http://www.youtube.com/user/sunnn8?feature=mhum
This is a link to my summative presentation! Enjoy!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Networked Learner
The Couros brothers are a family that is super passionate about technology in the classroom. Earlier in the term George talked to us about the strategies he is implementing in his school out west and more recently Alec gave us some insight on networking.
The message that Alec gave to us was how important it is to establish a network because of the amount of advantages it can have to you as a teacher. Getting online and putting yourself out there early on in your career creating a network for yourself opens you up to so many people and ideas that can help you along the way. There are so many ways that you can network with other people and other educators. Alec talked about the use of Twitter and Classroom 2.0, establishing a blog and creating an online presence.
Alec himself is evidence in how well networking can work. It was amazing to see the amount of people he has networked with and how much they are able to help each other. The fact that he was able to start a google doc and post it so people can see it was awesome because of the amount of feedback he was able to get. It was cool to see how so many people were viewing the document at once and how he was able to take feedback from some people he has never even met in person to create a better document.
He emphasized how helpful people can be online and the positive impact it has had on him. It is amazing how people will help people that they have never even met. I hope that in the future I am able to establish a network with people that will be able to share ideas with me so that we can help each other in our careers. Learning should not be sheltered sharing ideas is such a good way to not only learn yourself but pass on to your students. Becoming networked is going to be such an important part of education that it is important that we begin the process as soon as possible.
The message that Alec gave to us was how important it is to establish a network because of the amount of advantages it can have to you as a teacher. Getting online and putting yourself out there early on in your career creating a network for yourself opens you up to so many people and ideas that can help you along the way. There are so many ways that you can network with other people and other educators. Alec talked about the use of Twitter and Classroom 2.0, establishing a blog and creating an online presence.
Alec himself is evidence in how well networking can work. It was amazing to see the amount of people he has networked with and how much they are able to help each other. The fact that he was able to start a google doc and post it so people can see it was awesome because of the amount of feedback he was able to get. It was cool to see how so many people were viewing the document at once and how he was able to take feedback from some people he has never even met in person to create a better document.
He emphasized how helpful people can be online and the positive impact it has had on him. It is amazing how people will help people that they have never even met. I hope that in the future I am able to establish a network with people that will be able to share ideas with me so that we can help each other in our careers. Learning should not be sheltered sharing ideas is such a good way to not only learn yourself but pass on to your students. Becoming networked is going to be such an important part of education that it is important that we begin the process as soon as possible.
Presentations
All of the group presentations during class time were excellent and provided us with some important information to take with us into our teaching careers. The internet good bad and ugly was a presentation that provided us with a little humor to go along with the information given to us. I enjoyed how the guys put it together and outlined the different points we need to be aware of on the internet. This presentation reinforced the points about what we need to be cautious about when using the internet when it comes to plagiarism, e-bullying, etc. It is good that we are aware of the cautions to go along with the good points so that we are able to help our students along the way.
The personal ICT devices presentation was a good lead in to our own presentation about cell phones. There was certain information about I pads, I pods and Smartphones that I was not aware of. I am glad the the guys outlined the differences between all of the persona devices so that we were able to see some of the benefits and downfalls of each. I liked how they rated each device on a scale so it was easy for us as the audience to compare the results.
Filtering and Blocking of websites is an issue that most of us are going to have to deal with in the near future. This is something that unfortunately most school divisions take very seriously and it is to bad because it does limit our options when using technology in the classroom. I liked how the girls outlined the blocking process and gave us some tips to find our way around some of the filters. These tips will be quite valuable when heading out to our placements I'm sure!
The social networking presentation was a pleasant surprise as I was introduced to a couple of websites I was not familiar with at all. I was impressed especially with the stumbleupon.com website. This was something that I heard of in the past but had not yet used. It looks like it is a good tool for sharing sites and finding information that could be valuable in the classroom. The best thing about most of these sites is that they are free which is a bonus.
I am glad we were able to take some time and break down some of the areas we have learned about and present the information to our classmates. It is information that I will take with me as I leave the faculty and move forward with my career. Thank you class!
The personal ICT devices presentation was a good lead in to our own presentation about cell phones. There was certain information about I pads, I pods and Smartphones that I was not aware of. I am glad the the guys outlined the differences between all of the persona devices so that we were able to see some of the benefits and downfalls of each. I liked how they rated each device on a scale so it was easy for us as the audience to compare the results.
Filtering and Blocking of websites is an issue that most of us are going to have to deal with in the near future. This is something that unfortunately most school divisions take very seriously and it is to bad because it does limit our options when using technology in the classroom. I liked how the girls outlined the blocking process and gave us some tips to find our way around some of the filters. These tips will be quite valuable when heading out to our placements I'm sure!
The social networking presentation was a pleasant surprise as I was introduced to a couple of websites I was not familiar with at all. I was impressed especially with the stumbleupon.com website. This was something that I heard of in the past but had not yet used. It looks like it is a good tool for sharing sites and finding information that could be valuable in the classroom. The best thing about most of these sites is that they are free which is a bonus.
I am glad we were able to take some time and break down some of the areas we have learned about and present the information to our classmates. It is information that I will take with me as I leave the faculty and move forward with my career. Thank you class!
What Can I Do Now?
After looking at the blog of Darren Kuropatwa and sifting through some of his presentations it is pretty easy to see the passion he has for ICT literacy and technology in the classroom. Going through some of the presentations on the blog was a good chance to get some ideas and valuable information about ICT in the classroom. The point that I noticed to be the most intriguing was having students create and publish.
When using technology in the classroom it is not good enough to just display images on a smartboard or show presentations from powerpoint to the students hoping to engage them in a lesson. In order for the students to become engaged in a lesson and reap the rewards from technology they need to actively use the tools provided to them. As a teacher when creating a lesson it is important to have the students involved in their learning. The only way that the children are going to learn how to use technology is to become hands on with it. Have students create presentations on powerpoint or make notes on Prezi to show the class. Give students options and let them create podcasts or post videos online. Having students create things online using all of the tools available engages them in not only the content they are learning but also the world of ICT.
Another point I took from the blog and presentations posted by Darren is making the point to publish children's work. It is not good enough to have a student go to all the work of creating something online and having no one see it except them and the teacher. Students will enjoy sharing their work for people to see so they can get feedback from people not only in their community but from all over the world. Let students publish projects and look at other projects from different parts of the world and compare what they have done.
Technology in education is only good if we use it. The only way for students to gain ICT literacy is if they actively participate online. The best way to do this and have it connect to curriculum content is to have them create. Making students active participants in the online world is a good way to engage them in lessons we just have to make sure that we are making them accountable for their digital footprint and helping them to become responsible digital citizens.
When using technology in the classroom it is not good enough to just display images on a smartboard or show presentations from powerpoint to the students hoping to engage them in a lesson. In order for the students to become engaged in a lesson and reap the rewards from technology they need to actively use the tools provided to them. As a teacher when creating a lesson it is important to have the students involved in their learning. The only way that the children are going to learn how to use technology is to become hands on with it. Have students create presentations on powerpoint or make notes on Prezi to show the class. Give students options and let them create podcasts or post videos online. Having students create things online using all of the tools available engages them in not only the content they are learning but also the world of ICT.
Another point I took from the blog and presentations posted by Darren is making the point to publish children's work. It is not good enough to have a student go to all the work of creating something online and having no one see it except them and the teacher. Students will enjoy sharing their work for people to see so they can get feedback from people not only in their community but from all over the world. Let students publish projects and look at other projects from different parts of the world and compare what they have done.
Technology in education is only good if we use it. The only way for students to gain ICT literacy is if they actively participate online. The best way to do this and have it connect to curriculum content is to have them create. Making students active participants in the online world is a good way to engage them in lessons we just have to make sure that we are making them accountable for their digital footprint and helping them to become responsible digital citizens.
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