The Journey is just Beginning

Even though class is over, my technology journey isn't. I can't wait to take all that I have learned during this class and apply it to my life. Even though I don't have my own classroom yet, I can use a lot of what we learned at work and in my every day routine. I am even going to try and keep up with my blog. I like keeping "journal" of my journey through gradschool. I have learned a lot from my group, my class and Dr. S. This class has given us many useful tools that we will continue to use.
Check out my final project that I used Slideboom, one of the many web 2.0 tools we acquired over the course of this semester.

http://www.slideboom.com/presentations/63733/Using-Technology-to-Assist-Language-Learning-in-any

I wish everyone the best of luck in all future endeavors and thank you all for teaching me so much.

Digital Story telling 101

1. use pictures and sounds to create a story
2. about a main character


My digital story used ICT it was informative and insturcted students and parents how to do something.

You can use what you learn in class in life!!

Today I discovered that not everything you learn in school is never used again when my boss told me she wanted a fun power point with things that flew and noises. This was made simple by the fact that we had done a power point for our midterm a few weeks ago. By having explored all that power point has to offer and learning a lot more then I had previously known during this class, I was able to make her a great presentation. It was a little too much fun for her though because she made me tone it down a little:-)

Collaboration is Key

Collaboration is a very important part of classroom learning.

This week we learned about and discussed the differences between collaborative and cooperative learning.
During our discussions and from the readings we were assigned we came to see that collaboration is more about the process. In this kind of learning, everyone is equal and everyone grows and gains knowledge. You work as a group to complete assignment. I feel that this is what we do in this class when we meet with our groups. We all work together to complete the assignments. We have acquired many tools in this class that will help us to Collaborate with others. Some of these include our wikis, blogs, and websites.
Cooperative learning on the other hand prepares students for collaboration. This is more teacher centered, because the teacher is teaching the students how to cooperate with others that way she can send them off into groups and they will have the skills and ability to work together. In this way our class meetings are cooperative because Dr. S is guiding us to work together. During these meetings we all have our roles. Each week one of us is the facilitator so we keep the rest of the group on task.

What's the answer to 1 Down???

I had a lot of fun making my crossword puzzle. I have always loved doing crossword puzzles so I really liked this project. I use excel a lot so I did not find this to be difficult, although using the puzzle making site made making the puzzle a lot easier because all you had to do was put in the clues and the answers and it made the puzzle and answer key for you. So, if I had to choose, I definitely think that I would make my puzzle with the help of the site Edhelper.com. This site also has a lot of other great puzzles you can make I absolutely love doing the soduko puzzles. I also think that being able to use excel is an important skill, because it can be used to a lot of different things. I use it constantly at work for making tables and graphs and as we saw in this assignment it can be used to create things for the classroom too.
Since I seem to be having issues posting the snapshot to my blog check out my crossword using the URL below
https://campusweb.msmc.edu/moodle190/file.php/426/moddata/assignment/1368/2795/Mammals.htm

During class we saw that technology is not always perfect. I feel like we spent way too much time during class getting everyone to figure out how to post our presentations so that everyone could see them. I think that if we just devoted like 30 min the first day of class to go over this then we would not have to spend so much time each week trying to figure it out. I still feel like I do not know how to do it. We did not even get to see half of the groups presentations. I liked hearing and seeing the different ideas that people came up with for their lessons. i feel like this is beneficial to everyone, because maybe they can pick up a good idea that they can use in their classroom.
When we met as a group we went over the websites. Danielle who teaches first grade really liked spelling city. She was planning on trying it out in her classroom the following week. The games for the students were great. I think that kids like learning better when you can turn it into a game, I know that I always did.
The We think video further showed that the internet is a big part of education today and a big way that ideas are passed along from one person to another. I think that the internet is a great way to both get and share new ideas and lessons.

How to Deal with a Bully

I made my video using Microsoft Photostory 3. This project was definitely a little frustating, finding all the pictures to fit with it took a little bit of time then trying to figure out how to add a page without a picture did not work for me. No matter how long I sat there I could not figure it out, but at this point I felt that I had put too much time and effort into the project to try out the other site. So I had to add the cover and ending pages with one of my pictures. This was something I think students would enjoy and it would be a fun way to learn about a topic, or something you could even have the students do as a project. Other then the issue with the blank pages, I found this project to be a lot of fun. I also tested out the Voicethread site and found it to be equal in simplicity to that of Photostory. I think I liked Photostory better and hope to test out some of the other suggested sites in the future.

Pop Quiz

I created quiz using ProProf.com. I found it very easy to sign up for this tool. I also found it very easy to maneuver and to create the quiz. I liked how it gave you the option about the types of questions you wanted and allowed you to use different types. I also like how it scored everything for you and allowed you to choose the method of scoring you wanted to use. This is definitely something I would use in the future for creating quizzes. I also liked how you could view other people's quizzes and could use them for guidance. The way they had them broken down by type of quiz was also helpful. You can also use the site to create other things for your class such as flash cards for help during studying. I found the SAT section to be extremely helpful and beneficial. I remember when I was taking the SATs and how nervous I was the study tips and practice questions are something that a lot of students will find useful.

http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/quizshow.php?title=what-do-you-know-about-astronomy_1&quesnum=1

Grading Made Simple

http://www.engrade.com/teacher-gradebook.php?c=2

http://www.engrade.com/msm1480 PUBLIC SITE

First I signed up for engrade.com, which was a very simple process. I then entered "my class." I liked how the site gave you a few different grading options you could choose letters, numbers, or percentages. I also liked how you could weight different assignments with different weights depending on what you wanted them to be worth, even if you did not want them to be worth 100. This program had many great features that I think will be helpful when I eventually have my own class. I love how you can use the calendar to post test and assignments and also leave comments/description of them and that the students can log in and see them and also that they can comment. This will be helpful just in case a student and/or parent has a question and they are not in school, because it is vacation time or the weekend. This way the lines of communication are always open. This site is also great because parents can go online and check up on how their children are doing in between report cards and progress reports. They can make sure that they know what is going on, because sometimes kids are not completely honest with their parents.

I like the comments section, because with a class full of students you sometimes might not remember why you marked a student a certain way, so with the comments section you can have notes that way if a parent or student questions you, you can just refer to your notes and then you will have a quick answer. If I had a classroom, I think that I would totally use this program and that it would be helpful in keeping me organized. I like order and having all of this on one program is a great idea, although people who have been teaching for a long time might not like this because they are used to using their "gradebooks" and might want to continue to do it without the help of technology. Parents like my mother were always asking me what I got on a test like a day later, so I feel like this beinig accessible to parents and students could be a good thing and a bad thing. Some parents get too involved and may spend too much time checking this and it could cause them to put more pressure on their children. I think that it is also good for children because if they forget to write down their homework, or if they are absent for a day or two they can sign on to this site and check out the calendar, and if they have questions they can leave them online. With computers being used in most home this is a good way to keep track of assignments and grades. This could also be bad if a family can't afford a computer. This may be a little more successful if schools show parents and students how to access and use the site.

All in all I found this to be a great site.

Let it Snow

Thanks to a snow storm, I was unable to get to work on Monday, so my group decided that we would meet during the day so we would have more time to get our assignments done. We went over what the constructivist approach to education was. I like the constructivst approach and how it builds on knowledge the students already possess. One of the big disadvantages that we found with this theory is that some students have difficulty applying knowledge from the past in new situations and that everyone learns differently. I feel that this theory is interesting and could work because it lets teachers encourage creativity, it also focuses on student centered learningg. It lets you incorporate student interests into lessons and is more flexible.

For the project of the week, we split our group of four into two groups and half worked on the power point and the other half worked on the presentation. We set a time limit and met back online to discuss what we had done. I think that this worked out well and made getting our work done more efficient. Two of us did the oral presentation and the other two did the visual, then we came together to discuss our efforts and talk about the lesson plan. I liked learning about the 5 E's because it made it easier to do and understand a lesson plan.

A Map of our Life

This week we presented a power point to the class. It was different prsenting over the internet then it would be in a normal classroom. I think that we did a very good job on our power, the only thing that we should have done was to put our resources in APA format. We did not realize this until class on Monday. We also should have had a slide with a list of questions for the class so that they could participate. Other then that, our group worked very well together. I feel that we all carry our weight, and I don't think that I would be able to get through the class without them. My favorite part of chapter was learning about how to keep your child safe on the internet and warn them about the risk of online bullies.
I also found Dr. S's presentation on Web 2.0 to be very interesting. I liked seeing her power point and learning about Web 1.0 vs. Web 2.0
This weeks homework included making a Mind Map. I used Illumination. I found that it was easy to use and I was able to navigate through it without much trouble. The only thing that I found it hard to do was maneuver the arrows to make the map look the way I wanted it to. I liked the selection of photos and that it had so many template options. I think that this is a good program that can be used in a classroom for a lesson. I also explored a few of the other Mind Map programs.

Exploring the Web

This week we were supposed to check out websites and make sure that they were suitable for student and teacher use, using the five website evaluation criteria. This was a great assignment because this is something we can use in the future when we want to use websites both for work and personal purposes. We now know what to look for to make sure they are useful websites.
We met with our groups again twice since our last class meeting. We worked on our Newsletter, group Wiki and Chapter 8 Power point presentation. The Newsletter and Power point went smoothly. For the power point we thought it would work better if we split up the sections among us and then one of us make the power point. This worked out well since it is a little more difficult to put together a presentation over the computer, then if we were sitting around a table with each other. The Wiki on the other hand was a little more confusing, but eventually I think we got it. We put a lot of time and effort into this weeks projects.

A World Without Technology is Hard to Imagine

Do you ever try to think back to a time when you didn't have a computer or a cell phone, or when you had to carry around a cd player and cds, instead of your tiny little i pod. I feel like students today find it hard to believe that there was a time when you actually had to do your research at the library and didn't have the internet to just "google" something. I look at my little cousins and they have cell phones and ipods. I didn't get a cell phone until i graduated from college and up until 2 years ago I was that person carrying around a cd player and my book of cds.

Students today were born into a technologically advanced world. They have been using it since they were young. They don't know what life without it is like. I don't think most students would know what to do without a computer or their I pod. The students of the Net Generation are different from previous generations, because in a lot of ways libraries are becoming obsolete, students can find whatever they want online without even leaving their rooms. Implications of this generation for teachers are that some of the students are more Tech saavy then their teachers, so it creates a sort of barrier between student and teacher. From personal experience I've noticed that a lot of the older teachers are not up to date on all of the advanced technology because they did not grow up with it, they are in a way learning as they go. I even see it in my office there are those older employees who barely have basic computer skills and ask questions that many of our younger students would be able to answer just because it is the environment they grew up in.
Web 2.0 is known as read write web. It is user generated and is more interactive. The information in Web 2.0 flows in all directions and information can be shared among users, where as Web 1.0 is read only and not interactive. The shift in the classroom from Web 1.0 to 2.0 has made a new learning environment. Web 2.0 is student centered and use a multipath progression where Web 1.0 was a single path that was teacher centered. Web 2.0 allows for collaborative work and information exchange. It also allows for the use of critical thinking and informed decision making where web 1.0 used factual knowledge based learning. Finally Web 2.0 uses authentic real world content and Web 1.0 was isolated artificial content.
After viewing all the bookmarking videos I found that I liked Diigo the best. Though all similar, the Diigo video was more detailed and better put together, it sold the use of the product better. I liked how you were able to highlight and how it organized a list that you could share your bookmarks with others. You were able to connect with people who had similar interests. It was kind of like Myspace or Facebook you were able to see what others are up to and message them and share bookmarks.

Technical Difficulties

Well my first online class experience did not go as smoothly as I would have hoped. I figured, I should probably try and sign in early so I could make sure that I could get into Elluminate since the last time I tried it I was on a different computer. Of course, just my luck I had trouble getting in. First I tried clicking on the link that said fix the problem, and it told me it couldn't. So I called the helpdesk who transferred me to someone else who could help me. He was very helpful and told me something to download that would most likely fix my problem. So after 30 min of trying to solve my Elluminate issues, I was finally in and able to join the class. I missed the first group assignment where we came up with a group name and motto, but my group kept me up to date about what was going on. I signed on just in time for the online quiz, which was kind of strange and interesting. I liked listening to everyone discuss and think that maybe I should get a microphone, because I feel people are more apt to miss what those of us who were typing were saying because they were listening to the people talking.
When we broke up into our groups again I liked being in our own chatroom so we could discuss and create our toolbox. Again we learned that technology is not always perfect when our Power Point presentation would not cooperate with us. We had trouble getting it to save and post. Then at the end of class Dr. S. got kicked out of the chat. We will be meeting tonight, Thursday to make up for our Tuesday "Monday" meeting.

My Technology Journey

Week one was a little crazy and I felt a little overwhelmed by all we had to do and create. After talking to my group and going through the moodle, I felt a little less overwhelmed. I have never had a blog or a webpage, so I enjoyed making these and seeing what they looked like when i was done. I think that I am going to like seeing how they progress as the semester goes on. I like being able to reflect on my class experience in my Blog and to be able to read about other people's experiences.
This week we were supposed to explore the moodle and look at all the different tools and sites that we will be using throughout the course of the semester. I found that the moodle was very easy to navigate and the tools that were on it were very helpful when doing the assignments. It also gave a lot of helpful and interesting information not only for use in class, but also outside of class. I liked how there were videos that demonstrated how to do certain things. I learn better visually so I found this to be very helpful.
After my group met using gtalk, we decided that we would try out wiziq next meeting and see which chat method we prefer. I also liked how we had to post a picture and and write an introduction to ourself so that we could get to know each other since we will never meet in person.
I think my most memorable moments during this past two weeks were making my blog and webpage. I have always seen people who have webpage and have always though they were interesting. I think it is interesting to be able to follow people's learning experiences. I have also never taken a class online so meeting with my group and conducting the meeting/class in a chat room was a new and interesting experience. It was a little strange at first not being able to see who we were talking to but I think our meeting went a pretty well. We ran into a tiny snag when a few of us got kicked out of the chat for a little while, but after we got back in, we got back on track and got through going over the moodle and all of our assignments. This meeting definitely helped me out because before the meeting, I was not one hundred percent sure of what exactly was due, but after talking to me group it was a lot more clear.
I found that the video "Learning to Change and Changing to Learn," was very focused on how technology is very important today. I feel that it was saying that schools should do more to focus on the technology aspect of education and not just on preparing students for test. I agreed with the point where they said that "technology is not a choice" I think that this is completely true, these days we do not have a choice we need to learn how to use computers because they are used everywhere. If i did not know how to use a computer I would not be able to do my job. I think that the learning process needs to start early, because you see older teachers and even people where I work who do not have basic computer skills. The video also points out that students need to learn to use computers to solve problems, and obtain data.
Learning in the Digital age is different from the previous era because now it is almost impossible to learn without the use of technology.
You can check out my Website here: http://jmartellucci.webs.com/aboutme.htm