Week 7- This is how we dream

Richard Miller: This Is How We Dream Parts 1 and 2
I’m not going to lie, this video was a lot for me to take in and comprehend, and I’m not very good at that. He was talking about incremental changes and fundamental changes. As he was talking, images and words were popping up on the screen. Some of it, I could do on my Mac and I don’t even know how. Richard E. Miller shows what can be done to change the “reading and writing with products” people to “multimedia” people.

An incremental change is how we have taken writing with pen and paper and going to the library, and we are now doing virtually everything without having to touch paper or step foot into a library book. As he was talking about this, a Mac laptop came up and showed someone with two Word documents and one Safari page open at the same time, and he could see all three. It showed him simply research what he needed and copy and pasting it into the document. He then went on to talk about collaborating.

In the second part, he talks about how he can compose writing on the web, and he shows his colleague’s tool, and it is an application on a Mac that searches blogs as they are written moment by moment. It looked really cool and pretty with all the colors and visual effects. But then he says we don’t have the way to teach what he just described to us in that video. He says “technology articulates our dreams and allows us to shares them with others.”

I think I am prepared to write with multimedia to an extent. I already do it for my schoolwork and papers. I have not had to use a library book yet for any project or paper in college. I do everything online. I don’t think I am going to make my students do quite as much as he mentioned. After all, I want to teach little kids. But if we do have a project, I will encourage them to use the Internet.

The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler
This video is a true story about a student with a teacher who is a student of connectivism, which is a theory that learning is through a social network of many diverse connections and ties.

The video said that we make connections with other people in those networks. It showed the cartoon character using Google. He then post bookmarks on Delicious and Digio. This video is actually very much like our EDM class. We are using all of these websites.

So why have a teacher? A teacher can offer guidance when we are stuck; they are “learning architect”. I don’t think that I am ready to be a teacher of a network student, but the idea kind of sounds nice. Middle School students I do not think I could handle by any means, but I think I could do this with high schoolers.

Michael Wesch
He started off talking about the book “1984” by George Orwell, which is quite political. But at the beginning he showed a picture of his classroom of about 200 and said they are not socially and politically engaged, they just aren’t there. He then flipped to a picture of “American Idol” auditions, which showed the exact opposite attitude than the class picture. There is something in the atmosphere or structure that makes us feel the way we do. There is a quote that he said by someone, “in the midst of a fabulous array of historically unprecedented and utterly mind-boggling stimuli…whatever”. He then gave the history of “whatever”, which I thought was funny. I definitely say “whatever” a lot. That is usually what I say when I am mad because the other person isn’t listening or something.

He says we are moving toward disengagement and only thinking about ourselves, and we are moving toward fragmentation. I do think people are becoming like that, and most already are. I am not going to lie; I didn’t understand some of this video. It went together but at the same time it didn’t. Maybe I didn’t see what I was suppose to. I do agree though with the social aspects he was talking about and what we are moving towards.

Week 7- Comments 4 Kids

This week I was commenting on student named Frankie in Ms. Kolbert's class. The link isCLICK HERE . He did not have anything written yet, so i just encouraged him to get started and that it may take some time, but eventually blogging will feel natural.

PLN- Personal Learning Network

Personal Learning Network

I have created my personal learning network using Twitter! It is very interested how it all unfolds. I was browsing through the class syllabus and opened up Dr. Strange’s PLN document. I learned how to set mine up and I found a teacher on that document, Beth Still who had 50 teachers everyone should follow on Twitter for their PLN. I started following all of those teachers, and I check my twitter throughout the day on my phone a few times a day. I don’t remember the teacher, but one of her tweets was about Google Documents and Google Earth. A lot of the stuff I can relate to and are doing in this EDM class. And some of the websites are interesting. I never thought I would get use out PLNs, but look at me now! I am not obsessed, but I am still learning and just browsing right now, but when I am a teacher, it will be very helpful!

Here is the list of all the People I am following on twitter is you want to follow also. These are their usernames. Type in on the Internet for the web address http://www.twitter.com/whatever their username is, or search for them in twitter by using the symbol @username.

karlfisch, kdumont, shareski, mwesch, mguhlin, chrislehmann, hdiblasi, isteconnects, kjarrett, LarryFerlazzo, jwindsor, budtheteacher, teach42, MikeGras, oswego98, Edu4U, lkolb, AngelaMaiers, ddrapper, bbarreda, plnaugle, jutecht, dstall, SuzanneWhistler, ScottElia, watcanz, wfryer, rmbyrne, mcleod, kellyhines, timlauer, woscholar, pgeorge, Astro_Mike, principalspage, canyonsdave, garystager, Web20Classroom, tomwhitby, paulrwood, lthumann, courosa, rickweinberg, HallDavidson, edutopia, bengrey, dianafingal, WendyDrexler, teachakidd, bethstill


Hope this helps! Don’t freak out about making a PLN, it is kind of fun and I am still getting used to it!

Week 6- Comments 4 Kids

For this week (2/15-2/21), I had a class blog to comment on. Click here for their link . The blog post I had for them was entitled "Healthy Workshops". They were learning different workshops such as yoga, aerobics, basketball. It looked like a lot of fun. This was not for PE, but for their class! I was really impressed with that. And that is exactly what I left for them in my comment. I also said to keep up the good work because I didn't get that as a kid. I even told them my favorite workshop would be the yoga!

Week 6- iTunes and Technology!

Alice Christie’s Website
On Dr. Christie’s website, I was immediately drawn to her Photography section. I know, you might think, “How can pictures be a resource to you?” BUT, I think pictures can be a resource because she also lists some resources for technology and cameras. Technology is a huge part in pictures because images can be changed drastically at the click of a button!

I like photography, and it can be useful to me as a teacher. Photography can become anything, literally. I can change a picture to where it will look nothing like the original. Pictures are useful in teaching, because it can give kids something to look forward too. At my afterschool care, my kids love when I take pictures of them and then show it to them. Kids are kids and depending on the age, you can either have fun with pictures in teaching, or you can teach kids how to edit pictures themselves. I want to incorporate art when I teach.

iTunes U
Here is a link that lets you learn about what iTunes U is CLICK HERE
I think iTunes U can be helpful, because some schools may post all their lectures online, which will help a student out. But also it can help professors because they can learn new things about how to teach or what to teach. I use iTunes a lot, I don’t use iTunes U a lot, but I think if you know how to use iTunes, then you are good to go.

I think iTunes U is very helpful for someone who uses technology a lot in learning. I don’t use it to be honest, I am more of a google person (oops), but regardless, everyone can find something useful for them. Itunes U is a great way to learn new things and help out with everyday learning.

Use for iPods in learning
CLICK HERE is the link where I found Apple’s article about how iTunes U and other apple products can be used for school. iPods can be useful because you can download podcasts. I download podcasts from church and you can just pop your headphones in your ears or listen to it in your car.

Duke University has an article about an experiment they did with iPods in instructions. The link is CLICK HERE . There is no better way explain it myself than just quoting what Duke said “Audio‐intensive courses reported that the iPod increased the frequency and depth of student interaction with audio course content through portable and flexible access offered by the iPod. Initial planning for academic iPod use focused on audio playback; however, digital recording capabilities ultimately generated the highest level of student and faculty interest. Recording was the most widely used feature for academic purposes, with 60% of first‐year students reporting using the iPod’s recording ability for academic purposes. “

Technology Literate Teachers
I will be honest, I have not use a wiki since I signed up, and it scared me to use it. I did not make changes or add to it, but I was scared. Isn’t that awful? But back to the purpose, I think that teachers should be technologically literate, but they don’t have to breathe and live technology. Some can only understand so much. I have my views on what one should be and I know what I will be when I start teaching. Some may like my ideas and others may not, but we are all different! I want to teach fourth grade. I don’t think I am going to be using twitter and skype and blogs with them, but if they learn how to do that on their own, then that’s great!

Comments 4 Kids- Week 4 and 5

So last week for week 4 (2/2-2/9) I commented on a little girl Britni and her blog. She did so well and I cannot believe kids are blogging, i just started! This week I commented on Room 7 in New Zealand, I commented on the whole class blog on their posts for Feb. 4-9, so i think i did about 3 to 4 different comments. Then for week 5 (2/8-2/14) I left a comment for Sione in Room 7 saying I was impressed with her 2009 work. These kids surprise me because i thought i was up with technology but i can't do what they can and I am almost 20. Sometimes i feel old because these things weren't there when i was a kid.

This is a combined blog post for my Week 4 and Week 5 Comments for Kids.

My presentation

Week 5- Wikipedia and Learning!

Wikipedia!
All of the teachers I have had in high school through now hate Wikipedia. I never really understood why until I came across one article myself that suddenly randomly mentioned hotdogs. I’m serious; I was researching something for school and then that popped up in the middle of the sentence. I have been told that Wikipedia is not the most reliable source, but if you see an icon at the top that looks like a lock then it is usually reliable because people cannot change or edit something that is locked. But who knows?!

I like that someone invented a scanner type thing to trace to see who changed things. I never use Wikipedia for school, I do sometimes if I’m researching something randomly and am desperate for any answer. I do not thing it is a trustful and resourceful website for anything important though.


"What I've Learned This Year" by Mr. McClung
I loved reading this post, because it can help me now! Be flexible, communicate, be reasonable, stay positive, listen to students, and NEVER stop learning. I love all those ideas. No one is perfect, and we shouldn’t expect that of our students. We are teachers, we have to help them and train them, and encourage them to be the best that they can be! Let’s communicate with our students and take an interest in their lives, they love to tell stories about their dog or something they ate, just random things. We never know, they may not get that attention at home. I hope I never get in a rut when I teach. I want to learn things with my students and always have fun. This blog really inspired me and I think it will help me now with my daycare!

Week 4- How does learning look in the 21st century?

I looked at an article on the Langwitches Blog titled "Take the Technology Out of the Equation". This article posed the questions, "How do we teach students how to learn? How do we motivate and engage learners? How do we create a climate where learning is valued, not test scores or a covered text book?" I want to inspire students and not just teach them, but help them learn. Teachers need to have common ground and the priority should be STUDENT LEARNING. The wordle picture above shows how learning looks in the 21st century.

I like this quote from the article as well because i love music. "Technology Integrators becoming 'conductors' in order to empower teachers to support learners."



So, the word technology scares some people, but others love it. The main priority thought is having students learn. Technology and traditional ways of teaching are something administrators are always going to disagree with. However, put that aside and as long as the students are learning, that's all that matters.