EDUC 422 Blog 14

This week we learned about the elements of iMovie such as importing images and clips, editing and also methods of putting finishing touches on the entire piece as a whole. This program is ideal for classroom use because it can be used for any subject. Not only is the program adaptable to multiple subjects, but it is accommodating to shy students who do not like to present in front of the class. During my elementary, middle and high school years I had always been that student; yes that was me, the shy student who dreaded public speaking. By creating a video I would only have to speak in front of the few other students in my group, which never was as humiliating as speaking in front of the class as a whole. Also I feel that iMovie allows students to think outside of the box where they have the opportunity to expand the knowledge further than just taking an exam or writing a response. Creativity and imagination are major elements of developing a video. Being an art minor, I crave activities such as these and it is unfortunate that we do not see these as often in classrooms as I would like. I For these reasons, I think this program is extremely beneficial to any age of students.

The article assigned for this week's reading only further exemplified the thorough process that goes into creating a movie. Not only are the students learning the technological aspects of the program, but also organizing their research, ideas and opinions as a group. Through this students touch on many different subjects. Math is adapted by assigning each storyboard piece to a specific amount of time. Writing skills are included by creating a script in order to use in developing the video. Then there is the obviously also the incorporated subject and unit that the students are studying. Lastly, it would be great if students could each have a copy of their video in order to save for memories of their hard work. With all of these concepts incorporated into one project I would be surprised if any teacher would turn down such an opportunity for his or her students!

EDUC 422 Blog #13

I must be honest, when I walked into class and dicovered that we were learning about Databases this week I was slightly intimidated. Though I have never used Microsoft Access I still had heard many horror stories about the program, which was the main source of my feelings of intimidation. Therefore when we were intoduced to the Inspiration Database program I was surprised how simple it was to learn about database. The most important benefit in using database in the classroom is organization. As students it is important that we have learned the organizational skills to make our schoolwork run smoothly. The majority of college students are juggling full-time classes along with the additional outside studies and homework, full/part-time jobs, family and friends. Therefore organization is the key to keeping our lives (all parts of it) together. This works the same in our future teaching careers. We have learned through observations and classroom readings and discussions the importance of organization to a teacher.

The World Wide Web: Interfaces, Dataases, and Applications to Education Article

This article was based on the "behind the scenes" information that goes into creating a database. First discussed how the databases work and what is included in order for the database to work. First is the web form which allows for the information to be entered into the database. (This includes the fields, pop-up menus, check boxes.) Next is CGI and PERL which refer to the computer language. An interesting part of the article mentioned the use of an "online discussion." This allows students to post comments and insights at anytime as well as respond to their fellow peers. As a college student who has taken a few online and part-online classes, I enjoy discussion boards because they allow students to speak thier opinion without as much fear as speaking during class discussion. As a student who has always been less apt to speak my opinion, the online discussions allowed me to feel more comfortable voicing my opinion, any ideas and even ask questions.

The Database: America's Presidents

This article brought attention to the six new literacies which include the following: compute, communicate, conclude, confirm, categorize, and classify. It is these aspects that will help both students and teacher to stay current with the constant growth and changes in technology. The everyday use of technology has been incorporated within the activities taught during class. I like this teaching method because technology (in this case a database) is percieved by the teacher as a necessary use of organizing infomation. If teachers that I had during my educational journey would have developed a path similar to this I most likely would have not developed such a fear of using databases.

Database Bells and Whistles: Organizing Data for Whole-Class Use

This article was interesting in the sense that it introduced the idea of databases as a possible opening of doors into new modes of thinking. By having students organize information into different fields forces students to think about the learned information differently therefore embellishing thoughts of crtical thinking. Not only do databases provide this, they also allow students to use the program to sort information, chart information inputed and therefore compare and contrast that information. It was interesting to learn that the example given was used with only one computer in the classrom. This is beneficial because as we have learned there are many schools and classrooms that do not have as many technological opportunites as others. Computer labs are shared with the entire school therefore use is rare. Using the database example where students can comment on each other is a great way of adjusting to the lack of supplies.

EDUC 422 Blog 11

This week we learned about the uses of Wiki and began our Wiki group project. Never hearing abot Wiki until this class, I have again discovered a tool that will one day be very useful in my classroom. As we have learned, Wiki allows its users to alter the pages that we have created. I thought that this would be useful in the classroom in the sense that it will motivate for greater teamwork in the classroom. For an example, the students have an essay due and instead of wasting all the paper of printing dozens of rough copies in order to participate in peer reviews, this can be done online. Each student posts thier essay on the assigned day. Then the teacher assigns each student to another student's essay in order to read and complete a peer review. This can be a week's process where multiple student reviews can be completed before the final copy is handed in. The best part is that the students and the teacher can visually see what has been changed and determine if the change was appropriate or not.

The article that we read this week was very interesting in its discussion regarding the Digital Divide. I enjoyed this article, especially growing up in a community where I had never considered the economic issues accompanying the access of technology. I have grown up in a house where I was lucky to have my own computer therefore I had constant access to the Internet as well as additional activities to assist with my learning. Through "playing around" on the computer I was able to develop computer skills that many other children were unable to develop due to their lack of access to a computer. Though we are in the midst of a technology age, teachers must realize that there is a digital divide. In order to make changes teachers must give his or her students the access to computer use. What I had not realized until reading this article is the use of computer labs as more of an obstacle as compared to an advantage. In a 5th grade classroom that I had visited last week I overheard the teacher explaining to the students that they had to put off certain assignments because the computer lab is booked for the next week. The limited use of these labs do not assist in making technology a part of the learning as teachers we should be doing. This is because it is only the students that are not familiar with computer use that fall behind. The main point of the article is making sure that all students are benefiting from the technology use within the classroom, not just a select few.