The End

What: This week’s topic of choice is tool of choice, but I really want to go over all the different technologies the class has cover over this semester. I will highlight how they have changed my attitude toward the Internet and its uses in the classroom.

Now What: The first one was Google Docs. It is a free, online word processing program. Though the program has potential it is far from perfect. The program is very difficult to use. I did like that you could collaborate with others in a team by inviting them to your documents. However, inserting pictures was complex and frustrating. I realize this product may come in handy as I move forward with my education, but I hope Google will fix some of the problems in an update.

Another tech opportunity for teachers is the Utah Education Network’s website. It’s a little complicated at first, but once I got the hang of the public and private sides of the site I really enjoy using the site. The site also helped keep all of my work organized. I can see how a website could help a teacher make lesson plan and find interactive. I got an opportunity to see how a real educator use the UEN website when my eight year old brought home an UEN URL that said her teacher had a site. We went on it together and she was about to play fun, educational games. I think this website is very useful for teachers and students alike.

So What: All of the different technologies I learned about have brought a new understand of the ever changing and shrinking world around me. As a person who does not like change this can sometime be difficult for me. Just when I get use to one program a new one come along and I need to learn that one. I need to get out of my comfort zone and embrace the new and understand that my student will be leaps and bond a head of me.

Video:I have to start by saying "I love School House Rock" Being a child of the Eighties I remember I Just a Bill and Conjunction Junction from my Saturday morning cartoons. I learned the Preamble to the Constitution from those cute little guys and so did my son. These cartoons have spanned the decades and now kids are watching them on DVD and YouTube. We need more playful and fun educational videos.

How to Pick a Podcast

What: Picking the perfect video podcast.
Now What: This week I was instructed to pick a video from the vast sources on the Internet. I could from YouTube, Teacher Tube or another website. If I choose YouTube I will have to carefully wade through the sea of homemade videos with inaccuracies. I will also student appropriate videos. Then I need to see if the content matches the core curriculum I am teaching. All this while making sure that the video does not contain anything dangerous that the children might repeat at home. There is so much to think about when picking the right internet video for the classroom. Hopefully I will be able to find the right clips.
So What: When I think of using video of any kind I need to remember the danger of over uses. I can’t play videos from the history channel and say I’m teaching history. Whoever made the video is teaching my students. The children could be home watching television or on YouTube. I then become a babysitter not a teacher. The videos lose their novelty and therefore their educational power. I will use them in my classroom, but not let them takeover.
Video: Millennial Generation
This video is a good example of what not to show in the classroom. It is a thinly veiled commercial for Motorola Phones. I did not like how the students said their parents turned to them when they need help with computers or phones. Also how their parents did things the hard way. While this is sometimes true, the young adults will soon be parents and their children will think they are stupid too. They need to get a clue and start paying for their own phones. Then maybe they won’t want so many unnecessary gadgets. They said that they wanted to be able to take everything with them. I think what they need is to get unplugged. Then go camping or hiking with their parent and friend. If they go far enough up in the mountain their phones will not work and that is a good thing.

Podcasts

What: The technology of the week is podcast and vidcasts. Wikipidia says, "A podcast is a series of digital media files (either audio or video) that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication". They are also called , vidcast and vodcast. Many are homemade, but they can also be new event clips from tv and movie. To watch some check out YouTube or Teacher tube.
Now What: Both of these technologies came with great warnings, especially vidcasts. Like everything there is good and bad video podcast, you can learn everything from math formulas to science concepts, but these are mix in with porn and violence. Another problem is that many of the vidcast are homemade. How do you know the person making the video knows anything about the subject matter? Careful Internet surfing and an understanding of subject matter are important before using any vidcast found online.
I have not used these technologies in my life as a student much. I may have use YouTube once to get a video clip for a class, but that about it. When I think about YouTube vidcasts I do not think educational. When someone says YouTube images of Fail Blog, Harry Potter Puppet Pals, “Charlie Bit My Finger”, and Fred flash through my heads. If you have never heard of these, ask a ten year old. These are not exactly videos for the classroom. I know there must be some informative videos a the site, because my twelve year old was able to learn everything about the care and feeding of Chinese Water Dragons from watching YouTube and for the most part the info was accurate. I guess it is not completely useless.
So What: Though there might be educational material on YouTube. As a teacher I will have to be very careful to wade through the muck to find educational and accurate videos for my class. I guess I could make my own. That is my assignment for this week. My team and I have to teach a concept with a podcast or vidcast. Then post it on YouTube. This assignment could be a good one for an upper elementary grade to try. They might make short news casts, teach a scientific concept, or record an oral book report. The possibilities are endless. I “WOULD NOT” have them post it online, because of liability and safety issues. But by acting out the information they have learned it will become embedded deeper in they brains for ease of recall later on.
Video: Why Let Our Students Blog?
I like how she said that students should blog for their digital future. Children today live in a computer age from the time their born they are playing on some form of computer. The IPhone even has apps for babies to use as rattles. This makes for an ever changing classroom, with new technologies popping-up every day. As a future teacher I need to stay informed about all of them. Will I let my students’ blog? I do not know. Like most things attached to the Internet there is good and bad in blogging. If I can give the children good round rules to keep them safe then maybe then will my students blog.