sooooo.. I can still podt?!?
Monday, December 31, 2012
Sunday, June 7, 2009
umm.
Well I've forgotten all about this blog, now haven't I? I'm on to the next courses and keep forgetting to check in with this. I am more addicted to technology than when I started this course; I just went to New Orleans and Virginia and documented the entire trip via my blackberry as well as maked sure my status was updated..
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Wikis
On to the next adventure in technology, Wikis. I knew nothing this technology prior to this class. I had heard of Wikipedia and had been on it, but only got the "pedia" part of it, which I guess I'm not alone in, seeing that Will Richardson points this out in his book. I still couldn't wrap my head around what to do with them in the classroom until I read his chapter on wikis; now I can't wait to be apart of it! I really love the idea of the discussion piece to wikis, allowing students to see people working out the details, and deciding what information needs to be included. What a fantastic opportunity to teach children about collaboration! Now if only I could get the song out of my head...wiki wiki wiki, come on you '80s people, Dance!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
More on Weblogs
I have continued to play with blogging and have found myself really enjoying it! I keep checking to see if anyone has visited or commented on my blog. One of my blogs has had hits from all over the world! My last entry on this blog mentioned the book I'm reading about technology in the classroom, and the author commented on it...how exciting is that?? I can remember being thrilled over the concept of a pen pal when I was little; how exciting it was to get a response to your letter from a complete stranger from a different part of the world. Blogging makes that process so much easier to obtain! Waiting for a letter took forever and unfortunately most pen pal experiences ended after only a few correspondences. Blogging is far more accessible and therefore more likely to be "kept up". I believe this is a great tool for the classroom and my only real concern is with the safety of using the Internet with children. Continuing to read Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms by Will Richardson has helped to reassure me that it's possible, so long as you are careful about security. We need to be sure safety measures are in place before introducing this technology to our students. Clearly we will need to invest the time to thoroughly examine any site or program before using it with our students. Equally as important,we will need to have conversations with them regarding safety so that they are aware of potential dangers.
We can't however, let fear stop us from utilizing this resource. We hear over & over in news horror stories of preditors on the internet harming our children, however there are far more stories of students making a positive impact using the internet to connect and improve their world. On his blog Mr. Richardson speaks about an 11 yr old girl who is connecting the world and teaching us all about community involvement. When used responsibly, the possibilities for positive impacts are endless.
We can't however, let fear stop us from utilizing this resource. We hear over & over in news horror stories of preditors on the internet harming our children, however there are far more stories of students making a positive impact using the internet to connect and improve their world. On his blog Mr. Richardson speaks about an 11 yr old girl who is connecting the world and teaching us all about community involvement. When used responsibly, the possibilities for positive impacts are endless.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Thoughts on Blogging
Our text, Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms has provided several new insights on the role of technology in education. The text discusses how far we’ve come and how much further we’re about to go, our technology is constantly increasing, growing and advancing. Today’s students look at the internet as a way of life, they expect to be connected and have the world at their fingertips, and we as educators need to realize this and find a way to harness the power of technology to use it as an educational tool for our 21st Century learners.
As I stated in my very first post to this blog, I must admit, prior to this class I wasn’t really sure what blogging was all about. I thought of it as nothing more than on-line journaling and didn’t see much purpose in it. After reading how our text’s author Will Richardson has used blogging in his classroom and watching videos showcasing examples of other educator’s use of them in our class, I now see what a powerful educational tool it can be, and realize its’ uses are seemingly endless. I can see using them to connect my students to the world around them. It was great seeing how a teacher in Canada had used blogging to connect her 1st graders with 1st graders in New Zealand, enabling the students to learn about different cultures, environments, and experiences. It makes the world smaller and more accessible. I was really impressed with Will Richardson’s project with his students while reading the book The Secret Life of Bees. He not only set up a blog to discuss the book, he was able to contact the author, Sue Monk Kidd, and she agreed to participate in the blog. I was so excited about this! Students were able to ask questions about what they read directly to the author! She wrote about her thoughts while writing the book, discussed what her motivation was and how she created the characters. What a fabulous opportunity for his students, and an absolutely incredible learning experience, for all involved as the author stated that the student’s questions showed her a new way of looking at her own work.
Mr. Richardson points out that we as educators need to be learners as well. It is important for us to know and understand technology and he states that it wasn’t until he fully understood how technology could facilitate global connections and conversations about his own passions, how they could help him create powerful learning networks and communities, that he was able to see what needed to change in his curriculum and teaching (Richardson, 2008). He expands on this thought in his article Footprints in the Digital Age, where he states that educators need to understand the potential of social networking for themselves and encourages us to start a Facebook page and explore Twitter. I wholeheartedly agree, and look forward to learning and using more tools as this course progresses.
An article on Businessweek.com, Rethinking Computers in the Classroom, discusses President-elect Barack Obama’s proposal to outfit classrooms with more computers and internet access. The article states that in many schools computers have failed to aid student’s learning and cited problems such as reliance on paper lesson plans that don’t factor in technology and inadequate teacher training. After seeing the potential learning tool computers can be, reading that lack of knowledge on the educator’s part contributed to the failure of past programs serves as a strong motivator for me to learn as much as I can about the tools that are out there. I believe we are doing disservice to our students if we do not learn about technology.
As I stated in my very first post to this blog, I must admit, prior to this class I wasn’t really sure what blogging was all about. I thought of it as nothing more than on-line journaling and didn’t see much purpose in it. After reading how our text’s author Will Richardson has used blogging in his classroom and watching videos showcasing examples of other educator’s use of them in our class, I now see what a powerful educational tool it can be, and realize its’ uses are seemingly endless. I can see using them to connect my students to the world around them. It was great seeing how a teacher in Canada had used blogging to connect her 1st graders with 1st graders in New Zealand, enabling the students to learn about different cultures, environments, and experiences. It makes the world smaller and more accessible. I was really impressed with Will Richardson’s project with his students while reading the book The Secret Life of Bees. He not only set up a blog to discuss the book, he was able to contact the author, Sue Monk Kidd, and she agreed to participate in the blog. I was so excited about this! Students were able to ask questions about what they read directly to the author! She wrote about her thoughts while writing the book, discussed what her motivation was and how she created the characters. What a fabulous opportunity for his students, and an absolutely incredible learning experience, for all involved as the author stated that the student’s questions showed her a new way of looking at her own work.
Mr. Richardson points out that we as educators need to be learners as well. It is important for us to know and understand technology and he states that it wasn’t until he fully understood how technology could facilitate global connections and conversations about his own passions, how they could help him create powerful learning networks and communities, that he was able to see what needed to change in his curriculum and teaching (Richardson, 2008). He expands on this thought in his article Footprints in the Digital Age, where he states that educators need to understand the potential of social networking for themselves and encourages us to start a Facebook page and explore Twitter. I wholeheartedly agree, and look forward to learning and using more tools as this course progresses.
An article on Businessweek.com, Rethinking Computers in the Classroom, discusses President-elect Barack Obama’s proposal to outfit classrooms with more computers and internet access. The article states that in many schools computers have failed to aid student’s learning and cited problems such as reliance on paper lesson plans that don’t factor in technology and inadequate teacher training. After seeing the potential learning tool computers can be, reading that lack of knowledge on the educator’s part contributed to the failure of past programs serves as a strong motivator for me to learn as much as I can about the tools that are out there. I believe we are doing disservice to our students if we do not learn about technology.
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