Teaching with Wikis. Blogs, Podcasts & More by Kathleen Fitzgibbon Chapter 7 Visual Recording

I am relating this chapter to Chapter 3 "Teaching, Learning, and the Curriculum" in the Williamson book.  Chapter 7 discusses implementing visual recording in the classroom.

This chapter basically gives ideas on how to implement digital cameras, digital moviemaking, and webcabs into lessons and activities.  It gives detailed direction on materials, procedures, ideas for future lessons, and some additional activities that can also be incorporated. 

I really like this book.  I think that it would be a good resource to have for people with limited technological ability.  It will help to give a beginning point for which you can begin to incorporate visual recording into your classroom.  As I would begin to do this I would have ideas on how to use it in a lesson while I was becoming more familiar with it and then as I became more comfortable with doing these things I could come up with ideas on my own.  I chose to look at chapter 7 for this blog but I think that it would be beneficial for me to have because it covers so many of the technologies that would help me to get started with using them in my classroom and not have to try to learn  how to use them and figure out ideas off the top of my head to incorporate the technologies.

Wikis for School Leaders by Stephanie D. Sandifer Chapters 2, 7

I  have related these chapters to chapter 1 in the Williamson book "Technology Operations and Concepts."  As I read these chapters I became more familiar with the Wiki and how some other operating systems work with the Wiki.

Chapter 1 talked about what wiki's were and some of the features and uses for it.  It talked about how anyone can edit a Wiki unless it is restricted to registered users.  It talked about how easy it is to edit a Wiki and how easy they are to use.  It talks about the two types of wikis, public and enterprise, and what the differences and limitations there are to both of them.  It goes open to explain the difference between wikis, google docs, and blogs and how each one can be used.  It gives a good explanation about the strengths of each one and which would be best to use for different purposes you may have.  I read chapter 7 because the end of chapter 1 said that it would talk about other tools that could be used and how they support and extend Wikis.  The tools chapter 7 talked about in relationship to Wiki are Google Docs, Google Spreadsheets and Forms, Google Presentations, Blogs, Twitter, Social Networking, Social Bookmarking, RSS Feed Aggregators, and Live Broadcasting and Web  Conferencing.  There are many ways that Wiki can be useful in the classroom and this talked about all of these different ways that Wiki could be used with these different sources to expand the capabilities of it.

I can see how these tools could be useful in the classroom.  I would have to become much more comfortable with each one before I would want to incorporate them in my own class.  There are so many applications and different combinations that could be used it is a little overwhelming to me to think about trying to learn all of them.  It would definitely be a process that I would have to take on gradually over time.

Curriculum 21 by Heidi Hayes Jacobs Chapter 2 Upgrading the Curriculum

As I read this chapter I related it to Chapter 2 in the Williamson book called, "Planning and Designing Learning Environments and Experiences."  The chapter in Jacobs book deals with helping teachers to upgrade their curriculum to match that of what students experience today.  Technology is a big part of that and so this chapter deals with helping teachers begin this process.

Jacob's suggestion is that they start small and focus on one aspect.  The one aspect she suggests is assessment in the curriculum and this is where they began.  In order to make teachers more comfortable about this process, they simply target assessments and gradually worked the change into the curriculum.  The plan from here was to move on to content reviews and then replace them followed by connecting the upgrades to the assessments and content and applying them to the skills.  The main focus of this chapter was focused on  upgrading the assessment process.  It further defined the different assessments it was referring to.  Jacob's gives a step by step process which can be followed in making these chances so that teachers are trained in the use of these assessments and understand how they are to be used.  It is a gradual change so that all the teachers can feel comfortable with it and not like it was just dump on them.  This system makes it more a partnership among the teachers implementing the changes rather than an individual undertaking that may seem overwhelming to some teachers.

This procedure would benefit me greatly because I am one of those who am not over technologically literate.  I would be overwhelmed trying to make these changes myself because I would not even know where to begin.  Having some straight forward guidelines and instruction on how to make they changes and implement them from others who work with technology better and understand how to use it would help me not to resist the change so much.

Adam Hotchkiss presentation

I thought his presentation was very informative.  He broke down the roles of leadership and management that really helped to show the dividing point.  I liked out he started out with the leadership role and when he got to how to implement he said that this was where the management role picked up.  I think this helped better define the roles and where the division is then just listing what each one does.  He really did a good just laying out the process of creating a technology plan and all the work that goes into it.  I had just looked at the process a little more closely because it was what Kassie and my PEARL was about today.  It made it a little more interesting because I understood what he was talking about as we went along.

I also thought it was interesting to hear what was going on at CAK.  My internship will start there on Oct. 28 and know I have a little bit of an overview on where they stand with technology.  It is kinda of fun to learn new things about places which directly relate to you.

Professional Developement Presentation

Polly Brake came in today and talked to us about her professional development program at Grace Christian Academy.  I think that it was interesting that she pointed out how these programs do not just appear over night.  It had taken years for here to get the program where it is today.  It has occurred in steps where when she was hired in she pretty much was creating the program on her own.  I thought it was interesting how she talked about when she finally realized she did not have to create the program all on her own it started to take a little bit of a different direction.  It took someone pointing out her class was boring to help her look in other directions.  I think that is something to remember when we have our own classrooms and to not take every negative comment as a put down and become defensive.  How will we know something needs fixed if someone does not tell us.  We need to look at these comments and instead of becoming defensive analyze it and see if there is something we need to change.  This lead to them getting smart boards, promethean boards, and mimios so that interest may be raised in the students about the lessons if they could be interactive with the lesson.  Another point she made that I think is important to remember is that she said this is still a work in progress.  They have the technology available but there is still training to be done with the teachers so that they can get the most out of these boards.  I like the fact that she is providing this training and not just saying to the teachers here are the boards and expecting them to figure everything out about how to use them.

The Socially Networked Classroom by William Kist Chapter 1 The Writing is on the Screen

I am very new to all of these types of technology that can be incorporated into the classroom.  I choose Chapter 1 in this book to get a basic overview of social networking and the types that most people are using today.  I am relating this to Chapter 1 in the Williams book where he talks about be familiar with the technology and concepts available.

I think the author made is point very well about the impact social networking has on society outside the classroom.  His introduction gave examples of how people are always communicating with people they are not with no matter where they are or what they are doing.  He is trying to show how much apart of society social networking really is.  I am not as familiar with all of the social networking that is available.  I have a cell phone but I do not even use that a whole lot.  It is more for emergencies or just making a quick call home.  I very rarely and text and even when I do I am not very good at it.  The terminology and terms section talked about several of the social networking web sites that are available.  He explained what some of them were which gave me a little better understanding of them.  As you know I am one of those that would be more hesitant about incorporating technology into the classroom but part of that is because I do not understand or know how to use a lot of it.  I have to leave my comfort zone to use it and when I do that I am really not sure where to begin.

I think this could impact my teaching because it made me think about how much this is a part of our world know whether I like it or not.  This is the world the kids growing up today are living in and social networking is a major part of their lives.  This can be a very good tool that can be used to help students learn that is available.   I appreciate the five characteristics he listed on page 8 of a new literacy classroom.  Once I get my own classroom if I want to, or really need to, incorporate more of these social networking web sites or technology in general I have a starting point on which to build.

from fear to facebook Chapter by Matt Levinson 4 kids online

This chapter relates to chapter 6 in the Williamson book.  It is based on ethical use of the technology by kids.  It refers to the use of the internet as well as cell phones. 

 Levinson begins by talking about how students use their cell phones to cheat on tests.  He also addresses the issue of the students lying on the internet and making up phony identities that they use regularly.  He gives suggestions on how to deal with these issues.  He suggest instead of creating a classroom of rules where the students can not use cell phones which leads to them trying to hide them under their desks and use them anyway, or  you are constantly fighting with them not to go certain places or do certain things on line to incorporate the use of these technology into the lessons.  By teaching the students how to use their cell phones and the Internet ethically and safely you have a better chance of avoiding the lying and sneaking.  Levinson by discussing and teaching online ethics this will help to avoid the game of "cat and mouse" between the students and the adults who may be monitoring them.

I think that this will effect my practice of the use of technology in my classroom.  I am not big on technology but the more I use it the more comfortable I get with the programs I know how to use.  I am still frustrated when it does not do what I expect but I am learning to deal with that as well.  I still do not think I would use cell phones in my class but if I have access to the Internet I think I my do little lessons on safety and the ethical use of the internet.  I hope to teach either kindergarten, first, or second grade and feel that they may be young to understand a lot of these issues.  I also feel that if I begin teaching them at this young age good ways to use this technology before they really begin the unsafe and unethical use of the technology I may be able to prevent some of the issues that arise from this.