WOW .. I'm impressed I did this!!

After choosing my topic Project Based Learning, I started to research many different site on the Internet and found a great amount of research. I started to put together a Power Point Presentation. I was able to take out the important content for this topic. I feel that project based learning is a great way to have students collaborate and communicate with others and help each other work through problem solving. This type of method also help students to be responsible for there own learning. I really enjoyed the topic and learning more about this.

Blog to Blog!!

I have really enjoyed learning about other classmates point of views are on the material of this course. I have learned some really amazing things about my classmates and their knowledge about teaching. This class has taught me not online the technology part but also about how I will be able to run a classroom and my philosphy about technology and the philosphy of other's as well. I have enjoyed all the different ideas and feedback that my classmates have given throughout this semester. My classmates have made some great points on many topics. You can tell the different tools each member of this class has a passion for. I loved so many of the blog designs. I think my classmates did a great job with all their blogs. I wish everyone the best of LUCK!

Classmates' pages that I have Blogged on
Individual:
1. Pam- Take my Poll
2. Kimberly - Cloze Test
3. Sally - Kidspiration Venn Diagrams
4. Susan - Google Apps
5. Kelly - Make an e-folio!
6. Canaan - Google tools... You Rule!
7.Pat - Survey Monkey
8. Tara- Video
9. Doug M- 3 cheers for engrade
10. Kathleen-Making life easier--- Rubistar
11. Pat- Rubrics 1-2-3
12. Kimberly- It's time to come out.... out of the box
13. Pam- Technology everywhere
14. Corey- arent wiki's enough.. not for google
15. Jessie- Creating inspiration by using inspiration

Group:
These are the group projects that I have blogged on
1. Group 6- Constructivist Power Point
2. Lit Tech Sextet - Week three Project
3. Generation Text- Week 4 Project
4. Lit tech Sextet- Week 4 Project
5. Group 6- Week 4 Project

WOW.... the final project!

Project Bases Learning was interesting to me, not only because I was able to become more informed about the topic. This was a very interesting topic to research on because this will be a topic that I Will be using in my classroom. I want my students to be interactive while teaching content. I want my students to put their thinking caps on and explore the different tools that can help them to dig deeper into the content.

The different resources that I read had the same knowledge about Project Based Learning. Some teachers will use this frequently and others will occasionally during the academic year. I think this is a great tool to break up the content and to get the students to engage with others instead of listening to the teacher all the time.

The End is Insight....

It's hard to believe that five weeks have gone by. They were the longest and most intense weeks of any course I have taken at MSMC graduate program. When I started this course I had a basic knowledge of technology. From this course I learned how to use a website, blog, and wiki and how to incorporate these tools into my future classroom. I also like that newsletters can be made on programs such as letterpop and globster. Many of these sites were very informational and a great tool to learn about from the many free sites that are available throughout this semester. I really enjoyed Blogspot, webs.com, Take a poll I have learned so much during this semester. Before the class I was not aware of half of the different tools that could be used. I didn't know how to add a you-tube video in a power point presentation, make a Wiki or website. I feel less fear about using the computer from when I began this course. It can be fun and educational for all, not just students. As far as teaching and technology, this is a very important tool that will serve teachers well for the future. I have many notes to explore more deeply many of the tools presented in this class for future reference and reading. Even tho I have overcome so many obstacles with the different tools for technology, I know many more tools are out there that I need to research and become familiar with in order to incorporate them into my classroom. This has been a great and insightful course to take especially since I will be student- teaching in the fall. I hope to be able to bring some of these tool with me this fall!

I definitely have grown in great strides throughout this class. I really thank Kimberly for all her assistance and guidance to help me problem solve through the different tools. As the class moved along I started to get the hang of the different tools and was able to navigate through the different types of technology.

Our Amazing Newsletter!

This newsletter came out amazing!! We all researched a different topic and them we collaborated on the bakground and researched the site over out skype meetings last week. Then Kimberly did her creative magic and developed a great layout. Glogster seemed to be a fun site with many options to make the design very creative. I was very pleased with the end result! Great Job Team K2TLP!!!

Mind Mapping is FUN!!

1) Discuss the idea that you chose for this project. Why did you choose this idea? What is the learning outcome or expected goal of your mind-mapping? What type of assessment does this tools fit in? In what way will this mind-map tool improve your students’ learning of the concept or the topic?

This was a topic I when creating my Unit Plan. I used the same content material but changed the layout and amount of content covered. This assessment fit into a third grade social studies lesson. This will help students to visualize the material for those students who can visually process better. It also helps them to understand what is expected from them.

2) What did you think was the most important lesson you learned from this activity?

This is a useful tool for a teacher in her classroom. This helps to organize your thoughts and to process what needs to be completed for the lesson or unit plan. This can also be used for the children to create a mind map activity.

3) What did you like or dislike about the software or web-based online mind-mapping tool you used?

I think this software is a great tool to have when designing a unit plan for your students. I also would like to use this with my students to use for didn't content areas. This program is user friendly and easy to trouble shoot with issues you might have. I also think when you have completed the end result the work always looks so clean and organized.

4) What would you do differently next time you do mind-mapping and/or use this tool or you assign it to your students?

For my students i would start off with a easy task for them to get use to the process and an opportunity to explore the different tools.

Take a Poll

The site addpole.com was a very simple site to use when making a poll. The hardest part was trying to figure out my question and answers for the poll question. Once that was established the rest was history. I was even able to change the color scheme of the poll box. I am really starting to get the hang of these Internet tools that we have been learning about all semester. I would even use this site with my students for them to create different polls about the content we are learning about. i think this is fun way to have the students to be involved with the Internet!

Another Relection on Engrade

*Share what features you liked, disliked, and why:
I really liked that the site was very user friendly. It was not difficult to navigate and to figure out the different tools. I really didn't dislike anything about the site.

* Provide some ideas or features that you think would improve Engrade.com
I have never used any other grading site so I am not sure of any improvement to be made. I personally like the idea of a grade book and pencil but I must say I enjoyed the site a lot

* Tell why you think this software would or would not be useful for classroom teachers.
This software could help a teacher to see the average grade of the assignment for the whole class because the site does the calculations for the teacher instead of performing this manually.

* Tell why students and/or parents would like this online grade book software, or why not.
I like this site for teachers ONLY. I don't think students or parents should be exposed to this site. If parents are concerned they should be able able to communicate with the teacher in order to resolve the concern of the student.

Grading Website

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Engrade

I really enjoyed this assignment and found this very user friendly for teachers to use to put grades on line. I would attempt to use this because i found it very easy to use. I am the type of person that love to write everything down so i can see myself still having a grade book as well.
I do not think I would give my students access to the site. This site would only be for the teacher's use. I feel that children do not need to be worried about grades or how they rank in the class. Children need to be kids and have fun and not be totally stressed about grades unless there is a serious issue. Some children are too competitive at a young age because parents are too hard on them. I want my classroom to be an environment where learning is fun and they will remember the material instead of having to force them to like it!

Authentic Assessment with Electronic Portfolios using Common Software and Web Tools

When reading the article on Authentic assessment, I found the electronic portfolios very interesting. This type of tool could help the students to collect their work, select hyperlinks to highlight different material , reflect on their learning, and share their achievements with others.

The teacher can grade the students on their attempt to use the tool and review their portfolios to provide feedback to the student on the great job they are doing and give tips for them to improve.

The purpose of e-portfolio is an authentic assessment to help the student to focus more on communication. Tool capabilities is to have my students have interaction with the teacher. The students have time to organize and create their assignment and the teacher has the ability to review and provide feedback. Internet access depends on the type of ability you have in your classroom or the student has at home. As the teacher you would need to take a poll of which access each student has. With good Internet access so much more is offered to you, in order for you to complete the tasks as a student and a teacher. I think that teachers that have 5 graders or higher, blogging could be a very beneficial tool but the students need to be willing to dedicate themselves to work hard to blog about topics they are learning about in school. This is for students to explore the Internet and maybe come across a video that pertains to the topic they are learning about. I think this can be a great tool for the up grades but not so much for the lower grades.

While Watching the video on Interactive portfolios by Helen Barrett, I took notes on the different topics the video discussed. First I liked the definition given to the word portfolio which was a purposeful collectible of students work that exhibits the student's effort, progress, and achievement in one or more areas.

I also liked picture about the ISTE- Education Technology Standards for Students, the first one was creativity and innovation. I think creativity is a essential part of teaching. Teachers should encourage students to be creative in all subject matter. #2 is communication and collaboration, this is very important for students to start to collaborate with classmates in order to complete assignments.

Social networking is a very popular topic right now. Everyone is either facbooking, myspacing, or twittering in order to keep in connect with. This helps people to keep in contact with old friends or just for talking to friends and family.

Then the presentation started to move into the advantages and disadvantages of certain technology tools. I will name a couple for the tools I find interesting.

Web2.0
Advantages: shared writing on Google Docs, free bog/ wiki
Disadvantages: may require higher technology competence, not secure sites

Blogging
Advantages: quick and easy, creative learning,
Disadvantages: can not organize attachments, limited attachment

Wiki
Advantages:FREE, page can be edited
Disadvantages:set up own system, does not organize files

Google Docs
Advantages:can be edited and can convert all documents to Microsoft word or a PDF
Disadvantages:fill time high speed and no attachment only hyperlink

This was a very helpful article and now that I have a better understanding of the technology piece I am a little less intimidated. But be taking this course, a lot of stress has been lifted off my shoulders and that's because before students teaching I have been explore to different materials for technology use.

Week 3 Collaborative Project

My group this week did a fabulous job with our collaborative project. We really worked well with each other and split the different roles to even smaller groups to handle certain parts of the material. It was a pleasure to work with Pat on the lesson plan part. She was very easy going and we spent time collaborating and making the power point presentation. Kathleen and Tara did a great job on the history part of the project. Kimberly is the person that put everything together and did a beautiful job at it. She has been a great asset to this group. Her knowledge of the computer and the programs have benefit us greatly. She has been great at answering question I have had on individual assignments. I really feel that this group has demonstrated great work ethic throughout this course. We have all compromised on many situations to make this group function. I am pleased to have been apart of K2TLP!!

BIG QUESTION

When reading this article I was thinking about the BIG QUESTION: "What did I learn that I'm glad I did?" I was thinking about this class in particular about all the tools that I have come across and have play with to understand how each one worked. I have taken already from the last three classes many did not tools to use in my future classroom and many of them I can bring with me to use for my student teaching this fall. I really enjoy blogspot for blogging about my perspective on all the readings and videos that we have been reading.

In this particular article, I felt the quote that was used was very appropriate. "Prepare young people for the tests of life, rather that a life a tests" This is very true but this is extremely difficult to do since this society have been so focused on STATE tests. I hope that when I am a teach I am able to fill my students with the appropriate material for them to pass the tests but I also what them to know about life as a whole and how much they have to offer and how much the world has to offer the, I want to touch children's lives at a early age so they can work hard in order to live their dream.

The list the article put together could be a great bag of trick for us to use in the classroom. Both teachers and students could benefit from this list.

I made a web page on webs.com, I am pretty excited about exploring the site and learning new skills!!

Nine Rules of Good Technology

I really enjoyed reading this article. I will touch upon the rules that I found valuable to me.

For the first rule: Good Technology is always available, I think this should be a high priority on the school's agenda to help each teacher have the best environment for the students. Many students learn from hands on or more interactive lessons. I believe that each and every classroom should have a SMART board. This is a great tool for teachers to use.

The second rule: Good Technology is always on, this would be great but unfortunately there always seems to be something wrong with the equipment. Many teachers take time out from teaching in order to fix a technology issue. This has happened ever in my undergrad and grad classes. The teacher becomes very frustrated and will ask a student to help or will call the TI desk.

The third rule: Good Technology is always connected, this article makes a great point that telephones are very convenient because they require no maintenance in order to connect with the world. The connection for the Internet is so different, I remember when the dial up was all there was and no you can be on the Internet instantly.

The fourth rule: Good Technology is standardized, which is not always the case. The same programs are not on all computers which make research and technology very hard to work with.

The ninth rule: Good Technology does what you want it to do, this statement has it's pro and cons. Technology can be a great tool to use in your classroom and throughout life. But when an issue occurs, technology is very annoying and takes a lot of impatient.

My personal opinion is that the Internet is a great resource and tool. I personally love to have a copy of the document in my hand. I'm not into the paperless world. I work at a hospital and they have been trying to go all paperless, this could be a huge issue because if the computer system ever went done. The medical staff would have no way to access the files on their patients. Technology definitely has it's pros and cons in every situation whether it be teaching or for other reasons.

Connected Classroom

After watching the video Connected Classroom, how they were discussing the two largest countries are China and India. They mentioned that China would be ranked number 1 for an English speaking country. They ranked Myspace at the 12th largest country in the country.

I enjoyed the part of the video that they said " Connect to your students, Connect them to their world.This is very powerful statement to me and holds true, in order to capture the attention of students we need to bring their world into the classroom. We need to find out their likes and dislikes. Technology is a huge part in a children lives right now. Teaching is much different from when I went to school. Technology in the classroom in a huge improvement. Teachers need to be confident when using the different pieces of technology. Technology frightens me and I need to be familiar in order to feel comfortable but for a student they pick up on this skill almost instantly.

For today's learners, instant communication is a huge part of technology. Text messaging is very popular that most children will not hold a conversation on the phone but instead text. Teachers need to become familiar with Twitter, Blogspot, Wikis, personal websites in order to help their students to be sucessful. The era of pencil and paper is coming to an end and more and more technology is replacing the paper system.

Literacy

Information literacy is the ability to recognize the nature of an information need, then to locate, evaluate, and effectively use the needed information.

Computer literacy is the knowledge and ability to use computers and technology efficiently.

Integration literacy is the ability to use computers with other technologies.

The classroom is very different from when we when to school. This class has opened my eye to all the technology that can be used in the class. The days of pencil and paper is gone. This for me is hard to take because I'm use to have the paper in my hand instead of looking at everything from the computer screen. I feel like this is a positive step to having students explore the different avenues in the online world but at the same time this really is very overwhelming for me to grasp.

Google Tools

While playing with the google tools, I find it very exciting to experience all the different tools there are. I explored the calendar. I looked at google earth and I know of teachers that have used this in their classrooms. I think these are great tools to be explored too while coming across the different tools of teaching. I am excited to keep playing with all the different tools.

After finally figuring out how to work the Picasion site, I really enjoyed making the slide show. I never knew how to make a snapshot of a web page until this class. These different tools that I am learning can be very helpful in a classroom. I'm so excited about all the different technology I have been exposed too during this course.

Picasion

After I was able to figure out how to use the Picasion web site. The site was very easy to navigate.

Picasion Slideshow

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Google Docs in Plain English

After watching the video on Google Docs and playing around with the program, I have become familiar with the features that can be used with this program. My group decided to use Google docs in order to communicated with each other for our collaborative meetings. This tool is a very nice way to communicate with faculty and students while teaching in the classroom. My overall experience has been positive and I hope I can bring this technology into my future classroom some day!

The video discussed the amount of emails one can have in their email account with the different drafts and all. I really am excited to use google docs with having others edit my work. This program can be beneficial to all ages and for many different reasons.

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Article about Techology

How to Use Technology in the Classroom
Teaching Technology to Elementary Students and Beyond
Sep 18, 2009 Robin McDaniel


Technology has a very important role in the classroom today and can be used to teach important concepts in almost every subject area. It is important that teachers become comfortable with many forms of technology so that they can use it in the classroom for learning and assessment to increase student knowledge and proficiency.

Webquests and the Internet
Web quests are a learning tools that are useful to students in a variety of ways. They enable students to learn how to follow directions and conduct research. They also help children to develop critical thinking skills and creative solutions for problems they might encounter during their investigations. Web quests are often done in groups to encourage teamwork and participation. Because they require the use of the internet, it is important to ensure that students only have access to appropriate browsers to ensure their safety.

Interactive Websites
Interactive websites help engage children visually and kinesthetically. Because television and video games have increased the speed at which children, obtain information, these types of websites help to engage them more easily than static text and build upon prior knowledge stores. Math, reading, spelling, grammar and history can be fun when they are introduced in a way that is engaging for children. For instance, children might read a story online and complete a series of questions through related online game play.


http://teachingtechnology.suite101.com/article.cfm/technology_integration

LoTi

After previewing the Power Point on LoTi, this concept is a very useful way to gage weather or not the stduents are using critical thinking. LOTi framework will engage learning and can be used in all subject areas.

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Learning to change changing to learn!

While watching the video Learning to change changing to learn I was thinking about how different technology is now then back to when I was in school. Education has come a long way since I have been in school. Educators need to keep the students engaged in a lesson. By providing technology into a lesson, this helps the students to stay focused and want to continue to learn. Learning is NOT just about paper and pencil, we need to incorporate prior knowledge and topics students Can relate too. That is what will help them to understand the different concepts.

WebEx Experience

I have never been apart of a virtual meeting. This was very interesting for me to experience. What I found interesting was that we each could have the microphone and talk and we could listen to each others responses as well as hear Dr. S during the entire session. The powerpoint slide were very organized and easy to follow. The meeting went very well. At first it was a bit overwhelming especially being able to see everyone. I'm excited to see what other tools we will learn during this class that will help to create a techology based environment for our future students.

Reflection

During this past week I have been learning to use the different tools to enhance my learning with technology. I have been working with WDYDWYD and blogspot this week. I'm still trying to understand the different parts of each. They both are very different and they intimidate me until I start to understand how to use them. This is my first experience in a Literacy and Technology class. This class and information will be beneficial throughout out teaching career. Once I become more confident with both sites, I think they will be very useful.

Welcome Everyone!! My name is Lauren. I'm in the Master's program at Mount Saint Mary College for elementary and special education. I'm excited to learn more about literacy and technology that I will be able to bring into my future classroom!