Oh my goodness, is it over? Seriously, this has been a great learning experience. As one who has not had much time for surfing the net, I was blown away by the amount of material, good and bad, that is available. I loved exploring all the sites and applications. Some of my favorite tools are: Flickr Creative Commons, Mappr, WorditOut, and especially the Digital Storytelling. The Google Reader will be very handy.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I know my students will benefit from podcasts about classroom expectations or good character traits that they have starred in.
Becoming more familiar with these 11 tools will open up endless possibilities for more interesting and engaging activities from which my students can benefit.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Tool #11
I've always known the internet is a minefield, especially for children and teenagers. For instance, through this course, I've been shocked at the videos that are posted on Youtube. Unless a teacher, parent or other responsible adult is hovering over a child, it will be almost impossible to protect him. There are many areas under being a good digital citizen besides concerns of safety. The most important points vary per grade level. For my first graders, I need to keep it very simple.
1. Follow directions - do not go to another page or site unless the teacher has approved it. If you encounter bullying or anything you don't feel comfortable with, tell the teacher.
2. Don't believe everything you read or see. There is a lot of untrue or inaccurate information on the internet.
3. Think before you write. Everything you write on the internet will be there forever. Don't write anything that you wouldn't want your parents or your teacher to read.
To teach these digital citizenship points, I would model for my students and show them appropriate videos like the ones on Brainpop. Also, some students could be in a podcast modeling what appropriate digital citizenship looks like.
1. Follow directions - do not go to another page or site unless the teacher has approved it. If you encounter bullying or anything you don't feel comfortable with, tell the teacher.
2. Don't believe everything you read or see. There is a lot of untrue or inaccurate information on the internet.
3. Think before you write. Everything you write on the internet will be there forever. Don't write anything that you wouldn't want your parents or your teacher to read.
To teach these digital citizenship points, I would model for my students and show them appropriate videos like the ones on Brainpop. Also, some students could be in a podcast modeling what appropriate digital citizenship looks like.
Tool #9
The uses for Jing could be endless, limited only by imagination. I could see it being used for a segment when the teacher is out and a substitute is teaching the class. This segment could be the teacher repeating the classroom procedures and expectations. The students would be reminded that their regular teacher is still in control and expects the classroom to run as usual. The teacher could use it for 'calendar' leaving built in time for the students in the classroom to answer the questions that the teacher asks.
Along the same lines, using Skype, a teacher unable to come to the classroom (slight injury or jury duty, etc.) would still be able to communicate with the students. It would be wonderful for classes across the country or world to become web pals. This could be monumental in understading other cultures.
Along the same lines, using Skype, a teacher unable to come to the classroom (slight injury or jury duty, etc.) would still be able to communicate with the students. It would be wonderful for classes across the country or world to become web pals. This could be monumental in understading other cultures.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Tool #6
I can imagine a classroom in the future where all the students are busy working simultaneously on a wiki on their laptops. As each student posts a paragraph or idea, the others will be inspired by what they read, thus motivating each one to do their best on their assignments. With my students, I could post a picture as a story starter or description activity. Perhaps groups of students could be given a math exemplar and each member of the group would contribute to finding the solution.
Teachers could effectively plan cross-curriculum theme units,save time completing team goals, etc.
Teachers could effectively plan cross-curriculum theme units,save time completing team goals, etc.
Tool #8
I'm still amazed at the number of videos that are posted on the web. I found that Blinkx was an excellent tool for narrowing the search for educationl vides, although I ended up choosing two math videos directly from YouTube.
My first graders will enjoy counting doubles out loud with silly kid friendly voices. Watching the second video, my students will use laminated clocks to move the hands along with the story as it is read.
My first graders will enjoy counting doubles out loud with silly kid friendly voices. Watching the second video, my students will use laminated clocks to move the hands along with the story as it is read.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Tool #7
This has been a very difficult tool. I think I say that about all of them. :( Creating the video was a lot of fun, but getting it to post to my blog was aggravating. Once I posted it, I decided to edit the comment section which I hi-lighted, but it deleted the whole post.
Several teachers at my school are already experts with this tool and I hope my skills will improve so that I can produce the presentations I've seen at SOE. I would like to use this tool to make a presentation of my students working in the classroom so the parents could see how they learn. I think a great video to make would be of students demonstrating making good choices and following school rules. Seeing their classmates and themselves on film being responsible students would be very powerful.
Several teachers at my school are already experts with this tool and I hope my skills will improve so that I can produce the presentations I've seen at SOE. I would like to use this tool to make a presentation of my students working in the classroom so the parents could see how they learn. I think a great video to make would be of students demonstrating making good choices and following school rules. Seeing their classmates and themselves on film being responsible students would be very powerful.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Tool #5
I found this tool very time consuming, but finally pulled it together. For me, Delicious is more user friendly than Diigo, but Diigo has more useful applications. I found Danielle's Place http://daniellesplace.com which has some neat projects that my first graders could do when they study insects. Yucky Discovery.com http://yucky.discovery.com is just gross enough that kids would love browsing for information!
The bookmarks would keep students on task and not allow them to go to unapproved websites. Also, the social networking aspect allows teachers to share a vast amount of resources which they have already checked out, thus saving time. Teachers will continue to surf the net for new, creative ideas, but having a place for proven websites will be wonderful.
The bookmarks would keep students on task and not allow them to go to unapproved websites. Also, the social networking aspect allows teachers to share a vast amount of resources which they have already checked out, thus saving time. Teachers will continue to surf the net for new, creative ideas, but having a place for proven websites will be wonderful.
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