Benefits seen for students teaching virtual pupils

Virtual teaching has become something that has become more and more common throughout the years. "Benefits seen for students teaching virtual pupils", is an interesting article about researchers at Stanford University who is developing a half dozen computer programs that gives students the opportunity to customize a virtual agent and teach it mathematics or science concepts." The agent questions, misunderstands, and otherwise learns realistically. For example, in the Betty’s Brain program, a concept map represents the character’s thought process, and students teach her by making logic chains. Showing how garbage contributes to global warming, for example, requires connecting eight separate causal inferences." Researchers believe that this is a way to motivate students and help them to learn more effectively through the teaching of others.

"Educators have long held that peer tutoring can help students learn, and emerging research on students working with computer characters points to one possible reason why: Teaching begets learning for the teacher, too". I feel that this is so true. I have found that by giving students the opportunity to teach each other it gives the students confidence and enhance their understanding of the topic. It is also a positive effect on learning for the students because when you are teaching yourself something many times we trick ourselves in to thinking we understand the concept. When we teach the concept to someone else it helps to guarantee that the students understands what they are teaching.

The article also talks about the results of the researchers and the effects the programs played in students academic success. Studies showed that student teachers scored higher on test and quiz those who were not teaching others concepts. I feel that these results are accurate because when you teach someone else a concept not only does it help the students, it helps the students teacher as well because it gives them practice and reinforcement of the subject area. This is something that I am interested in learning and I plan on research more.

Retrieved from: http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/10/28/10avatar.h30.html?tkn=PLTFEfpTAgxFuAkN1aJrti5XCcRo+ESlYV89&cmp=clp-edweek

Class Project

This week in my Fundamentals of Technology for Educators masters class we were asked to use digital storytelling to reflect about a project that we would assign to our students using this tool.  I have worked with digital storytelling during my senior internship and I really enjoyed it. This tool gives students the opportunity to create presentations where they are able to incorporate music and video.  The students seemed really engaged and seemed as though they were enjoying themselves.

I have not begun teaching but when I have a classroom of my own I plan to use this tool with my students.  In my future classroom consisting of 4^th grade students I will have them complete a social studies project on Native Americans. This project fits perfectly into the curriculum because I will address all of the Sunshine State Standards. I would have my student use the PowerPoint presentation tool to complete this project. I like this tool because it gives the students the opportunity to creatively display their research information through pictures, video, and music.

I would begin the introduction of the storytelling project by discussing with my students what exactly digital storytelling is. I would also show them some examples of this tool and go over specifics features that they could incorporate into their project. Because I am working with younger students I would also provide them with directions on how to complete the project.  To complete this assignment each student will be placed in groups of 3-4.  Each group will have the opportunity to pick which Indian tribe they want to complete their presentation on.

 The students will be presented with a detailed rubric of what needs to be included in the assignment. By doing this it gives the students a chance to see what is expected of them. This helps with the effectiveness of the project. They will be required to have at least 8-10 slides, 4 pictures, and music incorporated in this project. They will also be asked to use Internet search engines (Google,Yahoo, etc) to research the topic.

 I feel that this is a fun and engaging way to integrate technology into the classroom. Students are always asked to complete research projects, by using digital storytelling it gives them a way to creatively report their finding. This is something that will motivate students  and make learning exciting.

Effects of Technology on Classrooms and Students

"Effects of Technology on Classrooms and Students", is an interesting article about the various effects that arise from the integratation of technology in the classroom. There are a variety of effects that the article discuss. The change in student and teacher roles is the first effect talked about. "When students are using technology as a tool or a support for communicating with others, they are in an active role rather than the passive role of recipient of information transmitted by a teacher,textbook, or broadcast." This gives students the opportunity to making choices, define goals, and evaluate their own progress. This is something that will be very beneficial to the students and help with their growth in the future.

Another effect that was talked about in the article is the increasein motivation and self esteem. Studies show that many teachers and students are surprised by the performance  level of technology-based accomplishment displayed by students who have shown much less initiative towards academic task. There are many different ways that motivation comes into play when it comes to students and the integration of technology. I had a student during my senior internship who absolutely loved working on computers and completing activities that involved technology. Whenever he was given the opportunity to work with technology he was instantly motivated and engaged. The article also talks about how in many classrooms students choose to work on their technology-based projects during recess or lunch periods. This is why I know that the integration of technology in the classroom is beneficial and motivational.

All and all I enjoyed reading the article. It gave me great insight on the effect of technology on students. I have always thought of technology as a beneficial tool for students and after reading this article I am more convinced that this is true.

Retreived from: http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/EdReformStudies/EdTech/effectsstudents.html

Digital Storytelling

This week in my fundamentals of technology class we were given the opportunity to create a presentation on Digital Storytelling. We were given two websites that would be useful in helping to create this presentation Slideshare and Prezi.  Because the slideshare program is very similar to PowerPoint I decided to use the Prezi program.  I have never used this tool before and I knew that this would be very useful in the future. I began by watching the very information tutorial on how to use this tool.

After watching this video I was pretty confident in my ability to create this presentation. Surprisingly it was a little harder than I thought it would be. I started by brainstorming and organizing my thoughts. Once I knew the information that I wanted to use I began the presentation. Because this was my first time working with Prezi, I’m sure my presentation wasn’t perfect but this is something that I know will be beneficial to my students.

As I completed this project I began to think of ways I could use this with my students. One way that I am going to integrate digital storytelling in the classroom is to have my students create a presentation on the life of a butterfly. I may even take it a step further and allow them to create a digital storytelling presentation on the insect of their choice. This is a way for my students to teach their classmates. This is something that I am sure my students will enjoy.

All and all this was a very beneficial and informative tool that I feel will be very useful in the classroom. I really enjoyed and had a lot of fun creating this digital story. This is something I know my students will enjoy. This will also motivate them and take the jitters out of presenting a presentation. I look forward to using this tool in the classroom. I have embedded the Prezi presentation that I completed. http://prezi.com/iarlgjcrkd_w/digital-storytelling/

Social Networking amongst Educators

Social Networking amongst Educators

While browsing the internet yesterday I came across an interesting website about educators and social networking. “How to avoid committing social media gaffes”, is an interesting article that provides do’s and don’ts when it comes to social networking. Social media use is growing exponentially across all demographic groups, including senior citizens. “With social media use becoming more mainstream, principals, teachers, parent volunteers, and other adults affiliated with public schools are frequently using social media for networking and communication purposes.” Some examples of these social networking sites are Myspace, Twitter, and Facebook just to name a few.

With the use of these social networking sites amongst educators becoming more and more common, it is imperative that we monitor what we post to these sites. Parents, students, and principles often access these sites and search to see what information they can find on a particular individual. If they find negative or improper pictures/information it will look bad on us as educators. I personally make sure that I don’t post anything that I wouldn’t feel comfortable with my students reading.Not only are parents and students searching these sites to find information on an individual but so are principals. Many times before you receive a job the principal will search these types of sites to see what type of person they are hiring.

Some tips listed in the article about social networking are:

Avoid participating in the cutesy, sometimes raunchy online surveys and other gimmicks that social media sites use to generate traffic.

Keep your personal business private.

Don’t connect personally with students, ever. There’s never an appropriate or legitimate reason to develop online relationships with students

Recognize that the parents of your students are your partners in the educational process, not your “friends

These are just some of the useful tips listed in the article about educators and social networking. I feel that these are very important tips because as educators we have to monitor everything that we do. Some things we may not feel are inappropriate that our parents or administration will. This is why these tips are so useful.

Carr, N. (2010). Retrieved from: http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/10/05/how-to-avoid-committing-social-media-gaffes/2/?

New Software in the Classroom

This week in my Technology class we were given the scenario, “You are a classroom teacher with one Internet-connected, classroom computer. Your principal has just come to you with the offer to purchase one academic software program for your classroom, and price is not a concern.” (Apparently, the categorical funds are such that only one program per classroom may be purchased, but there is an allocation of up to $1,000 per classroom!)

Before I could determine what software I wanted to purchase, I had to figure out the hardware components of the computer. The computer that I am using is a Macbook. I have been using this computer for about 4 years now. The specs of my current computer are:

2.0 GHz Intel “Core Duo” processor

Mac OS X version 10.6 “snow leopard

512 MB of RAM

60.0 GB Hard drive

4X slot-loading double layer read DVD/CD-RW

Intel GMA 950 integrated graphics processor

1280x800 native resolution

Once I established what my hardware components were for the computer I began looking at software.  This was the exciting part. When I initially began looking for software I had to decide what exactly it was that I was looking for in this software. Which software would be most beneficial for my students? The software that I chose was Clicker 5.  Click 5 is a software program for students from K-6. This software is beneficial to students reading and writing abilities. The software components needed to run this software are:

Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) or above
Power PC or Intel processor
128 MB RAM
400 MB free disk space

All of the system requirements for this software are met in order for it to run on my computer.  It is very easy to install. My only worry is the fact that I do not have a mouse I only have a mouse pad. This may make it difficult for my students to use this program because they may have a hard time using the mouse pad on the Macbook. Something that was talked about in our text book “Integrating technology and digital media in the classroom,”is the wireless mouse. This is something that I am thinking about purchasing for my students to make their use of this software easier.

 I am very excited to begin using this program. I believe that this will help with my students reading and writing skills as well as provide a review of materials before they are tested.

Shelly, G. & Gunter, G & Gunter, R. (2010). Teacher Discovering Computers Integrating technology and Digital Media in the Classroom. (6th Ed.) Cengage Learning

Retrieved from:  http://www.academicsuperstore.com/products/Crick+Software/Clicker/742978

Blogging With Elementary School Students

Blogging in the Elementary School Classroom is something that has always been intriguing to me. It makes me wonder if students at this age are mature enough to blog on their one. While searching the internet I read an article titled Blogging With Elementary School Students. This was a very interesting article that talked about giving students the opportunity to blog about topics relevant to their weekly instruction. "Blogging is one way of linking writing, reading, and connecting information and learning together." It seems the perfect venue to introduce elementary school students to the online world world of networked learning.This is so true. With the advance in technology, blogs, and social networking from day to day it is important that students learn how to use these sites at school. In about 4th through 6th grade (10-12 year olds), students discover social network places such as Twitter, Facebook, and Myspace. They are interested in these social sites because of older siblings, friends, and neighbors. Because of the hype of these websites they long to be part of that network to chat, upload and comment on each others’ photos. "Now is the time for us educators to expose them to safe practices AND to academic uses of online spaces."

This article also talks about a teacher who encouraged blogging in her classroom. She created a classroom blog. Each student was allowed to create a user name and password. This gave students the opportunity to leave comments on posts that she created. The students are not required to write, they want to. This provided students with an increase in motivation when it came to writing.

I believe that this is something positive that teachers can do with their students. It provides them with experience when it comes to blogging. This also helps to motivate students and help them to enjoy writing. Growing up I was not a big fan of writing, but their were times when my teachers made writing fun by trying new activities. This gave me needed motivation because this made writing interesting to me... All and all I think this was a great article and concept.

Tolisano, S., (2008) Blogging with elementary school students. Retrieved from http://langwitches.org/blog/2008/12/23/blogging-with-elementary-school-students/

About Me

This week’s assignment in my master’s class we focused on the term “online identity.” While completing the activity we were required to create an online identity.  When I first read the assignment it immediately made me wonder about the importance of your online identity. Is it as important as your reputation in every day life? Because I had so many questions when it came to online identity, I resorted to the almighty google in hopes that it would answer my questions. An online identity, internet identity, or internet persona is a social identity that an internet user establishes in online communities and websites.  After searching information about online identity, it was clear that this is something of great importance.

There are many times when I have googled my name to see what I could find. I am also sure that my students, parents, and administration have searched my name as well. I try to make sure that when these searches are performed they are able to find accurate, useful and beneficial information.

To begin this week’s activity I accessed the website Online Identity Calculator.  I was interested to see what the calculator would find pertaining to my name, so I decided to complete the activity. Identity calculator is a website that allows you to fin out information about your online identity. Your results are then displayed on a bar graph.  I started by going to google and typing my name. I was pleased to see that all of the information that was available pertaining to me was accurate. It had a link to my blog page and my twitter page. But honestly I was surprised that those were the only pages that came up and it took pages and pages of searching to find those.  I have created wiki, curriculum, and website pages for other classes that I was not able to find.

Even though I was able to find information about myself I still feel that this information wouldn’t be too useful to my students. That’s why I was excited to complete the remaining of the assignment for this week. We were asked to create an “About Me” page.  On this page we were asked to provide out name, interest, favorite movies and music. I was also asked to add a little information and background about myself.  I feel that this is a positive because if my future students or parents were to search my name now, they would be able to find a little bit about me. They would also be able to access my blog and read about my experiences and passion for teaching.

Something that I learned from completing this week’s activity is the importance of maintaining an accurate and positive online identity. It also showed me that if I want my parents and students to be able to find accurate information about me, I should provide it myself. I have always been cautious of what others could find about me because I didn’t want them receiving any negative or false information. This assignment helped me to feel more secure in knowing what information is accessible on the web pertaining to me. I also learned how to link and bold information in my “About Me” page on my blog. All and all this was a very informative website that I really enjoyed.

Is greater technology in elementary school beneficial?

While surfing the internet I came across a few very interesting articles. One article that caught my attention was, “Is greater technology in elementary school beneficial”. This was a very intriguing article. This article is about the use of greater technology in the classroom. It focuses on how technology in the classroom is a positive aspect as long as students know how to complete these process without technology first.

“Greater technology can be very beneficial to students, if it is used properly and in moderation.” The author then goes on to explain this statement. For instance, it is acceptable for students to use technology to write a paper, as long as they possess the essential needed to write the paper. The students need to learn how to print and use cursive writing and apply it on paper before they can take the next step to prepare papers on the computer.  This is so true. I completely agree that students need to know how to write a paper using pencil and paper before they should be able to use the computer.

The article also talks about how increasing the level of technology that the students are exposed to will also be beneficial. Because families can’t provide their children with the latest technology, it is our responsibility to do this in the classroom. Even though it is important to expose students to technology we as educators have to make sure we aren’t only using the internet to provide instruction to our students.

All and all I enjoyed this article. I learned a lot of useful information that I will take with me into the classroom. This article just helps to stress the importance of the use of technology.

Kazay, G. (2010) Is greater technology in elementary school beneficial. Retrieved from  

http://www.helium.com/items/331818-is-greater-technology-in-elementary-school-beneficial