This is a classroom newsletter created by me!
Newsletter So
Friday, May 15, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Copyright Regulations
This document was created to teach me to reference the fair use of copyright laws in education. Used the Fair Use Harbor Website.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Journal #10-Creating Tech Wizards
This educational group called the Technology Wizards promotes the learning and teaching of modern technology first started in October 2007 with the purpose to further the knowledge of computers in the classroom. The program seeks to “transform the delivery of professional development and change traditional practice by cultivating a cadre of student leaders equipped to provide teachers with technology training and support.” The members of the Technology Wizards is located in Pennsylvania and is offered to 5th-9th grade students from 14 districts. There are plans to expand to the lower grades as things in the middle level program get settled. The program curriculum emphasizes the need to align to the NETS standards for students, to align to 21st century skills, model the best practices in education, provide multiple intelligence learning, include student created technology, and focus on the emerging technologies. This one day a month program encourages hands-on learning and collaboration within the group of students. They take the skills and knowledge back to the home schools and spread the information to their peers and teachers.
Questions:
1. Is this type of program necessary for the leaning of current technology?
*No, but it’s nice that there is a organized space with a core focus to encourage students who have a passion for learning technology and want to mentor others in their home school.
2. Is this a program that the state or federal government should cover within the public school funding?
*Yes it is important to know that the next generations of students are kept current with technology.
Breiner, Beth (May 2009). Creating Tech Wizards. Learning & Leading with Technology, 7, Retrieved April 2009, from http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/200905/
Questions:
1. Is this type of program necessary for the leaning of current technology?
*No, but it’s nice that there is a organized space with a core focus to encourage students who have a passion for learning technology and want to mentor others in their home school.
2. Is this a program that the state or federal government should cover within the public school funding?
*Yes it is important to know that the next generations of students are kept current with technology.
Breiner, Beth (May 2009). Creating Tech Wizards. Learning & Leading with Technology, 7, Retrieved April 2009, from http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/200905/
Journal #9-The Kids Are All Right
The importance of teachers finding out about the level of engagement that their students have in the online community is an important topic of discussion in this article. After extensive research that the MacArthur Foundation began over three years ago involving the technological cultures of today’s youth has some fascinating findings where social interaction is concerned. In this study, over 800 young people and their parents were interviewed and more than 5,000 hours of observation on websites such as MySpace and Facebook were logged. In this report the researchers found that there are 3 different type of online participation amongst teens. One was called “Hanging Out” and this was the casual online social place such as Facebook that kids had casual social interaction. The next was called “Messing Around” which is similar to the hanging out but with sometimes more specific interests in common that were discussed and shared. The third aspect was called “Geeking Out” and this is the area where teens had an intense interest shared with others who were not a part of their local and physical social circle. The subjects range from anything subject the teen was passionate about discussing. Through this study the findings were that 80-90% of teens were using some sort of media social tool and that it is important for parents and educators to meet the needs of the teen by relating to the new technological world.
Questions:
1. Should Middle school students be offered online social classes?
* Yes, because it is an important part of human development to have strong social skills. And not all pre-teens are comfortable with their physical appearance or behavior and can help them become more involved with others in the online world.
2. Should there be a time limit placed on teens when having media social interaction.
*Yes because they have to also learn to communicate with physical human beings that have facial, vocal and bodily emotions that a computer cannot elaborate. A well balanced amount of time to develop the child/teen is important.
Waters, John K. (march 1, 2009). The kids are all right. The Journal, 6, Retrieved march 2009, from http://www.thejournal.com/articles/24104
Questions:
1. Should Middle school students be offered online social classes?
* Yes, because it is an important part of human development to have strong social skills. And not all pre-teens are comfortable with their physical appearance or behavior and can help them become more involved with others in the online world.
2. Should there be a time limit placed on teens when having media social interaction.
*Yes because they have to also learn to communicate with physical human beings that have facial, vocal and bodily emotions that a computer cannot elaborate. A well balanced amount of time to develop the child/teen is important.
Waters, John K. (march 1, 2009). The kids are all right. The Journal, 6, Retrieved march 2009, from http://www.thejournal.com/articles/24104
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Journal #8 : WIKI
What's a wiki? In 1995 Ward Cunningham wanted to construct a website that would allow people to collaborate ideas and information. He created what we know as a “wiki”. He coined the term wiki after the Hawaiian word wiki-wiki which means “quick”. This type of website allows any visitor to become a participant. Anyone can create or edit the actual site contents without any special technical knowledge or tools. All you need is a computer with an Internet connection. It is an on-going collaboration which purpose is the sharing of people’s ideas and knowledge. A well known and common example is Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia with millions of contributors and editors.
SIDE NOTE:
On March 15, 2007, wiki entered the online Oxford English Dictionary
Who uses wikis? Wikis are used on personal projects by trying to share things online, such as family information and photos, but also it’s very popular with educators in the K-12 community, as well as in college courses as we use here in EDUC 422. Educators are seeking further education in professional development workshops and communicate with their professional peers. It is easy to use and readily accessible for the classroom environment.
Pros and Cons? There are a few pros and cons that were talked about in the wiki world and on the discussion boards. Most of it was all positive feedback from the thread discussions. Some benefits with wikis are that they are engaging and creative, they encouraged critical thinking, promoted collaboration and contributed to a new type of learning in education.
Some cons in the wiki world are there are people who vandalize the site with misinformation and malicious statements. Fortunately they can be easily corrected and removed by serious and responsible wiki contributors. It also opens the door to privacy issues. Students need to protect their identities and be informed of the dangers of online predators.
Popular wiki creation sites for educators:
Wikispaces [www.wikispaces.com]
PBWiki [pbwiki.com]
Pikiwiki [pikiwiki.com]
Wikidot [http://www.wikidot.com]
Netcipia [netcipia.com] wiki + blog in one place
Zoho [zoho.com] full Office-like productivity suite + wiki
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