And..... we're done. Today was our last Ed Tech session. We have completed the Critical Assessment and submitted it to TaskStream.
Thanks for all of the eye opening experiences and learning experiences that this class presented to me and how I can integrate technology into my classroom, as well as introducing technology to my students.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
OTEN Conference 2010
My reflection is embedded from the Oregon Technology in Education Network (OTEN). I took pictures of the session presenters I attended and included them with the audio files. I really enjoyed this conference because it expanded my view of how technology can and will be apart of my classroom lessons.
Keynote Speaker: Tim Lauer - "Looking Back, Looking Ahead: Educational Teaching in your Classroom and the Real World"
Session 1 Speaker: Serena Fryer - "Interactive White Boards in the Elementary Classroom"
Session 2 Speaker: Jerry Johnson - "Visual Learning with Concept Maps"
Keynote Speaker: Tim Lauer - "Looking Back, Looking Ahead: Educational Teaching in your Classroom and the Real World"
Session 1 Speaker: Serena Fryer - "Interactive White Boards in the Elementary Classroom"
Session 2 Speaker: Jerry Johnson - "Visual Learning with Concept Maps"
Monday, September 20, 2010
Technology in Oregon Education
Technology is at an all time high of opportunities it and online resources offer to students. The "big picture" of what NETS*S, NETS*T, the new Oregon Diploma, and OETS are portraying is technology is running rapid in today's workforce and it is something that is important to include in today's education. The OETS standards depict the enhancement of education through technology. Today's students may be enhancing their education without a second thought, but for some it may be more of an effort to include technology into their education. Regardless, all children are required to attend school, in which technology can be incorporated into lessons. Technology creates a limitless education and it would be a disservice not to educate students in this setting, which is why it is becoming a National and State objective to teach to students.
Teachers have a few different responsibilities to students' education with respect to technology. First, they should have an equal or greater understanding of technology than their students. However, it would be good for the teacher to also learn from the student and it may be a good opportunity for students to bring their background knowledge/experiences into the classroom. It is important for the teacher to be technological literate to push the students to their extents with projects. I believe education is about expanding pre-existing knowledge bases and challenging existing beliefs. Second, teachers must know about it and how to make projects more creative, interesting, and elaborate, as a result of technology as a resource. Thus, relating back to my first point that they should at least have a similar understanding of technology. Otherwise their credibility may be questioned by their students, ultimately losing the impact of the lesson itself.
What this means to me as an educator is I must be always on my toes as to how technology can enhance a learning situation, by enhancing communication, creativity, critical thinking, and research. I will need to take this task on for professional development so I can constantly be introducing the latest and greatest ideas into my classroom. I have two completely different classrooms that I can incorporate technology. My PE classroom will have different technological objectives than my health classroom, but in either classroom, it is still possible to include technology.
Health Technology:
There are many creative ways that technology can be incorporated into health. When conducting a unit on healthy decisions and choices I could assign a project which would incorporate video production, in which the students would take video clips, piece them together with a program such as PicasaWeb. This would enhance a standard group presentation in front of the class. Another component I could add to this project would be OETS #3 (Research and Information). As a class we could go to the library, learn how to first and foremost be a responsible, safe, and legal internet user (OETS # 5 - Digital Citizenship). From there the groups could research information on their presentation topic. This could also be a perfect time to learn how to evaluate credible sources.
PE Technology:
This content area seems a little more obscure to incorporate technology, but when stressing the important of concepts like literacy and technology, no content area can be excluded. I was brain storming at the beginning of this course how technology would play a role, and I thought blogging is a great way to explore ideas with colleagues, promote local activities in the area, and a way to network with other people who share similar interests (OETS #2 - Communication and Collaboration). Again, this would be an excellent way to research (OETS #3) new workout routines, new and innovative exercises, or simply a program that would fit the student's lifestyle.
Just in these two projects I have found ways to incorporate the OETS standards in very practical and useful manners. Give more time and the ability to work in greater depth with my material for each class I can develop more ways to include technology into my lessons and enhance student education.
To sum it up, almost every job requires minimal technological literacy even to just apply to the position, not to mention for eventual communication and creation of documents and projects. It is our job as educators to prepare them for what will eventually be expected of them in the job market today.
Teachers have a few different responsibilities to students' education with respect to technology. First, they should have an equal or greater understanding of technology than their students. However, it would be good for the teacher to also learn from the student and it may be a good opportunity for students to bring their background knowledge/experiences into the classroom. It is important for the teacher to be technological literate to push the students to their extents with projects. I believe education is about expanding pre-existing knowledge bases and challenging existing beliefs. Second, teachers must know about it and how to make projects more creative, interesting, and elaborate, as a result of technology as a resource. Thus, relating back to my first point that they should at least have a similar understanding of technology. Otherwise their credibility may be questioned by their students, ultimately losing the impact of the lesson itself.
What this means to me as an educator is I must be always on my toes as to how technology can enhance a learning situation, by enhancing communication, creativity, critical thinking, and research. I will need to take this task on for professional development so I can constantly be introducing the latest and greatest ideas into my classroom. I have two completely different classrooms that I can incorporate technology. My PE classroom will have different technological objectives than my health classroom, but in either classroom, it is still possible to include technology.
Health Technology:
There are many creative ways that technology can be incorporated into health. When conducting a unit on healthy decisions and choices I could assign a project which would incorporate video production, in which the students would take video clips, piece them together with a program such as PicasaWeb. This would enhance a standard group presentation in front of the class. Another component I could add to this project would be OETS #3 (Research and Information). As a class we could go to the library, learn how to first and foremost be a responsible, safe, and legal internet user (OETS # 5 - Digital Citizenship). From there the groups could research information on their presentation topic. This could also be a perfect time to learn how to evaluate credible sources.
PE Technology:
This content area seems a little more obscure to incorporate technology, but when stressing the important of concepts like literacy and technology, no content area can be excluded. I was brain storming at the beginning of this course how technology would play a role, and I thought blogging is a great way to explore ideas with colleagues, promote local activities in the area, and a way to network with other people who share similar interests (OETS #2 - Communication and Collaboration). Again, this would be an excellent way to research (OETS #3) new workout routines, new and innovative exercises, or simply a program that would fit the student's lifestyle.
Just in these two projects I have found ways to incorporate the OETS standards in very practical and useful manners. Give more time and the ability to work in greater depth with my material for each class I can develop more ways to include technology into my lessons and enhance student education.
To sum it up, almost every job requires minimal technological literacy even to just apply to the position, not to mention for eventual communication and creation of documents and projects. It is our job as educators to prepare them for what will eventually be expected of them in the job market today.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Multi-Media Project PicasaWeb
Capture your screen in seconds
I used ScreenToaster to create this video on how technology can enhance my teaching, coaching, and learning. I have recently started using PicasaWeb and I love it. I will take away the fear of losing my photos and videos, as well as expanding my coaching abilities. I like that the videos upload really easy and its just as easy to share the videos with my athletes. I can make comments and critique the videos and have the athletes also comment on the videos. I will then use these videos as a tool to conduct practice based off of their weaknesses from the videos from practice and competitions.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Analyzing Student Data in Spreadsheet
The information below is the spreadsheet with all of the students who were below average on Tests 6-10.
The chart has the graphed points of all the students test scores for Tests 6-10
This is my final sheet of data used to create the line graph. Be sure to choose the "Students Below AVG" tab located at the bottom of the page to view the manipulated data.
Personal Reflection
The general trend of the student test scores increased as a whole. It was apparent there were a few outliers with this trend. However, on Test #10, 6 of the 12 below test average, scored above the established class average, which was a huge improvement from the scores from test 6. Google sheets with the embedded chart is a great way to visualize student progress. Isolating specific tests is a great way to track progress with specific units and among the students. The raw scores are one way to portray the data, but to obtain an overview of the selected group, the chart was a quick and easy way to see which students followed the class trends and which may need more one-on-one attention or review of the material. The students I would focus more attention onto would be Kathrine, because she had such inconsistent test scores. The others I would focus on were the ones who never reached at or above the class average for tests 6 -10. I would need to pay attention to the prior to test 10 if it was the final test of the semester, but I could take their averages and compare them with other student's averages after each test, so that students don't fall too far behind.
I found the Google Sheet experience to be fairly easy, because I have worked a fair amount with Excel in the past. The difficulty came when trying to find the functions in the sheet, and not in excel, but I did know which functions I was looking for. Where I encountered the most difficulty was trying to embed the individual sheet into the blog. Until I publish the post I will not know if the embedding worked properly. It has been a growth experience for me and exploring new functions of two programs I feel moderately competent in using. I don't think I have this skill mastered by any means, but I hope if I do it a few more times it will become easier each time. I think I could use this in the future to share students comments or similar views when anonymity is important.
After one failed attempt at trying to insert both my Students Below Average on Test 6-10 and my Chart on the same page I am becoming frustrated, because I am not getting both of them to be active at the same time. I don't want to result to creating a second document just for the chart or spreadsheet, but I may just for the sake of getting them both to be published on the page. I think if I was just using one sheet it would be easier, but I don't think I would use the feature for publishing more than one sheet independent from each other. I found how to view it just like on Google sheets, with the tabs. But this creates an issue for seeing the entirety of the chart. I am in the process of trying to figure that out.
I haven't figured out how to get the chart to show its entirety yet, but I was able to figure out how to get them to both work from the same Google sheet. I don't know if this is in the scope of my knowledge with this program. I may need some help trying to fit the extents of the sheet into the view space of the blog.
Frustration is the one word I can use to describe this assignment. I hope that it becomes easier if I have to use this in the future.
The chart has the graphed points of all the students test scores for Tests 6-10
This is my final sheet of data used to create the line graph. Be sure to choose the "Students Below AVG" tab located at the bottom of the page to view the manipulated data.
Personal Reflection
The general trend of the student test scores increased as a whole. It was apparent there were a few outliers with this trend. However, on Test #10, 6 of the 12 below test average, scored above the established class average, which was a huge improvement from the scores from test 6. Google sheets with the embedded chart is a great way to visualize student progress. Isolating specific tests is a great way to track progress with specific units and among the students. The raw scores are one way to portray the data, but to obtain an overview of the selected group, the chart was a quick and easy way to see which students followed the class trends and which may need more one-on-one attention or review of the material. The students I would focus more attention onto would be Kathrine, because she had such inconsistent test scores. The others I would focus on were the ones who never reached at or above the class average for tests 6 -10. I would need to pay attention to the prior to test 10 if it was the final test of the semester, but I could take their averages and compare them with other student's averages after each test, so that students don't fall too far behind.
I found the Google Sheet experience to be fairly easy, because I have worked a fair amount with Excel in the past. The difficulty came when trying to find the functions in the sheet, and not in excel, but I did know which functions I was looking for. Where I encountered the most difficulty was trying to embed the individual sheet into the blog. Until I publish the post I will not know if the embedding worked properly. It has been a growth experience for me and exploring new functions of two programs I feel moderately competent in using. I don't think I have this skill mastered by any means, but I hope if I do it a few more times it will become easier each time. I think I could use this in the future to share students comments or similar views when anonymity is important.
After one failed attempt at trying to insert both my Students Below Average on Test 6-10 and my Chart on the same page I am becoming frustrated, because I am not getting both of them to be active at the same time. I don't want to result to creating a second document just for the chart or spreadsheet, but I may just for the sake of getting them both to be published on the page. I think if I was just using one sheet it would be easier, but I don't think I would use the feature for publishing more than one sheet independent from each other. I found how to view it just like on Google sheets, with the tabs. But this creates an issue for seeing the entirety of the chart. I am in the process of trying to figure that out.
I haven't figured out how to get the chart to show its entirety yet, but I was able to figure out how to get them to both work from the same Google sheet. I don't know if this is in the scope of my knowledge with this program. I may need some help trying to fit the extents of the sheet into the view space of the blog.
Frustration is the one word I can use to describe this assignment. I hope that it becomes easier if I have to use this in the future.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
My Favorite Web2.0 Tools
Mel's Web2.0 Definition:
Web2.0 creates a computer without any need for memory storage, because it is all stored via Internet. It also eliminates hassle or forgetfulness, since it can be accessed from any unit with an Internet connection. Web2.0 is making us less dependent on our "owned" computers and more dependent on Internet access, making computers a gateway to our stored information vs. the single storage location for all of our information.
Drop Box (Personal Productivity):
Dropbox market's itself as the "magic pocket" and information will not be forgotten at home again due to forgetting a disc, flash drive, or memory card. All of the information can be kept in the web-based folder and stored on multiple electronic devices, while being stored on Dropbox's website. It is the perfect way to manage documents when using multiple electronic devices, such as an at home work station and the school provided work station. No more forgetting the flash drive or external hard drive, because all information can be stored in one spot and in one document.
This can be very beneficial for students and teachers alike. For teachers it can be a lot more functional for taking work home, it is as easy as having the Dropbox folder on the school desktop and on their home computer desktop. Now those forgetful teachers will no longer need to stress about forgetting documents at school, as long as Dropbox is used as the default storage location. For students it makes it a lot easier to work on papers in multiple locations without having 2-3 documents and being unsure of which has the most up-to-date information. It makes it web-based vs. school-based to keep information after graduation. Furthermore, it may be difficult and nearly impossible for some to access the school's web-based H-drive, essentially making those programs worthless. Dropbox is as simple as accessing web-based e-mail: sign-in and all of your information is in one place no matter where you are! This is also good for students who may not have regular access to the same computer, allowing them to make progress at school, the local library, or a friend's computer. This makes it more functional to live without a computer for a long period of time, given access to any computer with an Internet connection is available.
Ustream (Screen Recorder):
Ustream allows anyone with a user name and password to create videos and/or voice recordings. This is the most technologically advance way, to conduct group work or create simple video productions. I recall from my middle school years needing a video camera, editing equipment, and a computer to upload the information on to. Now it is web-based, only one computer is needed and as quickly as the group can log-in and press "broadcast now" they can begin recording. Once the broadcast is complete there are ways to embed the video onto websites, blogs, etc. So instead of the group bringing a physical copy of their show to school it could be easily posted onto a teacher's blog where he or she could review and grade online. Plus if all of the videos are in one location (the teachers blog), it now becomes a one stop shop for viewing all of the group projects. It does not require other media sources to work with in class other than the Internet, eliminating possible incompatibilities with media forms or not downloading information correctly. This way projects, grading, and presentations are streamlined into one place for all!
Web2.0 creates a computer without any need for memory storage, because it is all stored via Internet. It also eliminates hassle or forgetfulness, since it can be accessed from any unit with an Internet connection. Web2.0 is making us less dependent on our "owned" computers and more dependent on Internet access, making computers a gateway to our stored information vs. the single storage location for all of our information.
Drop Box (Personal Productivity):
Dropbox market's itself as the "magic pocket" and information will not be forgotten at home again due to forgetting a disc, flash drive, or memory card. All of the information can be kept in the web-based folder and stored on multiple electronic devices, while being stored on Dropbox's website. It is the perfect way to manage documents when using multiple electronic devices, such as an at home work station and the school provided work station. No more forgetting the flash drive or external hard drive, because all information can be stored in one spot and in one document.
This can be very beneficial for students and teachers alike. For teachers it can be a lot more functional for taking work home, it is as easy as having the Dropbox folder on the school desktop and on their home computer desktop. Now those forgetful teachers will no longer need to stress about forgetting documents at school, as long as Dropbox is used as the default storage location. For students it makes it a lot easier to work on papers in multiple locations without having 2-3 documents and being unsure of which has the most up-to-date information. It makes it web-based vs. school-based to keep information after graduation. Furthermore, it may be difficult and nearly impossible for some to access the school's web-based H-drive, essentially making those programs worthless. Dropbox is as simple as accessing web-based e-mail: sign-in and all of your information is in one place no matter where you are! This is also good for students who may not have regular access to the same computer, allowing them to make progress at school, the local library, or a friend's computer. This makes it more functional to live without a computer for a long period of time, given access to any computer with an Internet connection is available.
Ustream (Screen Recorder):
Ustream allows anyone with a user name and password to create videos and/or voice recordings. This is the most technologically advance way, to conduct group work or create simple video productions. I recall from my middle school years needing a video camera, editing equipment, and a computer to upload the information on to. Now it is web-based, only one computer is needed and as quickly as the group can log-in and press "broadcast now" they can begin recording. Once the broadcast is complete there are ways to embed the video onto websites, blogs, etc. So instead of the group bringing a physical copy of their show to school it could be easily posted onto a teacher's blog where he or she could review and grade online. Plus if all of the videos are in one location (the teachers blog), it now becomes a one stop shop for viewing all of the group projects. It does not require other media sources to work with in class other than the Internet, eliminating possible incompatibilities with media forms or not downloading information correctly. This way projects, grading, and presentations are streamlined into one place for all!
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