Week 9

     This week in class we learned a lot. We started off by learning about cheating in the classroom. We watched a video about different ways that students now a days are cheating ie-pop bottles, text messaging etc. It was very interesting to watch this video and watch the reactions of the people in the class. Most people in the class were very surprised by the ways and tactics that these kids had come up with which is a good sign. It's a good sign because that shows that most of them didn't cheat in these ways and that's always a good thing. We also learned about a virtual classroom on adobe. I thought that was really cool because you could have a white board and have the students write on that as well as have them raise their hands. I thought that was pretty neat. I had never even heard about anything like that. This all related to the first presentation about where technology is going to go in the following years. It's really crazy to think about that right now we have the technology to have class online through a computer who knows whats going to happen in the next couple years. Who knows maybe all classrooms will be taught online through a computer and you won't even have to be in an actual classroom setting. After that we learned how to make a concept map. I think that these are really awesome and i'm really glad we learned about them. I remember making them a lot when I was in elementary and middle school. We had to do ours by hand not on the computer. I think that doing them on a computer will make things a lot faster for kids now days. It is definitely a good resource and a good tool for studying.  We the finished with learning how to make a newsletter for our future classrooms.

     I think that I will actually be able to use some of these programs in my classroom. I would really like to be able to use the concept maps for sure. I think that it would really help the kids in understanding concepts. By laying them out in a map form and by ideas that will really help them. I would also like to be able to use the newsletter in my classroom. I would like to be able to send out those types of letters quarterly. I would not like to incorporate cheating in my classroom and if I catch cheating in my classroom it will be an automatic F for the semester.

     Some ISTE standards that we used today as students were:

• Creativity and Innovation: We started to create our own original works of the newsletters and also when we did the class activity of creating the concept map. We incorporated new existing ideas and concepts to make new ones. 
• Communication and Collaboration: We worked with the people in our groups to create concept maps.
• Technology Operations and Concepts: We had to understand how to use a computer. 

     

     Some ISTE standards that we used today as teachers were:

• Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity: We learned new ways in technology to help our students be more creative. We learned about concepts maps and how the students can be more creative by doing them online instead of just pencil and paper.
• Model Digital Age Work and Learning: We learned how to create newsletters to send to our parents and students in a better way to communicate with them.

Week 8

     This week in class we learned about wikis.  I think this presentation would have been better if we would have had it like the second or first week of class. The group could have done a tutorial on how to use wiki and navigate around the website. It would have been very helpful but instead it it was this week. I thought it was a good presentation though. I liked the video we watched that compared blogs and wikis with the two presidents. That was really funny and interesting. We also learned about self-directed learning which I also found very interesting. Then we used an awesome website to make rubrics which will be very helpful in the classroom and we also learned how to make podcasts.

     Every week it gets harder and harder for me to answer the question "will you use it in your classroom" because these are all really great tools that we are learning about to use in our classroom but it's just really hard to incorporate them into a math class. There are some things that I would like to use such as blackboard and stuff but things like podcasts and wikis would be very hard to use in a math class. But I do see how other subjects would be able to use these great tools that we are learning about!

     Some of the ISTE standards that we used today as teachers are:

• Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments: We learned a new technology (podcats) and how to incorporate them into our classrooms. 
• Model Digital-Age Work and Learning: We demonstrated fluency in technology in being able to create a rubric and work with audacity.

     Some of the ISTE standards that we used today as students are:

• Creativity and Innovation: We applied our existing knowledge of technology and computers to learn something new.
• Research and Information Fluency: We used a really cool website to make rubrics.
• Communication and Collaboration: We use our wikis daily. 

Week 7

Today in class my group gave a presentation on online learning communities. I think that these online learning communities are a great idea! I think that they really do improve a students learning and understanding of the material. I also think that all students who have the opportunity in college to be in a learning community should seize the opportunity. It is a great way for students to meet other students who are in the same major as them and just help them makes friends their first semester in college. I know that I am still friends with most of the people that were in my learning community. A learning community is a little different than an online learning community though. Basically the only difference is that is just online. We also learned how to make a voice thread. It was a very cool technique to use and I really enjoyed using it. It was a little confusing at first but once you got the hang of it it really wasn't all that bad. 


I do not think that I can actually use it in my classroom because that defeats the purpose of it being an online learning community but I could use it outside of the classroom in a sense that the students use it to interact with each other. One example of a online learning tool is Facebook the students could use Facebook to interact with each other about homework or whatever they may need help with. I'm also not sure how I could voicethread if my classroom either but I can totally see how other teachers could use them especially English teachers. 

Some of the ISTE standards we used as teachers today are:  

•  Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments: We learned a new way to incorporate technology to enhance the students learning and understanding.
• Model Digital-Age Work and Learning: We learned how to use technology in a new way.

Some of the ISTE standards we used as students today are:

• Creativity and Innovation: We applied our existing knowledge of technology to learn something new.
• Communication and Collaboration: We had to work with our group in order to create a voicethread. 

Week 6

This week we had a pretty simple class and very easy. First we learned about Distance Learning which was very interesting. I have personally been a part of a DL program. I took classes over the summer through Ohio University but I wasn't in Ohio. I took my classes online while I spent my summer in Alaska. It's so convenient. Professors use blackboard to keep you update and post homework assignments etc. It was a really awesome experience and it was a easy way for me to get credits, still have a summer and not have to stay in Ohio. I plan on most likely doing it again this summer assuming all things work out well scheduling wise. We also created our own movie and turned it in before we left class. We had to create a movie using twelve pictures and our topic had to be either the Core Values of the College of Education or relating to our subject area. We had to use transition effects, music and text. I never knew how to make a movie before so this was a very good technique to learn how to use.

I don't think that this is something that I would be using in my classroom because they are all used for out the classroom things. I would use things like blackboard to help my students that may not be able to attend school regularly because of family issues or personal issues. I think that blackboard is a great invention and I really love using it. I love being able to see my grades, have teachers post articles and information pertaining to the class etc.  I'm not sure if I will use movie making in the classroom because I am going to be a math teacher but I can definitely see how teachers in other subjects would use movie maker and the other tools we learned about today.

Some ISTE standards that we used today as teachers are:

• Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments. We learned how to promote student learning and creativity in a new way. We learned how to use videos and how to be able to still be in a class even if can not actually attend school.
• Model Digital-Age Work and Learning. We learned a new use for technology (video) and how to incorporate it into our classroom on a daily basis. 

Some ISTE standards that we used as students today are:

• Creativity and Innovation. Today we applied our existing knowledge of technology to form a new idea in technology. We learned how to create videos and use them in our classrooms.
• Technology Operations and Concepts. We understand technology. 

Week 5

     Today in class we learned about social networking sits. Some of the most common types of social networking sites in the United States are: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. We learned how we could use these in the classroom and discussed if it would be a good idea to use them. I don't think that it would be a good idea to use in the classroom with the age group I will be teaching. I think that they are way to young and it is to dangerous to use. I know that most of them will probably already have a facebook or a twitter but I don't want to bring it in the classroom no matter what. That is something that they should be doing outside of school. We also talked about copyrighting issues and how you need to cite everything that you get. What I didn't know was that even if you just get a picture off of Google you have to cite it. It is something well learned and will not of course be used. We also learned how to make surveys on our Google sites. I can't say if this will be helpful in my classroom or not but it definitely is a good think to know how to use.

     I plan on using one of the two things that we talked about today in my classroom. I most certainly will not be using any social network cites in my classroom. I do not think that they serve a purpose for me and my major. I think that it would be very helpful for say English majors but I think that it would be really hard to incorporate math and social net work cites. There is just no need for it in math. Its understandable in other subjects but I just can't see myself using in a math lesson. I will however use the teaching of citing sources in my class room. Although they may not be citing a lot of things math related (unless they are doing some sort of project) but I will encourage them to make sure that they are citing things properly in their other classes.

Some ISTE standards that we used as teachers today were:

• Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity: As teachers we learned something new that we can use to teach our students (surveys) and use in our classroom in a hope that the students will find it interesting and use creatively.  

Some ISTE standards that we used as students were:

• Creativity and Innovation: We learned to to incorporate our existing knowledge of technology into learning how to use it in a new way. And a creative way by now being able to create surveys online.
• Communication and Collaboration: We used our Google sites to talk to the other students in our group in order to create a story. 

Week 4

       Today in class we learned how to create a Webquest. We watched a video on how the first Webquest was created and what it is used for. Webquests are used as a good way for the students to interact in a fun way on the internet. There are a whole bunch of different components to a creating a webquest. Some of the most important things are; The introduction, the task, the processes, the resources and the evaluation. Each one of these components plays a special role in creating a webquest. I think that the most important feature is the task. You have to have a good task in order for everything else to fall into place. The next most important is the processes. You have to make the process fun for the kids so that they enjoy and learn from this experience.
      
    I think that I could use this tool in my classroom. It would be kind of hard to incorporate into a mathematics lesson but it can be done. As I was doing some research and browsing around of all the different math webquests there are, there are some great ideas. They had a lot of good examples of algebra and calculus. I think that the calculus webquest would be able to help me out now in my higher level calc class. Which is good and I am glad that I found some of them. I defiantly intend on going home and looking more into them to see not only how I can use them in my classroom but also for my own personal studies.


     Some of the ITSE standards that we covered in class today as Teachers are:

• Model Digital Age and Work: We learned about a new type of technology and how to use it based off of our current knowledge of technology.  We also collaborated with our peers in the classroom and bounced ideas off of each other
• Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity:  We worked face to face in a virtual environment. 

    Some of the ITSE standards that we covered in class today as Students are:

•   Commutative Collaboration: Students will need to collaborate with their classmates when they are working on group presentations.
• Research and Information Fluency: Students will need to come up with an idea for their Webquest and will need to do research on the internet in order to come up with ideas for their projects.
• Technology Operations and Concepts: Students will need to understand and know how to use technology.

Week 3

         Today in class we learned a lot of great information. We started off class by learning about what podcasts and vodcasts were. I have never made a podcast or a vodcast but I have seen a lot of them online and a lot of people really enjoy doing them. I think they are a good way to incorporate them into a classroom. I think they would especially be helpful in English classes or History classes. The second thing we talked about was what Cyber bullying was. We watched a really cool video of what cyber bullying could do to someone, and someone in the act of bullying  (pretending of course). Then we watched another video of three girls who were sitting in a coffee shop and pretending to bully someone on Facebook while others were watching. When they asked the onlooker to participate in the bullying he complied and went through with it. Which just goes to show that some onlookers will not tell the bullies to stop what they are doing. We were told some statistics about bullying and it is really astonishing how many people are bullied. Its something that needs to stop because in some cases it results in suicide, which is in no means okay. After our discussions we learned how to use Picasa and how to create videos with pictures on our Google site. We learned how to add audio to it as well and upload it to our Google site. 


     I can't really see myself using podcasts and vodcasts in my content area. It defiantly makes sense for an English class or History class to use them but I don't really know how I would incorporated them into a Mathematics class. I"m sure I could find some ideas off the internet on how to use them in a math class, but I don't really know right now.

     Some of the ISTE standards we used as Teachers today in class were:

• Model Digital-Age Work and Learning. We learned about new technologies (Picasa) and how to use them in our classrooms. 
• Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity. We learned a new and creative way to teach our students through virtual environments.

Some of the ISTE standards we used as students today in class were:

• Creativity and Innovation. We applied our existing knowledge to the new things we learned today.
• Technology Operations and Concept. We all used computers today in class and how to use them effectively when applying them to the new programs we learned about in class today.

Week 2

•         Today in class we learned ways to incorporate technology and social media sites into our classroom. It was really interesting . I liked the ideas that others had about using Smartboards in the classroom. The video we watched about the kindergarten class using the Smartboard to learn words was so cool.    I not sure how I feel about kids that little using so much technology (smartboards, ipads ect), but it is a great way for the students to be interactive and enjoy learning. Another useful tool that we learned how to use was Twitter. I am not a big Twitter fan myself and did not have one prior to yesterday but, I  must say that it is a good way to stay connected. It's a good way for a class to be able to interact with their fellow classmates, whether its about school work or outside of school things. Lastly, we learned about all the ins and outs of powerpoint. I thought I knew how to use powerpoint pretty well but clearly I was mistaken. I did not know how to use the hyperlinks and switiching from slide to slide. That was really cool and very useful for using in the classroom. I will defiantly be able to make my power points more interactive and fun for my students!
              I could defiantly use these tools in my classroom. The one that I would probably use the most is the smartboard. When I was in high school we used the smartboard a lot in my Statistics class. It was a great way for us as the students to be interactive and come up to the board and solve problems.  It also makes things a lot easier by not having to constantly erase the board every time you ran out of room and you could save the work and work on it the next day if you ran out of time. I could not see myself using social media sites in my classroom. I do not think they would be beneficial in any way in helping the students learn. I think I could find a way to use an ipad in my room, but i most certainly would use the smartboard. 
  
  

Some of the ISTE standards for Teachers we used this week were:

• 1d, because we learned how to use power point more efficiently in our classrooms and really engage the students in using power point and learning from it. Not only how to use the program but academically.  
• 2a,  for the same reasons as 1d, we learned how to use power point to promote creative student learning.
• 3a, would also be a standard that we used today. We talked about the difference in today's classroom and the classrooms that we grew up in. A lot of us didn't use smartboards or ipads when we were in school. So today we learned ways to switch from the old to the new. 

Some of the ISTE standards for Students we used this week were :

• 1a, most of us had pre-existing knowledge of how to use power point but I know that I learned a lot of new things ie: hyperlinks. And I now can incorporate them into my future power points.

• 6a, we must understand ourselves how to use these applications in technology in order to incorporate them into our classrooms.