The End

This is the last week of school and today was the last day of INST 4010. We got into groups and did a role play of a scenario given to us. It was very difficult to make it thirty minutes, but we had a good discussion overall, on and off the camera. The discussion was a good one to talk about and was realistic so it provided a good experience and point of discussion for the future.

This class has been a good experience and has opened up and provided me with so many resources that will be wonderful and beneficial to have in a future classroom. I've learned so much and feel more confident and competent with technology. I look forward to implementing much of what I've learned into my own classroom someday and I hope to continue in my learning and education about new things that can further the education of my students. :)

A visit to a classroom at Edith Bowen started out the class today. We were able to see first-hand, how technology can and is used in a classroom. This short field trip gave me some great ideas that I want to use in my own classroom someday.

After returning to the computer lab, we completed some evaluation forms for various websites. Of all the forms, the WWW Cyberguide form was the one I liked the most. Some of these forms were hard to fill out because they only asked for an author of the website. Most of the websites I looked at were sponsored by a group or were set up with copyright; they didn't have specific authors. The forms also seemed too general. The websites we had to look up were more specific and so it was hard to decide whether they met the criteria or not.

Because I was filling out the forms, I noticed more about the credibility of the website or who it was created by. I also looked more at the purpose of the website. Rather than just assuming that it was there to provide me with resources and information, I looked to see if I had to sign up for something or purchase some program in order to reap the full benefits of that website or program.

For me, using a website evaluation made me look for important things that I don't normally notice. When using websites for lesson plans and information in teaching, it's vital that the information be valid and updated. It would also be valuable to use an evaluation in determining if a website would be appropriate for my students to have access to and to use. If a website is too distracting from its purpose or if it's difficult to navigate, I don't want my students to have to struggle through it. A website evaluation process is valuable because it helps me pay attention to the validity of the site and its resources or authors.

I wouldn't necessarily fill out an evaluation form for every website that I ever visit. They would be beneficial once in awhile, but I would use the criteria from them for every website I use for information or resources. When using a website for those two reasons, I want to make sure that the information I am gaining from it is correct, valid, and updated.

Instructional Architect

In class today, we learned about the resources available through Instructional Architect. I think this is an incredible and valuable resource for use in a classroom. Activities can be set up by the teacher and students can then access them. It's great that these activities are previewed and set up by the teacher. There are so many activities and links available for use. They span across all subject areas and are a great way to integrate technology in the classroom. It's nice how you can create your own folders with the activities you want and can add additional ones from outside sources so that you can find them easier. This is a tool I plan to use in my future classroom because I believe it will be beneficial for myself, and even more so for my students. I'm excited that it is a major technology integration idea, too.

Today we learned about inquiry-based learning and the resources available on http://webqueset.org. I really like the concept of inquiry-based learning. It appears to be similar to project-approach learning in that it encourages students to consciously think and be actively engaged in their learning and in the classroom. Students take an active role in the concepts they are learning by hands-on opportunities and experiences. This website is a great resource that allows technology integration into the classroom. I'm excited by the resources available on the webquest website. There are some great ideas that would be great for use in a classroom. The only criticisms I would give are that the website was a little challenging to navigate at first and some of the links wouldn't open up or work properly. Most of these projects take time to complete but, learning is not something that should always happen instantaneously. Overall though, this is a website I would love to use in my classroom and that I think would provide my students with a different kind of interactive learning.

In class today we learned about and set up accounts with Science Sim. I'm not big into the whole virtual world/avatar stuff but, it was interesting to learn about nonetheless. We were informed that this program or ones like it would be useful in a classroom for a few different reasons. It can give some students (probably junior high or high school) a chance to practice with landscape design. For younger students in elementary school, a teacher could use this for a virtual field trip or to provide students with an opportunity to role play and portray a variety of characters in a different environment or world.

Because I knew very little, it was difficult to figure out how to move and control my avatar. I still can only do basic movements...sometimes. If I was to use this in my future classroom, I would definitely have to practice and explore with the program and features more. This isn't something that I would have ever thought of to use in the classroom but I can see and appreciate the opportunities it can provide and open up for students.

Online Surveys

Today we learned about posting and sending online surveys. I never cease to be amazed and awestruck at how much there is that can be used on Google and with email. The online surveys were pretty simple to create and send out. It was easy to look up the results too. This would be so helpful to use in a classroom. Surveys could easily be sent out to students or even to parents for various purposes. It would be a lot easier to receive the results too. You wouldn't have to worry about the paper getting lost or parents not taking the time to fill it out. I think that they would be more willing and able to fill it out and get it back to you when it's sent to them through email. Sending out these online surveys would also be a great way to get feedback on your teaching or instruction from parents or students. I really like this feature and know that it will be very beneficial for me in my future classroom.

(I posted the site for my survey on my previous post.)

Here is the link to my survey. :)

https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dENhV2lUcHU5czhZVTYtV09nQm5MM2c6MA

Learning about how to use and fill out a spread sheet was very insightful and is something that I definitely appreciate learning. Knowing how to keep track of students' scores and grades will be much easier using a spreadsheet like we learned about today. The formula thing gave me a little trouble and wasn't working the way I think it should have been. It's a useful tool once you can figure it out though. :) This is especially true for me when math and I are not always the best of friends. I never really knew how to use a spreadsheet before so I'm glad that I am more familiar with it now.

I think the online/live audience polling is spectacular! It's a fabulous way to integrate technology into the classroom and to get instant and live feedback. We actually do it in one of my other classes and it's so fun to see the results almost instantly. This would be a great thing to use in the classroom and I think it's definitely something that students would enjoy being able to do and participate in.

Word Processing and Google Docs

So I had no idea there were other applications like that in my email account. I think that is so cool that group projects can be viewed and worked on online like that with the Google Docs! That makes it so much easier to work together and it eliminates a lot of the hassle of sending, editing, and the missed communication that come from doing a project or report online. It was confusing for me at first because of the difficulty in trying to copy or download a picture for the animal report. It worked out in the end though and I was able to get a picture to come up! :)

Learning about editing with Word Processing was interesting and helpful too. I've had assignments that have been corrected and edited by my instructor and then returned like that but I never really put much thought into the program or how they were able to make their revisions seen like that. This would be great way to correct papers and give feedback and it doesn't use up as much paper with multiple drafts and final copies. All of this can be cut down to only handing in a hard copy once at the end. The "track changes" is a very helpful tool and I'm excited that I know what it is and how to use it! :)

I love so many of the Olympic commercials. Most are even funnier than ones during the Super Bowl! Haha :)

Kids make it all that much funnier and cuter too!

Technology resources from the YETC

Wow! I had no idea there were so many different resources available that can be used in the classroom! Technology can be integrated into practically every area of the curriculum and can be a very useful tool for teachers. Many of the websites we were shown can make teaching and grading easier for some activities without diminishing their importance or effectiveness. I really like the spellingcity.com website for this reason. Students can learn and practice their words and then take a test on them all in one spot. It's graded immediately which will be a big help to me as the teacher.

I'm also excited about storyonline.net. I think it's important to read stories aloud and it makes for a nice change having people other than the teacher read the story all the time. It can be fun and motivating for students to see actors and celebrities that they know reading and enjoying the same stories that they do too.

The wide range of resources we were shown on the YETC website and through teacherlink will be very helpful and beneficial to me as a teacher. It's very encouraging and motivating to see that I can quickly and individually create worksheets for each of my students. I can also download various programs and movie clips that I can use for different classroom medias. There is so much available and it's all so informative and helpful. It makes me wonder why more teachers don't use these resources. Technology is a huge part of the world now and it's vital to know how to use them and to be able to beneficially incorporate technology into the classroom.

This is a practice post. I hope it works! :)