Blog Assignment 6

The Networked Student By: Wendy Drexler
I didn't know what to expect when I first read the title of the post. I was shocked to say the least. The fact of how well the presentation was put together amazes me. It is such a simple design with paper and hand-drawn pictures. The fact that even though it was a simple design, I could still follow it and understand what they were talking about. The design allowed for images to tell the story.
Other than just the presentation, the information that they are providing in the presentation is helpful. I was not really sure what a PLN was until it was explained in the video. I also now understand why it is so important to build connections through peers and other like minded people through the internet. Another thing is the way that the student is learning allows them to learn how to expand their knowledge. One thing that I noticed about the video, is that it is describing many different forms of technology that allows for learning. It includes podcasts, blogs, interviews online, and other technologies.
The teacher's purpose to a networked student is to show them where to start, give guidance if they get lost, teach them how to create connections, how to differentiate between good and bad information, and how to organize information in a way that it makes sense. These are all different things that are useful in the 21st century. Being able to do all of the things that are talked about in the video, allows for people to be well informed of what they are doing. In my opinion, without the teacher, the networked student might not know where to start without the teacher's guidance. I would be prepared to take on any challenge and even if I am not prepared to be a teacher to a networked student right now, I am determined to be able to teach them in the near future.


A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment
This is a very organized way of having people learn. I did not know that you could do all of those things from one place. I cannot wait until my PLN, Personal Learning Network, is completed. I now have so many ideas for what I could do, and what I can learn. Just thinking about it all is making me really excited for what I will find.

Smart Board Compare and Contrast
When I read the two critiques of Smartboards, I was not really surprised that they would think that way. Both Michael Staton and Bill Ferriter make good arguments against Smartboards. They are expensive and it is possible for you to do most of the lessons on other mediums. Both of these educators have strong oppositions about Smartboards. Staton mainly argues that they are the "least cost-effective way to improve learning." Ferriter's argument is that "they do little more than reinforce a teacher-centric model of learning." Overall, these are just some of the opinions that teachers have in regards to Smartboard technology.
To look at a different opinion, I found a blog by Alexa Mitchell. In her post Week 5- Smartboards, she touches on the positives and the negatives of Smartboards. The negatives that she mentions are the same as Staton and Ferriter's arguments, but she touches on the positives equally. The positives that are mentioned are that many of the Smartboards are portable, they can accommodate different types of learning skills, and they are engaging to the students. These are all good points. When I was a senior in high school, my school had invested in two Smartboards. I was fascinated by them and enjoyed using them in my learning experience. If a senior in high school can have fun with Smartboards, then what will younger kids think about them?

Project #9b Timetoast

C4K #1-3 Summary

1. Aimee
The first student that I was assigned to was Aimee S. from Ms. White's fourth grade class in Virginia. Her post was titled Riddles. She provided a few examples of riddles. One of them was: "There is a plane. It’s crashing. It’s crashing exactly between the USA and Canada. The plane crashed. So where did they bury the survivors?" Can you figure out the answer?


2. Nicholas
The next student's blog that I commented on was Nicholas's. Nicholas is a fifth grader in Mr. St. Claire's class at Terryville Elementary School in the Comsewogue School District of New York. In his post 18/39 Baseball Cards, he tells of his collection of baseball cards. He describes how they are old and that they gather dust, but they are worth a lot of money. This is completely true. The older and rarer the cards are the more they are worth.


3. James
The third student that I was assigned to was James. James is a fifth year student in Mr. Marks class at Pt England School in Auckland, NZ. In his post Untitled, it includes a picture of himself. I am surprised that fifth years are already learning how to blog. When I was that young, I do not think I even knew what blogging was. To see someone that young blogging shows just how much the world has changed since then.

Blog Assignment 5

Eagle Nest Radio & Class Blog By: Third graders
I listened to the “Roamin’ with the Ancient Romans” podcast that was created by a group of third graders and was surprised at how good it was. This was a good way to approach learning about the romans. I wouldn’t have thought about having it set up like a news report would make it so interesting. This is a good way to have the information organized and put in a specific order. For my group’s podcast, we are doing commercials about our class and interviews on technologies that we are learning about.


The Benefits of Podcasting in the classroom By: Joe Dale
The video on this site was helpful. I didn’t know there were that many uses for podcasting in the classroom. One such benefit that I did not know about was that “students can access the higher order thinking skills in Bloom’s taxonomy.” This site also provided tutorials for podcasting. These were helpful to me by introducing me to how to create a podcast.


100 Ways to Use your iPod to learn and Study Better
I was not sure what I was expecting when I saw the title of this website, but I was just shocked at how many different programs for the iPod are available. Just in the podcasting section, there are 14 websites, which tell of uses for ways to create and use podcasts to learn. By looking at some of the sites mentioned, I learned what a podcast was, and how to create a basic podcast.


Judy Scharf’s Podcast Collection
The information on this site really helped me when I was working on the podcast project with my group. It gives tips to succeed, the benefits to podcasting in Education, and examples of podcasts. I am a beginner at podcasting, so the various lists that Judy Scharf includes on this site was very helpful to me.

Project #9a Timetoast

Project #8 Group Podcast

Blog Assignment 4

Don’t teach your kids this stuff. Please? By: Scott McLeod
Dr. Scott McLeod is an Associate Professor at Iowa State University in the Educational Administration program. Also, he is the Director of the UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education (CASTLE). He is also recognized as one of the leading academic experts in the nation on K-12 school technology leadership issues. In his blog post, he makes good arguments about how students are learning to read and write differently than how it was taught before there were more advances in technology. What he says about pen and paper is true; it’s not going anywhere. He assumes a lot about what the kids will do, but he does not provide any valid sources of if this occurs with the majority of kids. It also seems as if he is completely against any form of technology from the way he speaks about the different formats of it. Another thing is that he says to not let the parents and educators teach them all of the different things on the internet, but he is going against what he said by allowing his kids to do this themselves.

The iSchool Initiative
At the beginning of the video, the student starts off by introducing the problem of budget cuts at his high school, and then says that he has a solution to the problem. He argues that the iSchool program, which will be held on the iTouch platform, is a better option to sitting in a classroom and having teachers. He gives different examples of applications on the iTouch that could be used such as Chemical Touch, World Wiki, Star Walk, Classics and Formulae. He argues that these different applications could easily replace texts in school and save natural resources.
He provides mainly positives that help his argument of the iSchool being a better alternative. He appeals to the going green movement and encourages people that this will be much better overall. My main reactions to this are that he has obviously done his research. To know about what the entire program would ensue, and the possibilities of making it easier can easily appeal to a general audience. Overall, I believe that this sounds like a great program, but it all seems too impersonal. There would barely be any interaction to a teacher, and in some cases it is better to have a teacher to explain specific situations.


The Lost Generation
I was surprised when I first saw this video. It brought about a good point. There are many people that doubt what will happen in the current era will stay true in the next. The way that this video was set up, was to show that even if you say something, it you go back and say what you meant backwards, it has a different and possibly more promising future than what it was forward. Basically, you want to think of what things will be said in the future about the past, then about what is said in the past about the future.


Jennifer Chambers and Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir
My first reaction to the video was “Wow.” I really could not believe that none of the people in the virtual choir had ever met before. Their voices just blended so well together, that I thought they had to at least know each other before hand. It’s just astonishing that you can take people that have never met, put them together, and make such a beautiful song. This is an amazing way to get people to interact with others that share the same interest as them somewhere else in the world.

Teaching in the 21st Century
I feel that some of the arguments that are made in the video show how the roles of teachers have changed from givers of information to something different. According to the video, they are merely “filters” for information. I do not believe that is necessarily true. With the way that technology is advancing so fast, there will always be something new that the students will not know what to do with it. In the way that I see it, there will always be something for a teacher to inform their students about. Another thing is that students don’t know everything. They will need teachers to inform them of what they do not know about which they will need later on in life. What it means to teach in the 21st Century is to provide information and skills to our students that they will carry with them throughout their life.

My Sentence Movie

Presentation Project #5

C4T #1 Summary Post

The first teacher that I was assigned to was Mrs. Ann Carnevale and her blog Bit’s ‘n Bytes.


In her post titled "Exciting News and New Resources," Mrs. Carnevale tells of the Write on project.  She informs about the program and what the details about it are.  The Write on project is used to "expand writing skills while utilizing 21st Century learning tools for communication and collaboration."  This project involves fifteen classes of third, fourth, and fifth grade students. There are three groups of five classes that work together through a wiki to write and illustrate a story.  This program is an amazing idea because it allows the students to get to know about different places, and to meet new people. 


Another program that is mentioned in Mrs. Carnevale's post is a website called CarrotSticks.  This program is created as a way for students to have fun learning math.  On CarrotSticks, there are 25 levels of math games where they can play by themselves or with a friend.  There are many pros and cons listed on her post. Some of the pros and cons are that the challenges are not very long, and you can create your own avatar.  I have looked into CarrotSticks, and it seems like a good website that kids could definitely learn from.

In her second post "How Did You Do That?," Mrs. Carnevale mentions some shortcut keys for anyone that owns a mac.  I personally do not own a mac computer, but I feel that anyone who does have one will benefit from knowing these shortcuts.  I use shortcut keys on my PC on a daily basis, so I like to say that I understand how convenient they are to use.  Also, she includes a video on how mac users can use the trackpad effectively.  I watched the video and it was very informative and gave many examples for how the trackpad can be used.

Blog Assignment 3

Michael Wesh: A Vision of Students Today
My college experience is very similar to what they have put forth in this video. The facts about facebook, and the time spent online have been very true with me. It is surprising to me that most students bring their laptops to class and do not work on class assignments during the time that they have available. I am just shocked at how much time we spend doing so many other things in life that when we look back on it all; we realize how much time we have wasted.
In my opinion, there is not really anything to add to this video. It covers about every topic and technology that is mainly used today. When I first started college, I thought that I would do nothing but study, go to class, and do the best that I could do. Within my first semester, I realized that what I had hoped for would not come to be so easily. Some students in college today cannot balance their free time with school, and it is such a shame how time is wasted.


"It's Not About the Technology" by Kelly Hines
Mrs. Hines makes some good points in her article. If the teachers are not teaching the students in a way that they can understand what is being told to them, then the students have not been taught anything. Unless teachers are interested in learning about the different technologies and programs available, what is the point of standing up in front of a classroom and not understanding their students? If teachers walk into their classroom with an open mind, they can learn so much from their students.
“Teachers who customize the learning experiences of their students to involve critical thinking and problem solving are doing their students a greater favor than those who misuse technology as a means of facilitating learning.” This quote shows that technology can be used to our advantage, but unless we understand how to use it, it is useless. Different technologies can be used in classrooms, and can be used as a way for both student and teacher to learn how it is to be used.


Karl Fisch: Is It Okay to Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?
“If a teacher today is not technologically literate - and is unwilling to make the effort to learn more - it's equivalent to a teacher 30 years ago who didn't know how to read and write.” This quote gives a good point on if teachers should be technologically literate. In my opinion, it is better to at least have some technology literacy then none. Technologies such as computers that have internet are useful, and it is beneficial to learn how to use this source to the best of our ability.
Fisch brings up a good point about if we are not literate ourselves, how can we go in front of a class and teach them how to use those technologies. What he says makes sense. It makes no sense to go in front of a class and teach something that you know nothing about. The more technologically literate a teacher is, the easier it is for the teacher to instruct their students on how to use that technology.


Gary Hayes Social Media Count
Just seeing all of the numbers increasing as such a rate shocked me when I first saw the counter. This makes me think about how many people are using technology and the internet every day and every second. We are advancing so much in the development of different technologies, and it makes it easier for us. If we are advancing this fast, this makes me wonder how am I going to be able to teach my students. Will I not know all of the information that I need to teach them, or will I be able to keep up with the changing of the technology advances?