Sam and Lauren presented on chapter 10 and provided us with information based on assessment. I am still uncertain though, about using certain aspects of technology assessment with younger children. The idea of online rubrics is very useful and I will definitely use the sources that my peers provided (when I actually do use rubrics). The girls made a good point when they said we shouldn't use "pre-made" rubrics because they will not exactly match the material we've been teaching. I hope my future school has "clickers" because I would love completing some assessments with them! Ultimately, our goal is to make sure the assessments we create are authentic.
I'm getting a bit nervous about the inquiry project, time to get moving!
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Chapter 10: Assessing with technology...
Performing assessments in the classroom can sometimes be a difficult talk. There is always the question of individual or group assessment, written or verbal, etc. Throughout this semester I have learned about different tools and ways teachers can conduct assessments with technologies. Some examples are online surveys, using clickers, or having students take online quizzes.
A couple different types of assessments described in the chapter are authentic and performance based. Our evaluations should be original, and engaging to create "meaningful experiences" (p. 218). It is important to make sure tests or other forms of assessments are based on things we have taught in the class. It would be unfair/non-beneficial to assess students on things that are not taught. I have experienced this in several of my classes at the University of Florida and it is very frustrating. Performance assessments is fairly self-explanatory. Teachers have students perform tasks based on what they learned; this could be useful for things such as science experiments.
How does his tie in with technology? One huge positive reason to use technology for assessment is because a computer can store and help organize large amounts of data. It also allows teachers to view assignments and give feedback more quickly (most likely). However, one concern I have is what if your classroom only has six computers? It would be somewhat annoying to have students take tests or quizzes at different times.
The idea of electronic portfolios really interests me. As the students complete online work over the semester, they could store it in on online folder so at the end of the semester all the work is compiled. These portfolios can include things from presentations to video clips. I'm trying to think of how I could use this in a young elementary classroom (K-2). I am interested to hear my peers talk about this chapter today to see if they have any ideas and more resources!
A couple different types of assessments described in the chapter are authentic and performance based. Our evaluations should be original, and engaging to create "meaningful experiences" (p. 218). It is important to make sure tests or other forms of assessments are based on things we have taught in the class. It would be unfair/non-beneficial to assess students on things that are not taught. I have experienced this in several of my classes at the University of Florida and it is very frustrating. Performance assessments is fairly self-explanatory. Teachers have students perform tasks based on what they learned; this could be useful for things such as science experiments.
How does his tie in with technology? One huge positive reason to use technology for assessment is because a computer can store and help organize large amounts of data. It also allows teachers to view assignments and give feedback more quickly (most likely). However, one concern I have is what if your classroom only has six computers? It would be somewhat annoying to have students take tests or quizzes at different times.
The idea of electronic portfolios really interests me. As the students complete online work over the semester, they could store it in on online folder so at the end of the semester all the work is compiled. These portfolios can include things from presentations to video clips. I'm trying to think of how I could use this in a young elementary classroom (K-2). I am interested to hear my peers talk about this chapter today to see if they have any ideas and more resources!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
presentation day...
Today Christin, Neil, and myself presented on chapter 9. I really liked this chapter and feel like I will use many of the tools we found in the future. Overall, I think the presentation went well. I enjoyed finding different visual tools to use in the classroom (and I included our glogster in case you are interested in viewing any of the tools)! We received great feedback from Jeff and our peers which was very encouraging. I love presenting in classes because it's great practice for my future!
Jess introduced dweeber as her cool tool. This is a social site where students can connect with their peers to talk about homework, have study sessions, etc. As Jess said, young students cannot easily meet with their friends (unless parent's take them somewhere). This website would be a good way for them to collaborate and ask questions. However, there are limitations to this site such as potential cheating or not having any friends on the site.
Another cool tool I think would be useful was GoogleLitTrips. Katie introduced this website and showed us you can map different events and historical places. She mentioned that they are not many books in the archive so teachers could create their own or older students could also create trips based on books they are reading.
Sextexting. This was Neil's contemporary issue and a topic that I think is extremely disgusting. It is sad to me that young children (and older people who should know better) are sending this inappropriate text pictures. I truly wonder why someone would want to do this but I suppose it's an issue we, as future teachers, need to be aware of. I hope that I will never have a student who decides to "sext" but if I do I need to understand how to handle the situation.
Time to finish our stop animation! :)
Jess introduced dweeber as her cool tool. This is a social site where students can connect with their peers to talk about homework, have study sessions, etc. As Jess said, young students cannot easily meet with their friends (unless parent's take them somewhere). This website would be a good way for them to collaborate and ask questions. However, there are limitations to this site such as potential cheating or not having any friends on the site.
Another cool tool I think would be useful was GoogleLitTrips. Katie introduced this website and showed us you can map different events and historical places. She mentioned that they are not many books in the archive so teachers could create their own or older students could also create trips based on books they are reading.
Sextexting. This was Neil's contemporary issue and a topic that I think is extremely disgusting. It is sad to me that young children (and older people who should know better) are sending this inappropriate text pictures. I truly wonder why someone would want to do this but I suppose it's an issue we, as future teachers, need to be aware of. I hope that I will never have a student who decides to "sext" but if I do I need to understand how to handle the situation.
Time to finish our stop animation! :)
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
New thoughts...
In class I learned even more about designing with technologies and how I could use different designing tools in the classroom. If students are interested in math, science, and design they would probably love using the architecture tools. I think every student would love designing on RollerCoasterTycoon. CreatingMusic is a tool that would be great for students to practice their musical talents and learn how to "create" music.
Skype was the cool tool Sarah presented. It was so cool to "meet" her mom through this technological tool and she shared an idea on how we can take students on virtual field trips. I also enjoyed learning about TalkShoe and it's many capabilities. TalkShoe allows you to have virtual conversations with others who have a talkshoe account. I liked the "Free English Corner" talk cast and think that it would be useful for English Language Learners. LiveMocha was definitely my favorite cool tool shown today. I am going to Paris in the fall and do not know much French, so hopefully this tool can help me learn some before I head there in 4 weeks :). Students could also use this site to practice their English skills.
Andy shared a contemporary issue on online dating. I have never been a fan of meeting people this way, but I know many people have feel in love with someone they met on the internet. Like she said, people need to be careful about their information (money, etc.) when meeting people over the internet. In reality, you could meet someone in person who is a scam artist but at least you can see them and talk to them face-to-face rather than communicating through the internet. We just need to make sure we are careful in every situation to promote our safety! There are crazy people in this world and we could meet them in person or on the internet.
I'm excited to go work on our stop-animation! Be on the lookout for our video!
Skype was the cool tool Sarah presented. It was so cool to "meet" her mom through this technological tool and she shared an idea on how we can take students on virtual field trips. I also enjoyed learning about TalkShoe and it's many capabilities. TalkShoe allows you to have virtual conversations with others who have a talkshoe account. I liked the "Free English Corner" talk cast and think that it would be useful for English Language Learners. LiveMocha was definitely my favorite cool tool shown today. I am going to Paris in the fall and do not know much French, so hopefully this tool can help me learn some before I head there in 4 weeks :). Students could also use this site to practice their English skills.
Andy shared a contemporary issue on online dating. I have never been a fan of meeting people this way, but I know many people have feel in love with someone they met on the internet. Like she said, people need to be careful about their information (money, etc.) when meeting people over the internet. In reality, you could meet someone in person who is a scam artist but at least you can see them and talk to them face-to-face rather than communicating through the internet. We just need to make sure we are careful in every situation to promote our safety! There are crazy people in this world and we could meet them in person or on the internet.
I'm excited to go work on our stop-animation! Be on the lookout for our video!
Designing with Technologies...
When I think about designing with technology I instantly think of graphic design or something along those lines. Even though that is one form of design, there are many other types that I learned about through this chapter. In reality, if I didn't pursue a degree in Elementary Education, I would have majored in interior or fashion design. The problem, however, is that I can not draw that well, but thankfully technology helps me in that area :).
The CAD program sounds pretty interesting and useful (must be since it was created in 1960 and still used today!). People can use this as a "virtual drafting table" (p. 171). I think it is so cool they can use this tool to view and rotate objects on the screen, zoom in and out, and help produce final drawings.
One of my good friends is in architectural design and he has showed me several of the computer tools they use. The SkethUp program seems like a neat tool because you can create virtual buildings and houses! This is very helpful if someone is trying to create a large development or shopping complex because then they could see what everything will look like before it is actually built. It would definitely be better to make changes before the place is actually built.
Since I love music and love to sing, the music composition software caught my eye. I have played with a few tools like this and think it is really cool and useful to develop songs and scores on the computer as well as create sheet music. I think the Impromptu program sounds useful as it allows you to keep a running log of music are you are working.
The CAD program sounds pretty interesting and useful (must be since it was created in 1960 and still used today!). People can use this as a "virtual drafting table" (p. 171). I think it is so cool they can use this tool to view and rotate objects on the screen, zoom in and out, and help produce final drawings.
One of my good friends is in architectural design and he has showed me several of the computer tools they use. The SkethUp program seems like a neat tool because you can create virtual buildings and houses! This is very helpful if someone is trying to create a large development or shopping complex because then they could see what everything will look like before it is actually built. It would definitely be better to make changes before the place is actually built.
Since I love music and love to sing, the music composition software caught my eye. I have played with a few tools like this and think it is really cool and useful to develop songs and scores on the computer as well as create sheet music. I think the Impromptu program sounds useful as it allows you to keep a running log of music are you are working.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Birthday Week...
Today we ended our showing of digital autobiographies. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about my peers through pictures. Pictures are something I cherish and love looking at and I think I will show presentations about myself in the future to introduce myself to students. Speaking of pictures, I celebrated my 21st birthday this week and here is a picture from my birthday celebration. :)
Chapter 7 was an interesting read and the two girls did a fabulous job presenting the chapter in class. They provided so many resources that can be useful to use in our classrooms. I want to go back and look through the resources because I felt like i did not have time to explore any of the websites. I thought the assessment was pretty cool and fun. Using video-conferencing in the classroom is something I hope to do because you can connect with so many different people in different parts of the world. The video they showed at the beginning of the presentation was eye opening and showed how much technology is actually used today. Videos such as that one and others that are similar always grab my attention and really interests me.
Sarah brought up an interesting contemporary issue that I often think about: the growing rate of childhood obesity. The benefits of technology are very great and I do not believe we should "choose" playing outside or being active over letting children play with technological resources but rather create a balanced lifestyle for our children. We cannot blame just media for the obesity problem because there are many other factors that contribute (the food we eat, etc.).
A cool tool that I particularly liked today was DrawAnywhere. This is a site where people can create diagrams, flowcharts, concepts maps, and classroom setups. I also like the fact that you can upload your own photos for your charts or diagrams (but is not available in the free version, of course!). Another tool introduced, WooMe, is a site that I don't think I will be visiting in the future! It seems like a very sketchy resource and I would not let my students or children use this site. I liked how Jeff tried to justify his adding this cool tool to the list :) But it just goes to show how quickly things can change!
Communicating with Technologies...
Over the last few years of my life, the way I communicate has drastically changed. There are definitely pros and cons to this change. I went from talking in person, to AIM, to texting and facebooking. Through all this change, I have tried to maintain face to face relationships with people (which is almost harder these days). Students in the future will probably have even more technology so I can't imagine how they are going to communicate. I agree with the book when it says that students can use multiple technologies at the same time. If you were to watch students for an entire day, you would probably be extremely surprised by the amount of technology they use and the time they spend with technology.
Since students are so used to multitasking with technologies, how are we going to keep them interested and engaged in the classroom? One way teachers can use communicating with technologies is through discussion boards. This is a way for students to share information and learn from each other. The book mentions that through online forums, there is no "race, gender, age, and no infirmities-only minds: people talking to people" (p. 141). That statement is very true and I agree those things can sometimes cause issues in the classroom, but what about students who do not use grammar correctly or do not write well? Those students might be scared to discuss through online forums. This issue is addressed later on in the chapter and suggests that teachers should give students opportunities to communicate in person and learn how to have actual conversations first before introducing them to online discussion boards.
Other forms of online communicating include things such as chatting on the internet (AIM instant messaging, Facebook chat) and videoconferencing with others. Videoconferencing on resources such as Skype is a great way to connect with others who are not in the same area or are in different parts of the world.
Communication is such a huge part of everyone's life and it is interesting to read and learn about the different ways people can communicate. If we were thought about the way we communicate on a daily basis, I guarantee at least 50 percent of our communication would be through technology. Is that a good or bad thing?
Since students are so used to multitasking with technologies, how are we going to keep them interested and engaged in the classroom? One way teachers can use communicating with technologies is through discussion boards. This is a way for students to share information and learn from each other. The book mentions that through online forums, there is no "race, gender, age, and no infirmities-only minds: people talking to people" (p. 141). That statement is very true and I agree those things can sometimes cause issues in the classroom, but what about students who do not use grammar correctly or do not write well? Those students might be scared to discuss through online forums. This issue is addressed later on in the chapter and suggests that teachers should give students opportunities to communicate in person and learn how to have actual conversations first before introducing them to online discussion boards.
Other forms of online communicating include things such as chatting on the internet (AIM instant messaging, Facebook chat) and videoconferencing with others. Videoconferencing on resources such as Skype is a great way to connect with others who are not in the same area or are in different parts of the world.
Communication is such a huge part of everyone's life and it is interesting to read and learn about the different ways people can communicate. If we were thought about the way we communicate on a daily basis, I guarantee at least 50 percent of our communication would be through technology. Is that a good or bad thing?
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