Journal 5 - NETS V

"Collaboration in a Web 2.0 Environment" -Glen Bull

Bull, Glen (April 2006). Collaboration in a Web 2.0 Environment. Learning and Leading with Technology, 33, Retrieved February 26, 2009, from www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/EducatorResources/YourLearningJourney/Web20/collaboration-in-web-20-environment.pdf

This article is about the use of syndication in the web 2.0 environment. Syndication is the process in which certain parts of a Web site is made available to other Web sites. For example, the Google account can be personalized to an individual's desires. From there users can use the RSS feed, available on majority of websites, to link that website to their personal Google account. Any time there is an update of information on that particular website, the information will also be updated on your Google account. Now, there are RSS feeds for every major newspaper such as The New York Times and Wall Street Journal. You can use an RSS feed to get updates on a specific topic of interest from these newspaper. RSS feeds are very useful in that you do not have to directly go to each of the website of interest to see if there is any updated information, the information comes to you through websites such as Google, Bloglines, and Netvibes. Educators who want to incorporate using a blog into their classroom will be better able to manage the individual student's blogs by using the RSS feeds. Teachers will not have to go to each individual student's blogs, instead they will be updated of their student's blog entries through the RSS feeds onto one site such as Google. The web 2.0 environment is very interactive with its users. You can not only view information but also manipulate the resources available on the web to your desire. Instead of the users searching for information and jumping from one website to the next, information will be updated and brought to the user's attention from these RSS feeds.

Question 1: What are RSS feeds?

RSS stands for "really simple syndication." Syndication is the process of taking parts of one website and making its information available onto another website. RSS feeds are used to follow multiple websites. The majority of websites have RSS feeds available. You can use RSS feeds to display websites of interest onto other websites such as Google, Bloglines, Netvibes, and Yahoo.

Question 2: How can educators use RSS feeds in their classrooms?

Educators can use RSS feeds to stay connected and to get updated information daily on specific websites. They can also use RSS feeds to organize student blogs if they incorporate blogs into their classroom. RSS feeds will allow for educators to get updates on their student's blogs without having to go to each individual student's blogs.

Classroom Newsletter - NETS I & II

newsletterlv

Publish at Scribd or explore others:

This is a classroom newsletter created on Microsoft Word and exported as a PDF file.

Journal 4 - NETS I, II, & IV

"Create, Collaborate, Communicate: Empowering Student with 21st Century Skills" -Chris Riedel

Riedel, Chris (January 2009). Create, Collaborate, Communicate: Empowering Students with 21st Century Skills. T-H-E Journal, Retrieved February 20, 2009, from http://www.thejournal.com/articles/23872

This article is based on Howie DiBiasi's speech at the FETC meeting in Orlando, Florida. FETC is a conference held for educators and administrators to learn how to integrate educational technologies into the school environment. Howie DiBiasi placed an emphasis on the importance of teaching our students skills that are relevant to the 21st century. DiBiasi suggests that educators change the way we are teaching our students because they are utilizing one set of skills in the school environment and another set of skills when they are away from the school environment. DiBiasi suggests that we teach students skills for the 21st centuray, not just for the school setting. DiBiasi gives several tips to educators and administrators so that they will be better able to integrate technology into the curriculum and to motivate student learning. One way to learn more about the different technology tools available would be to talk to someone who is knowledgeable in the digital world. Talking to experts can teach you a lot about things that you did not know before. Another way to learn more about technology would be to create a social network. Social Networking can increase your knowledge about technology by providing a large database of knowledge from your peers. You are basically sharing with each other the different tools you are discovering; everyone participating benefits.

One way to motivate students is to help them develop problem-solving skills. This can be done on a daily basis just by giving the students something as simple as a Sudoku puzzle to solve. When students solve their own problems, they will feel more able to be successful which in turn will motivate them to learn. Educators can motivate student learning by creating project-based activities where students are actively participating in the lessons. I think that DiBiasi made a really good point in stating that we need to modify our curriculum so that we are teaching our students skills that they can use in the real world.

Question 1: How can educators increase one-on-one computer time for students in the classroom?

Although there is a budget and most classrooms can only afford so many computers, teachers can increase one-on-one computer time for students by using refurbished computers. These computers might not look as nice and run as efficient as the new computers but they would give more students the opportunity to get on the computers and learn.

Question 2: What are some ways that educators can learn more about how to use technology in the classroom.

One way for educators to learn more about technology is to get together and talk to someone who knows technology. Another way to learn more about technology is to start a social network where you can get ideas from other educators and administrators on how to incorporate different technology tools into the classroom. Another great way to learn more about technology is to start social bookmarking. This is a great way to save websites that you have discovered that you like to use in your classroom. This is also a great way to share and get ideas from others who are social bookmarking.

Journal 3 - NETS III

"Keep Them Chatting" -Jeannie Cole

Cole, Jeannie (February 2009). Keep Them Chatting. Learning and Leading with Technology, 37, Retrieved February 19, 2009, from http://localhost:51966/learning_leading/200902-offline2/index.html

"Keep Them Chatting" is an article about techniques that educators can use to get students thinking and talking on certain topics in online class discussion rooms. The two main tips for educators who conduct online class discussion rooms are: one, to set goals and achievements for the class and two, to select questions that promotes student interaction and discovery through research and collaboration with other students. There are four main types of questions that can be used to promote student thinking and exploration. The first one is called the "high-level, open-ended questions." This type of question requires students to do their own thinking since there could be more than one way to answer the question. This question allows for students to be creative and to think on their own. The second type of question is called "the inquiry method." This type of question requires students to engage in research on the topic and to solve any problems that they encounter through their research. Students are exploring on their own and making their own discovery with a little push in certain direction.

The third type of question is called "the discrepant event inquiry method." This type of question starts the student off by showing them an unexplained photo, video, document, or any other source. The teacher then gives the students a question that requires research. The fourth type of question is called "personal examples." These are questions that can be answered from personal experience but also requires the students to do their own research to be thorough with their answer. All these questions have guidelines which can help students to stay on topic. I have taken several online courses before and can understand how students can be turned off to discussion rooms because the questions are either very standard or just plain boring. A lot of these question types seem to have very positive outcomes and they do seem to stimulate thinking and student exploration that then leads to students discovering things on their own.

Question 1: How can educators stimulate student interaction in an online class discussion room?

Educators can stimulate student interaction in an online class discussion room by posing questions that students can collaborate with each other on. The questions should require students to do research and to develop problem-solving skills. Students can help each other out by discussing with one another the types of problems that they've encountered. Most likely another student would have had the same problem so then these students can help each other out. Another way to promote student interaction within the discussion room is to assign group assignments. Group projects require that students interact with one another and to communicate their thoughts.

Question 2: Describe one of the four types of questions suggested by the article to help promote student interaction and discovery.

One of the type of questions is called "the inquiry method." This type of question requires students to do their own research and to solve any problems that they encounter while doing the research. Although students are doing individual work, they are still interacting with other students to discuss how they will go about with their research and the types of problems they have encountered.

Social Bookmarking - NETS IV

This is a social bookmarking assignment completed through Delicious.com, a social bookmarking website that makes keeping track of and sharing "bookmarks" on the web fast and easy.

1. I checked out several online exhibits. One of the exhibits that I checked out was about the Watergate Files. There were a lot of really great information on the case. Under each time-line tab was an overview during the event, a list of documents, names of people involved, and a film reel. I also checked out the Power of Persuasion website which features poster art from World War II. A lot of these posters were very patriotic and invokes a sense of responsibility to one's country. I can see how these posters were used to encourage people to support the war. I think that using primary sources is such a great way to get students involved in the history that they are studying. A lot of these primary sources bring to life the events of the past. Students would be better able to understand the events of history by studying these primary sources because they tell so much more than just reading a textbook.

2. The three areas that I feel fit my teaching style are: "Ensure that your school has a mission statement that commits to cultural competence as an integral component of all its activities. The cultural competence committee should be involved in developing this statement," "Determine the diverse groups served by your school. Consider cultural, linguistic, racial, and ethnic diversity. Find out the degree to which families and students in these groups are accessing available school services," "Network with parent, family, minority community, and faith-based organizations concerned with the needs of diverse students. Solicit their involvement and input in the design and implementation of initiatives for culturally, linguistically, racially, and ethnically diverse groups." I chose these three areas because diversity is a very important issue to me. I believe that every group of students are different and we as future educators should not treat them all the same. The first step in becoming culturally competent is actually acknowledging the different ethnic groups at your school and in your classroom. Identifying the different culture at your school environment will allow for you to better accommodate to your students needs based on their cultural background. I also think that involving parents and others from different ethnic groups to help at the school to educate about their culture would also increase culture awareness.

3. The website that I found is called Owl Online Writing Lab. This website discusses the differences between an adverb and an adjective. It gives several examples of each and also discusses how to use these parts of speech correctly. At the bottom of the website are two different exercises that students can complete to apply there understanding of the uses of adverbs and adjectives. The reading level for this website is grades 3-6.

4. The area of Kathy Schrock's website that I focused on was the "Education Resources" area. Once you click on this link, there are so many other tabs that are so helpful for teachers. There is a tab for lesson plans, one for useful websites, one for how to integrate technology into the classroom, and so many others. I will use this website to get ideas on how to integrate technology into my classroom. I will also use it to make quizzes and create web-based activities to engage my students in their learning process. So instead of pencil and paper activities all the time, I can use this website to get ideas on how to engage my students in learning with different technology tools.

5. Something interesting that I learned about multiple intelligences is that everyone posseses them. There are eight different intelligences and most people are strong in certain intelligences and weak in others. Each of the eight intelligences is different from one another. Each intelligence focuses on a particular area in the brain. In a classroom, all the students will not be strong in the same type of intelligence so as a teacher you would have to accommodate your teaching style to fit the learning style of your students. Some students learn better visually, some learn better kinethestically, and so on.

6. The lesson plan that I chose is called "Family Ties and Fabric Tales." The link to it is http://www.tolerance.org/teach/activities/activity.jsp?cid=331. This lesson plan has two parts to it. For the first part, students are to talk to their parents about their family's background. Students then discuss their background in a presentation in which they bring in something that symbolizes a part of their background. Along with the presentation, students will also locate where their family came from on a globe. For the second part of the lesson, students create a family quilt by illustrating in each square on a worksheet something that symbolizes a part of who they are. This is a lesson plan that I would definitely use in my class in the future to get a better understanding of my students and at the same time it also allows my students to get to know each other better. This activity can really stimulate an appreciation for other culture and other people's differences.

7. One of the questions that I thought was interesting was the comparison between the earnings of U.S. white men and Latin and Native American women. Although they are both graduates, Latin and Native American women earn about $30,000 less than U.S. white men. Even though women are able to do more things now than they did in the past, there is still a gap in equality between men and women in certain environments. Women are usually still seen as the housekeeper, the nurturer while men are usually seen as the money maker and the authority in a home. It really surprised me how much of a difference in earnings are made based a person's gender even if they have the same qualifications and skills. Another question that I thought was interesting was the one about which country had the lowest rating for the treatment of children. The United States and the UK had the lowest rating out of the top 28 wealthiest countries. I was really surprised to see that the United States and the UK were at the bottom two. It's just kind of weird that we are at the bottom two because it does not seem like we treat our children bad.

8. I scored 90% on the Nettique quiz. I should teach students about Nettique because it knowledge on how to behave while in the virtual environment of the internet. I think that this is a step in teaching our students to become digital citizens. Nettique is about the do's and don'ts communicating with others online. Many students nowadays have emails and blogs in which they pass back and forth thoughts and feelings on certain topics. It would be good for students to know what they should and shouldn't do while communicating with others online. ; P

Journal 2 - NETS I & IV

"Museums in the Classroom" -Rose Reissman

Reissman, Rose (February 2009). Museums in the Classroom. Learning and Leading with Technology, 37, Retrieved February 5, 2009, from http://localhost:51966/learning_leading/200902-offline2/index.html

"Museums in the Classroom" is basically about how to bring a museum into your own classroom. There are a variety of websites that educators can access with their students to learn about history through the web. One of the museum websites that was suggested in the article is Resource Central-Museum Resources . This website is a search engine that educators and students can use to access real-live museums on the web. This search engine leads you to links for the different museum's websites. For example, students can learn about the aircraft that were used during the war at the virtual San Diego Aerospace Museum. Without having to leave your classroom to go on a field trip, students can have access to artifacts in history that are usually only accessible by going to the different museums through the web.

The article also suggests using Going to a Museum? Resources for Educators website (http://www.curry.edschool.virginia.edu/it/projects/Museums) for educators who are just beginning to learn how to incorporate virtual museums into their classroom. This website not only has tips and tools for beginners but it can also be useful for educators who have been utilizing web-based museums in their classrooms. I think that using online museums that are available to us on the web is a great substitute for a classroom field trip to the museum. Online museums can save a lot of time and money because students will be able to have access to museum artifacts through the click of a mouse. Students will have a greater variety of artifacts to look at with less time and effort because they can have access to more than just one museum a day.

Question 1: How can educators bring museums into their own classroom?

There are a variety of websites that educators can use to provide a virtual museum experience for their students. One of them is the Resource Central-Museum Resources website which is a search engine that provides links to online museums such as the San Diego Aerospace Museum and the Pilgrim Hall Museum. The Going to a Museum? Resources for Educators website provides step-by-step instructions for educators on how to integrate museums into the classroom. Educators can learn how to incorporate museum artifacts into their own classrooms to promote student learning and creativity with the help of all these different websites that are easily accessible to them.

Question 2: How can educators use the idea of a museum in their own classroom?

Educators can turn their own classroom into a museum by having a wide display of student's work throughout the classroom. Students can help to arrange their work in ways that artifacts are arranged in real museums. As a class, students and teachers can create admission tickets, brochures, and souvenirs to create the feeling of attending a real museum. This would not only encourage the students to do good but would also give the student's guardians a chance to see what their children are working on in the classrooms. This classroom museum is an extremely cool idea to display student's work on a specific topic.

Journal 1 - NETS IV

"Passport to Digital Citizenship" -Mike Ribble

Ribbel, Mike (December 2008-January 2009). Passport to Digital Citizenship. Learning and Leading with Technology, 36, Retrieved January 28, 2009, from www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/EducatorResources/YourLearningJourney/DigitalCitizenship/36414r.pdf

"Passport to Digital Citizenship" discusses how community members, parents, and educators can assist children in gaining full digital citizenship. Digital citizenship is defined as "students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior" (Ribble, 2008-2009). In other words, digital citizenship is the process of knowing how and when to appropriately use a piece of technology. Digital citizenship is a top priority in today's society because of the vast and endless technology tools that we have at our disposal. There is such a variety of technology that knowing how and when to appropriately use them might be a little difficult to understand.

The article proposes a circular learning module that consists of four steps that relates to the nine elements of digital citizenship. The nine elements of digital citizenship are: digital assess, digital commerce, digital communication, digital literacy, digital etiquette, digital laws, digital rights and responsibilities, digital health and wellness, and digital security. The first step in the digital citizenship learning module is awareness. This just means that students are knowledgeable about the different technology tools, its functions, and ways of appropriately using and abusing its functions. The second step is guided practice. This step gives students the opportunity to explore and learn about the technology. It also promotes appropriate use of technology. The third step is modeling and demonstrating. In this step, educators take time to demonstrate to the students how to appropriately use the technology in different environments such as school, home, and society. The fourth step is feedback and analysis. In the last step, educators and parents give students constructive criticism on their use of technology. Educators and parents give students information on what is appropriate and inappropriate use of technology in the home, school, and society.

I found this article very interesting to read because digital citizenship is something that we should all be knowledgeable about because technology is such as huge part in our everyday lives now. I think that it is also very important to teach and model to the younger generation how to appropriately use technology when they are in different situations and environments because it is very easy to misuse technology.

Question 1: In what ways can we bridge the gap between home and school expectations of technology use?

One way to bridge the home and school expectation of technology use is to inform both educators and parents the appropriate ways of using technology. When parents and educators are knowledgeable, they would be better able to make judgements on if the student or children is abusing the technology or if they are indeed using it appropriately. If both educators and parents are on the same page about the appropriate use of technology, then the standards at home and at school will not be at odds with one another.

Question 2: How can we we as educators and parents help our students and children to obtain full digital citizenship?

The first step to helping our students and children in obtaining full digital citizenship is to become digital citizens ourselves. It would not make sense for us to preach appropriate use of technology if we do not know the functions of technology ourselves. Knowing what is out their and how to use the different technology is very important. Another way we can help is to model how to appropriately use technology. Modeling how to use technology with our children and student will give them an idea of what is appropriate and what is not. We also need to give our students and children the chance to explore the different technology so that they practice appropriate use of the technology. We also need to talk to our students and children about the use of different technologies, how to appropriately use them, and how not to abuse them.