Blog Assignment #5

2. Travis Allen's video The iSchool Initiative is a big eye opener to what could be in our future. He tells about how the iTouch can be used to keep up with class assignments, do research, calculate math problems, read a book, and so many other things we do in a classroom. If this was modified specifically for classroom use, every student could have a portable device that held everything they would ever need to learn. In the video he shows how this device could be used to keep the teacher, student, and his/her parents connected so everyone knows what is going on. Teachers could easily see who has done their assignments. Parents could see their child's assignments and see if they have done them.
I can tell there is a big difference in classrooms now from when I was in elementary school, I can only imagine what it will be like when I will be the teacher.

3. I personally loved the video Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir - 'Lux Aurumque'. I was in my church choir for 4 1/2 years and in showchoir in my high school one year. I know how tough it can be to get everyone to cooperate while standing together. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to organize this video. I did hear some coughs and throats being cleared that you wouldn't hear as much if they were in person. Since they were recorded it did have a "technology" sound to it.
This would be a great way to get people from all over the world to come together. I would definitely encourage my students to get involved in something like this. They could learn to congregate with different kinds of people while doing something they love. Overall though this choir sounded amazing, and I would love to be a part of it!

5. The Reading Rockets website is a good source for teachers and parents alike. It gives some classroom strategies for teachers to try out in their classrooms. I saw there was an ad for a spring writing contest. This could be something to get the students to enter and have fun doing it. For parents, it has the same links as it has for teachers. It has the ABC's of teaching reading that can be used in the classroom or at home. It gives some ways to help the students who struggle in reading. Overall, this website could be very beneficial to a student.

Blog Assignment #4

1. In Podcasting with First Grade the teacher explains how she helped students create a podcast on Vacation under the Volcano by Mary Pope Osborne. She said, "The idea was to pretend that we were interviewing Jack and Annie, the two main characters, about their latest adventure that had taken them to Pompeii." So they came up with questions and answers to be said while being recorded. She rotated the students so each one had a turn.
I would love to give my future students the opportunity to make a podcast. This might make them appreciate reading more if they get to do a fun activity along with it. They will also learn more by interacting with it instead of just reading. One thing the teacher said in her post was, "I could tell a drastic improvement among students in their confidence level and voice expression as we progressed in the book." I know this is the thing that teachers look most forward to with their students. I hope I will be able to help improve my students' confidence levels just like this teacher did.

2. I watched the video The benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom and learned a little about podcasting that I didn't know before. I learned that it is not only a good way to help students catch up on work outside of class, but also a good tool to use in the classroom when reading a story or book. A podcast can be recorded ahead of time so students can listen along to the story and have someone read it with the emotion it needs to make it more exciting. This could be a good project idea for students to do in groups (like we are doing). Parents are also benefited by podcasting. They can listen to what their child has been learning in school.

3. The files on the webpage Podcast Collection posted by Judy Scharf are very helpful handouts for a teacher to assign a podcast project in a classroom. For elementary level these might need to be altered or the information already typed in for the student (depending on which grade it is for). Mrs. Scharf gives several tips and very detailed instructions to how to make this project a success.
I have saved this webpage to my Favorites on my computer. I hope to use this in my future classroom to help my students do a podcast.

Project #9a

Project #6

Blog Assignment #3

1. a) In the video Technology in Special Education, it shows us how technology has improved the learning abilities in special needs children. Some students who can't talk can now use their computers to type what they want to say instead of having to point out every individual letter. Children with reading disabilities can now be read to through an iPod instead of being separated from everyone so a person could read to them. Technology is making a giant leap for special needs children. They are able to do a lot more individual work because of it.
I will definitely be using technology to help my students progress. I will be using anything in anyway I can to help them. This video was amazing to watch because it showed me that technology really can make a difference in some children's lives.

b) I chose the app Jungle Fractions. It is for the iPad only. I chose this app because it would have been handy to have over Christmas break while I was home. My mom was having trouble helping my little brother with fraction problems. If we had this app, we could have learned how to work through the problems we were having. (Also it would help if I had an iPad. The app won't work without it!)
When I become a teacher (and a parent), I will use apps like the ones in How the iPad Works with Academics for Autism to help my students and children to learn as much as they can. Watching this boy be able to sit down and (for all he knows!) play a game and learn something from it is amazing to me. It inspires me to make sure I know all the possibilities there are to help kids learn.

2.

3. A Vision of Students Today shows (on average) how many hours students need in a day to accommodate everything they have to do and what they want to do. That is 26.5. Obviously we don't have that. The way they do everything in a day is by multitasking. This could take some time away from studying that needs to be done. In a way technology has really helped students to be able to do research and type up papers, but it has also hurt them in the fact that they are more worried about what their friends on Facebook are doing. Two of the signs on the video said, "I Facebook through most of my classes," and, "I bring my laptop to class, but I'm not working on class stuff." This causes a problem for the professors on how do they keep their students' attention so they will learn. I've had people tell me that most professors don't care whether a student passes their class or not, but they didn't become an educator just so they can teach the same material semester after semester.
Watching this video through a future educator's eyes, I see some issues with allowing laptops in class, but there are some benefits. If the professor uses technology to teach rather than lectures and a chalkboard, students will be more interested. I had a professor last semester who used a power point to lecture, yet we used online material outside of class. Also, when he needed to explain something further, he would draw an example on the dry erase board. He knew how to keep most students' attention. When I become a teacher I plan on incorporating several different strategies to keep my students interested. Because I know how tough it is to sit through a boring lecture everyday of class and not get anything out of it.

C4T #1

Comment 1

I was assigned to Miguel Guhlin's blog Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org and I commented on the blog Exploring #! Crunchbang Linux. In this blog, Mr. Guhlin described his experience of trying out the CrunchBang version of the Linux system. "CrunchBang is a Debian GNU/Linux based distribution offering a great blend of speed, style and substance. Using the nimble Openbox window manager, it is highly customizable and provides a modern, full-featured GNU/Linux system without sacrificing performance." This is a quote from his blog of the description of Crunchbang. He continues to talk about some difficulties he had while trying out the system and how he was able to overcome these difficulties. He said that he hasn't decided if he wants to keep using this system or if he wants to switch back to his previous system, but that he does "like the minimalist theme."
My comment:
"Hello, my name is Carly Willoughby. I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I have been assigned to your blogs for my EDM 310 class. On 2/12/12 I will be publishing a summary of this blog and my comment on my blog- http://www.willoughbycarlyedm310.blogspot.com
This is our class blog- http://edm310.blogspot.com
I have heard of the Linux system once from my dad. So either this isn't very popular with college students, or I don't have very many friends who are technology literate. I just have the Windows 7 system that came with my laptop. This system sounds so much more complicated than anything I'm use to. I suppose I could always just give it a try and if I don't like it take it off of my computer."

Comment 2

In Mr. Guhlin's blog #FlippedClassroom Webinar Reminder #tcea2012, he posted a slideshow showing and telling about "flipping the classroom". I didn't know what this was so I had to do some research. I Googled it and came upon How the Flipped Classroom Is Radically Transforming Learning and this explained to me that "flipping the classroom" is making the classroom more technology based.. This will keep the students up-to-date on what we've been doing if they have to miss class, and can help the parents to know what their children are doing and could help them on homework. It was very interesting, and I hope to be able to do this in my classroom
My comment:
"Hello again Mr Guhlin! Before I read this post, I had no idea what "flipping the classroom" meant. Your slideshow gave me a little insight, but I still wasn't completely sure what this was. I did a search for it and found How the Flipped Classroom Is Radically Transforming Learning through Google. This explained to me that it is a way of making the classrooms more technology based. I found this very interesting and would like to incorporate this in my future classroom. I don't just want to be a lecturer, I want to be someone who inspires children to be all they can be and reach their potential in life.
I will be publishing my post, with the summary of your two blogs I have commented on, tonight on My Blog"

Project #5

Blog Assignment #2

1. In Did You Know? 3.0 - A John Strange 2012 Version, I learned a few things about the world of technology that I did not know before. Like how India has more K-12 Honors students than the United States has K-12 students. I believe the point of this video is to make us aware how the technological world has advanced, and that it's only going to keep growing. We, as future educators, are going to be teaching in a world more technologically advanced than it is today. We make fun of the teachers who don't even have a cell phone, but that's how they grew up. When we become teachers, we might be those who get made fun of because we don't have the latest technology fab. This video opened my mind to how fast the world is becoming more reliant on technology.
This video is very knowledgeable, but some of the screenshots need to be up for longer. I couldn't finish reading quite a few of them before it went on to the next fact.

2. I believe Mr. Winkle in Mr. Winkle Wakes showed us something that none of us have noticed. Or at least I haven't noticed it. He showed us that no matter how technologically advanced the world becomes, the schools will still be just a place of lecture and boredom.
We, as future educators, need to be the change in this. Everything we are learning in EDM 310 will help us bring technology into the classrooms and make learning more fun for the students. By incorporating things like making a book trailer instead of doing a poster board with picture clippings on it, kids will be more enthusiastic about completing their projects. I plan on being a technologically literate teacher, do you?

3. In The Importance of Creativity Ken Robinson gives great illustrations on why we need creativity and how the schools kill it. He tells how everyone is born creative and most people slowly grow out of it. The reason he said this happens is because most creative things come from mistakes. He says, "if you're not wrong, you won't be creative." If an artist is painting and makes a mistake, it might turn into something he didn't plan on but is very creative and therefore successful. In school we are scolded for being wrong and that makes us scared to be wrong. So if we do something wrong, we don't look at is as being creative.
He tells a story about Gillian Lynne and how when she was a child her teacher told her mom that she had a learning disorder. He goes on to say that in today's world that would automatically be diagnosed as ADHD and she would be given medication and told to calm down and behave. If this had happened to her, we wouldn't have some of the great operas of all times. Her teacher told her mom that she didn't have a learning disorder, she was a dancer. She had to move to think. This is a form of creativity that I don't understand, but it's out there in hundreds of people. If we medicate everyone who can't sit still in a classroom, how will we know if they were meant for something greater?

4. In A Vision for 21st Century Learning it states, "students come in as raw material, move from one grade to the next, and leave crammed full of facts." They sit and listen to lectures, memorize facts, and read text books. One of the main arguments from this video is that this way of learning does not coincide with our world full of technology. There is technology just waiting to be used in a way to make learning fun for students. The video says that computers already have a central role in the daily lives of children via video games and internet. Why don't we use this to our advantage and teach the children in a fun way? Another main argument is that technology literacy is critical for today's work environment. If we don't teach them now how to use technology in a way that is relevant to how they will be used in the working world, then how will they be able to get a job in the future? The video reveals in the end a way to use video games as a way for children to learn about different cultures and be able to explore the world. I think this would be a great way to integrate technology, but I don't think it would be very successful to replace books with "video game learning." They might learn something out of the game, but it's nothing compared to the knowledge they can gain from a book.

5. Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts is about a teacher who teaches students how to use computers effectively by connecting to other students around the world. Vicki Davis believes that it's hard for every student to learn in a paper and pencil only class. She teaches in a way that accommodates to what the students in the classroom need. So she may teach the curriculum completely different ways each year. She teaches the students to be comfortable with technology. One thing she does that I might use in my classroom is not defining everything. She expects her students to look up a word and learn it on their own if they don't know what it means. She allows the students to teach her how to do some things. I think she is a great role model for educators. She is teaching in a new way and everyone could learn something from her.