The End...

Alas... the end of the semester has arrived. I have seen many semesters end (no joke, I think that is my 11th or 12 semester of college) and this one truly is different. It is, after all, my final semester as a college undergrad.
I chose to take this course on instructional technologies after attending a seminar by Alan November. At that seminar, Mr. November showed everyone who was there useful tools such as Google Docs, and Skype. I found these tools interesting, but what fascinated me and inspired me to enroll in this course were programs such as EPals, which create global bridges between students all over the world. I thought about how amazing it would be if students were exposed to multiple cultures right there in the classroom long before they entered a world based on a global economy, and thus I decided to study technology in the classroom.
Although this program did not focus on programs such as EPals, or even programs that give teachers and students a place to create podcasts or videos, it did provide me with tools that make me internet savvy enough to seek out and enroll in these programs independtly from my college course.
To address the difference between who I was at the beginning, and who I am now, I feel that I must repeat the word, "independt" from the previous paragraph. The class provided me with not only a variety of technical tools to use in the classroom, but the latest research on learning and student development to be applied in my lesson planning. By taking information from this course and applying it to my lesson, then reflecting and adjusting, I did come to a better understanding of what a teacher does. I feel confident now that I can apply these lessons to my own classroom, without any guidance, and honostly do OK.
I am not naieve to think that I have learned everthing that I need to know to be a teacher (that would make a horrible teacher) but I do believe that thanks to this class I have an understanding of the new "digital native" mind, and I understand what a teacher must do to be accessable to the new kind of student.
Because I took this class at the same time I was student teaching I was saw two ends of an education spectrum. On one end (this class) I witnessed what is new and hip in education, and on the other end I saw what is classic in education. I've thought and thought about the two, and I have come to the conclusion that both deserve a place in education. I believe that my next great challange as a teacher is to bridge a gap between the two, like the use of technology will bridge the gap between students and higher levels of thinking that will extend outside of their classroom.
I never needed this class to graduate, but I have no regrets taking it. I consider this course to have been one great feat towards my own classroom.

Power Point or Database

Which is more difficult to create? The webquest... by a landslide. Technology-wise, I did not find the power point too hard to create, but then again I have been using Word for years, and I am very familiar with the setup. I think that this helped out a lot.
On second thought though- I honostly believe that if I had never seen a computer before, I would have still found the power point to be more user friendly, and less tedious of a task. I think that biggest reason for this is because the power point is created as a presentation, and the webquest is an activity. Even though the the power point must still incorporate some kind of activity, there is a reletively limited amount that you can have students do. A webquest requires activities all the way through, and with activities comes the need for specific directions. I find that being explicit with directions is one of the most difficult aspects of teaching. Eveyone interprets things differently, and it is nearly impossible to ensure understanding amongst every student
Another problem with a webquest is that you are reliant on your sources to by accessible. If for some reason a link becomes dead, or the internet goes down... so does the activity.
Nevertheless, with all of the above said, I do feel that the Webquest is a better tool for teaching, because it requires students to be more active in their learning. Whereas a powerpoint tends to be more passive... no matter how active the presenter tries to make it.

Database

When thinking of databases there is one thought that comes immediatly to mind: hmmm..... I really do not know what I think of these; but perhaps that is my own fault for not researching them enough, or not seeing a wide enough variety of samples. The first site that was posted in our assignments folder (www.teach-nology.com) brought up a very provacative point, when it asked how effective it would be if students could see there grades posted on a database at anytime. The students at the school that I am in now have a program like this, in which they and their parents can access that student's grades at anytime, and it is very effective because the parents are always aware of how their children are doing. In regards to using a database as part of assignment, I guess that would depend on the assignment and the database being used.
Overall, I think that databases are great tools, but I think that they must be carefully planned and designed. They will not be effective if students have not been given proper instruction, or if they do not full understand what it is that database is showing them.
I would really have to think long and hard about how I could implement a database in what I am teaching now. (We are reading Poe) But could see them being a great tool for history and science. With that said, I am not so much afraid of databases as I am indifferent. But, like I said, that may just because I did not research them in as much depth as I could have.

My Webquest in Complete...Again

Once again, I did some heavy revision of my Webquest. I cut out the stuff I though was too redundant, and revised the task so it was not so large. I am happy with the result. And as I embark on teaching a unit on Huck Finn, I am very happy that I found the sources I did; they are going to come in very handy.
About making the rubric. I tried to make my rubric mirror my instructions for the Webquest, so that students wouldn't be shocked when they saw how they would be graded. I also tried to eliminate any vague terms. Because we all know that a student's definition of the word "creative" is probably different than the teacher's.
The work for this week was not nearly as overwhelming to me. I think that three weeks is a good amount of time to create and reflect on what makes a good Webquest.

The Webquest is Complete!

I did some very heavy revision to my Webquest, and I (think) that I am happy with the result. Making the task clear was kind of tough, as was finding adequate sources, but I think I did it. My instructions were a bit redundent at times, but if there is anything I have learned from teaching is that you must repeat, and repeat again, the directions because at any given time there is a student (or four) in their own world.
In my final product, the students create a trial. This a a far cry more active than the analysis papers I had them write before. I think that this was a step towards the direction of improvement, because the best lessons are those that have students up and out of their seats. I enjoyed creating all the "essential questions" for students to keep in mind. I think that these questions will be a good way to ensure students' understanding, and I was surprised at how natural creating them was.
The area I think that I am lacking the most is with the descriptions of courtroom procedings. I know that I could have been more clear here, but one thing about teaching juniors is that it is good to force them to make their own inferences- so long as the teacher is there to guide them.
I'm not sure if I will actually use this Webquest when I teach Huck Finn next month. I would like to, but one thing about Webquests is that you cannot always guarentee computer access, and it is not always possible to use computers in class.
I look forward to other's feedback on my final product.

Creating a Webquest

Creating a Webquest, though kind of tedious, was not as bad as I thought it would be. Because I am doing my student teaching right now it was not too hard for to come up with a topic. In just another month I will beginning Huck Finn with a junior honors class, and I thought that a Webquest would be a great way to get the students used to doing research as part of a book analysis. I did have a little trouble though coming up with the exact assignment. I thought it would be neat if I had them do little projects in the form of "adventures", but I chose to do essays, because many of these students are concerned with having to write college essays.
I like my assignment, and though it is kind of vague, I think that it is enough for juniors; as hard as it is, I think they need to take more initiative in the form of independent research. I think that my sources may be weak though, and I plan to do a little more research myself for better ones.
Until then...

Digital immigrant who migrated at an early age

After reading Marc Prensk's compelling article Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, I am concluding that while I was born a digital immigrant, I migrated into the technology world at a young enough age so that my "accent ", for the most part, has deteriorated.
While I do still read my morning news in paper form, and listen to the radio (traits of the digital immigrant), I also utilize Google for further information and listen to podcasts regularly. I don't have cable, but I do have high speed Internet, so I watch the news and my favorite ABC shows over the Internet (traits of the digital native).
I have noticed however that my proneness towards technology and computers has enlarged over time. When I first began college it was always my inclination to write papers out by hand first, then type them on the computer. And even though I eventually became accustomed to typing first drafts, I would always print them for editing. Gradually, I have ceased to need to print things, but I am not sure if that was a good idea because I find that the drafts that were edited on paper on better than those that I looked over and corrected on a screen.
Even if I often prefer to have info in paper form, I am comfortable with computers and technology. Whenever I have a question about something, or I just become curious, the first thing (and probably the only thing) I do is "Google it". My mind is trained for web research, and for this reason I am not scared of creating technology based activities such as Webquests, or using Wiki pages in the class. I actually prefer them over traditional learning.
Because I have been around computers most of my life, I have also learned a thing or two about troubleshooting, and I think that this kind of knowledge will be helpful when I am teacher to keep lessons running smoothly should I run into inevitable techno-difficulty.
www.twitchspeed.com/site/prensky

My experiences with education in the classroom

I think that I must be of the last generation of students to not receive formal computer education in the elementary grades. When I was young my exposure to the computer was limited to that computer that sits in the back of the classroom, but is never turned on. Since my own elementary years though, I have witnessed an increase in the use of education in the classroom. For example, I worked as a para in a kindergarten classroom. In that classroom there were four computers with specific learning software, that was part of their work stations exercise. The students did nothing on the actual web. At this moment, my experience with tech in the classroom is limited to a computer screen on an LCD projector, and a system of grading and attendance that is done electronically.
The other way in which I have experienced technology in the field of education is through in-service meetings. This year, a man named Alan November came to a meeting and spoke about the online word document Google Docs, which actually works just the same as a wiki. Epals which is a place where teachers can collaborate with other teachers around the world on lessons and ideas. Students in entire classrooms can even chat through epals. Screencast is a place where teachers and students can post their own videos, podcasts, and power point presentations. And Skype, which is an online phone system. Teachers can use it to telephone anyone around the world to talk, through the computer, to the class. I think that you would have to add some sort of microphone to your computer. You'll notice that I am very vague about these things, and that is because I have not actually had my own personal experience with them. I have only seen them presented in an auditorium.
So how does all of the affect how I think about the changes technology is making in the classroom? Well, on a mere psychological level, I think that getting students involved with technology makes them feel sophisticated. Imagine the joy of having the responsibility of creating something with a very valuable piece of equipment. I think technology makes students feel more privileged in the classroom, and probably more engaged.
I also think that technology makes the classroom more fun. Who wants to stare at a black board all day, and write on plain white paper when we can look at everything in bright, flashy, come to life images on a computer? Technology is also exposing students to the big world outside of their classroom. A student who may never step foot in India can suddenly chat with an Indian classroom. This is a great way of building tolerance and acceptance of different cultures, and that right there has the potential to change the world.
For teachers, technology is changing everything they do. They have to learn how to use Internet based grading systems that allow students and parents to see grades and comments at all times. This will definitely make teachers be more accountable for what they do.
In all, technology is changing how much students and teachers are all on display. Things such as wiki make everybody's work visual, in the way that sharing emails with students in India does. But this does not have to threatening to the authors. Instead, technology can be used to reflect on and advance the ideas of students and teachers.

Of course I didn't completely follow directions...

I was just looking over the requirements for our blog, and I realized that I did not answer any of the questions that I was sopposed to. So here goes:

I decided to take this class after seeing a U-Tube video in which a four year old girl knew how to use an iphone. It occured to me that technology is the future of education, and I do not want to get behind before it is too late. I began to imagine what the four year old will be able to do by middle school if she can operate an iphone now!
I expect that this class will offer me an introduction to ways of incorporating computers and the internet into everyday lesson plans. I also hope to get some of the technology lingo down so that I will not look like a fool in front of my students.
When I first looked through the course material I had a little bit of anxiety about whether or not a person was required to have some sort of computer super knowledge in order to do well in the course. But after navigating a little, it all seems to be pretty straight forward. So no real anxiety thus far...

I also had a chance to look over the Internet research tutorial, and I was impressed the most with the information about copyright. When teaching, it feels like anything is fair game; after all, who would want to infringe on a student's right to information. Well, this is not exactly the case. Apparently we are only allowed to use 5% of an entire work, or one article, or one chapter- it depending on what is least. We are only allowed the least. My question is, what happens if you have taken all you are allowed, but still need more? Are you expected to write to some company? or the author?

Welcome to my blog!

Hello Everyone!
Welcome to my very first blog!
A bit about myself- I am a senior at Johnson State College, and I am currently doing my student teaching at Enosburg High School; 11th grade English. JSC is my fourth college. Prior to this, I attended college in Arizona, the University of Maine at Orono, and I graduated from CCV in 2006. So many colleges, but always a major in Education. Oh, and I am native to St. Johnsbury, VT.
I enrolled in this course after attending an in-service meeting at Enosburg, where my eyes were awakened to the necessity of understanding technology in education. I look forward to this class, and possibly even applying what I learn to my classroom experience.