EDM 310 Blog #7

Wendy Drexler: The Networked Student

Wendy Drexler's video on the networked student was great. It gave me a clear understanding of what it truly means to become a networked student. I really like the idea of connecting students with many ties via the use of technology. What I liked even more was how Drexler emphasized the importance of the connections that were being made by students. Hopefully I will be able to apply what Ive learned in EDM 310 and become a networked student. I can't wait to reach the level of connectivity that the student in the video possesses. I'm almost there but not quite yet.

To be quite honest I'm not prepared to teach the networked student yet. However, the key word here is yet. By the end of the semester I will hopefully be prepared to teach the networked student. However, now I don't feel confident enough in my abilities to complete this task...yet.

Through taking EDM 310 Ive gathered that current and future generations of students will highly benefit from being networked learners. Due to this fact, I will readily implement the theory of connectiveism in my classroom. I'm ready to accept the ideas of connected learners being in my classroom and I'm ready to further my skill in order to teach these students. However, I'm can't state enough that I'm still a little intimidated at this point in the game and don't yet feel prepared to fully serve networked learners. However, with a little more practice and experience I will be ready.

View the Networked Student Video here

Richard Miller: This is How we Dream Parts 1&2

Richard Miller's "This is How We Dream" was a great presentation. The presentation focused on composing with text with using various forms of media. Instead of using a simple text document which he states would be quickly disregarded and would take much longer for people to take note of; he recommends something completely different. According to Miller, students will compose with not only text but with audio, still images, photographs, and movies in order to produce compositions that is in Miller's words are both "beautiful and compelling". This form of composition gives the reader a front row seat into the writers thoughts and what messages or message he or she is trying to convey.

In my opinion composing with media and technology is great, if you have read my blogs it is evident that I am opinionated. From time to time I struggle with being able to get my points across as clearly and sometimes I'm not as much of a word smith as I'd like to be. This new form of composition offers a great alternative get over these stumps and clearly demonstrate your points which will have a greater impact on the audience.

I love multimedia and multimedia presentations. I was able to take audiovisual communications in high school which gave me my first taste of how effective a presentation is when the senses of sound and sight are intertwined. With the resources that Ive learned in my EDM 310 class I think I may be able to do a short, modest digital composition. I would like to use them in my future classroom. I know for a fact that students will be able to use this art and create some very powerful compositions. After what Ive witnessed students doing with technology, digital composition will be a piece of cake for them to master when given adequate tools and guidance.

View Richard Miller's Presentation Here

Michael Wesch, A New Future of Whatever

Comments on how Michael Wesch's anthropological analysis of UTube is related to my life...I would say that it relates to my life because I like everyone else wants to be an individual and have a sense of autonomy but still feel connected to a community. I feel a sense of connectedness through my family, school, my neighborhood, my friends, volunteering etc. I use the internet to feel connected to family and friends through the use of email and will soon be using social networking sites.

I did find it interesting that there are people that use UTube as an emotional outlet. The woman that was shown in the presentation who just needed to talk about not being able to bring her son home really made me realize that UTube is more than a site to view random productions. I didn't realize that UTube could serve as an emotional outlet. I suppose if some people can't talk to those around them, they have to turn somewhere. I personally wouldn't use UTube for this purpose but I'm happy that people who have no where to turn, have somewhere to turn even if it is UTube.

Check Out Wesch's Presentation Here

The Progress of Poppy's P.L.N. Part 1

My PLN is currently under construction. It's not complete yet. So far, Ive added classmates, Dr. Strange, and a few sites that Twitter recommends following. As I get a little bit more comfortable using Twitter I know that it'll grow quickly. I'm aware of the fact that Twitter is going to be a great tool for me as a teacher but I just need to figure out how to use the darn thing to my advantage. This is the main obstacle I am currently facing while setting up my PLN... Hopefully, I will make more progress this week. Please stay tuned for next week's update on "the progress of Poppy's PLN".

Comments 4 Kids Week 7

This week I got the chance to comment on Diana M.'s blog who is a thirteen year old living in Arizona. Her post that was entitled "About Me" which was obviously about her. It was neat that a thirteen year old is still interested in the simple things like rollerskating, malls and soccer. It'll be neat to see her other posts.

Visit Diana's Blog Here

This is me in Aruba. I always bring a suitcase of rocks home from where ever I go. Eric (my husband) always gets sick of how heavy my suitcases get after each one of my adventures... I may have to cut back on my rock intake!

EDM 310 Blog #6

ALICECHRISTIE.ORG

Dr. Christie's website is a great source of information for any present or future educator who wants to implement technology into the classroom. Not only did she offer numerous ideas of how to use various forms of technolgy in the classroom through students centered tactics, but she also she differentiated the ideas between grade levels. With each form of technology mentioned, Dr. Christie also listed the "possibilities, pitfalls, and perils" of each type which I found to be very helpful.

Of the many ideas mentioned on Dr. Chritie's site, I would use to the idea of geocaching. I liked this method because students can learn a numerous amount of information in one activity. The subject matter that can be addressed with geocaching is geography, math, or science! What a great tool! It also gets the students up and moving and encourages them to become active in the learning process.
Aicechirstie.org

I-Tunes U

I-Tunes U is a program is a free service offered by Apple that allows universities to publish their lectures to the I-tunes website. Anyone can access these FREE lectures that are offered by some of the world's greatest thinkers (professors from Harvard, Berkley, Yale etc.). Great. Why am I paying for college when I can subscribe to a podcast from Berkley or Yale upon the subject matter that I'm already majoring in at a less renowned institution? Sadly enough it doesn't work this way but, I still think it's great that I can access a lecture from a professor from a different university and use it to supplement a course that I'm currently enrolled in. I also think it's great that I can have access to these high caliper lectures from Ivy league institutions. However the main catch for me is that I can listen to a lecture anywhere (in my car, on a plane, folding laundry, running, working out etc.) this will boost my level of efficiency and keep me in my favorite mode which is always on the go!

As a teacher I would use I-tunes U in a high school or a middle school classroom. It could be used to expose students to a college level lecture or as a supplement to various lesson plans. For example if I was teaching a unit on poetry in an English class, maybe I would find some readings of classic poetry and have my students listen to it via I-Tunes U. The students would then have to identify certain literary techniques used in the poem such as rhyme scheme, rhythm, or automatopia. This will give the students new exposure to various aspects of poetry. Students would be able to listen to the poem and follow along with their text at the same time which will add a new dimension to the lesson. To take it a step further the students could write their own poetry and produce their own literary podcast that is composed of their own poetry.

I Pods in the Classroom

Upon researching what Duke University did with a 500k technology grant I was envious and wanted to be a freshman again...Actually maybe not a freshman again but I wish that I had an opportunity like this one. At the start of 2004 every freshman at Duke university was granted an I pod from the university that came downloaded with freshman orientation information, university info, and the school songs. According to the the article I read on Wired by Katie Dean, at http://tinyurl.com/yjj86xx, The i pods are intended for students to "download course info.recorded lectures, foreign language classes, audio books and music from a website that is similar to the iTunes website." The iPods will be used throughout courses offered at Duke University as a supplement to lectures and as a way for students to be able to study various subjects more effectively. What a lucky bunch of freshman!

Katie Dean's article on "Wired" click here

When I investigated how ipods could be used in the classroom I got a little selfish and wanted to know how they would benefit my current learning experience here at South before I would ponder how to use them in the classroom. I found a website from a previous class assignment that listed the top 100 ways to use your iPod to learn and study better. As I perused this page at http://is.gd/2cdc6, I stumbled upon ipresspress.com which is a site of visual study guides that I could download to my i pod to help me study anywhere! I will be taking anatomy 1&2 along with kinesiology and it'll be interesting to see how Sparkcharts will help me in my learning process. The site also had some free downloads such as the Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, The Gettysburg Address etc. For high school students, I also found that Kaplan has an SAT study guide that can be downloaded to the iPod.

100 Ways to Use Your iPod to Study Better click here
Study Guides for your iPod click here

My favorite resource that includes a movie about how teachers can effectively use iPods and podcasts is located at http://is.gd/2cd2l. This movie gives you a wealth of information on how to effectively use podcasts and iPods in the classroom. An article that I found on my own at http://tinyurl.com/y8nf4dl, was entitled "Using iPods in the Classroom promotes Interactive Learning and More Effective Studying". Teachers mentioned in this article are using iPods to engage students in their foreingn language studies outside of class, schools are also making information available for students to download onto their iPods that are tailored to their coursework. As stated in the article, now students can use their idle time (bus rides or walking to school etc.) studying and are engaged more with their studies outside of class while looking cool at the same time. At a time in your life when you don't want to look like a dork and image is everything, maybe this might be a really effective way to get through to our teens while providing them with a great study aide.

Podcasting in the Classroom Video click here
AP Article on iPod Use in Classroom Settings click here

Comments 4 Kids Week 6

This week I got to read a fifth graders blog who lives in Shanghai and goes to school at a Shanghai American school. Her blog was titled "Ritu's Royal Blog". I read her post that was about her reflections on a play that she and her fellow students preformed. She proved to be a pretty bright student, her writing skills were great; it almost seemed as though she was composing a mini play review for a newspaper's arts section. I hope I can produce students of this caliber some day!

Ritu's Royal Blog

EDM Blog #5

NPR Blog

Upon reading Tom Regan's NPR blog, I was blown away by the fact that corporations and religious groups made changes to Wikipedia. Then a light came on and I removed my rose colored glasses which seem to get me every time... Once they were off, I wasn't surprised in the least that our government, corporations, and religious groups were altering information on this highly visited site. What a smart brainwashing technique... Then I pondered the topic even further, our government and the above institutions have been rewriting history and changing information that is available to the general public for a very long time. I'm pleased about the fact that Wiki Scanner is available but I'm not pleased about the fact that the general populous is easily misinformed by the information it's being fed in mass quantities. This blog was a sad reminder that whoever has the most power and the most money can do whatever they want which means that they can rewrite history, change information, and hide injustice. This is yet another reason why it's important to teach our students how to think critically and to never be afraid to ask questions or to question authority in a respectful manner. I think its time for me to put back on my rose colored glasses, and head back into a state of naive, blissful ignorance before I develop an ulcer.

NPR Article and Podcast re: Wikipedia Edits and Wiki Scanner

The NPR article and podcast were very well done. They did a great job at explaining exactly how Virgil Griffith's Wiki Scanner works. What a great and necessary tool to keep the integrity of Wikipedia. It wasn't really a surprise that people in powerful positions or people with agendas edited the info on Wikipedia for personal or political gain, it was only a matter of time when this started to happen. I wonder when the first controversial edits occurred? It sickened me that Dow Chemical erased a vast majority of information on environmental disasters that were a result of their corporation, there were many other examples that sickened me as well that I investigated further that I don't have time to mention. I think that this would be a great discussion topic to have in a classroom with middle school students or high school students which would encourage them to think critically about the information that is being presented to them. It may even be interesting to have them find information on Wikipedia and find out who did the editing via use of Wiki scanner... I wonder if any instructors have done this yet in their classrooms or if any of these tech smart kids that we are hearing so much about are doing it already.

Wired "See Who's Editing Wikipedia-Diebold, the CIA, a Campaign"

This article that was based on Virgil Griffith's new invention, "Wiki Scanner" that is able to track those who edit information on Wikipedia via their IP addresses. The article was interested me and angered me at the same time. It was interesting to learn about someone having the tenacity to put such a great tool into action. The article angered me because I was naive to the fact that people in power would change the info on Wikipedia to for their personal gain (even though I should have assumed this was already happening). I suppose that I along with many others wrongly assumed that Wikipedia was a site of academic integrity and a good source of honest information.

I have to admit that I was an avid Wikipedia user before now. I was, as mentioned above, naive and assumed that the information was coming from reliable, unbiased sources. However, now after reading this article and the NPR blog mentioned above, I probably wont be using Wikipedia in the near future. The creation of Wiki Scanner is progress but shouldn't be a replacement for questioning and critical thinking.

What Ive Learned This Year by: Mr. McClung

Mr. McClung's blog was very insightful. It stated a list of do's and don'ts that are based on what he learned as a first year teacher. Some of the do's Mr. McClung mentioned were to communicate, be flexible, read the audience and to be reasonable. Some of the don'ts were to never be afraid of technology, to never stop learning, and to never lose touch with your students. In my opinion the tips that were offered were great. The ideas he mentioned were in my opinion what any effective, caring teacher should do. Teachers should be flexible, should be lifelong learners, they should never lose touch with their students and most importantly they should listen to them. Overall, this blog was a good reminder of the small things a teacher should do in order to be effective in the classroom and to have a positive impact on his or her students.

Comments 4 Kids Week 5

This week I got to comment on Aidan's post in New Zeland. He drew a picture of fruit with kidpix and posted it on his class's blog. He also wrote very descriptive sentences about his drawing. You could tell that he worked really hard on it. His classroom look awesome! There were Macs, and the kids didn't have to wear shoes if they didn't want to. What more could anyone ask for? There were a lot of very great things going on in Room 7. To check them out click on the link below.

Little Voices Little Scholars

Poppy's path to Mobile, AL

Good bye poster board, Hello Podcasts!

Langwithces.org

This blog was extremely helpful. Langwitches.org not only provided great examples of student produced podcasts but it's comments from other educators also provided excellent ideas on how to sell the idea of podcasting and technology in the classroom to parents and administrators. As I perused through the comments section from other educators I found one idea that I thought was extremely useful and obvious (I don't know why this didn't occur to me...). The idea was to actually show parents and administrators how these forms of technology are being used in the classroom instead of just speaking to them about it and as the langwitches' blog states, "watching their eyes glaze over". One could also host a technology night in your classroom where parents and children came in and the kids would teach the parents about how to use the technology (ie. logging on to comment on their classroom blog or downloading a classroom podcast) with the help of the teacher. I'm assuming that some schools have already held similar functions, but I wonder what other creative methods there are to get parents and administrators on board with the use of technology in the classroom?

Integrating ICT into the MFL Classroom...

This video was great to watch and anyone who is considering using podcasting as an educational tool in their classroom should watch this video. It gives some really great ideas on how to use podcasting in the classroom. The testimonials from kids were also helpful. My favorite idea was the social studies teacher who recorded a reading to supplement a lesson he was teaching on slavery. He collaborated with other teachers and created a podcast for the class to listen to. The podcast added so much emotion to the lesson which in turn had positive impact on the students. I also liked the fact that the students still had to visualize and imagine what was going on in the reading instead of just watching a video. The testimonials by the students were great, one student spoke of how her parents were happy that she was listening to classroom lectures on her ipod instead of just Beyonce and the fact that some families are now listening to classroom podcasts in the car on family road trips is great as well. Podcasting is a great way to get parents involved in the learning process. The implications of a parent being able to listen to a child's classroom lecture or have access to their child's study materials via podcasting are endless! I'm always thinking of ways to increase parent involvement in the classroom but have never realized that technology will be a way to do this until now...good stuff...good stuff... These new forms of technology have made me excited about becoming a teacher again.

Comments4Kids

This week was my first opportunity to make a comment on an elementary student's blog. Wow, what a great insight on what is happening in today's classrooms. This week I got to read Alyssa's blog in Canada that was entitled "A Fun Foggy Week". She didn't really talk about the fog but she sure did talk about her class's up and coming events. It seems as though Alyssa's teacher Ms. Deyenberg has so many creative ideas to keep her students active and engaged in the learning process.

Ms.Deyenberg's Class Blog