Electronic Journal
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Does the Right Software a Great Designer Make? was an article about cautions and basic principles of using visuals. These caveats were very helpful since I am one that uses overheads for several of my instructions. I felt the author gave good advice and guidelines in what to look for in buying software.
Old Story, New Story was quite a controversial topic. A topic which the “old” school of thought has a difficult time with. The paradigm of teaching is changing to more of guiding students instead of the lecture and listen type of classroom setting. I do feel more methods that have developed are definitely helpful but at the same time we cannot throw out the role of the teacher. I feel teachers are more than leaders and show this in many different ways. Keeping it at the proper balance is the main importance here. This article had some very valid points to consider when teaching regarding the "new" school of thought.
Technology for Teachers This textbook for this course has been helpful along with the computer terms. I have begun to get a feel about what is going to be expected of me regarding the electronic journal. There are some helpful information that I have procured from this text, but for the most part I am reading the CD articles and searching the web for information.
Computer Jargon: This was a hard copy handed out in vocabulary form to aquaint us with new terms that will be used in this course and for future use. I felt this was an excellent reference.
Class Sessions
Learning styles from "Promoting Engaged Learning": This is a philosophy of teaching children according to their own learning method. According to this article, we may learn in different ways: auditory or verbally (lecture, visually, tactile (hands on), or socially (working in a group setting). The challenge to this theory of learning is to properly assess each student according to their strengths and weaknesses. I feel students are more of a blend of these learning techniques discussed in the article. This method is helpful to finding one's strength but we should caution in stereotyping to a point where it would be ineffective. I felt this article was correct with the different learning traits in children. Teachers will face challenges in the authentic assessment of students. The use of portfolios of the lesson could properly grade each student according to their understanding of the subject. I am unfamiliar with the use of portfolios and this type of assessment in the classroom at this time. I will probably refer back to this article for reference later in the course.
Dimensions of Learning: This was an article discussing the five dimensions of learning. This theory was based on research by theorist that feel the critical aspects of learning . This author that understanding and implementing these dimensions in the classroom will enhance the learning process. Again, I feel this article had its very strong points and I view it has another helpful tool in education. This article explained in great depth with these dimensions. I did not take the time to study this thoroughly, but again felt a good reference for assessment of students.
Assure: This article was, I found very interesting and helpful. This was a extremely long article and I was not able to get all the way through it. The sections I did read I found very helpful for several reasons.. Unlike my professor, I am not as organized as I would like to be. I found this writing to help be methodical in organizing my plan for a curriculum or for a planning book. I understood the steps they showed with the acronym model and can see me implementing these ideas throughout my course. I did not have the time to research this article in depth, but I find it will be helpful to me in the final project.
Class Sessions
During this class we were put in groups of
three to implement the changing paradigm in education, based on the article
"Old Story, New Story" The exercise was a model for each discussion leaders
in the next class to follow. There are four requirements: engage the learner,
promote critical thinking, develop a visual for the instructor and students,
and demonstrate that you had a well understanding of the article. Our instructor
modeled for us how we are to present our discussions in the following weeks.
This was a very engaging exercise for each group. I felt the paradigm of
the"New Story" took place.
Also in this session we were shown graphic designs to
be used with the development of the web page design, a brief overview of
computer terminology, history of the internet. We discussed ways
to design the web page and portfolio assessment.
Web Sites Visited
Funderstanding was an article off the internet
that I read. It focused on their theory of constructivism which is
a philosophy that promotes learning by the experiences each student has.
According to this article, children learn by their experiences, through
these experiences is how they develop their own understanding. The
reason why I did not agree with this article is I feel there is no solid
foundation in which education has to occur. I felt this in theory of construtivism,
the writers were unrealistic in regards with teaching children. It was
very heady, high minded and a New Age philosophy.
3
Readings
One article I read this week was Companion
Web Sites. When I first read this article, I really didn't realize
the importance or helpfulness of this possible tool. It wasn't until
I was in our sessions when we did the exercise on this article did I realize
the pertinence of such a site. I went back to the article and read it with
a more open approach and considered the possibilities of being useful in
search for classroom material. I feel when I have a better understanding
how this could work in a resource area with curriculum writing, this
could be extremely helpful.
The Web: Design for Active Learning, was a very extensive article on several topics. What I took advantage of was "Sites for Web/Course Design. I also viewed parts of this article to help design my web page. This was helpful and gave good insight to web design.
Class Sessions
Learning Styles was required reading
that the discussion leaders presented and had different groups decide the
different learning abilities each one of us have. What category or categories
do you fall into and how can you accommodate different types of learners
in your classroom? Our group was instructed to incorporate the different
learning styles in the topic chosen. What each group was required to do
is implement these abilities in different ways. I gathered much information
from this discussion will find it very useful in future classrooms. This
session included more information on web design. The class was also
given a handout of our final project. I felt very confused and wondered
why we were discussing final project at this time of the course. Netscape
communicator and navigator were the workshops done.
After leaving this class I was very unsure how to accomplish
Netscape composer and navigator.
Web Sites Visited
Teacher Sites: I didn't spend a lot of time here. Just wanted to get aquainted to what was out there and to get ideas. I will come back to this sight at a later date.
Evaluating Web Sites: This was helpful in how to choose a web site that would benefit the reader the most. What determines a good web site is the easy access, easily turned pages, information easy to understand, information pertinent to what you are looking for. I read over the rubric as a guideline and will again come back the this article if need be. I felt this was time well spent.
4. Readings
The Great Divide is an article about the gap of internet availability between different families and how the government desires to close the gap so everyone has the possibility to have a computer and to be able to go online. This article was part of the discussion leader's presentation which will be discussed later. I did not totally agree with this article. To promote that every student shoud have a home computer, is not comfortable with me. I am not sold on the idea that everyone would benefit from a computer. A computer is a learning tool, but not a necessity. In the wrong hands it can be more harmful that helpful.
The Challenges of the Digital Library: This
was a article written several years ago by Joan Lippincott about the challenges
of finding the information required by users and what obstacles they face.
What exactly is a digital library? It is a storehouse of information
that must fall under these characteristics: Coherence, economic infrastructure,
preservation, service, opportunities. This article was outdated and not
very helpful.
Class Sessions
Our class session this week was an exercise on "The Great Divide" This is the class I missed so I have to get a hard copy to see how it went. I have spoke to Bobby Richards and she updated me on power point presentations that will be due next class.
Web Sites Visited
Why use Instructoral Models? This web site I felt
was helpful in formating my lesson plan. I did not read all that was entailed
in this web site but picked out pieces of information that would be useful
to me. Models can be an incredible asset in learning for most students.
Searching the Internet: I have used several search engines to visit different web sites. Some were Yahoo, Alta Vista, Dogpile. This is helped me get a better understanding and familiarity of the search engines. I also have discovered free e-mail access and have signed up.
5. Readings
The Evolving Classroom: An article I read off the CD Rom which was proactive in moving toward a more engaging type of classroom. For example teachers should consider the pros and cons of the different types of classrooms. They basically described the enabled learning environment similar to the "Old Story" way of teaching. This article displayed enhanced learning, engaging and extending type of environments for students to learn in. The writer felt engaging style was most beneficial to students for reasons of working together, making learning more interesting. I did agree with this article for the most part. Engaging students is much more fun and beneficial for both teacher and student.
Distance Learning: What is distance learning? It can be as simple as e-mailing a professor about a course question or it can be as complex of taking a course on-line. This is a concept being adopted by more colleges to offer courses over the internet. It is similar to correspondence courses that are being offered. They are some advantages to this method of learning and also disadvantages for students. I did not benefit a lot from this article.
Research and Guidelines for Children's Use of the Internet: This article was supportive for the use of the internet for students. It gave several suggestions on how to guide students and talked about the caveats of the internet. For this to be successful in schools teachers, parents and students need to work together to keep students safe. The article dispelled some fears which parents have concerning their child using the internet. It is understood that there is much danger out in the internet world, but if used and guided correctly the word wide web can be a tremendous asset in education.
Class Sessions
Companion Web Sites was the article used for our group leaders. I felt this was a very challenging task for the class because there was much gray area in regard to how helpful web companion sites could actually be. I was very thought provoking and I thought the discussion leaders did a very good job.There was quite a few different viewpoints about this article. After listening to the other students, I was more open minded toward possibly using a companion web sites. We were also given instructions on a power point presentation. This was helpful to me to since I was having trouble working with my pp.
Web Sites Visited
Multimedia on the Web: While I was in this
site the computer locked up and after forty five minutes of down time I
decided to come back to this sight at later date.
6.
Readings
Assistive Technology Working
in Education? This will be the article Bobby and I will present.
I thought this would be a very useful tool since we both work with physically,
emotionally, and learning disabled children. This article clarified how
computer technology can enhance learning through certain tools for the
education of all students. This article went quite in-depth regarding the
laws surrounding the disabled student.
Class Session
Distance learning was the presentation by the discussion leaders for this week. As a class we discussed what we felt distance learning was to us. In some cases it can be very helpful if the student is motivated and disciplined in this style of learning and cost effective. This type of structured learning would not do well in the elementary or secondary levels of education. Children are not self motivated and the social aspect would be detrimental. Educational institutions need to be cautious about quality of higher education being at risk. Most of our class agreed that even though it is helpful and could be economically advantageous for colleges, the future of college level education could be at risk. A student has to be disciplined and motivated to take types of classes. Our workshops included learning how to make a visual aid with Apple works. This aid is on the computer and is due next week. There were powerpoint presentations given. Some were very well done. I learned how I could improve on a powerpoint presentation. This was a fun and well worth assignment.
Web sites Visited
Filtering Software: This was a helpful site for mothers and educators alike. I did not take the time to investigate each filtering software company. What I learned from this article is that there is software available to protect your students and children. The one page labeled safekids.com was the one site I felt was the best because the web site was easy to access. It was layed out well. Children could receive good educational information while at this site.
7. Readings
Decent Exposure, an article questioning government control or freedom of speech. It is a topic we all need to be aware of since the use of the internet is increasing in our schools. Will we be able to censor material we feel harmful or will we be dictated what and how harmful material will be filtered out? The author brought out several points to consider readings to write about:
The Computer Delusion This was an excellent article regarding the caveats of computers in the classroom. I feel we have to keep an open mind with computers but not be so anxious to have the in our classrooms that we overlook some basic concerns. One point made in this article that I agreed with is we are producing a generation of non thinkers. Students do not know the whys or hows neither do they care to know.
Research and Guidelines for Children's Use of the Internet, Written by the National School Boards Foundation, a very positive article for children using the internet. Their questionnaire stated that use of the internet proved to be increasingly helpful for both parents and students. They included a survey which I chose due to limited reading time not to check out.
Class Session
In this class session we had the rest of the class, except me, finish presenting their power point sides. I was able to pick up a few ideas for improvement on my own power point if I choose to include it in my final project. There were very interesting topics and done in a clever way. We also worked on spreadsheet which will come in very handy down the road. Our discussion leaders assigned the class the project of editing a contract for parents and student regards to proper use of the internet. This exercise was from the article, Research and Guidelines for Children's Use of the Internet. Each group needed to agree on what was appropriate use of the world wide web in relation to education. A very difficult task to everyone since appropriate can mean different things to different people. A helpful workshop we did was using visual aides in the classroom in the last class session. I have recently used this technique of the visual aide in the classroom.
8. Web sites visited
"Useful Sites" was an immense center of information with links to just about any subject you needed to know about. I found myself looking at a few of these sights. I vistited the education links and read about the Maine Education Association. I didn't spend a long time here but broused through to see if anything of interest caught my eye. If I have more time to look at a sight of interest, I will. I find it takes much time to read about one subject and I get lost in the web site. There is just so much information to read and absorb. I did investigate another link called "Who Should Teach?" This article was quite an eye opener for teachers that plan to teach in different states. There were a few very scary incidences where certification in another state can be almost impossible to get.
"Disabilities" I visited the Mecats web site. I felt their site was excellent and very assessible to brouse through. This site was very helpful to the disabled and very informative in all that they can offer.
Class Sessions
I gave my presentation on cells with my power point. I have picked up some good points for improvements for my final project. The discussion leaders had the class exercise their right to vote by participating in a questionnaire on how we felt about certain topics regarding the increase use and dependency on computers. The article was The Computer Delusion. I felt it was the most fun of all the activities the class did. I also was able to understand the other students' viewpoints of their votes. Our workshop was learning how to develop a database. We discussed more about our final project and how we can view others to get ideas for our own.
9 Readings
Tune-In and Turn on! This article dealt with the use of videos in the classroom. I am not a proponant of much video use in the classroom personally. What I found in this report was the balance with the use of this technology. My concerns of much usage of videos coinsided with this writers'. Videos do make events vivid and real, but at the same time we as educators need to make sure they are not used to replace teaching Students can tune-out videos just as well they can tune-out teachers. Teachers need to plan well and make sure this appropriate for their lesson plan.
In Defense of Textbooks: I thought this was a very good article. Even though it was written three years ago, the reasons stated why books are so important are valid today. This is what I have experienced in this course. I set out to complete an assignment and gave myself a good two hours to complete. What I found was the information that I was trying to gather was so immense and so difficult to find that I found so much of my time wasted. The fact that I could not even get into the sights required was very frustrating and time consuming. Even after the time alotted, my work was not done. I could have found this same information in a text in much shorter time. I agreed with the philosophies of this author. Textbooks and lectures are an important part of the education paradigm and cannot be pushed aside.
One article I focused this week was on the CD-ROM. The first article read was Evaluating Educational Software, Since my plans to are be an educator, this article was particularly interesting, and helpful. I will be able to use this guideline to critique the children educational sights.
Class Sessions
During this session Bobbie and I gave our presentation
on Assistive Technology. Our point was to engage the class
in an exercise that would allow them experience a disability and to discuss
what necessary tools would be helpful to disabled students. We promoted
criticle thinking by having them discuss what tools could have helped them
and to discuss what assistive technology is. Our visual was a print
out of what a dyxlesis student sees letter on a page. We also had
a representative from MECATS, an assistive technology company to explain
the many different types of assistive technology available. I was
my understanding after listening to this man, that understanding what is
available is half the battle in receiving the proper equipment, the other
half of the battle is the money and time to properly train teachers for
this type of technology. I realize the effort to allow every student
to receive the best education possible. In some if not many, I am
sure more students could benefit from this type of assistance. It
is when a teacher is in a situation where money, shortage of paraprofessional
help, and the atmospere of the classroom is where assistive technology
is a hard sell. This is a rough afterthought of this week.
I am still working on my database. I do not have a clear understanding
in doing the sorts. This week I am reading as many articles as I
can to prepare for the final project. Take some time to review other
jounals, websites, and so on.
10.
Readings
Regents Guide to Copyright: This article I read out of neccessity, due to the fact that I failed the copyright text in the previous class session. I was not aware of the copyright laws and all the legalities involving video/computer technological usage. I was not an interesting article but an important one.
Class Session
Our class had no assignment due this week but need to
keep working on of evaluation of two children web sites. Also due in two
weeks is our final project form. The group leader discussion was on Regents
Guide to Copyright, the article I mentioned above. We were to take a 20
question quiz on different copyright laws. Since our group failed the test,
I felt I would take the time to read this article. I am glad I did.
It amazed me how strict the laws are and how ignorant most educators are
in this area. Our workshops included working on our final project.
I have to leave early for my daughter's school conference.
Web sites Visited
http:// www.scholastic.teacher.com: This was a sight my children told me to check out. I am glad I did. This was a very user friendly site with the information I needed to assist me with my final project. I pages were very easy to access. I was able obtain much needed information in a short period of time. This site was also accessible to parents and kids. It was age appropriate for grades 4-8
11. Readings
Steve Case, CEO of AOL, Speech to the American School Board Association: I did enjoy this article for several reasons. I felt that this gentlemen exemplified a great sense of committment for our children in regard to their education. There is a genuine sense of dedication and repsonsibility toward enhancing the learning process today and for the future. He brought out several important facts to consider. One was the education of the teaching profession with understanding computers better so they would be able to teach it with their best ability for the benefit of the student.
Class Session
This class session involved the evaluation of computer
software. We either worked in groups of individually to critique
the software selected. After 3 different CD's we evaluated Reader
Rabbit as a class together since most of our computers were without sound
cards. I did feel this was a waste of time. I felt very comfortable
evaluating software and websites at this juncture of our course.
The rest of the time was devoted to working on our final project.