Pen Pal Itinerary

With an interest in introducing people to our island, students are certain that they are excited to showcase some of our island's greatest sites. Plotting out an itinerary, therefore, provides students the opportunity to identify specific locations around our island using GoogleEarth and develop mastery in an assortment of skills ranging from organization to technological literacy. This narrative may be applied to interdisciplinary studies such as math, social studies, English, and science. It also encourages multiple intelligences to fulfill the assignment requirements like kinesthetic, logical, spatial, linguistic, etc. Overall, the assignment affords students to take pride in our island's beauty and illustrate their skill mastery in technological information.

Wiki idea: Che'lus

My ninth grade students are quite familiar with Wikis and its uses in gathering information about a wide range of topics. When I asked them what they thought was a good idea for a Wikis concept, most of them decided to give information about our team name in our Freshman Academy program. They showed genuine interest in trying to construct a meaningful Wikis that made sense to them, they had total control over, and was personalized. They wanted to get involved with the project by contributing information about their lives at JFKHS. Ownership is their primary concern and this topic will certainly give them an advantage over everyone else in terms of information they know about a topic.

Reference #2 Google Docs and Spreadsheets

Google Docs and spreadsheets is a tool that effectively invites collaborative engagement. One of the most important things for teachers to consider with group assignments is the medium in which members will contribute input. With this tool, group leaders can assign segments for each member to complete. Collaborative efforts thus can be seen through the use of this tool by periodically checking on a document. Once the document is under construction, teachers can easily access and note the progress. Sometimes students will procrastinate on the assignment. However, with access to projects, teachers can assess and make calls to what measures need to be taken for completion. Students and teachers benefit from this tool because it allows teachers accessibility and students the opportunity to work at their own pace without having to rely on one person to hold all the information.

Reference #1 Famundo

After reviewing 30 Boxes and Famundo, I have concluded that Famundo is the way to go. Initially, I thought that 30 Boxes was most appealing to the eye as well as to the student population, since it boasted its ability to connect to the infamous MySpace.com site. However, I have seen the light.

Famundo provides a multiple formatting systems capable of connecting families and organizations all together. It has an array of features beginning with an interactive calendar, shopping list, and reminders. It offers essential information to both parties and members have the ability to add to information or send messages to one another. The site is also one that does not require a downloaded version. It is simply accessible on the Internet just the way we check our emails. The program also parental control capabilities that ensure information transversed is not offending or inappropriate. Famundo also connects to email addresses like Yahoo.com and Microsoft Outlook Express. It is a beneficial tool that teachers can use to remind and message students outside of class as well as on the weekends.

Wikis makes waves!

Since the onset of this course, I had the feeling of (TIO) Technology Information Overload. However, once I set out to organize the assortment of tools for education into categories for teaching, I realized that my lessons can be more effective if I apply the appropriate tool.

As Victoria Davis stated, wikis serves as a "toolbelt" for organizing information in manageable formats that elicit a multitude of instructional philosophies, such as making connections with other materials based on relevance and applicability. She also addresses the educational aspect of the program that directs students to collaboratively engage in information presentations on specific topics.

According to Robert Brooks, Ph.D. nurturing student interest and having them produce information that they can call their own is vital in the learning process. He states that students have reported that teachers pay no mind to student-led discussions and topics. In order to bridge that gap, students must be able to take ownership of their work and align lessons accordingly.

Conceptualizing the Internet

Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach is a well-versed powerhouse in educational technology. Her attainments in the various levels of education help establish validity in her views on student learning and technology. Although her population of students in Alabama vary from ours, her drive is to provide pedagogical strategies with technology for low-income students. In addressing this particular group of students, it is obvious that instructional variables will make it harder to measure student achievement. But the overall message is to afford exposure so that they will enter the techno-world with some schemata.

Another aspect of Sheryl's interview that I found rather interesting was the metaphorical marriage of passion and rigor. This concept of bringing together student motivation and challenging tasks calls to mind a conference I attended a few weeks ago regarding Breaking Ranks II conducted by the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP). NASSP focused on rigor as a very important aspect of student achievement. According to their theory, students who are challenged are motivated to learn. The segment on academic rigor highlights Sheryl's concept of challenging ALL students. Thus, providing students with technological tools, specifically students who do not have a home computer, will grant motivate them and challenge them to accomplish their tasks.

MOODLE me now!

This learning management system (LMS) makes life easier for teachers and students. The current trend in online-learning relies heavily on a program that is efficient, user-friendly, and appropriate for certain grade levels. As a student who has used the system in some courses, I know of its convenience and effectiveness. However, as an instructor, the set up can be quite time consuming. While manipulating MOODLE for my course outline, I found that it is not as simple as it appears. For instance, creating a quiz requires a far more extensive selection of formats than a tangible one. But with time and dedication, teachers can easily create effective courses for all students that will enhance collaboration, produce effective technological users, and facilitate coursework effectively.

I liked most of the applications on MOODLE such as creating online references, marking topics, and setting deadlines. It is effective for the most part, especially with providing important resources for each assignment. Movies, a syllabus, and more links are things that are easily added for viewer convenience. As a student, I am always wondering about my grade for an assignment and expectations for each one. So it is imperative that students have access to their grades, rubrics and resources regularly. With this system, a both students and teachers benefit.

At Idaho State University, MOODLE has been evaluated in detail. They have stamped it as their new system of choice to replace their current LMS. Visit this website to find out more about MOODLE and the results of their evaluation.
http://www.isu.edu/itrc/resources/moodle-info.shtml#final

Blogging is for Bloggers

Why should teachers consider blogging? Richardson says that blogging gives kids an opportunity to publish very easily and helps students discover a particular passion and connectivity to others who share the in same. Although blogging is a handy tool for teaching, not all his students explore the transitive implementation of the blog.

My students are generally techno-savvy. Most of them have either engaged in a blog or probably even run their very own. But from an educational and pedagogical standpoint, blogging is more informal interaction than anything else - at least for them. Like Richardson, I too want students to utilize the tool in an educational setting, perhaps engaging in a conversation with an expert for a project or sharing ideas about an assignment. In actuality, blogs evoke the three fundamental skills of learning: reading, writing, and communicating. So despite the lack of formality of blogs, learning is nevertheless taking place and should be recognized for its achievement - regardless of how unprofessional it may appear. Besides, teachers should be able to introduce the tool and gear students toward proper facilitation for class purposes.

Check out this website for tips on blogging with caution. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves that blogging welcomes all viewers and that there are some things about ourselves we do not want leaking into the web. http://www.eff.org/Privacy/Anonymity/blog-anonymously.php

This website by Dave Taylor brings up a good point about the potential of virtual bullies, with audience in tow, who ridicule and harass other students' work as if in a physical setting. Although blogs can easily be deleted at the author's convenience, the chance of humiliation is still uncontrollable. I think even virtual harassment can have a very harmful effect on a student's emotional bubble. http://www.askdavetaylor.com/are_there_dangers_in_having_high_school_students_blog.html

MediaSmarts - Kids and the Multimedia World

According to the short film "Media Smarts: Kids Learn How to Navigate the Multimedia World," the average American spends about 6 1/2 hours in front of a screen such as a television, video game, or computer screen. At first, this statistic appeared quite drastic considering that some people spend less time asleep. So I asked my ninth grade students, who commonly announce their fascination with Multimedia, what they thought about that number. Surprisingly, most consider the data to support only the amount of time they spend on just one form of media - such as the computer. Investigating student use of technological equipment thus establishes a foundation of interest and motivation. I believe that students need to be engaged in a multitude of activities unlike the former thought of teacher-centered approaches. Also, if students take ownership of their work, they will succeed in more areas because they are actively participating rather than taking the backseat. Although proper equipment is always a questionable commodity, the basic tools should be accessed some time during a student's academic career. According to the journal The Future of Children, technology can enhance how children learn by supporting four fundamental characteristics of learning: (1) active engagement, (2) participation in groups, (3) frequent interaction and feedback, and (4) connections to real-world contexts. With these elements of learning, teachers can develop an array of tools that elicit each with the millions of resources found on the web. Most of the time the teacher is on the hunt for new material, but with the effectiveness of search engines and critical procedures for finding particular information, teachers will be able to allow students the freedom of exploration and self-discovery. As described in the short film, teaching students to use the media as a source of information gathering and dissemination promotes individualistic student perspectives and not simply the teacher's. This enables students to take pride in their views and portray what they perceive as important to them - something that previous teaching practices took away from learning.

Trial

Testing, testing 123!