So this is what I put together...Thanks again Mike for letting us 1st years into your class, when we had nowhere to go.
Great Class!
Thursday, 7 March 2013
This is the end...time for PIZZA
Well...I finally got my final summative project done for I4Ed. I'm not going to lie, getting the audio onto my project was a major pain...but other than that, it was fun to think back over the last couple months and see what the highlights were of the course.
So this is what I put together...Thanks again Mike for letting us 1st years into your class, when we had nowhere to go.
So this is what I put together...Thanks again Mike for letting us 1st years into your class, when we had nowhere to go.
Sunday, 3 March 2013
The Future is NOW
The future for education is looking brighter than ever with the opportunities and resources that are coming available due to technology in the classroom. Technology has made learning fun and engaging for students of all ages. Technology has had and will continue to have a significant impact on education. But many educators will agree that working in a field like education is tough when there is such constant change in the evolution of technology, and it isn't easy for them to keep up to all the new things being introduced. But sadly, these teachers need to realize that it is out with the old and in with the new.
The Horizon Report "examines emerging technologies and their potential impact on and use in teaching, learning, and creative expression..." Part of the report discusses that "Technology continues to profoundly affect the way we work, collaborate, communicate, and succeed." 21st century teachers need to recognize that technology is taking over the classroom. The recently graduated teachers have had that opportunity to learn all of the new technology skills, which gives them an advantage over veteran teachers today that don't find the time to learn basic classroom technology. Students like us have the opportunity to learn everything we need to know about teaching with technology due to classes like Internet for Educators and ICT. Obviously the teachers who have been at it for 20 - 30 years never had that opportunity, so they are left to catch up with everything gets introduced.
Whatever happens in the next decade or so with technology and education, I will make sure to take on any challenges that are thrown at me.
The Horizon Report "examines emerging technologies and their potential impact on and use in teaching, learning, and creative expression..." Part of the report discusses that "Technology continues to profoundly affect the way we work, collaborate, communicate, and succeed." 21st century teachers need to recognize that technology is taking over the classroom. The recently graduated teachers have had that opportunity to learn all of the new technology skills, which gives them an advantage over veteran teachers today that don't find the time to learn basic classroom technology. Students like us have the opportunity to learn everything we need to know about teaching with technology due to classes like Internet for Educators and ICT. Obviously the teachers who have been at it for 20 - 30 years never had that opportunity, so they are left to catch up with everything gets introduced.
Whatever happens in the next decade or so with technology and education, I will make sure to take on any challenges that are thrown at me.
Thursday, 28 February 2013
I4Ed Presentations
On February 26th, our Internet for Educators class held class presentations. There were 5 groups with all different topics to discuss. Each group had a different sort of approach to how they presented, which made it exciting to see how the next group would present.
We kind of had a "The More You Know" theme with ours. Our group presented on "The Good, Bad, and the Ugly of the Internet." We were able to get together as a group a few times and discuss ideas that may be good, bad or ugly. There were some arguments to whether a few of the ideas belonged in good or bad, bad or ugly, and so on.
So, some of the GOOD of the internet were:
The other groups were very creative with their presentations. A couple groups used "TodaysMeet" which was a great idea because it really got the class involved in the presentation (Wish we would have thought of that...). Another group used "Instant Audience Feedback," in which we had to text to a number to answer whether we feel internet should be censored in schools. That idea I thought was pretty cool, because they got all sorts of answers...which I think they didn't expect. Last but not least, the group that did "cyber bullying," used video and a fake news cast to discuss their topic. They also had some crazy stats to go along with their role playing in the video...just like the others, it was a very good presentation as well.
We kind of had a "The More You Know" theme with ours. Our group presented on "The Good, Bad, and the Ugly of the Internet." We were able to get together as a group a few times and discuss ideas that may be good, bad or ugly. There were some arguments to whether a few of the ideas belonged in good or bad, bad or ugly, and so on.
So, some of the GOOD of the internet were:
- Technology in the classroom (endless resources)
- Moocs
- Video conferencing
- Networking
- Wikipedia (kind of) - an endless amount of information, on any subject
- Wikipedia (kind of) - sometimes inaccurate info/any Joe Schmo could add info
- Inappropriate use of Facebook
- Plagiarism and Copyright laws
- Unexpected advertisements
- Cyber Harassment/Bullying (Amanda Todd)
- Black mailers/Predators
- Digital Footprints/Job Losses
The other groups were very creative with their presentations. A couple groups used "TodaysMeet" which was a great idea because it really got the class involved in the presentation (Wish we would have thought of that...). Another group used "Instant Audience Feedback," in which we had to text to a number to answer whether we feel internet should be censored in schools. That idea I thought was pretty cool, because they got all sorts of answers...which I think they didn't expect. Last but not least, the group that did "cyber bullying," used video and a fake news cast to discuss their topic. They also had some crazy stats to go along with their role playing in the video...just like the others, it was a very good presentation as well.
Wednesday, 27 February 2013
Show and Tell...
A cool web based app that I have seen used a few times is called PlanbookEdu. Obviously I haven't use it myself yet, but when I was an education assistant out in Souris I saw a few teachers trying out this lesson planning app. I remember them telling me "If or when you become a teacher...definitely try this program out." I actually forgot all about it until I needed to find a app for this blog.
This has many great features to help educators...
- Takes the hassle out of lesson planning.
- Can access your lesson plans with any computer with internet. (No need for paper lessons anymore)
- With a click of the mouse you can send a lesson plan to a substitute.
- The app makes it real easy to plan a clear customized lesson in seconds.
- It is also real easy to share your lesson plans with others, it lets you manage what you share as well.
- Lets you convert plans into any kind of format.
- Lets you easily edit other teachers lessons that they have shared with you.
Tuesday, 26 February 2013
Pardon?...Infogra...what?!
Just like a few other of my posts, I had no idea what an infographic was. Well, after doing some research through other blog posts and using google, I kind of have a better understanding to what an infographic is all about (graphic visual representations of information). Visual learners would benefit greatly from infographics, as it puts ideas more in perspective when they can see a cool graphic visual. Something like a world population map could give them a better understanding of where the 7 billion people live in this world (My world geo infographic is not too extravagant). Basically, they are easier to understand for most kids I think, than a teacher lecturing, it can be very appealing and it keeps students engaged as well.
This is my first infographic. I picked a map, because geo and history are my teachable's. There is endless amount of data you could plug into this map.
Monday, 25 February 2013
Inspirational Video
As we never had presenters the other week, I thought I would just share a inspirational video with you guys, that kind of blew me away. This video would be neat to show a group of students, and hear there thoughts afterwards. You could just have a discussion period, do a journal entry or have them do their own blog, on what inspires them?
Stories like these need to be shared, so I had to put in my blog.
Sunday, 24 February 2013
Girouard & Palahicky Presentation
On February 21st, we had Donald Girouard and Sophia Palahicky visit us to discuss the importance of web based learning. The technological advances that have occurred over the past decade or so has made web based learning a logical educational option. Being originally from a rural town, this type of learning would be very beneficial because not all schools can offer what others can. I remember being in high or middle school when IITV became a new way of getting credits for classes that were not offered at our school. A teacher from Wawanesa or Hartney instructed the class on a television 30 minutes away, and students were able to get that physics credit or whatever was that they really needed. Various types of web based learning give students a chance to learn at their own pace, which I think is an advantage over the traditional way of doing things.
I don't see web based learning or blended learning (which I mentioned in my last post) fully taking over the traditional classroom instruction, but I do see it slowly increasing as schools embrace the newest technological advances that continually come out. It's important I think for students to learn in different ways and it's important to give students opportunities to learn what they want to learn and web based learning may help make that happen. The presenters make the point that we need to most importantly consider the students learning needs and whether the courses taught in these particular ways will meet their certain learning style.
I don't see web based learning or blended learning (which I mentioned in my last post) fully taking over the traditional classroom instruction, but I do see it slowly increasing as schools embrace the newest technological advances that continually come out. It's important I think for students to learn in different ways and it's important to give students opportunities to learn what they want to learn and web based learning may help make that happen. The presenters make the point that we need to most importantly consider the students learning needs and whether the courses taught in these particular ways will meet their certain learning style.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)