My EDM 310 Blog Assignments are Now Complete

I have enjoyed this class and all of you tremendously. I will probably be seeing some of you in other classes. I would like to thank everyone who helped me. Have a happy holiday season.

Rosilyn

What I Learned

I learned a lot in this class. When I started I had only taken one computer class. That was more than ten years ago. So much has changed since then. I felt like I had been left behind. It really helped me to brush up on the skills I have and learn much more.

I really loved the blogging. I think that helped me the most. All of the different assignments helped me to see different ways of learning. It definitely helped me to become more familiar with the Internet. All of the Itunes assignments were of great use also. My daughters found it to be interesting as well.

I listened to several pod casts and there were interesting too. I think this will be of great help to me when I begin teaching. School has changed so much since I was there. I want to be ready to help move my students along. I feel this class has really put me on the road to do just that.

Electronic Interaction

For my electronic interaction project I interviewed Ms. Brenda J Fancher. She is a third grade teacher at East Park School in Moss Point, Mississippi. The school is in the Moss Point School District. Ms. Fancher was eager to discuss with me the things I should expect in the classroom.

She let me know right from the beginning that technology plays a great part of the educational process. Ms. Fancher said they rarely use paper, pencil or the blackboard in her classroom. You see,at East Park, Every classroom is equipped with a Promethean Board. They even have a handheld one that they teachers can walk around the classroom with while she is writing and it still shows up on the big Promethean Board in the front of the classroom.

This is very different from Daphne High School. As you remember in my ACCESS lab report, they only had the one in the lab. If other teachers wanted to use it, they would have to make an appointment at a time Mr. Roh was not teaching a class. Although, they are going to get portable ones to move from class to class, there's nothing like having your own.

Now, Ms. Fancher says her students are very interested in all the things they are learning. This is probably because they the students love to be on the computers anyway. Another reason could possibly be the programs. One program called "Study Island" is used along with the lesson they are being taught. The program gives worksheets and games for the students to play to help them understand the concepts that were taught. Ms. Fancher says that some of her students even use this program at home on their on computers.

There is another program she told me about. It's called "Fast Forword." This program is designed to help students with their reading and language arts skills. Each child gets an opportunity to go in and listen to the many different words on the program. They also have AR (Accelerated Reading) test that are given on the computer to help test the students on what they have learned and read.

This is possible because they have two computer labs with more than thirty computers in each. They also have about fifteen computers in the library. Another thing ms. Fancher said was the students could be tested on the Promethean Board. They have little devices she described as "egg shaped." They are called Activ Vote. The students can lock in on their answer to the question put up on the Promethean Board and it will grade them for her. It even gives the percentage of right answers per question.

The one thing I can walk away from this interview thinking is technology, technology, technology. It's everywhere! This interview has made me want to study even harder. I am also glad I took this course. I would not want to be left behind and locked out of this technological world we're living in.

http://www.mosspointschools.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=37&Itemid=64

Classmate's Blog

I chose Joye Wiggins' blog. She has some of the same concerns I do about Internet safety. I think we need to be very aware of what the students are doing on the computers. There should also be passwords set up for their safety.

There should be monitoring of the sites the students are visiting. With all of the cyber bullying, sexual predators and students making disturbing video to go the web teachers, as well as parents, should be very watchful. The disturbing video such as gang fights and suicides are evidence of improper use of the computer. These types of things can be prevented, hopefully , if we are much more aware of what the students are doing on the web.

Blogging

This has been very interesting to me. I never knew about blogging until I began taking this course. I have learned a lot. The blogging, podcasts, itunes and so forth have really help to enlighten me on the technological world. I rarely got on the computer before this unless it was to type a paper or get directions for a trip.

The blogging was very exciting. I got to see myself on the computer and show my kids as well. The podcasts were not as exciting. We only did it the one time. Hopefully when I have to do it again I will not be as nervous. The itunes were very interesting and educational. I really enjoyed the one I had to look at about The moon and the planets. I had to show it to my daughters.

I found out that schools are using computers a lot more in schools now and I will have to be well prepared to teach with it in the classroom. I feel this class has definitely given me the tools that I need to do just that.

Duke University

The first podcast I chose was "The South in Black and White." These gentlemen were talking about sitting down and discussing the past as well as the present. They would bring in singers, songwriters, musicians, and southern storytellers that would help them to tell the story of how things went on then and what is going on now. They were to discuss race relations in Durham, NC and abroad. The made mention of the Duke Lacrosse incident and also of the murder of Emmitt Till.


The other I chose was "The Black Panthers Legacy Panel Discussion." One of the people said, "The role of the Black Panther Party has been distorted by the media." They feel that the media has made the Party look like a bunch of black people who got together to go against the government and white people. They even talked about myths and misconceptions. One was that the media made up the Black Panther Party. That was not true.

The Black Panther Party was known for doing much charity work in the community such as delivering meals to the needy. They are an organization that accepts all races of people. The Rainbow Coalition was formed from this party. I chose these two because we are hearing about race a lot more now that Barak Obama is president elect. There are those who are not happy because of his African-American lineage. Prayerfully we will soon get over these racial barriers. They have no place in our society and definitely not in our classrooms.

iTunes/Duke University

ACCESS Assignment

I visited Daphne High School in Daphne, AL. Mr. Joseph Roh gave me the tour and explained things to me. He began by informing me of the purchase of the church building next door to the school. This is the building that houses the ACCESS lab and the auditorium. It will be used for other things as well.

Mr. Roh told me of the two types of classes that can be used to educate the students. One is the regular online class. The other is Interactive Video Conference (IVC). IVC is where cameras and microphones are used to connect the teacher to other students at other schools. The teacher can interact with a student at the other school just as if there were in the same room with them.

Mr. Roh said that the ACCESS lab can be used to help students study for the Graduation Exam. There is no actual teacher for this particular program. This one is done by the computer. The students are also taking foreign languages online. some of the students are learning Latin from A teacher in Uriah, AL. Mr. Roh is currently teaching a Chemistry class to students in Uriah, AL online as well.

There is also an alternative to summer school. If a student failed a class, they would have to attend summer school to make it up. There is now a program available after school that would allow them to make up the class online to keep them from failing a grade. This class would be paid for by the student's parents just like before. This would go to pay the teacher who facilitates the class.

This is all very different from when I was in school. There is so much more offered to students now thanks to all of the technological advancements. Governor Bob Riley has made it mandatory for each high school to have an ACCESS lab by 2009. Daphne High is already on the way. Each of their Students will be required to take an online class by next school term. This will greatly enrich every students'
education and better prepare them for the workforce.


http://www.daphnehs.com/

The Podcasts

Well, my group's podcast was unavailable. That's okay though, I can talk about the ones that were. They all were very interesting. I learned something from just about all of them.These were our first recordings and it was expected for us to make mistakes. We can learn from them and only get better so that we are able to teach our students what to do if and when we are called upon to do it with them.

Some of us sounded as if we were reading instead of engaging in a conversation. Some of us seemed to be as cool as cucumbers and sounded totally natural. I know I was extremely nervous so I was not one of the natural sounding ones. We could all probably read over our scripts a little more. If we remember more of it, when we are recording it may not sound like we are reading it as much.

All in all we did very well for our first try. Everyone really did their homework and got their information together. Everyone spoke loud and clear enough to be well understood by the audience. Next time we will know what to expect and probably won't be as nervous.

Mathematics and Technology

These podcast talk about the use of technology in mathematics. Judy Chandler talks about collaborative learning. This is to use computer technology as well as the text- book to help teach students about math. She gives several areas where the two together can help enhance the student's learning experience. A few are enhanced communication, alternative ways to demonstrate learning, and tools that help by visual presentation.

Chandler talks about how many students experience disengagement. They are uninterested in the "old way" of learning and they zone out. She also speaks of students memorizing the information just so they can pass the test. She suggests that the teacher should engage the students by making them feel they are scientists in the classroom. She encourages the teacher to ask the questions like, "why and how do we know this"? She feels this will get the students thinking.

I would definitely use this in my classroom. Mixing computer technology and math would definitely make a class that some find very difficult a little easier. Students are already using the computer and other electronic devices all of the time. This can take something they already love to help them understand something they will need the rest of their lives.

iTunesU/Maine Department of Education

Growth Mindset vs. Optimal Performance

In this podcast, Professor Carol Dweck talks about how certain students think their intelligence is shown. Some thought that their intelligence was shown by their performance. Others thought their intelligence was developed over their lifespan. To see which group was correct, they were sent to two different workshops.

One group was sent to a study skills growth workshop. The other was sent to a growth mindset workshop. The students in the study skills workshop did not do well. They were not motivated. The students that were sent to the growth mindset workshop did great. They were taught to apply the skills learned to their schoolwork.

So growth mindset was proven to work a lot better than optimal performance. Professor Dweck went on to say, "you can't be a good manager without growth mindset." This concept, according to the professor, is a much needed key to being successful in our careers. I would definitely apply this in my classroom. It would help the students become more motivated in their studies and is something they can take with them when they enter the workforce.

iTunes/University/Stanford

About Video Podcast K-5

I watched "Total Solar Eclipse" and "What Is a Planet?" by NOVA. I enjoyed both of them. I finally found out why Pluto isn't considered a planet anymore. One of the reasons is because it hasn't cleared Neptune from it's path. It also leads others to ask if Neptune hasn't cleared Pluto from it's path, so should it still be considered a planet? Anyway Pluto is called a dwarf planet. WOW!

I think these particular sites would definitely be helpful in my classroom. They would help the students better understand the our solar system and how everything operates. I especially like the explanation of the solar eclipse. It was very clear and the visual was great.

I would definitely use these sites or others like them to help explain the workings of the solar system to the students in my class. I also like the way they explained the planets and what makes a planet. The visuals on this site was great as well.

iTunesU/WGBH

About Mr. Sullivan's Presentation

I really enjoyed the presentation given by Mr. Sullivan. I didn't know there were so many devices and programs geared to help make the web as accessible to the handicapped as were shown. I think the Voice Recognition Software is great. I really liked the Screen Magnification Software. I think that was a great idea. There is so much out there to help every person to be as computer savvy as they like. It's good to know if I had a student with these disabilities, there are resources available to help me teach them.

About AVL (Alabama Virtual Library)

AVL, the Alabama Virtual Library, is a website started to help students, as well as others, have direct access to tools normally found in the library. These are magazines, journals, etc. This way if you are unable to get to the library, they have made it easy for to get the information you need through their site.

I think it is very helpful. There are many different sites to visit. One is Funk and Wagnall's New World Encyclopedia for the people who just refuse to go and find someone who still has encyclopedias. There is the Oxford English Dictionary to make sure you've spelled a word right or look up a definition. There is also the Auto Repair Reference Center so we can keep those cars running as long as we can without having to go to the mechanic.


http://www.virtual.lib.al.us/about/index.html

At MLK Middle School in Berkeley,CA, Beth Sonnenberg is the gardening teacher. She and her students have a garden in the school's yard. They include science and social studies in this class. Alice Waters of a local restaurant came up with the idea to help improve the food the kids were eating in the cafeteria. The teachers for this class are especially trained for this type of teaching.
At Heifer ranch in Perryville, AR, students and teachers stay the night at a different type of ranch. This ranch has different homes that are similar to the ones in Zambia, Thailand and Guatemala. They are also have to make fire for themselves to keep warm as well as many other things they are not used to doing. It definitely sounds like a night they won't soon forget.

The skills shown in these podcast show how different techniques can be used to get students to learn and love it. The garden class is very interesting. Here the students were not couped up in the class all day. They were outside, something a lot of kids today don't seem to do much. They were also learning about nature and survival. It's nothing like being able to grow your own food. You could definitely save a lot a money doing that yourself.

The Heifer Ranch is a great idea to get children to learn about different cultures. They can see first hand what it i like to live in another country that is not as fortunate as our own. They can learn it from the books, but it seems to be more interesting when a teachers can show can help you see it up close and personal.

itunes/edutopia

Itunes assignment 1

On the EdTech Weekly broadcast they were talking about the Tech crunch. The guys said that Web 2.0 has been declared dead. (The business part) They said that they would change their way of operation. They said that Ebay would possibly be laying off 10% of their workers. They said that it would not be as bad as the "dotcom bust" of previous years.

In Macbreak Weekly, the guys were vocal on the about the new computers that were coming out recently. They seemed to be very focused on price. They really went into detail about the decriptions and features on the computers. KidsCast was done by children. They really just summed up the week in kiddie movies.

On the Smartboards Lesson, they were discussing students interaction on the web. They were discussing the students making their own icons. I thought The Bubble wrap idea was very interesting. They also talked about the different people using the board on their facebook.

itunes.com

Internet Use in Belgium and Portugal

In Belgium a class of 5 and 6 year olds were partnering with a class of 5 and 6 year olds in Portugal on safer Internet practices. The article was titled "Holding Our Hands." Here they exchanged ideas and took turns adding different things to the site. They came up with a motto that let us know that they were trying in every way to create interesting things for the students to experience on the computer. They feel this will deter them from the other unsafe sites. They sang songs both countries knew in their own languages and posted them for the others to hear. This was a part of the Safe Internet Day observed in 2007.

http://blog.erun.org/SID2007/crossing_borders_sid_2007_competition/power

Internet Use in Great Britain

In Great Britain, Jo Bertrand tells of how things have changed in the teaching world since more schools have started to use the Internet. There was only one computer and it was shared by more than one classroom. Now there may be more than one computer in every classroom. Teachers are now learning things about the computers from students as well as teaching them. Bertrand says that using the computer is better than just using the chalkboard doing the same old things all the time. Jo Bertrand also gives the name of different books and sources to use in the class and on the computer to better help you.

http://www.britishcouncil.org/languageassistant-primary-summerholiday.htm

On Dr. Pausch's Last Lecture

Mr. Pausch said to play the cards you were dealt. This I think is very important in every students' life. There should never be a time when a students says that they can not do something. There is always a way to overcome every thing that may be called an obstacle or a "brick wall."
I love how he implemented football in his everyday life. Even though he was not able to play in the NFL, he used the football when he was in deep thought about something or trying to figure something out. This should show any student to take what they love the best and use it as an outlet or a way to figure out some tough situations.
He also talked about never giving up on your dreams. I think the example on the job application to Disney was a great one. Even though he did not get the job he wanted when he wanted it, he still ended up getting it later in life. That was another "brick wall that helped show dedication."
I also loved when he said,"the best thing an educator can do is to have someone become self reflective." If a teacher can not help a person to look at themselves and see what they need to do to make themselves better, they are definitely in the wrong profession.


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5700431505846055184

Computer use in Classroom

This was from "Virtual Lab" of the Gazette by P.R. Guruprasad. He talks about how children have fallen in love with the computer. So it's good that our systems have incorporated it into the curriculum. This article spoke about science labs. It mentioned how some schools were not able to have a science lab. The one that had them may not have had adequate materials needed to do any lab experiments. This is where the school uses the computer to simulate an actual lab experiment so that the students are able to experience this much needed lesson.

http://www.teachers.net/gazette/SEP08/guruprasad

Computer use in classrooms

This is from "Energy Transfer" by Dan Tenner a teacher in Seneca School in Queens, NY. The children used the computer to experiment with different elements such as water. The water was monitored for temperatures in different containers at different times. The experiment showed the water when it was hot (red) and the water when it was cold (blue). It even shows the cold water being poured into the hot water.
The children used spreadsheets to record the different temperatures and and times. They also used charts and graphs to do so. This was very helpful in bringing the experiment from the books all the way to the computers.

http://www.teachersnetwork.org/ntol

ALEX

ALEX is a program implemented into the school system in 2006. This program helps teachers with online teaching as well as in class. It was initially used mostly by Special Ed and English teachers. It was later adjusted to include Media specialists.
This program was allotted a little over 2 million dollars. There is a meeting every year to see what is needed to improve the program. I see that it is the same thing that you have us doing on our project that we started on this past Thursday.

http://alex.state.al.us

About ACCESS

I am not sure what you want me to talk about on this one. I did find out that Gov. Riley and some other officials worked really hard to get this implemented here in Alabama. We are the first state to have the program in all of our high schools. This program will enable students to be a part of the Advanced Placement program. It will also let them take classes that are not offered at their home school.
I honestly think it's a great idea and am a little jealous. I wish this had been available when I was in high school. It would have helped my classmates and myself tremendously.

http://accessdl.state.al.us/

About me

I am a stay at home mom and wife. I am a full time student. I stopped working in April when I had my son. My husband finally got his boy (we have two girls also). He is definitely the last and we love him to pieces. That's really how I spend all of my time now. I'm momma, wife and student. I will soon be adding teacher to the list. I can't wait!

Project 1

This will be about me from birth to now. I have a pretty big family so I will definitely be including them.

WELCOME

Hello. I am Rosilyn and I would love for you to check out my site.