Monday, April 28, 2014

Week 8: My computer is sick!

I can't believe this is the last week of class, and my last blog for the class.  I haven't decided if I am going to continue this blog with another topic, or stop it altogether.  This class has made me explore technology, and I have learned many many things.  The technology explorations alone have given me so many things to use for my future classroom.  There is one more thing to talk about before this class comes to a close: computer viruses! 

Apparently, there isn't just one kind of computer virus; there are also things called worms, and Trojan horses.  Who knew?!  They are all different and affect your computer in different ways.  

A computer virus will attach itself to a file or program which allows it spread from one computer to another.  A virus is spread by human action.  People unknowingly spread the virus by sharing viruses or opening emails with viruses as attachments.  

A worm, a sub-class of a virus, is very similar to a virus.  A worm still spreads from computer to computer, but does not require human action to spread.  It travels unaided by taking advantage of a file or transport feature on your system.  

The Trojan horse masks itself as a useful program for your computer, but once installed does some damage.  People get tricked because the programs do appear useful, but once run on the computer, they cause problems.  The results can vary.  

To protect your computer it is important to have up to date software.  Also, it is important to have up to date anti-virus software downloaded on the computer.  Make sure the software has the ability to scan emails and files as they are downloaded from the internet.  

Lastly, it is important to make sure your students know about viruses, worms, and Trojan horses.  If they will be working a lot on computers through out the year, it is important they know how to download, or open attachments safely.  

At schools, it may also be beneficial to talk with the IT person to see what anti-virus programs they have in place.  As I said, I don't know much about computers, and honestly, I really don't know what kind of software we use at my school.  My personal computer is a MacBook.  When I bought it I was told Apple products don't need anti-virus software because it was included in the IOS software. 

I know I have learned a lot in this class, but I have also realized there is so much more to learn.  Since I am going to teach students the importance of using technology appropriately, I am so glad I had the opportunity to take this class.  

Monday, April 21, 2014

Week 7

I can't believe we are already in week 7, just one more week to go!  This week, like every other week in the class was crammed full with information.  It is really hard to believe that there is sooooo much information available and easy to get.
  
One web 2.0 tool I've seen used is on the starfall website.  There is a calendar game/program on the site that one of the special education teachers that I work with uses.  At first, she uses it for whole class instruction.  Students can fill in the month, date, year, and days of the week.  It can be set up to where it asks questions and students have to answer.  Or, as a whole group, the teacher can ask the questions.  For the students that she works with, this tool works well for them.  Sometimes the questions can be a little difficult for the level that they are on, but starfall is a great site that students can use on any level. 

Another tool that I would use a teacher would be the webquest.  It took some work and time, but I really enjoyed creating a webquest and I think students would enjoy completing one.  I think they would give students that sense of responsibility for taking learning in to their own hands.  Using it in fifth grade would be good because entering middle school, students will see what it's like to complete projects on their own with out someone telling them 'there's only so much time left to complete this'.  
 
This week we also completed our last technology explorations.  Most of them, this week, I enjoyed exploring.  
  
Delicious.com is a free and easy to use website.  It allows you to save and organize your links on the web.  Any teacher could benefit from this site, especially if they are constantly using the internet in their lessons.  I would recommend this to other educators.  It would be helpful to gather all your sites/links for one lesson and save them in one place.  This way, you don't have to waste time searching for them again.  You can also search education technology, you can subscribe to links other teachers have posted, you can share links with other teachers, and you can add links to different posts.  


Historypin.com was an amazing site! I loved it! It is a way for people around the globe to communicate through history and pictures.  The site aims to build a more complete understanding of the world and its events.  You could use this site for visual literacy activities.  I found myself spending a few hours just looking at pictures.  I started out looking at pictures from my hometown, then I started looking at pictures in a group call 'how it used to be'.  I would recommend this site to other teachers, it's free to sign up through e-mail or facebook.  
 
Diigo is a digest of internal information groups and other stuff.  It is basically personal knowledge management, and it archives webpages for the links you save.  You can share this information and use it for collaboration.  There is a free plan, but they also have an education plan you can purchase.  It will give you 20 cached webpages a month with unlimited highlights, and teacher consoles.  I don't really recommend this site.  I think I am a little too old fashioned for this website.  I didn't really like it.  

Cyberchase talking calculator is on two different sites, PBS kids and softpedia.  On the PBS kids site, the calculator is a little more 'kid friendly'.  On softpedia, you can download the calculator for free.  You can turn the voice on or off and it talks in number terms.  Both of these can be an asses to any classroom.  It may be especially helpful in a classroom with students who have special needs.  I would recommend these to other teachers because anything to help make math a little easier to teach would be good.  

Mathwiki is a wiki that talks about writing across the curriculum, particularly math.  There are articles posted that talk about from theory to practice.  Teachertube is on there is the teacher toolbox.  This is a great resource to have in any classroom.  I would recommend this because it was a free site with many many ideas.  

Piclits is inspired picture writing.  It is a creative writing site using beautiful images.  Students can look at any picture and create a story about it.  This site reminded me of the visual literacy lesson.  A teacher at my school already uses a site like this in her special education classroom.  From what I could tell, this site didn't cost anything.  Sites like this have already been going around my school so there is no need to recommend it. 

As I said, I can't believe there is only one more week left.  It feels like a lot longer because of everything I have learned so far.     

Monday, April 14, 2014

Week 6: Webquest!

This week was awesome! I learned all about webquests.  Turns out, I love them!  I have never heard of them before, but I did some research.  I even made one of my own.  Webquests, which were created by Bernie Dodge and Tom March in 1995.  They are a great way to integrate technology and problem based learning.  Students are given a short or long project that engages them in searching information through the world wide web.  It asks students questions that encourage them to think critically and take learning in to their own hands.  You can use webquests that have been created by other teachers, or you can make your own.  I explored both of these options.  Webquest was soooo user friendly.  I was able to create a free 30 day account.  It allowed me to do a subject search for the grade level I work for.  http://questgarden.com/170/04/6/140408055957/ is a webquest that was already created by another teacher.  I thought it was a good example to use for third or fourth graders while learning the parts of speech.  This webquest is very well put together and it seems to be very upbeat.  The teacher encourages students along the way and the instructions are easy to understand.   
I created my own webquest, first one, and it was a little challenging.  I particularly had trouble with the resources and getting them in the webquest.  I enjoyed the experience of making one but it was a little time consuming.  I could see why some teachers may not choose this to use, but I think students would enjoy it.  It could be useful in centers during morning work as a project.  The students that do it would be responsible for managing their time to make sure it gets finished.  http://questgarden.com/170/31/2/140414050726/  is the webquest that I created.  I designed this webquest for fifth grade students.  They were assigned to explore the elements of a story and then create a group presentation using the information they found.  I think this is good for the students I work with because the students I work with are very independent.  Looking back at my webquest, I wish I would have done a few things differently.  I wish I would have taken the time to put more encouraging words through the quest.  I also wish I would have put some graphics in to each one of the different pages.  If I could have spent more time on this, I could have made it 100 times better.  I think it's important to know, though, that the work I did did not take over four hours.  So, when I am a teacher I could easily see using something like this for a center for my students.  I think it is a great way to incorporate technology in to the classroom.  I also think students would be excited to have the responsibility to take on so much for their own learning. 

Monday, April 7, 2014

Week 5: Visual Literacy

This week I have explored AUP policies, email, and visual literacy.  The AUP policies were not as scary as I thought they would be.  E-mail is a great way for teachers to keep in touch with students and parents, if they have internet access at home.  At low-income schools, it is hard for teachers to require students use e-mail or blogs or chat sessions.  Visual literacy is something I never really heard of before.  In a Language Arts classroom, or any reading class, visual literacy can be used as a supplemental resource.  When talking about plays, setting, and set design, students can discuss what they think it would look like on-screen.  Maybe students could even act out a scene from a book they have read.  They can choose their own camera angles and what they want to show to the class.  This will help them see how views can be manipulating.  Then the class could discuss different tools the media uses to manipulate the consumer.  Visual literacy is all about getting students to think critically about what they have watched.  It gets them to think about how they are feeling because of something they have just watched. 
The first tech exploration I did was look at Prezi.  “Prezi is a virtual whiteboard that transforms presentations from monologues into conversations: enabling people to see, understand, and remember ideas.”  It can be used from an Ipad or Iphone, and it is very user friendly.  It can be used in any classroom to present a new concept to the class.  Yes, you can use PowerPoint for this, but Prezi is a little more 'flashy'.  This site seemed to be free, and students can make presentations at home and it will be saved to the internet.  Spicynodes is a fancy website for concept mapping.  Since I am not a particular fan of concept mapping, I dont know that I would recommend this site to any one.   I tried to stay unbiased and explore this site, but I got annoyed when trying to look at the sample maps.  They kept shifting, and it made it hard to keep track of what you already clicked on.  I also had a difficult time finding the pricing for this program.  I wasn't too impressed with this site, to say the least. 
Edmodo is the next website I looked at.  This is similar to a social media, so students may be interested in using it.  It is a great way for students to view their grades easily, turn in assignments, take quizzes, or contact their teachers.  If all of the students in the class had internet access at home, the teacher could have them use edmodo to turn in certain assignments.  I would recommend this site to other educators because it's a great way to incorporate technology in to the classroom.  Mathdictionary was an awesome resource! I would totally recommend this site to other teachers!  This can be used individually or in a whole class setting.  Instead of students writing math definitions off a board (boring!), they could explore them on this site.  Then they could use the site to look at different examples of the definition in use.  This site could be so helpful to many students.  It did seem like it was geared toward younger ages, so elementary school would probably benefit most from this site. 
Glogster is the next tech exploration I did.  This site is cool, but I feel like it's the same a lot of other sites out there.  This site allows students, or teachers to create web posters with text, audio, or videos.  A teacher with 30 students can set up a virtual classroom for $39 a year.  This site could be used for a number of projects.  Students can create their own poster page, and students can discuss it.  I am sort of indifferent about this resource.  I would only recommend it to other educators if I thought they would get their money's worth.  Jing is a way for teachers to capture anything on their screen.  The video only lasts five minutes.  The videos on the site were used for teachers to flip their classroom.  I think this site is free, but I don't see myself as ever using it.  I also don't think I would recommend it to other educators. 
Schooltube, youtube education and teachertube are great websites! I would recommend them to other teachers because they are free and beneficial!  As we have learned about visual literacy this week, using videos in a lesson can help as a supplemental material for students.  On these sites you can search the videos.  I would suggest watching the video first because sometimes things are not what they seem.  Sometimes on these sites there are videos made by classes.