Blog #6

The school website that I visited was University of Maine, a school my brother is going to attend next fall. When I first arrive at the website there was a nice picture front and center of happy students smiling. This is good because it automatically gives you a good feeling about the place. The website allows a large amount of access without having log-in privileges. This is because the website is designed to give information to prospective students and their families. There is information on admission, majors, campus events, and research. The website is designed well because it is aesthetically pleasing and it gives large amount of information in an organized way. The website even offers quick links for easy searching.

When I am a teacher I envision myself using technology to aid students that have certain disabilities. Technology can be extremely helpful in special education and can help the students make big improvements. Technology can help teachers stay organized. When you are organized, your day seems to flow better, even if it doesn’t go completely according to plan. When you are organized you have more time to give to your students directly. This will also help to keep stress levels lower.

The Web Evaluation Wiki was slightly difficult to use, but it seemed like a useful resource for schools and educators to connect with parents and students. I liked that the Wiki was collaborative. This allowed for different opinions and interesting ideas which helped our group come up with good evaluation questions. We didn’t like the aspect of the website that erased part of what we had done, even after we saved our work. We learned that it is best to work from a word document and email files back and forth. A future career in education require teachers to know how to use these sites. It is important to learn how to use them now, before we are teaching.

Blog #5

Blackboard LMS (learning management system) is a very useful technology in the classroom. It is necessary to have access to the internet in order to use this tool. So students and teachers would need access to a computer, and or a device that can access the school’s network. A "peripheral" is an external device that can be plugged into a variety of ports of a storage device. So there is no periphery equipment necessary when using the LMS Blackboard technology. 

The link to Blackboard is: (https://campus.fsu.edu/webapps/portal/execute/tabs/tabAction?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1)

Blackboard LMS learning management system is a very useful technology in the classroom. This tool is very helpful because it allows easy retrieval of grade information and assignment submission. The professors and teachers can easily communicate with students in the announcement section of Blackboard and this helps with student achievement. Students have access each of their classes information in one place which is very helpful when it comes to organization. 

Another way Blackboard is a great educational program is because it can easily connect you to your school email account. This allows the students to be more connected with their classes and events on campus. Teachers can also assign students quizes through blackboard. This not only saves paper, but also allows the student to tackle the quiz at a time that works for them, while allowing them to see their score instantly after they finish. 

I enjoyed making the concept map. It reminded me of studying for my high school U.S History class. I made lots of study guides in high school, but I have never made a concept map as a study tool. I may start using them now because I liked how it is easy to see all of the material at once. Getting to see the big picture and the whole event would be helpful for students who are visual learners. I also enjoyed adding the clip art graphics to the map. Next time I think I could improve the map by connecting more of the points together. There are some less related things could be connected that I didn’t see the first time. For example, under the Allies box where it says "The U.S.A" could have been connected directly to the date the U.S.A become involved in the war.

Blog #4

           The standard I found is under the category “Body of Knowledge SC.K.E: Earth and Space Science. Big Idea / Supporting Idea 5 SC.K.E.5: Earth in Space and Time. The specific standard is SC.K.E.5.In.3: Identify the Sun in the daytime and SC.K.E.5.In.4: Identify the Moon in the sky at night. A web based resource that would be helpful for these kindergarten students would be an upbeat musical video they could watch on YouTube: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MM01YJF8xT4) This educational tooI would be classified as a graphic. I might assign the students to watch the video at home or we could watch it as a class and then discuss it afterward. I would incorporate the video into the lesson so that the students could picture what we were talking about.

The internet has been my main source of information in general, as well as school work throughout my education. I always start with a google search with the key words I am looking for. My high school teacher taught us how to site our sources and which sources were not as reliable for doing professional research. The podcast reminded me of the importance of URLs. The podcast said that some important criteria for evaluating websites are the authors credentials, discovering bias if there is any, material content, level appropriate for the age group for your students. I believe I am normally aware of bias when reading anything on the internet.

I learned how to use google scholar through FSU and how to find articles through the library. I thought this assignment was fun. I especially liked looking for the Ukrainian newspaper. I had never searched for a foreign newspaper before. I found it a little harder to find recent technology articles published after 2010.

Here are some web hunt ideas:
1. You want your students find and memorize a poem written this year 2016. Can you find a website that they could use to find a poem to memorize?
2. You want your students to make collages of current important inspirational figures. Can you find an article explain how to collage?
3. A big science test is coming up and you want your students to prepare by making flashcards online. Can you find a free website that allows students to do this?

Blog #3

The ELA technology standard I feel the most prepared to teach is the second grade category under multimedia literature. The standard is described as understanding words and illustrations in print and digital text to understand characters, setting, and plots. I really enjoy reading and I would be able to explain how to break down the characteristics in a story whether it is digital or print. I would need much more preparation to teach “comparing reading story/drama/poem to audio, video, or live version”. I don’t have as much experience with comparing and connecting poetry to live or audio stories.

 The technology software and applications I would like to use includes video programs, class discussions, and email.

 As a student I know that it is nice to sit and watch a video for a few minutes and “take a break” from listening auditorially. Visual learners will be grateful for the change in learning style and It can give the teacher a quick break to get ready for the next thing. I would also like to teach students to create their own videos with application like Movie maker or iMovie.

 One application that looked helpful was “Class discussions”. A teacher can send out an assignment or question and the students can respond from home or during class. Their responses can be seen by peers and graded by the teachers. These programs can also be used anonymously if the teacher wants to take a class poll.

Email is also an important method of communication. It is most beneficial when a student and teacher want to have a one on one conversation without the whole class. It can be helpful for students to stay in contact with their professor or other classmates if they miss some school days.

When it comes to digital citizenship the book said “The focus of citizenship instruction, whether in the real or virtual world, must emphasize ethical behavior, civility, and good communication skills.” Some of the concepts I would address with my students would be proper web etiquette or “netiquette”. They would learn how to be respectful and polite when interacting online. The book gave examples like “refrain from flaming or shouting (using all caps), avoid sarcasm, off color remark, and hateful comment.” I also think it would be interesting to research the uses of emoticons in texting and other forms of online communication. We use them to share our feeling with others when they can’t hear us or see our faces. I would put a strong emphasis on the dangers of cyberbullying and make sure my students know how to report incidences properly.

While making my newsletter I discovered how to make columns and boarders. This is something I have never done in Word before. It was also cool to make the hyperlinks. I had the most trouble trying to format the images to be exactly where I wanted them. I also couldn’t figure out if there was a simpler way to make a dotted line that didn’t involve hitting the dash bar thirty times :) The assignment seemed extremely relevant to a future career in teaching. Although I won’t be working in a classroom, I will still be interacting with students and their parents. This assignment seems like something I will be creating in the future.