WebQuest #1 Reflection

What?

This week we were introduced to WebQuests. We went what things to include and the formatting. We also brainstormed ideas for what to do our WebQuest on.

So What?

Webquest are really neat. We are learning about them so we can have another way to incorporate technology in our classrooms. Learning about WebQuests now helps me learn other tools that will help me in other classes, like powepoint and formatting. It also helps me now in my other education classes by giving me lesson plan ideas.

WebQuest look like they are a lot of fun. They are available on the internet for all kinds of subjects and can be borrowed. I can look up these WebQuest to get ideas for other classes and lesson plans. I can also use them to learn about things I am interested in. My colleagues can also use WebQuest and the tools we use to make them in their other classes as well.

Now What?

This new information allows me incorporate technology in my curriculum and content area. WebQuests are so great because they can be applied to every content area. This will allow me another way to differentiate my instruction. WebQuest seem like a lot of fun to me and are something different to do in the classroom. I think my students will really enjoy them because they do incorporate technology and are different than other things they probably do in school.

WebQuests will also allow my colleagues and I to collaborate. We will be able to share the WebQuests we create or that we find with one another. Our students will also be able to collaborate while working on WebQuests. My students will be able to work on the WebQuests inside of class or outside of class. The possibilities are endless with what we can do with WebQuests.

Video:

That was a really cool video. It reminds me of the things you see on movies from the future. It was really cool to see him take a picture, put it on the surface computer, and then onto the cell phone. It would be really cool to have something like this at home but also in our classrooms. We could do a lot of really neat things if we had this in our classroom. I curious as to when the video was made and if these surface computers were being used more and more at other places.

Video-The Connected Classroom

I thought this video was really similar to the Did You Know video. It gave a lot of the exact same facts and really had the same message. Right now I feel like all of these videos are sharing the same message. I enjoy the videos but I don't really have anything different to say about them. Some have been different but the last 3 or 4 have been saying pretty much the same thing, how pertinent technology is today and how we need to teach our students according to how the learn, through technology. I agree with these things but am not really sure what else to say about these videos that I did not say in my previous video reflections.

One thing that sticks out to me is how this video kept saying how they (our students) are growing up in a different and new technological world. I am not going to be much older than my students and therefore have grown up in the same period as them. My life has been immersed with ipods, the internet, social networking, and cell phones as well. I guess I just feel like these videos are speaking to an older generation or something who don't realize how technology is so involved in our student's lives. Having grown up with these technologies and using them a lot myself makes it easier to see how they can benefit my students and makes me more comfortable using technology in my classroom.

My Beliefs

I feel that the use of technology in the classroom is really important.

One reason I feel that it is important in the classroom is because of how our students view technology. There is an obsession surrounding technology today. It is everywhere and is constantly being updated and changing. Our students are seeing these changes and they are excited about technology. A huge majority of our students have cell phones, computers, access to the web, ipods, and are involved on social networking sites. If we can incorporate technology into our curriculum our students will be excited about the content and assignment. One great example I heard of was using cell phones and a certain site that your class is registered on to make audio recordings. Then you can go online and hear them. A guest speaker that came to one of my classes said she had her students create audio sportscasting of chariot races. Her students loved being able to use their phones in class to do this but also gained a deeper understanding of the content in the process.

Another reason I feel it is important to use technology in the classroom is because of all the great resources that are out there for us as educators. I for one love the idea of having a class website. It keeps the parents tuned in with what is going on in the classroom and keeps everyone on the same page. I also love the interactives available on the web. There is also a lot of great information to find for research papers as well. There are also tons of resources on the web that make teaching easier for us. I fully intend on taking advantage of these resources and using them to benefit me and my instruction.

Lessons Learned

From watching the videos and doing the readings one thing that stuck out to me was how we live in such a digital age. The youth of today have grown up in this digital age and because of it they are comfortable with technology and use it constantly. This especially stuck out to me in the Did You Know video. Technology is changing rapidly and we need to make sure we are aware of what is changing so we can stay on pace with our students and the rest of the world. We also want to make sure our students stay on pace with the rest of the world. I also learned that using technology can really help to enrich your classroom.

Another thing that stuck out to me was the language students use in their texts and how it can carry over to their academic writing. I don't really think that this happens a lot. I use some of those acronyms myself, like LOL, but I don't use them in my academic writing. I would assume that most students know that that type of writing is not appropriate in academic writing. Some of the acronyms are a little ridiculous and aren't really used very much at all anymore, especially since people are able to use T9 (predictive text). The article where they made up a bunch more was pretty funny, especially the ones that older people could use. It is definitely OK to use the abbreviated type of spelling in casual writing but it should not be used in academic writing.

Strengths and Weaknesses

After taking the UNI survey and comparing my results with the NET standards I realized that I had some strengths in regards technology in the classroom, but I also had some weaknesses. I am not an expert at anything, but I do have exposure and am fairly comfortable and confident with most of the things discussed in the UNI survey and the NET standards. One thing I feel confident with is finding accurate and relevant lesson plans on the web. In my methods class we were given an assignment to explore many different sites and evaluate them. This assignment really helped me to know where and how to find reliable lesson plans. One thing that I consider a weakness is that I have never done or seem a video conferencing. I would not know how to be involved in one. Another weakness I have is that I do not know how to edit or produce video and audio projects.

One goal I have is to learn more about video conferencing; how it works, the purpose and how it would benefit me as an educator. Another goal I have is to learn how to edit and produce video and audio pieces. I think that that would be a really neat talent to have and would allow me to create some interesting things for my classes. It would also be pretty neat to teach my students how to create those types of things as well.

One way I can reach my goal of understanding video conferencing would be to read this online tutorial on how it works. This tutorial would help me grow in my profession because after going through it I would have yet another tool that I could use in my classroom or to collaborate with my colleagues. One way that I can learn how to create audiotapes and videotapes for classroom instruction would be to go through the tutorials that Apple has on how to do these things and others. This would be such a neat tool talent to have and if I could teach it to my students they could do some really awesome assignments. These tutorials can really help me to become a better educator.

Internet Safety Reflection

Although the internet can be a dangerous place, we should definitely us it in education. One reason we need to use the internet in education is because of this technological age we live in. Our students know the internet and are comfortable with it. We need to use it if we want to stay with the times. We also should use the internet in education because it offers so many great resources for us as educators. We just need to learn where to find it. The internet should also be used as a way to differentiate the learning for your students.

We need to evaluate the sites that we use for educational purposes. Just like in the reading about the boy named Zack who wrote the paper on the Holocaust, we may think a source is reputable when in all actuality it is not. If we do not evaluate the sites we use then the material we are presenting could be a wrong and a waste of time. Evaluating websites is something we must do for each website we intend to use in instruction or for research purposes.

Questions to ask when visiting a website you want to use for teaching:

1) Did you link to this site from a site you trust?

2) What is the author's authority?

3) Does the site include the date created and last updated?

4) Is the site easy to navigate?

5) Are sources documented?

6) Is this site as credible and useful as the resources available in print or online through the library?

7) Is the information factual or opinion?

The best way to keep your students safe on the internet is to teach them about internet safety. Play games, watch videos, or read about how to be safe on the internet. It is our responsibility as educators to make sure our students know how to be safe on the internet before we just throw them on the computers. It is also good to set rules and guidelines for proper internet use and to monitor our students as they are using the internet in our classes. It is also a good idea to let your students know that if they come across anything that makes them feel uncomfortable or that they know is inappropriate that they can tell us.

Video:

I thought this video was informative. Most of the stuff I already knew. One thing I did learn though was that even if you delete information you posted on the internet, someone could have copied it and put it somewhere else. Make sure you are comfortable with posting something because it may be on the internet forever. I also liked that it reminded parents to watch their kids on the internet. I think a lot of parents just assume their kids will be on a safe site and don't really pay attention. With one click a kid can be somewhere completely different than where a parent may have intended they be. I think this video would be good for parents and students to see.

UEN Reflection

In my future classroom I definitely plan on using the resources UEN has to offer. UEN has so much to offer educators and can decrease our workload by quite a bit if we know how to use it. I will use UEN because I feel that the resources available are fun and interesting and that my students will enjoy working with them. I also will use UEN because it is designed specifically for educators so I know that all the information I come across is OK to use and I don't have to filter through a bunch of junk.

I plan on using UEN to find lesson plans. I also plan on using UEN to find other materials (videos, maps, games) to enrich my classroom and my student's learning experience. I also plan on having a class website, using either UEN or google. I will use UEN in my classroom by having my students do interactives and using the resources there to help them with research. I will teach my students how UEN can benefit them.

There are a lot of social studies resources for students on UEN. One thing I found that I really liked is that they make announcements for upcoming events. For example the second Monday of each month WWII veterans come and speak at the Salt Lake Public Library for free. This would be a great opportunity for students to be able to go and hear from these individuals. My students could also use Pioneer Library to do research for research papers and other assignments. I can put links on my UEN site that my students can go to. These links can be anything from interactives, events, research tools, etc.

UEN has a lot of great resource like Pioneer Library, interactives, lesson plans, and core curriculum. Pioneer Library has great resources. It has information on other countries and cultures, Emedia (site full of media resources), World Book, sites to Utah Newspapers, Spanish resources, links to educational search engines and also links to other libraries. The interactives that UEN has to offer are a lot of fun. You get to learn while doing them but in a fun way. Students would probably really enjoy them. The lesson plans that UEN offers are great. They can be found in the core curriculum under the standards and objectives. There are also links under the standards and objectives to other lesson plans. The core curriculum is available in each subject area. It tells teachers what they are suppose to teach their students. It is a guide for them. The core curriculum and lesson plans work hand and hand to make teaching a lot easier, as do all the resources that UEN offers to educators and students.

Video:

This video was a little bit confusing to me. I was not totally positive what their thesis/main point was. I definitely did agree with some of the points though. We spend so much money on textbooks, classes and other things when what we use more than anything is technology, shouldn't that be what we are spending our money on if we are spending most of our time there? In this digital age times are changing rapidly with the new technology developments. I thought it was interesting that one girl's paper said when she graduates and gets a job it will be one that doesn't exists today. That right there shows how the way we live and technology are changing so quickly each day. I also thought it was interesting how one girl said 18% of her teachers knew her name. What I love about the education program is the small class sizes and that are teachers do know us. It really makes such a different when you feel like your teacher knows you. This video was pretty interesting and I thought that a lot of it rang true.