WebQuest Part 4

What? In class we worked more on our WebQuest's. We also learned about how we can use creativecommons.org to give permission for others to use or not use the work we create and put on the internet.

So What? I think the Creative Commons is a really good thing to know about because it protects us and those using our materials to not get sued. It lets people know whether or not they can use or change the information you put out on the internet. We can use Creative Commons licenses on all of the things we are creating right now while we still taking classes and learning about the new technologies and ways to teach using online resources.

While working on the WebQuest in class, it really started to come together more and it's really starting to turn into something that could actually be used in a classroom. I've learned a lot more about power point as I've watched and helped my teammates put together our presentation. I have not done much with power point presentations before. This is really helpful because I can use it in many other classes and not just this technology class. I can use it to create presentations for other classes or for when I'm doing field experience in March.

Now What? Using Creative Commons licenses in the future will be really helpful because I will probably create a lot of different things for students online throughout the years I'm teaching. I will also pull a lot of different activities from the internet that others have created and use them. If they have a Creative Commons license I will easily be able to tell if I'm allowed to use those activities and whether or not I can change them.

Knowing how to power point in my future classroom will be really helpful because I can create many different class presentations and games on power point to help engage my students visually. I can place links into the power point so I can show video and music clips in class and I can also use hyperlinks to create interactive games and activities for my students to participate in. I can also use power point to make WebQuest's and other interactive activities and assignments for my students to use and work on at home.

Video: I think the Schoolhouse Rock videos are a very good way to help kids understand and remember parts of speech. I think it's fun to use variety in teaching and I will use Schoolhouse Rock to help emphasize nouns, verbs, etc. Using a song and a video is a creative way to help students remember concepts learned in class because it's showing them in a different way then if you just read the definition or have the circle the nouns in a paragraph. When they have trouble remembering something the songs might help them to remember differences, for example the difference between a noun and a pronoun.

WebQuest Part 3

What? We didn't have class on Friday but Kiyna, Erica and I met in the computer lab anyway to work on our WebQuest. We decided from the websites we'd found the week before which ones we would include in the WebQuest and in what order.

So What? I think the information we found on Friday could definitely apply when we do our field work in March. If the teacher has a teach anything about World War 2 to the students, we will be able to use information from the websites we found and hopefully even have the students do our whole WebQuest. I think they will have fun learning the information in a new way.

Even if we don't teach this exact topic during field, we will know how to develop WebQuest's if we choose to do something similar when we teach. We could adjust the information to it applies to what the teacher wants us to teach. I think that it also gives us a better idea of different activities and websites we could go to to find information and activities that will interest the students and not just give them worksheets to do.

Now What? While we were researching information about World War 2, we found some really interesting websites that I think students would find really interesting. I found an interactive house from that time period. The student can click on a room in the house and then different objects in the room and it tells about them. For example, there are heavy curtains called black out curtains in the rooms so that they can shield out all the light during night air raids so the enemy couldn't see light coming from their houses and find the target. I think it is an interesting way to get students interested and involved in learning about the topic. Once they are interested, it will be easier to get them to learn from the lesson and not be bored.

I could use a lot of the websites that we found on Friday in my future classroom to get students interested and engaged in the learning process. Most students now days are used to using technology, computers, and the internet on a daily basis and I could use internet websites to help get the students interested in school and the topics we are covering in class. I think reading some of the information online would be more interesting to them than just reading it all from a textbook.

Video: I liked the video and I thought it was very interesting. I think it's important that we remember that we are not preparing our students the same way that teachers have done in the past. We are trying to prepare them for today's world of advanced technology. We need to remember during all of our lessons as teachers what are goal is and what we want are students to be prepared for when they leave the classroom.

WebQuest Part 2

What? Friday in class we started working on our WebQuest. Kiyna started putting together the Power Point while Erica and I researched information on World War 2 and found interesting things we could include in the WebQuest.

So What? I think that working in groups is a good way to help us learn how to work together to create something that can be used for teaching. When I work with my group it helps me get more ideas than just my own. If I get stuck usually someone in my group has an idea to keep us going or if I have an idea, they can help me build on that idea to make it better and/or more realistic. I like being able to bounce ideas off the people in my group instead of just trying to think up and figure out everything on my own.

Making the Webquest has went a lot quicker with the group than it would on my own because with two people looking up information, and one person putting it all together, it goes a lot faster than if I had to look up all the information and then try to fit it all into the WebQuest. Erica found websites that I wouldn't have found and Kiyna knows how to do power point better than I do so she was able to figure out color schemes and putting the links in more quickly than I would have been able to.

Now What? Working with my group will help me as a teacher because I will be better able to work with other teachers to come up with things to help the kids learn. I will be more willing to listen to the advice of others and go out of my comfort zone to try that advice to see what works best for my students. I think webquests are a good thing to learn to work together on because other teachers will know of good websites and activities to include in the webquest so I won't have to spend so much time searching the internet for appropriate sites. Also, I will be able to help the other teachers save time with the websites I already know about.

I think my future students will really enjoy doing webquest's as something different from their regular assignments. It will also be more fun for them than just searching for the information on Google. It will be safer than Google because I've already researched the websites and made sure they are appropriate for kids and contain accurate and reliable information.

Video: I think it's interesting how much technology is starting to have an influence in the classroom. Most teachers wouldn't think websites like Facebook and Twitter would have place in the classroom and they would punish students for using those websites in the classroom. I think it's important to work with kids what they are already interested in instead of working against that. On the other hand, I also think that technology can be overused in the classroom. Students need to be able to work with their hands and create things and not just type things up all the time. Studies show that if you hand write something down, it's more likely to stay in your long term memory. I think there is a balance, that technology definitely should be available and used in the classroom, but hands on assignments should also be encouraged.

WebQuest Part 1

What? In class we learned about making WebQuest's. We watched videos and looked at examples. We divided into groups and began working on our WebQuest's.

So What? I think WebQuest's are a good thing to learn how to make and use. They are a good way to get students learning in a different way that is more fun than just reading a text book. My classmates and I could use
WebQuest's when we do our field work in March to help teach Social Studies in a way that would interest 4-6th graders.

Knowing how to find WebQuest's could also be very helpful. If I didn't want to make my own or wanted to get some good ideas for making one I could find a variety of WebQuest's online at all different grade levels to help me get ideas. I like that the WebQuest's are interactive and gets thinking and using more thought and not just reading the information. I could use my classmates to get ideas of activities and questions I could ask on the Webquest's so that my students are not just regurgitating information that they'll forget in 2 weeks. WebQuest's can help them remember the information longer because they learn it in a different way.

Now What? Using WebQuest's will give my students something fun and different to do so they will want to learn the information. I could design a WebQuest about any topic my students are learning about-history, current events, reading, etc. I could also create WebQuest's that they could work on with a partner or in groups. This way, they would learn to work together as a team to find out information.

Webquest's would also help limit where the students went on the internet to find their information and limit the chances of them coming across a website that might not be appropriate for them to see. With the Webquest I would have to check and make sure every website was appropriate. This way, the students would feel like they were finding things out from the internet on their own, but using guidelines to keep them safe while online.

I'm excited to get better at making WebQuest's because I feel that my students will really enjoy them if I make them fun and not too lengthy and difficult. I think they will feel like they are actually involved in the learning process and not just being told "read this", "remember that", "learn this and that". They will feel like they are actually finding some of the information on their own and have more control over their education.

Video: I think it's so interesting all of the things are they are coming up with in technology. There are so many new technologies coming out, it's hard to keep up. There would be so many possibilities as a teacher to have one of the interactive touch computers they had on the wall in the video. You could teach lessons, zooming in on maps, showing videos and pictures, etc. right from the screen, as if it were the white board. Or if students had one built into their desks they could easily have a more interactive classroom and learn from more than just the teacher.

My Beliefs

I think that it is important to use technology in the classroom. It is a very useful tool and can open up so many more possibilities of ways to help students learn then by simply using traditional methods of text books, paper and pencil, etc. I think that we need to integrate technology into the classroom because our society is so focused on technology. If you can't use a computer, almost any job is going to be harder for you. The kids of today know about technology and we need to use what they know to teach them. I also think it's important to use other methods besides technology to teach. We can't focus so much on computers that we forget to use things that get the kids out of their seats and moving such as dance and art and drama. I think it's important to have kids work with there hands as much as possible and not assign things that will have them sitting at the computer all day.

Lessons Learned

As I was watching the videos and reading the articles I started to realize more and more how much of an influence technology has on our society and particularly how much kids use it. When I was young, we didn't have the technology that kids have today. I didn't have a cell phone or the internet. When I wrote a report I used an encyclopedia. Now days students have limitless access to information for reports and learning just by typing in a few words. They are coming out with so many new resources and technologies now days that it's important to keep up.

I thought that article about "Teens See Disconnect Between Personal and School Writing" was very interesting. It talked about how teens think of the writing they do for school and the writing they do for email, texting, etc. as being very different. In texting we use a lot of abbreviations and no one worries about punctuation or spelling. When we write emails we are probably a little more accurate. But when it comes to writing a paper, punctuation and spelling are suddenly important again. I personally think that the abbreviations and lack of punctuation is fine so long as the students actually do know how to write well for a paper.

Strengths and Weaknesses

I noticed that I wasn't very strong in any of the areas according to the standards they set up. I never made it past the apprentice stage. Two of the things that I am a pre-novice on are video conferencing and spreadsheets. I realized I don't know hardly anything about either one. Some of my strengths were using the web for information, using audio/visual resources, using internet and email, and using a word processing application.

I would like to learn more about all of the tools that the uni surveys and net standards talked about. My goal is to pick one of the items that I was a pre-novice or novice at each month and research and learn more about it and attempt using it to create lesson plans, activities for my students, etc.

This website will help me to learn about video conferencing and how to use it: http://www.mvldesign.com/video_conference_tutorial.html

This is an online to tutorial to help me learn about spreadsheets: http://people.usd.edu/~bwjames/tut/excel/1.html