OTEN Conference

The 2010 OTEN Conference was held at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon. The keynote speaker (Tim Lauer) spoke on technology through the years. Technology has changed a great deal between 1960 and now. He reviewed some of the computers that have been replaced with newer models. Internet is a way to expand and bring resources into the classroom. The internet is a powerful tool that can connect people. Students should be able to publish on the web and share their stories.

While I was at the conference I attended 2 sessions on technology in the classroom. The first session talked about the use of videos in a classroom. Jason Niedermeyer went over how to make compilation of video clips that look nice to show to your students. He also talked about using certain movies in a Science classroom. He let us know that it is all about the set up and that students are programed to watch TV & it is apart of their interest. Jason also went over grant money. If you want grant money, think of an idea and write a proposal. You can use the same write up to get grant money all you have to do is tweak the proposal.

The second session that I attended was World of Warcraft. Suzette Lewis talked about using gaming in a Math classroom. She is still in the research stage of this process. The gaming would be computer games that would allow students to potentially work as a team, problem solve, and at the same time may build up self esteem.

In my classroom, I see myself using technology in the classroom. I won't be able to say what technology that I will be using until I am actually in the classroom teaching. I have to see what I have to work with and what I want to build on over my teaching career.

New Tech Standards & Requirements

I think that it is great that there are standards in a classroom for technology. I can understand that these standards may not work in every classroom setting. Students do need a basic understanding of technology.
NETS-Students

• creative
• collaboration
• use
• responsibility
• concepts

These standards don't seem like they would be hard ones to follow in a standard classroom. Lets let students work together and be creative to learn instead of throwing information at them and assume they will soak it up like a sponge.


NETS-Teachers

• facilitate or inspire
• design & develop
• model
• promote
• engage

As teachers we have a responsibility to show our students how things work and let them know the right from wrong. Depending on the age of the students will determine how much you need to tell them or work with them to learn. Students need to be challenged and need to be taught how to figure out what sources they can use on a research paper. Teachers need to encourage students to use technology and not shy away from it.

OETS

• Creativity
• collaboration
• research fluency
• critical thinking
•  digital citizenship
• concepts

Students need to be able to use their good brains to critically think and problem solve. They need to be able to research topics using the internet. They need to learn responsible behavior will using technology. Students need to also have fun with it and collaborate with their peers. Students need to understand the tools that they are using and be able to explain them.

Technology in a Science classroom.


I can have my students work on a group presentation (3-4 per group). Each group will pick a topic from the list. Then I will spend part of a class period going over different computer programs that my students will be able to use for their presentation. I will give them a week to gather their resources on their topic. As a  class we will visit the media center and have the students put together their presentation.I will give them 1 more week to finalize their presentations and then they will present their topic to the class.

This lesson will allow students to explore and be creative with technology. Working in groups and presenting their findings satisfies being collaborative. They need critical thinking and problem solving skills to make their presentation flow and to figure out how to put it together, especially if they haven't worked with the program before. While gathering their data, they need to learn which web sites are okay and which ones are not. They need to learn how to be good digital citizens. While they are getting hands on experience with computers, they are learning computer concepts.

As a teacher, I am facilitating and inspiring my students to use technology by introducing them to different programs. I am modeling some of the different programs that they will be able to use. I am promoting technology and encouraging my students to engage in the use of technology. By having the computer part of the presentation be an in class activity it allows all of my students to participate.

Picasa & Voice Thread in Classroom

Voice Thread in the Classroom

• add pictures
• add voice
• put it together
• example you have a presentation you can put on Blogger
• students no longer miss lecture in class
• students have a way to go back and study
• substitute teachers have a ready made lecture plan (makes it easy)

Picasa In the Classroom

• make a movie slide show
• add music to it
• edit movie slide
• add text, color, slides, fix pictures, etc...
• show it to your students right away
• put it into a blog
• Students able to see movie online
• Students able to use picasa for their own presentations

From Movies

Voice Thread didn't like the movie that I made from Picasa. I was unable to successfully upload it to Voice Thread. I also tried to add music my Picasa movie and it didn't like the iTunes file that I chose. I did have fun adding colors and comments to the dinosaurs in my Picasa movie. I am more likely to use Google presentation for everyday lectures, unless I have several of my own pictures that I want to show my students. I would have to play with voice thread more to get the hang of it. It has good potential.   

spread sheet assignment

I took the student sheet & made a table. I hide the test scores 1-5. I had the computer figure out the student average & class average by highlighting the column or row and using the given formula. I found the mode, median, & average by highlighting the table information and using the appropriate formula. I was able to change the color of a selected area. I was able to change the size of the text and make it bold. I was also able to resize the columns. I looked at the student averages for tests 6-10 and took those students names and test information and created another table. I took the test scores from tests 6-10 and created a line graph, using the insert graph wizard. From there I was able to add the test scores, title, tests numbers, and range.  
The graph makes it easier to see how students are doing overall based test scores in this example. By this graph you can see that many of the students are below average, but their test scores are getting better with each test. There are the few exceptions like with Katherine (green) who increases with her performance and then takes a serious decrease again. Then she is steadily increasing again with the test scores.

As a teacher looking at this, since you can see that most of your students are improving you know how you are teaching is getting through to them. Now you have to see how you can teach to make it better, since a good portion of your students below the class average. It is time to really engage your students into the content that you are trying to have them learn.

My Favorite Web 2.0 tools

Web 2.0 tools are web platform in which software and files can be accessed any time and anywhere. Some of thee tools are free and some have a small fee, it depends on what package you are looking for and what you want in your product.

In the personal productivity category I chose 4shared. 4shared is a potentially free online storage area for docs, videos, and photos. They have a premium package that includes downloading for an additional fee. The site allows you to have up to 5GB of storage space that you can make either public or private.You can provide links or embed pictures, docs, or videos into web pages and blogs. You are able to rename files, access the URL, see picture dimensions, add comments,and add to favorites.Teachers are able to upload and store lesson plans and projects. If the teach allows it the students would be able to access this information. picture on 4shared: http://www.4shared.com/photo/O6_c7GCj/IMG_0010.html

In my classroom, I could upload pictures for my students to look at. When they are done looking at them, have them comment on the pictures. I can go back to the site and review their comments. I could also have them copy the picture and place it in their own document and have them write a description of what the picture is about and have them present it to the class.

In the screen recorders category, I chose Tokbox. Tokbox is a tool that allows you to use audio and video for communication. You do need to have a web cam and microphone to use this application. It utilizes the adobe flash, so you don't have to buy any additional software. It allows you to send streaming video e-mail, post an interview or resume, give a speech, and host video conference.

In the classroom, I could have my students record a presentation and then play it back to the class. This tool would be helpful if students are sick and/or injured. I could either record my lecture or they could video conference in and listen to what was going on. This would be a way for them to participate if they couldn't be there. It would also be helpful to students that were gone on school activities, so they don't miss class. Students could use this application to communicate between each other without using up their cell phone minutes.

google presentation reflection

The Google presentation allows you to create a slide show. It has several tools to make your presentation unique. You are able to import pictures from your own personal file or from the internet. You are able to draw a picture and upload it to your presentation. Changing the font, adding/changing text is easy to do. You are able to change the color of the background or have a picture be the background of each slide. You are able to write on top of a picture. You are able to use symbols on the slides. You can add and subtract slides.

With Google presentation I would be able to create a slide show for my students and give them a lecture from any computer. If I teach/have my students learn Google presentations they can use it to give great presentations to the class without using large poster board. Google presentation gives my students another tool that they are able to use in the world outside of the classroom or for other classes that they are taking.

  I have never done a power point or have used Google presentation before. I was amazed how easy it was to use. For the class project I adjusted some of the font & changed the color of some of the text. I also changed the color of a couple of the background slides. I was able to add text to one of the slides as well.

On my own I played with adding pictures, drawings, text, and changing the background. I figured out how to put text on top of pictures and pictures on top of drawings. I was able to add symbols. Click on project to find the final presentation on Google. If that doesn't work here is the URL https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=0AV8QMnClEgS9ZGNiaHpwel8xY205cjc0ZDU&hl=en

Blogging in the classroom part 2

The following reference talks about blogging and how it promotes literacy in the classroom. Huffaker, D. (2005). The educated blogger: Using weblogs to promote literacy in the classroom. AACE Journal, 13(2), 91-98. Blogging allows students to be creative and to express themselves. Blogging can be individualistic or collaborative. It can be used in a variety of classes and used with different age groups. Even elementary students are able to learn how to blog. For teachers it can allow you to reflect, plan, mentor, analyze, and communicate with a variety  of people (students, parents, co-workers, etc...). The following link has 8 rules to apply blogging to a science classroom: http://spu.mattjonesblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/blogs-applications-in-science-education.pdf. I would be able to use blogging in any of my classes that I teach. I can have all the information for a specific class on a blog including assignments, class description, and contact information. I can create a unit and have my students blog a response, take a poll, watch a video, and I am sure many other things. The one thing that teachers do have to be careful of is that students use security settings to protect themselves and that they are appropriate in what they blog since other classmates will be reading it. An example of a unit that I could have my students do would be to split the class into groups and have them create a blog on ecosystems. Each group would have to describe one ecosystem. They would have to find out what an ecosystem is, find a picture of their ecosystem, and pretend they were creating this blog for someone who knew nothing about ecosystems. When the blogs are done being created, the groups will have to visit all of the blog sites and respond to the blog. They will have to come up with 2 questions. When the project is done we will go over of the questions in class. This is just one example on how a blog can be used in class. I could have a cell unit for Biology and have my students do a blog on cells. The list goes on and on.