Journal Post 6

Journal Post 6
EME 2040

Chapter 6 "Fostering Online Learning with Educational Websites and Apps"

Focus Question: What are WebQuests, virtual field trips, and video conferencing? 1. WebQuests 2. Virtual field trips 3. Video conferencing

WebQuests is new to me, I really never heard of it until now. Teachers have control on what her students can see and what will help them achieve their goals. Teachers use WebQuests for students to work in a group or by themselves.  The teacher preselects the resources the students will read. The students can watch videos of the topic that the teacher selected and see it happening in action, to get a better understanding. In this chapter is an example "Lesson Plan, 'Weather Station WebQuest', shows this method in action."  (Maloy 139)

http://www.discoveryeducation.com/search/page/-/-/lesson-plan/weather/index.cfm

This will take you to the resources the teacher would like for you to view. The students will click to view different lesson plans. This one in particular talks about the different types of weather.

Let's talk about virtual field trips. Who would of thought that a teacher could talk about dinosaurs and get a virtual trip out of it? Students would be intrigued and could see actual dinosaur fossils that were found and other informative information. Let's take the Smithsonian Museum, it takes you to the beginning of your "trip" and you have control of where you want to go next. It will take you around the museum as if you were there taking a look around, learning. There are many virtual field trips out there, some are already set-up, others you need to contact them and set-up a date and time to view it. The virtual field trip takes the students where they have never gone before in a classroom setting. This is an example of the dinosaurs at the Smithsonian Museum.

http://www.mnh.si.edu/vtp/1-desktop/

"Videoconferencing a powerful learning technology that offers real-time access to people and places that students are unable to visit." (Maloy 141) In an interactive video conferencing, the students can interact with other students, doctors, lawyers, and just about anyone. An example, if the teacher wants her students to learn about a science experiment. She sets up the interactive videoconferencing with a scientist that does this. The students will be where the cameras are set up at their school (if they don't have it in their classroom) and the scientist has his cameras and monitors where he does his experiments via videoconferencing. The scientist can ask the students questions and the students can ask the scientist questions too, this is called "real time". There is a video that I have inserted below. This video is of middle school students talking to elementary students about healthy eating. One of the girls reads the story, they ask students questions, and the students get to answer them too. The elementary students are guided by their teacher so that it is managed and they all get to answer the questions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma-xRiSdzqs


Nowadays, the teachers can be more informed and can utilize the webtools that are available and different ways to be digitally organized. Their lesson plans can be enhanced with adding links and videos so that when it is time to talk about the topic, it is ready to go in their computer. When I begin to work with elementary students, I will make sure that I incorporate virtual field trips, interactive conferencing, and WebQuests so that my students can get a better understanding about the lesson that they are learning. In my voluntary prekindergarten class, I can incorporate the virtual field trip and I am sure they would enjoy it and learn something from it.

References:

Maloy, R. W. (2014). Fostering Online Learning with Educational Websites and Apps. Transforming learning with new technologies (2nd ed., p. 139 and 141). Boston: Pearson.

Panoramic Virtual Tour. (n.d.). Virtual Tour: Panoramic Images: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Retrieved February 22, 2014, from http://www.mnh.si.edu/panoramas/#

STEAM Video Conference. (2013, April 8).YouTube. Retrieved February 23, 2014, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma-xRiSdzqs

Journal Post 5

Journal Post 5
EME 2040

Chapter 5 Informing Young Children on How to Use Internet Search

What do students need to know about Internet searching? 1. Introduction 2. Informing parents and students 3. Inform students about authors and references on the Internet. 3. Books for students to read 4. Creating books

The students that I would like to teach are either in kindergarten or first grade. Before letting the students work on computers, I would introduce the basics of the computer. Children nowadays know a lot about computers, but they need to really know what each part of the computer does. This is a video that is Part I and it is basic information. If you would like there is a Part II, you could watch on YouTube. This way, I know all of my children are aware of the parts of the computer and what their use is.

A lot of parents rely on the schools to get their children informed about the use of computers, but in all reality, parents need to make sure they know what their children are surfing on the web. When the teachers and parents work together to educate the children, the more successful they will be! The public schools already have software to keep the computers "safe" for the students to use at school. The parents can use software such as NetNanny, it helps the parents have control of what their child sees and it also emails the parents if the child/children visit inappropriate site/sites. This will give the parent in control and the children innocent of pornography and other inappropriate sites. I would also inform the parents about, "The American Library Asoociation (2007) has assembled a useful collection of online safety and security resources for children entitled 'Especially for Young People and Their Parents'." (Maloy 112)

Next, I would need to know how I can inform my kindergartners or first graders what they need to know about Internet searching. Since this is such a young age, I will keep it age appropriate. I will go over the information about what makes a good website. This will get the students to ask questions and tell me what they know about the topic. I will talk about the importance to try to use websites that they can rely on and what to look for in a good website. Most of the websites that will be used, will be bookmarked on their computers. There are two important things that a young student needs to know is how they can tell if it's a good website. I will create an easy to read rubric (laminated so they can write on it), with a grading scale of the information they need in order to know if it is a reliable website to use or not. An example is a rubric would have an author as an important factor to have so I would score it either one being the worse one and four being the best one. If they don't find an author than they know it will be a one and so on. This would be used for students in first grade.  I found another video on YouTube that will help children know about Internet searching.

I found a couple of books for children to read or parents to read with them at home. There really wasn't a lot of good books out there for children (I think I might write one). One of them is called, Internet for Kids, A Beginners Guide to Surfing the Net by Ted Pederson and Francis Moss. Second, The Kids Guide to Research by Deborah Heiligman. These books are to help the student and the parents about researching the internet in a more one on one level. I have found, Good Computer Kids on YouTube is another great way for children and parents get more information on a child's level; for teachers too.

In conclusion, teaching VPK (Voluntary Prekindergarten) has helped me to understand what the children need to get informed about certain subjects and finding different ways of doing so . When I get to teach in a higher grade, I will continue to do some things that I currently do in my VPK classroom. I create books that will help them to remember or use as a guide to help them. I would create a picture book (for the beginning introductions) about the computer. It will have pictures of real parts of the computer and under each picture what it is called and what it does. It will include other things such as reliable and informative websites; some will be bookmarked. Also, the step by step of how to use a computer and key terms. This will help ESE (Exceptional Student Education) and ESOL (English Speakers of Other Languages) students too.

Resources

barnes and noble

Maloy, R. W. (2014). Teaching Information Literacy and Digital Citizenship. Transforming learning with new technologies (2nd ed., p. 112). Boston: Pearson.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcAQdf_ZBd0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=510R1jbfvDk

Journal Post 4

Journal Post 4
EME 2040

Chapter 4-Lesson Plans

How can teachers use technology to make decisions about meeting educational standards in their lesson plans? 1. Utilizing the web 2. Introduction 3. Standards 4. Hyperlink

Nowadays technology can be utilized at work, school, and at home. Technology has come a long way especially for teachers. Teacher can assess and evaluate students, use grading software, create rubrics, create lesson plans, get the standards their school uses, and find resources online.

First lets start by talking briefly about utilizing the web. There are a lot of reliable sources that can be utilized to help the teacher find answers that she may have if she needs more information on a certain subject. The public schools usually provide links on the schools website for teachers. This will help the teacher get more comfortable as she gets more informed on the subject she had questions on.

The second thing is the introduction on your lesson plan. When a teacher is utilizing technology to make decisions on her lesson plans, she could start off with beginning with one of the standards for a kindergarten class and sing a song that meets one of the music standards seen here: http://www.cpalms.org/Public/PreviewIdea/Preview/982#/#accesspoints-toggle

Next is the standards, how can we make sure we are meeting these standards? The public schools usually have the standards on their webpage. These standards have a section where the teachers in Collier County can go into and utilize their website to get ideas and more informed on what the requirements are and will help them with teaching the students. One of the standards is the Common Core State Standard. It will give you the option to chose a grade level and subject (Mathematics or English Language Arts). It will have the standards and you can choose to watch a video that will help you understand the standard and what the student is required to learn. This is a short video on the Common Core State Standard.

The standards help each teacher to need to teach. I use the VPK (Voluntary Prekindergarten) Standards. I make sure that every week when I create a lesson plan, I have met the standards for the week and I also make sure that each standard is met by the end of the year. The standards basically help "guide" me to teach what the students need to learn and accomplish it by the end of the year.

I also add hyperlinks or videos to my lesson plan and I can bring them up on the SmartBoard and just click on it and the children just watch what I would like for them to watch. This also helps for them to avoid watching commercials that are not appropriate for them like YouTube has inappropriate ads for children, most of the time.

Journal Post 3

Journal Post 3
EME 2040

Chapter 3-NETS-S and 21st Century Technologies

What are the NETS-S and the 21st Century Student Outcomes? 1. Whole group discussion 2. Students working in groups 3. Students working individually 4. Personal experience 5. Outcome

Teaching today is not the same as it was ten years ago or so. Teachers used to stand in front of the classroom and lecture and show us by writing on a chalkboard or writing the information on dry-erase boards.
Teaching in the 21st Century has been changing as the technology has been getting better and used more often in the homes. Here is a video I thought you'd like to watch about "Teaching in the 21st Century in the Classroom". I hope this helps to better understand teaching in the 21st Century.

Today, teachers can talk in anywhere in the classroom by wearing wireless microphones. The teachers can also implement their lesson by using realistic pictures or video on a SmartBoard or white board. This helps the students better understand what the teacher is saying. This is a whole group discussion and all the students are involved in one subject.

Photo credit to Bliss Chan  on Flickr

Today there are two standards that are being used in the classroom called NETS-S (The National Technology Standards for Students) or the 21st Century Standards. These two standards are compared and they are a little different, but they're both good standards to use. I added the permalink so that you could look at the differences between the two standards. http://db07.linccweb.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eft&AN=502948385&site=ehost-live


Students can work together in a small group and collaborate while in class and continue to work on their projects at home. They can communicate by texting each other, using Skype, and they can call each other. They can be looking up different things on the computer in their own homes and still be able to complete their projects and all the students are involved.

Students working individually. If the teacher feels that a student is falling behind in their work or need extra help, the teacher can have games, e-Books, and websites to help them get caught up. If the teacher has an ELL (English Language Learner), she could have computers set-up just for them to learn English or to help them to better understand and speak the language.

I have been implementing my lessons by utilizing technology. Every year it is different and it keeps getting better and better. I have students that need to be challenged and I have games set-up for them when they come into class in the morning. During center time, I utilize the computer by individualizing each students needs. Every year, I get more and more students that speak other languages other than English and Spanish! This year I have a student that speaks Vietnamese, and I thought how in the world can I help him learn? One of the days that we were singing our morning songs (different languages are used) and mom walks in and I asked her if she would sing the one verse in her native language? She did and I utilized the recorder on my phone for other sentences that I needed to help her child understand.

In conclusion, I feel that the outcome in using NETS-S and 21st Century are an asset to the classrooms. The students are becoming more successful learning in this manner. In a way, students were learning to use technology while they were still in diapers!

Resources:

Maloy, R. W., Verock-O, R. E., Edwards, S. A., & Woolf, B. P. (2010).Transforming learning with new technologies. Allyn & Bacon.  

Pappas, Marjorie. "Standards For The 21St-Century Learner: Comparisons With NETS And State Standards." School Library Monthly 24.10 (2008): 19-26. Education Full Text (H.W. Wilson). Web. 2 Feb. 2014.