Interactive White Boards

I have never really used an interactive whiteboard (in fact I never knew there was anything other than a smart board) in a classroom because none of the schools I have been at had one. In a few of my college classes we briefly played around with them and I thought they were cool, but I never really figured out how the use them. In C I 556 I have learned how they can be used and how to ‘maneuver’ around them. I really like the Promethean board that we have in the classroom. It seems easy to use and I really like how it can be adjusted to a lower height for kids. After watching that short clip about a teacher in Atlanta who used his Promethean board in his elementary school classroom, I realized they can be used at any age and can be used to involve and keep the attention of an entire class. Its also cool how you can use multiple programs on it such as the internet and search engines, Microsoft word and power point, and such programs as imovie and kidpix, and allow the entire class to view what you are doing. It is a better visual tool to engage learners. It seems like a good technology tool to have in the classroom and I hope I have access to one when I get a classroom.

iPods and Podcasting in the Classroom

Today in class we played around with iPods and learned about podcasting and how it can be used in the classroom. I had used some of the things we talked about, such as the recording, but most of the stuff I had never used before. I did one of my research articles on iPods in the classroom and I have thought of their uses in the classroom before. Today I got more ideas! I had heard of using iPods as a good tool to give students with learning problems their tests. This way they can repeat a question if they need and they can take the test on their own, not with a class around. I had also heard of using iPods as a center tool and today we learned some creative ideas to do with them at these centers. You can have students listen to a recorded book while following along. Students can watch certain educational television programs that relate to the topic they are learning. Students can record themselves reading and then listen to themselves. The last center topic that I will talk about is podcasting. As we learned there are a few types of podcasts: audio, audio with images, and video. These can be great tools for students as long as you find appropriate ones. Students could listen to such things as a book or a task that they have to follow. They could listen to a topic while seeing still images of that topic. Or, they could watch a video podcast such as a short clip from National Geographic or another education topic. iPods are small and easy to carry around and use. I think they are great for classrooms and could be used in many creative ways.

Is Education 1.0 Ready for Web 2.0 Students?

We live in a world where the only internet our students know is Web 2.0. I have often heard the word Web 2.0 (we have a list of Web 2.0 websites in our C I 556 notebook), but I never really knew what it meant. In this article, Is Education 1.0 Ready for Web 2.0 Students? By John Thompson, it states Web 2.0 as being a read/write medium whereas Web 1.0 is only a read medium. This makes sense. When I was growing up you could only look up websites, never add to them. Today, we live in a world full of social networking. Students are constantly posting on such websites as Facebook and Myspace. Even some research sights such as Wikipedia can be added to by anyone. As we start teaching our students are going to get more and more technologically advanced. So how do we teachers make sure we are good ‘leaders’ for our students? Well, we need keep up with the technology, which Web 2.0 is a big part of. This article is aimed more for higher education, but it is important for all ages. Students as young as pre-school are using the internet. But besides our students just using the internet, we can incorporate Web 2.0 into the classroom. There are multiple websites and programs and blogs and social networking. As long as technology and the web are upgrading constantly, we as teachers need to stay on top of things!

Thompson, John. (2007). Is Education 1.0 Ready for 2.0 Students? Accessed June 22, 209 from Journal of Online Education. 3(4). Website: http://innovateonline.info/index.php

Blogging in the Classroom

Now I have never had a blog before this class because well, I never really like writing. I thought the main purpose of a blog was to just write about your day, sort of a journal or diary available to the public. Once I started learning more about blogging though, through C I 556, I realized that blogging can be used for so much more than just personal thoughts or ideas. I realized that it is a place where people can discuss different topics, share different ideas, and let others know about new things. You can share personal or professional information. One thing I had never considered before was using it in the classroom. After reading articles about blogging and discussing it in class I realized that blogging might actually be a good idea in the classroom. One of the main things that I liked was the idea of having student’s journal a few times a week. The article we read talked about how this allows students to just free write about a topic of their choice, and then the teacher can easily read it and comment back on it, as well as other students. The part I really liked about this was that it saved the teacher the trouble of lugging the journals home and back and then having to search through them to find the latest entry. Also, you don’t have to worry about not being able to read their handwriting! I also thought blogging would be a good way for students to share things with their classmates such as stories or poems the write. When it comes to using blogs in the classroom there are some things teachers need to make sure of. They need to get school and then parent permission and make it private so that only the class, and maybe parents, can access it. I think blogging can be used at any grade, but would be better suited for upper elementary. Also, it needs to be monitored. Teachers need to make sure the students are posting appropriate content. Lastly, the students need to have fun with it. It is more of an activity than an assignment. There are so many things out there to write about, why not share them with others!

iPods in Education

After taking C I 201 sophomore year I realized that such things as iPods, an electronic device known for storing music, could be used in the classroom. I hadn’t really thought about this much until recently when I was introduced to the TPACK model and started thinking of ways to incorporate technology into the classroom. I decided to research iPod use because I myself have gone through two different models of the iPod and I am a fan of them. I looked on Google scholar and found an article titled The Use of iPods in Education. It appears to be an essay written by what I am assuming is a group of college students. The article starts out talking about when iPods were invented, who invented them, and how they came to be what they are today. The article then goes on to talk about how colleges are incorporating iPods into certain classes how they are researching the use and significance of iPods in class. I feel like after reading about this that iPods are definitely a good thing to have in college. You can take notes on them, record lectures, and transport them everywhere you go easily. Also, it saves on paper. This article didn’t just talk about the use of iPods in the college setting. It gave some examples of using them in schools. I learned that even the youngest of grades can use them. The article talked about how “students can use iPods to listen to letters and construct words such as bat, fat, pat, pad, and so on, and soon move on to higher learning by constructing new words.” I have also heard examples of slower test takers using iPods to take tests. The iPod will read the question for them and also allows them to repeat the question if needed. After reading this I thought of some other ways teachers could incorporate iPods into their classrooms. I like the idea of podcasting. You could have a station where students listen to different podcasts, whether they are books on tapes or some sort of oral instruction given without the teacher physically being there. Students could record themselves reading or explaining some activity and listen to it later. I have always been told that recording yourself and then listening to it is beneficial, it is sort of a reflection. You could also have students organize different activities, power points, podcasts, pictures/videos, etc., keeping their things all together and reducing the use of paper. I definitely think iPods are useful in the classroom and they will just keep getting more and more advanced and able to do more and more things.
Bandzwolek, Chaney, Shriner, and Snair. (2006). The Use of iPods in Education. Retrieved June 16, 2009 from Google Scholar. Web site: http://tiger.towson.edu/~kshine1/final.pdf

Flip Cameras

On Monday we were split into groups of four. The only thing we were told to do was read the book our group was assigned by Wednesday. My group was assigned the book The Eleventh Hour: A Curious Mystery by Graeme Base. This book is a mystery, fiction, children’s book about an elephant who is having his eleventh birthday party. For his party he makes a feast. His guests are excited for the feast but first they must partake in the festivities. As they are playing the games something suspicious happens, the feast is eaten. To the disappointment of all the guests no one fesses up to it. It is the job of the reader to figure out the clues and figure out which guest ate the feast. Today in class we were told our assignment. We were to create a visual book talk over this book using a flip camera. I had never heard of or seen a flip camera before but I was impressed by it. It is small and hand held and displays good video quality. I think as a teacher it would be very cool to have in the classroom. A book talk is just one of the cool activities you could have your students do with a flip camera. The camera holds up to an hour, some more, of footage. I think for most activities that would be more than enough time. After learning about the flip camera I was thinking about other activities you could do in the classroom with it. I think it would be a quick and easy way to film a student reading. In tutoring my tutee has a problem of substituting words. By filming her she could go back and read along with the video, or just watch, and realize her mistakes. This would help her to see that she needs to read the entire word, not just the first letter. You could also use it to film such things as reader’s theater and project presentations. It could be used by students to do the activity we did today, film a book talk. Allow students to plan what they want to talk about, where and what they want to film (as long as it can be done, and let them get to work. It could be used for multiple activities and it is so easy to use, even young children could run them. When it comes to putting them on the computer, a mini-lesson would work to help explain it. I will definitely look into getting a flip camera for my classroom.

Keyboarding

Today in class we discussed keyboarding and when it should be taught. I remember first being taught keyboarding in my sixth grade computer class. The class was everyday for a quarter of the year and was required of everyone. This was the same for seventh and eighth grade. After that, no more computer or keyboarding classes. In computer class we would have to type from a book to practice being a fast and accurate typer, using Microsoft Word. We created a power-point, but that was the extent to the programs we used. Now that computers are such an integral part of our lives, I believe keyboarding should be taught at a younger age than middle school. In my fifth grade student teaching I noticed how some students were very good typers and some struggled so much I thought they would never finish. I felt that by fifth grade they should all be able to type at least some. The problem was that this school didn’t have a computer lab. During practicum I was also in a fifth grade room and that school did have a computer lab. A few times a week the students had computer class with a computer teacher who taught them keyboarding and had them use different computer programs. They did some really neat stuff on the computer. Today really opened my eyes to the importance of keyboarding. I had never really thought about it being a necessary skill in the classroom. However, after creating our pro and con lists, I realized that just as Dr. Schmidt said, in this day in age it is a life skill. Here are a few of the things we came up with for the pros and con’s of learning keyboarding at a younger age.

Pros
· Helps improve motor development
· Gives more opportunity for creativity with lessons
· Helps guide them for the future
· Is quicker than writing
· Can be used as a better organization tool than a notebook, saves paper

Cons
· May be pricy
· May add more time than needed to a lesson
· Students may be on all different levels depending on who has access at home
· Access to computers may be limited
· Teachers may have to teach it as opposed to a more qualified computer teacher

This was just a sample of the full list we made in class. After weighing the pros and cons, I am in favor of incorporating keyboarding and more computer usage into the classroom. I think it will open more doors for new and more creative lessons and will benefit students in the future.