Lesson 8

Netiquette

I feel like everything on this site is common sense, but a lot of the time common sense goes out the window when people sit down at a computer. I think some people think that the screen is a force field that protects them from any consequences they should face. I like the golden rule of Netiquette, “Remember the Human.” I think it is important to always remember this because it is easy to say negative things about people when you don’t have to look them in the eye. We discussed this very thing at school today and how important it is to communicate respectfully and thoughtfully when emailing colleges and parents.

Viruses

I don’t think a lot about viruses because I have a Mac, and at school I trust that our school technology people protect our computers with virus protection. I usually try and protect myself by not opening or clicking on things that look suspicious. If I don’t know who sent me and email I delete it and if it looks like spam I delete it. I think this is really important on social media sites because they are full of scams that end up hacking your account and sending messages to everyone. Better safe than sorry, so no clicking on those quizzes, and other advertisements.  When I think about it I wonder why people feel the need to create viruses, it doesn’t do anything for the creator unless they are hacking into a particular computer, and for everyone else it just causes a huge headache.

Security

Our computers at school have virus protection on them and I trust that it works and is up to date. I think where our security problems come into play at school is related to passwords. Students’ accounts have been hacked by other students by simply stealing their password and erasing their info within a program or stealing their “coins” they earned. Each student has a log-in for the computer but due to lost time on the lab because of students forgetting their usernames and or passwords we keep them logged on a general name. I am not sure if this is an avenue for problems but it works well for us in a time constraint.

For my teacher computer I am more afraid of confidential information getting out then my computer getting a virus. We discussed to day at school that we should completely log out of our email instead of minimizing it. I minimize mine all the time and this is a problem because anyone could come into my room and pull it up. I had an issue last year where I would be inputting grades and go to use the smart board and the grades would be projected on the screen because the source button had not been switched over. This problem should be solved this upcoming year because my teacher computer will not be hooked up to the smart board. Protecting information on my computer is more of a concern for me than viruses.

Lesson 7

Simulations

This was a very interesting interview. I love the idea of simulation because I think it helps the student create a personal connection with their learning that will help them remember the information later in life. I have used simulation in my economics unit to show the benefits of an assembly line. I created paper burgers, buns, lettuce, meat, ketchup, mustard, and cheese. I then had one student try and make as many as they can in a minute then I organize the materials and create and assembly line and see how many a group of students can make in the same amount of time. This shows them the affects of the assembly line and it involves them in their learning. Involving them creates a memory that will stay with them longer than using a textbook or handout.

Video Games

I agreed with what this article had to say about video games in education. I think there is a time and place fore everything and there is a place in education for video games if used correctly. They mentioned in the article how violent video games where the player is the killer can have negative affects on the gamer. However, there are many games out there that can teach students some valuable information. They can learn about stocks, how to manage a businesses, and see how towns and villages were overthrown. I think video games can be used in the classroom but they need to be throughout and their needs to be some follow up on what they learned by playing.

Web 2.0

I used Prezi in my Social Studies class last year. Students were able to present information on a certain region of the US and describe the Native American tribes that lived in that area. They had to include the crops they grew and the animals they hunted. They had to discuss the connection between their housing, clothing, and food in relation to their location in the US. They did this by creating a presentation on Prezi.

It was new software for me so I was unaware of its capabilities and how it all worked. Since I didn’t know the software very well I think that hindered their abilities in using it to its full potential. In the future I want to become more familiar with Prezi and create my own presentation that shows the students how Prezi works, make a Prezi about Prezi. Once they are able to see the tool in action and understand its features, I think it will be easier for them to manipulate the tool to get the full impact Prezi has to offer. Students today are pretty savvy with technology, so if I could provide some guidance in how the basics work I have no doubt they will be able to take it and run with it to make their own creations.  

Technology Exploration Assignment Form

19a. http://www.delicious.com/

1.	Describe what you learned from exploring this resource.  Delicious is a neat site that helps keep track of all the cool websites you encounter. It allows you to install a button on your “bookmarks” tab so you can add sites to your Delicious profile. This is a nice feature because they don’t fill up your bookmarks and are kept in an organized format on your Delicious page. Your profile page on Delicious resembles a social media site. You can post links to your page and follow other people to view their links. It is a different approach, but handy.
2.	How could you use this resource in a school setting?  I could use this website for my personal use in saving sites for work. There are so many websites out there and this would be a great place where I could store all my school related sites. I think it would be great for students to use when doing research. They could easily save their resource sites and browse their classmates’ Delicious pages to see what resources they found. It would be a new way for kids to collaborate with the teacher and with their classmates.
3.	Would you recommend this resource to other educators? I would share this with my fellow teachers because we all do so much online and use so many online resources. It would be a great way for us to collaborate without having to verbally get together and share what we found. It might be something to discuss at an upcoming faculty meeting. I could post everything I have found in this class in these Technology Explorations!

b. http://www.historypin.com/

1.	Describe what you learned from exploring this resource.  Once again there is another cool site that I didn’t know existed. This site has a catalogue of historical pictures. They are categorized by events, topics and location. I recently started following something similar on Twitter that is History through Pictures and all it does is post interesting pictures throughout history. This site reminds me of that account. The website has made collections of photos that you can browse through and has a “Tours and Collection” link where you can explore history though their photographic tours.
2.	How could you use this resource in a school setting?  I think this site would be terrific for a Social Studies class. Students could get on and use it as a resource and explore different locations they are studying or a specific topic. I also think it would be great to use to take kids on “virtual” tours of important events in history. We talked earlier in class how images can be powerful in the classroom and this site holds a lot of powerful images.
3.	Would you recommend this resource to other educators? I would recommend this site to my fellow teachers because I think they could use it for a wide variety of subjects. They could get a lot out of it in a Social Studies class, but it could also be used for writing prompts. I think it is also great for personal browsing.  It is very interesting and I think pictures say 1,000 words.

 c. http://www.diigo.com/

1.	Describe what you learned from exploring this resource.  Diigo reminds me of Delicious in that it records website that you find that are useful to a cloud so you can access them anywhere and share them with people. What is different about Diigo is that it incorporates elements similar to Jing because you can take screen shots and highlight important parts of the text. It is an organizational tool for information.
2.	How could you use this resource in a school setting?  Any student who has to read information on the web could use this tool. I think it is helpful in this area because of the highlighting and screenshot options. I know when I read on the computer I lose my reading spot a lot. If I have to read a lot I usually print it off so I can highlight and take notes, but with those options on this site it make it easy and more convenient.
3.	Would you recommend this resource to other educators? I might recommend this site over Delicious because I could look at a recommended resource and see what they highlighted. It would help me decipher why they liked the webpage instead of exploring it with little information. It would allow for teachers to share and collaborate what they find and highlight and post stickies to their favorite parts.

d. http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/games/calculator/ 

1.	Describe what you learned from exploring this resource.  This is a great resource that is very simple to use. It is a talking calculator that speaks whenever you hit a button. It will say “eight” if you input 8 and “eight hundred forty two” if you input 842. It also says, “divided by” and “multiplied by.” It speaks as if a teacher was saying it allowed to their class.
2.	How could you use this resource in a school setting?  This would be great for my fourth graders when learning how to say big numbers. They have trouble with place value early in the year and this would be a great way to help them read large numbers. It would also be great to help them when they divide. They get confused on what numbers to put in the calculator first in a lot of the mathematical operations and since it speaks the numbers and operations it could clarify for them if they were doing it correctly.
3.	Would you recommend this resource to other educators? I would recommend this to my fellow teachers because I think any grade level could get some use out of it. I think the primary grades would benefit the most from it because it could help student identify numbers and understand mathematical operations and how they are related when said allowed.

e.  http://www.softpedia.com/get/Science-CAD/Big-Simple-Talking-Calculator.shtml

1.	Describe what you learned from exploring this resource.  This calculator also speaks and has more options that the PBS calculator. It is not as fun to look at, but it does have more features. I like the PBS calculator better because it didn’t require a download. It popped up immediately and was user friendly.
2.	How could you use this resource in a school setting?  This calculator would be more popular with older grades because of its capabilities. I think it would help older students who have a math learning disability because it has the voice option. It could possibly help ELL students in using a talking calculator because the screen text can appear in a foreign language, but the numbers are spoken in English.
3.	Would you recommend this resource to other educators? I would recommend this to the 5th grade teachers because of the more advanced options on the calculator. I think I would be more inclined to share the PBS calc because it is easier to access and appeals to the majority of teachers in my building. I didn’t like how this calc required a download to be accessible.

20a. Math wiki example: http://2write4math.pbwiki.com/

1.	Describe what you learned from exploring this resource. This website is a math Wiki for teachers. It has a variety of resources that are categorized by a navigation sidebar. It has resources from elementary to high school, which include lesson plans, standards and best practices. Learning about wikis it is cool to see one meant as a resource for teachers instead of a tool for students.
2.	How could you use this resource in a school setting?  I would use this source in school as a teaching tool. I could navigate the site to find ideas for my math lessons and learn a variety of things from how to use journal writing in math to how to edit a wiki. A good tool for teachers.
3.	Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Even though this is a good tool for teachers I would not recommend it. I didn’t find a lot of information worth using and some of the links didn’t lead anywhere. I love the idea of a teacher wiki, but I wish it contained more useful information.

b. PicLits http://www.piclits.com

1.	Describe what you learned from exploring this resource.  PicLit is a site that contains a wide variety of pictures that you can drag words to or type your own and place them on the picture. It is basically a site where you can create a word collage that is inspired by cool photography. The website has a gallery of premade collages to view and an area to help with your writing skills. It is a fun and creative site that can be used for personal or school related projects.
2.	How could you use this resource in a school setting I think this site would be a great writing prompt website. You could pull up a picture and have kids write down their thoughts whether it is a list of words or an entire story. After the students gain some experience with the site they can use it to create an actual PicLit. They would enjoy using the site and the built up anticipation of using paper and pencil will get them excited and ready to write.
3.	Would you recommend this resource to other educators? This site is a neat site for teachers to know about because it could be used in a variety of ways. Our focus this year is on writing and this site would be a great way to get students to want to write. I think the amazing photos will intrigue students and will give them the desire to produce writing to go with the photos.

Lesson 6

BLOG 6

WebQuest is a new term for me and it has opened up this new world. When reading over this weeks reading it describes WebQuests for being an inquiry based learning method that fosters high order thinking. When reading about what a WebQuest is, it is a little intimidating, but when I looked through examples on the WbQuest Garden site, it makes complete sense. I came across a lot of WebQuests that I could use in my classroom and it also provided ideas for myself, which was even better. Bernie Dodge definitely came up with a great idea to enhance classrooms around the world.

Fraction Fun!

http://questgarden.com/143/06/6/120416112414/index.htm

I love this WebQuest! This would be so much fun for my math students. It would provide a great review and integrates so many standards. I also like it because they review on their own. I think reviewing on their own would help them study and further their understanding on fractions, compared to me reviewing concepts at the front of the room. The teacher who made the WebQuest has a laptop for every kid. This could pose a problem if technology was not accessible, however we have a 5 iPads for our rooms so I could adapt it to work for 5 iPads or borrow other teachers for this review. I thought her recipe idea was very creative and a great way for students to apply their fraction skills. The WebQuest provides extra motivation for students because it is related to food, always a plus! J I also loved the way she wrote her task, in a letter format. I think it personalized it to her class and made it seem that the kids were on a mission for tasty treats. The only thing I found as a weakness for me, was the time frame. She said it would take a week and I don’t know if I have entire week to review fractions, but I am going to try and make it work. I think this would be very beneficial. Love it!

My WebQuest - http://questgarden.com/161/59/0/130801155313/

My WebQuest was made to help students work through their business proposal for their Economics Entrepreneur Fair. In the past students think of a good or service to sell at the E-Fair and fill out the necessary paperwork to begin making their product. After we finish the fair some realize that they were not very profitable due to many different factors. This WebQuest is to help prevent those mistakes, by creating a “practice” proposal. If their “practice” proposal works out, then they may use it for their actual proposal, however if it fails they will know they must tweak it before fully committing for the fair. While creating a proposal is the ultimate task of the WebQuest they also review economic concepts that are important to their decision-making. This WebQuest was designed as an at home WebQuest so parents could work through it with them. the purpose of this is to help the parents understand what is being asked of their student for the E-Fair. Getting the parents involved can help with the students understanding as well as their own understanding of what the E-Fair is all about.

Challenges

I initially went with another idea for my WebQuest. It was going to introduce students to what a WebQuest was by having them perform tasks around their school website. Once I got half way through and re-looked at our weekly reading I felt that my WebQuest was not up to par. It was lacking standards and more importantly, higher-order thinking. So I got to thinking. I saw plenty of math examples and that was my first instinct, since it is my favorite subject. However I wanted to think outside my box and create something I could use in this next school year. So I decided on Economics. I thought I had a great idea and that changed quickly once I started looking for resources. There are plenty out there, but there are few that are meant to be read by 4^th graders. I would say that was my biggest challenge, finding resources. I thought I might change it to an Opinion Piece WebQuest, but I decided to stick with my Economics plan. I was at school this week and talked to my fellow team teachers, they gave me ideas of what I should focus on and I came back to the computer ready to make it work. I wouldn’t say it is perfect by any means, but I think it will helps students understand what  they are expected to do and prepare them for what is ahead. I’ll try it out this year and tweak it as needed. When all of the resources said making a WebQuest was time consuming, they weren’t kidding.

Lesson 5!

Lesson 5 Blog

The Nets are standards that can easily be met if we can just utilize all this technology that we are learning about. The Common Core Standards that seemed to be hard to cover can be made easier with the use of these resources, along with Program Reviews.  I have been learning about so many resources, I am amazed that so many exist.

The Horizon Report was great because it was like our Technology Explorations. It had a lot of resources that had a hyperlink attached with a brief description of the site. This will be a great resource because the information is easily accessible, which is always the best kind for busy teachers!

The terms, synchronous and asynchronous, were new to me. I think these are good terms to know because I am sure they are used in dialogue about these resources we are learning about.  

E-mail is not used for students at my elementary school, but I definitely see a use for it in the older grades. It is important when implementing student emails and the use of technology in general that students are taught the rules and the etiquette of such resources. Interent safety is very importabt and it must be taught. This is a focus I can instill in my younger students, so as they grow they can continue to understand the importance of safety rules and internet regulations.  

1.    What did you learn that was totally new to you?

A few of the Tech Explorations for the week were very new to me, such as Glogster and Jing. I am not sure how I feel about Glogster because it seems like another social media website. They keep growing and it seems like too many, however it is a resource that can be used in the classroom. I think the best place for my student to use Glogster would be to implement it in during our Economics Unit  for the Entrepreneur Fair. Students can create posters to advertise their products and then create a digital poster using Glogster.

Jing was also a new resource for me. I think this is a very handy tool to have downloaded so it can be used as needed. It reminds me of the capture tool on the smart board technology and it would be great to use on the desktop. Both were new and I can see me using them in my classroom, so very beneficial.  

2.    How can you use this information to inform your instructional strategies with your own students.

All of this information is great because not only does it give me ideas on how to incorporate the resources, but it creates completely new ideas so I can incorporate these resources.

It was a good activity to review my District’s AUP because in the past I just handed out the form and expected it to be signed, without knowing what all it entailed.

I think the information learned this week will allow me to continue to think of ways I can implement technology to benefit my students. By doing this I not only will meet the Common Core Standards, but I will meet the NETS and Program Review expectations. It is a learning process for me that will highly benefit my students if used correctly.

EDOL 533

Technology Exploration Assignment Form

Student Name: Samantha Norman                            Date: 7/29/13

15. Prezi - http://prezi.com/ and SpicyNodes - http://www.spicynodes.org/

1.	Describe what you learned from exploring this resource.  Prezi: Prezi is a really cool way to present information. It is the NEW Power Point in a way. It is free, but has the option for upgraded versions and it can be used on an iPad. It allows for more creativity for how information is viewed and what the eye needs to focus on. Students love it! Spicynodes: Spicynodes is similar to Prezi in the way it presents its information, however Spicynodes seems to be a better piece of software for showing connections between ideas rather than making a presentation. An iPad app that is associated with this site is called WikiNodes that displays Wikipedia information in the form of Spicynodes, which makes browsing really neat.
2.	How could you use this resource in a school setting?  Prezi: I used Prezi last year with my 4th graders in Social Studies. Their job was to create a Prezi in small groups on a certain Native American Region. They had different things they needed to include like what states they lived in, what they ate, what they lived in, etc. After each group created a Prezi they presented them as a class. It was very interesting to them and they couldn’t wait to work on it. They remained engaged and focused. I will definitely use this in my classroom next year and more often! Spicynodes: This site could be used to show the connection of ideas in any subject area. I love math so my brain immediately goes to that subject. You could have a main topic such as fractions, and then branch off of fractions to show how to compare, add, subtract, etc. It would be a good assessment tool for teachers and a fun way for students to show what they know. It then could be used as an information bank to referenced back to after the topic has passed.
3.	Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Prezi: I would definitely recommend this for teachers! It is a much better way to present information compared to a Power Point because it is new and different and students will love it! Plus, it is very easy to use. Spicynodes: Not only will I recommend this, but also I would love to use it this year in my classroom. I think it will bring something new and exciting to class and students will really enjoy it. They are always excited to use technology and to integrate it into their student products would cover a variety of standards and follow the 21st Century Skills and NETS.

16. Edmodo - http://www.edmodo.com/ and a math dictionary http://www.amathsdictionaryforkids.com/dictionary.html

1.	Describe what you learned from exploring this resource.  Edmodo: This site is used a lot in our district’s high school and I created an account at a technology conference this past year. I look at it as an Educational Facebook/Twitter. You are able to follow different “people” or “pages” and you can have discussions with people. Teachers can also interact with their students and post assignments, send reminders, and get grades back to them quickly. Math Dictionary: This site is a dictionary of math terms that has interactive pictures and printable options. It is very easy to navigate and the print option is really neat! There is also another tab where there are math charts that you can print and put around your room or even give to individual students if needed.
2.	How could you use this resource in a school setting Edmodo: Edmodo would be a great tool to use if you are a high school teacher. I feel like it would work best in high school because students have more access to technology at that age and they have the freedom to get on the internet outside of school. I love all of the technology you can implement at the high-grade levels, which is why I think I am extending my certification through middle school. At the elementary level this site could be implemented if students used it to complete quizzes or assignments. Math Dictionary: This site would be good for students to reference back to if they forget a concept after it has been taught. It could be used as an example if you wanted to do a similar concept on a Wiki. You could also use it for students to explore and learn concepts on their own, with a follow up lesson.
3.	Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Edmodo: I would recommend this site to teachers who teach higher-grade levels. I think it is a great resource and teachers could get a lot of benefits from it. I also think students would enjoy it because it is another Social Media site they can use. Math Dictionary: I will recommend this site to my fellow teachers. It is very easy to use and is student friendly. I think teachers will love the printable charts because they are one less thing we have to make!!

17. Glogster - http://www.glogster.com/ and Jing http://www.techsmith.com/jing/

1.	Describe what you learned from exploring this resource Glogster: Glogster is a “graphic blog” that can contain music and video. It reminds me of a MySpace page, which I am not fond of. It is free to create and account seem easy to use. You are basically creating an interactive poster. Jing: Jing is a really cool site that would be a great tool to have downloaded onto your computer. It gives you the option to take screen shots and even just take “pictures” of certain items. Once you take the “picture” you can save them and share them.
2.	How could you use this resource in a school setting?  Glogster: I would use this site in reading. I would ask students to create a Glogster to describe a character. They could “become” the character and create a Glogster that represented them as the entire character or at a particular time in the book.  Jing: Jing could be used to snap pictures to create a how – to. It could also be used to input pictures anywhere. The only problem I see with this is copyright issues.
3.	Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Glogster: This would not be my first recommendation, however I would suggest it, if it fit into something they were looking for or wanting. It could be used to discuss advertising, or even more subject specific and could be used to display a concept. It might work well in our 4th grade Entrepreneur Fair, because students could create a more tech savvy ad for their fellow students. Jing: I would recommend this to teachers to have on their computers because you never know when it would come in handy. I think it is an easy to use tool that is worth the download, especially because it is free!

18. You Tube for Education - http://www.youtube.com/education?b=400 and SchoolTube http://www.schooltube.com and TeacherTube http://www.teachertube.com

1.	Describe what you learned from exploring this resource.   All of these sites allow teachers and students to explore videos in a safer setting than regular YouTube. There are not inappropriate advertisements running on the side and no crazy videos popping up on searches. I also found that TeacherTube has downloadable documents and pdf’s that can be very helpful to teachers.
2.	How could you use this resource in a school setting? I would use these sites to search for videos to show to my class and I would also allow kids to use them to search for their own information. I feel more comfortable allowing students to search freely on these sites rather then the Google or YouTube. SchoolTube is one that seems very safe and full of information.
3.	Would you recommend this resource to other educators? I would recommend these sites to both teachers and students because I think they are good resources. They allow for safe browsing and are full of information students can use for projects or for their own personal learning.