discusses the objectives the teacher has for each child. The children will become more independent and also active learners. Many of the children become motivated to find new easy ways to learn. One benefit I find is that as a teacher you can introduce a topic but in many different ways. Another benefit the video discusses is the fact that it makes things go much faster and they are very organized. An example of this is when the teachers showed us the learning hub. This is where the children have all the links they will ever need for that class. It's fast and simple to find what they are looking for. Because the classroom only had three computers this encouraged students to work mainly in groups. Often times the classroom would interact with other classrooms. Laying out all the different possibilities teachers have with using technology is becoming more and more of a hot topic among professional teachers, schools, parents, and everyone involved in the education classroom.

To Blog Or Not To Blog

Some might say bringing blogging into the classroom may have both it's benefits and draw backs. In the video Blogging Buddies, children express both their likes and dislikes of the use of blogging in their classroom. The system is set up similar to a pin pal relationship only there is a younger child who acts as the blogger and a pre service teacher who acts as the blogger mentor. The objective of the teachers was to increase the children's ability to write, spell, punctuate, and form proper sentences using technology such as a blogging website. Most of the students interviewed in the video had nothing bad to say about the blogging program. The teachers found that it was not only helpful for the children but for the teachers as well. The teachers were learning how to give positive constructivism. The teachers were also focusing in on the good in the children's writing which gave the children the motivation to write more and better. Both teachers agreed that if anything could be changed it would be to have the teachers make shorter comments. Overall this program was found to be very affective in the progression of the students learning, reading, and writing.

Taking on the Virtual World

The video Digital Youth Portrait: Nafiza is an excellent take on introducing new technologies to children through the use of things such as virtual world video games. Nafiza, a New York student, is a member of the Global Kids organization. This organization has not only taught her new leadership skills but it has allowed her and other students a way of exploring tools they need to understand new findings in computer programs, cell phones, film making and much more. Year after year things are changing. Our society is becoming more advanced. Teachers are having to find new ways to teach and students are finding new ways to learn.

Cameron Video

This video was very interesting to me. Cameron the young boy takes the use of technology to another level for me. The important message I took from this was that technology is being utilized more and more by teachers, parents, and even students. Cameron found something to make learning fun for himself and that was technology. This can work on many different levels if you think about it. This also showed that Cameron was an active learner, he was very hands on. Another important thing I picked up on in this video was when the child knew more than the adults but the adults allowed Cameron to show them the way. As teachers and as parents we can't always be right and sometimes we even have to be shown the right way. This world is changing day after day and technology is becoming a more popular tool and way of teaching our youth.

About me!

I am a female student attending the University of Central Oklahoma seeking a degree in elementary education. I have a love for children and am so excited about becoming a teacher and making a difference in our youths life. I have a beautiful daughter who is my life. She is right now at the age where she is soaking every bit of information she can in. I have always been the one kid in class that helped the rest of the class. I have done lots of tutoring and I love finding fun and different ways to help people learn.