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FINAL BLOG: WOW! I THINK I MADE IT!
When I registered for this class, I was honestly a little worried. I am not great with technology and I did not if taking this class online would be the greatest idea. I was a little scared I would not get the explanation I needed on things. I also had taken the class for a few weeks in a previous semester but I dropped the course because I was not understanding much. It was as if we were given assignments to figure out on our own so before I got a bad grade I decided it might be better to take the class at another time. I was actually advised not to take this course online during Jan Term because I had such a hard time before but I am so glad I did not listen.
I learned so much this month and I am so happy that I made the tough decision to stick with it. I feel like directions were so clear for the assignments and weekly modules, and I rarely found myself really confused. I was able to figure things out and complete assignments with confidence. I now feel so much more comfortable with the developing technology in education.
As far as the course goals set for us, I feel like I met all of them to the best of my ability.I believe that throughout my assignments, I demonstrated my understanding by the quality of my work. Sure I might have had some mistakes but my overall presentations of my work was pretty good I think. My wiki assignments, cool tool assignment, screencasts, and other assignments using technology demonstrate my full understanding.
ePortfolios
Now that I actually know what an ePortfolio is, I think they are so cool and also very beneficial. As I started my education at University of La Verne in the Liberal Studies programs, I really did not like learning about how technology is making this break through in today’s generation of education. I wanted for education to remain how it was before which is the way education was when I was younger. I liked pencils and paper rather than the computer. For me, i just feel like I got so much out of it.
As I went through the program, I started to see how technology can benefit the education system today. I started to learn about ePortfolios in other classes and found them to be very helpful in the future. When creating an ePortfolio for myself, I was able to compile all of my important documents from certain classes that I know will be of help in the future for my career. I like knowing that I will be able to go back one day to use handouts or assignments to remember ideas and thoughts that I had in college. All of my classes had a great things to offer, but unfortunately I do not know if I will be to remember every tiny detail. I also think, that when applying for jobs, they employers will be able to use my ePortfolio for references. They can see what kind of worker I am and what kind of teacher I can be.
Social Media
As technology continues to grow today, more applications are being created for consumers to download through their laptops and phones. This applications include more and more social media sites that connect people in new a creative ways. Some examples of social media are Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest, and Facebook. The list goes on as do the creations of these types of technology, and it is crazy to think of what they might create next.
I personally do multiple accounts of social media, all which are the ones I listed above. I do enjoy using them and exploring through them. They are a fun way to stay connected with people from throughout the years. I like being able to share cool things going on in my life with still remaining private about the things that should be.
As far as the impact it has on education, I am not sure that there is much. Sure pages can be created through any of these apps to be especially for education, it is just not something I see often. Pinterest may be the only site that really has numerous pages devoted specifically to education. More than likely, one can search for something in relation to education and find something of the topic.
The impact social media has on culture is tremendous. I feel like the younger generations are growing up way too fast because they are trying to keep up with what is today’s pop culture. Social media just gives them a closer connection to what their favorite celebrities are wearing and doing.
Project-Based Learning
I think Project-Based Learning is a work in progress. I believe it has so much to offer, but I do not know if we are quite there yet with it. Perhaps it needs a bit more developing to really be inserted into the curriculum today. As far as college students using it, it has numerous benefits for us in communication with our professors. We get to use to explain projects or assignments we have done, presentations, and much more. Professors often use it to explain how they would like something done or simply just how to do it. As far as the K-12 curriculum, I do not see it being utilized as much. I have two nephews and one niece in 5th, 6th, and 7th, grade and it seems that they are still learning the way I did. The way I learned is still very traditional I would say with a pencil and paper. Yes, I used technology as I grew up but only for Microsoft Word to write a paper.
I do think there are multiple advantages if PBL was inserted to the curriculum today. Students can collaborate and communicate online as we do in college. However, I do see a few disadvantages in PBL. I am a firm believer in all students should have equal opportunity in their education but unfortunately we do not live in a perfect world. I don’t think that all students will be in a school where technology will affordable both in the district or in the home. I just am scared to see those students fall a little behind.
Screencasting
I think Screencasting is one of the greatest and beneficial tools in technology today. It has brought so much to education already, and I can only imagine what it will continue to do in the future as it develops further. As for my own experiences with Screencasting, I absolutely hated it at first. I was not for it simply because I was not a fan of technology and how it is taking over. I believed in the old school route of education where things should be done on paper. I thought there was nothing better until I started to explore what all this new technology had to offer to education. Immediately I recognized numerous benefits to using Jing and SnagIt.
One educational use it has is using it to explain something or anything. A teacher can record themselves explaining how to do a project or assignment to their students. Another use it for students to use it to present a project. They can Screencast them self through a Power Point they have created and there you have a presentation as you would have in person. Another great use for Screencasting is simply for teachers to create further help for students at home. Once they recognize that some students need more practice with a subject at home, they can create a screencast of how to solve certain math problems, or how to edit a sentence for proper grammar and structure. With all these new developments in technology the possibilities are endless in education.
Below is a brief video of how to use a Screencast.
Jing is my favorite Screencast app.
Wikis
Wikis are just another development by technology today that is going to help education in so many ways. Wikis are a great implementation into the system today and I cannot wait to see Wikis alone progress in new ways in the near and far future. Wikis are used for so many things by students. They leave the content of a webpage to be never ending. Students can use them to develop new ideas, learn about any concept, change what it may have to say about a concept, and so much more. The greatest thing of all I believe is the interaction they can get from so many different people. They can exchange thoughts and idea about whatever their Wiki is based on and really get a feel for it from other peoples’ points of views. Ways they can be used in class are simple. It can help make group assignments and projects easier. Instead of meeting in person which is hard sometimes, they can meet online and answer and edit each other’s work which is great. Ways Wikis have been implanted into my classes have been when our teacher asked us to answer the same questions. One person would add a thought, and then each of the group would just add more to what they had to say as they would answer the question. Then, at the end of it all we had this great answer to the assigned question that covered every possible solution. Wikis are great for the education system today.
Sugata Mitra
I find Sugata Mitra’s argument about the way he believes children can learn is absolutely fantastic. I believe in almost everything he has to say about it. Sometimes I believe education is way too structured. Students are told too much what they have to do and what they have to learn to progress, and I find it ridiculous. On the other hand, when students do something that they really enjoy, they interested and eager to learn more. Yes, I do believe there are things that have to be taught, and some things are more interesting than others especially to younger students in their education, but I think there are also a lot of concepts that are sort of unnecessary. I believe that students should learn about what they want to learn, and a lot of that is the concept of technology that is constantly developing in this generation. A student’s eagerness makes their learning abilities limitless. Leaving them to explore on a computer by themselves can have them learning new things. In education, I think we should implement more options or more electives as we call it. Students should not have to be forced to take the same class and subjects, especially when it is their fun class. The education system should fund money for more classes that students will want to be in, and they should have the students speak for themselves when it comes to creating these new classes such as computer classes where the get to explore.
Informational Text: Lincoln: A Photobiography
Bibliographic Information:
Freedman, R. (1987). Lincoln: A Photobiography. New York: Clarion Books. Photobiography. Ages 10-12.
Response:
When I first saw that this was the assigned book for my group, I was not very enthused to read it. I’m not going to lie, I was not at all interested in learning more about Abraham Lincoln that I already have throughout my education. I personally just never enjoyed US history and simply just learned the exact facts I needed to know to get by. Once I began this photobiography, it actually was not what I dreaded it to be. I learned so much about Lincoln’s life, and I definitely think this book will put him in a different perspective for people and kids when they first learn about him.
When I was younger, books and even teachers always portrayed Lincoln as bad. He had his own slaves, and of course, slavery is bad. Slavery itself made one of our US presidents look as a terrible person because we learned about him in modern time where it is illegal and just wrong all together. One thing I took away from this book is that he wasn’t even for slavery to begin with, and I think that just puts him in a better light.
Other than learning all this additional information about Lincoln growing up, the struggles he overcame throughout it, and his assassination, what I thought was very cool was the fact that this was a photobiography. I liked being able to look at all the pictures and make connections with the text rather than not knowing if what I’m imagining in my head is what’s really going on. I’ve definitely looked at various pictures books growing up but never was it a book with real information other than a boring textbook.
Critique:
The book, Lincoln: A Photobigraphy is told by the author Russell Freedman himself in third person. Written in the style of a photobiography, this book takes place throughout all of Lincoln’s life. It begins from him being a little boy, to when he was president, to being assassinated in the 1800s. I would say the plot of this book occurred during the time of him being elected as president and dealing with slavery. As far as the theme, I was just say it’s life. I know that’s very broad, but it’s all the things a person will go through in life such as the struggles and hardships.
Lesson:
The lesson of this story is just the background of an important man in our US history. He was a US president and learning about them is essential in a student’s education. He was the man who abolished slavery with Emancipation Proclamation and that was a big point in history. Another universal lesson is just always to keep your strength throughout any hardships.
Discussion Questions:
- What is some completely new that you learned about Abraham Lincoln?
- What do you think Lincoln’s hardest obstacle in his life was?
Activity:
Students will find a picture of Abraham Lincoln in the book that they like the most and though given the text of what is happening, they will write a paragraph of the emotions and feelings Lincoln is experiencing.
Other Resources:
http://edhelper.com/books/Lincoln_A_Photobiography.htm
http://www.colchesterct.org/uploaded/Curriculum/Lincoln_lesson_from_Nancy_Boyles.pdf
Graphic Novel: A Game for Swallows by Zeina Abirached
A Game for Swallows: To Die, To Leave, To Return by Zeina Abirached
Bibliographic Information:
Abirached, Z. (2012). A Game for Swallows: To Die, To Leave, To Return. Minneapolis: Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. Ages 11-16.
Response:
In A Game for Swallows, the book is about a war in Lebanon and a particular family stuck living it in. Zeina, her younger brother, and her parents are only family that have unfortunately found themselves living in discomfort. They can’t walk to the store, around the neighborhood, and their parents had to create a choreographed path over two blocks to see the kid’s grandparents.
To be completely honest, I was not really able to get into this book. I found myself constantly losing focus and had reread parts over and over. It was hard to process anything going on because I just was not into it. On top of that, the book was kind of hard to follow along. On one particular page, there was a conversation going on where I had to first figure out the order of it for me to read it. When reading a book, I like structure and organization. I guess I just didn’t like the way this one was put together. For me, it’s hard to really pay attention to a book when you can’t find any connection to it. I could not really connect to the characters or the story being told. This may have been because one of two things. It was either because a graphic novel is not what I would pick up to read, and the story is about a war.
Critique:
This story is told through the eyes of a young girl named Zeina. It takes place in the middle of war in Lebanon, specifically in the family’s foyer of their home, where they say it’s the only safe place left. The plot of the story is the family, along with other families from the neighborhood just trying to stay safe both before and after they find themselves caught in finding a place to do so. It is written in the form of a graphic novel with all black and white pictures. It particularly reminded me of reading a comic book. I think the theme of the story was family and friendship. This small community comes together during the war because they are all each other have.
Lesson:
The lesson of this story is to just realize how important the relationships between your family and friends really are. Without people that love and care for you, you’re not going to really succeed and really feel safe.
Discussion Questions:
- Do you prefer a graphic novel over a regular novel or the other way around?
- Do you know anyone who has experience war? Did they fight in a war or live in it?
Activity:
Students will draw their own scene in the book, along with a conversation between any two characters in the story.
Other Resources:
http://www.pinterest.com/adamsbookco/classroom-graphic-novels/
http://www.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?tid=31642&a=1
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/book/game-swallows#cart/cleanup
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