Reaction to Stop Motion Animation

It didn’t take long to do the Stop Motion Animation at all. We went outside to film and I was the camera man. Both the girls (Morgan and Danielle S.) were in sun-ware and I directed them on when to stop and when to go. It just got to the point where I would flash the camera and say go. I had tried clicking the camera continuously and allowing it to just flow that way with the flashes catching up to the actual amount of pictures the camera would take. Later on I found out that that wasn’t the best idea because the pictures were distorted, flipped, colored, angled, etc. and we had to film the scene all over again. We didn’t mind filming over again because it didn’t take long at all. I believe we had about two or three hundred frames and it took no time at all to do it. Honestly I feel that it was more of a pain in the neck to do the editing than to do the actual filming itself. It wasn’t hard to actually edit, it just took us a bit of a minute to learn how to navigate the program we were using which I think was iMovie. Over all it was a good experience that I would have never tried on my own essentially meaning I would have never found out that I could do it. Im glad we were forced/given this opportunity! =)
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Chapter 10: Assessing Meaningful Learning with Technology

Chapter ten is about assessing meaningful learning with technology. In reading this chapter I revisited a lot about assessment like authentic assessment along with performance and alternative assessment. Prior to this class I had explored these types of assessment so there wasn’t much that I learned in this chapter. Assessing growth through portfolios is something that we learned in the paper form so this chapter just explained how to transfer them into electronic portfolios. That was one of the forms of technology-based assessments that the book explores. A benefit to doing the E-portfolio is that they are easy to update and show the progression made from the beginning to the end. There are also technology based rubrics and even Clicker assessment tools which we were able to use in class. These are very beneficial, especially since students have the option to submit their answers anonymously. There wasn’t much to learn in this chapter since our previous classes had covered so much on assessment, it was just more on how to convert them into electronic documents.
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Chapter 9: Visualizing W/ Technologies

Chapter nine is about visualizing technologies. One of the major focuses on this chapter is how to use technology as a visual benefit. A lot of the ideas offered in this chapter are beneficial to students that need to visualize problems or work in order to fully understand the message being conveyed. One of the programs discussed is “Visualizing Geography With Geographic Information Systems”, students can use manipulative in order to express a number, compound, or possibly an entire equation. Students can solve just like they would with a pen and paper and writing out numbers and calculate them but with the manipulatives students can get a better understanding and can learn what it is the numbers are representing. Visualizing with technologies can be used in so many more ways than this, however; computers and computer programs can be used for maps, Google Earth, and for more mathematical ideas like on a graphing calculator. On a more contemporary level, this chapter explores visualizing with digital cameras and mobile phones. Cell phones, cameras, and cell phones with cameras are steadily becoming a commonly used item across the board and that includes our elementary school students. Finding ways to use these in a classroom will help to grab the students attention and become interested in more ways they can use their cell phones. Recording students presentations and allowing them to watch them back can be extremely beneficial because students get to see their own work and can help give constructive criticism to themselves. Also, it gives students new areas to learn and possibly specialize in like filming, editing, production, etc. This is beneficial because this is not a commonly explored area in classrooms so some students may actually have a knack for this but they are never really given the opportunity to explore it. This chapter was very informative and helpful, I even saw things that would help me as a teacher like video modeling and feedback.
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Exit Slip 4/6/10

Todays class was information packed and I was able to catch all of it as I conducted the “what we did in class wiki”. There was a lot of interesting information used in each chapter and I learn quite a few things from chapter that may be useful in my classroom. We worked on out Stop Motion Animation that is almost complete and actually was rather simple.
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03/30/10 Exit Slip

Todays class was really cool, quick but cool. The contemporary issue about testing on a computer for FCAT was very eye brow raising. It was something that I had never heard of but especially since I am working to be apart of the Education Field I am glad it has been brought to my attention. I was glad to see the resources from this chapter because I think they will be rather useful in my delicious account.
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Chapter 7: Communicating With Technology

Chapter seven was a rather interesting chapter that had alot of very cool ways to incorporate things like video conferencing. Communicating with technology is a really helpful tool to use that can be beneficial to teacher, students, and even parents. Both synchronous and asynchronous have their advantages and disadvantages and can and should be used interchangeably. The asynchronous communication can be used if both parties are not present at a computer at the same time. I learned how I use asynschornous communication without even knowing through things like Moodle and Black Board. If there is something a little more urgent, interactive, and both parties are available to use a computer with internet access then the synchronous usage would probably be best. I love that we got a chance to learn about these different types of communications through technology because they are becoming more widely and commonly used in todays society. I am also glad that we had been instructed to create a podcast here in the EME class because I not know so many ways I can incorporate them in the classroom and how they can be helpful for so many different things. I learned that there are quiet a few ways you can benefit from having a computer conference as oppose to a regular face to face conversation. Computer conferencing can support discussions, debates, and collaborative efforts among students that may be distant from one another. It also enables learners to reflect on their ideas or responses before making them. One that may even be a little more important is the different kinds of things that can be scaffold in computer conferences. Gradually I can see students becoming more common users of communicating through technology and gaining more out of their conversations.
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End of Class March 23rd, 2010

I thought that todays class was extremely interesting. I was excited about the way the presenters presented Chapter 7. The idea of using video conferencing for absent students or absent teachers seemed very eye catching. I also thought about parents being able to chime in and see how their child is behaving. The presentation was great. After the examples we were given I am once again excited about working on my Scratch project. The contemporary issues section raised ideas that I had never really thought about. For the cool tools I got some really cool sites to add to my delicious account. Todays class was very giving of information.

Chapter 8: Designing With Technologies

I like the way designing takes problem solving to the next level. Instead of just selecting the solution students get to plan and make a solution. With design I see students getting the opportunity to carry out their solutions in a concrete form. Also, the chapter states how students get to process multiple solutions instead of just a single right answer. I felt that this was rather effective because there are so many learning opportunities in trial and error. It is also stated that design problems often require the designer to make judgments and defend the problem or express personal belief or opinion about it. I agree with this because in order to develop personal beliefs or opinions students must have good understanding of the problem they are solving.
I like the thought of being able to use this across different discipline like mathematics and media art. The mention of things like the FIRST Robotic and Lego design competitions reminds me of ways to get students to see things they are good at in life besides the conventional math, science, or social studies. There aren’t many opportunities within the everyday classroom for students to learn that they may want to be an electrician or engineer. Students starting out early with Computer-Aided Design Programs can be developed into students that may go on to build technological software for computers, electronically developed blue prints for structures, or even a whole new computing software all together. If students start out with little activities or software like “Architectural Design with Sketch-Up” from the school age just imagine where they may be at the college or young adult level. Also, so many students get to college and may spend about a year or more on exploration before deciding where they really want to be but if they have programs like these, students get an earlier change to explores those options or more time to learn about what may become their future career. I see these CAD’s as early job practice opportunities and I hope that I get firsthand experience in today’s presentation.
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Ending Class For March 16th

Today's class presented alot of new sites that I could add on to my delicious account. The chapter presentation taught me about some really cool sites to visit for the professional community environment. Teacher talk was very interesting and I think that it will be a really cool site that I may plan to use in my classroom. The topic of cyber bashing was very eye opening and although I have seen videos of school fights I never realized how detrimental it was becoming to students. The cool tools we visited today were okay but only one really caught my attention which was dweeber.com. This is another site that I can actually see myself using in the classroom.
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Chapter 6: Community Building with Technologies

When I saw that the title of the chapter was “Community Building with Technologies” it sounded like an oxymoron to me because I feel that people become more distant when technology is being used. As I began reading I realized that I had never considered the option of building communities between different communities. I never realized that there were so many ways for people to stay in touch across the world. When I was younger remember there were pen pals that you wrote to across the waters and would take weeks before you received an answer. By the time I was old enough to have a pen pal we were able to e-mail each other and have a more rapid response. The students of this day and age have things like wiggio, wikis, blogs, and even videoconferencing or webcams. All of these are things that I couldn’t have even dreamed of using with my pen pal. I think that this opens doors to exploring better cultural awareness and appreciation, encourages students to want to travel, and just gets students inquisitive overall.
This chapter also informed me that not only do students like participating in education through technologies but they actually expect to. What this says to me is that I have to be ready to implement many avenues of technology into my classroom. After changing my specialization to Education Technology this is definitely something I hope to be able to do. Technology and the internet allows room for students to produce their own knowledge database in their own knowledge based community. This means that they are building their own knowledge, rules, boundaries, etc. In order for this to happen students must be active learners and thinkers so the act of doing this alone teaches the students something new. I feel that the technology world will continue to develop and support more critical thinkers and I am excited to see what all it can do for the world of education.
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End of Class @ March 2nd, 2010

I feel that todays class raised alot of interesting questions and topics. The topic of technology and obesity opened my eyes a little about how correlation doesn't equal causation. Today I finished my podcast and I was really excited about how well it went over. Also, after the discussion I am excited about going in to get started on my Scratch!
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Reaction to Chapter 5 Modeling With Technologies

As I began reading chapter five what immediately stood out to me was the connection that was made between what computers should be used for and what the students should be instructed to do. I like that it point out that computers are better at memorizing and retrieving information; what that says to me is that we should be teaching out students to just get information and memorize it but for them to do more. Students should be conceptualizing, organizing, and solving problems. How I would use this in my classroom is to rethink my lessons and make sure the content is not just asking for students to regurgitate what it is they heard but to show understanding. When students teach the computer what they know they get a chance to show what they understand in a different form. It like writing notes in class then going home to type them up. The students are allowed to revisit what it is they already have seen in order to refresh their memory, I think that this is a very helpful study tool. They also learn more about technology because they have access to a number of different tools that they can use to display their understanding. Also through using computer programs students can externalize their internal mental models. They are given a way to express their understanding or knowledge they may have. When putting it down in to different models students are forced to organize their thoughts and either show better understanding or gain better understanding. Using mindtools students get to teach the computer instead of the other way around, in this manner students are challenging their own thought more than the computer would have if it was vice versa. Mindtools require deep thinking on the students behalf and cannot be completed without doing so. After looking at the visuals for the different tools used in for understanding I see that there is a major thought process required to get these done, there are many connections and subsections and relations that make students think very deeply.
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Reaction to EME Class 02/23/10

Todays class was really informing. I was glad I got through my cool tools presentation alive. I feel alot more comfortable to start on my podcast and I am excited to try the new tool!! =)
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Reaction to Chapter 4: Supporting Writing With Technology

What I was looking for as I began reading this chapter was ways to get students to enjoy or at least not dislike writing. I figured that this chapter should be rather interesting since the connection of technology can get students into doing a lot of things. The last chapter talked about how to involve writing with the quests or tasks the students would have to do in simulations so I am interested in seeing what other ways there are. Unless I am not getting the full understanding of what they are fully capable of, I really don’t see the use of the computer based semantic maps. I feel that if students are interested in it then it is more because of the fact that they are just using the computer. The program should offer more than what can be given on a paper, other than its visual effects. I feel as if a lot of the explanations given in the chapter are just of concept maps in general, all things I feel can be done on regular paper. I agree with all of the ways students can present writing and I think that they help encourage students slightly but I actually expected more from this chapter. When I began reading this chapter I was expecting technological ways to help support or aid students in their writing. I thought that this chapter would represent ways or programs that would peek students minds and make them think of new creative and innovative ways to say things. This was not delivered in the text of this chapter. What I did appreciate in the powerpoint section was the mention of things that may distract students from their writing or their work in general. It reminds us as teachers to point these out or at least look for these as our students work so that they are not distracted. As I continued reading I found out about “The Pigman” and I think that that is a great idea, and is something that we should try doing in other forms. That is just the tip of the iceberg but I feel that there are more ways that technology can contribute to students writing creativity.
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Reaction to Chapter 3 & Its Presentation

This week I had to present Chapter three to the class. I really, really like this chapter and all the ways it showed technology/ games in the classroom. The simulations, quests, games, etc. were all interesting and the ways they can help in the classroom. I always knew that they could be helpful but I never knew there were so many programs and so many ways they could help. Quest Atlantis peeked my interest and when I went to look at the things it offered I was fascinated. I saw how it encompasses history, science, math, language arts, and just about every other area that can be focused on in school. One way I would like to use this in my lesson is to get ideas to do within my classroom and also i would LOVE for my students to become apart of this quest. The ten principles were there to explain the different things to look for in an educational game but it taught me that games ACTUALLY CAN offer these things. I didn't know that such advantages were available in games. Things like SimCalc, SimCity, and BioBlast are all things used to teach specific concepts. I would use these things for students that may be struggling in SPECIFIC areas instead of using something like Quest Atlantis to explore everything at once. After this chapter I actually became interested in changing my College of Education specialization to Education Technology. I am not interested in becoming an Ed. Tech. teacher but I feel that with this background I may be able to offer my students more in a classroom setting since there is such a shift towards technology. This chapter helped me realize how much of a role technology plays in education now and how much it will in the future.
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Reaction to EME Class for 02/17/2010

I learned alot about my presentation skills. Getting in front of the class and using alot of "Um's" and "Uh's" encouraged me to be more prepared. Overall I think the presentation with cool though. I liked the webquest we did for Chapter 2 and although it seems fun and interesting im glad that I was forewarned about how long it takes.
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Reaction to Chapter 2: Investigatin With Technologies

As soon as I opened up to this chapter I paid close attention to the things that education and technology are moving from and where they are moving too. Moving from narrow-band to broad-band, from plain text to multimodal rich connectivity, from wired to wireless, and from users adapting to the technology to the technology adapting to the user. The one that stood out most to me was the technology adapting to the user. Specifically the chapter says "Emerging and rapidly changing technologies demand individuals who are prepared to experiment, adopt or discard technology tools as they appear, evolve, become successfully entrenched, or fall by the wayside." Since society is changing to become so dependent on technology we may be more forced to encourage students to think ahead. What this means to me is that we may be creating world of more critical thinkers. I see the shift into technology as bringing on a positive change that is needed to be the new face of education. Another section that stood out to me is the "Searching for Information" section. I would aim to do as the chapter explained by having the students "searching for information, evaluating the worth of the information, and then organizing the information to make it more readily useable." Im pretty sure that this will require some trial and arror runs, on my and my students behalf.
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Evaluating Website Credibility

I learned about how to evaluate the credibility of a website through the "Meaningful Learning With Technology" text. Before reading I knew to look for when the site was updated as well any biases the site may express. However; before reading the text I never thought of looking for a bibliography, organization affiliations, or authority in the field. Also, some of the evaluating questions seemed to be the best tactics to ensure a reliable website. When looking at the "Save The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus" I think of the visual presentation to verify its credibility. At the top of the site the words are off centered and the presentation is not professional. Also, if you look into the question and answer section there is opinionated answers, the answers are not logical, and the site accepts donations then states that your money is not needed. There are a number of disconnections with the information given on this site, also questioning its credibility. The Martin Luther King sight starts off unprofessionally by referring to Dr.Martin Luther King as just "King". The color schemes make it hard to read some things, and some of the links are not related to the content of the site at all. The things written were not in poor grammar but it uses profanity which is not professional. There is no way of knowing who published the site or the last time it was updated; there is no bibliography nor is there a clear intended audience. The "Dog Island Free Forever" site starts off by having a link that is not related to the content; the site is about dogs and there is a link about weather and "cute kid of the year" on the first page. Next, while the audience IS clear,it is not realistic. The site invites the dogs themselves to sign up for an account and not the dog owner. Something that the site shows that tells me it is unreliable is the fact that they would ship the dogs in a closed in crate where the dogs cant breathe. I dont know how much more I would trust a site, that "cares about dogs", that ships dogs in crates that they cant breathe in. The DHMO website is a .org website but the first site shows signs of the forms of payment they accept so they may be more interested in getting your money than giving you information. The RYT Hospital site starts off with a disclaimer on their site which tells you that their information may not be reliable. There is no showing of who posted the information, the last time it was updated, and no other organization support the site or the information. After looking at these sites and the information they gave I hope to teach my students about this early enough so that they dont have to learn about the inaccurate information provided.
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Reaction to Digital Booktalk

All of these technology related projects we are doing are both scaring and shocking me. Scaring in a bad way of course and shocking in a good way. I get so scared because the assignment descriptions ask us to do things that I am totally not used to doing. I become afraid to approach the assignents and start them because I am not used to trying new technology, I just stick to the basics. When we were challanged to use a different tool from the autobiography I hesitated once again because I didnt want to be taken from my comfort zone but I was glad that he set that challange before us. If we werent challanged I would have resulted back to the same tool because I knew it and I was used to is but I was able to test a few more tools and find out that some were not so user friendly and that some are. I like that I am more comfortable with more than one tool now and that its something I can share with my students. When I was told that we would no longer be using Powerpoint I felt like Jeff had clipped my feet from under me but with all of these new tools I feel like I can fly.
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What I Learned Today

The new thing that I learned today that stood out to me was the clicker. I was so excited to use the tool and I would really like to use it in my class. It made me want to answer the question. If I felt like that about using the tool, being a college students, I can just imagine how my students would feel. I would like to try using it in one of my presentations.
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Reaction to Meaningful Learning with Technology

When reading the preface of this book I got really excited because its intentions seem to fulfill all the things I hope to get out of this class. The book “Meaningful Learning with Technology” states that it intends to engage and support the learning processes using technology. When I entered this class and after watching the video I wanted to do so much with technology in my classroom. The video got me thinking “well, if this is what is grabbing the students attention then why shouldn’t we use it in the classroom.” Things like Ipods, computers, and many other hand-held electronic devices seem to take up a lot of students time and attention. It seems that some students can type a paper better than they can write one, but send a text message before they can type. They barely hold conversations because their ears are plugged with ear phones blasting their music; and they are hardly outside playing because their eyes are glued to the computers to see their friends newest updates on MySpace, Facebook, or Twitter. It seems apparent that students aren’t “letting up” on these devices any time soon so I say we channel them to work to our advantage, turn them into positive and meaningful learning tools. I also appreciate the fact that they will offer specific software to use in order to carry out tasks with the students. I have also come to the understanding that students take notes and construct learning from what their teachers know and teach them. This means that I have to learn and have a good understanding of technology too. I learned from the book that I shouldn’t be learning to become an expert but rather learning in order to coach the learning of the students. In some aspects the students and I should be learning the technology together. Since students are “technology natives” and I am a “technology foreigner” then they may already know more about the technology than I do. Also instead of telling students what to know, how to learn it, and how to use it students must allow students to construct their own learning and help students discover what the larger community of scholars regards as meaningful concepts. In the chapter about “What is Meaningful Learning” it tells how schools today teach students to “take a test”. Students are tested from k-12 on things or in a way that is not relative to real life situations. It stresses that in order to foster meaningful learning students must be taught in an active, constructive, intentional, authentic, cooperative way. In order to learn actively students must interact with and manipulate the objects in the environment they are learning in. This how people have learned to learn for hundreds of years and should continue to do so. It also goes on to give an example of how students learn to play baseball by just going out and trying it, not lecturing and testing. For the constructive portion of learning students must be able to reflect on and articulate what it is they have been learning. Without reflection students may never stop to think about why something actually worked, what made it work, how it connected to other things, and how vital their role was in the whole process. In the area on intentional learning the text mentions how technologies have traditionally been used to support teachers’ goals but not those of the learners. We need to create a learning environment that encourages technology goals related to learners. Allow them to have goals that are in great relation to technology. For authentic learning, most lessons learned in schools focus on general principles or theories that may be used to explain phenomena that we experience.Often times those general principles are not mentioned when they are being taught so students don’t know what they relate back to. Instead of taking away those general principles and putting learning into basic formulas; why not learn them in relation to real world like learning physics through actual sports. Cooperative, be sure that students are apart of their learning and can cooperate with other learners to help construct their learning. In real world they interact with others while learning, so why shouldn’t they do so in school?When students collaborate without permission they are accused of cheating but isn’t school supposed to teach students about the real world? We should start constructing the classroom to prepare the students for more real world situations.
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Reaction to Growing Up Online Video

This video and the notes that accompanied it spoke so many truths. Internet and technology have become a vital part of the lives that children are living right now. I remember reading on FRONTLINE that even if children aren't apart of Myspace or don't have one, their lives still revolve around it or are related to it because thats what happening at school. I also agree with the point of all parents knowing how to navigate to and around sites that are popular for children or just the internet in general. There are so many things going on on the internet that parents dont know about and may never know about. Even one of the students in the video said that she knew if some parents knew what their kids were doing on the internet they would probably cry. Children have the opportunity to become totally different people on the internet which can lead to so much more, and parents really need to be aware of this. Something else that the postings mentioned was children who give wrong advice about things like dieting, etc. I never thought about it but if children are living in a world where they feel like no one understands them and that once person on the internet that does listen to them gives them advice, then they are more than likely to follow it. Parents can slowly start to lose their children if they haven't already and they need to get ''hip to technology'' before it becomes to late. Reality of the situation is that technology is basically built into the lives of the kids of this generation. Alot of parents don't know alot about technology, which is how their kids get away with alot of what they do. Some grandparents are raising kids, and they really may not know much about technology. So to me, my reaction to this video would be to think of ways to present technology to students and use those times to give them internet safety or technology safety tips just in case their parent or guardians can't.
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Reflection on Video Autobiography

I just completed my video autobiography and it was the first time I ever tried it. It was a fun tool to use and one that I don't think I would have tried on my own. I was just going to put the pictures into the slides and explain them after I got into class. Once I stopped and remembered that there was an option to record yourself and attach it to your creation I decided that I should go for it. Usually, I don't do "optional" technological things, which is why I don't have much experience with technology, so I decided to step out of the box. It ended up working well and it was no where near as hard as I though...however hard that may have been. This assignment made me realize that I should take this class to experiment on all new technological things I may come in contact with this semester. I figure that this is the best time to do it since I have guidance and someone that may show me more than I may have found out on my own. It didn't take very long to do but I did put quiet a bit of effort into because after I started I became excited about the finished product. I wouldn't say it was hard work but I did put time into putting the pictures together. Completing this task also made me take a quick glimpse over how far I have come because I'm often to busy to do that. Overall I think it was a great assignment, especially as a first assignment.
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What New Thinking Did I Take Away From Class Today?

The new thinking that I took away from class today was to be more open minded to the connection of the way technology is used inside and outside of class. I want to use those "cool tools" that the students use in every day life as a part of my lesson in order to have my students full attention and maybe become the "cool teacher". I think that it would be very beneficial to me because it will give me a chance to learn from my students since they may have more experience with these tools than I do. It also gives them a chance to be the expert and helps them get the maximum experience from their education. Im really excited about finding out how to add technology into as many of my lessons as possible.
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What is the role of technology in Teaching and Learning?

I feel that technologies role is to catch students attention and to introduce the new forms of technology that we experience daily. Also I feel that technologies keep students interest because that is slowly what the world is becoming controlled by; and if education does not keep up with how students are experiencing life then we will not be able to keep up with them. It gives students a chance to be more hands on than the older models of teaching which
were books and boards.
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