Reflection #6

It was great being able to explore all the different tools to create my own podcast.  I have always heard about podcast, but was never really sure about them; now I love the idea of being able to use podcasts.  I think podcast can change the way we work, teach and learn a great deal. 
If you work in corporate America you could use this tool to reach all your clients across the globe or even if you are a local business you could use it as a way to communicate to your staff, especially if you are away on business, sick, etc. 

Using it as a teacher is a great idea too, you could make podcast for your class if you know you might be out for a training or vacation; so that way you do not miss any opportunity to teach your students something new.  We all know that every day in school is vital to the students learning.  You could also, use it in your blog site for parent communication; maybe to show the parents what the students have done, or the students could develop one to show off their work.  It’s a good line of communication to keep parents up to date and to get to know you better.  It is also a great tool to use, because our students a digital learners and it would be a fun way for them to learn, it would catch their attention, because it is something new and fresh. 

I think what is preventing such a change is schools are not up to date on having very many computers in the classroom, a lot of families do not have a computer at home, and a lot of people are not computer savvy.  Also, a lot of schools do not have the resources or funding to keep the computers up to date with the ever changing world.

If I could wave a magic wand and change anything about my comment above, I would make sure all students had access to be able to use a computer, maybe even having their own.  Making sure there is a way to help keep computers and programs up to date.  Also, to make it easy for people, who do not know how to use the different technology out there ; to make it easier for them to understand the programs and computers.

A link to my podcast is below:

http://www.screencast.com/t/E79Ls2dOIq

Week 5 Reflection

1^st Part MAPping

Growing up and using the internet in High School and on, we were always told to watch out for bogus information on the web, but it is unbelievable how much is actually out on the web.  We were never shown how to search to see if the site was a credible source, but becoming a teacher and seeing all the new ideas out for the students to verify and make sure that their site or source is credible is very amazing.

I’m going to start checking the web address, the resources for example, www.easywhois.com for credible author written sites and use www.archive.org to view the history of the website.  I am also going to encourage my peers and friends to use the same sites and resources to verify what they have found online.

I thought I was confident in most of the information I’ve used in the past, but after doing this research, I don’t think I am too comfortable to even imagine what wasn’t true and what might have been true. 

I think if we fail to teach our students the key to make accurate searches online and finding the right answer, we are leaving ourselves as teachers to fail our students.  They might not trust what we are teaching them.

2^nd Part-Delicious Website

I love the idea to be able to use a website to save all my favorites to and having others is able to use what I have found.  There are so many times that I might be working on another computer or on my phone and wanted to refer back to a sight I had bookmarked and I can’t or even telling a friend or co-worker about a certain site and not remember the name of it. 

I know once I become a teacher I am going to be using this website like crazy and I am definitely going to share it with my friends too.

My delicious site is:  delicious.com/melissa.love60

Week 4 Reflection

After reading the article, Electronic Portfolios as Digital Stories of Deep Learning, I find what I relate to is assessment for learning (AFL) should be part of effecting planning of teaching and learning and that AFL should focus on how students learn.  I picked these two because if you use electronic portfolios as a way to assess and you do it correctly it can help you gain the knowledge of what the student is learning over a period of time.  It also, makes it a lot more interesting to the student. 

I believe using portfolio assessments has great potential, because you can keep track of what the students have learned and if they aren’t grasping what is being taught then you know what you need to expand on as a teacher.  Also, it can be a tool that is used over the period of the student’s education and it is great tools to be able to show/let them have access to parents to see what is going on in the classroom and assessing the students’ needs a little bit more accurately.

I believe creating my portfolio will help me keep track of what I learned at the beginning of the semester and see what I have gained throughout the semester.  I think it is a great tool to show off what technology I have been able to use and what I know about it.

My Portfolio website is:   https://sites.google.com/site/melissalovefortechnology

Reflection #3

Week 3 Reflection

I was very excited to be able to create a wiki.  I have never worked with a wiki before and I am really loving the idea about being about to communicate with a large group of people at once, instead of sending out mass e-mails and hoping everyone gets the information and not fearing that someone got left out. 

 

The wiki I created was to get different ideas from my classmates on how they use technology in the classroom and what technology is already present that they already use.  I have implemented the idea and sent it to everyone that is on our class wiki, so hopefully I will get some great information.

An advantage I see using wiki's would be, corresponding with my students on book reports, neat websites they have found to possibly implement in our class and making announcements.  Also, maybe posing a weekly question for the students to go and answer.  The disadvantage would be anyone can delete things and add whatever they want.

 

I do believe wiki's have the advantage to engage the students, especially if you have an assignment online for them to go and respond too.  Another way, is it would give the students an advantage to maybe ask questions to their peers or you as a teacher, when the student is starting their homework or project during the evening hours or weekend.  

 

A link to my wiki is:   http://melissaloveandtechnology.wikispaces.com