Assignment 7

Dr. Richard E. Miller Discusses Writing With Multimedia

This is How We Dream Part 1
This is How We Dream Part 2

Dr. Miller is an English teacher at Rutgers University. In the video, Dr. Miller starts off by saying he believes, " we are living in the moment of the greatest change in human communication in human history." He says we now have the capability to communicate instantly globally, and now is the time to be engaged in a work of literacy. When he began in the profession, he spent his time understanding writing as a solitary activity. He loved books and has always loved books since he was a child. He talks about some incremental changes we as a culture have gone through. One of the incremental changes is how we work with laptops and not pens, pencils, and paper. Our workplace is now at a desktop. We can research the riches of the world because it is stored on the web. We can do an entire project without having to step foot in a library. It is now possible to collaborate using networking technology, not compose with text but with film.

Dr. Richard Miller states that we need to try and teach our students to produce multimedia not just listen and consume it. He says as educators we must be in the business of sharing ideas freely.We can not just look at the material and use it, we can actually go behind it and see how it was put together. We can distribute information globally and freely. I think this is one of the most important things he said. That has been one of the things that I myself am guilty of. I am the one who likes to read everyone else's posts on Facebook and not contribute like I should. I am always searching the internet for ideas and themes to use in my preschool class, but I realize much of what I do should be out there for others to see. Dr. Strange's EDM 310 course has showed me how important it is to not only produce multimedia, but to give feedback to others.

As a teacher, I believe that I am working at being able to write with multimedia, but that I am not all the way there. I believe that with practice, hard work, and actually putting the time into it my students as well as myself will be able to use it. I think one of the most valuable projects in our class has been the comments for kids and teachers. They have enjoyed the feedback and I have enjoyed being able to see how elementary teachers use the tools we ourselves are using and I enjoy seeing all of the writing the students engage in. Dr. Miller says that this networking technology should start with college English teachers, but as we all have seen, it is already happening in the elementary schools!

Wendy Drexler: The Networked Student



This video was a wonderful visual representation of how networking with technology in the classroom should occur. In this video the student who is studying American Psychology is in a class where there is no textbook and a teacher who is a facilitator and a motivator rather than one who lectures. This video shows the steps this student takes to produce a video of his research on American Psychology. He first builds a knowledge base and finds lots of resources on his topic: blogs, iTunes U, documentaries and video conferencing with experts. He then posts a video of the findings he learned and shared it worldwide for others to learn from his hard work.

This video asks a very important question. With this type of learning, why does he need a teacher? The video states that the teachers does have an important role in guiding the student. Teaching him how to build a network, take advantage of learning opportunities, how to get excited when he finds the world of content, and most importantly how to communicate appropriately. When he leaves her class she hopes in her heart that he will maintain his learning network and use it to navigate his future and help the world solve its problems.

This video must have been a model for our EDM 310 course. Just like the student in this video we are learning to be independent learners and to write, publish, and communicate and collaborate effectively using multimedia. I hope to be prepared to do this effectively in the classroom . I hope to be actively engaged with the students through the whole process and make it as motivating as possible. I also hope to be a good model for them and to continue learning with them the new tools that make networking with technology more manageable.

Toward a New Future of Whatever - Michael Welsch



I never really knew that You Tube had such a following and that so many new videos were added daily until I watched Dr. Wesch's video. Dr. Wesch said as You Tube becomes more popular it gives the students the freedom to experience humanity without fear or anxiety. He also states that this type of media not just distance us but it connects us, sometimes more deeply than ever before.

Dr. Strange asked us to talk about how Dr. Wesch's comments in his video fit my life in regards to me personally, as a college student and as a future educator. Personally, I grew up in the age when MTV first came out, and at that time whatever meant "I don't care". I however don't remember actually not caring in school. I took pride in my work and still do as an adult. While I was in college I couldn't afford to have a whatever attitude since I worked and paid for it myself. I do believe funding my own education however gave me a reason to do well. As a former elementary teacher and current preschool teacher I have seen the trend of students "whatever" attitudes progressively getting worse. Dr. Wesch said that the MTV generation were products of short attention spans, materialistic, narcissistic, and not easily impressed. Boy does that describe the children and parents of today. Will implementing technology media into the schools motivate them to care? How do we conquer the narcissistic disengagement? Dr. Wesch says we are not interested in creating the same old conversation we are creating a new one with media like You Tube. We are creating a new future of "whatevers." Moving away from the 60's - I don't care, whatever you think, and the 90's - whatever, I don't care what you think! I hope that Dr. Wesch is right about our future whatever, and I want to be that teacher that says WHATEVER - I care, let's do whatever it takes!

Project 4 My Personal Learning Network

At the moment, my Personal Learning Network (PLN) is very small, but I expect it will grow as time passes. I currently follow or bookmark through Delicious, Mr. C., Mr. Lamshed, and the other teachers on At the Teacher's Desk, as well as the folks at Pt. England School New Zealand. I am also establishing contacts on Twitter. I currently follow Dr. McLeod, Mr. McClung, Karl Fisch, Dr. Baggett, and Dr. Strange. I will hopefully add many more to this list. I have also practiced using Skype to discuss our podcast with team members. We also created a shared document on Google Docs to create our presentation and interview questions. We were able to collaborate without meeting as often. I am adding many more blogs to my (PLN) of preschool teachers who help me with creative lessons for my preschool students. I have often collaborated through technology with Dr. Baggett because I am at an art based preschool. She has helped me to incorporate the arts into our core curriculum.

Week 7 Comments for Kids

This week I commented on Nicholas's blog. He is in Mr. Crosby's class. They are a 4th grade class in Philadelphia that is piloting a 1:1 laptop program using MacBook computers. They blog, Skype, make Wiki pages, produce digital videos, podcasts and vodcasts. Nicholas has been making posts about all types of animals and this week he wrote about the importance of plants. I love that Mr. Crosby is integrating technology with his science lessons. I told Nicholas what a great job he was doing and to keep up the good work.

Assignment 6

Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff? by Dr. Scott McLeod

Wow! What a thought provoking blogger! The one thing about his post is that it gets people thinking and they all passionately express their views to him. Some do not agree with him, but others do. In his assignment Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff he expresses his aggravation with internet blocking. It would be nice if teachers had the authority to unblock sites needed for assignments. We already have our hands tied when it comes to the lack of technology in the schools, but to have it and not be able to use it is really frustrating. I have added Dr. McLeod to my PLN and my twitter account. He immediately responded to me when I asked to follow him on twitter. I like the way he so openly expresses his opinions, even though I don't necessarily agree with everything he says. He is not afraid to "stir the pot" and does a wonderful job of getting people fired up about the discussions in a good way!

Dr. Alice Christie's Website

Dr. Christie's site has literally everything you need to implement technology in a classroom. Not only does it offer resources and links for teachers but it also provides tools for students to use for research, homework, or simply learning about the internet. This website is wonderful, it's organized , it's easy to navigate, and it's one of the most useful sites I've come across so far in this class. I love the way you have access to so many tools in one site.

It can definitely help me in my future career as an elementary teacher. I now have a place that not only contains teaching materials but tools necessary for my students to research easily and safely. It also provides a place for me to learn about the new technology available for me to use personally or in the classroom . For example, I was unaware of the Internet Public Library or the existence of electronic portfolios. The Internet Public Library will provide a place for students to access books or research materials for assignments. An Electronic Portfolio will better prepare me for the job market because it will give employers an easier more efficient way to view my records and resume rather than keeping up with a huge file filled with a huge stack of papers.These are just two of the things I found useful on this site but I'm sure that upon further browsing I will be using this site and its tools, applications, and resources for years to come!


iTunes University
(click on title for a link that lists the best of iTunes university - I found it very useful)

iTunes University can be great for teachers and students. As a student I can find useful podcast and videocast on basically any subject. iTunes U is free for anyone, so that can be a positive for college students or in my case - stay at home moms. I found a videocast showing students how to study smarter. This vodcast can improve a students study habits and possibly help students make better grades. Although I have already graduated from college, this is very helpful for future students and my own children.

iTunes will help me as teacher as well. I can find different ideas that other teachers use. iTunes University has podcasts that give tips on how to use Microsoft power point, excel, and the other Microsoft office tools. You can search basically any topic that you need to learn about. I never realized that iTunes could be used as a tool to further my education. I thought it was a place to download and listen to music. All of the links under categories can be helpful to students, but the link that stood out to me was teaching and education. Universities and colleges can also be a good link to use to find interesting information.


iPod Uses at Duke University (click on title for article)

In 2004 Duke University wanted to test if iPods could be used on their campus for educational purposes. In 2004 Duke University handed out 1600 iPods with voice records to first year students to study the impacts and outcomes the iPod had on students and teachers, and if it could be successfully used as an educational tool. The outcomes of the implementation of the iPod were very interesting. A total of 1228 Duke students, and 48 courses total Incorporated iPods into learning. Foreign language and music classes used the iPod the most which was expected, but also some unexpected courses such as engineering, and other social science classes reported they used the iPod for educational purposes. The iPod aided more audio related courses because students could play songs back. At first most believed the audio play back on the iPod would generate the most feedback, but this was not the case.It turned out that recording was the number one tool used on the iPod for educational purposes, and 60% of the first year students used it. By the end of the experiment Duke University came up with several educational uses for the ipod. One was the portability factor of an iPod incorporated with education.

With the iPod students were able to access lectures, speeches, music, and podcasts through iTunes. It was also used in the classroom to record important information like lectures, class discussions, guest speakers, and verbal feedback.Research also showed that the ipod was greatly used outside of the classroom to capture field notes, interviews, environmental data, and audio data that could not be found in a classroom or lab, but could only be gained through outside experience. Next, the iPod helped students study. Students would record notes, facts, and information and then re-play it to learn by hearing it. The iPod in the case of Duke University improved not only student interest and engagement, but also teachers and faculty members were showing interest with the experiment. As a whole Duke University was feeling the positives of using iPods for educational purposes.

Who is a technology literate teacher? Wikispace

I enjoyed reading Dr. Strange's Wiki about technology literate teachers. I liked the collaborative aspect of it and completely agreed with a majority of the comments and discussions posted. I also searched for other related wiki's. I am learning so many new tools in this class and hope to one day be a technology literate teacher. The only thing I could think to add to his wiki is as follows:

Who is TL teacher?

	sherikbutler A teacher who knows how important and powerful knowledge is, and can show students the importance of knowledge, as a tool to achieve success. 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.

Comment4Kids Week 6

This week I commented on a post by a 5th grader named Selina from the PT school of England. Her blog post was called Scary Movie. It was a very short post about her going to a scary movie at night with her mom and her brother. She said it was boring at first, but then the movie called Paranormal Activity became more thrilling. She also added a very interesting graphic that looks like she drew it on the computer and even created slides that depicted a ghost moving. I would like to know more about how she created this graphic. What a great way to get kids motivated about writing and I loved the way she used the computer to show her artistic abilities.

Assignment 5

The Accuracy of Wikipedia

I feel so naive! I truly did not know that Wikipedia was an open source that anyone could edit. After reading the assignments: NPR Blog and Wired Story I found out that Wikipedia can be changed by anyone. The concept of Wikipedia is good. The world is ever-changing, especially when it comes to advances in medicine. Sources such as Wikipedia are very valuable and should be ever-changing as well. However, there needs to be a better system as to who changes the information. The scanner the Cal Tech student from the Wired Story created is a good start, at least this way in some cases you can see who is changing the information and decide for yourself whether or not they would change it honestly or to benefit themselves or their corporation. To me a more accurate encyclopedia would be one that was added to rather than edited. Just like a blog, the information should be presented and then anyone can comment or debate their position - especially when it comes to information related to corporations or politicians. For now, I will just know that Wikipedia is not the most accurate source of information and use other resources as well such as Google Scholar or a library database for research type projects.

At the Teacher's Desk: What I've Learned by Mr. McClung

I loved the way Mr. McClung expressed his trials and accomplishments
of his first year teaching. As a former teacher I can completely relate to what he wrote. Mr. McClung stated he learned that the lessons should be driven by the students, your true audience, and not evaluations by administrators. This is very hard in the beginning. You have so many people telling you what you should do, but often time not how to do it. It takes time to realize you need to listen the most to the students and their needs. He also expressed that you should be flexible and not get upset if every moment isn't planned or didn't turn out the way you thought. I too would get disappointed when I would spend so much time developing a lesson only to find out the kids did not relate to it or it didn't go as well as you wanted. Time and experience will help iron out all of the kinks, but don't expect something that worked one year to always work the next. After teaching 2nd grade for five years straight, I could rarely use the same lesson plans twice. The dynamics of the class were always so different from year to year.

The most important point to me in Mr. McClung's blog was when he stated communication is the best medicine. This was what was the key to my success. Clear and constant communication with the students, parents and colleges are what truly made me an effective teacher. I am so excited about all of the new technologies we have now that will enable me to keep in constant contact with them when I go back to teaching. This brings us to the point that he made that teachers should be continuous learners. We should model our thirst for knowledge to the students and be adaptive to all new technologies and ideas presented to us. I can say to be a truly effective elementary teacher your plates are overflowing, but like Mr. McClure said, "we owe it to our students."

Comments4Kids Week 5

This week I was assigned to comment on a Year 5 class (9 and 10 year olds) in a primary school in North Nottinghamshire, England. The title was by Bitten and it was written by Maisie and Faith. I am amazed at the writing ability of these 9 year-olds. Their use of descriptive and expressive language is very impressive. What makes it even better is that they published it on a blog and are not only getting practice blogging and using technology, but further developing their writing skills. This was an excellent example of an effective way to integrate technology into the classroom.

Project 2 Presentation

Assignment 4

Podcast Resources

I really enjoyed several of the selected podcasts this week because they were about why we should use podcasting and ways to use them in the elementary classroom. Although, I listened and looked at all of them my favorites were The Benefits of Podcasting in The Classroom and Curriki - Podcast Collection. I now have a better understanding as to how to implement them with elementary aged children. This podcast information also helped complete some of the research I needed to do when creating our group podcast for our EDM 310 class in two weeks. Although, the ones last week were very entertaining and offered good information for teachers about various websites and technology, these gave me many more ideas and a purpose.

Here are some of the many reasons I learned why we should use podcasts in the classrooms: they are an effective way of interacting with students outside of the classroom, they offer a form of learning students of today are familiar with and therefore makes it relevant to the student, it allows for differentiation and project based learning, students can access the higher order thinking skills in Bloom's taxonomy, it promotes creativity and innovation, it can offer distance learning opportunities for absent students, students can record role plays in character making their learning more memorable, parents can see and hear what their children are doing at school. I really like the thought of using these for absent students. I taught a little girl with cystic fibrosis who often missed classes and this would have been a wonderful tool for her to keep up with what we did while she was in the hospital. I also discovered several topics in which the students could conduct their own podcasts. One of my favorite would be the students pretending to be on an African Safari. It would take a much higher level application of knowledge to research, describe and role play an African Safari than it would to just take a test on an African habitat. I also like the fact that students need to use communicative skills and descriptive language when making a podcast. I sometimes think that one of the disadvantage of technology is that the students loose important face to face interaction and development of interpersonal skills. After today's assignment, I now have a better understanding why podcasts are important and many reasons to implement them into any curriculum.

Week 4 Comments4Kids

This week I commented on Christie Weschler's blog who is a 5th grade from a school in Illinois. Her blog is on the Avoca School District website. I loved reading her blog because it reminded me of when I was little. She reviewed a Nancy Drew Novel that she had read. Of course, I too loved Nancy Drew. After reading her blog, I may have to read a novel as an adult and see if they are still as great as I thought they were back then. I really enjoyed reading her review and told her what a great job she was doing.