Monday, July 20, 2009

EDM 310 Blog Assigments Now Completed

After spending a lot of time in this class I am proud to say I believe I am now a technology literate teacher. No I have not gotten my teacher's ceritifcate yet, but you can be a technology literate teacher without really being a certified teacher. I have now not only learned a lot, but I have also been bale to show others how to use certain aspects learned in this course such as Skype and Google Earth. I hope everyone can take as much away from this class as I did.

Podcast Intro

After listening to the podcasts I can definitly say I never thought it was so much work to be able to know how to find them and know what to listen for. I did like how one of the podcast gave you refrences for others if you wanted more information that made it a lot easier if you were doing an assigment for a project or a paper.

Another podcast showed me how watching a video and actually listening was so much easier than sitting and reading about it. It was not as boring and it kept me "awake". Others seemed to do the same. The podcasts were generally really good teaching strategies and I thought they would be very helpful in the classroom.

I loved how one of the podcasts acutally talked about differnt technology tools and how they could be used in education. This helped show differnt aspects of technology and new improved gadgets that aid in educational learning.

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

I found Mr. Pausch to be very thought provoking, understanding, and inspiring. How could one man move so many people?

Mr. Pausch saw teaching as a journey. Though at the end it may not be where you thought you would end up the time you spent on it definitely taught you something about not only the assignment, but yourself. I thought Mr. Pausch was an educator that many of us could only strive to be. He was enthusiastic about education and caring. He understood the path that education was going to be taking over the next few years and embraced it. I think this should be a video not only watched in this course, but also throughout the campus of South Alabama.

What I've learned

I learned mant different things I learned:

Many different aspects of google

How to make a blog

Google Earth- this was my favorite thing to learn about

Skype

Collaborating with others

Twitter- I had a little understanding about it, but now I know a while lot more.

This is not everything I learned. There is so much more that can't be included because it would take way to long to write. I am so appreciative how everything and hope others can take away what I have form this course.

EDM Podcasts 09

After listening to both podcasts there is a lot we could of all done to improve them. It being our first one i thought it went great.

After watching the podcasts I was involved in I thought we could had went more in depth with our questions and responses. We really only touched bases with many topics. There is so much more we could had talked about while dealing with readers/writers and listener/watchers.

After watching Kitty and Nichol's podcast I thought they did a fantastic job by asking the thought provoking questions, but they got way off subject. It was fun to watch where they went with it, but they had said they were going to talk about one thing and switched i think they could had drawn Dr. Strange back in with a topic more on subject.

I did think everything g went good with both and I think after a few more we could all definitely master the technique.

Plus or Minus a Classroom Blog

I read all the blogs published by Kitty Ruzic. She was very good at capturing every essence of the underlying questions of each blog, How can technology help me? There are both pluses and minuses that come along with doing a class blog. In all there seems to be more pluses.

The only realy minus I can think of is that you are required to read certain blogs or podcasts by other people. I think it could be better if you oculd possibly get to choose your own blogs to write about. This would give you the freedom of choice and prove that you can find responsive and thought provoking blogs that deal with technological issues teachers might face.

A plus of doing the blogs is that the students learns how to collaborate with others while also learning that the best work isn't totally done alone that it takes many differnt people with different ideas and thoughts together to come up with many great ideas all dealing with a central thought.

Another really great plus about class blogs is that it introduces many students to what the future will soon be like. It allows them to interact and learn about new ideas that technology has to offer. If also proves to them that, yes, the future is coming and people need to be ready for what it has instore.

The future is moving closer and closer to technology taking over the world and for teachers to be on the know about it now will help our students today be more prosporous and educated about whats to come. This will inturn help everyone.

The Technology Literate Teacher

"What do you have to know, be able to do, and have experienced to be a "technologically literate teacher." These were questions asked to answer after watching the videos or "Next Generation Learning", "Will Richardson", "Networked Student", "PS22 Chorus", and "Viki Davis". After watching them I gained a lot more knowledge about technology literate teachers. I found that you need to know about all the new social networking sites and have an understanding that not giving students an education about technology in the 21st century is academic malpractice.

Teachers should be able to communicate with others on social network sites and they should be able to understand that you should not know everything about technology. The whole point is to learn new things as you are going along. Be able to be teachable. Your students can teach you just as much as you can teach them.

To be technology literate one should experience the Internet. Don't be afraid to push a button. Experience is the best learning tool anyone could have. New experiences come with new knowledge. This knowledge is what will make or break you as a teacher.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Passion part 2

After watching the video that Jarrod Lamshed posted as a sort of sequel to his post "Finding the Passion", I am now even more inspired by what Sir Ken Robinson had to say. He is so right that people loose their creativity and this is due in large part because of the educational system.

To have natural element to do something one must love what they are doing. Just becuase you are good at that can mean there is no passion behind it. One must find the thing that resignates in you. 8 million kids this year were diagnosed with ADHD. Why? I believe in all honestly thses kids are not being challenged enough and by putting them on medicine it is a quick way out. human ability is often buried deep inside people they just need someone or something to help them realize what they are hiding.

Passion for education

After reading Mr. Jarrod Lamshed's post "Finding the Passion" at attheteachersdesk.blogspot.com I became very inspired by his and Sir Ken Robinson's words. Mr. Lamshed made a lot of great points on how he was a sync about passion until he found his own, then he got it. He also talks about how when his students got passionate about their work their effort and excitability went up.

Sir Ken Robinson's video was amazing. I really loved how he Incorporated entertainment with education about the future. Getting an education degree in English myself I never did stop to think about having Shakespeare in my class. It was funny to me how he could bring something up and show how if someone had told Shakespeare to stop writing how our literature would be totally changed as we know it. His main point is that we are supposed to educate children for the future even though we don't even know what the future has in store. by doing this teachers need to be on the cutting edge of technology and learning capabilities. He asks the question, "Why do we not teach dance like we do math?" This is also something I am wondering being a student of music over half my life I know that I couldn't be the person I am today without it. I wonder about the children that are cheated by the system. How can we make it up to them creatively to show them that it is OK to show this side of them.

In the future their are going to be quite a few people that have degrees. What is going to set these people away from everyone else. What is going to be the difference in them? How are these people going to be eligible for jobs more so than the person right next to them. Without creativity and individual thought these people are going to be the same and the job market is going to be less competitive and the economy could slump. It is up to us as educators to enhance children's creativity and still be readily educating them for the future.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Richard E. Miller Videos

After watching all three videos, Mr. Miller had a lot of great ideas and comments made about technology literate teachers and trying to make our students more accessible to these alternative learning methods that are going to be the future of our academic lifestyles.

In the first video Mr. Miller talks about how now is an important time in the academic world. Technology is vastly changing. He talks of incremental change. This is the change from carrying notebooks and pencils to carrying laptops and using word processing. The new workplace is not a desk, but a desktop. By using the Internet documents are now made available forever. You don't have to worry about anything being deleted or cleared. Another incremental change is collaborating and composing with images, film, sound, or anything that is archived. All of these new technologies need to be learned and mastered by teachers everywhere for adequate academics to take place.

In the second video Mr. Miller talks about how material is updated instantly on the web now. He makes mention of Itunes University and how successful it has been with students listening to different lecture around the world. He says that ideas are not individual things and that they belong to culture. He talks about how educators don't need to just teach or use the materials, but they also need to get behind it. I believe everything he says is true. I can see how people can become stingy with their ideas, but they should share them so that others can try to bring their ideas to life. Mr. Miller says all we need is aspiring teachers and a pedagogy to teach by. With those two things we as teachers could being a whole new generation of learning.

The third video talked about how we should be at the cutting edge of learning about technology and using it. We moved to web 2.0 because of how people were beginning to collaborate on social networking sites and on blogs. He talked about how universities have something wikipedia doesn't have. That is a way to institutionalize these practices appropriately and successfully.

Monday, July 6, 2009

iTunes U

Best of iTunes U

On the sited website I found information dealing with what iTunes University is. iTunes University was developed to enable students from all around the world to be connected to different universities. by doing this universities can post audio and visual educational material to the iTunes site and it then become available to anynoe who is searching.

Students can use this site to their advantage by being able to still be caught up in classwork even if they miss a class period. Students can also use it to visit other univerisities they do not attend to see how their courses stack up compared to others. Teachers can use this site to post their lecture on so that students can have access to them even after class is over.

I could see me as a teacher and a student using this technology to try to futher my education. As a teacher i oculd use iTunes University to look in on other teachers and get different ideas from some of their lectures or I could,as a student, use this technology to help me with different assignments including projects and homework by listening or watching different lectures and getting examples from them.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

IPODS for Instruction

After visiting the website and watching the PowerPoint I can see I real usefulness in using Ipods for educational purposes that I couldn't see before. In 2004 Duke University gave all first year freshman an Ipod. They have seen immense results after doing so. I have an Ipod and I never thought to use it for many things that students at Duke use one for everyday.

One use out of the Ipod is using one for a recorder. This now means no more note taking. One can record the whole lecture and never have to write one thing down. They can just record it and replay it later for studying. This creates the study aid of repetition. You can hear it over and over to memorize it. Another great use for Ipods is the use outside of the classroom. If you have a project to do that requires an interview you can just let the Ipod do the work for you. It can record the whole interview and save it for you until later.

After reading many of the findings Duke made in its first year experiment I think using Ipods in the classroom is a great idea. Yes, it is expensive, but what is a price on education. This new technology can defiantly help in the future of educating students.

The website used for this information was Click on the powerpoint

Dr. Christie's site of useful educational information

TeacherTube

After reading through many of the educational tools listed on Dr. Christie
s website I found one tool that stood out to me more than any other, teachertube. I love Youtube. It it one of my favorite things to look at on the internet. Now teachers can get in on the excitment also. By using Teachertube teachers can now post videos that aid and show other teachers and students what kind of learning is taking place around the world.

I can see myself using such technology. By doing this I could see where other schools around the country or world are acadimically in the classroom compared to mine. By using Teachertube one could also post videos futher helping students after class is over by giving more detailed directions for a certain project or homework help. Teachertube can be beificial for all parties.

Wikipedia. Is it really reliable?

After reading many of the posts about Wikipedia I now see where it is a total unreliable website for accurate information. I myself have used wikipedia many times trusting that the facts were true that I was reading, but in fact many of them could had been falsified by the companies or people that the stories were about. Even a random person could change information on Wikipedia.

A lot of the people and companies that change information are users you would never expect such as: Walmart, Exxon, and even the CIA. With the help of a new scanner program developed by Virgil Griffith anyone who gets on Wikipedia can see who has edited the information on a particular page. With this new aid Wikipedia may soon become increasingly more reliable as long as no one comes out with a new technology to make the names unknown again.

Monday, June 22, 2009

After watching both podcasts I can see that both sets of students are highly above average when it comes to technology when it comes to the rest of us. I do believe I am prepared to tach these students. Not because I think I know more than them, obviously i don't. Not only can i teach these kids things I know how to do, these kids could also teach me. That is what teaching is all about. Not only are you teaching your students, but you are always constently learning from the students also. I believe to become a more effective teacher I just need to research more about technology and try out different things like podcasts and videocasts so that I can effectivly teach my students about them and we can all be on the same wave link. After watching both podcasts I am very shocked with how advanced these kids are considering they are probably younger. I also believe that it is great that they do know how to do most of those type of things. They are already more advanced than over half the people their age. This will definaitly have a postive effect on them one day by knowing more about technology.

websites I used were
Chameleon

Lion
I thought the first podcast i listened to was remarkable. The students that conducted it seemed to have been doing those type of things for a while. They were all very knowledgeable about al lthe technologies; therefore, they were capable to ask intresting questions. All the students definitly did their homework before the podcast. After hearing it I can now understand different social networking sites that can help students after the class is over. They also talked about how you-tube can be used for educational information. They can put up powerpoints and virtual tours for the students. This podcast was very proffessional and what I hope ours can be like.
After hearing the second podcast I heard a huge difference. The second group gave diffferent websites to visit for help in the classroom. They did bring up very good points, but most of what they were talking about was only good in elementary classrooms. They did not incorporate middle or high school students into the podcast. All three websites would help in the lesson plans, but it gives the notion that all you need to do is go tothe website and everything will fall in your lap. In reality it is not really like that.This podcast was no as proffessional as the first one, but it still had a lot of great information in it.

The website used for the first podcast is
Podcast 1

The second website used was
Podcast 2

Sunday, June 21, 2009

The FischBowl

After reading Karl Fisch's post I am outstanded how he could make those comments and still be so right. I agree with him tremendously about how teachers really do not deserve to teach if they themselves do not know how to use a computer. They are only setting their students up for failure.

It is funny how I look around myself and wonder why and how half the people around me are in college due to the fact of how technoligcally illiterate they are. It even agrivates and furstrates me sometimes when people are asking me simple tasks about things dealing with the internet or even the computer in general. I will admit there are few instances where even I do'not even know a few things, but as teachers you are constantly learning new things, but to ask things even my young niece could do on a computer is a little bit outlandish.

After reading the post I know now teachers owe it to their students to know how to use a computer. Being able to use a computer is a lot like being able to read or write. In the early 20th century people could still get a well paying job and not know who to read or write. At the end of the 20th century very very few people could get any kind of job without knowing how to read or write. People who do not know how to use a computer can still get good paying jobs, but it is getting increasingly harder. I think within the nest 10 to 15 years it is going to be as difficult to get a job if you don't know how to use a computer as it is to get a job not knowing how to read or write. Teachers can't teach what they don't know.

All this information was found at Karl Fisch's Post

Saturday, June 20, 2009

"Being Inspired, Part 1" Thoughts

After reading Jarrod Lamshed's blog about the different new methods he has learned since incorporating different technologies into the classroom I can see how going out of your comfort zone can have a huge impact on the classroom. Mr. Lamshed talked about how reading Mr. Chamberlain's blog entries and Mr. Mcclung's blog posts showed him how the borders of the classroom go way beyond the walls. It can extend all the way around the world to other classrooms thanks to technology. By using skype Mr. Lamshed was able to communicate with another classroom and have those students experience the presence of Mr. Lamshed as though he was really there. He was also able to talk to another classroom about the book Holes. Both classrooms were reading the book at the same time and they both found it interesting how two classrooms on different sides of the world could be experiencing the same things.It is interesting how Mr. Lamshed embraced the new technology and used it without really asking many questions or even doubting himself.


All of this information was found at
Mr. Lamshed's Blog

Monday, June 15, 2009

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Mr. Chamberlain's classroom

Videos were found on the websiteMr. Chamberlain's videos

After watching all the videos on Mr. Chamberlain's blog I can see that he gives his classes choices. Each student tells different ways they take notes and different things they are doing their projects on. The last video is a child telling why he likes being given these choices. Even though these are young kids they still understand the importance of having choices.
By giving the students choices they can do their projects the way that best suits them and thus, helps them make better grades on their projects. I think this is a great idea. By doing this you can improve kids creativness and individualism.

What Mr. McClung learned

The website being used is At the teachers desk


Mr. McClung made a few comments about his first year teaching and what he learned to do and not to do. Some of these include: communication, listening, not setting high expectations, and being flexible.
I do agree with him that if you set your expectations of students to high, then you're setting yourself up for failure. You just have to keep in mind who you're dealing with in the classroom setting. Another part I found interesting is when he stated, "No lesson is ever perfect. The lesson you teach and the one you plan are always different." To me this is saying do not expect to try to come up with the perfect lesson plan and if you think its perfect it's not. It also says that you're going to get sidetracked on the lesson. No matter if it is students asking questions you didn't expect or if a [art of the lesson just totally does not work always place a backup or be ready to think on your feet.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Adding a Picture to a Post

Creating a Link

1)Make sure the HTML tab is selected
2) Click the link icon. It looks a link in a chain.

Summer Class Blog

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Fischbowl Movie

The Fischbowl movie is about how technolgy is shaping the world today. Twenty years ago no one could expect what our world was going to be like. As a population we now have access to things that would had taken years to find on our own without the internet. If someone has a question all they have to do is Google it. Google is the leading search engine on the web. Myspace is leading in connecting people across the globe. I myself have myspace. I can not go one day without checking it; it starts to become addicting.
My thoughts on the movie is that, yes technology is taking over our world. I believe teachers cannot function in a classroom in the 21st century without a computer. They have to be up on the times because they are going to be competiting with the internet for knowledge. The internet can be a powerful tool in the classroom also. It can aid in research for a project and aid in completing missed assignments by posting them on the web.

ACCESS

ACCESS seems to be a great opportunity for teachers and students. Access offers many great advatages. Students can complete many courses that they may not be offered through online classes. By using this kind of technology students can interact with other students that do not go to they same school they do. The distance learning is both good for teachers as well as students. It gives both an opportunity to interact with people they do not get to see on a reagular basis. Students can now access classes that were not available to them earlier. The powerpoint even states that some schools in Alabama are not equiped for the Advanced Diploma. It is state law that schools are supposed to be. With this new technology it is now available to those students who wish to take that degree plan.
I believe this is great for students who wish to broden their horizons but are limited to what is taught in their particular school. Coming from a high school that did not have many different electives to choose from or a lot of AP classes this is a great opportunity for those students. The only disadavantge is the student must be motivated enough to keep up with their work and to comprehend the lecture because there is no one there to watch over you.

ALEX

"Quality for Every Facet of Learning", this is the slogan that appears on the ALEX website. This website is designed to help educators, parents, and students alike. One thing ALEX is good for is that it shows students what is expected of them as well as involving them to understand what is going on in there school.
A few things that are set forth to provide services on this website is lesson plans to show students certain things can be expected of them. This website also provides an addendum of what teachers, parents and students should be expected to understand at each grade level.
I believe this website is a great tool to help kids prepare for their classes. They can already look ahead and see what they could go ahead and work on so that they can be ahead of the class rather than behind them. This also helps teachers in a way that now they can institute things into their curriculum and get more positive results by being able to let the kids see what is going on.

Friday, June 5, 2009

About Me

My name is Megan Brown and I live in Foley, Alabama. I havn't always lived her though. I grew up in a very small town called Ranburne. I moved here about two years ago because i got a scholarship to Faulkner and because my boyfriend, now my fiance, lived down here. So i moved in with my sister and her two kids and her husband. I have a niece and a nephew who are absolute blessings in my life. I am a Christian and I love Jesus. I also work at the Coach store in the mall. I absolutly love my job. What girl wouldn't love working with purses all day? I am currently at South so I can get my degree in Secondary Education focusing on English. I can not wait to graduate.

Monday, June 1, 2009

My First Post

I am now published internationally.