Week 9

This week (2/28/12) in EDCT 203,we learned an impressive amount of new and exciting technological information. At the beginning of class, a group of our peers presented information on how students use technology and trickery in order to cheat in class. One of the most shocking ways was when a student (in the video) used his pop bottle to hide answers. The video exposed to us, as future educators, some of the countless ways that students practice deception within the classroom.

One of the coolest aspects of today's class was learning about and utilizing Adobe Connect with our classmates. You are able to have online class, share screen information, chat with others, and even use microphone capabilities. One drawback of this application is that it requires high speed Internet in order to be most effective. I could use this in my future classrooms by holding online class via this medium (if necessary) as well as allowing students to work collaboratively on assignments. We also learned how to create a newsletter using Microsoft Publisher, complete with pictures. This process proves to be rather lengthy and time consuming. However, this program would be helpful in my future classroom as I create updates/newsletters for both parents and students throughout the course of the year(s). As a future educator, I met the following ISTE standards: Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity, Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments, Model Digital Age Work and Learning, Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility, and Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership. As a student I met the following ISTE standards: Creativity and Innovation; Communication and Collaboration; Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making; Digital Citizenship; and Technology Operations and concepts. I have learned so much and gained a wealth of irreplaceable knowledge this quarter during EDCT 203 class.

Week 8

This week (2/21/12) in EDCT 203, we learned how to create an online rubric for our future classrooms on the RubiStar rubric generator. This is a really neat and convenient program. It is so simple to create rubrics and then tweek them for a specific assignment. This program is a helpful resource that I could see myself using to generate project rubric(s) in my future Language Arts and Social Studies courses. Additionally, we learned how to create podcasts using an online program, Audacity, and then convert that podcast into an mp3 file. We made our podcasts appropriate for grade-level as well as content-specific according to our content specializations (i.e- Math, Language Arts, or Social Studies) and incorporated sound (such as theme song or sound effect). This could be used as interactive, supplemental instruction for students outside the classroom. For example, directions for a project or assignment can be provided to the students via the Internet. Additionally, it can provide students more freedom in terms of learning speed. Not all students learn at the same rate and in the same manner. This particular program would aide in a multi-sensory learning approach in terms of course content. Students will be able to hear particular instruction (s) outside of class to supplement what is taught/explained in the physical classroom. The flexibility and freedom this gives students is impeccable. This assignment builds upon last week's interactive lesson that we collaboratively generated with our classmates. Through today's EDCT 203 class, I demonstrated the following ISTE student standards: Creativity and Innovation, Communication and Collaboration, Research and Information Fluency, Digital Citizenship, and Technology Operations and Concepts. As a future educator, I met the following ISTE teacher standards: Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity, Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments, Model Digital Age Work and Learning,Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility, and Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership. I look forward to learning even more new and exciting things next week in EDCT 203 class.

Week 7

This week (2/14/12) in EDCT 203, we learned about and practiced using the free Online program, VoiceThread. For this week's assignment, we worked collaboratively with several classmates with the same educational concentrations to make a virtual introductory lesson for our future students. As Language Arts majors, my group chose to teach an introduction to homonyms lessons through voice, video, and text comments within our video. This was a fun project, and I enjoyed working collaboratively with other students on a project within class. This week's assignment has been one of my favorites thus far because of the simplistic novelty of the program's features. VoiceThread could be easily utilized in my future classroom if virtual class would occasionally be necessary as well as for students to use on group projects. As a student, I met the following ISTE Standards: Communication and Collaboration, Creativity and Innovation, Digital Citizenship, and Critical Thinking etc. As a future educator, I met the following standards: Professional Growth, Digital Citizenship, Digital Age Work, and Digital Age Learning etc. I truly enjoyed this week's assignment, and look forward to the rest of our projects this quarter in EDCT 203.

Week 6

This week ( 2/7/12) in EDCT 203 we learned all about Windows Movie Maker. We practiced adding photos, captions, effects, and music to our videos. Then, we combined these facets together to make educational movies to potentially use in our future classrooms. This was a fun task to learn. I enjoyed making my "Diversity" movie and uploading it to YouTube. This program (Movie Maker) could be easily incorporated into the classroom through interactive lessons, and it would also be simple for students to use, as well. Today, I met the following ISTE standards as a current student and future educator: Demonstrate creativity and innovation; Use technology effectively and productively; Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity; Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments; and Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership. This course continues to be very beneficial as we learn and utilize free techonology applications that will beneficial and useful within our prospective classrooms as educators. I look forward to what we will learn in the future EDCT 203 classes.

Week 5

This week in EDCT 203 (1/31/12) we learned more about working collaboratively in Google docs. In class, we were allotted 10 minutes to write a story in Google docs with our group members. In order to get the full effect of the assignment, we were not allowed to verbally communicate with the others in our group. This was a very neat Google function to further explore as students and future educators. Our assignment for this week (week 5), is to create a Google survey (Google form) with 10 questions of at least 3 different types. This task is a different facet of Google docs that I was previously unaware of. Teaching my future students how to work on collaborate projects via Google docs will be very beneficial because students don't have to be in the same physical location in order to work together. Likewise, I can communicate with my students on their work outside of the classroom. Creating surveys through Google form will be equally beneficial as a future educator because I can create surveys to be completed by students or parents regarding course content that I am teaching etc. As a student, I utilized the following ISTE standards:Demonstrate creativity and innovation; Communicate and collaborate; Conduct research and use information; Think critically, solve problems, and make decisions; and Use technology effectively and productively. As a future educator, I utilized the following standards: Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity,Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments, and Model Digital-Age Work and Learning. I'm glad we learned about these free Google services and look forward to the other technological applications we will be learning about and utilizing in the future.

Week 4

This week (1/24/12) in EDCT 203, we learned more about the WebQuest technological application. We discussed the different components/ building blocks necessary in order to design an effective WebQuest that will be effective and engaging for students. There are various ways in which I could use WebQuest in my Middle Childhood Language Arts class(es) through interesting and multi-sensory teaching approaches. I could apply this learning tool as supplementary reinforcement for any assignment or objective the students would be learning within my class. This would be ideally be used by the student after verbal instruction of the material, reinforcing what has already been taught. Like the previous weeks in EDCT 203, I met several of the ISTE standards within today's classroom instruction. As a student, I met the following standards: Demonstrate creativity and innovation, Communicate and collaborate, and Use technology effectively and productively. As a teacher, I met the following set standards: Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments, Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership, Model Digital-Age Work and Learning, and Inspiring Student Learning and Creativity. I enjoyed today's class period very much and look forward to the exciting things we will be learning this quarter in EDCT 203.

Week 3 Blog

We learned even more new and useful information today (1/17/2012) in EDCT 203. Today we learned to edit pictures, upload pictures, make movies, and add music and sound to our presentations through the Picasa 3 program. Much of this information is easy to understand and figure once it is explained and demonstrated. This program is a great resource that I had not heard of prior to this class. Today's information built upon what we have been learning and practicing throughout the course of the past three weeks in EDCT 203. I could use the Picasa program in my lessons as a future Language Arts teacher. Using this as an interactive approach would be helpful to students who have varying learning styles because it goes "outside the box." Everything we are learning supports a multi-sensory teaching approach, namely in the area of modern technological advances. Becoming familiar in this program helps me achieve several of the ISTE standards through lifelong learning, the ability to design developmentally appropriate learning opportunities for students through the use of modern technology, and apply technology to increase productivity. I learned how to make student learning even more exciting and engaging for students through the use of the program, Picasa. The Picasa program is very beneficial to me as a future educator. There are so many ways to make learning even more fun and engaging for students through the use of technology within the classroom. I look forward to all the new and innovative things we will be learning about throughout the rest of the EDCT 203 course.