This week we learned how to create screencasts in class and used a website called Screenr. I chose to make a screencast over how to edit photos online, using a favorite website called Picnik. I love editing photos and use this quick and easy website quite frequently!
Monday, March 29, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Life in 3D
This week for class we watched a video from the K12 Online Conference called Orientation in Second Life. This video gave new users tips on how to make their own avatars.
Alan Hudson is a senior lecturer at London Metropolitan University who uses the program Second Life as an enjoyable way to help students learn. However, he and other lecturers see problems when new users become easily confused when entering the virtual world. They have introduced several interactive tools and volunteer helpers to enable new users to gain confidence in this new learning environment.
I must admit that I have very little education on virtual sites and avatars. This video was interesting for me because it helped me gain some insight into this world that I know so little about.
I think programs like Second Life may become more popular in the future, especially in areas of educational tools. I come from a small rural school, and had never heard of this alternative. However, I do see these becoming more popular in the future. I personally don't know that I would use this in my classroom-mainly because of my lack of knowledge and expertise. I think if I knew more about this then I would be more likely to integrate it into my classroom.
Alan Hudson is a senior lecturer at London Metropolitan University who uses the program Second Life as an enjoyable way to help students learn. However, he and other lecturers see problems when new users become easily confused when entering the virtual world. They have introduced several interactive tools and volunteer helpers to enable new users to gain confidence in this new learning environment.
I must admit that I have very little education on virtual sites and avatars. This video was interesting for me because it helped me gain some insight into this world that I know so little about.
I think programs like Second Life may become more popular in the future, especially in areas of educational tools. I come from a small rural school, and had never heard of this alternative. However, I do see these becoming more popular in the future. I personally don't know that I would use this in my classroom-mainly because of my lack of knowledge and expertise. I think if I knew more about this then I would be more likely to integrate it into my classroom.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Summer Break Plans?
What are your summer break plans? This week in class, I learned how to create an online survey. I chose to poll others about their summer options. Take my survey and answer questions about what you will do THIS SUMMER.
This assignment was very interesting to me! I thought it was really neat to be able to do this. I even posted my survey to my Twitter account to gain some more feedback. My results showed that 3 out of 5 people will be away for most of their break and 5 out of 5 will have a job over the break. It was fun to see my results and hear others' opinions.
This assignment was very interesting to me! I thought it was really neat to be able to do this. I even posted my survey to my Twitter account to gain some more feedback. My results showed that 3 out of 5 people will be away for most of their break and 5 out of 5 will have a job over the break. It was fun to see my results and hear others' opinions.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Sam's Second Life
Sam, a 13-year-old girl from Illinois, spends nearly 12 hours on her computer when she isn't at school. No wonder she claims digital media is her second life! She highlights her passion for technology on her Edutopia Digital Youth Portrait Video.
Sam spends her time using a wide variety of technology-the computer, phone, ipod, video cameras, digital cameras, and video games are just to name a few. Her parents and teachers say that this passion has enabled her to learn many life skills and gain useful knowledge. Sam truly uses technology to benefit her everyday life. She uses her cell phone for communication and alarms, videos and text messaging as a form of communication, and her computer skills to help others learn.
From this video (and others we have watched in this class), I have learned to embrace technology. I think our society sometimes views becoming overly indulged in the technology world as negative. However, I have learned that digital media is something that can make my life easier-and that it's okay to take advantage of them!
As a future teacher, I want to help my students understand the importance and benefit of technology in their lives. I want to learn from them and give them adequate opportunities to use technology within my classroom. I think this fosters creativity and allows students to make learning more relatable to them.
Sam spends her time using a wide variety of technology-the computer, phone, ipod, video cameras, digital cameras, and video games are just to name a few. Her parents and teachers say that this passion has enabled her to learn many life skills and gain useful knowledge. Sam truly uses technology to benefit her everyday life. She uses her cell phone for communication and alarms, videos and text messaging as a form of communication, and her computer skills to help others learn.
From this video (and others we have watched in this class), I have learned to embrace technology. I think our society sometimes views becoming overly indulged in the technology world as negative. However, I have learned that digital media is something that can make my life easier-and that it's okay to take advantage of them!
As a future teacher, I want to help my students understand the importance and benefit of technology in their lives. I want to learn from them and give them adequate opportunities to use technology within my classroom. I think this fosters creativity and allows students to make learning more relatable to them.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Wiki-world: Creative collaboration
This week in class, I watched a video over wikis and their usefulness within the classroom. Wikis can provide great collaboration and interaction among students. Paula White's video, Parallel Play or Collaboration–Leveraging the Wiki Platform for High Quality Work highlights the benefits of using a wiki within the classroom to promote student collaboration.
This video gave me a little more insight on wiki's. I must admit, I was a little confused about just what a wiki was... (and still am a bit for that matter). However, Paula's video gave good information on how to use wiki's more effectively.
Paula's video really made me consider using a wiki and/or other online tools in my future classroom. I love the idea that class information can be posted online for students to access at home. I think this concept is something that will become increasingly popular more common in the coming years.
This video gave me a little more insight on wiki's. I must admit, I was a little confused about just what a wiki was... (and still am a bit for that matter). However, Paula's video gave good information on how to use wiki's more effectively.
Paula's video really made me consider using a wiki and/or other online tools in my future classroom. I love the idea that class information can be posted online for students to access at home. I think this concept is something that will become increasingly popular more common in the coming years.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Wizard Remix
This week for class, I watched a video from the K12 Online Conference, called The Wizard of Apps. This video was very confusing at first, with the random break outs into Wizard of Oz song remixes. It was a long video and hard to follow. However, Joyce Valenza presented the video and gave many helpful websites throughout.
The Wizard of Oz Remix songs talked a lot about different internet lingo, mentioning many that I have become familiar with-such as diigo, skype, and flickr. One song went, "twitter and wikis and blogs, oh my!" I can totally relate to this song and being overwhelmed with so many different websites and online options.
From this video, I gained useful websites to use in the classroom. It was hard to follow and very long, so it was hard to stay interested. However, I do think the different websites Joyce mentioned would be helpful in the future as a teacher.
I visited the Wordle website that Joyce mentioned in her presentation. I had seen many of these images on student blogs that I have commented on, so it was interesting to see how these work! Now I can use them in my own blogs!
The Wizard of Oz Remix songs talked a lot about different internet lingo, mentioning many that I have become familiar with-such as diigo, skype, and flickr. One song went, "twitter and wikis and blogs, oh my!" I can totally relate to this song and being overwhelmed with so many different websites and online options.
From this video, I gained useful websites to use in the classroom. It was hard to follow and very long, so it was hard to stay interested. However, I do think the different websites Joyce mentioned would be helpful in the future as a teacher.
I visited the Wordle website that Joyce mentioned in her presentation. I had seen many of these images on student blogs that I have commented on, so it was interesting to see how these work! Now I can use them in my own blogs!
Monday, February 22, 2010
Kaleo: The summer of my life!
Last summer, I went to a discipleship training program called Kaleo through a campus organization called Student Mobilization. Through this program, I was trained in how to effectively share my faith with others and how to apply Biblical truths to my life. It was truly the summer of my life! I created a video on VoiceThread about my summer 2009, called The Summer of My Life: Kaleo 2009. I hope this short video can help you catch a glimpse of how amazing my summer was. This next summer, I will return to Kaleo as a student leader, and can't wait to see what the Lord has in store!
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