The first podcast I viewed was about literacy centers in the first grade classroom. The podcast showed all sorts of neat things a teacher can do to get his or her students engaged in literacy activities. One idea I like was using decorative pointers for the children to read with, this can get the students excited about reading because they get to pick a pointer that they like. Another thing I liked was that the students were given lots of choices about what they wanted to in the literacy center. When students are given choices it can make them feel more independent and can get them more involved and make them actually want to do the activity because they get to choose what they do.
The second podcast I saw was about gardening with the students. The students all had their own little buckets of soil and they were planting flowers in them. The students watered their flowers every day to make them grow. All of the children were very excited to have something of their own to take care of and they were especially excited when they began to see grow in what they had worked so hard for.
These two podcast were both really interesting and had valuable information. I liked how the first one about literacy centers gave ideas for teachers to take back to the classroom. The second one was neat because it showed an activity that the students really enjoyed doing that a teacher could use her his or her own students.
I believe podcast such as the two mentioned previously would be great for teachers. Both of the shared valuable information that could be used in the classroom such as ideas to incorporate into literacy centers or activities to get the students excited about science. I have learned to use podcasts as a research tool when looking for ideas for my classroom in the future. There are so many great topics at the tips of our finger tips, all we need is Internet access and there lies a world of information within the iTunesU!
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Wikipedia Blog Post
Wikipedia is known as the "free" encyclopedia, but just because it is free does not mean it is accurate. Before I research wikipedia, I did not realize that anyone can post whatever they want onto the site. I was always using wikipedia for sources for research papers and just for basic information. Although, much of the information on wikipedia can be accurate, we should still be cautious when reading the information. I do not think that wikipedia should ever be used as a source for any sort of scholarly paper because of the simple fact that it is unreliable information.
Twitter is an interesting topic of choice. I believe that once a person gets used to using twitter it could be of value. To be honest, I find twitter very hard to understand because I am not savvy with technology at all; though I have learned so much valuable information throughout the semester and am starting to make progress in that area. I do think that we are lucky to have a class that shows future teachers how to use all different sorts of technology such as twitter. Twitter can be used for classroom teachers and for students. One thing I do like about twitter is when you have a question, you can post it on twitter and literally within minutes someone will most likely have answered your question; this can be of value to teachers and students. For students, classmates and their teacher can reply with answers to the student's homework help or any question the student might have. For teachers, twitter can be helpful to keep up with what the students are interested in or what areas they may be having trouble in so that they can receive more help in that subject. I have not posted any questions myself but I have looked at posts done by others and I can see that it can be very helpful, along with being very interesting. There is all sorts of information within twitter on basically any subject and I believe it could be a great asset to a teacher once he or she gets past the initial difficulty of learning the ropes.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Improving Podcasts
Podcasts hold a lot of valuable information and can be very interesting if done correctly. Podcasts can be found on almost any topic imaginable. Visit itunes.com and go to itunes U to find all sorts of free podcast resources. For me, podcasting has its ups and downs, but I still believe they can be great tools for research and general information.
Most of the podcasts were pretty good, they stuck to the point of the discussion and got the information they wanted to get across to the public done in a fairly organized manor. I learned a lot of new things about technology in schools from listening to the podcasts of other members taking EDM 310 this semester. There were topics focusing on no burpback education in schools, an interview with the dean on technology in classrooms, different technological tools that can be used such as ACCESS in classroom, and an interview with Dr. Strange on his theory that students have become listeners and viewers rather than readers and writers, along with many other important topics.
However, some improvements could be made in order to make podcasting more effective. One problem I noticed in many of the podcasts is that the students did not seem very interested in the topics they were discussing. Though the students may have been presenting important information, it is hard to stay focused on listening to a podcast in the students talking are not interested in what they are talking about. Maybe if the students got to come up with their own topics about technology in classroom then they would be able to hold the listener's attention longer because they would be enthused about the topic being discussed. Another thing I noticed in a couple of the podcasts was a pause in the discussions as if the students were searching for the words to say; this could be fixed by rehearsing more. I believe there should be a practice recording session before the final recording date which would allow the students to practice and hear what their podcast sounds like and what improvements need to be made before the final recording. Other than those couple of improvements, the podcasts sounded fantastic!
Most of the podcasts were pretty good, they stuck to the point of the discussion and got the information they wanted to get across to the public done in a fairly organized manor. I learned a lot of new things about technology in schools from listening to the podcasts of other members taking EDM 310 this semester. There were topics focusing on no burpback education in schools, an interview with the dean on technology in classrooms, different technological tools that can be used such as ACCESS in classroom, and an interview with Dr. Strange on his theory that students have become listeners and viewers rather than readers and writers, along with many other important topics.
However, some improvements could be made in order to make podcasting more effective. One problem I noticed in many of the podcasts is that the students did not seem very interested in the topics they were discussing. Though the students may have been presenting important information, it is hard to stay focused on listening to a podcast in the students talking are not interested in what they are talking about. Maybe if the students got to come up with their own topics about technology in classroom then they would be able to hold the listener's attention longer because they would be enthused about the topic being discussed. Another thing I noticed in a couple of the podcasts was a pause in the discussions as if the students were searching for the words to say; this could be fixed by rehearsing more. I believe there should be a practice recording session before the final recording date which would allow the students to practice and hear what their podcast sounds like and what improvements need to be made before the final recording. Other than those couple of improvements, the podcasts sounded fantastic!
Opinion on Blogging in Classrooms
Blogging has become the thing to do in many classroom across the country. Teachers all over the world are using them in their classrooms to help their students on all sorts of levels. I was never familiar with blogging until this class but now after being required to blog quite frequently I have begun to think that it can be a valuable resource. Many other people taking EDM 310 this semester share my opinion that blogging can be a useful tool for teachers.
After reading other student's blogs for the semester I have realized that I am not the only one who believe that blogging can be useful. Blogging is an easy way for students to keep up with their assignments, especially if he or she might have missed a day of class. Not to mention, for the teachers trying to go green, using blogs to post assignments instead of handing out numerous papers in the classroom can help save resources and money.
Blogging can also help teachers become more familiar with who their students are a human beings outside the classroom. Students will most likely put their on twist and flavor into their blogs to show a little bit of their personalities, which can help the teacher get an insight into the kinds of things they like. Also, blogs can be used for the children to post their homework assignments instead of turning them in at school; in EDM 310, we use our blogs to write mini papers on assignments we are given. English papers, short essays,poems, or anything that you feel comfortable for the world to see can be posted onto blogs for easy grading. Blogging can also be useful for contacting people from all over the world and seeing how other countries are using technology.
Overall, I believe that blogging can really be an essential technological tool for teachers. The possibilities are endless when blogging. I know that it is almost impossible to get teachers who are stuck in their ways to realize the possibilities within the technology blogging offers, so if teachers just entering the field will open their minds up and try out blogging in their classrooms I think we would see a vast improvement in assignment being turned in and done well and maybe veteran teachers will eventually realize that blogging can be useful.
After reading other student's blogs for the semester I have realized that I am not the only one who believe that blogging can be useful. Blogging is an easy way for students to keep up with their assignments, especially if he or she might have missed a day of class. Not to mention, for the teachers trying to go green, using blogs to post assignments instead of handing out numerous papers in the classroom can help save resources and money.
Blogging can also help teachers become more familiar with who their students are a human beings outside the classroom. Students will most likely put their on twist and flavor into their blogs to show a little bit of their personalities, which can help the teacher get an insight into the kinds of things they like. Also, blogs can be used for the children to post their homework assignments instead of turning them in at school; in EDM 310, we use our blogs to write mini papers on assignments we are given. English papers, short essays,poems, or anything that you feel comfortable for the world to see can be posted onto blogs for easy grading. Blogging can also be useful for contacting people from all over the world and seeing how other countries are using technology.
Overall, I believe that blogging can really be an essential technological tool for teachers. The possibilities are endless when blogging. I know that it is almost impossible to get teachers who are stuck in their ways to realize the possibilities within the technology blogging offers, so if teachers just entering the field will open their minds up and try out blogging in their classrooms I think we would see a vast improvement in assignment being turned in and done well and maybe veteran teachers will eventually realize that blogging can be useful.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Stanford Blog
Many students believe they are born with fixed knowledge and that they are not able to become more. Others believe that their brain is like a muscle and that every time they learn something new their brain grows. Two different workshops were created as a study in order to see which theory is correct and to encourage a growth mindset. Students who were in the group that were given motivation and higher expectations were succeeding but the group who had a lack of motivation did not do so well.
It is so important to have a curious mind and to let our imaginations grow because with that curiosity so much can be learned. Those who believe that people are born smart or not need to be encouraged to get out there and experience the world in new ways. People should want to engage in learning to broaden their knowledge about many different topics. When people open their minds to learning new things with a growth mindset great things can be discovered and people can realize that knowledge can be learned as opposed to being born with it.
It is so important to have a curious mind and to let our imaginations grow because with that curiosity so much can be learned. Those who believe that people are born smart or not need to be encouraged to get out there and experience the world in new ways. People should want to engage in learning to broaden their knowledge about many different topics. When people open their minds to learning new things with a growth mindset great things can be discovered and people can realize that knowledge can be learned as opposed to being born with it.
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