Prezi & iPad

I’ve been checking in on Twitter about once a week or so.  I’ve read some good articles on implementing The Common Core Standards and shared them with my principal.  I think it’s a great resource that can help teachers keep up with current issues in education. 

I checked out Prezi and it looked like a pretty cool tool to use for presentations.  It certainly is a lot more dynamic and interesting than Powerpoint.  I don’t know if I’d use it for my third graders, but I think I’d try it if I had to make a presentation for my colleagues or a class.

I would LOVE to have ipads to use in my classroom!  However due to budget restraints, I don’t see that happening any time soon.  Even though I don’t have any in my classroom, I want to share resources with people who do have them.  So I forwarded some of the sites to a colleague in the Special Ed department who does have ipads in her classroom.  I also shared one of the videos on my Facebook page.  It’s another tool that’s on my technology wishlist…

Youtube

     I had not realized the magnitude of YouTube and the effect that it’s had on society.  I think the creative, expressive, and educational aspect of it is wonderful because it gives people all over the world a way to share their work with millions of viewers.  I can understand how useful it is for linking people across time and space and allows more opportunities for global collaboration.  However, I can’t understand why people would upload home videos of their family for the whole world to see.  I also don’t see why people would feel the need to create video blogs just to share their thoughts, ideas, feelings, etc. with unknown and unseen audience.  I suppose my lack of understanding could be attributed to the fact that I am a digital immigrant.  It could also be based upon my own preference for privacy rather than publicity.  Although I feel that some aspects of YouTube might be less useful than others, I do recognize the impact that it has made upon society and I think now I’ll make an effort to explore it on my own.

Impact of Technology

The What If and Did You Know videos really illustrated the impact that technology has had on education and the world in general.  I especially like how the What If video shows how different tools have been received by educators over time. It’s really hard for me to imagine people being reluctant to use ink pens in school, but I’m sure there really was some resistance when they were first introduced in society.  I grew up in the pre-computer days, but I can remember the excitement in our family when we got a VCR and we could rent movies to watch at home.  It was also cool and interesting to be able to watch videos at school rather than just reading from a book or listening to the teacher lecture.  We could actually SEE and HEAR a performance of Romeo & Juliet!  It really was a big deal back then, much the same way that having computers in the classroom is today.  It’s hard for me to fully understand the impact that technology has had and will continue to have on education. 

     Until recently I thought I was using technology when I used the overhead projector or the VCR (which I STILL have in my classroom).  These videos have helped me to see that I was sadly mistaken.  It’s not that I am resistant to use technology- it’s that I didn’t know what was out there for me to use.  Also, I had no idea what to do with any of it and I think that’s the case of many teachers who are older than 30 years old.  We just don’t know what’s available and how to use it.  So, what if we had exposure to technology tools and training on how to use them?  Maybe we wouldn’t be so reluctant to change…

     Finally, my thoughts on the Sir Ken Robinson video.  Well, I thought he was entertaining.  He did raise a good point about the arts being neglected in schools.  However, he failed to mention the main reasons WHY they are not being taught.  Money and accountability.  So many schools are losing funding from the state and federal government that they have to make budget cuts somewhere.  Since students are being tested in the core subjects (especially literacy and math) and schools are being held accountable for their performance, those subjects are certainly NOT going to be cut.  Unfortunately that leaves the arts.  It’s sad, but unfortunately it’s all too often becoming the reality. 

The Impact of Media & Technology on Education

The Impact of Media & Technology on Education

After reading this article I was disappointed by the realization that we have not really advanced in the use of technology in education during the past 13 years.  I was surprised when I read that in 1997 the Panel of Educational Technology of the President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology recommended that the US spend a lot of money on educational technology and that it should be used to "Ensure equitable, universal access".  That left me wondering why we are STILL so far behind in the use of technology in schools.  They understood back in 1997 that using technology in schools works!  Just thinking about my own district makes me realize that there have been very few advances in that area since then.  So I wonder what’s the hold-up?  The more that I learn about how technology has impacted the way students learn and how other countries are using technology to improve education, the more I worry about the future of our country.  I think it’s very discouraging that we are still pretty much at the same point we were in 1997 and I don’t know how to move it forward.

Fair Use

I was not familiar with Creative Commons before this week.  I think it’s a very interesting and creative way to allow people to control how their work is shared with others.  I was surprised to learn the US Copyright office just told the creators to “be creative”.  I have to admit that I have not addressed the topic of fair use in my classroom.  Up until recently I mainly associated fair use with printed works and didn’t think too much about the internet or other sources.  Now that I’m exploring things on the web more I realize that there is a whole new realm of possibilities for sharing work.  As I continue to search the internet for things to use in my classroom, I will be more mindful about fair use and I think I’ll definitely have to find a way to introduce the issue of fair use with my students.

Limited Technology Resources

What can I do with the limited technology resources that I have?  Well, I have been thinking a lot about this question and I’m still trying to figure out how I can use the one computer that I have in the room for student use, but I have come up with a few ideas about how might be able to incorporate more technology into my classroom.  One thing that I would like to do is to start investigating websites that offer virtual field trips.  Since the area where I teach is made up of mostly low-income families my students don’t have a lot of opportunities to go to places outside the local area.  So, I think that by doing virtual field trips I can really widen their understanding of the world and enhance my curriculum in Social Studies and Science.  I would like to do things such as broaden their awareness of other cultures around the world, show them some historical sites, take them to museums, visit space centers, and check out some labs.  In connection with these virtual field trips I would also use the LCD projector or Smart Board so that the whole class can share the experience at the same time.  We do have at least one of each of those items in our school, and I feel I should start signing up for them and using them in my classroom. 

     Another tool that I want to start using is the digital camera.  I can take pictures of the students when they are doing science experiments, projects, Readers’ Theater, etc.  I’m also thinking about using something like moodIe, googledocs, or a class website to showcase student work to their parents.  I think that using the digital camera will give them ownership of their work, and making their work available to the public will encourage them to put forth more effort because other people will be able to see it.  Again, it would take some effort on my part to sign up for the camera, but I think it would be worth it. 

     I’m also going to try to connect/communicate with the parents in an electronic forum as well because many of them are younger than I am and they are probably quite comfortable using technology to communicate with others.  Although there aren’t a lot of technology resources at my school, I think that if I can begin to use the ones that are available I will at least be heading in the right direction to prepare my students for the future. 

     So, these are a few examples of technology tools that I would like to learn more about and how I would use them in my classroom