Gabcast

Again, I am not good at getting things into my blogs!
Here is the link to my Gabcast: Instructional Media

What a difference!

The WebQuest has been going great. From the very first day my group has been on the same page. We have worked well together, and everyone has been more than willing to do their part. I was a little bit worried about doing another group project after the whole digital story fiasco. While working on the digital story, my group did not communicate well. We were never working towards the same goal, and never had similar ideas on what direction to take. I think that experience was a wake-up call for us all. This time around has been an altogether good experience. What a difference a grade can make!

I am excited how our WebQuest has turned out as well. I think that the final project is something that I can be proud of. I am even thinking of using it as part of my unit plan for my curriculum class. It fits perfectly with the fitness and nutrition unit that I will be planning. It is exciting to see how it comes together with the rest of the unit. It is also good because it will appeal to a certain type of student. Because we live in such a technology driven world, it will be a great addition to my class.

A WebQuest is a great way to teach a concept because the student is finding their own information safely. Because, they are given the websites to get their information, they are getting the info that I want them to find. It is a way of controlling what the students learn, while giving them the freedom to discover it for themselves.

This weeks video "a nouns a person, place, or thing" is one that I already commented on. However, I think that it is good enough to deserve two comments! Even when I just see the words, or even think of a noun, the song flips through my head. I love school house rock!

Is that my voice?!

For this weeks blog, I have made my own avitar, using voki.com. This in itself is a really cool way to use technology. My avitar for the most part looks like me. I spent a lot of time and had a lot of fun making my voki and recording my own voice over the phone. I had some trouble getting it onto my blog, so I have added the link. My Voki

video chat!

So imagine you are going to China for three weeks towards the end of the school semester. You have discussed it with all of your teachers, and have done as much class work ahead of time as possible. However, you will be missing a group, in-class, practical exam. So what do you do? Cancel your trip? Try to do it before or after the vacation to China?

This is a problem that my friend Brooke has been trying to figure out for the last few weeks. We together came up with a great alternative when we noticed that she and a guy in our group both had webcams on their computers. She discussed her idea with our teacher and set it all up. On Thursday morning (about one am Friday morning in China), Brooke took the Ed Psych test with the rest of our class over gmail video chat.

She was able to do everything that we could do, although she didn't do the dance Dr. Cox taught us! She saw the experiments that we did, participated in class discussions, and took her group exam just as she would if she had been there. I even still got to hear her funny comments throughout the remainder of class using my earphones. Brooke has arranged to "attend" another class this week as well. I have decided that gmail video chat is about the coolest thing since regular gmail chat!

Experiencing how this worked out so well I can definitely see how video conferencing can be used in the classroom. Instead of having kids trying to get the notes ahead of time, or scrambling to get them after, they can get them at the same time as everyone else. It could be used when kids go out of town, or even if they are sick. However, I can also imagine kids taking advantage of this. I would set it up so kids could only use it once or twice, unless previously arranged. This way kids wouldn't use video chat so they could sleep in later or just miss class.

This weeks video, How Not to Use PowerPoint, was pretty entertaining. I think everyone who has ever been to school has seen a PowerPoint that hit some if not all of the no-no's. I am sure everyone has made one using at least one of these mistakes. I thought the guy was funny and that it was good information. I am thinking of forwarding the video to a couple of teachers I know!

The Making of a Webquest

So I have decided that a WebQuest is much more fun for me to create, than to complete as a student. I think that it is a great way for students to find their own answers to a problem or question. Because the students are finding their own answers, and not just being told the information, they are more likely to remember the material.

Before learning about WebQuests, I thought they were pretty straight forward. However, I didn't know that all WebQuests had a mirror side. I didn't realize that there was a teacher side as well. The student side explains each step for the student, so that they find the information that you want them to find. The teacher side basically tells other teachers how they can use the WebQuest in their class, and what they need to do to prepare.

A WebQuest is great to use because it lets students use the Internet safely. The Internet is a great resource to find information. You can find anything on the web. It can also be a very dangerous place though. By typing a single wrong letter, you can find yourself somewhere you don't want to be. Instead of giving students a problem and saying "use the Internet to find the answer", they are given specific sites that I have chosen, that will help them. There also isn't even a chance of typing the wrong URL, because all of the sites are linked to the WebQuest.

WebQuests are a lot of work, but overall I enjoyed making one. It is something that I can definitely use in my classroom. I can see myself using our WebQuest, that we are making for this class, in the future. Proper nutrition is something that is important for students to learn, but don't know a lot about. If I can help someone improve their eating habits at a young age, it will improve their quality of life now and in the future. I can also share this with other teachers in the PE/Health department. Students can share the sites with their friends and family as well and help them to eat better also.

This weeks video "Schoolhouse Rock - A Noun is a Person, Place, or Thing" was great. I remember seeing Schoolhouse Rock videos when I was younger. I like that it repeats itself with different examples through the entire video. Also putting the concept to music helps to cement it to memory. I don't think that I will ever forget that a noun is a person, place, or thing.

My Beliefs

I believe that technology has a very important place in the classroom. As the world evolves, more and more things are done using technology. How can we teach kids to be active participants in the world if we don't use technology. The basics will always need to be taught in school, it is the way that they are taught that is changing. There are many new devices developed constantly. There are now electronic books, smartboards, mini computers, and the list goes on and on. In order to use these new things, we must learn how they work. I believe that knowing how to use technology will be an important tool for everyone.

Technology is not only for young people. So much of communication today is technological. We have cell phones, text messaging, IM, and email. We also have social networks that keep people connected, and blogs to keep everyone updated with our lives. What did people do before all of these things were developed? I didn't even have a cell phone until I went to college and now I can't seem to do without it! It is never too late to learn about technology, with all of the resources availabe (tutorials, podcasts, online workshops) all people should be able to learn at least the basics principles of technology.

Lessons Learned

I think that the biggest concern that I have after reading and watching this weeks assignment is that I didn't know what IMHO, BRB, and AFK stood for. That's embarrassing! I am always amazed by how much I do not know about technology. It seems like for every one thing that I learn, more things are developed and I just keep getting further and further behind.

This concerns me because as a teacher I want to incorporate technology in my classroom, but how can I teach kids that already know so much more than I do? The more I learn, the more I realize I don't know much. I learned that to keep up with education and to make my class useful for the students' future, I must use technology in my classroom. The world is a very technological place.