Flicr Project (Missed day due to birth of child)

This flicr project is on the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's. Below are photos from the net thatI have found that really bring faces to the movement. These photos tell you a story without any words.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7839674@N02/show/

Chapter 6 Reflections

Like everything in this class, I learned something new when I read this chapter. I had no idea what Furl was. As i read about it, I learned that it was a useful tool for the teacher. Furl is basically something that a teacher can use to store sites and any other thing that interests you. As a teacher, I could create a free Furl. net site and store many sites that can be useful for my teaching and their learning. Another thing that I like about this site is that you can also search other Furl sites for ideas and sites. This can be useful to see how others are using it, in the field that you are interested in. I have learned something else that I did not know about, and hopefully I can use it when I become a teacher.

Letter to principal RE: Web Quests

Mr. Principal,
This letter is in reference to the use of Web Quests in my classroom. At first, I was very apprehensive in even creating one. But after I saw some examples of some Web Quests, and their applications within the classroom, I became a supporter of the use of this technology within my class. Web Quests gives the students a place to be a specific as they want on a certain topic. This can be used in my class because as a U.S. History teacher, I can give my students a topic and or event, and they can run with their ideas in a creation of a Web Quest.
This can be a useful strategy because it gives the child a forum to be as open as possible on their topic. For example, I'm creating a Unit based on the Cold War. In this unit, we will be discussing various events and topics within the Cold War spectrum. Instead of having each student do the same project on one topic, I can give various projects within the same unit. What I mean, I can give different groups different topics within the Cold War and have them each do a different Web Quests. This will give them a chance to concentrate on one topic, give extensive detail on that topic, and show off their creative side as well. At the end, We can show off all of the Web quests to the class, in hopes to create a many overview of the entire Cold War.
My example can be varied in ideas and usages of the tool. The truth is,there are Many ways in which Web Quests can be useful within the classroom. I can go on for days telling you reasons after reasons why this is good for my class. But, I give you the opportunity to go on certain Web Quests and research many of the uses yourself. I want to view the certain detail that can be put into these Web Quests. Also, I want you to look at the positives of the technology.
Like any use of technology, there can be some negative aspects of this. Students view this as a nothing assignment and slack off, just like any other assignment. Students could also be encouraged to cheat. But as the teacher, it is my responsibility to review the progress of each Web Quests; making sure that they are taking the project seriously and doing it in a responsible manner. I urge you to open your mind with the use of Web Quests for me and any other teacher in this school. Thank You. BK

Chapter 8 Reactions

Pod casting is another technological medium that I knew nothing about. I hear all the time on NPR and ESPN radio about downloading podcast of their shows, but I never really knew what it was. I assumed it was just bits and pieces of their radio shows. As I read the chapter on Podcast, I found out that there are plenty of other uses for these podcast than just what I first thought. As with any information that I learned new this year, I wanted to the education aspect of this technology. I liked some of the ideas that the book set fourth, as for uses within the classroom. The school that I went to did not have radio station, but I always thought it would have been cool if we did. Besides that, there are even more uses within the classroom. I like the idea about creating oral histories in a social studies class. There can also be interviews and reenactments done as well. This gives the students in a history class many options to implement the use of podcast, and not just for entertainment. I might even think about incorporating podcast in my class.

Article reactions- post for March 5th

Adopt and Adapt

This article details how technological advances have and will help our public and private schools systems; only if we let them. It details old ways of doing things, compared to the new way of doing things. Obviously, the new advances are meant to make it easier on the student and the teacher, but also over a lot more advantages to the student. Instead of talking about the Revolutionary War, a teacher can show a digital movie about it. This example shows how education can be enhanced with the use of new technologies.

One aspect of the article that I can relate to was when they talked about the digital immigrants. They pretty much stated that public schools have always been scared of new technological advances. They have never truly adapted these qualities and because of this, the school system is falling behind the eight ball of technology. I went to High School eight years ago, and we hardly did any thing involving computers; except in my CAD classes. Today, its a whole new world, and these tools can help us further our students education; but only if we as educators adopt and adapt.

Synching up with the iKid

This article starts out going over something that has feared me since I decided to become a teacher; the students over-whelming knowledge of new technology and mine lack of knowledge on the subject. That's why I was excited about this class. I wanted to better my self when it comes to new technology uses. I do not want to feel like my kids are miles over my head. I at least want to be on a level playing Field. I have already gained a lot of useful knowledge in the class that I can use in my teachings, but I know by the time I start to teach, more technological advances will be out there. So for me, its constantly an uphill battle.

I want to use my students knowledge and understanding technology to help me to relate to them more. I want to be able to use certain tools within my classes, and not look like a smuck doing it. In the history department, I have had a lot of professors who are, how do I say, OLD! And it is always amusing to me when they show a video to the class because they struggle with the concept of a VCR or DVD player. Most are extremely smart people, but the new wave VCR's give the loads of struggles. When I start teaching, I don't want to be like some of my professors. I don't want to struggle with something that everyone should be able to pick up on just because I am unfamiliar with it. "The key to teaching is keeping kids involved," says Ryan Ritz."...They like everything being electronic -- it's speaking their language." These sentences from the article speak volumes of what I want to do in my teachings. I want to keep them involved, and using some new tools of technology will help me do that. I hope!

Chapter 4 reaction- Wikis

It's kind of ironic that I had to comment on this chapter when last week I saw a piece on one of the National nightly News about Wikipedia and the affects it has on colleges. In the piece, they mostly went over the negative aspects of the site. They focused on a History class and one professor. The main thing that they were negative about was using the site for research purposes. In history classes, you have to muttle through alot of research, and since wikiepdia is a major site, then it's not far fetched to believe that students use the site. The main thing is if the resources found on the site is accurate. The reporter went into the site itself and showed just how easy it was to change things. She actually added some useless information in place of some information that was accurate. The point was to show the negative aspect of the site.
But what they failed to show, at least I didn't see it because I was at work watching it, was that a few hours later, the stuff she added was probably erased. The book tells that there are plenty of editors out there that combs the wikiepedia website looking for garbage information. It goes on to say that within a few hours, most garbage entries are erased and the truthful things are put back in.
As a future teacher, I would like to use this tool in my classroom. But I realize that I will have to do a lot of research to make sure that the information the students may come across is accurate. Obviously, bad stuff is going to be put on it. But if you make your students aware of these negative things, then they might keep that in mind as they navigate through the website.