Assignment 3

Podcasts

I enjoyed listening to these six podcasts and I even learned some things along the way. I found some pros and cons from each one and think they were very helpful for when I have to do my own. During my podcast, I hope to be professional and involve the people listening to me. While I want the podcast to be entertaining, I want it to also be informative. The main thing I hope to do is choose a topic that my audience will be able to relate to.

SMARTboard Lessons Podcast
Ben Hazzard and Joan Badger

I found this podcast very distracting, but entertaining. Ben Hazzard from what I could understand is from Ontario, Canada and he conducts his Podcasts from a coffee shop/cafe. He would frequently stop his podcast and order coffee or soup and stop to give the waitress money or talk to her. I found myself more interested in what kind of soup he was ordering than the tip he was trying to get across. The point of this podcast was to let you know about an online web conferencing site called DimDim.com. Most of the products on this site you have to buy, but now they have an area that allows you free access to a virtual classroom. This tool allows full functionality use on an interactive whiteboard and SMARTboard. You can collaborate with other classes from anywhere in the world. This would be especially useful if you wanted to learn more about a topic being studied, you could use it as a virtual field trip. Some of the functions include: browsing web pages together, web cams, free audio conferencing, you can even record a meeting then embed it later. Sounds like a really useful tip for any classroom and of course I love that it is free. Just as a note of caution though, after hearing this podcast you will have a terrible craving for Italian Wedding Soup.

Kidcast 62 - Some Thoughts on Video Podcasting
Dan Schmit

Dan Schmit discusses video podcasting and whether or not teachers should start with it versus audio podcasting. I liked his podcast he was much more organized with his thoughts than the first podcast I listened to and seemed to fit much more information into ten minutes. He starts out by saying that he prefers people not calling it Vodcasting - unnecessary term we should take the extra second and say video podcasting. Next he wants to dispel a myth - should video podcasting be progressive: audio only then video. He said that it takes a higher level of production expertise to pull a video off and it really depends on the audience as to whether you choose to do an audio or video podcast. Audio is the best choice best for commuters and for use in education - challenges students to use more descriptive language to visualize points. Indicators to use video include: showing subjects non verbal actions - motions on face, reactions and showing something with moving demonstration - saves time in way you explain something. If audience is most likely to access content on computer or ipod then you might use video. Video gets students to use body language, expressive voice, look into camera and communicate to audience. Audio is faster and only contains one element - audio. Video has many elements and takes much more time - audio, adequate lighting, visual sets and clothing. With video you have to practice non verbal elements that accompany video performance and you have more pressure for smooth error free performance in one shot. Audio is easier to slice and dice and edit. Video much harder to edit for errors. Will multiple takes take away from purpose? When making any podcast he said to keep the 80/20 ratio: 80% content and 20% production. This podcast gave me something to think about : How does video podcasting fit in my world as a teacher and how might I start implementing this?

Connect Learning Episode #96
David Warlick

David Warlick starts out with some very pleasant music to introduce his podcast. He is asking questions at a workshop with over 9,000 educators in San Diego, California. The educators are from peculiar schools that have a large transient nature with a wide range of programs and needs. He asked them about blogs and web 2.0 and what are the potentials of these social information experiences in terms of student performance. How can they change the information experience? These were some of the teachers responses. One said the students come with knowledge of social technologies, they are fearless will try anything. In his case blogs could keep in contact with students and students could keep in contact with class. Another said his 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders would be so excited to communicate with blogs and podcasts. They would be more motivating than paper and pencil. They are more occupied with gadgets and don't realize they are learning. You can apply these to all standards that are in the textbook. To them it's not technology, they see it as another opportunity to learn, more relevant. Another teacher said a majority of students have truancy issues and this type of technology will excite them by having engaging materials. Students will put more effort into it because they know everyone will read it with blogging. They become more responsible for their learning and it's empowering. They also felt that these social technologies were more personalized - speaking the students language. I liked the format of this podcast in which Mr. Warlick was interviewing current teachers and getting their opinions and ideas. The fact that it was a live interactive conversation helped keep my interest.

EdTechTalk conversation #62
Knee, Parisi, Adams

This is another live interactive conversation where the announcers welcome conversation, encourage discourse and enjoy discussions. They request everyone to remain respectful and join in chat room or through skype. They were supposed to be talking about iPod and iTouch applications for the classroom. This podcast has more of a talk radio show format. They start the show talking a little bit of their week. Amanda from Australia started by saying that she returned to school with professional development days. Friday was goal setting day and they did a twilight climb for three hours on a bridge in Brisbane, Australia. She said it was an amazing experience and she bonded with other teachers at her school. It was very interesting to hear about a teacher from another country and the fact that they spend so much time on professional development and do motivating team activities just for the teachers. They spent the first 15 minutes catching up with each other though and the podcast just dragged on. Twenty minutes later when they finally got to the point of the show I felt very confused because I don't have an iPhone and most of them were on skype and were able to see some of the links they were talking about. I felt like this would have been much more informative as a video podcast - the announcers and the topic were not at all descriptive enough for audio. I listened for 30 minutes and felt like I was eavesdropping into an uninteresting conversation. I really did not get a whole lot out of their ramblings other than them playing with their iPhones. Maybe if I were more knowledgeable about iPhones I could connect more with this podcast.

MacBreak Weekly episode #177
Leo Laporte, Alex Lindsay, Andy Ihnatko

This podcast was very professional sounding with music and several contributors. The announcers were at an Apple conference and they were being introduced to the new iPad which is a bigger version of an iPhone and iTouch. They said the new iPad has more processing power than iPod touch. One of the announcers said it was amazing and everything you would want in a tablet. The iPad will be available in wifi version for 500 to 600 dollars and it has not even been released yet . It will go to Apple's higher end audience. The iTablet can do the same thing for less and is still more for the regular "Walmart" audience. Does it live up to the hype? It's pretty much what they thought it would be: a hyped up iTouch. They think it will sell very well this year and is made for reading the newspaper and will save the newspaper industry. Overall, I found this podcast very informative about the product they were selling. Now I wish I could afford such things as iPhones and all the other things an iStore has to offer.


This Week in Photography episode #126
Alex Lindsey, Frederick Van Johnson

This was a panel of about 5 people talking about their cameras and photography. They were also talking about cameras in the news. They have new face detection cameras that track peoples faces and can tell when they are smiling and blinking. The cameras are being accused of being racist because they are not working on people who are Asian because they are blinking all the time and the camera says there are errors. It also cannot detect darker skin. It is a feature that is on a lot of the cameras but a lot of people do not use them. I like the round robin type of talking and the show was fairly entertaining for a podcast on photography. I didn't know what to expect from an audio on a topic that is so visual like photography, but it turned out to be more informational than I thought.


Media Literacy in the First Grade



Wow! I love the way Ms. Cassidy has integrated technology into her room. I truly know what it means to be media literate now. It amazes me how well the students could not only use the computer, but also navigate the technology for learning. I was so surprised at the way they could communicate using technology terms. They are also applying their media literacy to everyday tools. Like when the students could evaluate and tell whether a book was fiction or nonfiction. Ms. Cassidy has also done a wonderful job in helping the kids use their own creativity with technology. I looked through several of the blogs the students created and the topics and pictures were very clever. My favorite part though was about responding. She taught correct procedures when responding to other blogs and you can really tell the kids are very motivated and like getting responses from other. I truly hope that I could do such a thorough job of integrating technology when I go back to the classroom.

Little Kids ... Big Potential



Ms. Cassidy's first graders already know more about technology than I do. I can't imagine what these students will be like just five years from now. It's surreal to believe that they are only in the first grade. These children have their own blogs, created a class wiki, have their own web page with learning games to use at centers, and they even skype with other classrooms from all over the world. I would like to think I could be ready for this when I finish this EDM 310 class. However, the one advantage this class has is that each child was able to have access to a laptop. When I taught just five years ago. Each classrooms was given one computer and that was it. I was able to get another computer donated, but they didn't work half of the time. Each child would sign their name to a list and could use the computer for accelerated reader or to publish their writing if we got to their name that day. They could also use it once a week at centers when it was their turn. I just hope that more money is being used to integrate technology than it has been in the past. Ms. Cassidy's classroom is the ideal room that any teacher and student could benefit from.

Here's What's Coming!



It is so cute how the little one year old is able to use the iPhone even though he is barely even able to say it. I can't say that it surprised me that much though that he could do all of those things. All babies are fascinated by cell phones that's why they make so many toy ones because the children are usually crying to play with their parents. I remember several times my kids calling people on my cell phone and taking hundreds of photos of their feet. I still don't have an iPhone, but I have a feeling that if I did my children could have done the same at that age. What this video really shows to me is how kids are not afraid to try new things and that they learn by doing. If they have access to and are given the freedom to explore it then they will most likely be able to teach themselves. My favorite thing about this video was the way the parents didn't interfere. They just held the phone there and allowed the child to do everything on his own.

Assignment 2

A Vision of Students Today by Michael Wesch

http://is.gd/2c0V0

This was a very interesting video with statistics compiled by college students from an anthropology class in Kansas. Statistics depicted how the educational system is not effective: classes are full, teachers require expensive books and materials which become quickly dated and irrelevant, and the technology (which is a huge part of the students' lives) is not being effectively utilized in the classroom. As depicted, the culture of college has not changed significantly since I was in school. However, this video also made me consider how disrespectful some students have become while utilizing technology. The video depicts many of the students listening to their iPods, texting and Facebooking during class instead of paying attention. These are all social media distractions that were not being used as actual tools for learning. I graduated from college over 13 years ago and am envious of all of the advantages kids have today when it comes to utilizing technology for academic and social purposes. I was one of the lucky students who had a computer, but it didn’t have nearly any of the capabilities they have today and I had to type reports on a typewriter. I definitely did not have a cell phone and recall a time of being stuck on the interstate at night with a flat tire by myself. Students today have significant advantages due to technology, but are they losing face-to-face interpersonal skills?

When I go to dinner with my nieces who are in high school and college they have their cell phones in their hands the entire time and say very few words because they are texting. In my own life there are days that I think “Wow! I wish I would have spent those 30 minutes reading a book to my children or exercising instead of being on Facebook.” I can say from experience that college isn’t nearly as hard or as much work as a job teaching elementary school. The whole objective of college was to make me an independent learner and prepare me for being a responsible adult. Although there were many courses that seemed boring and irrelevant to me at the time, as a whole it showed my employer that I would be a hard working employee and have the ability to learn and be adaptable to whatever training I were to receive. In my job teaching kindergarten and second grade for 7 years, I would have been fired if any administrator came in find me texting or on Facebook during the time I should have been teaching. Are the students today going to be able to restrain themselves from the social media they are addicted to in order to succeed in their profession? There is a lot that needs to be done to integrate technology into the classroom. However, technology is not a substitute for good teaching. Good teachers are good with and without technology and students learn a great deal from them and vica versa. A great teacher will take these social technology tools and show students how to use them for learning and collaboration in the work they are doing.


It’s Not About the Technology by Kelly Hines

http://www.eduratireview.com/2009/04/its-not-about-technology.html

Mrs. Hines makes many good points regarding how to use technology within the classroom. Her major point to me is that no matter how much technology is poured into any one classroom or on any one student, unless there is content being taught, learning will not happen.

Her first point indicating that teachers must be learners is very true. I took this same course over 13 years ago and it has changed tremendously since the first time I took it. We spent most of our time creating tables and inputting data into spreadsheets. We were making slides for slide projectors instead of power points. I am learning so much more this time around with the blogs and collaborative networks we are using. This class truly exemplifies how much teaching has changed in just the five years that I have been out of the classroom – I am taking it to renew my certificate. It has also reinforced the reason it is required that teachers continue their professional development. Just because you receive a degree in any one area does not mean that more learning and investigating will not benefit you as a teacher. Using technology to gain more knowledge and be a continual learner is the correct use of the tool.

Always looking for new and innovative ways in which students learn is important. But that means the teacher is actively pursuing new technologies, methods and directions. That is what being a 21st century teacher means, with or without the use of technology.


Is It Okay To Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher? By Karl Fisch

http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/2007/09/is-it-okay-to-be-technologically.html

This award winning blog regarding teachers and their technological abilities states emphatically that teachers need to be technology literate. Mr. Fisch states, “If a teacher today is not technologically literate - and is unwilling to make the effort to learn more - it's equivalent to a teacher 30 years ago who didn't know how to read and write.. “ Do teachers have a responsibility to their students to become literate in technology? Fundamentally, yes they do. The funny thing is it is so easy to teach students to use technology; it is like second nature to them. The real challenge is teaching most adults the same skills. Maybe this is what scares some teachers and keeps them from transforming as the world changes.

How can a student be educated by a teacher who does not understand the world from which that student is living now, or will enter upon graduation? Mr. Fisch stated that a teacher needs to know how to do something to teach it. I completely agree. I also believe the most important comment that Mr. Fisch made was that teachers need to teach students that it is appropriate to continually learn throughout their entire life. Upon taking this course I have realized that the more I learn the more I need to know. Teachers do not “know” everything, how can they, the world is moving so fast and there are so many different areas of mastery. However, teachers “know” how important and powerful knowledge is, and if we can show them the importance of knowledge, as a tool to achieve success, we have taught our students one of life’s greatest lessons. Success is not how much money we make; success is when one knows how to find the answers one seeks. Technology is a wonderful tool for which to seek knowledge.


Social Media Counts by Gary Hayes

http://www.personalizemedia.com/garys-social-media-count/

This interesting page shows the astounding rate at which social media is growing in today’s society. It is overwhelming for me view at and provokes a sense of panic as I see how fast technology is growing. Within a minute there were over 600 new blog posts and 500 new members to Facebook. It is obvious that many people are spending a significant amount of their time and money on technology.

What does this count mean for your profession as a teacher? It means that you can now more easily collaborate with your students and learning can not only occur within the walls of the classroom, but after school as well. The world is sharing new and different ideas all the time. We must be aware and prepare ourselves for this increase in utilization. We should also understand the purposes best practices associated with the tools and then we can relate to,understand, and help our students. Now more than ever we need to teach our students to be critical thinkers in order to understand and assimilate the fast growing media that is ever changing our world.

Assignment 1

Did You Know 3.0? by Karl Fisch

Did You Know by Karl Fisch displayed some very interesting facts that were hard for me to believe. For example, it is hard to believe that we are beginning to train people for jobs in technology that will be obsolete before they even finish their training. It was surprising to see how far ahead India’s and China’s students are compared to American students and how China is becoming the largest English speaking nation. It really makes you think how fast our world is really changing. It also makes me think of all of the things that have been invented that I could not live without. I feel as if I am missing a body part if I go anywhere without a cell phone. Our society has become very dependent on the technology we have.

I think Fisch makes a good point that we are living in the information age and that knowing about the latest technology is important because it's hard to keep up in this fast paced world. It is time for America to step up and prepare the youth for the world we live in. This is a large task that can’t be put off. We need to better prepare the students for the jobs and the problems that are not even out there yet. We can’t even prepare for what the world will be like in as little as five years when it comes to technology. We can however help students to think creatively and problem solve in order to be successful when dealing with the unknown. We need to educate our students for their future, not our past.

Mr. Winkle Wakes by Matthew Needleman

I really enjoyed Mr. Needleman's story about a cartoon Rip Van Winkle waking a hundred years later to find schools with limited technology availability. While he was shocked at the changes made in an office environment, he was especially afraid to see all of the advances made in medicine. Needleman does a wonderful job of depicting the lack of progress in the educational system. Especially when the educational system should be the ones on the cutting edge of technology to prepare the students for the fast pace and ever changing world we live in.

However, I don't completely agree that education hasn't advanced in the past 100 years. As a former teacher who has been away from education for five years, when it comes to technology it feels more like a hundred. Chalkboards are quickly being replaced by Smart Boards. Teachers and students are utilizing the resources the internet has to offer. Just last week, I helped my nine year old niece submit a 10 page power point presentation on insects. The preparation took her less than an hour to complete because she had immediate access to any information she wanted to use through the internet: graphics, diagrams, videos, etc. This same report would have taken me days to complete in as few as 15 years ago. With that said, more still needs to be done for education to keep up with the needs of society. Due to financial constraints, our educational system is behind the times when it comes to integrating technology in the schools. As educators we cannot allow this to keep us from giving students a strong basic foundation in technology, for them to apply in their lives and career path.

The Importance of Creativity by Sir Ken Robinson

In “The Importance of Creativity” by Sir Ken Robinson makes a strong case for the importance of creativity: why we need to be encouraging it and how the public schools are “educating people out of their creativity.” I enjoyed his humorous interpretation of our schools and I think he makes such a good point in saying that we are educating the students from the waste up then eventually from the head up and then to one side of the brain. My favorite example was of the dancer whose teacher could have in this day and age labeled her as ADHD, but instead recognized her talent and passion and pointed her into the right direction. She became a well known and successful ballerina, teacher and choreographer.

I do believe that much needs to be done to change the way we teach. However, I think that many of the changes need to be made from the top down. Having 7 years teaching experience, I enjoyed teaching creatively and encouraging kids to think outside the box. I encouraged differentiated instruction and learning where the students could learn and demonstrate their knowledge in ways that expressed their individual learning styles and creativity. I however often felt like my hands were tied behind my back with all of the set number of grades that had to be put in the grade book and the Criterion tests that were given at the end of every quarter to not only evaluate in a standardized way the students knowledge, but the teachers “ability” to teach. These types of evaluations only encourage “skill and drill” and leave little time for anything creative. Not only has our system discouraged creativity in our students, but they have made it nearly impossible for teachers to display or use the talents they possess.

Harness Your Students’ Digital Smarts by Vicki Davis

Wow! What a wonderful job Vicki Davis has done by utilizing the technology she has been provided in the rural area in Georgia where she is from. I like the way she is connecting her students to other students from all over the world. One of the things that amazes me most about the new technology of today is the way we are able to so easily and freely communicate with anyone, anywhere, and anytime! I loved her teaching style as well; it is always pleasing to see students who are learning for themselves and even teaching the instructor new things. Teachers sometimes forget how to be adaptable, especially when it comes to technology where everything is constantly changing.

I am so excited to be in the same kind of class at the University of South Alabama where I am learning what technology has to offer not only for the students but for the teachers as well. I hope to become more like Vicki and integrate technology into the classroom in such a thorough and meaningful way. I really appreciate all of her hard work and hope to have the same impact on future students like she has had with hers.