Good-bye

Dear Ms. Averitt and EDM friends,

I have enjoyed taking this course with all of you. Thanks for the encouragement and help when I needed it! Thanks for the laughter which was always nice to hear on Thursday evenings...at the end of a long week. I wish you all well in all that you do. Good luck in your teaching profession. Thank you, Ms. Averitt, for the teaching instruction you gave. I feel that I have learned several things from this course, and I am excited to incorporate them into my daily instruction in my classroom.

Sincerely,

Chrissy Henderson

My Summary Post

Wow, the end has come to the course already! I remember the first night feeling lost and almost ready to break down and cry! I felt overwhelmed at the illiterate mind set I had with technology. While being a stay-at-home mom for 10 years, I knew things had changed, but never guessed the dramatic way it had all changed. After completing the course, I feel that I still have things to learn and will continue to do so in my own personal education. However, I feel so much better after completing the course and learning all that I learned. I am excited about incorporating what I have learned into my classroom. In fact, I have already! We now have our own classroom blog!! I created it to use with student assignments. I create the post (assignment) and they give their answers through their comments. This way, I can also monitor their comments and approve before posting them. The kids seem very excited and eager to do their homework!

I would have to say that the classroom blogging has been my favorite of all of the things we have covered in the course. I have also benefited personally from the Professional Learning Network. I love being able to find a mentor at any given time rather it be from communicating directly or just reading others comments and posts. I also have enjoyed learning how to set up my I-Google page. This is a wonderful way of organizing your educational resources. The Comments4Kids was fun and a creative way to use kids' thoughts and ideas. This is one goal of mine to start with my own class. I would also love to engage in the Skpe with my students. I think these would both be fun and exciting experiences for them. As an over protective mom and teacher, I just want to ensure safety with my students. So, I do not want to initiate something until I know it is safe. Safety from outside the classroom is important to me as well as the feelings of the children. Too much flexibility with technology can become a sword fight among students. The podcasts and videocasts we made were fun and beneficial for me to watch. I was able to get several ideas and links to websites based on the presentations done by my classmates.

The things I really did not gain a lot from was the I-tunes University. However, if I were at that level of teaching, I would most likely participate with it. I also did not gain much from the grade book spreadsheet assignment. This was because we do not use it in our school due to having the convenience of STI. I really cannot think of anything that I did not learn and expected to learn. As for the boredom question, I did have time to get bored! I found all of the assignments useful and I am very excited about incorporating them with my students!

Best of all, I really enjoyed getting to know my classmates. It was such a friendly atmosphere and working with them was a pleasure. I would have to say this was much better than sitting with a book, listening to lectures and studying for tests!

Last, yet not lest, thanks goes out to Ms. Averitt for all of her encouragement and instruction time. When we felt overwhelmed or incapable, she was there as our cheerleader. That is the one strength every teacher must have to build the success of a student's ability to learn and achieve.

"The Good, the Bad, and the Rules of Teaching"

In this assignment, we were encouraged to read the list of Seven Stupid Mistakes Teachers Make and Seven Brilliant Things Teachers Do With Technology. These were found at the following link. (http://is.gd/3WWXJ) While I found all of them interesting, I chose two to comment on briefly. On the Seven Stupid Mistakes made by teachers, I found that the unwillingness to use technology with our students in our classrooms was an important mistake to discuss. I feel that we, as educators, must rise to the occasion of changing with the times. That is not to say that we go all out with the technology and use nothing other than that. I feel that we should incorporate it, because of the fact that our students are using it daily in their personal lives. It seems natural to them, and they feel at ease with it. Also, it provides a wonderful way of bringing excitement into learning and simply bringing education to life. The second mistake that caught my attention was the lack of supervision with the students and technology. If we make the choice to use technology, we HAVE to monitor it closely and safely. We are not only liable for ourselves, but also for each student that we teach. While technology can be a wonderful thing that brings about several positive benefits, it can be a deadly weapon if it is mis-used and abused.

As for the seven brilliant things, I found several that caught my eye. The idea that technology can put kids in touch with the world, and it can be a wonderful communication device with parents both are huge positive advantages. My favorites, however, were using technology as a resource for our classroom. It is so convenient to "google" things that we are looking for whether it is activities/games, projects, experiments of even a whole set of lesson plans! What a huge resource element right at our finger tips. We can also use it for enhancing our own education by participating in professional teachers blogs. The other thing I was drawn to the most was that it is able to empower kids with their learning. Students can use it to become better debaters, speakers, problem-solvers, and writers. Using good assessment strategies to determine the quality of technology will enhance educational projects. I agree with him when he states that delighting in the fun of technology makes good teachers better teachers.

After viewing the mistakes and brilliant things teacher do with technology, we were to visit http://is.gd/3WKrk and read about the New Classroom Rules by Education Innovation. I found these to be very comical. I liked the very last rule the best. It stated that we are to find what we are learning. We are to know what we are learning, why we are learning it, and have ideas for how we will use the new knowledge. I liked this one the best, because I feel that we are always to be at our best for our students. We expect that from our own children's teachers, so we should strive to be that for the student's we have in our classroom on a daily basis. We also expect the best from our students and should therefore model our best for them. My second favorite was on being polite and respectful at all times. I am a firm believer in giving respect if you want to gain respect. I found all of the other rules amusing and did get a laugh at it. It is amazing at how far we have come in our society in just a few short years!! This is must read for everyone!!

Professional Blogging

In this assignment, we were to visit http://attheteachersdesk.com and read several of the post made by teachers. After reading them, we were to compile our thoughts on five of the posts we read.

The first of the five I read was done by William Chamberlain. It was titled "Helping Students Create Positive Digital Portfolios." In this post, he discussed the violence we now have in our society with young kids. He expressed a strong need to help them better showcase the positive experiences that our kids have today. Examples that he gave in doing this was by the usage of digital content being created and saved through writing, audio, and video. By doing this, they can gain positive self identity.

The second post was also by William Chamberlain. This one was titled "Using Skype to Connect with Others." In this post, he places emphasis on using skype to communicate with other classrooms from around our world. He feels that this provides an opportunity for students to see similarities and differences among themselves. It also provides them with a huge opportunity to learn about others. I agree with his thoughts and opinions on both of his posts. Students do need to channel more positive experiences and then be able to showcase them. What a difference that would make on our society if we could focus more on the positive rather than all of the negative. I love the idea of the skyping. I hope to incorporate this into my own classroom soon.

The third post I read was my teachernz. He wrote briefly on how he did not like to record his voice by audio. However, he does it to be an example to his students and show them that you can conquer your fears and dislikes. How can we expect them to achieve this goal if we do not create that model image for them? I really agree with him on this subject matter. I am a firm believer of being an example to the students and not expecting more out of them than we are willing to give ourselves.

The fourth post was done by Jarrod Lamshed and he spoke on using technology to communicate with our parents. He expressed his thoughts on the positive and negative on different ways to communicate. Communication with the parents is a huge factor in our kid's education success. Yet, it can sometimes be the most difficult task of teaching. He shared how the phone calling and note writing that we have always used in the past is no longer the most accessible way to reach our parents. Many times you have to leave a message and then play the game of "phone tag." As we all know, notes do not always reach their destinations! He tried e-mail and twitter, but found many parents do not check it often and in time. His most success has come through face book. Parents seem to check it regularly and it was the most successful route for him. I loved his last point in his post. He states that if we continue to have the mind set of "We have NEVER done it that way" or "We have ALWAYS done it this way," then how can we get anywhere? He poses the question of "Where would we be if we do things the same way all of the time?" I completely agree with him. Change is necessary if we want to grow as professionals and as individuals.

The last post I read was again done by William Chamberlain. He spoke on the usage of technology in the classrooms. He describes his own passion for it and feels it is necessary for other classroom teachers to use it to the fullest ability. He shares his thoughts of wondering if it is indeed necessary, or is he just pushing his passion for it onto others. He poses the question of "Are we pushing it, or are we just catching up to today's times?" I have to say I feel like it a little of both. I do feel that we need to catch up with today's young society and incorporate technology. However, I feel that they should also still have other aspects of styles of teaching incorporated. A good balance is needed. We sometimes can change so fast, we go to the extreme with it.

I enjoyed reading all of my posts and really got some interesting thoughts from them. I gained some ideas to incorporate into my own teaching profession. I love the professional blogging. I feel it gives you insight into other's thoughts and ways of education. It is a true learning experience to get feedback from other co-teachers. It creates a perfect way to communicate and share with others who may have similar concerns and can help you work through them. I encourage each teacher to get plugged in to a professional blog. This way they are able to learn from the blog posts of others and then be able to share their knowledge as well. It is the perfect way to always have a mentor at hand, and at the same time be a mentor to others.

Michael Wesch

In this video, I watched Michael Wesch and I listened as he addressed our culture today and where our culture is headed in the future. He described today's culture as being self centered. Some of the characteristics he described were those with short attention spans, materialistic views, and those not easily impressed. He described the generation as those having a "whatever" attitude. He shared that these characteristics of our generation leaves us being self centered and disengaged because we are focusing on our self. He contributed these things to media. He spoke on how media has created so many ways of relating with others. It also creates new ways of knowing ourselves. He describes the median of communications by saying that it all shapes our messages. He also spoke on the fact that this type of communication is leaves us with not being able to express ourself like we can in a personal way of doing it face to face.

In this assignment, we were to relate this to our personal life, our experiences in college, and our work as a teacher. Personally, I don't like all of these ways. I am the kind of person that likes the "personal touch." If I want to talk with someone, I like to hear their voice or see them personally. I have a hard time relating it to my college days because things weren't like this back then. My college days were long before face book, twitter and all the other ways of communicating existed. Communication was by phone. Cell phones if you were lucky!! The other way was through e-mail, if you had a computer! As for my professionalism as a teacher, I see this type of communication more and more with students and it personally saddens me. I am not against these ways, but I feel kids are losing out on something when they don't know how to personally connect and communicate with others. I also don't favor it, because you can never tell how someone is saying something when it is behind a computer through e-mail, etc... The words and expressions can be taken in the wrong way. I like to communicate with my students' parents through personal communication as much as possible. I also, like it this way as a parent of three students. If you would like to watch the video and comment your own thoughts, please visit

http://is.gd/3WVVZ

.

Why should students post?

In this assignment, we were to tell why we think students should post. First of all, I think it is a great way of sharing resources with others. The example from this class that I can use for this is when we created our Personal Learning Network. This was a great learning experience of setting up the network through communicating by posting. I also gained information by reading others post. I also think posting is educational in that we can find links and audios/videos. This way we are able to transition new knowledge into our classroom. We can also further our own educational knowledge.

I also think that posting is a wonderful way of sharing students' thoughts and ideas. An example of this we have used in our class is through Comments4Kids. I have enjoyed reading their thoughts and ideas through their posting. Many kids had wonderful, bright and creative ideas. I think it gives them a chance to express their imagination. I also think they probably love receiving comments on their post. I am sure this is a huge motivating factor for many kids and encourages them in their learning experiences.

The third reason for posting is for students to be able to show off their work. The classroom blogs that we established through this class is a wonderful example of this. I actually have incorporated this into my own classroom. I give a weekly homework assignment on our classroom blog. The students log in a post their answers. I then go back and comment and they are allowed to comment on each other's post as well. Since my students have keyboarding three times a week, they are able to complete this assignment in class time. They love doing this! It has been a wonderful teaching resource that I have used for fun topics as well as topics related to my subject areas. I used www.blog.com to set this up. It is a free blogging site and is accessible through the school computers.

Comment4Kids 3

This week, in our comments for kids assignment, I read a post by A.J. His subject was on football drafting. He had several things to share about the subject. It was obvious that he enjoyed the sport and studied it well. He knew several players and just who to draft. He did a great job with his post. I enjoyed reading it and now know who to call when I get ready to draft!! (if I ever do!) If you would like to read his post and leave a comment yourself, visit http://mrsgstudent.blogspot.com.

Comments4Kids

This week in Comments4Kids, I left a comment for Culrit. He and his two friends had worked together on a project. They were building a lego robot. Culrit answered the questions while the other two did the programming and building. Once finished, they began to try out their new experiment. At first, they did not succeed at what they wanted to accomplish. However, after a few attempts and some added corrections, they where finally able to achieve success. I thought this was great that they worked together and continued to try and try again until success was indeed reached. They did not give up on themselves or each other.

The ACCESS Program

The ACCESS program stands for Alabama Connecting Classroom, Educators, and Students Statewide.

This is a program designed to meet educational needs of all high school students in Alabama through distant learning. The program was first designed in November of 2004. The goal of the program is to create equity through educational offerings for all high school students. It's mission is to provide equal opportunity for all students to have learning programs. The vision of the program is to share equal access to high quality instruction that will improve student achievement.

This program provides students with courses and teachers via technology. In September of 2006, a plan was developed and presented to Governor Bob Riley. It was a 4 year plan of development with 12 objectives in mind. They are listed below.

• Objective 1: To provide access to advanced diplomas and courses which target foreign languages. To provide access to advanced courses and placement. (or double credit courses) To provide remedial and supplement resources. To use distant learning and existing resources offered. To provide teachers with multimedia and technology tools to enhance instruction. To utilize outside evaluation for accessing weaknesses and strengths of the program and make appropriate adjustments.
• Objective 2: Expanding number of students served and give equal opportunities to all High School students in Alabama.
• Objective 3: Establishing 21st century classrooms in every Alabama High School by 2010.
• Objective 4: Providing oversight to administers and management support through the State Board of Education and support centers.
• Objective 5: Providing students with additional courses and electives needed to meet individual educational goals and to provide them with a computer curriculum including 21st century skills.
• Objective 6: Developing appropriate professional development for teachers involved in ACCESS.
• Objective 7: Developing a blended model that focuses on students needs so each student had success in the classroom.
• Objective 8: Assessing technology skills at appropriate levels of students
• Objective 9: Including a program for developing a model of courses
• Objective 10: Developing a comprehensive plan for growth among students.
• Objective 11: Developing oversight and management for activities and budgets.
• Objective 12: Mobilizing stake holders to advocate and strengthen all high schools in Alabama.

In closing, this program offers so many things that can strengthen and grow our schools today. If it can reach all of these goals, our students will definitely be stronger and wiser 21st century students. For more information on this program, visit http://accessdl.state.al.us.

Alabama Learning Exchange

In this assignment, we were to research ALEX. ALEX is an organization that stands for Alabama Learning Exchange. It is a web program that is designed for teachers. Here, teachers have a huge amount of resources at their fingertips. It contains several courses of studies. You choose the subject area and grade, and several web links and lesson plans are provided for you to use within your classroom. Pod casting is also available. Here again, you simply choose your content area. Several subjects, professional development plans and technology resources are available. Power point presentations are also available for use.

ALEX also provides teachers with a personal workplace in which you can go in a create new lesson plans. It offers a professional learning center. Here, you can download media. Special education training is available. You can chose leadership development training seminars to enhance your teaching skills. Grants are offered for your classroom. Ideas for your PDP (professional development plan) are offered along with helpful teaching tips. A helpline is also available in case you should have further questions. I personally had not heard of ALEX until this assignment, but think that it is a very useful resource for both new and experienced teachers. It is a convenient way of pulling resources for your classroom, as well as choosing training seminars to enhance your teaching skills. For more information about ALEX, visit http://alex.state.al.us/. I think you will be happy with your findings and get lots of good information!! I plan on using it myself!

Wow! What an amazing thing! This was a wonderful assignment for me and I really was touched by Kaia and her dad. I thought it was wonderful to see that they were taking everyday, ordinary experiences and turning them into unique and extraordinary ones. The pictures allowed them to openly and personally communicate with Mr. Chamberlain's class. It was a wonderful way for them to interact and engage with the students. The voice thread that Mr. Chamberlain created was so sweet and added such a personal touch for Kaia and her dad. I thought the pictures Kaia took were beautiful and I admire her dad for the quick learning of technology at such an early age. The "life lesson" he was teaching her was emphasized through looking at all things and turning them into something beautiful. It only takes a special way at looking at things. If you look at them right, then all things CAN be beautiful!! What a sweet story between a young girl and her father. I think we can all learn a life lesson from them.

This story also encouraged me to do more things like this with my own children and my classroom students. However, I do get concerned in this day and time about posting pictures on the web sites. I think it is great to implement learning beyond the walls of the classroom and follow our curiosity. I think it is great to turn those experiences into stories and then use technology to weave those stories together. However, it is a huge risk that we are taking in exploding our kid's pictures. While I think this story of Kaia and her dad was a wonderful one. I am not sure if I as a parent/teacher am that brave yet. I do commend him on a sweet and touching learning experience with his daughter. It is great to see the love he has for her and the involvement in her educational opportunities. To see this touching story for yourself, please visit http://is.gd/3WS1N.

Richard Miller: "This is How We Dream"

This assignment was based on watching the videos from Richard Miller titled "This is How We Dream." His goal in this was to help people produce multimedia and not just consume it. The videos showed how we communicate globally. It showed how the reading and writing culture has changed to a listening/watching culture. He described writing with researching without using a library. By doing this, knowledge is shared in an infident way throughout our world. The documents are free and easy to use. The documents consisted of information collected in a collaborate way and composed by using images and films. They contained visuals and sound using material taken straight from the web. In this dream, you are basically collecting experiences and weaving them into documents.

Part two of the video described how we are now in a culture that works in a digital environment The network material is forever changing all of the time. Mr. Miller states that the web ideas belong to us a culture and not as individuals. He believes that we should look at network material, use it, produce it, and distribute it globally and freely. He states that there are no limits and restrictions to doing this except for those we place on ourselves. He has a goal of teaching students to compose digitally not by using word processors. He aim is to teach them to present global issues and ideas creatively by using the web. While I think all of this wonderful ideas, I feel that we cannot loose sight of teaching our students to read and write; not just research and piece together information out there to create a publication. If you would like to see his videos, please visit http://is.gd/2cfNk.

The Networked Student: by Wendy Drexler

This assignment was about the networked student. It described networking in the 21st century. It told of various ways a student builds his network learning from scratch. It is done with no text or lecture. It is about connecting through networking using tools of technology. It places emphasis on students connecting with others through learning processes. First, the student has to build a network. He does this through using google scholar and a library database. These two are created into a bookmark for future use. Sites are shared among other students and placed into his database. Second, he checks out blogs created by other educators on the subject matter being studied. Comments are read and posted. Third, he creates a blog with his own knowledge. Last, he can log into ITunesU and hear lectures from professors from all over the globe speaking about his subject matter. He inputs his new knowledge into his newly created "virtual textbook." He can incorporate sound and video and then he is ready to share his new knowledge through wide range communication connections.

The question is asked: "Why does the network student even need a teacher?" I have asked this same question myself and wondered the answer. Through this video, I discovered the networked student needs a teacher for many reasons. He needs someone who can be a model for him in building a network and taking advantage of learning opportunities. He needs someone who can be there to answer questions, offer guidance, and distinguish between good and bad information that is received. This teacher can also instruct him and help him to organize information. They can instruct him on how to ask questions from other experts in a respectful and professional way. The main important reason is to navigate the student into a future for technology. I found this video insightful and would recommend anyone out there questioning the resourceful use of technology to watch it at http://is.gd/2cgBb.

The New Media Literacies by the NML Staff

In this assignment, we watched a video on skills needed for the new media. The skills covered were:
* judgement
* negotiation
* appropriation
* play
* transmedia navigation
* simulation
* collective intelligence
* performance
* distributed cognition
* visualization
* multitasking
These skills enable others to function both in the classroom and workplace. They are skills needed for workers and artists of the future. They are skills that are beneficial for both consumers and producers. They enable involvement in the creative expression and citizenship areas. They connect people together in a unique way as opposed to individual levels. Some of the skills were described in detail. For example, judgement was defined as finding information and determining if it is reliable. Negotiation was knowing how to entertain groups under the norm. Appropriation was defined as knowing how to sample content in a meaningful way. Play was described as having experiences with your surroundings and using these experiences as a form of problem solving.

I think these skills are necessary and can be very effective in both the classroom and workplace. They are skills we should model and instill into our students to mature them into the adults for our future generation. In this video, I found that I did assume some of these skills. It showed me where I was strong and where I was weak. I think my strengths would be visualization, judgement, negotiation and play. I think the ones I might need to work on the most are multitasking and transmedia navigation. I think that through continuous learning and practice, I can effectively acquire those skills as well. For more information on these skills,visit http://www.youtube.com/user/NMLstaff08. I think it is definitely worth your time.

New Media Literacies Project

This project is made by a group of staff members whose goal is to build upon social skills. These skills are developed through learning appropriate manners, sensory activities, sign languages and even includes lesson plans for educators. They are designed to boost the self esteem of students. By doing this, they can appreciate their social behaviors. This project has been known to change classrooms around the world. It has proven to be beneficial for all educators. It's also a tool that makes students better consumers and producers of the media.

The project emphasizes the cultural competencies needed to engage with today's cultural. It also gives direct attention to students who have IEP's in our school systems. It uses their goals and creates them into movies and scripts for students. The students then take on the role of acting out those goals. For example, they may act out appropriate and non-appropriate behavior within the classroom. The project also helps students of special needs. It has been used in homes, schools and even in therapy centers. It is used by therapists, parents,and educators. It has proven to be an effective tool in working with children who deal with autism and aspergers syndrome. For more information on this project, visit http://www.youtube.com/. (teach2talk-social skills) I think it is a very useful tool for anyone who deals with young children today.

Comments4Kids Project

I really enjoyed this assignment. Reading what all the kids had come up with using their creativity was exciting. I would encourage anyone interested to read these creative posts and leave special comments for these kids. The web link is http://www.mrgoerend.com/search/label/student%20writing. I left five posts for 5 five different kids. I left one for Olivia. She had come up a "Swing Like a Monkey" day. She got the idea all by herself while out swinging in her backyard. She took something as simple as swinging, applied it with some creativity and now has a day named for it. The second child I left a comment for was Ally. Ally was with a friend one day playing the Wii Fit game. In the process of playing, her friend stated that she looked like a robot. The two of them began to act like robots and now have declared a special day titled "Act Like a Robot Day." Again, using some everyday fun and turning it into something creative.

The third child I left comments for was Anna. Anna was sick with a sore throat. She attended her school's football game with instructions from mom to not do any yelling. In the excitement of the game, she let out a scream and found herself voiceless. Her friend told her to express her thoughts and words by using her hands. When she did, the friend said, "Hey! You look like a mime!" From that point on, a day is set aside where each student acts like a mime. I bet it is QUIET day around her school! Again, creativity was used along with taking a bad situation and turning it around for something good. The fourth child was MS5. He also took a bad situation and turned it around for good. While out walking one day, he and a friend dressed up like clowns. Some buddies of theirs began to harass them about it. However, MS5 and his friend now have a day declared "National Clown Day" at their school. The buddies are now dressing as clowns, too! The last one was Zach. Zach was a boy who had a spilled drink on him. He was quite embarrassed by it at first. He thought he looked bad and figured he smelled bad as well. He and his friend came up with a good idea of turning it into a special day at school. Everyone comes in with something spilled on them. Now, everyone including teachers participates in this fun day.

Use of iPods in Instruction

This assignment involved researching how iPods have been used in educational instruction. I found an article from the International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. (www.isetl.org/ijtlhe) This article spoke on ways in which the iPod has been a useful source in educating students today. First of all, almost all students have access to it. Second, most students are more motivated to learn by using it. So, educators today are re-working curriculum plans to adapt to the iPod approach to better reach their audience. Last, it is a mobile device for learning in that students can use it anytime and anywhere. Therefore making it a flexible approach to learning. The article spoke on using it as a creativity device. For example, students can explore and demonstrate their creativity by recoding themselves and then watching their own experience. This is something, most students would not do in a typical classroom setting.

Duke University was a site I went to for ideas on how they incorporated the use of iPods in education. (cit.duke.edu/tools/mobile/index.html) I was shocked to see that they actually give iPods to students whose professors are actually using it as an educational device. Duke gave many examples on how they use it throughout their campus. The library is downloaded and students are able to connect with a reference catalog and use reference servers. Students have the ability to check hours of operation, availability of books and availability of computers. They also use it for customizing quizzes through iQuiz, create flashcards through Studycell and record notes or interviews for course projects through Gabcast. Classtalk is another form of use whereby it creates a 2 way network for class polling and quizzing. This allows instructors to also send feedback to students through messaging.

Through the iPod, you can post lectures and have student reviews. It can turn lessons into engaging experiences by allowing students to share photo slide shows and complete pod casts. For more information on the benefits of iPod use for instruction, visit apple.com/education/teachers-professors/mobile-learning.html.

iTunes University

This assignment was about researching iTunes University. We were to research ways in which it could be helpful to us as a student or teacher. Upon reviewing the material, I found both advantages and disadvantages to using iTunes University. Basically, it is a place where you could find and download audio and/or visual content that you may find useful in your course of study. It allows you to store tracks into a library that are reverent to your source. You can listen and learn from lectures given by professors at other universities. I think this is a great way to see what others have to offer. You log in to iTunes University, choose your category and explore the endless opportunities all at your finger tips. There is not limits to what and where you can learn.

I think this is a great source for seeking further enhancements on what you may want to learn or teach. As a teacher, I think it offers a lot for us to research and share with our students. We could also provide them with the links so that they could continue their learning to a higher level. As for students, I think it is an excellent resource for continuing education. However, I do not feel it should take the place of the actual course of lecture. When I was researching about this, I found a study that had been completed where some students actually attended a class lecture and then tested on the material. Other students listened to the lecture on podcast and took the same test. The study stated that the students who did the podcast lecture seemed to achieve a higher score than the students who actually attended class. This may be true, but I feel there is more to class attendance than just hearing the lecture. I feel that the student/teacher relationship can only be built by the personal interaction that the class itself brings. I also feel that the students bond better and learn from each other from a "group setting" rather than an individual podcast lecture. While I do think the podcast is a useful tool, I do not think it should take the place of the classroom setting. Students learn better and achieve more when they have the personal interaction between teacher and fellow students. To learn more on iTunes University and how it may benefit you as a student or teacher, visit www.slideshare.net/hopkinsdavid/itunes-u-education. David Hopkins has a wonderful slide show of what it is about and how many ways it can be of use to you.

Google Earth

For this assignment, we were instructed to look at Alice Christie's website. One part of her website that was partically captivating was the topic of Google Earth. Google Earth is a free program that helps to bring the world into a classroom. It provide useful tools needed to enhance student learning. It has the ability to motivate and challenge students in a meaningful way. It provides visual tours and maps. Some of the tours are guided tours from astronomers and educators which feature interesting places in the sky and around the world. You can simply immerse yourself into the Earth's environment.

Google Earth provides student controlled and teacher controlled lessons. The one I looked at was on space and constellations. It provided a web based program called World Wide Telescopes. This allows your computer to virtually be a telescope for your students. I thought it was very interesting and definitely one that I want to look more into for my own classroom. I think students retain more information when they can actually SEE their subject matter rather than just by reading about it. It definitely makes teaching and learning more exciting for both teacher and students. I know that I was amazed by the beauty of our Earth just by looking at the virtual tours through doing this assignment. It made me want to learn more about certain places and then bring that new knowledge to the classroom and share it with my students. For more information about google earth, visit Alice Christie's website at www.alicechristie.org.

Personal Learning Network

As one of our assignments, we are to create a Personal Learning Network (PLN). This is where we choose a question related to a certain topic and communicate with others to seek new information that could possibly be implemented into our teaching efforts. The topic I chose was based on the use of technology in the classrooms. I asked five different people how they used technology within their teaching curriculum. I received feedback from them with many great ideas.

William Chamberlin was the first person I communicated with on this subject. He gave to me the ideas of video streaming. He stated that he used it to stream video from his classroom. Using a web cam, he recorded his lessons and posted them on his class blog. This enables him to showcase student's work, share information and teach lessons. He gave the link Vocaroo.com to use as a reference site for audio recording.

Angie Moehimann was the second person with whom I came in contact. I asked her how she incorporated blogging with Reading. I had seen students' reading blogs posted on her class blog. She stated that she assigns the students reading time at home. At the end of the week, they are to post a response to her question in regards to Reading. For example, her question might be related to prediction or author's purpose. The questions always tie in with her lesson. Students blog their response. She then takes the class information and displays it on her whiteboards and uses it for group discussion. She gave me a helpful link to further inquire about blogging. The link is flyerspd.pbworks.com.

The third person I researched on this topic was Kelly Hines. I read her ideas on keepingkidsfirst.wordpress.com. She encouraged creating and using Personal Learning Networks. She also encouraged monthly "Make n Take" sessions. Each grade level hosted a "Make n Take" once a month. This occurred in one member of that team's classroom. This was an hour long sharing and questioning session on how technology was implemented in that particular grade level. By doing this, they were able to share and implement several great ideas in their classrooms. She stated that these meetings brought about wonderful results for teachers and their students.

The fourth person with whom I researched ideas from was Joe McClung. He encouraged regular posting on class streaming. This way, you can share with others the work your students are involved with, and hopefully pass on ideas to others. It is also a great way for the students to become involved with the creating and implementing of lessons. They also get to see feedback that comes to them by the many comments people post. This is a strong motivator for students. He also uses blogging to communicate the steps he is taking to enhance his career. On his blog, his gives many links and resources for all educators out there looking to improve their way of teaching with technology. He speaks of several things that he learns from other educators as well as classes his is currently attending. I received from him the motivation to communicate with others by blogging in order to hold myself accountable to always strive to learn and enhance my teaching abilities.

The fifth person I researched information from was Jarod Lamshed. Jarod placed emphasis on communication with parents through Twitter and Face Book. Using these social networking tools is a quick and easy way to stay communicated with the parents on what is happening within the classroom. He uses them to post his weekly updates. He also uses them to send personal notes to parents, and it allows a way for them to give quick feedback. He also uses it as a method of sending out any reminders that may be helpful for the parents.

Overall, I think I learned a great deal from these five educators. I am more knowledgeable about how to implement technology within my classroom. I am certainly more motivated to use it with both my parents and students. I also learned that it can be a wonderful resource.

"What I've Learned This Year" by Mr. McClung

What an excellent piece! I really enjoyed reading this post by Mr. McClung. I felt like he had several good points to share with educators. As an educator myself, I could relate to him on all of these points. I was in total agreement with him when he addressed the fact that we, as teachers, tend to worry more about how we will be evaluated or assessed by our peers and superiors that we loose touch with our students. It is always nice to hear what a teacher has truly learned from the first year of being in the classroom. That first year can be so overwhelming and stressful. I think it is wonderful that he is taking what he learned, and sharing it with everyone. I hope new teachers out there will be willing to listen to his advice, and implement it into their own teaching career. It could make such an impact on the teacher's success as well as the student's.

He had many good points that will help educators become more effective in their classrooms. My favorite was "Being Flexible." He stated that no lesson plan is ever "perfect," and that we should not stress out when there are mistakes. I agree with him and believe that we should learn from those mistakes to improve the lesson. We should believe the same in the same thing that we teach our students, "If at first you don't succeed, try and try again!" Another good point he made was on communication. I am a firm believer in communicating with my students, parents, and co-workers. It may appear to be easy, but it can prove to be difficult on several occasions. However, this does build a strong foundation for our students so I believe communication should be a main priority for all educators.

Another good point Mr. McClung made was to "Be Reasonable." We should never set the expectations so high that it seems impossible for our students to reach. Yes, we should set goals for them, but we should make sure the goals are fair and attainable. We should not scold them for any unmet goals, yet encourage them to keep trying harder to reach them. I also loved the point he made on listening to our students. As a teacher, you may be the ONLY one who DOES LISTEN to them. I feel that this is a crucial point to make with all educators. If they don't get anything else from you, they will know you cared for them because you took the time to listen. Last, I felt that another good point made was to always continue in your own personal learning. This motivates and encourages students to learn when they see you setting the example for them. I encourage every teacher out there whether new or experienced to read Mr. McClung comments which can be found at http://is.gd/2c012.

Wickipedia

In this assignment, we were asked to research information on Wickipedia. Wickipedia is an online encyclopedia. It is a multi sourced piece of information. It is not checked by factual information. It is maintained by the users themselves and manipulated by individuals and/or companies. Anyone has the ability to go in and delete or add information, and this is not illegal! The whole source of information given by Wickipedia has often been proven inaccurate. There were a lot of examples given such as salary comparisons with Wal-mart and other companies. All of this tends to make me think that it is not the most reliable source of information, so why would I use it?

Business and individual parties can use it for personal, business or political reasons. They can "doctor" their image by embellishing the positive things and deleting the negative things. As a user of Wickipedia, I would like for the information to be more accurate, so I could trust it and rely on it for decisions that I may need to make. As long as this continues, I do not know that Wickipedia will ever be a trusted resource. Virgil Griffith did create a tool called the Wickipedia Scanner. This is a device used to trace comments or edits made back to the original source. So now, the ones who thought they were editing anonymously are now known. It allows a way to find out who changed what. I think this was an excellent thing done by Virgil. However, I wondered what good it does if it is not illegal to change things in Wickipedia. Personally, I just don't think it is a reliable source and it is one I personally will not be using for retrieving information. For more information on Wickipedia, please visit www.npr.org.

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

Wow! What an amazing piece. I have heard all about Randy Pausch, but this was the first time I have actually heard him speak. He was an inspiring speaker with a lot of wonderful tips. These are tips that any of us, young or old, can take and apply to our personal lives. They are also tips that we, as parents and/or teachers, should instill into the lives of our children today. He was such a motivating speaker and captivating to all of his listeners. It is my desire to apply his principles on life into my own life, the lives of my children, and the lives of those students that I am so blessed to teach. I definitely think that by applying them, we can become a better person, and we can help others to become the best that they can be as well.

In his speech, Randy immediately challenges us to not focus on the cards that life deals to us. Instead, we should focus on how we play the cards. While this might sound like a simple challenge, it can prove to be the hardest. I am a firm believer that we cannot change the circumstances that come our way. However, it is our reaction to those circumstances that can either help us or defeat us. He stated in his speech that it is okay to "screw up." We are not perfect and we all make mistakes. We often get upset with others who point those mistakes out to us. Randy Pausch believes that we should embrace those who are quick to point out those mistakes. If we do not have anyone to bring them to our attention, challenge us to improve, and hold us accountable, then we should be worried. I agree with him on this point. We should be open to feedback and listen to it. We should show gratitude to them. After all, they are helping us grow and become a better person. Although it can be tough to accept criticism, we should always strive to listen to it, take it to heart, and learn how to motivate ourselves to grow and achieve new heights.

He was also a spoke person on dreaming and believing. Everyone loves to dream. However, so few of us strive to attain those dreams. We do not always believe that anything is possible. He encourages us to reach for those dreams and help others to attain their dreams as well. He states that we should always be ready to learn something new and to have fun through the learning process. This is such a huge factor for me. I truly believe that all learning should be fun. That is my personal goal. It is also the goal I strive to achieve for my own children and my students. What good is learning, if you didn't have fun doing it?

Randy also encourages us to never "bail out" of something. We should not give up and quit something when it seems hard to achieve. If we quit, we miss out on the experience of achieving something new and difficult. We also miss out on experiencing self gratification by accomplishing these tasks. He stated that "brick walls" come our way for a reason. They let us prove how bad we want something. By doing this, we have the ability to show our dedication. I believe in his theory of "Don't complain...work harder!" If we quit, we will never be content with not knowing what could have existed if we had kept pursuing ahead.

One of Randy's final notes of encouragement was to always be loyal and to help others. Focusing on others rather than ourselves can bring us such gratification. I am always amazed by the times when I reach out to others thinking I am going to make them feel better. Instead, I walk away encouraged! I am a person who has the gift of giving. I love to give! I find that by doing this unselfishly, it always comes back to you when you least expect it or you are in time of need. Sometimes, giving can be tough. Randy encourages us to give anyway. I agree with his point of always looking for the best in others. No one is ALL negative. Everyone has a strength and we should look for the positive rather than the negative. He encourages us to be patient, wait, and always find the best in everyone. I am a firm believer in the old sayings. First, be careful to point the finger at someone else. There will always be three fingers pointing back at you! Second, be careful of what you criticize others for, because it is usually what you are most guilty of doing yourself.

In closing, Randy left us with a lot of good things that we should apply to our lives. By doing so, we will be stronger and better. We will be higher achievers. We will learn a lot in life and have fun by the whole learning process. We will be happier and never loose wonder. We will definitely be blessed when we are able to help us others achieve these same principles of life. What a remarkable legacy he left behind to all of us. Let us listen to his wisdom, take it heart, and implement it into our lives and the lives of others. I encourage you to watch his last lecture at http://tinyurl.com/mvy4oq. You can also visit www.youtube.com for his interviews and for inspiring comments spoken by those whose lives he touched.

Karl Fisch: Is It Okay to Be a Technologically Illiterate Teacher?

"Is It Okay to be a Technologically Illiterate Teacher?"
Source: Karl Fisch

alt=""






After reading the post published by Mr. Fisch, I found it to be a very straight forward piece. He seems to drive home his point of view. Although, I found it to be encouraging. I am a teacher who is returning to the teaching field after several years of being a stay-at-home mom. It is amazing to see how far technology has come while I was raising my babies. I feel as if I have a lot of "catching up to do." I am a self motivated person with a lot of enthusiasm and energy and usually do not back down from task easily. However, I am finding the learning of all of the new inventions of technology overwhelming. I also a dedicated persona and a very driven person on making my teaching a better thing for my students. So, I will continue to reach out and strive to learn as I go. Mr. Fisch's piece encourages me to do just that.

I liked what he stated when that technology should be all of the education, but used a indispensable tool for teaching. It should help us learn and grow to be better students and teachers. It is, after all. a part of everything we do today...even communication. He referred technology illiterate teachers to teachers from 30 years ago who could not read or write. At first, it is okay, and one can still "get by." Then, it reaches a point of providing more opportunities to finally becoming a point of reaching success or not. To teach it, we have to implement it. We should model it to our students by experiencing and exploring it with our students. By doing this, we are demonstrating to them the positive effect of continuous learning. I hope that you will take the time to read his post at http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/2007/09/is-it-okay-to-be-technologically.html. He won an award for this piece.

"It's Not About the Technology" by Kelly Hines

Title: "It's Not About the Technology" by Kelly Hines
Source: Graphics by Chrissy Henderson



I really enjoyed reading this post. It has by far been my favorite piece. I agree with so many factors that Mrs. Hines addressed. She stated that technology is an innovative tool for teaching and learning, yet it is not the first thing to initiate change in our classrooms. Students and teachers should recognize the need for change with technology, yet the mindset of students should also be there. She listed four key factors of technology with education.


The first factor was stating that we, as teachers, must also be learners. I agree that we should always invest in our profession. We are never "too old to learn" and should model that for our students. Education is so much different for today's students than when we were students and things are changing all the time. We should keep up with where they are so we can teach in a way that reaches them. Mrs. Hines stated that we should be up to date on current trends, research and tools. We should know our students that walk through our doors. I agree with her. We must do this now more than ever if we are to reach our students. We have to do this more than any other occupational job out there. We can no longer depend on manuals and workshops. With the economy the way it is today, a lot of educational money has been stopped for workshops. We must take on our own initiative and be self- motivated to pursue learning and implement it in our classrooms.


The second factor she gave was on learning and teaching. She stated that these two are not always the same thing. I loved how she related this to physics law. She stated that regardless of how much effort has been applied, no teaching has been done if the students do not learn the subject matter. Her third factor related to technology being useless without good teaching. I agree with her statement about money being wasted if technology goes to a teacher who is not willing to learn how to use it.


Her last factor spoke about being a 21st century teacher without technology. I enjoyed this piece a lot. She spoke on the issue of teachers teaching students to be creative and innovative so that they can face the future. She stated that teachers who teach critical thinking and problem solving are doing students a HUGE favor...more than those who are misusing technology. I agree with her statement on how teachers should teach communication and collaboration in the classrooms to equip students to apply their core skills to more areas in their lives.


In conclusion, I feel that we as teachers should embrace several things that Mrs. Hines had to offer as suggestions. Students are now listeners and watchers instead of readers and writers. We should embrace these teaching tools and add technology as enhancement. Teachers who take their "old-fashioned ways" of teaching and incorporate the technology with it have unlimited possibilities. We just cannot be afraid to learn. We can do wonders in our teaching and can take our students to a whole new level of learning. Technology should not be a substitute for our teaching, yet incorporated in the proper training of our children today. I highly recommend to all teachers out there to read Mrs. Hines post found at http://www.eduratireview.com/2009/04/its-not-about-technology.html.

Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today

"A Vision of Students Today"
Source: Michael Wesch



Watching this video (http://is.gd/2c0V0) really captivated my thoughts on how far education has changed. My experience in college was nothing like the video. We were just being introduced to computers when I was finishing school. We had one computer class with one computer lab. The lab did not have enough computers for all of us, therefore we had to share. This made it hard to receive "hands on" benefits most of the time. Computers were expensive. As a college student, it was hard to get ONE. Now, college students have the labs, a desk top, a lap top, I - pods, and a blackberry that will all accomplish one goal. Technology is at their finger tips.

It was amazing to see that most students will spend MORE time on their computers or cell phones than anything else. I know that technology has several benefits and conveniences for us. However, I feel as if it has consumed our younger generation so that they are not using their minds and creativity as much. Most of them probably don't use a dictionary or encyclopedia anymore. I feel that it is so convenient for them, that they can face book or text while instruction is going on. Therefore, they could be missing their whole class lesson. Maybe I am old fashion, but I feel like hands-on experiences is the best way of learning. I feel that reading and listening should also be involved in learning along with the enhancement of technology. As a teacher today, I find that comprehension skills are the students weaknesses. This comes from a lack of reading to learn and find information. Instead, they use technology. I just feel that practice and hands-on activities bring learning to life. This would be my addition to the movie to make it more accurately represent my experience, because it is definitely how we learned. Read, go to class, take notes and study!

Information on Podcasts

I chose the view the link http://langwithces.org/blog/category/podcasting. I really enjoyed the article on "Reflections of Podcast Project." This means that teachers, students and ourselves should reflect a moment on what we have created. The article addressed giving students reasons for completing projects. Certainly, all projects should be age appropriate. It addressed emphasising to students that they will be the "voice" going into the ears of others. It also addressed that technology tools seems to take the least amount of time and effort for students to learn. Technology tools help students by reinforcing and practicing academic skills. Through technology, some students will come to realize that they have the personality for radio. The article spoke on the importance of encouraging students to take their time when recording for podcast. It should be clear and connect to subject matter. They should simply rush to "get it done".

I also viewed the link on podcasting with third graders. They were studying endangered animals in their area as a part of their science curriculum. Students were encouraged to not only research the subject matter, but become experts about what they were studying. Then, take their knowledge and share it with others around the world by podcasting. What a fun way for students to learn! Just knowing they are going to "teach" something to other kids is a strong motivation for them to get involved and strive to do their very best! In this, they are completing research skills, communications skills and oral fluency.

Improvements on Podcasting

I enjoyed watching the podcast which was done by Dr. Strange and his fellow students. It gave me some insight on podcasting. However, I did notice a few changes that I would make to improve the podcast. During the first part of the podcast, students were giving introductions. They were looking down as if reading their introductions or looking at each other. I think this should be done speaking to the camera. This way, the audience who is watching could see their faces. It would make it seem as if they were speaking to YOU!

I personally thought the podcast was a little monotone. I would create more expression in my reviews and insights. The students seemed to look away as they were speaking. They looked down a lot when others were talking. Kitty seemed to do a better job with expression in her voice. I enjoyed hearing her the best. Although I received information about the ways of becoming a better technology teacher, I found it hard to pay attention with the little expression. I also think, I would make the background a little more interesting. For example, using props that relate to the subject matter on which we were addressing. With more expression and creativity, I think the attention of the audience would be better captured.

The interview was full of interesting facts and information on becoming a better technology teacher. It provided ways of sharing building blocks of learning and putting them into use in your classroom. If you would like to know how to become a better technology teacher, please view Dr. Strange's podcast on the following link: http://edm310podcasts.blogspot.com/.

Plagiarism

The definition of plagiarism basically consist of buying, stealing, or borrowing something from someone. It is taking others thoughts or words and making them yours. Hiring someone to complete the work for you is also an example of plagiarism. We should not re-use media originated from somewhere else. For example, we should not reprint other's work and claim it as our own.

There are ways to avoid plagiarism. We can do this buy reprinting illustrations, charts, pictures, etc. We can simply take their insights and put them into our own observations and conclusions on the subject matter. It is okay to use someones thoughts and ideas in our assignments. However, we should always give credit where it is due. This can be done by referencing their work or simply adding quotes around their words.

For further information on Plagiarism use the following link to view the referenced site for copyright rules and regulations.
http://www.copyright.gov/

Alternative Web Browsing

Alternative Web Browsing
The site referenced five separate versions of Alternative Web Browsing. They are:
· Specialized Browsers – These are browsers that are specifically designed for persons with disabilities. BrookesTalk seemed to be an intriguing browser. It was a browser under development by Oxford Brookes University which focuses on facilitating intelligent web-searching.
· Adaptive Browsers - These browsers are all designed for general use, but are of interest because they may give enhanced accessibility with particular adaptive systems. Some have enhanced screen magnification or navigation options.
· Screen Readers – A screen-reader is used to allow navigation of the screen presented by the operating system. It used speech or Braille output. Therefore it enables use of any mainstream application.
· Voice Browsers - Systems that allow voice-driven navigation, some have both voice-in and voice-out. Some allow telephone-based web access. The one that seemed to be most interesting to me was Telweb. TelWeb is an experimental telephone-based browser allowing access to any site using voice and dialled commands.
· Other Access Methods - The site referenced that they would be expanding this section to include links to reference lists of other access technologies such as screen magnifiers and voice recognition programs that can be used in conjunction with Web browsers.
Evidently there are a number of systems that filter, or transform existing pages making them more accessible.
Agora is a system that allows web-pages to be retrieved by E-mail simply by sending a message containing the URL of the desired document.
Page Getter is powerful and has the ability to offer flexibility in retrieval of web-pages by E-mail; options to include images are offered, or text only request.
The Voice this technology allows representation of images in sound using Peter Meijer's "image sonification" technique.
Screen magnifiers were also referenced, which can be used in conjunction with mainstream browsers. Further information was available at The Screen Magnification Home Page

EDM 310 - August 30th assignment

In this assignment, we were to take a look at six different podcast and share our thoughts on how informative we thought they may be for educators. The first one I looked at was the SmartBoard Lessons Podcast. On the podcast, I felt like the two hosts did a lot of talking among themselves before ever addressing the main idea. It seemed like I had to listen to them chat for awhile before ever hearing about the true subject matter. After finally getting to it, I learned that they share thoughts on how to make the whiteboard become interactive in your classroom. Their purpose is to help educators create lessons that are engaging for students and makes learning come to life. I really liked Joan's "recess" idea of taking bubble wrap and putting it on the SmartBoard. This had nothing to do with education. However, sometimes students just need something to play with or a break in transitioning between subjects.

KidCast was the next podcast I watched. This podcast seemed to have the most information to share with educators. The speaker was placing emphasis on web conferencing. It is usually hard at a teacher's conference to allow everyone to share ideas and resources. This podcast allows you to do that as a media channel where everyone can participate and contribute. This leads to an excellent professional development plan. By doing this, we can learn from each other. There were three ideas shared that I really liked on this podcast. There were two math and a writing lesson. One math lesson was about taking visual elements and using them to explain word problems. Then, they were recorded and used as assessment. Another math lesson idea was about bringing statistics to life with a "sports show." This simply takes math and puts it into the real world. Students could focus on what they already know about the statistics of an athlete and what they need to do in order to reach a certain goal. This appeals to the audience and they learn from it without even realizing they are learning. The writing explained how to take the concept and write it into a drama form and deliver it which I think is a great re-inforcement for students. I think these are all great ideas on how to make the lessons really come to life.

On the MacBreak Weekly, I never really got anything out of it except the host talking and sharing stories among themselves. Although I did find the Ed Tech talk interesting. It focused on teachers teaching teachers. Here, teachers shared about new things they had learned from recently visited workshops. It was basically a live interactive interview. Teachers could get several new ideas through this podcast and share new ideas with other fellow teachers. I think this is a wonderful way to "connect" learning around the world.

I watched the Photography podcast and learned some about the involvement of photography with education. Although this seems to change over time, it is neat that we can engage photos with technology and use it as a teaching technique. There was also a question and answer time on this podcast where people could get links on publication of photos. I found this podcast interesting and resourceful. It shows how we can embrace photography and make it work for us in any capacity. I found the Connect Learning podcast useful and beneficial for educators. It provided ways to download lessons and links to better serve your educational needs. It was very informative on ways to become a better educator. I thought that all of this podcast were excellent tools in enhancing an educator's professional development plan.

The Importance of Creativity

I really loved this video. Ken Robinson had a unique way of presenting his ideas on creativity within the school systems. He was creative in how he brought about his thoughts. I found myself in agreement with several of his points. We tend to undermine students' creativity in learning. Everyone has an interest in education and it is our job to nurture their creativity and not undermine it to the point of hindering their educational growth. He stated that we are to help them make something of their education. After all, they are our future. It is our job to prepare them for the future even though we don't know what the future holds. Ken Robinson also stated that creativity is as important as literacy. We should not dominate our view of the students' intelligence based only on their academic ability. We should never undermine any subject matter rather it be through literacy or creative arts.

In this video, he states that we are all born with creativity. We just grow out of it because we don't use it as often as we should. Students are often stigmatized for their mistakes. I firmly believe that in today's society we unintentionally focus on those mistakes. Therefore, we make students feel that a mistake is unacceptable. However, we should not label our children this way. Instead, we should encourage them to learn from their mistakes and use their imagination to enhance their creativity. Then they can use their creativity to enhance their learning ability. I love what he said when he stated that if we are not prepared to be wrong, we will never come up with anything original.

Next Generation Learning

This video was intriging. I liked it being presented from a child's point of view. I found it uplifting to hear that Harry thought of his school as being a "cool" place to learn. It would be so rewarding if every student could think this way. I liked how he compared his mother's generation of learning with his own. We have come so far as a society. We have come from chalkboards and desks to computer labs and advanced honors courses.

The video spoke about students' involvement through technology. We can download homework and grades for parents to see at home. I think it is great that we can use digital cameras to make a project come to life. For example, pictures of class activities and field trips can be uploaded via internet for parents to view from home. Class pages can also be created and updated by the students. Through technology we can bring education to life. At the same time technology can create new pathways for students' imagination. In conclusion, technology leads many ways for parents, teachers, and students to become more involved in education.

Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

I found this video very interesting. I agree with several things that Vicki Davis had to say. She stated that not all students are molded to learn with a pencil and paper. Only certain students will succeed with that type of learning style. As educators, we should always be looking for ways to enhance their education with enrichment experiences. We should be open to look at each one's strengths and weaknesses and customize our curriculum to meet their needs. I loved the statement that we should teach them to "learn how to learn." I strive to implement these teaching methods in my own classroom. Although it can be challenging at times, it is always fulfilling to see them experience the growth of learning.

The video also spoke about how to let students teach one another. I strongly believe that students can learn from their peers as well as their teacher. We should not let these teachable moments slip by us. I agree with Vicki Davis on the fact that we, as teachers, tend to think we should know all of the answers. When students can share with one another we should encourage them to do so. Technology can play a big role in this type of education. As stated in the video, we can live in one place, yet connect with the world. Students can get the full effect by collaborating reports and creating videos then sharing them through small groups or to others around the world.

Did You Know? 3.0

Wow! It is amazing at how fast the pace of technology has become in our country. What did we do before it came along? One amazing thing to me was seeing how many songs were downloaded while I watched this short 5-6 minute video. The video stated that technology changes so much every two years. I wonder how do we keep up with the latest inventions. What is this doing to our children? I worry that we as parents and educators are not able to guide them to use their intellectual potential as much as they could. Technology is a wonderful thing and we should use it for enhancement, but not as our only resource.

The video also referred to people having many different jobs by the age of 38. It stated that one out of four workers stay with the same employment for more than a year. These statistics are quite different compared to our past generations. Although technology enhances our world, it may also hinder those in the work force who are not able to perform the task that employers can utilize through technology. For example, when I call a company I often get an automated system that tells me I can seek guidance on their website. Instead, I may prefer to speak with an employee. The "personal" greeting and directory have been removed.