Blog Post #5

Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff Please? By Scott McLeod

Dr. Scott Mcleod uses sarcasm by telling parents, teachers, administrators, and board members not to teach their kids to use the internet for reading and writing. He states "because the pen and paper are not going anywhere." He also says there is no need for them to learn how to make videos, audio, write codes, write blogs, and use social networking sites. He also states "and especially no cell phones."
He also states "it's evil, you know there's bad stuff out there gotta keep your children safe"
At the end of his post he makes it clear that he is going to continue to teach his kids everything he can about technology. He is making a point that yes there can be problems with the internet such as cyber-bullying, predators, and porn. However we don't need to let that scare us away. We just need to be safe with our use of the internet and teach our children how to safely use technology. We need to teach our children how to keep up with the fast advancing world of technology so that they will be prepared for the future.

Scott McLeod, J.D., Ph.D., "is widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading academic experts on K-12 school technology leadership issues." Dr. McLeod is an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Kentucky. He also is the Founding Director of the UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education (CASTLE), "the nation’s only academic center dedicated to the technology needs of school administrators, and was a co-creator of the wildly popular video series, Did You Know? (Shift Happens)."
All information was found on Dr. Mcleod's website and (CASTLE's)website.

The iSchool Initiative and ZeitgeistYoungMind's Entry

The iSchool Initiative video was made by a Georgia high school student named Travis Allen.
He first addresses the issues facing America's Public Education system which are massive budget cuts, teacher lay-offs, and increasing classroom size.
He discusses using the itouch, a hand held device by Apple similar to an iphone in the classroom. The teachers will work with the students to complete all of their schoolwork using the itouch. His idea is to replace all textbooks, workbooks, library books, paper,copiers, and just about anything that can be done with the hand held device. This would save the school systems a ton of money and would also be good for our environment. I must admit, this would be a huge undertaking and would not happen overnight. However, I think that it can be done and I applaud Travis Allen for his ideas.

Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir

The video of Eric Whitacre's virtual choir performing "Lux Aurumque" was truly amazing. There were 185 voices from 12 different countries put together through the internet and posted on you-tube. I really enjoyed listening to the heavenly voices, but the fact that this was done with all the singers being worlds apart was truly incredible. I am just amazed at how for technology has advanced. There seems to be endless possibilities at what can be done with technology these days.

Teaching in the 21st
Century

In this video I think Kevin Roberts puts everything into perspective. He asks the question "What does it mean to be a teacher in the 21st century." We live in a digital world today and students need to have the skills to survive in the digital world. However, there is more to teaching then just providing computer skills to a child. Technology is a tool that the teacher can use to help facilitate learning. The fundamental skills needed in life cannot be obtained by just logging onto the internet. Teachers will always be needed to teach students how to read, write, comprehend, analyze, evaluate and make decisions. However these skills can be enhanced by the help of technology. A teacher in the 21st century will need to be technologically literate to enable them to use all their available resources to prepare their students for the future. The basic fundamentals of teaching will never change completely, but they can be enhanced with technology.

Reading Rockets

I agree with Anthony Capps this is a very valuable website for teachers. There is a very significant amount of information and I have not completely viewed the entire website. This is one website that I will be looking at again. It has a wealth of information for teachers and parents. One section that I thought was very informative was the "Helping Struggling Readers." I was shocked to find out that learning to read was a challenge for almost 40% of kids. In this section there are links identifying why kids struggle. There are even links on how to find extra help. It has information on how to have a child evaluated to identify any potential problems. I think that it is very important that a child develop strong reading skills early on to help them with the rest of their education.
If they can't read well then they can't learn well. I strongly believe that everything cannot be left up to the teacher. Parents need to be involved in a child's education early on. My son is in the second grade and either my wife or I go over his reading and homework assignments every night.

The "Video and Podcast" section was another section that I thought was very beneficial for teachers, especially new teachers. That are links to videos and podcasts that you can download from itunes and they are free. There are a wide assortment of podcasts that you can listen to from experts in the field of reading. They provide strategies on how to identify reading difficulties, the importance of early reading skills, and the role of using phonics with reading instruction. Phonics was used in my son's 4K class and it really helped him to prepare for 5K. There is also a "Reading Rockets Dadcast" series for fathers who want to learn more about their child's literacy development.

My Time Toast Timeline Individual Project 9a

Blog Post #4

The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom By Joe Dale

In this video it clearly demonstrates why podcasting is so beneficial in the classroom. The video brought out some very interesting points that have helped me to realize how podcasting can be a very effective tool for education. I learned a new term that I was not aware of and that was the term Millennial. A Millennial is typically anyone born after 1980. All the students born after 1980 have never experienced a world without technology. These children have used computers, video games, T.V., phones and so much more then children prior to 1980. Children today are very accustomed to modern technology and podcasting is a form of learning that would be very exciting to them. I know that my seven year old loves to steal my iphone to record his voice in different ways and then listen to the recordings.

I also learned that a vodcast is a podcast with video. In addition to the teacher using podcasts, students can also create podcasts. Creating podcasts would be more of a project based type of learning instead of memorizing information from a book. Creating podcasts would allow students to increase their thinking and creativity skills. Podcasting is an effective way to interact with students outside the classroom. For example if a student is sick and can't make it to class they can listen to a lesson plan at home. Also the parents can listen to the podcast and be more informed on their children's education. I know as a student myself I would like the fact that you could play the podcast over and over again to pick up anything you might have missed. In a classroom that has a limited amount of time you may miss out on some important information from a lecture, but being able to replay the podcast you could ensure that you understand everything completely. I think podcasting will have a very important role in modern education.

Judy Scharf's Podcast Collection
The information provided by Judy Scharf on this link was very informative. She explains what a podcast is and how it can be listened to on a computer or an MP3 player. She also makes a point that podcasting can be used to share information to large numbers of people via the internet.She also explains about the equipment that you would need. She also provides a link How to Create a Podcast which shows you step by step instructions how to make your own podcast.

I listened to some podcasts on the website made by students in grades 6-8 and all of them were really good. I think podcasting would be a very good learning tool to use in the classroom and I think students would have fun doing it. When kids are having fun they are motivated. Keeping students motivated is very importatnt in the classroom. Before I started taking this class I did not even know anything about podcasting. I think that Judy Scharf's Podcast collection will help me tremendously in my upcoming assignment for making a podcast..

100-Ways To Use Your Ipod To Learn And Study Better

Several years ago I bought an ipod shuffle and I loved using it while exercising. It was amazing that something so small and lightweight could hold so much music and have such great sound quality. Now that have read the article 100 ways to use your ipod to learn and study better I want to go out and buy one for school. I was amazed at all the different things that you can do with an ipod. This article also included several links to learn how to do podcasts. The Learning Podcasting tutorial gives you detailed information that you can use to to learn all about podcasting. I will use the information from the link to help me with my upcoming podcast assignment.

Project #12 For The Love of the Game Book Trailer

My Sentence Video Project #6

Google Presentation

Blog Post 3

Technology in Special Education
This video was inspiring to me. I watched these special needs students overcoming tremendous obstacles with the help of a great teacher and some excellent technology. This video really demonsrates how technology can be applied in special education. The students in the video seemed to be very engaged in learning. The teacher explains how the technology that she is using keeps her students attention which helps them to stay interested and eagar to work. Technolgy not only helps the students it also helps the teacher. A special ed teacher faces tremendous challenges and by saving time he or she is able to teach so much more material.

How the iPad Works with Academics for Autism

I was very impressed in this video with the young boy using the toddler counting app. He could easily see and hear as his fingers were touching the i-pad screen. I have included a link to an app from the Apple store that I think I would use if I were teaching a Special Ed class.
Letter Reflex-Overcoming-Letter Reversals is an excellent app from Apple. It helps children with directionality. Some of the first concepts in early childhood that need to be understood are directions from left to right. It is common for many young children to have letter reversals. This problem may continue for longer periods of time for a special needs child. Letter Reflex helps children overcome letter reversals in a game format. It claims to be very user friendly. I think that children would have so much fun playing the game that they would be very engaged and would really learn in the process.

Garys-social-media-count
As I watched Gary Hayes Social Media change every second is was just amazing. The counter itself is an example of how far we have advanced in the world of technology. How it can track so much information at one time is hard to comprehend. The numbers that it represents is astonishing. The amount of people using Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube just to name a few is unbelievable.

It really tells you how much of our daily lives are joined together with social media and with the use of technology in general. As a teacher we will have to be a part of this ever evolving trend. Not only will we need to keep up with all of this new technology, we can also use it to our advantage.


Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today

This is another video that has enlightened me on how outdated our current education system is today. We as teachers need to be able to help our students to work smarter than harder. The students were holding up some signs with interesting facts. These are a few that i remember. Only 26% of what they are learning is relevant to what they will need after graduation. Only 18% of the teachers know their names. The average class has 115 students.

I know from experience being a full time students requires a lot of effort. I also know that I waste a lot of money on textbooks that I don't fully use. In the video the teacher writes on an old chalkboard: (What is missing?). He then writes: (videos, photos, animations, and networks). I think he trying to tell us that as educators we need to learn how to use technology to it's full potential. Today's technology offers unlimited tools and resources. We need to learn how to use those tools an be able to teach our students how to use those tools. Doing so will help them to be prepared for the future.

C4T#1

My first C4T#1 assignment was Matthew Tabor's blog Education for the Aughts. I enjoyed reading his latest post which was titled Recommend Me- Or Not- For a Ph. D. in Education Policy/Reform. Mr. Tabor is applying for a Ph.D. Program in Education Policy. In his post he talked about how the application process for a Ph.D. is flawed even for the most selective schools. He states that the process does not reveal accurate and complete information about the candidate. He talked about how written content on the application is usually edited to the point that it does not reveal the student's actual abilities. He also talked about how transcripts do not reveal much information and that the institutions looking at the applications have to make decisions based on a very limited amount of information".
Mr. Tabor is using a very different approach in his application process. He attempting to seek references from all of the hundreds of professionals that he has conversed with in the education world through education sites. He is asking them to share their comments on whether to recommend or not recommend him for the Ph.D. program. I believe that he has a lot of very good ideas and is using all of the great resoursces of the technological world that we live in today to his advantage. I am just beginning my education courses and I admit that I am not that familiar with the application process for a Ph. D. program. However, I would imagine that it would be a very lengthy process being that it is the highest degree awarded in a given field of study. With that said, I think that his idea of bringing the whole team to the playing field through the education blogosphere is a great idea that would bring a wealth of information to the table.
In my comment to Mr. Tabor I indicated that I thought his idea of using his vast amount of contacts throughout the education world to help him was a great idea. It is truly amazing how modern technology can be applied in so many ways.

The second post of Mr. Tabor's that I commented on was titled best-education-sites-maps-college-web-design-utility In this post he talks about how colleges today are using the internet for marketing to students. He includes a link that rates colleges and universities throughout the U.S. on their web presence. I recommend checking out this website Best Education Sites. It is very interesting and has a tons of information. It shows how colleges use the web and how they are even using Facebook, Twitter, and other social media like You Tube in their marketing strategies.Some colleges are more successful then others with the use of social media. The top ranked schools academically are also the schools with the best web presence. I think that the internet is a very powerful tool and the colleges that make the most use of that tool will lead the way in education. They will also be able to provide prospective students with valuable information. In my second comment that I left for Mr. Tabor I said that I thought that the use of Twitter, Facebook and the internet in general was a very productive tool for colleges and universities. I also told them that I thought that a college's website can be very helpful for students.