Week 12 PLE

Watch two of the following three videos from the InTime Video Database:
I love Spiders (5:16 min)
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? (5:52 min)
Habitats (4:38 min)
On your PLE Blog write a 150 word description of the most important thing you learned from the videos about using technology with young children.

These videos made me reconsider when technology can be intergraded into a classroom. Children as young as kindergarten age are able to work simple tasks on the computer such as drawing. I hope that I would be able to adapt my lessons for many learning styles by using the computer and other technologies. Technology is also a great way to keep parents involved in the class. You can burn CDs of the work their kids have done or post things on a classsite or even make a video to give to the students and their parents to remember the class by.

Week 11 PLE

Create a PLE Blog post explaining what you learned about TPACK. Be sure to explain each of the constructs in the framework (e.g. PK, TK, etc.) and provide and explanatory example of each.
Pick at least one example of teaching from your past and explain it using the TPACK framework.
Also discuss the representations that various technologies afford. Think about the technologies you have explored in this class and state what representations of content they provide and why these particular representations would be useful in learning the content you are trying to teach.

Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge

PK(Pedagogical Knowledge is knowing how to teach.)
CK(Content Knowledge is knowing the facts about a particular subject.)
TK(Technological Knowledge is knowing about different technologies and how to use and apply them.)

The TPACK method uses all three knowledges at once for a dynamic learning experience. Representations of different technologies include technological, visual, auditory, dynamic, and multimodal.

Week 10 PLE

We will explore some additional free online tools which you can use in class. You will create a post on your PLE blog on three technologies you have explored. Answer the following questions about each of the technologies you have explored:
What is the technology called?
What does it help you do?
Where can it be found?

1. Prezi: A web-based presentation tool that uses and map layout and zooming features to show contextual relationships. It's basically like a big powerpoint presentation where you can scroll from slide to slide. Available to download at prezi.com

2. Mindmeister: A web-based presentation tool that uses the mind mapping concept to create diagrams for projects. You could use this program and create a mind map as the class tells you what to type. Available for use at mindmeister.com

3. Gliffy: A web-based tool used to create flow charts and other graphic organizers. Available to download at gliffy.com

Week 9 PLE

Complete the midcourse evaluation
Post your answers (1-2 sentences) to the following questions:

• What are some ways you can tell that you have successfully integrated technology into your lesson?


• What do you feel technology should accomplish in order to be a legitimate addition to your lesson?


• What indicators can tell you whether or not you have chosen an appropriate technology for your lesson?

You can tell that you've successfully integrated technology into our lesson by assessing the performance of the students. If the students perform better after a lesson taught with the technology, then the technology was successfully intergrated. If students became distracted by the technology, its not a successful integration.

In order to be a legitimate addition to a lesson, technology should be a functional and easy way to teach students something that is can be better understood because of it.

Indications of an appropriate technology for your lesson include the reaction of the children and the impact on their learning. If students are totally engaged in the lesson and seem to be learning the material, then I would say the technology is appropriate.

Week 8 PLE

1. Embed your Lesson Plan Table (6 activities) on your blog and wiki.
Make a new page on your wiki to post your Virtual Field Trip documents.
2. Embed your Field Trip Table (4 locations, activities, Google Earth content) on your blog and wiki.
Embed your table on the same page as your lesson plan.

Read this article (2 sections) about TPACK (Click here to go to article) then answer the following questions (1-2 sentences per question): What are some of the problems with learning TPACK skills? What is the main idea of the article? What are some of the ideas in the article that led you to your main idea? What are some reasons that this article might be important for you as a teacher?

Week 7 PLE

Post a response to the folowing questions:
i.What is the role of technology in creating dynamic experiences for your students?
In this day and age, technology is an important part of dynamic teaching and experiences. Students are becoming more and more engrossed in the computer and other technologies. To create a dynamic experience for their students, teachers must use technologies in their classroom.

ii.What are some ways that technology might actually detract from student learning?
When teachers use technologies that distract their students, it can detract from student learning. Or if teachers use a technology that allows students to not be on task, it can detract as well. You also have to be careful that videos cover only what they are talking about because students can easlier forget what is be covered.

iii.What are three examples of effective technology use that you have used or experienced?
1. Smartboards
2. YouTube videos
3. Powerpoints

Week 6 PLE

1. Post a response to the following question:
   
   1. What other sensory experiences might complement the use of a virtual tour in your classroom (cite at least 5 specific examples).
      
2. Select three virtual field trips from the examples website to download and review. Select virtual field trips to watch that address a different subject matter than your tour. Make a brief comment on each of the 3 field trips indicating what you like about their ideas. Link to examples.
   
3. Write a paragraph reflecting on what you think the upsides and downsides are for implementing a virtual tour in the classroom.
   

1. Our experiences are not complete without the use of more than one sense: seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, or touching. Creating these experiences with a virtual tour or fieldtrip is a major requirement. You could invite someone who has been to the places your talking about to come into your classroom and talk about their experiences and show pictures or bring in souvenirs. Say you're talking about the different cultures in your classroom or school, you could have students bring in objects that illustrates their culture. If you're talking about China, you could have a local vender come in with food. If you're talking about the rainforest you could have the sounds of the rainforest in the background. Or you could bring the ocean into your classroom through sand and water and maybe the sound of the sea.

2.

3. A virtual fieldtrip is a wonderful tool that can be used in a classroom to show students things in the world. But, it has its upsides and downsides. Half the fun wiht going on a fieldtrip is leaving the classroom and going somewhere.

UNDER CONSRTUCTION—still working on my thoughts

PLE Week 5

What are some of the basic things I can do in the Google Earth program?
How might I use Google Earth in my classroom?

I think that google earth is a really cool program with a lot possiblities for the classroom. In a classroom where its hard for students to leave like a special education room, this would be amazing. You could show them the world from the comfort of your own room. Also, if it is too expensive to go to the places, then, take a vritual fieldtrip. This program gives students a chance to get out in the world without having to leave. It opens the doors to fun classroom experences. You could create a trip and have students look for things you are talking about such as shapes.

Week 4 PLE

For the digital story projects, I looked at the storyboards for Amber Smith, Sheila Reynolds, DeeAnn Loveland, Karly Allen, and Becca Blair. They all look like their going to be really fun. I liked to see how different the storyboards where even though we each had the same assignment given. It's cool how we all come up with very different ideas and different uses of technology within the same parameters.

Week 3 PLE: What I understand about copyright laws and why it is necessary for teachers to have this knowledge

FAIR USE
In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include:
1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
2. the nature of the copyrighted work;
3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work

In other words, will it harm the copywritee (if theres such a word--if not, I just made it up).

What it means for me as a teacher
It is important to know what I can use as a teacher without violating the copywrite laws. I also need to know how much or long I can use something in school/education. These laws also tell us how to give credit to those who deserve it.

Week 2 PLE Post: TokBox

- What activities might I use tokbox.com for as a teacher?
- What was the most interesting thing I learned in class tonight?

I might use tokbox.com to find out what other teachers are doing. This program allows us to talk and see each other, enabling us to do a kind of show and tell. Tokbox.com would also allow me to help students after school. If the student and I both have an account, we can video chat to work on homework or if a student is sick we could set up a virtual classroom.

The most important/interesting thing that we talked about in class was being a dynamic teacher. I need to show my students that learning can be fun and give them the love for lifetime learning.

Week 1 PLE Post: My technology background and experience

My technology background and experience is pretty much the same as anyone my age. I am very familliar with many types of technology such as computers, word processing programs, cells phones, digital cameras, and internet programs--facebook, blogs, multiple email providers, and school accounts. In fith grade, I was part of the Web Wingers, a program that taught students how the effectively use the internet and as a class we set up and manged a website. Because of this, I have learned how to use search engines effectivley and find the information that I look for. If I don't know how to do something, I am able to figure out what needs to be done.