Reflection time of EDM 310 Spring 2009

This semester, I feel as though this class has been extremely helpful to me in preparation for my teaching career. I have learned many things such as how to use blogs, podcasts, ALEX, ACCESS, igoogle, and even facebook as educational tools. At first I thought this class would be a waste of time , but I have come out of it feeling more so prepared for my future.

I liked how sincere Mr.Tashbin was at teaching us and open to various ideas throughout the class. Also, learning how to use the PowerPoint on google has helped me in multiple other classes! This class is something to come out encouraged about and excited with the technological increase in this world.

If there was anything I would change about it, that would have I wished we had spent more time researching and finding more informational sites that are helpful for teaching. The few that we did were so informative and I am excited to learn about more! I am thankful that I took this class over all and plan on using the information I have learned through this semester to the benefit of myself and those in whom I come in contact with for years to come!

Twitter Patter

Recently I have signed up for the new rage "Twitter". I have to say that it has not yet captured my heart they way Facebook has done so easily. However, Twitter seems to be a very interesting way of keeping up with the latest news of family, friends, celebrities and even the President of the United States(not that I'm that interested in that). Twitter can be used via the computer or phone. It is a quick message written and sent to update your twitter friends about what you are doing and weather or not you are enjoying your day at work or school. I must say, this all seems sort of pointless to me. I would much rather be spending my time outside being active and giving my sore fingers a rest from all the school work I have been doing this week.

Podcasts experiences

Kidcast 

This podcast by Dan Schmit was basically one teacher offering advice or ideas for other teachers in the area of helping students with their learning skills and possibly keeping their interest during the typical school day.  Dan tells the listener about some of his experiences and some of his co-workers experiences in the classroom.   One thing he talked about was the benefits of online schooling.  In this day of age, teachers are constantly faced with difficult decisions on how to make learning something that kids will have a desire to do.  Dan offers great advice on current events and technology that will be of large assistance to any struggling teacher. 

Edtechtalk

Sharrel Oaks was the host on this particular night of podcasting about what they as teachers and other teachers are up to.  During this podcast there was a interview by an elementary computer teacher talking about his experience as a technology master.  Since the majority of his students are under the age of 7 his advice was focused toward those needy elementary teachers.  He talked about how smart those younger students are and how quick they are at learning things due to their growing minds and curious personalities.  Younger students are so open to try anything and to desire to earn more!  These chatting elementary teachers carried on to encourage other teachers to push their young students to soak up all the schooling they could while they are still open to learning.  Overall, their advice seemed to be ligament and helpful.  

Macbreak Weekly 

This podcast's focus was completely focused on the continued increase in Macintosh computers and other Macintosh devises.  The gentlemen on this podcast for the first few minutes on the cast talked about their own computers and about how "amazing" they are.  Then they moved on to introduce the new laptops that will start being sold in America.  This cast is an informative channel that addresses certain e-mails of concern or of someone searching for assistance with problems with their Macintosh's.  There are constant updates with Mac and in-order to keep the listener informed with these updates, this podcast continues to keep up with the times of Mac.  These guys are Macintosh junkies that know their stuff and would be capable of assisting anyone with Mac questions, problems or concerns.  

This Week on Photography  (TWIP)

This podcast is the information cast strictly based on updates amongst all photography accessories such as film, cameras, photo-shoots, magazines, computers, digital screens and lenses.  These guys converse about the current events of worldwide famous photographers and photos, informing the listener about the new and improved photography technology.  The main topic of this cast was the new "Pocket Wizard" that companies have started selling.  They talked about how each individual camera would be compatible with this Pocket Wizard compared to other cameras.  This devise is simply a remote flash that is capable of being placed in any area of the room that a picture is being taken in and works just as well as the attached flash.  All in all this podcast talks about the latest in technology that comes out for photographers and is a great informative cast for any aged photographer.  

International Schools that Use Blogs

Sandaig Otters Weblog

This particular blog is for an entire school in Glasgow, Scotland. On this blog, the teachers and blogger assistants post videos, pictures and school wide news updates weekly on the blog.  There is a spot on the  blog that has an archive calendar of events from the past few years at that elementary school.  Just by looking at this blog, you can see things going on in the school, how students and teachers relate to one another and what the schools main focus is for the learning process. Though international schools are different from those in the US, they are still centers for learning and still use modern technology to assist parents, students and other teachers in the furtherance of knowledge of the school. 

Ms. Cassidy's Blog

In this blog, Kathy Cassidy in Moose Jaw, Canada posts pictures and videos about the students and what they have been doing in the classroom and outside the classroom.  I noticed that she posted a link to a website that assists younger students and the technique of reading and writing.  This was obvious posted in the interest of parents so they can help their child with daily homework skills and studies.  Its seems as though this teacher is very well connected with the children too.  She has personal blog spots for each child, along with student entries, like papers students wrote so she could post them for everyone to read.  The obvious focus to this blog is learning and I must say she has a pretty good hand in that.  

http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id-1337

Teacher Blogs in The United States

Miss Lehman's Blog

On this blog, this elementary school teacher post weekly news for her students.  Through this blog, she informs her class about the projects, tests, quizzes and homework that will be due the following week. From reading this blog, I can tell that this teacher is very informative and helpful with her students.  She gives full advice and help with papers that are coming up and keeps the students informed about events the in the school that are taking place that week.  She also posts links to news articles, science web sites and the like to help her students learn more while doing their homework.  Over all, I feel like this teachers takes full advantage of the recent advance in technology.  

http://blogs.glnd.k12.va.us/teachers/alehman/

(no picture available) 

Mrs. Austens Kindergarten Class Blog

Mrs. Austen is the Kindergarten teacher in the local Goochland County Public Elementary School.  On her blog, she more so focuses on the parents interest.  She posts her weekly lesson plans on her page so that parents can be prepared to assist their young children in any sort of writing or reading help they may need.  Mrs. Austen also posts news updates on the events of the school and things going on in class.  For example, when all the students will be having a special shirt day, she would post that at the beginning of the week for parents as a simple reminder.  This teachers also seems very well organized and prepared weekly for a full weeks worth of work. 

http://blogs.glnd.k12.va.us/teachers/kaustin/

Google Articles

Changing the way we think

        Professor Susan Greenfield has been doing a study on the "question of whether and how our current use of computers is changing the way our brains work" and has come to the hypothesis that "the visual stimulus we get from screen-based information and entertainment differs so markedly from that available to pervious generations that certain areas of the brain . . .  may be affected in ways that express themselves a changes to personality and behavior."  Then there is a gentleman last name Carr who's main goal is to determine if weather or not Google is making us stupid, when the average human being spends hours online updating their Facebook status and Twitter posts.  Carr argues that Google is only helping him grow smarter in the best possible way that a human can grow smarter.  

Google is one of the few search engines that is capable of assisting many different age groups and genders in entertainment, games, e-mail and news up-dates all under one web page.  It has become somewhat of a comfort zone to many people in the form of internet accessibility and dependance.  With the opportunity to search any article on any particular subject at any given time makes for a reliable and convenient choice for the daily researcher or hopeless college student. 

Google's Rumored GDrive May 'Kill' the PC

         Rummer has it that the GDrive, created by Google, may finally "launch" this year with "some tech news sites calling it the "most anticipated Google product so far".  What this GDrive is created to do is to turn peoples focus away from the Microsoft Window's operation system to the point of where users would not have to depend on their PCs powerful hard drives.  The majority of business and households have turned to using web-based services, like e-mail, photo storages, and outreach sites such as Myspace and Facebook, therefore computers are very relevant in todays society.   This GDrive would help a PC double act as a portal to the internet to assist users with their growing demand for cloud computing.  This could be either something very good for peoples easier access, or very harsh on the PC companies.  Either way, you can not make everyone happy, so you just aim to please the consumers that will input revenue into the society. 

ACCESS

ACCESS is basically an Online class that is made available for anyone who has access to, ACCESS. There are ACCESS labs placed in many different counties and regions in Alabama. The reasoning behind ACCESS is so that student that do not have the opportunity to take a particular class can take it through ACCESS at any ACCESS lab. ACCESS is a great way to interact with other students and teachers all across the state of Alabama. There are many different courses available and with the advance in technology this day in age, ACCESS is more than just a convenient way to learn but it can be fun to strengthen your skills in online activity and scholastic ability.

Personally, I believe that ACCESS is just one more way that technology takes the lead in assisting in education. Though technology is not always reliable, for the most part it is easily accessed and ready to use for whatever online course of study you may need ACCESS to. At the rate the advances in technology rockets, I have no doubt that it will soon become much more reliable for everyday use. I will always be an old fashioned kind of girl, that likes the typical teacher and school desk that comes with live teaching. I hope that technology never takes over the entire school system, because there will be a lot of people out of jobs and out of pocket, but for the record, it is still nice to have that easy availability to the online school learning system of ACCESS.

ALEX

The Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX) web site is one extremely helpful and informative online resource center for all teachers.  This site provides teachers with information on anything from the different courses of study, to assisting with lesson plans, to helping with professional learning skills.  With each link there are more links that only lead to more useful information such as studies and guides to each topic.  There are so to speak "kits" online where you put your information in and it will create lesson plans for you, while on another link there is the ability to research in depth a particular field of study for any particular age group.  There is even an online library for any last minute article search for those teachers that may be out of contact from any close library.  One huge advance in technology this day in age is the invention of Distance Learning for those students in smaller schools that may not have a particular course of study they may want.  ALEX has Distance Learning on its website where a student or teacher may sign in and instantly be online to a class held somewhere else in the country or even world, depending on the schools accessibility.  Technology these days amazes me, especially the easy access that comes with using the internet!

ALEX seems to me to be quite an advancement in the teaching society.  I feel as though there should be no excuse for uneducated students and teachers with the immense availability in technology.  Through ALEX one could easily do any sort of difficult task or unmastered fear. With links to many different large Educational web sites and assistance on any particular subject, I personally think that this site will be a tremendous help to me in my younger teaching/coaching days when I have lots more questions then I do answers.  I would recommend this search engine to any fellow classmate or teacher.  This could easily be considered the best thing since dark chocolate.