Post #9

The “flipped classroom” is an educational model in which the typical lecture and homework elements of a course are reversed. Short video lectures are viewed by students at home before the class session, and  in-class time is devoted to exercises, projects, or discussions. This keeps the student engaged while in class. The instructor will create such lectures and post them online. Students watching videos before coming to class to learn the topic will get a head start on understanding the material. The value of a flipped class is in the re-purposing of class time into a workshop where students can inquire about lecture content, test their skills in applying knowledge, and interact with one another in hands-on activities.

I would use a blog for my professional development. Twitter is probably the best, and most used, blog for teachers. Blogs can be used to read other teachers ideas for the classroom. Traditionally teachers would have meetings on professional development, but now all the information you could ever ask for is right at the teachers desktop. As a teacher, I would search other teachers’ blogs to get ideas on classroom management, lesson plans, and even classroom decoration ideas. The best way to learn is to see what other teachers are doing in real classrooms. This method of learning is also completely free of charge.

www.twitter.com

When starting this class, I had no idea all of the options PowerPoint had to offer. Linking between slides adds a whole new world to my previous knowledge of what PowerPoint was capable of. You can really make a complex PowerPoint when you add in the looping, linking, and buttons. I can use this technology to make all kinds of quizzes and games in my real classroom one day. It is a much more entertaining alternative to a regular boring slideshow. Adding in ways to make the PowerPoint interactive with the user can really help get the student interested in the given topic.

Post #8

The smart boards hold the biggest promise for education. They are perfect for any type of lesson. They take the white board to a whole nother level adding in much more interactive software. Students can virtually erase and write, search the internet, and even play games. Smart boards have their own programs that can be accessed for free. Things like lesson plans, and smart technologies can all be accessed for free with the smart board. Smart boards provide interactive learning to the classroom.

Virtual reality should definitely be implemented in the classroom. It should be used to teach students about events and places that they otherwise could not gain access to. For example, you could have a virtual reality program where the student puts on the goggles and is immersed in a historical event. It could be used for a situation that is too dangerous to expose the student to in real life. You could place the child in a scene of snakes, sharks, or spiders to be able to “see” them up close without the possible harm.

The digital divide is the gap between the people who have access to technology and those who don’t. Not everyone owns and computer and has internet connection. Although it may seem like in the US everyone has access to these technologies, but that is not the case. Many families do not own computers, and if they do they cannot afford internet or other complimentary products. Students without at home computers can fall behind, and miss out on important information and communication within the classroom. In my own classroom, I would educate my students on all of the options they have to gain access to computers. The school library, public library, and my own classroom will have computers that students can access. I am definitely on the wired side of the digital divide. My phone and personal laptop keep me constantly connected.

Post #7

 This website is cheerful and bright, perfect for the subject matter. Hangout is a music festival held on the beach in May, so it is important for the website to convey happiness and fun times with friends. The simple style is perfect for this site, and it gets the message across quickly. Everything one needs to know about this festival is at the top of the page. Tickets, lineup, and transportation information. The colors in this website are exactly the colors you would expect to see at the beach. Bright, happy colors including blue, yellow, and purple. It has great contrast. There are pictures of previous years at the festival, which really convey how much fun this festival is, and how wonderful the atmosphere is. The font used is very different and bold, that makes it stand out from the background and catch your eye. Overall, this is a great layout. It speaks to the target audience by its choice of color, images, and layout. 

http://hangoutmusicfest.com/

The Americans with Disabilities Act is a law that makes it illegal to discriminate against anyone on basis of disability. Adaptive technologies are technologies that help people with disabilities more effectively use computing equipment. People with disabilities require different input and output devices in order to use a computer. For example, one can use voice recognition software to replace typing input into the keyboard. Text-to-speech software will read text aloud for users that are vision impaired. The biggest challenge in implementing these adaptive technologies is the number of students each with individual disabilities. As a teacher I will have to cater to the needs of each student individually, and make sure they have access to the same materials as every other student in the classroom.

This site made me realize how easy building a website can be. Weebly made it really simple to add and edit the websites content. It was easy to choose a layout and organize all of my pages. I think I would definitely use Weebly as a teacher. This website is a great platform for a class website, it allows me to publish all necessary information for a class. It allows me to insert links, embed calendars, and edit content with ease. I could improve my website in a real classroom situation because I would have real content.

http://millerhayden95.weebly.com/

Post #6

I googled “school website class page” and chose one of the first few links that brought me to Stevenson School’s online site. It is a PK-8 school. On this school’s website there are sub-sections for parents and students. The parent section includes an FAQ link, forms, schedules, emergency procedures, grades, payment methods, parent-teacher conference scheduling, and many other sources of information a parent would like to access for/about their child. The student section includes a link to the bookstore, class login, grades, the school newspaper, school policies, and activities. Many of these categories overlap between the student and parent sections because they are valuable for both.

http://www.stevensonschool.org/community/parents/classPK8/index.aspx

In my own classroom I will use technology to make all tasks more efficient. Contacting parents will be much easier using email than sending physical newsletters and notes home with the students. Communication with parents is key to keeping students on top of assignments and homework. I will also have a class website/blog to keep my students updated on upcoming assignments, current lessons and slides, and homework help links. The students will be able to communicate with each other and with me about all things class related, and it will of course be monitored for inappropriate content by myself.

I think this assignment is really useful for any person, not just educators. Resource evaluation is necessary for all topics because it is important to know if your source is credible and accurate before you rely on its information as true. I liked that we were able to create our own categories, but the ones listed in your example were all critical to evaluations. In order to teach something to your students you must make sure it is fully credible, accurate, and current so you do not give them false information. Next time I would be a little more specific in each question asked, and make sure I included a couple more questions per category.

http://millerhayden95.pbworks.com/w/page/105413355/Blank%20Evaluation%20Form

Post #5

Web 1.0 technologies are no longer useful in the classroom because they only have static content. Web 2.0 technologies are more sophisticated, and allow users to interact and share with each other. YouTube is a really useful Web 2.0 technology because it can be used to show students visual content related to the current topic. YouTube houses videos from countless different topics. Teachers can find and share videos for any type of lesson, and for every age level. A computer, internet connection, and projector equipment are necessary to be able to show the entire class the content.

Diigo is an extremely useful Web 2.0 technology that can easily be incorporated into the classroom. I had not heard of it until listening to the podcast for this lesson. The instructor can have their students all make accounts on the site. Diigo is a social bookmarking and annotation tool. It can be used to share resources found online. Students can collectively take notes directly on an article. Students (and teachers) can all post on an article individually with questions and comments. This can be used to foster conversation between students and the teacher. It is a great resource for the classroom, I would use it for grades 6 and up.

https://www.diigo.com/

I really enjoyed this concept mapping assignment. I have never used a software that creates maps and charts. I found it really easy to use, and definitely applicable to the classroom setting. A study guide shouldn’t have a word for word description of the topic, but rather an outline for easy reading. A flow chart is perfect for legibility and memorization. Quick facts are easier to remember than paragraphs of information, and my study guide would be a good resource for my students to study with. If I were to improve my submission, I would include more images to make it more visually appealing. 

Post #4

I chose standard SC.5.E.5.3, distinguish among the following objects of the Solar System -- Sun, planets, moons, asteroids, comets -- and identify Earth's position in it. My resource is a quiz game about the solar system, located on NASA’s website. It asks questions about all the different objects in the solar system, so it would be good to use in the classroom. I could have the students pair up to work on the quiz game together. It would keep the students entertained as well as learning the standard. http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forkids/kidsclub/flash/games/levelfive/KC_Solar_System.html#.Vr88TfkrLIV

I usually use the FSU online library to do my research for classes. Now that I know about google scholar it will be easier to find good peer reviewed articles. Before I would simply google my topic and search for articles, and I would never really know if the articles were peer reviewed or acceptable for use in my school assignments. Now I have a much more efficient way to search for and cite my sources. I also now acquire smarter searching skills that will allow me to find articles relating to my topic much quicker and easier.

This web hunt assignment taught me all of the ways to conduct a better google search. Before I always simply type in what I want to search for, word for word. Now I have the power to make my searches much more specific, therefore saving time and energy searching for the right article. Using the + and – really helps narrow the search results to everything relevant to my topic. The quotation marks around string can also help retrieve better search results. I used them around names and certain phrases. It surprised me how different search results could be with slight modifications to what I searched. 

Post #3

I feel comfortable with most of the ELA standards. I am an ICT major so I have been working with these technologies for years, but this class is really helping me understand how to use these technology skills in a classroom setting. Multimedia literature is one I’m the most comfortable with. This is the incorporation of graphics, videos, and audio into the text to facilitate a better understanding of the information. I am quite knowledgeable in the science and technology subjects, but I could use a better understanding of language arts and history.

In my own classroom I hope to incorporate a lot of different technologies into the lessons. One would be the Smart Board because it’s a great tool to add interest to the information and keep the students engaged. I would definitely have my students use Microsoft word and PowerPoint for assignments and creating presentations. I would use google plus to keep in contact with all my students. I would have a Google + community for each class, for students to post questions and share any course related information. The students must be well informed on digital citizenship in order to communicate effectively on these online platforms. Everything posted will be monitored by me, and cannot ever be inappropriate or offensive. This can be used with grades middle school and up.

I really enjoyed the newsletter assignment. Before completing it, I would have always thought of a take home parent newsletter in a physical form. With all of the technology we possess in this age it would be much simpler and more effective to either email all of the parents this newsletter, or even set up a class blog that the students and parents could have access to. This would allow me to include an email link to my personal email, and provide links to any other information related to the class. MY assignment would have been more detailed if this was in an actual classroom setting because I would have real content for a real class.