Comment4Teachers

The first comment4Teachers
Feb. 28, 2010


In John Spencer's post, he commented on Twitter. His thoughts on Twitter ranged so much so that he just put five of them on the post. The first thought was that we don't know who is actually looking at our tweets. The second thought was that people do share some useful information on Twitter. The third thought was that there is so many people on Twitter that it sometimes feels like chaos in a crowded room. The fourth thought was you can never predict what will go viral. The fifth thought was that Twitter is much more collective in nature than Facebook.

My comment was "Hey I am a student in Edm310 class at the University of South Alabama. I was assigned your blog to leave comments for the next three weeks. I agree with you on your thoughts of Twitter. I had to get Twitter, and I am still learning how to use it. I wish I could tell if people are actually looking at my post, but I guess I will never know. I do believe that sometimes you can get good information, but I have a hard time reading Twitter long enough to find this information."

The second comment4teachers
March 2



In his second post, he mentioned that he brought up the question "What is one item of technology that the world would be better off without?" Some students had a hard time answering the question. One boy mentioned "nuclear power." He explained by saying, "We found something so small, we can't even see it and then we use it to destroy people in seconds." Then another kid piped in and said "that it powers our city." Another student said "I think television is the worst, because it makes people lazy and unable to think." Then another response came in and was "I think the microwave is the worst. No one cooks anymore. Everything we eat is fast, but it sucks. Nothing tastes right." One student says, "The world would be best without cell phones. No one talks anymore. Go to a bus stop. Who is talking? No one. They are all texting instead. We're becoming cyborgs." Then another response, "Cell phones connect and cars divide. It's why computers are better than TV's." The students agreed with the connecting and dividing of items. They even thought of some more examples. Then Mr. Spencer stated "I know this might shock you, but I don't own a cell phone because I think it's a trap. I think it's a web that people think will connect them and then people build their own cocoon of isolation. I think that's a trick of technology. It sometimes promises to connect you and really it is dividing you. It's why I only watch one or two TV shows a week. I need to connect with the shared pop culture, but I know that too much of it will leave me isolated and I'll miss my family." A student responds, "What if it's both? What if all technology divides and connects? Take writing. When you write on paper, you aren't really talking to anyone. You can end up alone. Maybe you need some alone time, maybe you don't. Maybe you need to send a letter to someone, and it becomes something that connects you. Maybe you write a book, and people share thoughts through long chapters. Or a car. We can say it divides us, but I would never see my Abuelita if we didn't have a car."

My comment was "This post really made me think. I really don't know what type of technology we would be better without. I am going to have to think on that. I agree on some of the topics that the kids brought up. I am a fitness instructor, and I believe people should get out more instead of chilling behind a computer or TV. I do see that things can both divide me and connect me. We now need to think which one is being done more-are we connecting more with that technology or dividing more; it all depends on the person and family. In some families, the TV might connect because they all come together to watch the show, and in other families it divides because everybody goes to a different TV to watch the show that they want to watch.

The third Comment4teachers
March 14

The third post I read and commented was "on a few conversations from my son"

Joel says, "I want my compass to talk."
"It's impossible."
"But you said it tells you where to go, daddy."
"What I meant is that you can read it."
"But I need it to talk to me in case I'm lost in the forest."
"Joel, if you're ever in the forest, you know who will be with you?"
Micah, from across the hall, "God!"
"That too. But I'll be with you."
* * *
"Are you putting all the darts on the glass door?"
"That's impossible to put all the darts."
"I'm sorry. Most of the darts."
"Yeah, you were exaggerating. I couldn't put all of the darts, there's like a hundred billion of them."
* * *
Micah is playing with the dinosaurs:
Kid Dinosaur says, "Show me how to jump off the couch."
Daddy Dinosaur answers,"How about you try on your own and if you still need my help, I'll help you."
Kid Dinosaur jumps and says, "I didn't need your help, but thanks for watching."

My comment to this was "This is Brittany from University of South Alabama. I really enjoyed reading this blog. I could see kids actually saying that. I wish I had items that talk to me as well, but I know it can't happen. One thing I would love to be able to talk to would be my boyfriend's dog. He is a hyperactive dog, and I would like to see what he was thinking. Then the last sample of the dinosaurs sounds like me. "Please show me how to do something, and then when I do I thank them for watching."

PLN

My Personal Learning Network



My personal learning network is getting established. I am still trying to find people to add. I do believe once I get my basic building blocks set, my wall will build faster. My network consists of blogs I follow, to the instructors of EDM 310, and classmates on Twitter. The good things about classmates are that they are trying to become a teacher like me, so they are also finding their network as well, and they can share who they find with other classmates. I share my things with them, and they share things with me. I think by the end of this semester, I will have a huge connection to all the teachers and people that I need to help guide me through my career.

Richard Miller, Wendy Drexler, and Michael Wesch

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





In part 1, the video was a little boring. They could have made it more interesting by adding the effects they were talking about. In this video, he discussed how nowadays people do not go to the library to get research. People are looking up research on the computer and not taking one step into the library. Actually, if you go around campus here and ask where the library is, they would have no idea. Then he talked about how kids don't use word processors anymore because they are doing more for documents. Students are using audio, images, and video to work on documents instead of just plain text. You also can collaborate while sitting at home with chats and video chats.

Part 2 mentioned that we can follow data that is constantly changing before our eyes and the information is updated instantly. You now can use itunesU to give students information for a class. Ideas don't just belong to me, but they belong to the culture as well. We share our ideas by using blogs and youtube to share information. He mentioned a video was put up on youtube, and the number of views just skyrocket. People are composing with the web itself, instead of only word documents. The idea of figuring out the emotion of the world through blogging is crazy and an entertaining idea. He mentioned that we don't have the ability to teach what was explained about composing with the web because we don't have the technology in the schools.

I say the same thing; I do not believe that I will be able to teach what was explained because we don't have the technology we need to teach the concept. I believe that as technology grows, we will get the supplies we need to show it to our students. I still don't know if I am at the level to teach something that high tech in technology. I still think of myself as a beginner.

The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler

The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler


A network student uses the information he finds to help others by sharing his information with RSS feeds. He uses delicious to organize the information. He also uses blogs to read what other kids are writing about. He can talk to experts over a chat or even a video chat on Skype. Building a network and finding information is important, but one may not know how to do this unless instructed by a teacher.

Teachers help by showing students how to build the network, take advantages of learning opportunities. A teacher also gives the students guidance when a student is stuck, shows the student how to communicate properly, and ask respectfully for help from experts. The teacher shows the student how to differentiate from the good material and propaganda, and how to vet a resource. Students can learn how to turn a web search into a scavenger hunt and get excited when he finds the information. Finally a teacher can help a student by showing one how to use the resources they have in the future.

The question was "am I ready?" Well, I am not ready to teach this right now, because I am still learning myself, and until I have everything down and comprehend it myself, I don't feel right teaching it. I hope by the end of this semester, I will have the basic knowledge down. I am learning about all of those concepts and building my own network now.

Toward A New Future of Whatever - Michael Wesch



In Mr. Wesch's video he mentioned some interesting facts. He mentioned the term Media Ecology. Media is not just a tool and not just communication, but media mediates our conversations. A good quote was "We shape our tools, and thereafter our tools shape us" by Marshal McLuhan. The history brought up in the video was interesting. One of the things he mentioned was he said that he was from the MTV generation,who were known to have short attention spans and were materialistic, narcissistic, and not easily impressed. The history of the word "Whatever" was cool. In the pre-1960s, "whatever" meant "that's what I meant." In the late 60s "whatever" meant "I don't care." The 1990s generation, the MTV generation, it meant indifference; "Meh." Then in the late 90s, the term "whatever" was said by people who thought high of themselves. This generation was known as the generation of "ME". The stats of Youtube was surprising they were saying that 1,000,000+ videos are uploaded on the internet everyday so Media is changing. I really enjoyed the hand project.

I really do believe that we are living in a generation of "ME". We have the people who think they are the next idol or the people who think the universe revolve around them. I see people that think that they are supposed to be the center of attention all of the time. I do think that we can send a message through videos now, and the hand project was very touching. I believe that generations change. People should now care and change what needs to be changed to make the world a better place.

Comment4kids #4

The blog that I commented on for this week was from Mrs. Kolbert's class. I had a post from Ryan. His topic was about why all students should be given a laptop in school. He went into description on how a laptop would benefit all students. His first main point on why students should have laptops was so they could play learning games on the computer, and they would learn things and also give the teacher a break from teaching. His second point was they could learn about technology with having a laptop. They could learn how to use by both reading the instruction manual that comes with the computer and just experimenting with the computer. The third point was blogging. Students could blog and learn things through blogging if everybody had a laptop. What I liked the most about this post was his last sentence "Having a laptop computer at school will make me as happy as a pig in a mud puddle!" and this was the picture next to it.



My comment to this post was "I really enjoyed reading your post. It had some very good information, and you did a good job on persuading me on the idea that every student should have a laptop. I agree with you on every student should have a laptop, because education can be brought to higher levels.One of your main points was blogging. I do believe that blogging is a good idea for students, because it helps students improve on their writing skills. Thank so much for your information. You did a wonderful job."

What do you get with Alice, iTunes, and Ipods?

Dr. Alice Christie's Research Publications and Resources

Using Technology to Enhance Literacy in Elementary School Children is the link I chose to blog about. I am going to be an elementary school teacher, so I decided to look at this topic. I learned that you can use the internet to help students with their writing and communication abilities. She did a study on kids to see how they improved with their writing. She used second through fifth graders in the study. The average age was nine years, one month. She let them use internet browsers and emails to communicate with each other. I think this idea of letting kids email and browse to communicate is a wonderful idea. Letting kids blog is also a good way to improve writing. They will see what they are doing wrong, revise it, and type it again, and this improves their writing skills.

The browsing of the internet is helpful because we are starting to show kids how to research information early. They will be able to learn these resourceful skills early, and later it will just come naturally. She gave proof on this website of the kids improving their learning skills on web browsing.

Itunes Univerisity (iTunesU)

If you need information on how to use iTunesU: click here

ItunesU is a very helpful application on itunes. It will be helpful to both students and teachers. The way it helps students is that they could look up their lesson and other instructional information on their topics. If a student is sick a professor could put the lesson on the itunes program, and the student could listen to it and not get behind. It is also easy to download on an ipod so a student can take the lesson everywhere.

ItunesU is also helpful for teachers because they can continue to learn after leaving college. They can listen and download podcast to continue to research various topics. Teachers can use it to continue to further their educational purposes by keeping up to date on materials. They can also use it to supply students with lectures, so the student will not get behind when sick.

Ipods

Need help on using ipods for instuction? Click here

Ipods are more than a device for music and enjoyment. These days teachers are using ipods for instruction in the classroom. At Duke University, they supplied 1,650 ipods to students as an experiment and asked them to use them inside and outside of the classroom and these were some of the ways the ipods were used. They used the ipods to record lectures or information about projects. The students also used them to get a better comprehension on foreign language, because they could constantly listen, and hearing a language makes it easier to retain the information for later.

The ipod can be used for personal use as well. Students were using their ipods to put dates of major events for academic and personal events in a calendar application on the ipod. The students could put emergency numbers in their contact list; in case of emergency the phone numbers would be there. Students used it for an alarm to wake up in the morning. Ipods were also used as an external hard drive to back up computer files or to transfer files from one computer to another.

Click here to learn more about the Duke Ipod Experiment

Comment4kids #3

http://year4divers.blogspot.com/

This week I commented on a class where one of the students made a video on a walrus. They were talking on how males have bigger tusks than females. The walrus they found on their boat in the video was 4 meters long. My comment to them was "I found out something that I did not know, Thank you. I found out that males have longer tusks than the female. I told them that the walrus was cute."

Wikipedia and What Did I Learn?

Wikipedia



When I think back on my past years in school, I do not remember any of my teachers accepting any information from the source of Wikipedia. I was always told that it was unreliable, but I never knew why it was not reliable. I now know why; people can go on to Wikipedia and edit stuff they do not want on their article, and add stuff to make them sound better. As I watched and read, I could not believe the people who have already edited their article so they would not look bad. My point is, do the right thing, and you will not have to change or edit stuff about you. I think that what Virgil Griffith did with his idea of creating a program that could track the people changing is the article is great. The only thing is Virgil said is that you could use a personal computer to change it, and it will not be linked to your company or you. I say they don't have something to track personal computers now, but technology is changing.

I do think that people will think twice on editing things now just in case there is a way to track you even on a personal computer. I think this will help Wikipedia out. I believe once people start catching on that you will be seen changing items; they will stop doing it and Wikipedia will become more reliable. Virgil started a tradition, and I think people will catch on to it and other people will start making programs to track everywhere.

Now for the question of will I trust it. I will look at it, maybe to get an idea, but I don't think I will be able to trust it to the extent of using only that for a source. I would rather not be caught sourcing false information and have my grade or fellow students let down. Until Wikipedia has full control on who and what can change the information; I will just use it to start the research and find items linked to it that are more reliable.

What I've Learned This Year

His first point that he made about the crowd, I agree with completely. I believe that you should let the student drive the car on the road to success, which means that you should not center the lesson plans around you and the content. The students are a big point in your job, and they are comprehending the material.

The second point he made was to be flexible. I have been thinking to myself as I go through my classes on how I am going to teach. I was afraid that I would make mistakes, but what he said was that if you make a mistake, just turn around, fix it, and keep going - don't worry about it. So just "brush it off and try again". The comment about continuing with a smile hit home. I was at a dance competition when I fell during a dance. I got right back up and kept smiling and continued to dance. When we heard the tape review from the judges, they did not even notice me falling because I did not show it in my face because I kept smiling.

The point about communication I also agree with. You need to make a good connection with fellow teachers and your students. It makes both your job and life better. It is hard to face the world by yourself.

There was also a point about being reasonable. I did not think about that. I understand that we do not need to set the bar too high for success. It only hurts students when they do not reach it.

Do not give up on technology. I figured that out this year; things keep changing, and we need to keep up. We cannot let our students pass us, or we will let them down. We just have to keep trying, and we have to continue learning.

Comment4Kids #2

This week we looked at Ms.Cassidy's class of 6 year olds. I had a student named Kenton. He had a short one sentence blog because they are learning to read and write. His blog was "I had Sersaee too.(I had surgery, too.)". My comment was I am sorry to hear that you had surgery.I hope you are all better.

This is about me.

Comment4kids and podcast

Comment4Kids



My student Sidney was talking about a sleepover that her class had at school. She said they played games with people all over the world. They played Wii with Sweden, and her Sweden team won. They VC with Scotland, Thailand, Wales, Hamilton, Philadelphia, Australia, Hawaii, and Winnipeg. She also mentioned that they went Geo caching in the dark, and I guess they did the Thriller dance as well.

My comment to Sidney's blog was, "Hey, spending the night at school must have been fun. I think that I would have loved to do that too. You all must have had fun playing all those games, but it is even more impressive that you did it with all those people from around the world. I wish I could have done that when I was in fifth grade."

Podcast



I went to the blog about "The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom." This podcast talked about how podcasts are effective ways of interacting with students outside of the classroom. Students today are living in a time when podcasts can be used as learning devices. I liked how teachers can help students learn by having podcasts of stories that they are studying in the classroom. The students can now learn their story anywhere they go. I also liked the idea of teachers uploading their discussion on the internet, so when students are sick, they can listen to their teachers' lectures at home and not get behind. Students who have gotten the chance to do a podcast are more technologically advanced.

This podcast or may I say vodcast because it was a video, was very well put together. He used music and sounds to keep it interesting. I could tell that it was scripted. It told me a lot of information and ideas that I had not thought of yet. This video showed me that you could put many pictures and videos on your own video podcast to further your explanation of a subject.