Strengths and Weaknesses

I think one great strength I have when it comes to the NET standards as well as the UNI standards is that I know how to communicate well with my students using technology. I will have email, blogs, websites, texts, phone calls, and etc. to stay in contact with my students. This way they can contact me whenever needed and I can do the same for them. One weakness from the UNI standards I noticed that I have is using technology to help the students that are disabled in one way or another. I don't really know how to integrate those topics very well.

One goal that I have to make sure that students with disabilities are able to use technology in my classes as well is to have a variety of different levels of programs to use. Some students that are more capable may be working on harder programs that are more difficult to understand while students that are struggling more will be dealing with the simpler to use programs. Another goal I have is to make assignments on several different levels that will allow students at all learning levels to participate and receive an equal opportunity. I will have some assignments that are more in depth than others to challenge the students that need the challenge as well.

In order to achieve my goals of incorporating technology with the learning disabled, I will go through a tutorial that was posted online by the Journal of Learning disabilities. This explains what assistive technologies have been produced for the benefit of disabled students. I will also watch a podcast that was posted on youtube by Marlene MacIntosh. It is a series of seven different vidcasts that explains different forms of technology that can help the learning disabled.

My Beliefs

The most important belief that I hold when it comes to technology and education was brought to my attention through taking this Instructional Media class. I was made aware just how amazing technology can be! I want to use technology in every lesson I teach in the future. I want to somehow incorporate technology so that the students realize just how important it is to understand how to use technology because it can be very useful in the real world.

Another belief that I hold regarding this topic is that technology needs to be used as a positive learning tool rather than a learning distraction. I want my students to see that texting in class and playing games on their phones isn't as beneficial as composing a podcast that alerts other students about the dangers of using drugs. I want them to know that technology should be used to the highest capacity rather than just "lol"ing.

Last but not least, I believe that technology in the classroom should be used as a useful resource. Students shouldn't just go online and copy and paste to get projects over with, but rather search through articles that interest them and find things that inspire them to learn more. Computers in my classroom will serve as the modern day dictionary, encyclopedia, atlas, and etc. They will turn to technology with questions they have on any topic and be sure that it is a relevant answer they are receiving.

Lessons Learned

One thing that was brought to my attention while I was going through all of the videos, articles and websites was that there are constantly improvements. I knew that technology was moving quickly but I didn't realize just how quickly. In one of the articles it stated that for students that are in a four year degree program, by the time they are in their third year of school, the information they learned in their first year will be outdated! That just absolutely blew my mind!

Another idea that I really liked in the WWW article was that we can't let the new technology be a distraction to our students or a detriment. We need to make our lessons full of the new technology so that they are engaged and interested. This way they will be using the technology to their benefit instead of just losing themselves in something meaningless.

One more thing out of all of the great resources that were provided that I liked was the High Tech Learning site. It amazed me that you can actually get degrees from taking classes online. I had always though that taking classes online was just something mom's did because they needed to stay home with their kids. I didn't realize just how efficient they are and how beneficial they can truly be. It made me want to sign up for some of those classes so that I can become more comfortable with the computer while learning other things as well.

PowerPoint

What? - We learned about how to create a project for students to use when they are creating a PowerPoint. We were taught how to take screen shots and how to put them into a document so the students have pictures of what their projects should look like all along the way.

So What? - I like this idea a lot of being able to take shots a long the way of the project because it shows in more detail what I should be doing. A lot of times I can get lost a long the way because I don't even know if what I am doing is right. Or I can't simply find where a specific button is on the page I am working with. This idea helps to solve all of these problems for me. I can compare my work to what it should look like and I can easily find the buttons on my site through the screen shot I have been provided with.

Now What? - This will be great for my students because I can easily give them a specific project to do and they won't need very much help on it. To me, this would be a great project to have the students do when there is a substitute for the day. They are still learning and finding the information that they need, but there isn't much need for a teacher at the time.The students are doing the learning by themselves!

Cameras & Picasa

What? - Today we learned about how to use the Picasa tool that is available through google. It helps to edit and manipulate pictures. We also learned how this works with powerpoint.

So What? - I can use this Picasa to help me edit my own photos of family and friends. I can edit pictures to look just the way I would like but cropping, changing colors, changing backgrounds, and etc. This is a fun tool that I can personally use on my own time for entertainment and memories.

Now What? - This is beneficial to my future classes because I can take pictures of foods for class when I am teaching my nutrition unit and sharpen the colors so they look even better. Or I can take pictures of exercising and encourage my students to participate in the activities they see presented before them. This will all around be a great influence in my future classroom.

Cyber Ethics

What? - Today we learned about cyber ethics and how to determine what websites are useful. We learned about how to identify which sites are reputable and which won't aren't. We also learned what type of information is unsafe to share.

So What? - This helps me when I am writing research papers to find out which sites are reputable and which ones I should disregard. I can use the specific information I found when it comes to defining a site that has true information or false information. I can learn how to find sites that are useful as well so I know that the information I am learning is real.

Now What? - Now I can warn my students about the dangers that are out there and remind them of the importance of keeping their personal information safe. I can also give them some techniques of how to avoid getting false information online and finding good sources instead. I also will show my students the effects of cyberbullying and encourage them to fight against it and not fall into it's ugly trap.

Digital Stories

What? - Today we worked on our Digital Story all day. Our digital story is about distracted driving and the effect it has on the students we will be teaching.

So What? - Digital stories are a great tool for me right now to learn and connect to the things that I am learning. The stories that are presented to me are usually relate to me more when it is presented in a story format and I really like that a great deal. It is very realistic and relatable to me.

Now What? - This is something that I can use to get my students to truly relate to what I am teaching them. If i present it to them in this meaningful way, they might get even more out of the lesson because it hits closer to home. Not only is it more relatable, but it is also more entertaining for the students. It gives them a change of pace and a new way of learning the same type of information.

Copyrights

What? - Today we learned about the several different laws that there are regarding copyrights and protection of information on the internet. We learned about how to copyright our information through the creative commons website as well.

So What? - To me now this makes me realize that there is a way to copyright some of my information that I want to share with others without them having to ask me for my permission everytime they would like to use it. Today I also learned another resource that I can go to when i would like to access other peoples work. I won't have to worry about breaking any rules because I will know how to access their work without infringing upon their rights.

Now What? - I can help to protect my student from cyber ethic issues by presenting the website to them about how to copyright the items that they produce. I will also help me students by grading them harshly based on copyright standards. I will go over with them how they need to properly site sources and what is available to be used by them.

Vidcast Reflection

Karlie Jensen Mitchell

EDSC 3250

10/06/10

Vidcast Reflection

The podcast Patrick and I created is called “Introduction to Muscle Tissue.” This is a topic in both his content, which is Biology, as well as my content, which is health. In my content, which is health, this topic goes a little bit deeper into the body systems than is normally covered, but it is what our biology teacher we are working with wanted specifically.

We thought that this would be an interesting topic for he students in our cooperating teachers class because it shows some real live pictures of the tissues that they are learning about in their class. This is not only just drawings of the histology that they are learning about, but it is provides the students with a realistic image and description of what the students are really doing.

This might be a potential drawback for my health classes because it goes a little bit too in depth. The students might feel a little bit overloaded with information, and they might feel as though it is tedious knowledge that is being presented to them. Although it might be a little bit too in depth, I still think that the students will enjoy and find interest in the information that is being presented to them.

My future plans for this series would be for my students to watch it just as a brief intro to what they would learn about in future classes that go more in depth with the tissues and histology. The students could get excited and have a firm background knowledge that other students might not have when entering those advanced classes. I also intend to use this presentation to show to my students what the muscles that they use everyday actually look like. They will have a hands on view of what happens when they are lifting weights, pumping blood through their heart, and digesting food after a large meal. I think the students will find this information very interesting.

Week 6 - Vidcast

What? - This week we learned the four different tools we could use to make vidcasts; powerpoint, photostory, flip, and jing. We also learned four different options of vidcasts we could make; PSA, Intro to Content/Lesson, How-to, or tutorial.

So What? - This can be very beneficial to me now because I can put videos of me out there on the web that will be heard by others, it's a great way of making my voice known in the public. This is also beneficial because if I don't understand a topic I can walk through a tutorial that is able to show video of someone else doing it on their computer, or of pictures of their computer that my screen should look like.

Now What? - This will be very helpful to my future students because I will be able to post little video clips of future things that they need to learn how to do on my website and they can easily access them. I can also teach them how to do simple things online that I don't necessarily want to take time to do during class. I can basically teach my students how to do things, with out actually being there. I can also post review sessions or powerpoints online that my students can access if they are absent or don't quite understand a subject. They can also watch more in depth videos I may post in order to get more information on particular subjects.

Week 5

What? - Today we learned about podcasts and vidcasts. We learned how to upload these items to our website and save them in our file cabinet.

So What? - This helps me as a student now to realize that I can get my voice out there and heard by others by posting a podcast or vidcast. It also is beneficial because now I can understand what exactly the difference is between podcasts and vidcasts.

Now What? - I can use this with my students in a large variety of ways. I can explain to my class different procedures and show them examples through a vidcast and post them on my website so that they don't have to continually ask me what to do in certain situations. I can also use these as a means of announcements. Instead of typing up upcoming events, i can just post a podcast of all of the future events to come. This will all around be a great benefit to my future classes.

Week 4

Today we learned about the UEN website and had the opportunity to explore. There is so much that this website has to offer. There are several resources that I can use as a teacher; several resources that I can offer to the parents of my students to use; and several resources that greatly benefit my students. I truly look forward to this valuable resource playing a key part of my future classroom.

When it comes to the interactive opportunities that were available on the UEN site, I think that my students will be very interested in this option. The activities that are available in the interactive site will entertain my students as well as help them to learn important information that relates to the health field. I can use the games as a downtime opportunity or as a reward system for my students.

As for the Pioneer Research section of the UEN website, this section could really help my students with any research papers not only I would assign, but also other classes they are taking. I plan to also use hte Pioneer Research as a tool for keeping up with research as well. I may assign my students to read certain articles on the website and come prepared to discuss them, or write a summary or give me their thoughts about the particular article. It will be very useful!

The lesson plans and core curriculum will be extremely useful for me personally. I can take lesson plans that other teachers have made and alter them however I see fit. This way, instead of starting from a blank slate, I at least have a starting point. I can see what activities have worked well for other teachers and implement those into my lessons. Also having the core curriculum so easily accessible will be great because I can have it right on hand to relate to. Overall, I was very pleased with this website and see myself using it a great deal in the future.

Week 3

What? - This week we learned about how to make our google site for our classroom. We were taught how to make a calender, homework page, resource page, about us page, announcements page, and a filing cabinet.

So What? - This today helped me to better understand how other websites work in general. By figuring out how to make my own, now I understand better how to navigate Doc Waters website, and my Ed Psych website. I can help my peers who don't understand how to get links off of websites or sync calenders with other teachers. I am all around more comfortable with web pages because now I know how to make one.

This also helps me to know how to make websites for myself and my family. My uncle has been wanting to make a website for a long time now, and now I know how. I can easily produce websites for other individuals and possibly even make money off of it.

Now What? - This helps my future students because it provides them with the ability to keep track of what is going on in our classroom. If I need to update the kids on something important quickly, I can post an announcement on the website and encourage the students to check it on a regular basis. I also don't need to remind the students about assignments that are due because they can be held accountable for it by checking the calender periodically.

This will help my students and myself to have communication easier outside of the classroom as well. The students will feel like they have access to the class information at any point because it will all be located online. They students can feel more technologically savy as well because they will be comfortable with our class website. It's great stuff!!

Week 2

What? - Today we learned about the google calender as well as igoogle. We also reviewed things that we can do in our gmail accounts, such as; documents, presentations, spreadsheets, drawings, etc.

So What? - To me this is great because I can easily keep track of assignments that need to be handed in for different classes by being notified through my calender. I can also sync my calender with other classmates and teachers, to know when important events are coming up.

Another great thing that I learned today is that I can easily work on documents with another individual without having to meet up with them in person or work around two different peoples busy schedules. We can both work on the same document in google docs more easily. We can get so much accomplished so much quicker because we don't have to work around each other.

Now What? - To me this means that I can post a calender for my class and have them refer to that to know when big due dates are coming up. The students won't have to rely on me reminding them, because they will have access to the information through the calender. Not only can they easily access it, but they can also be constantly notified through emails and text messages.

Another beneficial thing about todays lesson was that I now know how to make worksheets in google forms so that I don't always have to start from scratch to make quizes, homework assignments, or surveys for my students. It can save me alot of time and make things much more organized.

My Ideal Classroom

The physical look of my ideal classroom would be similar to what a normal family room in a house would look like. Students will feel comfortable in the atmosphere with couches instead of desks. The seating would all be facing each other encouraging conversation.
The students would all get along and be deeply interested in the health topic and be extremely excited about each new topic. They would all love school and be excited to have classroom discussion each and every day. The students would also be very open about topics and feel comfortable sharing information with their peers and with me. The parents of the students would be engaged in what their students are doing and encourage the students to succeed. The students will be on time and prepared to learn.
I will enjoy the people I work with and be excited to get to work each day. The atmosphere will be welcoming and comfortable. The technology won't be confusing and each student will be provided with a computer to take home and to work with in each class.
The health would be inviting for all of the students to learn so that they can relate to it. All of the topics would personally relate to each of the students so that they are willing to share more and excited to learn about each idea. The goals of our classroom would be to have fun and live healthy.