Week Ten - Final Reflection

I came into this course with two ideas in my head.  The first, I already know a heck of a lot about technology.  The second, I can't wait to learn more.  I am leaving this course with two thoughts in my head.  The first, I have learned so much!  The second, I will never have time to use it all.

There are so many wonderful technological possibilities out there and there is just not enough time in the school year.  The problem with this is that my students need this information.  Maybe they don't need to try every fancy thing I get excited about but they need enough exposure to get a excited about it as I am.  Why do they need to get excited?  Simple -

This excited will become curiosity.  This curiosity will become the need to compare one tool to another.  This comparison will turn into critical thinking.  Critical thinking will become a thirst for more knowledge.  This thirst will lead to intrinsic motivation.

If I could make this sequence happen by exposing my students to "cool" technology I will have succeeded in providing them with the one thing that has made me a life long lover of learning - the simple pleasure I receive from learning something new.  It is that easy - teach them to recognize that their motivation should be intrinsic.

I know that after ten weeks of learning about new tools and thinking more deeply about how technology can enhance my teaching that I am even more determined to expose my students to the wonder that is technology.

Wiki Posts - Audio & Video Tools and Apps

This week we were assigned to research useful audio and video tools to use in our classrooms.  So many wonderful tools were posted on our Wiki.  I have saved them to a PDF.  It is linked below - click the image!

Image courtesy of http://iamsoftwares.com/

Week Nine Reflection

Our main focus this week was the use of audio and video in both lesson creation and and with students to create product.  I think I enjoyed digging into this topic the most.  I am a huge photo and video taker.  My classroom is full of pictures of my students.  I have a class blog that I post video to about twice a week.  In the corner of my room I have "video station" with a camera mounted on a tripod that stays up all of the time.  Students can take pictures or video whenever they want to.  My students often choose to record their assignments rather than write papers or do presentations.

I wrote my audio/video lesson on Book Trailers.  My media director had shown my students several of these at the beginning of the school year and they were thrilled by the idea.  Now that I have a lesson planned out I can get them going on creating their own.

We also added our findings to the Wiki page.  I have linked a PDF to a post on this blog.  You can also view it here.

Lesson Plan - Audio & Video - Book Trailers

Creating a lesson plan that allowed my students to experience audio and video creation was super fun.  I knew I wanted my students to create book trailers this year but had not had time to investigate or write a lesson plan for it.  This assignment gave me an opportunity to do that!  I cannot wait to teach my students how to create their own trailers.

Here is my lesson plan.  Below it you will find links to the forms mentioned in the plan.

Links to supporting documents:
Book Review Template
Storyboard Form
Rubric

Blogging in the Classroom - Revisited - Audio & Video Use

This week we had to either create a new post for our Guild blog or respond to an existing post using both video and audio.

I chose to create one new post - a "how to" get started blogging in the classroom - and an audio post in response to Bonner's post.

Here is my video:



Here is the link to my audio response to Bonner.

Week Eight Reflection

This week we dug into augmented reality.  To be honest this is the area of content for this class that I know the least about.  When looking for a tool or app to profile on Yammer I was a bit overwhelmed.  I hadn't realized that those silly "what your walls will look like this color" apps at IKEA and Home Depot were considered AR.

I did find a pretty cool app that I would actually use in my classroom.  We have just finished studying the body systems in health and that Anatomy 4D app would have been pretty awesome to use as a supplement to our unit.

My Guild also did a group project on distance learning.  I wasn't very involved in this project because I attended three funerals that week.  Was a tough week and I am thankful that my group is so supportive!  All of that aside, I am a fan of distance learning.  I have completed several courses through Coursera over the past few years.  I am too cheap to pay for their certificates so I don't get any CEU's for them but they were worth it anyway.

We also did a visual creation project as a group.  We chose to use GoAnimate for this.  It is a fun animation app that has a lot of cool, relatively easy, things you can do with it.  You do need to buy a subscription if you want full functionality - we didn't so we were a bit limited.

Visual Creation Tools

Our group used GoAnimate to create a visual presentation this week. We found out many great things about this tool and also some limitations.  All of these things are included in our video.  Enjoy!

Since we were using the free version we were unable to download our video - so, here is the link.

And a screenshot....

Augmented Reality Tools and Apps - Anatomy 4D

The augmented reality app I chose to investigate is call Anatomy 4D. The reason I chose this app is because I just finished teaching a unit on body systems to my fifth graders. This app comes with images you print and lay out. You then aim your device (with the app open) at the pictures and the app produces a 3D model of the human body. I think this glimpse inside the human body would have greatly added to my students experience with studying the human body. One of our objectives in the unit was for the students to understand how the systems are interdependent. This app would have allowed them to actually see the different layers and intertwining systems.

Here is a link to the website for more information.

Screenshot of Anatomy 4D Website

Technology Terminology Jigsaw - LAN, WAN, Intranet, and Wireless Networks

Our group was assigned to provide information on LAN, WAN, Intranet, and Wireless Networks

Characteristics of LAN, WAN, intranet, and wireless networks.

LAN stands for Local Area Network. This would be used for computers that are very close together. You would use this in offices or schools where most of the computers are close together either on the same floor or in the same building. LANs are useful when only a few computers need to communicate with each other, and not necessarily across the Internet. LANs are simple to setup, and require only an ethernet cable (or sometimes just a USB cable), and computers with a network card either built in, or attached to the motherboard. The networking protocol is simple, as the rules of communication are governed by the computers and the access they have with each other (sharing rules/rights), and not by another third party.

• Limited geographic operation
• High speed data transfer rate
• Full time connectivity to local services
• Generally lower in cost than a WAN
• Cabling is primary transmission medium

Information found at: http://www.bpsharma.in/eLearning/Networking/Local_Area_Network.htm

WAN stands for Wide Area Network. This would be used for computers that are far apart. The internet is an example of WAN since it is global, it reaches everywhere. WANs are more common, as they allow access beyond the computers locally oriented, and include access to Internet resources. These are much more complex networks, because more rules regarding security, access, and privilege are involved. Groups of users are typically found in WANs, with varying levels of access based on their common needs. WANs also rely on wired connections between workstations, and may be limited to a single server across a range of clients, or may include access to Internet resources outside of the network firewall.

• Lower bandwidth compared to LANs.
• Typically interconnect multiple LANs.
• Exist in an unlimited geographic area
• Some resources, usually data communication equipment, is managed externally to organizations using the WAN

Information found at: http://www.sqa.org.uk/e-learning/HardOSSupp04CD/page_04.htm

An intranet is a private network created in many businesses so that only the employees have access. Intranets can be useful for internal communication in a WAN. Information is shared with only those with intranet access, across a “normal” Internet Protocol. Group rights and access apply here as well.

Purpose:

Virtually the same as the Internet, but for internal use only. Services include

• Email
• File transfer
• Real time chat
• World Wide Web
• Video and Audio streaming services

In theory every employee could use the Internet to get the same services. But an Intranet has the following advantages:

• Commercial data is kept secure
• Emails remain private and may also be encrypted
• High bandwidth. No connection limits unlike the Internet
• Reliable. The company will have dedicated IT personnel to keep things running smoothly. No one owns the Internet so there is no 'Quality of Service' guarantee.

http://www.teach-ict.com/as_a2_ict_new/ocr/A2_G063/333_networks_coms/intranet_extranet_internet/miniweb/pg4.htm

Wireless networks can include LANs and WANs. The big advantage is not needing cables to connect devices. A wireless security protocol is used in place of, or in addition to group policies. Examples are WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy), WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access), and WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access version 2). Wireless technologies include Bluetooth, WI-Fi, and cellular data (3G, 4G, LTE, WiMax, etc), among others like RF (Radio Frequency - common radio waves).

Some benefits include:

• Mobility − A wireless network allows users to access information beyond their desk and conduct business from anywhere without having a wire connectivity.
• Reach − Wireless networks enable people to be stay connected and be reachable, regardless of the location they are operating from.
• Simplicity − Wireless networks are easy and fast to deploy in comparison of cabled network. Initial setup cost could be a bit high but other advantages overcome that high cost.
• Maintainability − In a wireless system, you do not have to spend too much cost and time to maintain the network setup.
• Roaming Services − Using a wireless network system, you can provide service any where any time including train, buses, airplanes, etc.
• Texting − Wireless networks provide various services like SMS and MMS.

Information found at: http://www.tutorialspoint.com/wimax/wireless_introduction.htm

Visualizing networks with graphics makes understanding them easier!

Image courtesy Wikimedia

Week Seven Reflection

Issues concerning Social Media and Web 2.0 tools was the big topic for this week.  It made me think about my own digital footprint (which is relatively small) and how I can effectively teach my students how to be responsible digital citizens.  How can I get them to understand such an abstract concept?

The stories you hear on the news about people's digital content effecting their jobs and life are all inappropriate to use as examples for ten year old!

We also started a Guild blog this week.  I am a big fan of blogging so this was quite fun for me.  Some of my guild mates were new to it and I truly feel like this experience helped them to discover a skill they didn't know they had!  We used Wordpress for our blog - it is a nice platform but without paying for a subscripting it has some limited functionality.  Since I teach CSS and HTML during the summer I would have loved to customize it a bit more.

Here is the link to our blog:

https://paladins.wordpress.com/

Another task this week was to compile a "bank" of Web 2.0 tools on our class Wiki.  There are so many great tools out there.  This list just reinforces the fact that there is not enough time in my day!  I want to try all of these tools in my classroom.

Wiki Posts - Web 2.0 Tools

So many great tools were added to our Wiki page.  I haven't gotten a chance to look through all of them so I copied the contents into a spreadsheet.  Here is a PDF of the file I created.

Issues Concerning Social Media & Web 2.0 - Are we choosing ignorance?

Image courtesy of http://hivechicago.org/

Caviglione and Coccoli do a very thorough job of describing the "underbelly" of the web.  It seems innocuous enough to sign up on sites such as Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.  Isn't the worry just what you say or post?  After all, that information can be seen by potential employers, right?  As long as we keep it PG we are fine - or at least this is the perception of most web users.  The reality of it is that we give out a whole lot more of ourselves when we sign up for these sites.  The personal and private data that we certainly wouldn't post on Twitter or Facebook or pin on Pinterest.  So, why do we openly share our mothers maiden name or our address and phone number?  It seems that weekly we hear of retailers who have been "hacked" and our private data has been made public.  There is public outrage and media coverage on every channel.  Consider for a second that Facebook shares most of the information you give them with all of their advertisers? Log into your account and check the settings.  What information have your shared?  Could I trace your movements?  Could I find your love ones?  (Yes, that is really creepy)

So, the question becomes how do we teach our students how to use Social Media and avoid the potential pitfalls?  Do we skim the surface and simply teach them about choosing what to post and what not to post? Or do we dig deeper and explain the risks they are taking by simply registering on a website?  How do we decide what is developmentally appropriate for children when it comes to web use.  Since children have access to the WWW starting at such young ages via their Xbox and Playstation.  It is commonplace for even elementary school students to have cell phones these days.

If you Google the words "internet safety for kids" you will find a whole lot of lists of "rules" to use but they do very little in the way of explaining the impact of doing the things they list as bad ideas.  Like the list found on the National Child's Advocacy Network (http://www.nationalcac.org/prevention/internet-safety-kids.html).  It has solid advice but how to we get students to understand the impact of their decisions?

My solution, all though I am not certain it would be totally effective, would be to create a set of benchmarks of web/tech use in schools and start teaching them as soon as possible.  Also, I believe that parents need to be heavily involved and aware of what is being taught in the school about social media use. 

Blogging with the Ed Tech Paladins

Our assignment for this week was to create a blog, choose a theme/topic for it, and post about it.  This was an interesting adventure because 3/5 of our group had never blogged before.  Being an avid blogger, I was pretty stoked about this assignment.  I have a classroom blog for my fifth grade room and am teaching my students how to blog.  So, naturally our theme/topic was "Blogging in the Classroom".  Once all of our people had gained a bit of comfort it was really fun to create a blog together.

Here is the link to our blog.

Week Six Reflection

This week we dug deeper on two important topics: digital devices and digital classrooms.

While investigating how digital devices can be used in schools I found a really great article on BYOD (bring your own device).  It described some of the issues with students using their own devices and how a few schools are overcoming them.  I found one school's methods of color coding different areas in their school as a visual reminder to students of the "acceptable use" policy.  One color represented an open for all use, one for no use, one for limited use.  It sounds like they have figured it out!

You can read the article here.

The guild assignment this week was to investigate the pros and cons of the three different setups for digital devices in school.  They are: single-device classrooms, multiple device classrooms, technology carts, and technology laboratories.  Included among the pros and cons were cost, supports, standardization, availability, and teacher skill level.

We also described our favorite blog.  Sadly there were any aesthetic reasons why I chose my blog.  It was purely for the great resources that are listed on it!  My favorite blog is Free Tech for Teachers. 

www.freetech4teachers.com