Digital storytelling is "the practice of using computer-based tools to tell stories." In the past stories were told verbally and with ink and paper. Most digital stories still focus on a specific topic and point of view but contain a mixture of images, text, audio, video and music. Like any traditional story they can vary in length although they are normally no longer than ten minutes. Digital stories can range from personal tales, history stories, exploring ones community and anything in between. Digital stories can be shared through the web, email, iPhones, or cds making easier to share ones story with people living in different parts of the country or world.
Digital storytelling can be a great resource in a classroom. Students are able to explore writing and grammar while getting to add fun sound effects, music, images, and color to their personal stories. Students also are able to learn more about technology through the creation of digital stories, they learn how to record voices, cut clips out of songs, and edit pictures. Stories could be written in groups or individually with different requirements of length, images, and sound. This style of writing really encourages a child's development as an individual.
I really like how digital storytelling can be adapted to classes of all ages. Children can start with simple stories in 1st and 2nd grade and continue to work with the same concepts going more in depth with abstract thinking as they get older. Younger children can focus on just the creation of a story while more effects such as voice-recordings, music, and images can be introduced as the children get older.
http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/
http://www.inms.umn.edu/elements/
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
Blog Education
I have been following David Warlick and his blog called 2cents Worth. I have really enjoyed a few of his postings. A few of them are little to technical and about politics and teaching theories that I don't quiet follow yet because I still have a ways in my schooling. But even though I don't fully follow the postings it is fun to read his point of view on many of the items and I do enjoy many of his other postings that aren't quiet as political.
One posting that I really enjoyed reading a few weeks ago was call "Next Textbooks Are..." the author sent out a a request for people to share defining characteristics of "old paper printed textbooks" and a statement of where new textbooks are going. He was able to collaborate a interesting amount of data that he displayed in a table to compare the "old" and "new" versions of textbooks. Some of what people said included...
- Old textbooks are "stable" while new textbooks will "be fluid and dynamic and ever adapting to learning experiences"
- Old textbooks are "errorless, error ignoring" while new textbooks will "admit errors and will socially self-correct"
- Old textbooks are "heavy" while new textbooks will "weightlessly make themselves available to any learner, anywhere, anytime"
This post really got me thinking about how education is changing so much with the development of technology. No longer are schools having to buy books for every student each year, many now use tablets and each student has the books that they need loaded on to them at the beginning of the year. This makes not only the environmental impact smaller but it makes it easier for students to keep track of their books and take them to and from school without stuffing their backpack. I think that it is interesting with electronic books it is also easier to make edits to a book by just downloading an update. I remember from when I was in Elementary school having a Social Studies text that the teacher had to edit as she taught because of misprints and the school couldn't afford new books until the following school year.
Another post from his blog that I enjoyed reading and feel benefited me as a teacher was one called "Note-Taking at ISTE". In this post he discussed note taking methods from when he was at the 2011 ISTE conference in Philadelphia. For him the easiest way to take notes is through a concept map. This does not include "complete sentences, but do carry a visual syntax of relationship, which is easily editable during less pertinent moments of a presentation or workshop." He uses an app call Mindo that allows him to type quickly and easily place his notes on his screen. This app also allows the notes to be saved in different formats so they can easily be transferred to a cellphone, laptop, and other technology tools.
This post really got me thinking on how students are learning to take notes today in school. I learned how to take notes the old fashioned bullets and indents way. But with technology becoming so integrated into everyday classrooms I wonder how students doing it now? Are they still writing them all out or are there other options available with tablets and other technology.
The last post that I am going to write about today is one titled "What Does Your Wall Do Outside of Your Lessons?" In this post he discusses what do teachers do with their whiteboards, projectors, and computers when they are not teaching lessons. Often times these spaces on the walls where the lessons are taught are blank between lessons and while students are in transition. The post discusses the idea of having a video playing when students walk in the classroom in the morning with limited audio illustrating the "Known Universe". How compelling can one be with technology when not using it in a lesson plan? At the end of the post he makes a great statement in my opinion saying, "I wonder how your projector and wall might be utilized to facilitate learning between and beneath the bell schedule?"
This really got me thinking because I have been in quite a few classrooms over the years, sometimes as students and sometimes as a volunteer or observer. I often notice how whiteboards and projectors remain off and blank until the moment of a lesson that may utilize them such as learning new math skills. I think that it would be great if teachers found ways to use technology in between the lessons with slideshows, powerpoints, blank boards for the students to work on, or even just a review of something they've been learning. For example if a class is studying the geography of the world pictures in a slideshow that demonstrate different altitudes, weather, and vegetation would be great to show between lessons.
One posting that I really enjoyed reading a few weeks ago was call "Next Textbooks Are..." the author sent out a a request for people to share defining characteristics of "old paper printed textbooks" and a statement of where new textbooks are going. He was able to collaborate a interesting amount of data that he displayed in a table to compare the "old" and "new" versions of textbooks. Some of what people said included...
- Old textbooks are "stable" while new textbooks will "be fluid and dynamic and ever adapting to learning experiences"
- Old textbooks are "errorless, error ignoring" while new textbooks will "admit errors and will socially self-correct"
- Old textbooks are "heavy" while new textbooks will "weightlessly make themselves available to any learner, anywhere, anytime"
This post really got me thinking about how education is changing so much with the development of technology. No longer are schools having to buy books for every student each year, many now use tablets and each student has the books that they need loaded on to them at the beginning of the year. This makes not only the environmental impact smaller but it makes it easier for students to keep track of their books and take them to and from school without stuffing their backpack. I think that it is interesting with electronic books it is also easier to make edits to a book by just downloading an update. I remember from when I was in Elementary school having a Social Studies text that the teacher had to edit as she taught because of misprints and the school couldn't afford new books until the following school year.
Another post from his blog that I enjoyed reading and feel benefited me as a teacher was one called "Note-Taking at ISTE". In this post he discussed note taking methods from when he was at the 2011 ISTE conference in Philadelphia. For him the easiest way to take notes is through a concept map. This does not include "complete sentences, but do carry a visual syntax of relationship, which is easily editable during less pertinent moments of a presentation or workshop." He uses an app call Mindo that allows him to type quickly and easily place his notes on his screen. This app also allows the notes to be saved in different formats so they can easily be transferred to a cellphone, laptop, and other technology tools.
This post really got me thinking on how students are learning to take notes today in school. I learned how to take notes the old fashioned bullets and indents way. But with technology becoming so integrated into everyday classrooms I wonder how students doing it now? Are they still writing them all out or are there other options available with tablets and other technology.
The last post that I am going to write about today is one titled "What Does Your Wall Do Outside of Your Lessons?" In this post he discusses what do teachers do with their whiteboards, projectors, and computers when they are not teaching lessons. Often times these spaces on the walls where the lessons are taught are blank between lessons and while students are in transition. The post discusses the idea of having a video playing when students walk in the classroom in the morning with limited audio illustrating the "Known Universe". How compelling can one be with technology when not using it in a lesson plan? At the end of the post he makes a great statement in my opinion saying, "I wonder how your projector and wall might be utilized to facilitate learning between and beneath the bell schedule?"
This really got me thinking because I have been in quite a few classrooms over the years, sometimes as students and sometimes as a volunteer or observer. I often notice how whiteboards and projectors remain off and blank until the moment of a lesson that may utilize them such as learning new math skills. I think that it would be great if teachers found ways to use technology in between the lessons with slideshows, powerpoints, blank boards for the students to work on, or even just a review of something they've been learning. For example if a class is studying the geography of the world pictures in a slideshow that demonstrate different altitudes, weather, and vegetation would be great to show between lessons.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Global Communities
For this blog I started by just googling "school global communities". The first site that showed up on the list was ePals. This is a great global community that connects classrooms around the world allowing for a safe, collaborative site for teachers to use to connect students of all cultures and ages.
EPal allows teachers to connect with classrooms in 200 countries across the world. Teachers can work together to figure out the logistics of pairing students together to email, how often to email, and what topics to email about (will it be part of a geography or cultural unit). There are also projects that ePal has topics, questions and overviews already created for teachers to use in their classroom. The site also includes sections on biodiversity, black history, storytelling and a Team Earth section that focus on climate change and how to protect the planet. All these options are great add-ons for a teacher to use in lessons throughout a school year.
Students can also use the pen pal opportunity to ask questions to the other students about life in another country. They can use these questions to learn about the similarities and differences that they share with children across the world. How many siblings do you have? Who do you live with? How long is your school day? Whats your favorite color? What do you do for fun? Where do you live?
I also found a site that listed 50 ways to use Skype in the classroom. It listed ways that teachers can use Skype to promote education, and community with links to the information. It also had links to others sites for connecting with others across the world through Skype.
Some of the great ideas for use Skype in the classroom include:
1. See Me, Hear Me: Skype in the Classroom. Read how these students had the opportunity to chat with an author of the book they studied via Skype.
2. Field trips. If students aren't able to participate in a field trip due to factors such as budgetary or distance constraints, use Skype to bring the field trip into the classroom.
3. Field trips. If students aren’t able to participate in a field trip due to factors such as budgetary or distance constraints, use Skype to bring the field trip into the classroom.
4. Inclusion — helping a classmate join the classroom from home. This blog post explains how a 4th grade class used Skype to help a classmate with leukemia become a part of the classroom from her home.
5. Foreign culture lessons. Skype allows students to see first hand what people’s homes, schools, clothing, weather, and more looks like. If a festival takes place, Skype can bring it to your classroom too.
6. Best Day Ever!. This teacher describes three Skype calls her class had in one day–the most exciting being with a class in a different time zone with whom her students had been collaborating on a project through Google docs. With Skype, the students got to work at the same time and actually see each other, too.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Assistive Technology
As defined by medicinenet.com assistive technology is a term "used to mean an assistive device, but more commonly denotes some kind of electronic or computerized device that helps a disabled person to function more easily in the world. Examples of assistive technology include devices that allow people to control a computer with the mouth, keyboards that can "speak" for mute individuals, and closed captioning systems that help the hearing impaired enjoy television shows and videos. " (MedicineNet.com, 2011) It essentially helps people with disabilities do things that otherwise would be extremely hard or impossible for them to achieve. Assistive technology can be used for mental and physical disabilities, such as learning disorders, deaf or hard of hearing, paralysis, and many more.
I chose to focus on assistive technology for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. It is required that these students receive accommodations and assistive technology to access the educational programming in a classroom setting. Assistive listening devices are usually used by people who are deaf or hard of hearing. An example of such device would be a cochlear implant that helps reduce background noise and transmits the speaker's voice through a microphone to a receiver that is connected to the hearing aid or cochlear implant worn by the student.
Axistive is a great website that lists assistive technology that can be used in a classroom for deaf and hard of hearing students. Some of the technologies listed on this site include closed captioning which is the text that goes on the bottom of the television screen to inform deaf people of what is being said. Cochlear implants, which where mentioned in the paragraph above are also very useful but a family choice on whether or not to use. It is a controversial device, especially when implanted in young children, for those who have a severe to profound hearing loss. Hearing aids are great for students they amplify sounds for the person to hear without the controversy of a cochlear implant because they are less invasive, but they are only effective for students with mild hearing loss.
A hearing loop is a great assistive technology that can be used in a classroom to "amplify sound and reduce background noise." (axistice, 2007) Users of hearing aids can set their aids to a certain setting to receive the transmission. These can be permanently installed or used portablely around a school. Visual alert signalers are another great assistive device for a classroom because they use flashing lights to alert a deaf or hard of hearing person to a ringing phone, fire alarm or class bell.
It is important to know what is available for students of all disabilities to help them succeed in a classroom setting. I think that the best way to stay informed on assistive technology in this quickly developing world is to talk to teachers who regularly deal with students with disabilities and the assistive technology they use. It is important to stay on top of new studies and developments made, browsing blogs, news articles, and magazines can keep one informed on the newest information and technology.
I think as a teacher it is important to observe students on a regular basis to make sure they are learning and developing at the proper speed. As a teacher I will observe and watch my students closely to make sure they are able to pay attention, hear the lesson, and work with others easily. At a young age it is often hard to see a disability because the children are so quickly changing, it is important to be diligent in observations and records of their development.
http://www.axistive.com/assistive-technology-for-hearing-impaired-students.html
http://www.medicinenet.com/learning_disability/glossary.htm
I chose to focus on assistive technology for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. It is required that these students receive accommodations and assistive technology to access the educational programming in a classroom setting. Assistive listening devices are usually used by people who are deaf or hard of hearing. An example of such device would be a cochlear implant that helps reduce background noise and transmits the speaker's voice through a microphone to a receiver that is connected to the hearing aid or cochlear implant worn by the student.
Axistive is a great website that lists assistive technology that can be used in a classroom for deaf and hard of hearing students. Some of the technologies listed on this site include closed captioning which is the text that goes on the bottom of the television screen to inform deaf people of what is being said. Cochlear implants, which where mentioned in the paragraph above are also very useful but a family choice on whether or not to use. It is a controversial device, especially when implanted in young children, for those who have a severe to profound hearing loss. Hearing aids are great for students they amplify sounds for the person to hear without the controversy of a cochlear implant because they are less invasive, but they are only effective for students with mild hearing loss.
A hearing loop is a great assistive technology that can be used in a classroom to "amplify sound and reduce background noise." (axistice, 2007) Users of hearing aids can set their aids to a certain setting to receive the transmission. These can be permanently installed or used portablely around a school. Visual alert signalers are another great assistive device for a classroom because they use flashing lights to alert a deaf or hard of hearing person to a ringing phone, fire alarm or class bell.
It is important to know what is available for students of all disabilities to help them succeed in a classroom setting. I think that the best way to stay informed on assistive technology in this quickly developing world is to talk to teachers who regularly deal with students with disabilities and the assistive technology they use. It is important to stay on top of new studies and developments made, browsing blogs, news articles, and magazines can keep one informed on the newest information and technology.
I think as a teacher it is important to observe students on a regular basis to make sure they are learning and developing at the proper speed. As a teacher I will observe and watch my students closely to make sure they are able to pay attention, hear the lesson, and work with others easily. At a young age it is often hard to see a disability because the children are so quickly changing, it is important to be diligent in observations and records of their development.
http://www.axistive.com/assistive-technology-for-hearing-impaired-students.html
http://www.medicinenet.com/learning_disability/glossary.htm
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Tech Tools.... Google Earth!
I toured Google Earth and traveled around the globe in 90 minutes. I was able to see Paris, Madrid, travel to South America, Africa and Russia. Google Earth is a lot of fun because in many of the large cities you can zoom in and see buildings in 3D, there are also many tools available on Google Earth that allow you to learn more about the places you visit. There is a tool called layers and you can click on different ones to see roads, restaurants, parks, and even a global awareness layer that allowed you to view areas and learn about the conflicts and issues that people deal with in those regions.
Google Earth can be great in the classroom because it raises awareness in children about the different regions of the world. It can also be used for geography lessons and learning countries , capitals, and locations. Overall it is a great tool that should be used more often by teachers in school. I was able to experiment with Google Earth in a classroom last fall when I took an International Course. The professor had us use the global awareness label to learn about regions in South America, Central America, Africa, Europe and Russia throughout the semester. It really helped add a technological dimension to the class that I hadn't experienced before. By looking at it on my own time I was able to explore some other layers that I didn't use last fall and it was impressive everything that Google Earth includes, I can see why some people worry about it becoming an issue of national security because of the detail in the maps.
I can't wait to explore more of Google Earth and learn more about the countries and people around the world!!
Google Earth can be great in the classroom because it raises awareness in children about the different regions of the world. It can also be used for geography lessons and learning countries , capitals, and locations. Overall it is a great tool that should be used more often by teachers in school. I was able to experiment with Google Earth in a classroom last fall when I took an International Course. The professor had us use the global awareness label to learn about regions in South America, Central America, Africa, Europe and Russia throughout the semester. It really helped add a technological dimension to the class that I hadn't experienced before. By looking at it on my own time I was able to explore some other layers that I didn't use last fall and it was impressive everything that Google Earth includes, I can see why some people worry about it becoming an issue of national security because of the detail in the maps.
I can't wait to explore more of Google Earth and learn more about the countries and people around the world!!
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
My Thoughts...
So I am still following the blog 2Cents Worth by David Warlick, his most recent post was over the cool tools found online sites such as Twitter, Klout, and Twolo. The main one he talked about was how one can "unfriend" people when they stop Tweeting for long periods of time. It allows one to prune their "friends" so that it is easier to follow those who post more often and follow others.
I enjoyed reading blogs from different members of the class because everyone is taking a different approach to this blogging assignment. On Rochelle's blog she not only posts for the assignments but other things that she finds out and posts throughout the week. This makes her blog extremely suprising and interesting to read each time I look at it. I also love the use of different fonts and colors, it creates a blog easy to follow and eye catching.
Jane's blog is much more... I guess organized is the word... she writes everything out very neatly and to the point making it easy to following. She numbered her responses to both her first blog and the copyright blog making it easy to see what questions she answered and what she thought about the topic.
I also perused a few other blogs of the class, I really enjoy reading Sam's each week with his "Technological Rabbit Hole." It is refreshing to see all the different viewpoints that everyone has on topics such as copyright. Some of the students seem to stay extremely on topic while others branch out and include information that just makes fun reading.
This blogging experience is really opening my eyes to the different sources of information available today through the internet. I hope to continue to follow blogs once I am out of this class finding ones that pertain to interests I personally have.
I enjoyed reading blogs from different members of the class because everyone is taking a different approach to this blogging assignment. On Rochelle's blog she not only posts for the assignments but other things that she finds out and posts throughout the week. This makes her blog extremely suprising and interesting to read each time I look at it. I also love the use of different fonts and colors, it creates a blog easy to follow and eye catching.
Jane's blog is much more... I guess organized is the word... she writes everything out very neatly and to the point making it easy to following. She numbered her responses to both her first blog and the copyright blog making it easy to see what questions she answered and what she thought about the topic.
I also perused a few other blogs of the class, I really enjoy reading Sam's each week with his "Technological Rabbit Hole." It is refreshing to see all the different viewpoints that everyone has on topics such as copyright. Some of the students seem to stay extremely on topic while others branch out and include information that just makes fun reading.
This blogging experience is really opening my eyes to the different sources of information available today through the internet. I hope to continue to follow blogs once I am out of this class finding ones that pertain to interests I personally have.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Copyright Is...
I thought that I had a pretty good understanding of copyright... but when I began to read up on it I realized that there were some pretty big holes in my knowledge. I looked at Open Spaces- Views from the Northwest and Copyright and Fair Use Guidelines for Teachers. I learned that the actual copyright clause is very specific in it purpose and the rights that authors are granted is "to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries." This translates into promoting the progress of knowledge and learning while allowing the creator ownership for a period of time. This author of Open Spaces also had some good information about the history of copyrighting and how it originated to protect musicians and booksellers.
What I didn't realize is that copyrights today have a dark side. The misunderstanding that copyright is to protect authors from those who would steal their work is creating a tool of censorship and oppression. The current copyright law keeps all work of an author, or artist under their control for the duration of their lifetime plus 70 years after their death. Originally copyright only lasted 28 years before it entered the public domain. This is creating a situation where knowledge and learning is available for access but because of copyright it is unsharable without actually repurchasing the information or dealing with the copyright owners.
Section 107 of the Copyright Act in 1976 established limitations on the exclusive rights of copyright holder. This was termed "Fair Use" and the factors for determining it are
(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether
such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit
educational purposes;
I really liked the Copyright and Fair Use Guidelines because they were written out in a table format to understand what copyright was for different mediums, and then the specifics, what one can do about it, and the fine print. This page is a great resource to use as a teacher when providing information to a classroom and worried about copyrights. It has the information needed for a teacher to use when making copies of a short story, poem, book, images or videos. I didn't realize before reading this that a teacher can make copies of short printed material as long as it is no more than one copy per student, it is only used nine times per class term, and the copies are made from a legally acquired text.
What I didn't realize is that copyrights today have a dark side. The misunderstanding that copyright is to protect authors from those who would steal their work is creating a tool of censorship and oppression. The current copyright law keeps all work of an author, or artist under their control for the duration of their lifetime plus 70 years after their death. Originally copyright only lasted 28 years before it entered the public domain. This is creating a situation where knowledge and learning is available for access but because of copyright it is unsharable without actually repurchasing the information or dealing with the copyright owners.
Section 107 of the Copyright Act in 1976 established limitations on the exclusive rights of copyright holder. This was termed "Fair Use" and the factors for determining it are
(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether
such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit
educational purposes;
(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
I really liked the Copyright and Fair Use Guidelines because they were written out in a table format to understand what copyright was for different mediums, and then the specifics, what one can do about it, and the fine print. This page is a great resource to use as a teacher when providing information to a classroom and worried about copyrights. It has the information needed for a teacher to use when making copies of a short story, poem, book, images or videos. I didn't realize before reading this that a teacher can make copies of short printed material as long as it is no more than one copy per student, it is only used nine times per class term, and the copies are made from a legally acquired text.
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