This experience was extremely beneficial. I now have access to so many resources that I can use in my future classroom. I have learned about tools that make learning fun, such as Wordle. There are also tools for students to have direct contact with the teacher and homework assignments, like Glogster and Delicious. Prezi is a site that is beneficial to teachers because it makes presentations more exciting and interesting for the students. I know that I will use many of these sites in my elementary classroom. The great part about each of these tools is that they can be used from kindergarten all the way up to high school.
One down side of some of the tools we discussed is that they may be blocked by the school. If you use Delicious, there is an easy way for kids to get links to other sites that may be harmful or inappropriate. It would be nice if we, as teachers, could trust each of our students to do what is right and make the right decisions, but the fact is some students won't. In that case the teacher would have to do guided teaching when the students were using these sites.
This web 2.0 wiki has so much information on it. Knowing that technology is constantly changing I am excited to know that I have some of the most recent technological knowledge. It is exciting to know that I can teach other teachers about these tools also. Hopefully I can make learning more interesting for my students than when I was their age. I think the only question I still have wikis is: How can a wiki be deleted? My concern about this is because I don't want this wiki deleted so I can have access to this when I start teaching!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Using Web 2.0 Tools!
This week we are learning about tools on the web that can be used in the classroom. Today we talked about Wordle, Glogster, Animoto, and Twitter. I have only heard of Twitter, used to follow my favorite celebs! So I decided to learn more about Animoto. It is a tool used to create videos by using words, pictures, and sound. It is free for a 30-minute video, and all you need is an email account.
After I created an account, I decided to make a fun little video about my fiance' and myself throughout our years of dating. First, I decided on a background. There were cute hearts using pinks and reds, so of course I chose that! Then, I selected upload files from computer. I used Facebook to find pictures from the beginning of our relationship up until our engagement. I uploaded those pictures in order and the final step was to choose a song. Animoto had selected a song that it thought would be useful for my "Love" theme, so I trusted it's opinion. After finishing up my video, Animoto notified me via e-mail that my video was ready for viewing. It was just a fun little video that I used to learn more about this particular web 2.0 tool, but it was interesting to see how easy it was to make a video. Animoto gives you the option of subscribing for $3 per month in order to make longer videos.
I can definitely tell how teachers could use this in the classroom. It would also be fun to use on parent-teacher conference nights to show the parents what has been going on in the classroom. You could take pictures of field trips, class projects, the class pet, fall festivals, and field days. It is fun to use and a good tool to get to know. I would recommend this for teachers to use and familiarize themselves with.
Check out my LOVE video!
After I created an account, I decided to make a fun little video about my fiance' and myself throughout our years of dating. First, I decided on a background. There were cute hearts using pinks and reds, so of course I chose that! Then, I selected upload files from computer. I used Facebook to find pictures from the beginning of our relationship up until our engagement. I uploaded those pictures in order and the final step was to choose a song. Animoto had selected a song that it thought would be useful for my "Love" theme, so I trusted it's opinion. After finishing up my video, Animoto notified me via e-mail that my video was ready for viewing. It was just a fun little video that I used to learn more about this particular web 2.0 tool, but it was interesting to see how easy it was to make a video. Animoto gives you the option of subscribing for $3 per month in order to make longer videos.
I can definitely tell how teachers could use this in the classroom. It would also be fun to use on parent-teacher conference nights to show the parents what has been going on in the classroom. You could take pictures of field trips, class projects, the class pet, fall festivals, and field days. It is fun to use and a good tool to get to know. I would recommend this for teachers to use and familiarize themselves with.
Check out my LOVE video!
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (but mostly the good!) of a Web Site
I have just evaluated my first web site!
I evaluated PBS.org and specifically the teacher's section for grades K-2. Most of us have heard of PBS through television and have most likely watched some of their shows when we were younger. You'll be happy to know that the web site is just as good as the T.V. station. It incorporates interactive simulation through games and teacher utility through discussion boards and lesson plans.
When evaluating the site I was really glad we had the evaluation forms. It showed me exactly what to look for in a good web site. Things like author credibility, site biases, current information, and usability of this site are things that I might not think about when looking at a site. Sometimes, we assume that if it is on the internet then it must be true! That's false. So I'm really glad the form made me think about important information.
While looking for a site to evaluate, I was able to find several other interesting sites that I could use in a classroom. This activity was useful to not only evaluate one web site, but to also find several others that I can evaluate and use in the future. There are so many tools and authors out there who want to better us as teaching professionals. I will definitely use this web site in my own classroom. It had 95 pages full of fun games for kids to use. These games incorporated books that kids are reading in the classroom. I thought that was really nice and would make learning more fun. The discussion board was also full of input from other teachers who have used the site and had success. The discussions range from good to bad but they are also honest and valuable for hopeful teachers.
I had fun evaluating the web site and I'm glad I know what to look for in the future.
Visit the site!
http://pbs.org/teachers/classroom/k-2/reading/resources
I evaluated PBS.org and specifically the teacher's section for grades K-2. Most of us have heard of PBS through television and have most likely watched some of their shows when we were younger. You'll be happy to know that the web site is just as good as the T.V. station. It incorporates interactive simulation through games and teacher utility through discussion boards and lesson plans.
When evaluating the site I was really glad we had the evaluation forms. It showed me exactly what to look for in a good web site. Things like author credibility, site biases, current information, and usability of this site are things that I might not think about when looking at a site. Sometimes, we assume that if it is on the internet then it must be true! That's false. So I'm really glad the form made me think about important information.
While looking for a site to evaluate, I was able to find several other interesting sites that I could use in a classroom. This activity was useful to not only evaluate one web site, but to also find several others that I can evaluate and use in the future. There are so many tools and authors out there who want to better us as teaching professionals. I will definitely use this web site in my own classroom. It had 95 pages full of fun games for kids to use. These games incorporated books that kids are reading in the classroom. I thought that was really nice and would make learning more fun. The discussion board was also full of input from other teachers who have used the site and had success. The discussions range from good to bad but they are also honest and valuable for hopeful teachers.
I had fun evaluating the web site and I'm glad I know what to look for in the future.
Visit the site!
http://pbs.org/teachers/classroom/k-2/reading/resources
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
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