Pros and cons of technology

As a precursor to this topic Mike shared some ideas that we could use in our classroom to incorporate technology.
-Lakewood school like many schools struggled with P.A. system interruptions and the time consumption of morning announcements. Rather than doing morning announcements the students did morning video announcements.
-He also discussed the bucket list project done by a seniors year English teacher.  The students were asked to make a bucket list and share it using some sort of social media.   The students are asked to complete one think off of their bucket list by the end of the term.  This seems like such a neat project!
-A history teacher explained a project that he used in his class where students create a website based on "getting to know Winnipeg"
This forced students to look outside of their communities.

We spent the second part of the class discussing the pros and cons of the internet...
Is the internet good or bad?
Pros
Fast
The world at your finger tips
Make Global Connections
Encourages Community
Quick access to information
Levels the playing field
Great for sharing and networking
Creates a larger audience (for students)
Makes life easier
Cons
Creates shorter attention spans
Once its on the internet it'll always be there
Makes us intellectually lazy (we don't have to come up with our own ideas, we can google it)
Internet resources can be dangerous if students do not have background knowledge
Hoax websites
Distraction
Expensive
What did we conclude??
Technology is good as long as we are aware of the negative consequences of the internet and teach our students about these negative consequences.  It is good to still promote social interaction, low tech is good sometimes.  

Infographics

I think that this is a great visual representations of student learning! Of course they would be useful in the classroom especially for our visual learners!

I think that that creating an infograph would be an engaging assignment for my students.  This is an excellent way to present the knowledge the students have gathered throughout a unit. I could see students using this to present their knowledge on a certain Asian country (this is what I am doing for my final placement).  This could also be used for assignments where the students are asked to create awareness about a certain topic such as the effects of obesity, or child-labor in different countries.  This is a very effective way to get people's attention!   This is also an excellent time to talk to your students about synthesizing information.  It is often challenging for students to take a large amount of information and transform it into a visual diagram. The students learn how to filter data, distill data, and how to select visual tools to represent the information.
Jordana and I worked together to create an infograph about the importance of blogging in the classroom... check it out!!

This infograph describes WW11.  The students did an excellent job!

Organizing Myself Online

It is so important to organize ourselves online.  There are so many amazing tools, blogs, websites, networking sites, apps available online that we need to find a way to remember them all!! 

Digital Curation is a necessary skill to have today.  There are so many digital curation tools available we need to find a way to familiarize ourselves with them.  These tools allow us to organize ourselves online.  
Some of things I do to organize myself online: 
 Feedly: I use feedly to keep track of blogs I wish to follow
Symbaloo: I use symbaloo to organize all of the websites, blogs, videos, ect that I use regularly
What types of things do you think you will have your students use in the classroom?
Dropbox: I use dropbok in order to organize and share files.

What types of things do I think I will have my students use in the classroom?
  Kiersten T shared how she used Symbaloo in her classroom and I thought this was an excellent idea.  She color coded different websites, videoes, resources that are helpful for different subject areas.  This is great because the students can access these resources at home.  I would definitely use this in my classroom.  I also like the idea or using dropbox in my classroom.  Dropbox allows students to store their work online.  This is helpful because they can have access to their work at home and at school without having to physically carry a flash drive or a binder that could potentially get lost or left at home or school.  

Twitter

I created a twitter acount for this class.  Previously I felt that I did not want twitter thinking it was a waste of my time and that I wouldn't use it.  I WAS WRONG!! There is so many things we can do with twitter inside and outside of the classroom.  Students can tweet about new knowlege they have aquired, join forums, or read others tweets.  As a teacher twitter is a great resource expanding my netwroking capabilities to teachers and professionals all over the world. I think it is so neat that a little sign (#) can connect so many people who are talking about the same topic.
If you are someone who doesn't think they have time for twitter like I was please give it a try you may change your mind!
Follow me @carawedderburn!

App Show and Tell

Popplet!
I found an awesome app called Popplet that I will be using in my future classroom.  This app allows you to put images and videos and share your ideas, questions, and comments with others.  Teachers could use this in their class in order to generate discussion.
Check it out: http://popplet.com/

Check it out: http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/Comix/
Comix
"Make Beliefs Comix" this app was really neat!  I have created comics with my students in grade 3/4 social studies last year and I think that this would have been a more engaging way to get the students involved in this process!

I will be honest I used my colleagues blogs from last year to help me to find interactive apps to use in my classroom.  As I have learned over and over "work smarter not harder".  I played with these two apps and could definitely find a place for them in my classroom!

Video's in the Classroom

I discovered this video on youtube.  This video depicts the horrific happenings of the Philippines disaster.  My students will be learning about this and I would use this video as an activating strategy in order for them to understand the magnitude of the storm.

I was lucky to find a Bill Nye video on structures.  I am teaching forces and structure in my final placement and everyone loves Bill Nye!  These videos are excellent to use during the activating or acquiring phase of your lessons.  He demonstrates information in such an engaging way!

Using video in the classroom is an excellent way to engage students.  It is great to present information in a different way.  Not only are videos a fun way to present a new idea to the students they are also a wonderful way for students to share their new knowledge.  Creating videos could be used in almost every classroom and subject area some ideas that come to mind are: creating awareness about a certain topic such as: bullying, social issues, or digital citizenship.  In English you could create a movie based on a book that your students read in class.  

Putting student made videos on Youtube??? If I was granted permission from my school division, principal, parents, and students I would put my class made videos on Youtube.  I think that students are bound to do a better job on assignments and become more passionate about assignments if their audience is expanded from just the teacher and their classmates.  Youtube gives the students an opportunity to share their work with the world.  I know I work a lot harder on an assignment if I am sharing it with a larger audience and I am sure it will be the same for my students.  I also can see myself using video making as a way for my students to create awareness about a topic they are passionate about.  If my students know that their information will be shared with the world their assignment gains a purpose as they can make a larger audience aware of their cause.  

Podcast

Podcast time!! I looked up a whole bunch of Podcasts and found some interesting ones.  The one that grabbed my attention was from the NPR website.  I listened to a Podcast entitled "Flipping the Classroom".  "Flipping the Classroom" discussed the idea of using Podcasts in the senior years classroom.  The school sent the lectures home with the students as homework. They claimed that this created more time for one on one instruction with the students as the teacher did not have to lecture during class time.  This took place in Colorado and they saw success with struggling students.  The parents also appreciated this technique because the Podcast lectures were also available for the parents to look at.  This gave the parents an opportunity to help their children learn the material as they could familiarize themselves with the information.  

I think that this technique would be beneficial for students who have missed class or need to see the lecture again at home.  I think that we are moving away from the common lecture and adding engaging activities and hand-on experiences to our lessons.  I think that this should be included in the Podcast and the students should have the opportunity to view this at home.  I don't think that the Podcast should replace the explanation of a new idea but should be available with the explanation of a idea.  Students can review the Podcast at home and parents have an opportunity to help their children at home with because they also have an opportunity to view the Podcast. I would consider doing this for my students.

I created a unit on Asia for my final placement.  I think it would be fun for students to create their own Podcast as a way for students to apply their new knowledge.  During one activity students are asked to consult websites of organizations supporting war-affected children in order to find ways in which they may become involved in combating the impact of armed conflict on children.  As a class we will discuss a variety of possible actions and a podcast could be a way for students to take action and provide awareness.