Good-Bye

I would like to say good-bye to everyone who was associated with me in this class. To Ms. Averitt and Dr. Strange, thank you for the experience. To my classmates, thank you all for making this semester a fun and comfortable one. See you later!!!

Final Blog

Blogs--Before I enrolled in this class, I had no idea of what a blog was. At first, I thought that blogs were just for personal reasons, but I have learned how blogs can be very effective and helpful throughout the classroom.

Presentations--Both of the presentations were outstanding. During the personal presentation, I feel that i actually opened up a little about myself because usually I am a very private person. The group presentation was fun. I two of the most crazy and fun people to do it with. It was a good shared experience.

Google Docs--We really didn't deal with Google Docs much, so there isn't much to say here.

Podcasts/Videocasts--At first I didn't like podcasts very much. But I have realized that podcasts can be very beneficial. It can be less work for the student and the teacher. For an example, if a student misses class, they won't have to worry about asking the teacher what assignment they missed and can he/she repeat it, they can just listen to the podcast/videocast.

Post you read-- I have learned too much from all of the videos and posts that we had to read. I now have a full insight on technology in the classroom. Those posts really help you to understand technology in the classroom, if you are one that doesn't like to use technology in the classroom.

Personal Learning Network(PLN)-- It was very fun creating a personal learning network. It kind of brings you out of your norm because you are allowed to network with anyone anywhere. it shows you that there are plenty of people that share the same interests as you do.

Comment4Kids--I enjoyed reading the kids' blogs. It's amazing that kids are knowing how to blog so early. It was my job to offer them some feedback and that was important to me. I enjoyed giving the kids feedback on their assignments.

iTunes/iTunes U--I knew what iTunes was, but I had no idea what iTunes U was. I learned that iTunes U is a lot of Universities giving free, yet valuable information online. iTunes U can also be helpful, especially for those attending Universities.

Accessibility--It was fun and interesting learning hoe to make the pictures accessible for the disabled. I tried my best to describe the pictures as best as I could in order for the disabled to get the full effect also.

Google earth--Although Google Earth was cancelled, It was fun playing around on it when we had spare time.

ACCESS/ALEX-- These provided web links, lesson plans, workspace, etc. These two web pages allowed you to become a better educator. There is very good information on these pages that can help educate anyone who is willing to be educated.

Foliotek--This semester was the first time ever that I had even heard of foliotek. I had absolutely no idea on what it was. Foliotek was a little difficult to use at first, but now that I know how to use it, it's a pretty cool place to upload your papers. It's very professional and I like it.

I have learned too many new things from EDM 310 Microcomputing class. Some of the things that I thought I wouldn't use, I think I will be using. This was an overall wonderful experience for me.

2. Are things you would like to have learned in this class but did not?
Considering the fact that I didn't know anything about most of the things that I have learned, there isn't much more that I would like to learn about except for the things that were part of the assignments that got cancelled.

3.Are their things you learned in this class but wish you had not?
Not really.

4.Did the class excite you in anyway?
One assignment for sure excited me and that was skype. I really got excited when I was in process of using it. That was awesome.

5.Did you find anything in this class to be particularly intellectually challenging?
Not really. The only thing challenging to me was making sure that all of the assignments were turned in on time because there were quite a few of them.

6.Were you bored by this class at any time? If so, what bored you and how might that be corrected?
Sometimes. When certain people would miss the class, then on the next class meet we would have to spend like an hour going over the same things that we went over the week before. I can understand that though because if it were me, I would want to know. It's just the fact of sitting there going back through it detail by detail.

7.Would you change this course in any way?
I wouldn't change it in any way negatively, only add to it. I would add whatever else that is technology new out or anything that you feel that most people may be interested in knowing.

8.Are you Technologically Literate at the moment? To what extent?
I would say that I am. I am not at a genius level, but I believe that I am at a good/nice level for technology literate. I know that I am way more literate than I was when I first walked through the classroom doors.

9.How will you maintain or improve your technological literacy between now and the time you graduate ….. to the time you start teaching?
The only way that I will be able to maintain or improve my literacy is to continue using technological materials. When new material develop, try to learn about it, rather than having the mind set of "whatever, it's too technical."
http://www.apple.com/itunes/

Seven Stupid Mistakes and 7 Brilliant Things Teachers Do With Technology

Stupid Mistakes
Number 1---Backing up data is the one that I chose to be the most stupid mistake. It should be an automatic thing to back up your data on a hard drive if you are using technology. Saving it on the computer is a fine idea, but also save it to a jump drive just in case your computer crashes or malfunction in other ways.

Number 7---Thinking that technology in schools will go away. Technology is the hottest thing that is out right now. It is used everywhere...in schools, banks,businesses, etc. Technology isn't going anywhere, if anything, it will be increased in many different ways.

Brilliant Things Teachers
Number 2---Creatively find and use resources is one of the two I chose to be brilliant with technology. Some things that you may look for in libraries may not be up to date resources. It is much easier to log onto the Internet and get very quick and easy sources for anything that you can think of. More creative stuff is posted online along with the information that you gather.

Number 3---Make conferencing real-time. I think that having an online grade book, an email, etc. are important things to have as a teacher. This way if parents have any questions, they will always have easy excess to you to ask these questions. if they are wondering about the child's grade, there will be an online grade book that they will be able to view. Parent should get involved with their kids when it comes to school. It will have a positive result.

New Classroom Rules
Number 7---Use polite speech when speaking, blogging, texting, Twittering, instant messaging, etc. All students should be polite when speaking regardless of what type of communication it may be. It is more of a chance that you will receive help, if seeked, if you talk to a person in a respectful way. Although many people break this rule a lot, it is better to respect the person you are communicating with.

Number 15--- Know what you are supposed to be learning, why, and what you will do with the knowledge. This is important to me because I believe that students should know all three of these W's. You have to know what you are learning in order to learn it; why you are learning enhances your knowledge even more, whether you will use it or not; knowing what you will do with it in the future is important because you just may need to be knowledgeable of what you are learning, in the future.

http://www.education-world.com/a_tech/columnists/johnson/johnson033.shtml

At The Teacher's Desk

Teachers 2.0 by Jarrod Lamshed, expresses the need for teachers to keep learning. I agree that teachers must be learners. By teachers learning new things and different strategies, can help our students become more educated or above average. It is very crucial that teachers learn as well as the students because if the teacher doesn't learn, then he/she can't teach what he/she does not know.
Another one is Tuesdays with Morrie/Teacher Movies, written by John Lamshed. The blogger writes that deep down we all as in teachers love a good teacher movie. The ones that were listed, I haven't seen. Although, I am sure that any teacher movie can be helpful and very beneficial.
The collaborative professional blog is resourceful for teachers. This blog allows teachers to vent about the current issues facing education, issues going on with their own class and material that may be of use to others.
The blog titled"Something That Matters", by Wm Chamberlain caught my eye. There is a picture that says,"I wanna do something that matters". Mr. Chamberlain asked the question, "Is the drive for money the reason that keeps students from doing something that matters".I think that most students will say that that is the reason, but I'm not so sure that I agree with that.
http://attheteachersdesk.blogspot.com/

Toward a New Future of Whatever by Michael Wesch

I think that this video covered a lot and taught a lot. It brought the viewers' attention to some stuff that they probably didn't think really mattered with this new media. It talks about plenty of media and how it is having an effect on the way that we communicate. It is so many ways to communicate now that it is keeping a lot of people from focusing on whatever it is that they are suppose to be focusing on. There are blogging, texting, emailing, skype, webcam, etc. Texting to me, is like the worst of it all simply because many people are texting while they should be paying more attention to something that may be more important at the time.
Also, I know that I have experienced where through text,email, or anything like that, it's easier for people to talk to you any way that they feel. I know for sure that if I was there face to face with them, that it wouldn't be that easy for them to do that. The media is now becoming a communicating tool, whether it is hurting a person or helping them. When you communicate with any of the technology, it should be in respectful manner, especially if kids or students are involved, but some aren't like that.

http://techliterateteacher.blogspot.com/2009/07/toward-new-future-of-whatever.html

Comments4Kids

The student that I commented on was Sydney W. She talked about how fun homecoming day was/is. They have parades, the band plays music, attend a pep rally, etc. This is such a coincidence because I can recall doing something similar to this when I was in high school. Homecoming is a fun day especially if you participate in a lot of the activities. The night gets even better when your team wins the homecoming game to please themselves and the fans. I can definitely relate to her excitement.

http://mrsgstudent.blogspot.com/

Examples Which I Have Encountered

It is important for students to post their work to blogs because that is the only way that you will get the credit for doing the assignments assigned in this classroom. I real reason is so that you can learn how to use blogs and technology, since it's becoming a big deal in the classrooms now. I also encountered skype in this classroom. Before hand I never knew what skype was until now. Students and teachers may also use this tool to communicate, but mostly people that live long distances use it to keep in contact. Another tool was podcast. I particularly don't care for podcast because if the speakers are talking about something that's boring I will easily get off track, but I do know how to use and make a podcast. I also had to do a presentation which required the use of PowerPoint. I been knew how to use some of the features on power point, but I learned more because I used a little more effects, colors, etc.

http://www.blogger.com/

http://www.skype.com/

http://www.itunes.com/

http://www.ehow.com/how_4473883_use-powerpoint.html