Sunday, November 25, 2012
Final Project Progress
For our final project we have chosen to make a video that will help future EDM 310 students. We have gotten a script wrote out and had a meeting on our Google docs and threw using Google talk.We all added and edited our own little touches to the project and this week we are having a meeting at regular class time to work on it.
Blog Post# 13
A vision of students today
This short video summarizes some of the most important characteristics of students today. It shows the viewer how they learn, what they need to learn, their goals, aspiration’s, dreams for the future, what their lives are going to be like, and what changes they will occur in their lifetime. As a teacher or a university president I would think that the message of this video is that we need to prepare our students the best way we can for what life is going to throw at them now and in the future. We as teachers should teach our students how to use the tools of technology properly because that’s what our future in education is going to be. We already use tools such as blogs, PLN’s, Skype, and Twitter. We must also understand that students have busy lives, a perfect example of this was when during the video when the students were holding up the signs that said I spend 3hrs online a day and I spent 2hrs a day on the phone eventually when it was all added up before the day was over the students were spending 26.5hrs a day doing stuff, At the end of this they said now that’s multitasking.
My biggest question is as teachers why should our students have to do all of this multitasking and be this loaded down to learn. I don’t think they should be honestly. Studies have shown that multitasking is bad for your memory. For example, Imagine this: You get off the couch to get a snack from the refrigerator, you're interrupted by a phone call, and arrive in the kitchen with no clue why you're there. But why is this? This common scenario illustrates how even the simplest forms of multitasking can lead to glitches in the moment-to-moment processing of information. This is known as working memory, says Adam Gazzaley, MD, an associate professor of neurology, physiology, and psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco. So why at teacher would we want to make our students multitask when it is detrimental to one thing as teachers we are trying to expand our students memory, knowledge, and how to utilize that knowledge we are instilling in them. I think we as teachers shouldn’t focus on the quantity of work we are expecting from our students but the quality of the work that they do.
My biggest question is as teachers why should our students have to do all of this multitasking and be this loaded down to learn. I don’t think they should be honestly. Studies have shown that multitasking is bad for your memory. For example, Imagine this: You get off the couch to get a snack from the refrigerator, you're interrupted by a phone call, and arrive in the kitchen with no clue why you're there. But why is this? This common scenario illustrates how even the simplest forms of multitasking can lead to glitches in the moment-to-moment processing of information. This is known as working memory, says Adam Gazzaley, MD, an associate professor of neurology, physiology, and psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco. So why at teacher would we want to make our students multitask when it is detrimental to one thing as teachers we are trying to expand our students memory, knowledge, and how to utilize that knowledge we are instilling in them. I think we as teachers shouldn’t focus on the quantity of work we are expecting from our students but the quality of the work that they do.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Blog Post #12
Instructions
watch the Pittsburg State Technology in P.E. video. After watching the video wright in your blog what you think about some of the tools they use and your opinion on the use of technology in P.E.. Then watch the Importance of Physical Education video. After this give your openion on what other skills and concepts students learn from Physical Education and besides physical health what other type of health does a student get from a P.E. Class?
Physical Education
After watching the Pittsburg State Technology in PE video found the use of the flip video recorder to be one of the most interesting tools they used. It give instantaneous video feedback to the students this feedback is something the students could use to improve on their skills and exercise routines. It is a lot like a football player watching practice film to see what he did right and what he needs to improve on. With the Flip video recorder students will be able to record their P.E. activity and upload it so that they can watch it and improve on their skills or even to just keep track of exercises that they really enjoyed for future reference. Along with that the students could also upload their videos to a blog site or even you tube to share their progress with the world where people can encourage them to keep working hard. In the Importance of Physical Education video I think a lot of people in today’s society don’t give physical education enough credit in its importance. A lot of people think mandatory Physical Education is a waste of academic time in school but I couldn’t disagree more.
In the Importance of Physical Education video you see that P.E. is way more than doing strenuous activity’s seen in movies and I personally think the way some movies portray P.E. is wrong in so many ways, Physical Education not only helps get students in shape and improve their physical capabilities and appearance but it also allows the students to build confidence, communication skills, teamwork, and relationships with peers. These skills can be transferred over to the class room for example if a student’s goal in P.E. is to do 25 pull ups at the end of the semester. When the student reaches his goal of 25 pull ups a change happens in this student’s mentality not only towards his physical capabilities but his mental capabilities as well. This change that occurs is a boost in self confidence and self-esteem that can be transferred to the way the student takes on his academic work with a more positive I can do attitude. The boost in self-confidence can make a major change in a student’s personal life and may even allow the students to try things they would have never thought about doing all because they took a Physical Education class..
Students Gain mental health also from P.E. some people believe that all students gain out of physical education is all physical but they are wrong part of being health is more than being fit it also has to do with your mental state as well. This means that if someone is physically fit but has low self-esteem or depression then they are not truly fit. True fitness and health is complete when the body and mind both being in great health. Physical Education is a great what to get gain great physical capabilities and mental states.
watch the Pittsburg State Technology in P.E. video. After watching the video wright in your blog what you think about some of the tools they use and your opinion on the use of technology in P.E.. Then watch the Importance of Physical Education video. After this give your openion on what other skills and concepts students learn from Physical Education and besides physical health what other type of health does a student get from a P.E. Class?
Physical Education
After watching the Pittsburg State Technology in PE video found the use of the flip video recorder to be one of the most interesting tools they used. It give instantaneous video feedback to the students this feedback is something the students could use to improve on their skills and exercise routines. It is a lot like a football player watching practice film to see what he did right and what he needs to improve on. With the Flip video recorder students will be able to record their P.E. activity and upload it so that they can watch it and improve on their skills or even to just keep track of exercises that they really enjoyed for future reference. Along with that the students could also upload their videos to a blog site or even you tube to share their progress with the world where people can encourage them to keep working hard. In the Importance of Physical Education video I think a lot of people in today’s society don’t give physical education enough credit in its importance. A lot of people think mandatory Physical Education is a waste of academic time in school but I couldn’t disagree more.
In the Importance of Physical Education video you see that P.E. is way more than doing strenuous activity’s seen in movies and I personally think the way some movies portray P.E. is wrong in so many ways, Physical Education not only helps get students in shape and improve their physical capabilities and appearance but it also allows the students to build confidence, communication skills, teamwork, and relationships with peers. These skills can be transferred over to the class room for example if a student’s goal in P.E. is to do 25 pull ups at the end of the semester. When the student reaches his goal of 25 pull ups a change happens in this student’s mentality not only towards his physical capabilities but his mental capabilities as well. This change that occurs is a boost in self confidence and self-esteem that can be transferred to the way the student takes on his academic work with a more positive I can do attitude. The boost in self-confidence can make a major change in a student’s personal life and may even allow the students to try things they would have never thought about doing all because they took a Physical Education class..
Students Gain mental health also from P.E. some people believe that all students gain out of physical education is all physical but they are wrong part of being health is more than being fit it also has to do with your mental state as well. This means that if someone is physically fit but has low self-esteem or depression then they are not truly fit. True fitness and health is complete when the body and mind both being in great health. Physical Education is a great what to get gain great physical capabilities and mental states.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
C4K summary of October
Eyes on Ireland
On my C4K for October one of them was about Ireland that I Found to be very cool and quite interesting. It was interesting because it contained great information about Ireland. Some of the information that was written that I found interesting is that Ireland became independent from the U.K. in 1921 by treaty. Michael D. Higgins is the chief of state of the Republic, and the head of government is Enda Kenny. I also found out that Ireland was a republic or parliamentary democracy with a bicameral Parliament, and that the Senate was chosen witch I found to be pretty cool. In terms of religion, over 90% of the population of the Republic is Catholic. Of course, religion has played a huge role in the history of this country. I also found out that Ireland has two languages the two are Irish or Gaelic and English. Most of the populations who speak Irish are located along the west coast, although Irish is taught in school. Another fun fact is that obesity rate in Ireland is 13% compared to 35.7% in the U.S. I really enjoyed reading this blog it had a lot of great information and was very insightful.
On my C4K for October one of them was about Ireland that I Found to be very cool and quite interesting. It was interesting because it contained great information about Ireland. Some of the information that was written that I found interesting is that Ireland became independent from the U.K. in 1921 by treaty. Michael D. Higgins is the chief of state of the Republic, and the head of government is Enda Kenny. I also found out that Ireland was a republic or parliamentary democracy with a bicameral Parliament, and that the Senate was chosen witch I found to be pretty cool. In terms of religion, over 90% of the population of the Republic is Catholic. Of course, religion has played a huge role in the history of this country. I also found out that Ireland has two languages the two are Irish or Gaelic and English. Most of the populations who speak Irish are located along the west coast, although Irish is taught in school. Another fun fact is that obesity rate in Ireland is 13% compared to 35.7% in the U.S. I really enjoyed reading this blog it had a lot of great information and was very insightful.
C4T#3 Post #2
Blended Learning
Reading Mr. Brian Greenberg's blog post on Blend My Learning I learned that they are not in the business of advertising or promoting blended learning they prefer to focus on educators and they have the educators write about the real ups and downs of personalized learning. I think this is key because every educator experiences deffrent obstacles throughout their carers. But in this blog he posted this video is good enough to post.
The reason he posted this video is because it dose a good job of showing what the future of education could look like. They show us a lot of the elements of good blended learning that shows using tech tools in meaningful ways that gets students to truly interact with each other through projects. Some of these projects could be done by using Skype and other multimedia tools. This is what he called “bridging” the gap between home and school. Although this video is way out of reality and is far beyond the budgets of most schools especially in mobile and Baldwin county. In his blog he says yes their are some things that this video does not do and he gives us an example witch is that it still shows many of the same traditional elements of school were there are 27 students to a class with a teacher in front of the class standing in front of the whiteboard. This video was ment to focuses more on technology aspect rather than on school redesign. This video Mr. Greenberg said" is a compelling vision of what blended learning could start to look like, Now let’s make it happen." I really enjoyed reading this blog and watching the video it was very compelling and got me pumped about blended learning.
Reading Mr. Brian Greenberg's blog post on Blend My Learning I learned that they are not in the business of advertising or promoting blended learning they prefer to focus on educators and they have the educators write about the real ups and downs of personalized learning. I think this is key because every educator experiences deffrent obstacles throughout their carers. But in this blog he posted this video is good enough to post.
The reason he posted this video is because it dose a good job of showing what the future of education could look like. They show us a lot of the elements of good blended learning that shows using tech tools in meaningful ways that gets students to truly interact with each other through projects. Some of these projects could be done by using Skype and other multimedia tools. This is what he called “bridging” the gap between home and school. Although this video is way out of reality and is far beyond the budgets of most schools especially in mobile and Baldwin county. In his blog he says yes their are some things that this video does not do and he gives us an example witch is that it still shows many of the same traditional elements of school were there are 27 students to a class with a teacher in front of the class standing in front of the whiteboard. This video was ment to focuses more on technology aspect rather than on school redesign. This video Mr. Greenberg said" is a compelling vision of what blended learning could start to look like, Now let’s make it happen." I really enjoyed reading this blog and watching the video it was very compelling and got me pumped about blended learning.
Blog Post #11
Ms. Cassidy’s Classroom Approach
After watching the video of Ms. Cassidy’s class and then the Skype between here and Dr. Strange
one of the main points I got out of it besides what tools and strategies I am going to use in my classroom is the fact that as teachers We cannot teach this generation and generations to come the same way we taught 20 years ago, or even 5 years ago. This is because the world has changed so we as teachers must change the way we teach and what tools we use to teach our students. I have decided that in my classroom I will defiantly use student blogs as one of my tools for learning. I chose student blogs because it allows the students work to be seen not only by the teacher but it allows the whole world to not only sees their work but they can also leave comments to the students on what they think about their work. This would make it very exciting for a first grader or any student to have someone commenting on their work. Blogs are also a good way for a student’s parents to see how well their children are doing in school.
Some of the impediments you might encounter using this in your classroom could be that parents do not want their children on the internet posting work and putting their self out there. I would address this by using the same strategy that Ms. Cassidy’s used by sending home a letter the first day of school explaining what exactly we will be doing online and that the will not be using full name and that they could even make up a screen name such “M_shadows48 class blog ”. This would possibly make the parents feel better about their child’s safety online for internet bullying and possible creepers.
Blogs also help improve the student’s ability to writing and communicate. The communication skills that they will learn are more than just talking on the phone or messaging on Facebook but they will learn how to talk and communicate through Skype and Twitter. This means that with something as simple as blogging students will improve their writing, collaboration, and communication skills. If teachers do not take advantage of the tools online then we are not only handicapping our students but ourselves as well because technology is here to stay so we need to use it to our advantage.
After watching the video of Ms. Cassidy’s class and then the Skype between here and Dr. Strange
Some of the impediments you might encounter using this in your classroom could be that parents do not want their children on the internet posting work and putting their self out there. I would address this by using the same strategy that Ms. Cassidy’s used by sending home a letter the first day of school explaining what exactly we will be doing online and that the will not be using full name and that they could even make up a screen name such “M_shadows48 class blog ”. This would possibly make the parents feel better about their child’s safety online for internet bullying and possible creepers.
Blogs also help improve the student’s ability to writing and communicate. The communication skills that they will learn are more than just talking on the phone or messaging on Facebook but they will learn how to talk and communicate through Skype and Twitter. This means that with something as simple as blogging students will improve their writing, collaboration, and communication skills. If teachers do not take advantage of the tools online then we are not only handicapping our students but ourselves as well because technology is here to stay so we need to use it to our advantage.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Special Assignment
World Were Grades Will be Left Behind
In the USA Today article A World Where Grades Will Be Left Behind by Mary Beth Marklein you as a reader are given a glimpse of this version of education and learning were it will be free and available to anyone who wants it. In this class room no one is late for class oh and students wont have to worry about failing a class because it is not an option, and a lesson in this classroom resembles something very similar to Angry Birds. The point they are trying to reach is that as a teacher "You want learning to be as much fun as it is to play a video game," says Sebastian Thrun, who is a Google vice president. Thrun founded his own education company called Udacity. He founded this company in January after teaching a free online artificial-intelligence course were he had more than 160,000 students. After this exposure to this new profound experience he announced he could no longer teach in a traditional classroom. He stated at the Digital-Life-Design conference "I feel like there's a red pill and a blue pill, you can take the blue pill and go back to your classroom and lecture your 20 students. But I've taken the red pill, and I've seen Wonderland."
In this classroom with no windows producers create cool special effects, and there are video cameras that capture zoomed in shots of an instructor's hand. as the instructors hand writes diagrams and figures on a white board. This is just one example of what Thurn and his staff of twenty something are creating. In these courses such as making math matter In which the student rescues the Apollo 13 astronauts, stop the spread of epidemics, and fight forest fires. Thurn's Udacity is not the first or last high-tech experiment seeking to change and revolutionize education. Education is an industry that many critics agree is stuck in the last century and in dire need of major change. How will they start this change in education well Thurn's friend Sal Kahn has inspired a growing number of schools across the country to "flip" their classrooms. This is were the students study videos at night and finish their homework in the classroom. So the big question that is ask in this article is how will education look in 30 years? Technology is enabling educators to personalize education and scale it up were classes will involve a sequence of increasingly more challenging exercises and quizzes aimed at helping students master a particular concept or skill.
These classes might be composed of tens,hundreds, if not thousands of students. In this system there will be no more one size fits all. "Education will respond to you." Thurn says. Thurn calls "the failure of the education system" will not exist. In this style of education students will take as much or as little time as they need to demonstrate mastery of a particular skill or concept so it is all dependent on how much the student wants to learn. What makes it even better is the education will be free. Thrun says he's not planning a funeral for brick-and-mortar schools and colleges. He gave us a example of the movie industry were he showed us that as the film-making industry grew more sophisticated it did not end end the live theater. Instead movies became a different form of entertainment. One that could reach the masses at relatively low prices. After reading this article I have to agree with the author I think education needs a change and that if people what to learn then it is available to them without having to worry about failing the class because it all depends on how much the student want to take from the lessons.
My Thoughts
As a future teacher I honestly love to have a flipped classroom were I can be there to use my time in the classroom to actually help the students with their problems instead of lecturing them all day. I feel that if you allow the students to watch a a video that is a visual and a auditory way of learning that they will be able to understand the information better than they would if a teacher is just lecturing in the same monotone voice all day. I also think the no grades thing is a good Idea because most of the time a student only retains information for the upcoming test then forgets about 80% of the material. If the students what to learn they will learn and if they don't then they will wont. I believe that you get out of something with as much work as you put into it. so if you study hard and good you will learn the material if you dont study you wont learn nothing. I really enjoyed this assignment I found it rather insightful on were education is at and were it is heading in the future.
In the USA Today article A World Where Grades Will Be Left Behind by Mary Beth Marklein you as a reader are given a glimpse of this version of education and learning were it will be free and available to anyone who wants it. In this class room no one is late for class oh and students wont have to worry about failing a class because it is not an option, and a lesson in this classroom resembles something very similar to Angry Birds. The point they are trying to reach is that as a teacher "You want learning to be as much fun as it is to play a video game," says Sebastian Thrun, who is a Google vice president. Thrun founded his own education company called Udacity. He founded this company in January after teaching a free online artificial-intelligence course were he had more than 160,000 students. After this exposure to this new profound experience he announced he could no longer teach in a traditional classroom. He stated at the Digital-Life-Design conference "I feel like there's a red pill and a blue pill, you can take the blue pill and go back to your classroom and lecture your 20 students. But I've taken the red pill, and I've seen Wonderland."
In this classroom with no windows producers create cool special effects, and there are video cameras that capture zoomed in shots of an instructor's hand. as the instructors hand writes diagrams and figures on a white board. This is just one example of what Thurn and his staff of twenty something are creating. In these courses such as making math matter In which the student rescues the Apollo 13 astronauts, stop the spread of epidemics, and fight forest fires. Thurn's Udacity is not the first or last high-tech experiment seeking to change and revolutionize education. Education is an industry that many critics agree is stuck in the last century and in dire need of major change. How will they start this change in education well Thurn's friend Sal Kahn has inspired a growing number of schools across the country to "flip" their classrooms. This is were the students study videos at night and finish their homework in the classroom. So the big question that is ask in this article is how will education look in 30 years? Technology is enabling educators to personalize education and scale it up were classes will involve a sequence of increasingly more challenging exercises and quizzes aimed at helping students master a particular concept or skill.
These classes might be composed of tens,hundreds, if not thousands of students. In this system there will be no more one size fits all. "Education will respond to you." Thurn says. Thurn calls "the failure of the education system" will not exist. In this style of education students will take as much or as little time as they need to demonstrate mastery of a particular skill or concept so it is all dependent on how much the student wants to learn. What makes it even better is the education will be free. Thrun says he's not planning a funeral for brick-and-mortar schools and colleges. He gave us a example of the movie industry were he showed us that as the film-making industry grew more sophisticated it did not end end the live theater. Instead movies became a different form of entertainment. One that could reach the masses at relatively low prices. After reading this article I have to agree with the author I think education needs a change and that if people what to learn then it is available to them without having to worry about failing the class because it all depends on how much the student want to take from the lessons.
My Thoughts
As a future teacher I honestly love to have a flipped classroom were I can be there to use my time in the classroom to actually help the students with their problems instead of lecturing them all day. I feel that if you allow the students to watch a a video that is a visual and a auditory way of learning that they will be able to understand the information better than they would if a teacher is just lecturing in the same monotone voice all day. I also think the no grades thing is a good Idea because most of the time a student only retains information for the upcoming test then forgets about 80% of the material. If the students what to learn they will learn and if they don't then they will wont. I believe that you get out of something with as much work as you put into it. so if you study hard and good you will learn the material if you dont study you wont learn nothing. I really enjoyed this assignment I found it rather insightful on were education is at and were it is heading in the future.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Blog Post# 10
Student Teacher Picture
This Picture depicts a Teacher and a student who are comparing themselves to pencils. The teacher is compared a Papermate Pencil who cost less but breaks all the time and the student is compared to a Ticonderoga Pencil that is the most expensive purchase a hipster will make. So what does this mean I myself honestly have no clue. I myself have never had a problem with Papermate Pencils and as for a Ticonderoga Pencil I have never even heard of one till this assignment, I literally had to look it up on Google. If I had to guess what this picture is depicting is that sometimes buying the most expensive things dose not make it any better that the other ones especially when it comes to things such as pencils.
Why Were Your Kids Playing Games
Reading this blog post made me think that Mr. Spencer is saying it does not matter what your teaching style is as long as the kids are engaged and learning. In this case Mr. Spencer's technique was making the students be in a mock factory were they made photos of themselves. I think this is a good technique because if you just say" Ok Kids lets draw our pictures." Some of the students would not pay attention but if you say" Class we are gonna pretend like we are in a factory were we make pictures of ourselves."
That will spark an interest in the students who would not go for just drawing their own picture. I think it makes it more interesting and allows the students to use their imagination while completing their task. Not only do they get the work done but they also learn the information not just memorize it and forget it later on down the road after their test is over. I think the principal of the school just does not understand how the teacher is getting the kids to learn and is just one of those dull boring type of teachers who did not care if the students learned as long as they passed thier test.
Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff
I really like the way he put this post together it reminds me a lot of this commercial.
The reason this blog post reminds me of this commercial is because this is how a lot of parents and some teachers feel about computers and all the new equipment. They all say it will never catch on and that the old school ways are the way to go. well I think that what Dr. McLeod thinks that we should use all of this new technology things such as twitter, personal learning networks, and Skype. I agree with him 100%, I think that we need to use all of these new tools for education and I feel that as long as the students are engaged and learning not just going through the motions of their work.
Teachers who are ignoring the fact that this is how people are learning and communicating with one another now and will in the future. I don't think that we should just completely abandon the old school way of teaching but we have to integrate the two so that the students still know how to do things such as hand written assignments and math assignments done by hand. I think we should have a good balance between the two.
This Picture depicts a Teacher and a student who are comparing themselves to pencils. The teacher is compared a Papermate Pencil who cost less but breaks all the time and the student is compared to a Ticonderoga Pencil that is the most expensive purchase a hipster will make. So what does this mean I myself honestly have no clue. I myself have never had a problem with Papermate Pencils and as for a Ticonderoga Pencil I have never even heard of one till this assignment, I literally had to look it up on Google. If I had to guess what this picture is depicting is that sometimes buying the most expensive things dose not make it any better that the other ones especially when it comes to things such as pencils.
Why Were Your Kids Playing Games
Reading this blog post made me think that Mr. Spencer is saying it does not matter what your teaching style is as long as the kids are engaged and learning. In this case Mr. Spencer's technique was making the students be in a mock factory were they made photos of themselves. I think this is a good technique because if you just say" Ok Kids lets draw our pictures." Some of the students would not pay attention but if you say" Class we are gonna pretend like we are in a factory were we make pictures of ourselves."
That will spark an interest in the students who would not go for just drawing their own picture. I think it makes it more interesting and allows the students to use their imagination while completing their task. Not only do they get the work done but they also learn the information not just memorize it and forget it later on down the road after their test is over. I think the principal of the school just does not understand how the teacher is getting the kids to learn and is just one of those dull boring type of teachers who did not care if the students learned as long as they passed thier test.
Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff
I really like the way he put this post together it reminds me a lot of this commercial.
The reason this blog post reminds me of this commercial is because this is how a lot of parents and some teachers feel about computers and all the new equipment. They all say it will never catch on and that the old school ways are the way to go. well I think that what Dr. McLeod thinks that we should use all of this new technology things such as twitter, personal learning networks, and Skype. I agree with him 100%, I think that we need to use all of these new tools for education and I feel that as long as the students are engaged and learning not just going through the motions of their work.
Teachers who are ignoring the fact that this is how people are learning and communicating with one another now and will in the future. I don't think that we should just completely abandon the old school way of teaching but we have to integrate the two so that the students still know how to do things such as hand written assignments and math assignments done by hand. I think we should have a good balance between the two.
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