Donna Twardy
February 28, 2009
Journal #5
Bull, Glen (April 2006). Collaboration in a web 2.0 environment. Learning and Leading With Technology, Retrieved February 26, 2009, from http://www.iste.org.-AM-Template.cfm.Section=April_No_07&Template_
This was a very interesting article about how exposure to a Web 2.0 environment can help students in the classroom. Web 1.0 means that the users have to go to the information they want conversely, a Web 2.0 situation means that the information comes to the users. This includes blogs and community shared resources.
By using an RSS (Really Simple Syndication), which is available on quite a few websites, students can easily access and share common interests and resources. “Syndicated feeds can be used to follow multiple student postings, facilitate collaborative writing, share images associated with group projects, and track news topics related to a subject area”.
Another useful collaboration tool that was discussed in the article was a web based word processor. Students can use this tool for group projects because it allows them to jointly edit a document. Some examples of this are the Writely and Googledocs programs. Once the document is published, it can be followed through an RSS reader on a blog. Other applications that students can use are joint checklists and photo sharing.
1. What are the benefits of the above-mentioned programs?
The programs are easy to learn, free, and can be accessed form any computer with an internet connection. They encourage collaboration among students and also promote their digital citizenship. These types of skills prepare them for the workplace.
2. What grade level can students start using a web 2.0 environment?
Students in first grade can be introduced to the basic document sharing programs. For example, they can make an Igoogle homepage and learn how to type a document into GoogleDocs to share with other students. They can also access it from home with their parents help. This will encourage them to write and help each other to work on group projects.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Journal #4 "Create, Colaborate, Communicate..." by Chris Riedel (NETS 5)
Donna Twardy
February 19, 2009
Journal #4 “Create, Collaborate, Communicate: Empowering Students with 21st Century Skills by Chris Riedel
Chris Riedel, "Create, Collaborate, Communicate: Empowering Students With 21st Century Skills," T.H.E. Journal, 1/27/2009, http://www.thejournal.com/articles/23872
This article was about how education needs to focus more on engaging students in technology. “According to a study that ranked 55 industry sectors by their level of IT intensiveness, "education ranked 55 ... below coal mining." The article says that employers want candidates that are competent in creative problem solving, possess critical thinking and analytical skills, and who use information gathering skills. Our schools need to embrace the robust skills that students use in their everyday lives and allow them to integrate them into the classroom curriculum. The article explains educators are doing them a disservice by not doing so.
The article goes on to give sixteen things educators need to do to prepare students to become the emerging leaders of the future. These include: Hug a geek, create a social network, develop problem solving skills, start collaborating, use project based learning, develop information processing skills, give kids a global voice, discover RSS, improve critical thinking skills, discover social bookmarking, use interactive video conferencing, integrate web 2.0 into curriculum, promote 1; 1 computing, and focus on staff development.
1. How could you promote collaboration in your classroom using one of the tools mentioned in the article?
I could use Google Docs in the classroom for student to collaboratively work on a group project. This would allow them to work together at school and from home and help to edit each other’s work. This would work well for students who may not have computers at home since they can access Google Docs at the public library. I would also use real life project based learning so that students have those skills when entering the workplace.
2. Why is it important to prepare student to use technology in the workplace?
Today’s workplace is fast paced and students need to have the adaptability and willingness to change along with it. It is not like in the 1950’s when a person would get a job and retire after thirty years. People today may have four or more careers throughout their lifetime. We need to prepare the future leaders to be productive and marketable additions to the workplace.
February 19, 2009
Journal #4 “Create, Collaborate, Communicate: Empowering Students with 21st Century Skills by Chris Riedel
Chris Riedel, "Create, Collaborate, Communicate: Empowering Students With 21st Century Skills," T.H.E. Journal, 1/27/2009, http://www.thejournal.com/articles/23872
This article was about how education needs to focus more on engaging students in technology. “According to a study that ranked 55 industry sectors by their level of IT intensiveness, "education ranked 55 ... below coal mining." The article says that employers want candidates that are competent in creative problem solving, possess critical thinking and analytical skills, and who use information gathering skills. Our schools need to embrace the robust skills that students use in their everyday lives and allow them to integrate them into the classroom curriculum. The article explains educators are doing them a disservice by not doing so.
The article goes on to give sixteen things educators need to do to prepare students to become the emerging leaders of the future. These include: Hug a geek, create a social network, develop problem solving skills, start collaborating, use project based learning, develop information processing skills, give kids a global voice, discover RSS, improve critical thinking skills, discover social bookmarking, use interactive video conferencing, integrate web 2.0 into curriculum, promote 1; 1 computing, and focus on staff development.
1. How could you promote collaboration in your classroom using one of the tools mentioned in the article?
I could use Google Docs in the classroom for student to collaboratively work on a group project. This would allow them to work together at school and from home and help to edit each other’s work. This would work well for students who may not have computers at home since they can access Google Docs at the public library. I would also use real life project based learning so that students have those skills when entering the workplace.
2. Why is it important to prepare student to use technology in the workplace?
Today’s workplace is fast paced and students need to have the adaptability and willingness to change along with it. It is not like in the 1950’s when a person would get a job and retire after thirty years. People today may have four or more careers throughout their lifetime. We need to prepare the future leaders to be productive and marketable additions to the workplace.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Social Bookmarking (NETS 2)
I chose Eyewitness from the National archives website. It had some eyewitness accounts and videos from people who were actually at historic events. I love History, so that is why that one caught my eye. I think that this would be a good resource to use in the classroom if you were learning about something like the Titanic, or the assassination of a president.
On the National Education Association website, the three areas that will fit my teaching style are to determine which diverse groups we are serving at our school, to have discussions with staff about ways to further our professional development regarding cultural competence, and to network with other schools to determine various ways to demonstrate cultural competence. I think it would be hard to engage school staff in discussions and activities that offer an opportunity to explore attitudes, beliefs, and values related to cultural diversity and cultural competence in my current position as an Instructional Aide. I think it would be different if I were a teacher on staff, especially since I will be in Special Education.
From the KidsClick website, I found an interesting site on bats with a readability level of 3.6. I actually shared it with the class I worked in yesterday and they loved it!
From Kathy Schrock's website, I found some cool slide show presentations that I can use in the classroom. One of them was titled "The 4 c's; computers, curriculum, communication, and the classroom. This presentation showed how to identify and locate technology resources and
evaluate them for accuracy and suitability, reflect on professional practice to make informed decisions regarding the use of technology in support of student learning and diversity, and to use technology to communicate and collaborate with peers, parents, the large community.
From the Instructional Module on Multiple Intelligences, I learned that I have an Intrapersonal personality. This is not really news to me since I have always done better working alone than in groups. I am independent in both my personal and my work life. Now the key is to determine how to be the best teacher I can be with an Intrapersonal personality type. I also found the linguistics area interesting.
From the Teaching Tolerance website, I chose the Defenders of Justice classroom activity. In this activity for grades 3-5, students summarize biographies of individuals who fought racism and helped make it possible for a black man to serve as President of the United States. Students compare thoughts on different biographies and talk about the path that made it possible for our president to be elected in 2009.
My score on the multicultural assessment was 8 wrong and 7 correct. These were some tough questions. I can't believe some of the statistics. Hopefully if I take this assessment again in a year, I will get more correct. I found number 6 interesting, "The U.S. military budget is by far the highest of any country in the world. How much higher is the U.S. military budget than that of China, the world’s second biggest military spender? "The answer was 7 times higher. Unbelievable when we have the budget problems all over the news right now. I also found it fascinating that over 2,600,000 people in the U.S. are millionaires.
=^D (big grin)
Netiquette is very important to teach in the classroom. I especially like rule number five because it stresses the importance of spelling and grammar. I cannot even tell you how many times I have received emails from people with basic words spelled incorrectly. This really bugs me! You can use spell check on email, people;<
On the National Education Association website, the three areas that will fit my teaching style are to determine which diverse groups we are serving at our school, to have discussions with staff about ways to further our professional development regarding cultural competence, and to network with other schools to determine various ways to demonstrate cultural competence. I think it would be hard to engage school staff in discussions and activities that offer an opportunity to explore attitudes, beliefs, and values related to cultural diversity and cultural competence in my current position as an Instructional Aide. I think it would be different if I were a teacher on staff, especially since I will be in Special Education.
From the KidsClick website, I found an interesting site on bats with a readability level of 3.6. I actually shared it with the class I worked in yesterday and they loved it!
From Kathy Schrock's website, I found some cool slide show presentations that I can use in the classroom. One of them was titled "The 4 c's; computers, curriculum, communication, and the classroom. This presentation showed how to identify and locate technology resources and
evaluate them for accuracy and suitability, reflect on professional practice to make informed decisions regarding the use of technology in support of student learning and diversity, and to use technology to communicate and collaborate with peers, parents, the large community.
From the Instructional Module on Multiple Intelligences, I learned that I have an Intrapersonal personality. This is not really news to me since I have always done better working alone than in groups. I am independent in both my personal and my work life. Now the key is to determine how to be the best teacher I can be with an Intrapersonal personality type. I also found the linguistics area interesting.
From the Teaching Tolerance website, I chose the Defenders of Justice classroom activity. In this activity for grades 3-5, students summarize biographies of individuals who fought racism and helped make it possible for a black man to serve as President of the United States. Students compare thoughts on different biographies and talk about the path that made it possible for our president to be elected in 2009.
My score on the multicultural assessment was 8 wrong and 7 correct. These were some tough questions. I can't believe some of the statistics. Hopefully if I take this assessment again in a year, I will get more correct. I found number 6 interesting, "The U.S. military budget is by far the highest of any country in the world. How much higher is the U.S. military budget than that of China, the world’s second biggest military spender? "The answer was 7 times higher. Unbelievable when we have the budget problems all over the news right now. I also found it fascinating that over 2,600,000 people in the U.S. are millionaires.
=^D (big grin)
Netiquette is very important to teach in the classroom. I especially like rule number five because it stresses the importance of spelling and grammar. I cannot even tell you how many times I have received emails from people with basic words spelled incorrectly. This really bugs me! You can use spell check on email, people;<
Friday, February 13, 2009
Journal #3 "Keep Them Chatting" (NETS 5)
Donna Twardy
February 19, 2009
Journal #3 “Keep Them Chatting” by Jeanie Cole
Cole, J. (2009 February). Keep them chatting. Learning and Leading with Technology, 4, Retrieved February 15, 2009, from http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/200902/
“Keep Them Chatting” was an article about how to keep students interested and involved in an online class. So often, students are inclined to regurgitate information or copy from the Internet. Online instructors need to develop a way to hold students accountable while challenging them to higher-level thinking. The article gave some techniques for stimulating online discussions. One of these techniques includes creating high-level open-ended questions for the students. These types of questions stimulate the student’s creativity and encourage them to think of situations or events in a different way than the “textbook” approach. An example of this type of question is, “If you could choose any historical figure from the 1800’s to be the president in 2009, who would it be? Give reasons for your choice and how you think that person would change present day society.”
Another technique is to use the inquiry method question. Students must research and use problem-solving skills to formulate their answers. The next technique is the discrepant event inventory method. This technique has the student view an unexplained video, photo, or simulation and then answer a question about it using their detailed research. The teacher provides guidelines and requirements.
Another strategy is to have the students use illogical comparisons to compare two unrelated things or events. This encourages students to use analytical and evaluation skills. Finally, the last technique is to use personal examples. The example of this technique from the article is for the student to create the perfect roller coaster and create a list of the rise, run, maximum speed, g-force element and other examples. Then the students are tasked to find real life examples of roller coasters that meet the requirements they listed. Then they give a presentation of their findings for other students to evaluate
The techniques the article offered cannot only be used in an online classroom, but can also be valuable strategies in a traditional classroom.
1. What is an example of a high level open-ended question that a teacher can use for upper elementary aged students who are working on social studies?
An example of an open-ended question would be “ If early explorers had not circumnavigated the world, how do you think history of the United States would have been changed? Explain the affects of the changes we might see today.”
2. How are these techniques valuable to the online classroom teacher and students?
The benefits for the teacher who uses these techniques in the online classroom are the creative aspect that they can add into a lesson by using the open ended questions and the personal examples. They can stimulate the discussions amongst their students in a positive and creative way. They encourage them to explore different possibilities. The benefit for a student is to feel safe in exploration. Since their classmates are also participating with the same types of techniques, they may feel more confident to experiment or take educational risks.
February 19, 2009
Journal #3 “Keep Them Chatting” by Jeanie Cole
Cole, J. (2009 February). Keep them chatting. Learning and Leading with Technology, 4, Retrieved February 15, 2009, from http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/200902/
“Keep Them Chatting” was an article about how to keep students interested and involved in an online class. So often, students are inclined to regurgitate information or copy from the Internet. Online instructors need to develop a way to hold students accountable while challenging them to higher-level thinking. The article gave some techniques for stimulating online discussions. One of these techniques includes creating high-level open-ended questions for the students. These types of questions stimulate the student’s creativity and encourage them to think of situations or events in a different way than the “textbook” approach. An example of this type of question is, “If you could choose any historical figure from the 1800’s to be the president in 2009, who would it be? Give reasons for your choice and how you think that person would change present day society.”
Another technique is to use the inquiry method question. Students must research and use problem-solving skills to formulate their answers. The next technique is the discrepant event inventory method. This technique has the student view an unexplained video, photo, or simulation and then answer a question about it using their detailed research. The teacher provides guidelines and requirements.
Another strategy is to have the students use illogical comparisons to compare two unrelated things or events. This encourages students to use analytical and evaluation skills. Finally, the last technique is to use personal examples. The example of this technique from the article is for the student to create the perfect roller coaster and create a list of the rise, run, maximum speed, g-force element and other examples. Then the students are tasked to find real life examples of roller coasters that meet the requirements they listed. Then they give a presentation of their findings for other students to evaluate
The techniques the article offered cannot only be used in an online classroom, but can also be valuable strategies in a traditional classroom.
1. What is an example of a high level open-ended question that a teacher can use for upper elementary aged students who are working on social studies?
An example of an open-ended question would be “ If early explorers had not circumnavigated the world, how do you think history of the United States would have been changed? Explain the affects of the changes we might see today.”
2. How are these techniques valuable to the online classroom teacher and students?
The benefits for the teacher who uses these techniques in the online classroom are the creative aspect that they can add into a lesson by using the open ended questions and the personal examples. They can stimulate the discussions amongst their students in a positive and creative way. They encourage them to explore different possibilities. The benefit for a student is to feel safe in exploration. Since their classmates are also participating with the same types of techniques, they may feel more confident to experiment or take educational risks.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Journal #2 "Museums in the Classroom" by Rose Reissman (NETS 5)
Journal #2 “Museums in the Classroom” by Rose Reissman
Reissman, R. (2009 February). Museums in the Classroom. Learning and Leading with Technology, 4, Retrieved February 15, 2009, from http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/200902/
This was a very interactive article with some great links to cybermuseum resources. It mentioned the benefits of a virtual field trip to a museum are student-centered, investigative and offer collaborative learning. A teacher can incorporate a virtual field trip as a literacy and content tool in instruction. Some examples given were a cybermuseum visit to the American Red Cross to enhance lessons on community service and volunteerism, or a visit to the National Cryptologic Museum to augment math literacy and puzzle solving skills. The teacher can use these virtual field trips to add excitement to the classroom by appointing a docent “tour guide”, printing admission tickets, or having visitors sign a guest book.
I actually had fun surfing the cybermuseum sites. I followed one all the way to the Mayflower and ended up looking up my ancestors.
1. What benefits would a teacher enjoy by incorporating a virtual field trip into their lesson plan?
The benefits for the teacher are the creative aspect that they can add into a lesson by using the virtual field trip. They can foster a child’s curiosity and exposure to safe websites. They can involve parents and the community by sending home newsletters with updates on cybermuseum trips and pictures of their child acting as the docent in the classroom, “selling” admission tickets, or exploring multicultural aspects of the experience.
2. How can a teacher interrelate digital citizenship and virtual field trips?
The elements of digital citizenship that relate to the virtual field trips are: digital access, digital literacy, digital etiquette, and digital security. Teachers can also promote Internet safety by using awareness, guided practice, modeling and demonstration, and feedback and analysis.
Reissman, R. (2009 February). Museums in the Classroom. Learning and Leading with Technology, 4, Retrieved February 15, 2009, from http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/200902/
This was a very interactive article with some great links to cybermuseum resources. It mentioned the benefits of a virtual field trip to a museum are student-centered, investigative and offer collaborative learning. A teacher can incorporate a virtual field trip as a literacy and content tool in instruction. Some examples given were a cybermuseum visit to the American Red Cross to enhance lessons on community service and volunteerism, or a visit to the National Cryptologic Museum to augment math literacy and puzzle solving skills. The teacher can use these virtual field trips to add excitement to the classroom by appointing a docent “tour guide”, printing admission tickets, or having visitors sign a guest book.
I actually had fun surfing the cybermuseum sites. I followed one all the way to the Mayflower and ended up looking up my ancestors.
1. What benefits would a teacher enjoy by incorporating a virtual field trip into their lesson plan?
The benefits for the teacher are the creative aspect that they can add into a lesson by using the virtual field trip. They can foster a child’s curiosity and exposure to safe websites. They can involve parents and the community by sending home newsletters with updates on cybermuseum trips and pictures of their child acting as the docent in the classroom, “selling” admission tickets, or exploring multicultural aspects of the experience.
2. How can a teacher interrelate digital citizenship and virtual field trips?
The elements of digital citizenship that relate to the virtual field trips are: digital access, digital literacy, digital etiquette, and digital security. Teachers can also promote Internet safety by using awareness, guided practice, modeling and demonstration, and feedback and analysis.
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