My Personal Learning Network (PLN)

My personal learning network includes the Langwitches blog and The Teachers' Podcast. Both provide information that I find interesting and relevant to my future career. They provide insight from other teachers who have been through experiences that all teachers go through. Both discuss the use of technology in the teaching field.
I am also thinking of asking my friend Liz to start a blog with me. We are both majoring in Secondary Ed./Language Arts and have been discussing the importance of keeping journals of our own experiences so that we can go back and see how we've grown as educators. I think it might be beneficial if we keep these journal entries together and post them on the web so that we can benefit others as well as ourselves.

Comments4Teachers: 2₵ Worth & David Warlick

Response to "The Digiverse & Flying to the Other Side of the Planet"

"I can't believe the rate that the digital universe is growing at! It's staggering! This shows how important it is that educators become tech literate so that they can communicate with their students in our technology centered world."

Response to "Dispute Finders & Claims of Ignoring Lincoln"

"I agree with you about the dispute finder. It certainly is interesting and it may be a shortcut to finding information, but, like Wikipedia, how sure of the information can we be? (it’s accuracy, relevance, etc.)

As for U.S. History from 1877, I’m taking that course right now in college. I don’t think they should do away with U.S. history before 1877 completely, but it’s nice to focus on this sliver of history for a whole course. Trying to squeeze all of American history into one course is difficult and, usually, big issues don’t get covered properly for the sake of time."

Response to "Some Reflections on the iCTLT COnference in Singapore"

"Web 3.0 sounds like a really creepy/bad idea. It could end up being like The Matrix or something.

Mathletics sounds like a fun idea! At my old high school, we had a math assembly every year to cheer on the calculus students before they took the AP exam. It sounds dumb, but it was actually kind of fun. My little brother was King SOHCAHTOA one year."

Week 7 Assignment

Richard Miller: This Is How We Dream Parts 1 and 2

I didn't like that I couldn't see Richard Miller while he was speaking. He didn't explain all of the images flashing by on the screen. I didn't understand how a few of them related. I understand that his presentation was meant to illustrate how we publish our works now, but all of the images began to distract me from what he was saying.

I also don't quite grasp the concept of publishing "using the web itself." He was saying that we didn't need an alphabet and throwing out all sorts of other concepts that were too abstract for me to quite grasp. Did he mean that we didn't need to use the alphabet for our new publications in reference to YouTube? This would make sense. We can just speak our message instead of writing an publishing. The way he worded it just threw me off.

He did make a good point about how much more efficient it is to use the web instead of more traditional methods of publishing because you can reach a much larger audience. I think this points to the fact that we are becoming a global village. I also think it points towards people's willingness to read something or listen to something as long as it doens't take too much time and it's free.

"The Networked Student" by Wendy Drexler

The concept of connectivism is a little intimidating. I think that it could be used to do projects, but I don't think that it should be the main form of learning in a high school class (especially in the subject I have chosen to teach. English/Lang. Arts). I think that English has to be taught with a little more formal structure and that opinions definitely have their place when it comes to poetry and central themes in a work, but that there is also a time for fact. I am also skeptical of a student's willingness to participate actively in this sort of environment in high school. So many of the students I knew in high school were just there to do the minimum of what was required. I don't think that students like this would be successful in an environment that requires them to take a more active role in the learning process. Maybe that's a good thing though. A system like this could reward students who are willing to go the extra mile.

Michael Wesch

I think that Wesch's exploration of the word "whatever" is fascinating. I like how he points out how generation after generation in America has become more and more narcissistic and apathetic due to television and other forms of media. I definitely see this in students around me (hopefully I don't behave in a narcissistic manner).

I also thought that the part where he discusses that on YouTube we talk to cameras initially, not to real people. Context collapse being present on the web is so fascinating. Having to publish things that will be seen be the world and that will be seen in replay for who knows how long makes people uncomfortable. They also feel like they can say anything. Anonymity makes people feel like they don't have to react to people on the web in the same way that they would react to people who were in the room with them. I can relate to this. I've joined discussion groups on Facebook where I have opened up and shared my opinion far more than I would have in a face to face conversation.

He raises the question whether we can conquer the narcissistic disengagement by breaking down boundaries and creating a global village on the web. I think we definitely can. I hope that future generations realize that caring about other people is the most fulfilling thing in life. I don't want to teach a room full of students who don't care.

Comments4Kids

Week 5, I commented on a video some students made regarding macs and pcs. You can find my comment at this link: http://www.youtube.com/user/CinemaOwls#p/u/9/OLcZPQ2nzlQ.

Week 4, I commented on some poetry that a student wrote about a winter day. You can find my comment at this link: http://mrsgstudent.blogspot.com/. This was the first post for a student listed on the page.

Presentation

Week 6 Assignment

Dr. Alice Christie's Website

The section on Dr. Christie's website titled Educational Technology would be very helpful to anyone teaching K-12. It is a list of different resources that teachers could utilize in their classrooms with links that lead to definitions of the subject and different explanations of how it works. This site helps to educate teachers about the technology that is available and shows them how to put it to good use in their classroom and gives them a reason why it would be useful.

The portion on ePortfilios is especially interesting. This gives students a place to publish their work and helps the parents to be more easily involved in their child's progress at school. She makes a point to say that the importance of the portfolio is the involvement of parents, teachers, and other students in that child's growth in the subject matter.

iTunes University

iTunes University has a lot of material that is useful to me both as a student and a future educator. As a student, I can make use of the podcasts uploaded by teachers in order to brush up on some things or to learn new things. I subscribe to free Spanish and Korean podcasts on iTunes. I want to refresh my Spanish for a mission trip I am taking over spring break. I subscribe the Korean podcasts because I want to challenge myself by learning a new language. My sociology textbook has an iTunes component. You can purchase the podcasts so that you can listen to the chapters on the go or while you read the book to help the material to stick in your mind.
In the literature section, iTunes U has a bunch of material available to teacher and students. You can download The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn for free! This is helpful for auditory learners or for students who lead a busy life and don't have time to sit down with a book and read, but who do have time to multi-task. They can listen to the books while they're cleaning or making dinner or driving. It's such a great idea!

Duke's iPod Experiment

Duke's experiment with iPods in the classroom for first year students is a fascinating study about how iPods can be used as an educational tool. Duke spent $500k on purchasing 1600 20G iPods with voice recording capabilities for their first year students in 2004-2005. The experiment was successful. Students used their iPods to record lectures and comments on papers and flashcards. They of course used them for entertainment purposes too, but that's not a big deal considering the benefits of the devices. Some reports of students recording lectures for their friends so that they could skip class where noted. Duke decided to only issue iPods to students who were enrolled in classes in which they were most used the following school year.

This is the link to the paper about the actual experiment: http://cit.duke.edu/pdf/reports/ipod_initiative_04_05.pdf. This is a link to a very interesting article about the Dunk experiment: http://campustechnology.com/Articles/2005/06/Bravo-for-the-Duke-iPod-Experiment_633573772543619027.aspx?Page=1. This article sees the experiment as a success and doesn't mention any downsides. This next article carefully mentions some downsides to iPods in the classroom: http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/archive/2005-07/2005-07-13-voa3.cfm.

Wikispaces: Tech Literate Teacher

Dr. Strange asked us to answer two questions on his wikispace. I posted my responses on his site and here on my blog. Something that I didn't like about Dr. Strange's wikispace is that in his explanation, he states that his students come into the the class tech illiterate and will probably not be tech literate by the time they leave. I found this very discouraging. What is the point of this class if we aren't becoming tech literate during the semester?

What is tech literacy for a teacher?
I think tech literacy for most teachers at the moment includes a basic understanding of the internet and how to use powerpoint and word. I think we are moving slowly towards blogging and podcasting becoming more important, but we're not to the point where they are essential.

Should all teachers be tech literate?
I think that teachers should be as technically literate as is useful in their work. Right now a lot of teachers don't really need to use that much technology in their classroom to get the material across. They do have their students use word and powerpoint but it is not a necessity for students to know how to blog and podcast. I think that this is fine for some classes. Maybe using too much technology in them would end up being more of a hinderance than a help depending on the teacher and the type of students they are handling. Certainly, we are moving towards times where technology is going to become more important. Teachers should be willing to change with the times, but there is no point in changing simply to change without any specific benefits being gained by making the switch.

Comments4kids

This week I posted on a video of a student reciting a limerick that she wrote. You can find my comment at this link: http://pesteam2.blogspot.com/. My student was Gloria.

Week 5 Assignment

NPR and Wikipedia
I knew about Wikipedia and NPR (National Public Radio) long before this assignment. I often go to Wikipedia to get an overview of the general information about a topic. NPR is my boyfriend's favorite station to tune into on his radio's dial. It is a good place to get the latest news going on in the world, the United States, and in your local area. All Things Considered is my boyfriend's favorite program. I prefer to switch between NPR and AFR (American Family Radio) to get different views on the topics being discussed. Both stations strive to remain unbiased, but I don't think anything can be unbiased. It's always best to go to two sources for the news. Wikipedia gives a dry history of NPR and some general information about the programs on NPR.

See Who's Editing Wikipedia by John Borland
This article was about a man named Virgil Griffith who developed a system that tracks who is editing Wiki articles to make sure that the sources of these edits are not overly biased about the topics. This system is not supported by Wikimedia (owners of Wikipedia) as of right now, but the system is helping to ensure users have the most accurate information. I think that it is admirable of Griffith to develop this system to protect the interests of consumers without being asked to do so. The article doesn't mention if he is making money off of this somehow, but I wonder if there is any profit to be made in a system such as this.
I think that Wikipedia is a good place to find general information about a topic, though obviously not a place to use as a reliable source for your research. They list links at the bottom of the page to places where you can find more information about the topic and a lot of times, those sites listed are good sources.

What I've learned this Year by Mr. McClung
This was a blog about a what Mr. McClung learned in his first year of teaching. He said it was important to listen to your students and to be patient with them and to not be upset when a lesson doesn't go as you planned because it's more important that a students understand the material. He also made a point to say that technology is our friend and should be embraced as a useful tool in the classroom. I think that what he had to say was very insightful and I am very grateful that he was wiling to share this information with everyone. I feel that reading his post will better equip me to be a teacher.

Week 4 Assignment

Benefits of Podcasting in the classroom

The Langwitches Blog entitled "It's Not About Tools. It's About Skills." emphasizes that teaching podcasting and blogging skills isn't about using the tools for fun. Teaching technology is about teaching useful skills that students will use in the real world. People need to understand that a good education isn't just about memorizing facts. It's about being able to apply the knowledge in those facts.
Podcasting, video conferencing, blogging and using wiki provide skills such as collaboration, writing, global awareness, media literacy, critical thinking and communication skills. Skills such as these would be useful in virtually every career field.