Podcast

C4K #1 Summary Post

I have really enjoyed reading these students' posts and commenting back on them. They have some great ideas and interesting topics. It gave me a great look ahead to what my classroom students could be doing in a few years. I think it is a great idea to have a classroom blog, even for elementary students. They have great ideas and want to speak out and be heard. What better way to get their voice heard?

Blog Assignment 6

The Networked Student

This video is a great diagram of how technology can help students. I think it is amazing how many different opportunities are offered for learning through the internet. Many people are concerned that if students start learning more through the internet then we won't need teachers. I strongly disagree with this. Teachers will always be needed to motivate students and lead them in the right direction. Also, the internet cannot explain things where everyone can understand it. Some people are hands-on learners and have to have someone to show them what to do. Technology is very helpful for the most part, but we still need people to help us out too. 

Personal Learning Environment

This is so cool! I love how everything is right there withing one click of the mouse! It is a great way to stay organized and connected. This video also gave me some great ideas for my PLN. I cannot wait to finish mine up and see how it turns out. 

Project #9a

Blog Assignment 5

Scott McLeod

Scott McLeod is widely recognized as one of the nation's leading academic experts on K-12 technology leadership issues. I love his sarcasm in his post Don't teach your kids this stuff. Please?. I think the increase of technology in schools is a wonderful thing, but of course you do have to teach the students how to "safely" use the technology. Teach them not to add people on Facebook or Twitter that they do not know and the risks of cyberbullying, sexting, and online dating. But if we "overprotect" our kids from the negatives of the internet and other technology, they won't experience the positives. If we let the negatives hold them back, they will be so far behind when they get out into the real world and will have a hard time reaching success.

Travis Allen

I think that the iSchool initiative is a great idea! Like Travis said in his video, it saves both the school and the student a lot of money and it helps keep parents and students involved. With the iSchool, the parent or student can contact the teacher at any time, and vice versa. The students always have access to their homework assignments and it is already neatly organized for them. I think it would be great if this program could get into every school across the United States. I would love to have it in my classroom as a teacher because it would save me a lot of time and trouble.

Virtual Choir

This video of 185 people who performed Lux Aurmque is amazing, especially after you think about the fact that these performers have never met or performed together. They all did this from their computer at home. 

This left me speechless after watching it. Anyone out there who does not appreciate technology and realize how wonderful it can be needs to watch this video. It would change anyone's view on technology.

Teaching in the 21st Century

Roberts points out in this video that teaching in the 21st century is more than just academics. He is saying that we have to be a good role model and prepare them for the real world. Teachers are a big part of their students' lives. They are not just educators, but students look up to them and want to be like them when they grow up. We also have to teach them to be more creative. Creativity is definitely lacking in schools now, and I think a great way to bring it back is by blogging, tweeting, and facebooking. I know this class has already brought a lot of hidden creativity out of me. 

My Sentence Video

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Blog Assignment 4

I think the podcast is a great thing to bring into a classroom. It is an excellent way to keep the parents involved and let them know what is going on in their child's classroom. It is also a great way to keep students caught up on their work if they have to miss school for a few days because of an illness. Like the post 100 Ways to Use Your iPod to Learn and Study Better says, podcasts are great for studying on the run. I have always wanted to study while driving down the road without putting the lives of myself and everyone else on the road at risk, and now I can!! Podcasting is also a great activity for students to do because it helps keep their creativity level up. Like the Langwitches Blog says, the kids are curious as to how they can change their tone, pitches, volume, speed, and many other things with their voice to make their podcast more entertaining. I will definitely be using podcasts in my classroom from time to time when I start teaching.

Project #3

Bill Ferriter is the teacher that I got assigned to for this project. In this blog, he talked about the importance of Twitter hash tags for teachers.  Hash tags on Twitter make it really easy for anyone to search for something. It can save teachers and students a lot of time by having hash tags assigned for their classes. I think it would be great if all teachers used Twitter for their classes, whether it's elementary school, middle school, high school, or college. 


In his second post he talks about the benefits of formative assessment.  Formative assessment is "timely feedback gathered and reviewed during the course of a learning experience that serves to 'inform' both teachers AND students and allows for the 'formation' of new learning plans". It sounds like a great plan, but there is a big problem--it is extremely time consuming. If schools really want formative assessment to work, the building principals have to be willing to help. They have to be willing to take out some curriculum that is not really needed. With formative assessment, the units take longer to cover, therefore the teachers do not have enough time to cover all the required curriculum throughout the school year. Also, the teachers need smaller classes so they will have more time to help and work with the students one on one, so the school systems have to be willing to hire more teachers in order to make smaller classes. 

Blog Assignment 3

It's Not About the Technology

Kelly Hines points out in her post that teachers have to be perpetual learners. Technology and trends are constantly changing and kids adapt to those changes just as fast as they happen. If we, as teachers, want to teach them effectively, we have to adapt to those changes too. Children will learn better if the teaching style is up-to-date. One of the newest pieces of technology in classrooms is the SmartBoard. It is not the SmartBoard that is teaching the students though. It is the way the teacher uses the SmartBoard to teach.

Is It Okay to be a Technologically Illiterate Teacher?

I completely agree with this post. If you are not technologically literate, you will probably not be successful, no matter what your profession is. Every job now has something to do with technology. We should be teaching our students about and through technology at an early age. I would definitely say that it's NOT okay for a teacher, or anyone for that matter, to be technology illiterate.

Gary's Social Media Count

This media count shows just how much technology is used. Just about every one in this day and time has a Facebook or Twitter account. I think Facebook and Twitter are great ways for posting assignments and reminders to students and/or parents.

A Vision of Students Today

This video makes an excellent point. Technology can be a good thing because it allows us to do many beneficial things. Take blogging for an example. If it wasn't for technology, we wouldn't be able to communicate and get opinions and ideas from other people across the world, or county for that matter, very easily. But the downside of technology is that people use it to "goof off" too much. Like the people in the video that said they bring their computer to class, but don't do school work on it while they are in class. Others are browsing Facebook or talking on the phone when they could and should be doing homework and studying. 

Project #5

Project #2

Blog Assignment 2

Did You Know?

I found the information on this video was very interesting. This video shows us just how important it is to be technologically literate. The top ten in-demand jobs in 2010 did not even exist in 2004. The amount of technical information is doubling every year. So, the students that are starting a four year technical degree will have half outdated information by their third year of study. 

Technology can also harm us if we use it too much though. The 25% of India's population with the highest IQ's is greater than the total population in the United States. What does that say about our education in the United States? Or is it just because children and teenagers spend too much time "playing" with technology instead of using it to benefit them?

Mr. Winkle Wakes

Mr. Winkle is an old man who is gloomy about all the new machines and technology that he missed over the period of his hundred-year nap. This video points out that anything can be taught over a computer and students do need to learn about technology because it is increasing day by day. We, as educators, should teach our kids the old-fashioned way -- by lecturing and giving paper work -- but we should also teach our kids about the technology that is out there and how it can help them. 

Ken Robinson

Ken Robinson points out in his video that education kills creativity. He says that kids are creative because they are not afraid of being wrong. As we educate them over the years, they learn more and more and are afraid of being wrong so they do not say what they think. How can we be creative if we are scared to try something new? He tells a story of a girl who was always fidgeting in class and the teachers thought that something was wrong with her and she needed medicine. Her parents took her to the doctor and he said that nothing was wrong with her, she was just a dancer. She needed to move around to be able to think and focus on something. 

Cecelia Gault

I think that we definitely need to find out what Finland is doing to keep their drop out rate so low. Cecelia Gault says in her post that the drop out rate in Finland is less than 1%, but is 25% in the United States. We also need to find out what other schools around the world are doing to keep the IQ's of their students so high. The United States school system has a lot of changing and catching up to do.

Digital Smarts

I think Vicki Davis came up with a great idea with teaching students through technology and letting them teach each other. It gives them something fun to do and teaches them through current trends. One student mentions that she enjoyed one certain project that she got to work on with other students from all around the world. The students seem to enjoy learning more when they can relate it to everyday life, such as blogging and making videos.