Thing 10

This video makes fun of the advances in technology but I think that it really makes you think about some of the drawbacks that technology can have. People tend to think that smaller is better but obviously there is such a thing as too small. When we decide what technologies to use I think we need to be careful and not go too far.

Thing 9

You Tube is blocked in my building and I don't see a time when it would be unblocked. Although you tube has great material that can be used for class it has just as much or more that is inappropriate for school. Students can use this site to have concepts explained to them, but most likely they will be looking at the site to see a talking animal or the latest celebrity slip up. I'm not sure how you tube can be used in schools in a positive way yet. Even the videos that explained some of the math concepts I looked up were extremely boring and with so much footage on each topic it would be difficult to find the video that would really enhance learning.

Thing 8

Created by: http://bighugelabs.com/frame.php
















Created by: http://metaatem.net/words/

I really enjoyed using the applications in thing 8. I think there are many possibilities for using them and they are something I have not used before. I did find that some of them were a bit too vague. For instance the magazine cover required the user to put all of the headlines on the magazine instead of having some standard ones. I thought it was fun however to play around with the different applications and try them out.

Thing 7

Looks like I responded to this Thing in Thing 6. Please look there for my classroom idea. Again I come back to the issue of accessibility. Many students don't have digital cameras at home or computers to share them, therefore the project would have to be done in school and the materials would have to be made avaiable. Also I see parents being concerned with their children posting pictures of themselves on the internet even with the privacy settings intact.

Thing 6

I remember doing a project in college on the golden ratio. My partner and I took pictures around campus of items in the golden ratio. Stairs were easy ones to find, which is why I choose this picture. As a teacher this might be an interesting idea for students. Creating a project where they have to take pictures and post them on Flickr. In addition they could search the pictures that were already there on the subject and post a blog about whether or not they believe the picture fits the description.

Thing 5

I find it easy to add sites to RSS. What I find difficult is finding sites that I want to follow. I like to watch TV in the morning to get the news, so I don't see myself reading a blog to get this information. I think following other peoples professional blogs might be useful, but there are so many blogs out there I'm not really sure where to start. Any good blogs that people can recommend?

Thing 4

I think that this website is a great way to organize all of the new information out there. It is kind of like Microsoft Outlook for e-mail. If you set all of your e-mail addresses to Outlook you only have to open one program to check all of your e-mail. Since I don't read any blogs other than the ones for this class I'm not really sure what I will be putting in these new folders I created. I guess it is time to expand my horizons and start to get some new information via blogs!

Thing 3

Although we didn't use a blog in college many students were able to post comments to challenging homework problems right on the homework site. I think this is a really interesting idea. I went to a conference earlier in the year and have considered having challenge problems of the week. My biggest concern with this was that a few students would really work on the problem and others would just get help to get the answer. Using a blog for these problems and monitoring the comments before they are posted would ensure that only helpful hints make it onto the blog not the answer to the problem. I think students would like to be those that get to post a hint and those that need the hints will be happy to get them. This could also work for homework problems that students are having difficultly with. One concern I have about this is that the blog would require a lot of monitoring by me, and what happens on those nights I just don't have time to go on and make sure the students comments get posted, or those students that post right after I check the blog. Are they then going to use that as an excuse for not doing parts of their homework? I guess I have some more thinking to do.

Thing 2

I think a professional blog is an interesting idea, having an outlet for students to respond more frequently could be very beneficial and I think I would be more comfortable doing this. On a personal level I'm not sure blogging is for me. I'm a much more private person and believe that each friend, family member, colleague, etc. serves a different role in my life. Not one person knows everything about me, but each knows something different. Posting on the Internet for everyone to read makes me a bit more conscious about what I am saying. For instance, right now I am making my mom read my post before I submit it to make sure I don't sound like an idiot. I feel that my personal feelings, problems, concerns, and ideas are better expressed with personal contact; writing makes it too easy and I don't want EVERYONE giving advice about about I should do.

Back to the idea of a professional blog I think it could work. If I have a class page where students can share ideas, questions, and concerns it may be easier for those students who are less vocal in class to participate more. Also I would be able to control the conditions and posts so that it would be a safe environment for my students to express themselves. Again I would need to teach the students how to use this tool appropriately and revisit this idea often.

Thing 1

Although I know that technology is wonderful and students love their ipods, facebook pages, etc. I'm not sure that we are quite ready to utilize all of this technology in the classroom. We offer our students an environment where they feel safe and able to learn, and already offer on-line webites like edline and parent portal for students to see class announcements and keep track of their progress in classes. However, many students and parents do not have access to a computer at home and are not able to use the technology we have available now. If we start requiring students to text message other countries, subscribe to podcasts, and post on wiki's and blogs are we as a school district going to supply students with the cell phones and ipods they don't have? How will the parents feel when we ask our students to utilize in class the cell phones they do not what their children to have? Will our students who don't have this technology that we are going to use so regularly feel inferior to their classmates that do? As a staff our school district has provided ORCA for staff to collaborate professionally and share documents, are we going to have to read each other's blogs, wikis and listen to each others podcasts just to stay up to date?

My biggest fear with all of this technology is that we are going to spend so much time behind a computer and communicating through text and e-mail that students will not learn the social skills they need to interact with people in person. When they can listen to a podcast instead of going to a class I wonder are the students really getting all of the information in the way EACH of them needs to learn and will I be out of a job soon?

Technology can be wonderful and we should use it and teach it because our students will be working with this technology and more by the time they get jobs. However, I enter with caution because with as many perks as technology has there are just as many concerns. I hope this class will enlighten me in ways to use this technology in a positive way to enhance learning while keeping school a safe environment for all students.