EdTech Profile - NETS V

For this assignment, we used the Educational Technology Assessment (edtechprofile.org) and answered a serious of questions that would show whether or not we were proficient in technology and how it is used in our classroom. After the assessment was over, it created a visual profile to show our comprehension level of technology compared to other teachers. The profile would then give you a list of improvements that could be made to increase technological learning in your classroom.

KerriAnnClark's EDUC 422 Ed Tech Profile

Wiki Page -I, III, V

For this assignment, I used wetpaint.com to learn about an educational technological tool that I would like to explore. I chose to explore slideshows and used SlideRoll.com to produced my own creative slideshow using pictures from when I worked for worked for Poway Unified School District in the summer of 2009. After I created my wiki page led by tutorials, I then uploaded it to my blog using embedit.in

Excel Crossword Puzzle - II, III

For the Excel Crossword, I watched video tutorials that led us step-by-step on how to create a crossword puzzle using Microsoft Excel. The crossword puzzle was created based on a subject matter of our choice or it could be about ourselves. I chose to create a crossword about myself and my interests. This was a creative and fun way to learn how to use excel and I could now reproduce a crossword for my students to fill in about subject matter that met state standards.

KerriAnnClark Spreadsheet EDUC Clues

Copyright/Internet Safety - NETS IV, V

Utilizing GoogleDocs, I collaboratively worked with others classmates to research, gather and complete a project about copyright and Internet Safety. I personally researched the topic of cyberbullying and contributed to GoogleDocs for my other group members to review. All the topics listed in this assignment can be used as a reference for future teachers facing these issues in their classrooms.

Copyright and Internet Safety Group Project

iMovie PSA - III

Using iMovie, we were instructed to make a Public Service Announcement (PSA) on Hate Crimes at California State University San Marcos. To raise awareness on the issue of hate crimes, we constructed video clips using still shots, inputting video clips and incorporated transitions, music and text into our movies. We then saved and exported our video's using Quicktime for others to view.

Journal #10 - Let the Kids do the Work - I, IV, V

Lawlor, J. (2010). Let the kids do the work. L&L—Learning & Leading with Technology, 37(6), Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Publications/LL/LLIssues/Volume3720092010/MarchAprilNo6/Let_the_Kids_Do_the_Work.htm

A man used web 2.0 to create his own wiki. The first homework assignment he assigned was simple: Log on to the wiki, read a poem, and answer an essay question. As an afterthought, He asked his students to respond to at least one other student's essay. He has about 25 students in each class, so it was reasonable to expect 50 replies. The next morning he was shocked to discover 472 replies from a single class! Many of these replies lacked attention to grammar, but buried beneath the Internet slang were interesting thoughts and ideas. Later the students literally directed him where to go on the wiki. Sometimes he even sat down as a student took control of the laptop and led the class to the best essays and most interesting discussion threads. By meeting the kids where they live—online—he got them to invest in ways he never could have with a traditional homework assignment. In turn, they were more willing to participate in the classroom discussions that followed.

The students were told to write an essay on the wiki by their teacher. One girl wrote only two sentences and her peers responded via thread discussions. That night she attempted her essay again and got more feedback on what she wrote. She then when back for the third time to write her essay again which was a vast improvement from what she had written her first time. The teacher did not have to say a word to the girl. Instead the class wrote comments and she responded and made improvements herself.
The teacher assigned a free response project on the wiki but forgot to post the poems what they were supposed to free respond to. When the teacher logged onto the wiki the next morning he was surprised to see that one of his students took charge and posted them. The wiki empowered one student to help a hundred others get their homework done. How often does that happen? The real surprise working with the wiki was that the reluctant participants flourished online. This caused one student who never participates in class to do her work and responded to 25 others.

 He offered the job of remodeling his wiki to a few students, and they eagerly took on the task. They quickly executed a makeover. He was so impressed with the transformation that he insisted that they teach him the techniques they used. In this situation, the normal dynamics of the classroom were reversed: The students taught, and the teacher learned. What's important, however, was that everyone took greater ownership of the final product. Because the wiki is a collaborative tool, the students do more and the teacher does less

 How effective would this tool be in a classroom?

This project is definitely for grades 4 and up. A wiki would be pretty hard to teach younger grades. If I was teaching a class of upper elementary or higher then I would definitely use it. I feel that students work really well when their peers give them constructive feedback. As long as my students were giving constructive remarks rather than destructive remarks then I would be inclined to use this program.


Would I let my students teach?

I feel that students know a lot about the Internet because they love to explore and learn. As the teacher did here, he let them teach him how to design a more interactive and fun wiki rather than the boring one he use to have. This taught him and helped his students to learn to work together. Also if students aren’t afraid to teach then I feel it is a huge learning experience for the students to teach the rest of the class and I would highly encourage this behavior.

Journal #9 – Playing with Skype - II, IV, V

Weller, T. J. (2010). Playing with skype. L&L—Learning & Leading with Technology, 37(6), Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=March_April_No_6_1&Template=/MembersOnly.cfm&NavMenuID=4516&ContentID=25508&DirectListComboInd=

Travis J. Weller has attended many performances and watched where a guest conductor is brought in for an honors band and shared their personal insights with students. Many times it's difficult to bridge the gap between the composers of school band music and the students and audience they want to engage. Travis thought that there had to be a way to help those who write great music connect with the students who bring the music to life and the families who are listening. Both Travis J. Weller and Joseph M. Pisano of Grove City College in Pennsylvania, got together and came up with a way to bring composers to live concerts by the use of technology. Joseph and Travis invited their friend Jason Davis on to what is known as Skype into their 8^th grade music classroom. Skype is a free and easy tool to use to communicate with others via Internet. You can talk and visually see the person you are talking with by webcam and microphone. Skype makes it possible for educators to seek out experts in their subject areas and invite them to share in the classroom or the rehearsal hall. Davis, then a freelance musician and licensing agent, spent 45 minutes discussing copyright laws, the music business, and censorship. Later that day, the idea to use Skype at a live concert came to them.

The equipment needed was very minimal: a computer with a broadband Internet connection, a data projector, a couple of microphones, a webcam, some adapters to pump the audio feed through the sound system, and a projector screen. Many times schools already have access too much of this equipment. They then invited musicians to join them on Skype and they agreed to appear live at the concert. They made an introduction for their pieces before the student performed them. The introduction turned into an interactive conversation that was very meaningful to the students and the audience.


Would I use Skype in my classroom?

            I use Skype on a weekly basis at my home right now to talk to other relatives that live in other states or towns. The best thing that Skype provides, is that you can visual see others and talk to them for free. As a teacher, I would definitely use Skype in my classroom. It can give my students a chance to talk and learn from other who live in other parts of the world. You can learn from different cultures or learn about multiple subjects from experts who can teach them more in depth on a subject that they want to learn about.

How would I get my students involved in using Skype?

            I would get my students involved by having a basic workshop, to teach them how to use Skype and then give them a chance to interact with others on the campus and learn to teach one another through Skype. I would then collaborate with other teachers from a different school and would have my students teach other students a lesson and then vice versa so that the students can learn from one another and teach each other while learning about Skype.

Journal #8 – Navigate the Digital Rapids - IV, V

Lindsay, J., & Davis, V. (2010). Navigate the digital papids. L&L—Learning & Leading with Technology, 37(6), Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Publications/LL/LLIssues/Volume3720092010/MarchAprilNo6/Navigate_the_Digital_Rapids.htm

Digital citizenship is about transforming myself into a professional who can effectively research technology trends, monitor the uses of technology in your school or district, avoid the fear factor that can easily paralyze you, and empower student-centered learning to create vibrant, exciting learning projects. Students thrive on customized tools, such as mobile technology, and customized learning environments. If I can involve my students in student-centered, globally connected projects, each student's learning experience cna become markedly different, and each classroom can become as unique as the students and teachers who learn there. A customized classroom and national standards can coexist and lead to rich learning.

Connecting students to other classrooms requires teachers to have a good understanding of how the technology works, especially the collaborative Web 2.0 tools, such as wikis, nings, and blogging platforms. They need to develop their own personal learning networks and have some understanding of what connected learning looks like and how to harness its power. Teachers need to monitor and become engaged in what their students are doing. Sometimes participants slip into a social-network mode of communicating. They may use textspeak or even inappropriate language, or they might upload pictures that are not acceptable in all global classrooms. This is where teachers must monitor in an engaged manner.

In Flat Classroom projects, teachers strictly moderate all online collaborative and networking sites for membership and content. When students step over the line, all teachers must understand the process to deal with it. The classroom teacher decides the appropriate action, which may include asking the student to apologize to the educational network or, in some cases, suspending or even banning the student from the network. We need to educate students as soon as they start using digital tools for communication, collaboration, and creation through connections online or offline. We encourage productive interactions and opportunities for students to connect and share differences and learn from experience how to respond and reach out to others in an appropriate way. The time to foster this is during their school years and in more controlled environments where good online citizenship practices can be molded.

As a teacher will I encounter this?

Technology today has become such a primary use in our everyday activity. Children as young as preschool are learning how to use computesr and children are being taught about the Internet in the elementary level. As a future teacher, I will be required to teach my teachers about the use of computers and I will need to teach them about Internet safety.

How will I teach my students about Internet safety and what is appropriate?

Many schools are offering workshops that students must attend to explain to students about the Internet and what is allowed at school. There are also monitoring websites that I can look at to see what my students are doing online and whether of not it is appropriate. If it is not, then I will take necessary active into account.

Journal #7 – The Beginner’s Guide to Interactive Virtual Field Trips - NETS I, IV, V

Zanetis, J. (2010). The Beginner's guide to interactive virtual field trips. L&L—Learning & Leading with Technology, 37(6), Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=March_April_No_6_1&Template=/MembersOnly.cfm&NavMenuID=4516&ContentID=25443&DirectListComboInd=D

For students, field trips can be an exciting break from day-to-day classroom activities and a memorable, real-world experience. Lately, local field trips have become less common as travel costs have steadily risen over the past several years but today we have other options. Virtual field trips (VFTs): field trips that are conducted virtually, over the Internet and/or videoconferencing equipment, so that students can learn directly from experts in far away places without ever leaving their classrooms. VTF’s can involve touring a historic site, witnessing scientific experiments or processes at museums or organizations, watching live demonstrations in the field, attending folk festivals or other events, and much more.

Asynchronous VFTs are not delivered in real time. They are basically websites that include text, audio, or video resources about specific topics. Another type is on a websites called: www.efieldtrips.org.
This organization hosts electronic field trips with four main parts: the Trip Journal, the Virtual Visit (a streaming video), an Ask the Expert tool, and a hosted Web chat. Interactive VFTs are synchronous, real-time experiences in which students in one location learn from informal educators in another location, such as a museum, historic castle, or organization such as NASA. These take place over the internet . As of right now, approximately 300 museums, science centers, historical sites, and similar organizations that offer interactive VFTs to schools. Using the videoconferencing interface, students can interact with the experts to get a real-world angle on the topic they are studying. The experts are usually trained and adept at adjusting to the students' level of comprehension. Students usually have no problem adjusting to interaction with an on-screen instructor, and, in fact, often find the experience engaging.

The lessons, which are usually based on national standards, also often include materials targeted to the students' area and grade level as well as classroom activities for students to do before and after the interactive VFT. VFTs do remove the barriers between your classroom and those far-away people and resources. It may seem a little strange at first to be talking to a TV, but once students get engaged in lively discussion with those on the far end, the technology becomes invisible, and the classroom walls disappear. Look for interactive VFTs led by known experts and reliable organizations that use credible primary sources as the key focus of the lessons Interactive VFTs often have a fee. But when compared to the cost of a real field trip, and considering the value students get out of them, many schools have decided to work these costs into existing fee structures or to add VFT funding to their budgets. If cost is a major hurdle in getting started, many content providers, such as NASA, also offer excellent free programs.

Would I use VFT’s in my classroom?

It would really depend on the cost and the school I work at. I feel that students sometimes need a hands on learning experience so if I am able to actually take my studnets to a specific field trip near by, then I would prefer that over VFT’s but if cost is too much then I would definitely use VFT’s.

How would I use VFT’s in my classroom?

Again the cost is always a factor in schools now but I would try to incorporate VFT’s as much as possible that will help increase my students learning. Again the material of the VFT would have to pertain to what I am teaching and help inhance my students learning in order for me to use it. I would do plenty of research and try to get my students more involved in the material to make learning fun.

Journal #6 - Social Bookmarking - III, IV, V

Robitaille, A., & Seshagiri, M. (2007, May 24). Classroom 2.0 - social bookmarking. Retrieved from http://www.classroom20.com/forum/topic/listForTag?tag=bookmarking


Social Bookmarking is the ability to tag, save, manage and share web pages from a centralized source. Social Bookmarking is a method for Internet users to share, organize, search, and manage bookmarks of web resources. Unlike file sharing, the resources themselves aren't shared, merely bookmarks that reference them. Two threads that I have followed are Question on Social Bookmarking (Web2.0) sites and Web 2.0 Tutorial for Educators.


In doing so, I learned that there are many sites that allow for social bookmarking. The main one that I have only known about is delicious.com but in following these threads, they have different social bookmarking websites that account for social bookmarking news or make a social text clip sharing. There are so many different types of social bookmarking websites depending on the category in which you want to social bookmark. Snipitron (http://www.snipitron.com) - allows you to create different subjects and use tags. Each list owner can decide whether to allow others to add them to their list and/or add comments or you can reject a person if you do not wish to have them follow your bookmarks.


Teachers have posted which social bookmarking websites have worked best for them. One teacher uses ikeepbookmarks. He thinks that it is easier for his 5th grade students to understand the folder better when he or his students tag websites. Another teacher really liked to use LinkaGoGo because it seemed to work best for her and her students. She primarily uses this social bookmarking website to organized her websites through folders, but the tags can also be added to make searching for entries easier.


In the Web 2.0 Tutorials for Educators, web 2.0 is known as the Read/Write Web, the new web is a breeding ground for creative and engaging educational endeavors. Teachers are using the new Web 2.0 tools to launch their classroom into the 21st century. Students are creating online content, collaborating with other students around the world and showcasing their work to a global audience. Web 2.0 provides new learning experiences for students and encourages global awareness, creativity, innovation, critical thinking and collaboration. According to Web 2.0 Tutorials for Educators, The knowledge students will gain from engaging with Web 2.0 technologies will foster the communication and information literacy skills that are required in the 21st century.


Commented on:
Carly - Podcasting
Brenda - Microblogging
Sara - Collaborative Documents

Inspiration - NETS I, II, III

Through using a program called Inspiration, we created graphic organizers to show the National Educational Technology Standards For Teachers (NETS) and which projects we created that met each of those standards. Each of the five standards we wrote about had at least two artifacts that me those standards. Each NETS standard has a brief description of the standard and how it applies to the two different class artifacts.

Powerpoint Rubric - II, III

As a class, we collaboratively created a class rubric for our Powerpoint presentations. The rubric showed us what our PowerPoints needed to meet to get full credit on the assignment. The rubric was based on the standards that we as a class felt were appropriate for our PowerPoints. When we graded our assignments with other peers, they used this rubric to make sure all needs were met in our presentations.

NETS Powerpoint Presentation - NETS I, II, III

I created this Powerpoint using Microsoft Powerpoint. Each slide I made consists of lesson plans or classroom activities for grades K-2 according to the NETS standards for that grade. After I completed this assignment, I then shared it with my peers for grading and accuracy

EDUC 422 Power Point KC

Social Bookmarking- NETS I, IV, V

1. National Archives – The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. A devastating earthquake hit San Francisco early morning on April 18^th, 1906. The earthquake only lasted about a minute and destroyed over 500 city blocks of San Francisco. During that minute of disaster the earthquake caused water and gas lines to twist and break causing fires to erupt across the city and burned uncontrollably for days.

The value of primary source (i.e.: Objects, Images, Audio, Statistics, Text, and the community) is considered necessary in my classroom. Children need to visual see artifacts or hear stories from a first person. Children may watch videos from an even to actually see what took place and how it happened. Primary sources are needed to really understand life. Going back to the San Francisco earthquake, if you see pictures or watch a movie, you can see the devastation that took place instead of just hearing about it. Visual seeing photographs or visuals can make the experience more real and is crucial in understanding how severe things are or to just learn about the world around you 

2. Link: http://www.nea.org/home/37643.htm

- Create a cultural competence committee or task force. Include administrators, teachers, education support professionals, students, family, and community representatives. The committee can serve as the primary governing body for planning, implementing, and evaluating organizational cultural competence initiatives. I think that by working together both inside the school and outside the school in the community, it helps to make others aware of issues going on and by working together you can come up with solutions. I feel that as a group effort, we can stop of lot of problems that we face and build a more cultural group of “we.” We all have to work together to succeed in this world and with hate and problems we cannot coexist peacefully.

- Gather and organize resource materials related to culturally diverse groups for use by school staff. – As a teacher you need materials and resources to help you teach about cultural diversity and how we are all very different but at the same time, very much alike. You cannot teach a beneficial lesson if you do not have the write resources and materials.

- Build and use a network of "natural helpers" at school and in the community as well as "experts" who have knowledge of the culturally, linguistically, racially, and ethnically diverse groups served by your school. Children learn best from their peers. By having a group of experts or natural helpers, children can learn from their actions and knowledge. Children helping others, makes others aware of situations and how to make it so that they can coexist peacefully as a group and is very much needed in schools.

3. My cyber bully quiz score was a 2. I have messaged one of my friends without telling them who I was and asked them to guess. I never thought if that as a cyber bullying thing. I was just more like hey guess who I am. I have never done it to someone that wasn’t my friend or in a mean way and told them within 5 minutes who I was. I also have my second point because I have cussed at least once online because I was mad. I rarely every do it but I’m sure that I have before.

4. - I would use the AAA math page. Students need extra practice and useful websites fro them to use to help with their math skills. I would use some of these lessons in my classroom and show my students how to use this websites to help them and how I use it to help them understand math better.

- I would also use the bulletin board ideas. You always need new ideas to do with your bulletin boards. I like to be very creative and colorful and learn new ideas to make my students learning environment more active and enjoyable and I feel that bulletin boards are a way to help with this.

5. 1) Interpersonal – 94%

2) Intrapersonal – 69%

3) Logical-Mathematics – 63%

Video – I found really fascinating that there are so many different types of intelligences, which makes it harder and easy for certain children to learn. This kind of scares me because I have to relate each lesson to all seven or eight different personalities. To me this is going to be very hard to do every single lesson and to make sure that I am getting the information across to every student.

6. Gender Stereotyping was my topic for grades 3-5.

In my lesson plan I would do a brief interview with some adults to find out what the careers are that they've had prior to arriving on campus. In front of the students I would write two lists on the board. On the left hand side I would list the adults they know in our school. On the right hand side I list the various jobs and careers these adults have held in their past. I would explain to my students that their task is to match the job or former career with the adult that they think fits.

Once they think they have a guess they can raise their hands and share their assumption. Students can talk to each other, make predictions and share their assumptions openly if they want to. With my help, it usually takes 10 to 15 minutes to get all the adults and jobs matched correctly. Here’s where the lesson really begins. I asked the students if any of the outcomes surprised them and why. Without fail, I will get a stereotype pertaining to gender or a prejudice statement regarding appearance.

There are many directions this lesson can go once you have your student’s assumptions and stereotypes. I like to show students that everyone has a work history and that they began in unusual places. Students can see that most adults work up a career ladder and are working towards a goal. Most importantly, for me, we can examine stereotypes around gender, class and the way people look or are perceived.


7. In a 2007 study, UNICEF rated the treatment of children in the 23 wealthiest countries in the world based on 40 indicators of child well-being. Which two countries received the lowest ratings?

 - I was amazed to find out that the answer to this question was the United States and the United Kingdom. That makes me really sad to know that we are the wealthiest country but don’t have very good treatment rating for the treatment of children. Our money should be going to treatment of children more than many other things our country chooses to spend its money on.

 Compared with their U.S.-born peers, how likely are immigrant men in the U.S., ages 18-39, to be in jail or prison, according to a 2008 report from the Immigration Policy Center?

- The answer was 5 times less likely. To a point this somewhat surprises me but in other ways it doesn’t. I do feel that US citizens that were born and raised in this country are more likely to act up because they many times are not as grateful for what they get and will act out more. Majority of immigrant come to the US because of better opportunities so therefore they tend to be happier and less likely to act out because they are so grateful for what they now have.


8. I answered 9 questions out of 10 correctly therefore overall I got a 90% on the Netiquette Quiz.
              In my classroom students learn by model. I would make sure to use netiquette in my classroom and would model the do's and don't of the internet. All my students would have a chance to take the netiquette quiz and will have to keep taking the quiz until they have reached 100% but they will not know this the first time that they take it. :^) I would go over the rules of the internet with the class and explain what the do's and don't are of the internet and how to make sure that they know what can happen if they do not follow the rules. =^D Children need to be taught the rules and what will happen if they don't follow them. Bullying has been an increasing problem in child, especially on the internet because there is not face to face contact. Child need to be taught that others have feelings and that even though you can't see others reactions, mean comments can hurt others. The rules of Netiquette need to be taught early on so that my students know how they should  and should not act on the internet.
:^) (Happy, Approving) or =^D (Big Grin)

Journal #5 - LoTi Turns up the Heat - IV, V

Moersch, C. (2010). Loti turns up the heat. L & L - Learning & Leading with Technology, 37(5), Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=February_No_5_4&Template=/MembersOnly.cfm&NavMenuID=4495&ContentID=25239&DirectListComboInd=D

LoTi was first introduced in the year, 1994 as the Levels of Technology Implementation framework. The intent was to create a tool to help district leadership quantify how teachers were using technology in the classroom.  After serving 15 years as research framework, LoTi has decided to change its focus.  LoTi original focus was framework that provided a validated model for school systems to measure the effectiveness of the implementation of technology. However, with the emergence of new standards, things needed to be changed. Instead of using Levels of Technology Implementation framework they changed their program to the Levels of Teaching Innovation framework.

            LoTi includes the same stages that were in the original framework, but the newer model emphasizes powerful learning and teaching, as well as the use of digital tools and resources in the classroom. Each level or stage of the new LoTi framework addresses unique attributes of the pedagogical continuum. The other two frameworks that the LoTi model is comprise of, are current instructional practices (CIP) and personal computer use (PCU), which have also been upgraded based on the NETS-T. Along with the revised LoTi framework comes the new LoTi Digital-Age Survey, which provides classroom teachers with a valid and reliable snapshot of their LoTi and their CIP and CPU levels. LoTi also provides teachers with a personalized professional development priority profile aligned to the NETS-T. The Levels of Teaching Innovation that are now used,  measure how much students and teachers are using and understanding LoTi are Level 0—Non-use, Level 1—Awareness, Level 2—Exploration, Level 3—Infusion, Level 4a—Integration (mechanical), Level 4b—Integration (routine), Level 5—Expansion, Level 6—Refinement.

 

Would a district usually use the LoTi system to measure a teacher and her use of technology?

            I truly don’t know if a district would ever use this program. Most schools have computer lab workshops once a week which give the chance for every classroom to learn how to use computers but I’m not quite sure what the teaching standards are for computer technology or even if there are any. Teacher need to teach children how to use certain programs that are a necessity in life but going above and beyond that is based on the teacher’s preference.

 

Are there standards that need to be met for teaching children technology?

            I am not quite sure the answer to this question but I would believe so. Children are learning how to use computers at a very young age now and many teachers require their students to use the web and Microsoft Office for projects that they assign. Children cannot use these programs if they have not been taught how to properly use them; therefore I am sure that there are certain requirements in each grade level that a teacher has to meet so that his or her students know how to properly use certain programs.

Journal #4 – Finding Students Who Learn Through Media - I, III, IV, V

Bull, Alexander, Fester, G. C. B.(2010). Finding student who learn with media. Learning and Leading with Technology, 37(5), Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=February_No_5_4&Template=/MembersOnly.cfm&NavMenuID=4495&ContentID=25255&DirectListComboInd=D

            
           Student-created media offers significant opportunities for engagement and learning through incorporating Web-based authoring tools into the curriculum. Primary Access Movie Maker allows students to combine their own text, primary source images and audio narration to create short online documentary films linked to the social studies standards. Students embed facts and events in a narrative context that can enhance the learning and understanding of historical materials. This program allows students to create their own movies in a virtual online exhibit called Picturing the 1930s. Teachers and students can explore this era through paintings, artist memorabilia, historical documents, newsreels, period photographs, music, and video. Primary Access Storyboard allows students to create a visual historical narrative in a single class period. Storyboard allows teachers to provide students with access to online primary source documents that aligns with the curriculum.

            Primary Access was interested in whether students who authored media were also more engaged. Teachers can monitor and analyze student’s actions throughout a class period. Primary Access created a Web-based word processor to track the actions of students writing traditional essays. Many students experience disengagement in Primary Access right away. With careful planning, it is possible to increase student engagement by incorporating student-authored media into a formal classroom setting without increasing amount of class time required to complete projects. Students who were engaged by both content and media demonstrated greater higher-order thinking and creativity in their work. In the future, the ability to analyze student activity through online tools may provide teachers with feedback about students’ time management and use of media, facilitating differentiation of instruction, and enhancement for learning.

Would I use Primary Access in my classroom?

            Personally I probably would not use this program in my classroom because I hope to probably be teaching a younger grade level. This project and software seem extremely complex and with that young of an age, I don’t think it’s possible to teach children about this program due to their knowledge of computers and maturity level. Now if I was to teach 5^th grade or above, then I would consider using this program.

How do you go about getting the training to use Primary Access in the classroom?

            I’m not quite sure on this one. I would guess that probably on Primaryaccess.com they would have instructions but the question is, do you have to pay for the program. In this article it stated that Primary Access was a useful tool if you could engage the students in what you were trying to teach them but the article did not state how much the program costs. I’m sure it would take a lot of practice and research to come up with how to use this software effective and efficiently in a classroom.

Journal #3 - Keeping the Peace IV, V

Levinson, M. (2010). Keeping the peace. Learning and Leading with Technology, 37(5), Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=February_No_5_4&Template=/MembersOnly.cfm&NavMenuID=4495&ContentID=25237&DirectListComboInd=D

            Michael Bugeja noted that parents see technology as information and communication whereas their children see technology as entertainment and a way of socializing. A middle school launched a one-to-one laptop program, which soon became an issue for parents, teachers, and students. There was a disconnect between students, parents, and teachers about the appropriate use of technology at home and at school. The district had to look hard at the pros and cons of IM and eventually banned it.

            Many parents grew increasing alarmed and did not know how to engage their children in conversation around the appropriate use of this technology at home. One teacher also refused to use the laptops in her class because she wanted her students to focus. Some teachers and parents felt that there needed to be more restrictions on the use of technology both in the classroom and at home while others felt it was a good choice to teach children about technology and how to properly use it.

            The school had to make a decision and much to the dismay of many, they decided to block iChat on the school laptops. Students and parents commented on the schools decision. The situation had turned into an issue of freedom of speech but from the school’s perspective, the academic purpose of the laptops had disappeared into a vortex of social networking, especially when it was occurring during the school day. Respect for parents’ ability to make these decisions in their own homes factored into their choice to block iChat.           

            There were moments where the school asked themselves why they ever embarked on this laptop program. Several steps are now in place to prepare everyone in advance for the introduction of new technologies. Adults and children view technology differently, and schools need to figure out how to manage this cultural divide. At the start of each new school year, there is what the school calls boot-up camp, where children attend three mini-workshops that focus on the issues of physical care, guidelines for appropriate use and ethnics. The goal of boot-up camp is to bring together the key constituencies – students, teachers, and parents – to get the community on the same page about laptop learning.

How as a parent would I feel about the choice to ban iChat?

            As a parent I would not want my child to use iChat during the school hours because iChat takes away from learning. At home I don’t mind my children using iChat but that is because I would monitor the amount of time that they used the computer and would keep the computer in a family area so that my children would have a hard time doing something that I would not find appropriate on the computer.

How would I have managed the choice of banning iChat?

            I would have done exactly what the school chose to do in the end. I feel that iChat is not something that children need on a school computer. If they want to use iChat, then it needs to be okay with the parents and on their own personal computer. School computers need to be used only for the purpose of learning and not for any other reason. Parents and students can get personal computers for their own home use if they want to.

Journal #2 – Using Podcast to Develop a Global Perspective - NETS I, III, IV, V

Maguth, Elliott, B M., J. (2010). Using podcasts to develop a global perspective. Learning and Leading with Technology, 37(5), Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=February_No_5_4&Template=/MembersOnly.cfm&NavMenuID=4495&ContentID=25244&DirectListComboInd=D

Educators are responsible for not only making students aware of global challenges, such as, terrorism, economic development, disease, famine, and nuclear proliferation, but also teaching them about the cultural diversity of our world. By using podcast, teachers can engage students in learning about other cultures. Podcasting allows students to use and interact with digital technologies. Podcasting also allows students to apply what they know and reach a wider, global audience and appreciate cultural diversity.

Students at a high school in Columbus, Ohio were assigned the task of moderating and recording a debate on a global issue using a Meet the Press format. Their first task was to research a global issue from different perspectives. Podcasting involves a lot of planning, researching, writing, and editing even before students use the podcasting software, so the use of these digital technologies proved to be challenging and meaningful for them. Students created effective and well-aligned scripts and then began recording debates.

After students completed their scripts, they used the software in postproduction to edit out mistakes and incorporate enhancing features, such as background music. Students then showcased their work via Internet but this was the final phase of the activity and students needed to make sure that their work was the best they could do because people all over the world would be able to see it. The assignment was an authentic learning experience in that it allowed students to showcase a degree of depth on an important global issue. It led them to be well informed on multiple perspectives and gave them a chance to discuss current global issues.

How would you get your students interested in global issues?

            I would somehow get my students to help relate these issues to their everyday lives and the world around us. I would figure out a way to draw them in so that they wanted to learn about what is going on and how these issues could affect them. Students have a hard time learning about issues that don’t relate to them so I would have to figure out a way that I could relate the subject matter in a way that is meaningful to them.

How would you use podcasting in your classroom?

            Using podcasting in my classroom would entirely depend on what subject and grade I am trying to teach. I do feel that teaching children about other cultures and learning from other cultures is a very valuable resource, especially if you can communicate via the Internet to other countries. Seeing this first hand experience of interacting with another culture(s) can entice children to want to learn and to teach others. My students would be taught how to use a podcast and the in-depth work that they need to provide to create a powerful piece that others can learn from.

Journal #1 - Computing in the Clouds - Nets III, IV, V

Johnson, D. (2009). Computing in the clouds. Learning and Leading with Technology, 37(4), Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Publications/LL/LLIssues/Volume3720092010/DecemberJanuaryNo4/Computing_in_the_Clouds.htm

               This article is about a man who wrote the journal article “Computing in the Clouds” without ever using the aid of word processing software loaded on his computer. He used several computers in several locations to write the article without using a flash drive to move the file. He shared this article with the editors of L&L without attaching it to an e-mail. Doug also saved his electronic drafts in a place where he can have access to it’s content, even if his laptop is lost, the external hard drive where he keeps his backups fails, and the new version of Microsoft Office refuses to open the file format. And he did all of these things at no cost. The no cost is very good news for schools because of all the reductions in the educational budget right now. You don’t have to buy all the equipment and expensive computers to teach children the basics of computers, which would saves schools money.

                Cloud computing relies on applications and file storage that reside on a network. Because the files and the programs are all stored elsewhere, your local computer doesn't have to hold much on its hard drive, so it can run faster or be smaller. Doug predicts that K-12 schools will at some point ask parents to purchase netbooks because they already ask parents to buy $100 calculators. There are many good things that come from working in clouds such as you can still email, web search and bookmark, you can word process, make presentations, and spreadsheets. You can also store and edit photos, edit webpage’s and use school specific tasks such as grade books and reporting systems. Even though there are many good things with using clouds, there are also downfalls that people have to be aware about. Your files are less secure and private and also whether or not these web-based software will stay free. But he feels most of these concerns will not affect school students but could affect whether or not students will have decent internet access and whether or not the teachers will have good enough training to teach their students.

How, as a teacher, can I be efficient enough in using these on web-based resources?

               Even though I am taking a Education Technology course now, my fear is still not being as efficient as I need to be to teach my students how to use Google docs and netbooks. If schools were wanting teachers to switch over to using new items such as netbooks, then they need to provide teachers with classes where teachers can learn how to teach children web-based products or else to give us sufficient notice that we will need to learn how to use certain web-based documents. If they do this than I can’t teach my students effectively.

How do I get schools and districts to use netbooks in the classroom?

           I would first off have to get extremely acquainted with the product and make sure that I knew how teach and use the product to the best of my ability. I would also have to make sure that the schools and districts could see how beneficial using these web-based accounts can be and how we can get the funding to help buy netbooks and training course for my fellow staff members.

Classroom Newsletter - NETS I, III

My classroom newsletter is an example of what I could send home with my students and their parents weekly. This would update them on what their student is learning about and what is taking place in my classroom and at school. I created this newsletter using Microsoft Word and incorporated a masthead with the issue number and volume. This gives me the opportunity to creativly engage and offer effective communication with the parents and students.

KerriAnn Clark's Newsletter

Introductory Letter - NETS I

Hello my name is KerriAnn Clark, I am 23 years old, born and raised in Poway, CA and this is currently my second semester at Cal State San Marcos. From kindergarten to twelfth grade I attended Tierra Bonita Elementary School, Twin Peaks Middle School and Poway High School all of which are located in the Poway Unified School District in Poway, CA. I graduated high school in 2005 and went on to attend at California State University Long Beach. I went into Long Beach State wanting to major in Marine Biology but quickly changed when I found out how many chemistry classes you needed to take. I was then going for my social work degree until I attend some of the social work classes and realized that social work wasn’t going to be the path for me. After spending two and a half years at Long Beach State I decided to change my major once again and moved back home to make it easier on my mother financially. I then went to Palomar for another year and a half to take the classes that I needed for my liberal studies degree. In fall 2009, I transferred to Cal State University San Marcos and entered the Integrated Credential Program and to finish off my liberal studies degree.

My own personal experience with technology hasn’t exactly been the best or the easiest experience that I have encountered. In my first 3 years of attending college, I crashed two PC by downloading programs that either took too much memory for my computer or by downloading programs that had viruses that attacked and crashed my computer. After crashing two PC, I then bought my Mac 2 years ago and haven’t had any problems yet. Every since I bought my Macintosh, I have been so happy with how it has worked for me and I realized that I would most likely never go back to a PC again. I definitely depend on technology on a daily basis between my cell phone and my computer. I truly don’t know what I would do without either on a regular basis. Currently I am using the 2008 Microsoft Office version for the Macintosh computer. It was a little difficult for me to learn this new version of Microsoft Office but once I understood the tabs and where to find items, it is now easy for me to understand. When I use the school PC computers at CSUSM, I find it difficult at times to understand that version of Microsoft office because I am so used to the Macintosh version of Microsoft Office now.

Personally the entire mission statement speaks to me. As a future teacher or educator, I need to be fully taught everything that I need to know before I enter that classroom. There have been so many teachers that did not know the material thorough enough or didn’t know how to teach the material that we as students needed to learn. Therefore we need to make sure that students are taught to where they obtain knowledge and can retain and understand the information they need to survive in this world. We as teachers need to make sure that we do not judge others by their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, etc and we need to make sure that EVERYONE gets a quality education that enters our classroom. As a teacher if you are not learning all the time and expanding on what you already know than you are not going to be a quality educator. We need to transform public education to better our students and the world in which we live in. The mission statement was necessarily not a reason as to why I applied to CSUSM. I didn't even know what the mission statement was until after I was accepted and in the education classes. I applied to San Marcos because it was close to home and had a really good education program.