Diigo #3

         From examining various teacher productivity tools I was able to learn how much there is out there to allow teachers to collaborate with one another as well as work more efficiently in their own classroom.  By working behind the scenes with business oriented applications, teachers are able to improve not only their productivity but also that of their students.

#6 Classroom Website and Tech

          To examine a high school teacher's website, I decided to go back to my senior year AP Government teacher at Beavercreek High school in Beavercreek, Ohio.  He also teaches a sophomore through senior elective class on American wars however I only viewed the Government section.  What is visible to the public is what visible to the students and parents.  The only difference is that those that are not signed in as students can not post discussion boards if one is posted.  However, the public is able to see the discussion boards that are posted.  For that reason, it is school policy that students don't use their full names while posting.  The public is able to see all of the teachers information as well as any pictures that are posted and assignments.  Anything that the instructor or students post is visible to the public.  Screenshots from the website can be found below. http://www.beavercreek.k12.oh.us/bhs


          One of my goals for technology is having a very well regulated website.  In my high school career, I dealt with both teachers that worked very hard on their website and some that did not.  Having a website that was designed to help students was one of the best feelings in high school.  Having my homework and assignments available to me with due dates was incredibly helpful.  It felt as though the teacher truly cared so that is what I wish to do with my future students.

          I also wish to implement Twitter or other social media into my classroom.  To be able to connect with students is very important to me.  As I wish to teach older students, I want to be able to treat them like adults.  Through this, I would very much like to be able to share things with them through Twitter.  This would act almost as an insurance to my website that I have setup.  If a student wishes to check the website, they can, or they can check Twitter.  I want to go out of my way to ensure that my students understand what is expected of them.  This will not only show them that I care but also take away the opportunity for excuses on missing work.


          The technology that will be most heavily used in my classroom from the Tech Sandbox will most likely be the SMART/Promethean Board.  This is simply because they are essentially standard in the modern classroom in some shape or form.  For example, many schools use the solid and movable models whereas my high school used either the wall mounted boards or the projectors that created the SMART board on the teacher's whiteboard.  These are incredibly helpful for projecting a presentation while giving interactive capabilities.  As I expect to have many lectures in my class, it will be incredibly helpful to have a SMART board in order to project these.  They also allow me to write on the board, and save those writings and eventually share them with my students, if that would be helpful for them.

          The next piece of technology I would love to implement in my classroom from the Tech Sandbox, were I to have the opportunity, would be virtual reality.  I have only ben able to use it once during my previous visit to the Sandbox, but the experience was surreal.  I can only imagine the possibilities I would have in my classroom.  As I wish to teach government, it would be amazing to immerse the students into what we are studying at the time.  For example when I am talking about the debates over signing the declaration of independence, I could send the students to the room where it took place.  The possibilities would truly be endless.

ILP "Participation" - Lynda: Prezi Essential Training

          I learned a lot from completing this project.  For one, I learned about Lynda and how helpful it is.  Seeing how many tutorials that the website has to offer is fascinating.  From Lynda, however, I was able to learn about what I will be writing on.  The tutorial video that I watched was for Prezi.  I first heard of the application my senior year of high school but I have never used it.  I have seen a few students and teachers make presentations with it but I never saw a use.  I did not understand it, and I already had PowerPoint so I didn't see a reason to learn it.

          However, just from watching the first few clips in the two hours and forty-five-minute tutorial, I realized that Prezi is an entirely different beast from PowerPoint.  While they are both used as a technological tool for presentations, the way they go about that is very different.

          PowerPoint is made to be very straightforward and to the point.  It is linear.  One clicks from slide to slide until they are finished.  Prezi, however, does not need to be so linear.  While one has the ability to have a set path, there is still the option to deviate from that path.  One can go back and forth, or skip around.  The presenter also has the ability to zoom in on features that do not even have their own set slide.  I can absolutely see this program's use in the classroom.  It will be very helpful for completing lectures that need to include videos or images.  It will also be helpful because I will have the opportunity to skip around if a student needs me to go back and cover something again.  Students will also have the opportunity to utilize this program when they are instructed to give presentations in my classroom.

          Lynda, as I mentioned was a learning experience on its own.  If I am able to implement this system as an educator I will be extremely pleased.  As someone who loves to learn for the sake of learning, Lynda is a dream come true.  It was absolutely fascinating to me to see all of the subjects that I had the opportunity to learn about.  I spent some of my free time learning about coding simply because the subject interested me.  This tool is beyond helpful for students.  It gives you the ability to learn at your own pace and at your choice.  If you want to learn how to use a certain subject then you have the opportunity.  This would be incredibly helpful for students that do not know either basic technological tools, like Microsoft Office, or even more advanced like Python Programing.  The opportunities are near endless and I look forward to implementing it in the future.

          Learning about all of the different features that come with Prezi has been tremendously eye-opening.  I cannot believe all that I was missing out on by simply using the same linear PowerPoint model over and over again for projects.  Below you will find screenshots of my notes, the program that I watched, and the example Prezi that I made with my newly acquired skills.  You can also view my Prezi first hand at http://prezi.com/m_l2uyrp7jt0/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy.

Diigo #2

Learning about Web 2.0 through a Web 2.0 tool was incredibly helpful with understanding the concept and use.  Understanding the difference in software and how it is able to let you interact with your piers, both in sharing and commenting will be very helpful in my future career.

#5 Web 2.0

          As stated in previous blogs, the web 2.0 software that I find will be most the most useful and implemented in my classroom will probably be Twitter.  I have been using the social media for years so I am very comfortable with it, and I also have experience with teacher interaction in it.  It is very useful for sending out information to students quickly, whether it be assignments, extra credit, or simply things that I find interesting and fit into the curriculum.  I also find Youtube and Diigo would be very useful.  Youtube is great for sharing clips that fit into the curriculum.  If I can implement clips into my lectures, the students will be more likely to stay engaged.  Diigo would be very helpful as my preferred subject is American government.  Government involves a lot of research, and Diigo would be incredibly helpful in allowing my students to collaborate on information. 

          Personally, I do not believe that blogs will be too useful in my classroom.  That is simply because of the subject that I wish to teach.  I find them very beneficial in many classes such as English, or an education technology course such as the one I am in right now.  However I believe that what blogs are used for can be accomplished better through other media in the subject of American government and history.  

          I find that SlideShare is an incredibly useful web 2.0 tool for the modern classroom.  The purpose of the website is to aggregate presentations such as Prezis or PowerPoints similar to how Diigo does with websites.  However, instead of finding the presentations, you upload your own.  This allows you to access your presentations from multiply different computers and also allows others to access them as well.   With this you are able to show your presentation to another in a matter of seconds as well as receive comments on the product.  This could be very useful in the classroom as a way to let students view and give constructive criticism on one another projects.  

          I believe that of all the emerging technology for education, the most useful is probably seen as one of the more boring.  I see cloud computing as the most useful as a future teacher.  For one reason, I cannot count the amount of flash drives that I have lost.  The stress that comes with losing one of those small USB dongles is immeasurable.  With cloud computing, we no longer need to fret about remembering where our flash drive is, or whether or not it will even work when we get to school.  As a teacher, I will feel far more comfortable with my students being able to upload their work to the cloud and access it at school.  It also allows for lots of collaboration which is imperative for school.  Students can work on projects with one another without having to find a meet up.  The ability to save assignments to the cloud, where my students can reach them is also very useful.  I will  not need to worry about printing every last thing, and if a student forgets something that was a hard copy, they can print it off of the cloud.  

          If I were to pick one of the more exciting advances in technology, I would have to go with augmented reality.  As my dream is to become a government teacher, it could be very useful to allow my students to see first hand what it would be like to live in the 1700's.  We could take class trips back to all of the different places we are talking about such as the debates over the declaration of independence, the ratifying of the constitution, or the swearing in of George Washington.  In my government class, we were given a virtual tour of the White House simply through pictures, and I loved it.  To go to the next step and virtually take my students there would be outstanding.   

Diigo 1: Academic Software

From this activity I was able to learn how important it is to tag in regards to collaboration.  I was unaware of how necessary it was in allowing the collaboration process to be so much more efficient. I also learned about collaboration as a whole.  I did not know that collaborating with links would be used and it is fascinating to see it work in such an efficient way.

#4 Tech Utilization in My Class

          Twitter is not something that is new to me at all.  I have been using the social media platform on a personal level since I was a freshman in high school so I am very familiar with everything about it.  I also had multiple teachers in high school that utilized twitter as a way to keep in touch with us students about assignments.  Because of this, I was also very familiar with how it would work in the classroom setting.

          However with all of that said, I still have found that it has become a different experience for me.  I am treating my account for EME2040 in a more professional sense and it is somewhat new.  I have used it to interact with other students, as well as the class twitter and instructor for this course, Ms. Michelle Cates.  I have been able to view it from a different side and have put in some thought as to how I would handle using the social media as a teacher.  It would be very helpful to have an account that I could use to post information about homework or extra credit opportunities.  It would also be very helpful to post and retweet things that I find interesting (in a professional manner of course) to let my students become more familiar with me.


          The digital divide effects those in schools in that it furthers the gap between socioeconomic statuses.  Those with more wealth are able to have access to much newer technology which helps them better themselves and further their education.  On the other hand those with less wealth are left behind and stay behind do to their lack of technological experience.

          As a teacher I will need to be very sensitive to the chance of the digital divide occurring in my classroom.  If there is an instance where a student does not have the technological resources at home to complete an assignment, I will need to think of a way around the issue to make sure that all students are able to complete the work with no advantages.  For example if there is an online worksheet, I may need to spend the extra time to print out copies for all of my students to take home. I will also try my best to ensure that all of my students are well versed in the basic technological programs that are necessary to know in order to succeed in the modern day workforce.


          The softwares that my students and I will be using most will most likely be presentation software, desktop publishing software, and academic software.  These will be necessary as I hope to be teaching an older range of kids, preferably high school seniors.  Both my students and I will need to utilize presentation and desktop publishing software in order to present ideas to the class or to present assignments or projects.  The academic software will be important because the students are at an older age.  They will need to be more comfortable with citing proper academic sources, as they will need to do so in college.

          What will most likely not be utilized in my classroom are photo-editing software, and various other graphics softwares.  These are very important for art and design classes.  They could even be useful for a math or physics class that needs to visualize a real world problem.  However, I will be teaching a social science class and I do not foresee myself utilizing these tools as much as another subject might.  They could possibly be used by students if I am to assign a project with an option to get artistic, however this would only be used if it were offered by the school.  I would also most likely not make that portion mandatory to the students as I cannot expect them to know how to work the software, and teaching the software would not fit into my course description.


          My experience with the eCourse was very useful.  I only encountered a few small bugs.  For example when I reached the third section, my ability to pause or move forward or back was taken away.  This made it somewhat difficult to take notes on the subject.  The only other issue that I came across was that the website crashed upon completing the course and I lost my certificate.  Eventually I was able to retrieve it but it was rather scary at first.  Other than these two issues, I greatly enjoyed the course.  I learned a lot about things that I thought I already knew.  For example I did not know the various other ways that web conferencing could take place and all of the options that come alone with it like in the Adobe software that was mentioned.  I also enjoyed that there was help to be given while completing some of the post course quizzes.  They refreshed my mind and allowed me to get the answers right and retain the knowledge.

#3 From Tech Standards to a Newsletter

          

           The ELA standards that I feel most comfortable with are Using Digital Media, and Using Technology.  I am most comfortable with these asI have grown up as a "digital native".  I have been working or playing with computers for as long as I can remember, and I have had my own since I was in 8th grade.  I have also had a smartphone since 8th grade.  I am very comfortable working with others through technology to reach a common goal and using the internet.  I also have a lot of experience with audio and video recordings and distribution.  In high school, I made many recordings using my trumpet and laptop.  Over time I grew more and more skilled at the editing process.  I also have had experience editing video files in iMovie, for school and family.

On the opposite spectrum what I will need more work in is Multimedia.  For both literature and informal text.  Of course, I have experience in both of these fields from my years of high school and middle school.  However, it is not something that I am as fluent in as digital media or technology in general.  I will need to work most on the analysis of multiple sources.  Growing up, any subject that involved heavy analysis was one that I needed to work very hard on to do well.  I feel as though I will need to become better at it however, because comparing text to digital media could come in very handy in a social science class. 

           My major allows me to be able to work with a very wide age range of students.  I will have the opportunity to work with students from age 11 to 18.  However, with that said, my preference is to work with students in the range of 16-18.  Also, not only do I get a wide variety of age from my major, I also will have the opportunity to use a wide variety of technology.  One of the most common uses, I would like to implement would be discussion boards.  I want students to be able to post to the rest of their classmates and have discussions over the assignments at hand.  To go about this, I may use a system the school has on their website like my high school did, or use an online blog, if the school I work at would allow.  Of course, I will also implement research through the internet in order to complete assignments, if the task at hand calls for it. 

           Because of this use of technology, I will need to make sure that the students follow the majority of the digital citizenship concepts.  The most important will be that they demonstrate “netiquette”.  As I wish to have the students post to a discussion board and comment on one another’s posts, I will need to make sure that they are doing this in a respectful and professional manner.  I will also need to demonstrate how to properly protect one’s personal information.  To publish something online if the posts are public we will need to find a way to continue with the assignments while also not sharing personal information.  If they are using information that is not their own they will also need to understand the copyright laws at hand and properly source their info.

          The Open Education movement is based upon the idea that people want to learn and that it is their right to learn.  The essence of knowledge is sharing, and the movement wishes to capitalize on that.  To spread knowledge around the world freely is the goal.  This would be able to help a wide variety of people.  From those simply seeking knowledge, to students needing access o scholarly works, to workers needing more information about a job.  To spread this knowledge freely around the world would allow not only access but free modification of the information at hand as well.  To spread awareness the the organization behind the movement holds a special week out of the year dedicated to informing the world of the project.  openeducationweek.org  

         Open Content serves the purpose of the individual works that are able to be distributed due to their copyright.  As told in the podcast, this is done through the four R's, or five according to opencontent.org. Retain gives the user the right to own and control copies of the work.  The is the essential backbone of the open content movement.  Reuse gives the user the ability to show the work in a classroom or as a part of a project, or however else they see fit.  The ability to revise also is given to the consumer so that they may adapt or modify the work.  Through the remix function, one can take the original work and manipulate it with another.  Finally redistribute lets one share copies of the work, either the original or ones remix thereof.  The content however becomes less and less open through stricter legal restrictions and poor technical choices such as being published in an exotic format.  

          The basis of the Open Source Initiative is to promote non-proprietary software.  Software that is public and can be accessed by anyone.  This allows software to become far more ubiquitous and keeps predatory venders from growing. The initiative is based on trust and allowing cooperation between more and more groups.  Through this cooperation, more and more innovation is able to take place in a far more accessible fashion.  This was able to grow due to the widespread fame of Linux in the 1990's allowing more and more coders to work with one another and promote education on a widespread field.  

          Working on my Newsletter was able to teach me more about Microsoft Word than I had previously expected.  In its beginning I was not too thrilled simply because it was homework, however once I finished I felt a sense of pride over my work.  It is far from the best, but I feel as though it fits the theme of the class I created, and therefore had a reality to it.  By that I mean, formatting the newsletter made me feel like I was an actual teacher and I will absolutely utilize that skill in my career.  From from working on the assignment, I was able to the ins and outs of word art, shapes, and formatting for Word on Mac.  There were always slight differences that tripped me up when creating anything other than a paper, but by the end, I was able to fly through my editing and formatting with ease.  One of my biggest accomplishments came from learning how to properly manage the multiple columns and articles.  

          Next time, I feel that I could add more color and images to it.  I kept it as a faded yellow, because I wanted it to appear to be written on an old document, however for future and different assignments more color would work very well and I feel far more comfortable with that idea now.  I feel as though I can also improve on the use of word art.  While I tend to not care for it as I think it can be a little too unprofessional, there is a definite "sweet spot" of sorts that is still professional while also adding more life to a page.  I feel as though I can work more in the future to reaching that point.