What?
After working out a few glitches we were finally able to finish our digital story and I am pretty happy with the result. I am a little amazed at all the cool stuff you can create using a program as simple as PhotoStory. After seeing our video with all the pictures, music, and narration added together I see the power that adding these three to a lesson can have.
So What?
What this really means to me is that we can use technology such as PhotoStory in order to apply the principles that I have been learning about in educational phsycology. That is multiple intelligences, attention getting techniques, discovery learning etc. I am optimistic about my future in teaching and I hope to use all the resources that are available to me in order to give my students the best experience that I am able too.
Now What?
Now, as I have basically said in many posts before, I will continue to learn about and practice using the technologies, particularly the free ones, that are available to me. I can see now how to apply everyday things such as Youtube that students are more likely to use. I have already created my own channel and I plan to have a few things on there that I can show to potential employers as well as videos I can use in my future classes.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Video Reflection: Millennial Generation
This video reiterates everything we've been learning throughout the entire semester, that is that the youth today, those we will be teaching, are a generation brought up with technology. This not only influences the way they live and think, but also the ideas and hopes they have for technology in the future. I can't help but laugh hearing these kids talk about how they have to be the technology tutors for their parents, because I have had to do the same thing with mine growing up. I guess this idea makes me lean towards the idea that if you can't beat them you should join them. I see no reason why I can't use the media that kids are familiar with to teach them the things that I love. The only obstacle I can see now is having that technology available at whatever school I have the pleasure of teaching at. So I can only hope for the best, and do all I can to assure that students are prepared not only with what I have to teach them, but in this ever growing technological world we live in.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Reflection:Digital Stories 2
What?
This week I was unable to come to class because I was sick. I spent the time that I would have been in class reviewing the articles and tutorials provided on the class website, as well as playing with the program PhotoStory. This is a program my wife has used in the pass to create picture presentations of friends and family. I had never taken the time to explore and play with this program, but now that I have I can say that I agree with Doc Waters on just how easy the learning curve is for this program. In minutes I was able to create a presentation with pictures, titles, music and narration; and all this before even looking at the tutorials. PhotoStory offers a very user-friendly (not to mention) free way to create digital stories for teachers.
So What?
What this means is that when I become a teacher I can use this program to make digital stories and too my relief I now know that I can do it quickly. This program will be very useful for teaching about culture and will allow me to display some of the pictures I have taken in Spanish speaking countries, which is pretty cool if you ask me.
Now What?
Now I need to keep updated and make sure I have the latest version of this program. I also plan on reviewing my pictures, and searching out pictures online that I could use in future presentations for culture, vocabulary, or whatever else I decide to teach. This class has really opened my eyes to the many free resources out there that can make teaching more fun for the students and easier for the teacher. For a guy who was barely comfortable creating a PowerPoint presentation I have come a long way and hope to use the skills I have acquired to go even further.
This week I was unable to come to class because I was sick. I spent the time that I would have been in class reviewing the articles and tutorials provided on the class website, as well as playing with the program PhotoStory. This is a program my wife has used in the pass to create picture presentations of friends and family. I had never taken the time to explore and play with this program, but now that I have I can say that I agree with Doc Waters on just how easy the learning curve is for this program. In minutes I was able to create a presentation with pictures, titles, music and narration; and all this before even looking at the tutorials. PhotoStory offers a very user-friendly (not to mention) free way to create digital stories for teachers.
So What?
What this means is that when I become a teacher I can use this program to make digital stories and too my relief I now know that I can do it quickly. This program will be very useful for teaching about culture and will allow me to display some of the pictures I have taken in Spanish speaking countries, which is pretty cool if you ask me.
Now What?
Now I need to keep updated and make sure I have the latest version of this program. I also plan on reviewing my pictures, and searching out pictures online that I could use in future presentations for culture, vocabulary, or whatever else I decide to teach. This class has really opened my eyes to the many free resources out there that can make teaching more fun for the students and easier for the teacher. For a guy who was barely comfortable creating a PowerPoint presentation I have come a long way and hope to use the skills I have acquired to go even further.
Video Reflection: Did You Know 3.0
Now that I know about digital stories I can see that this, along with the original version of "Did You Know" are just that. While they don't have audio narration this presentation is chalk full of information and it is accompanied by music and work imagery. The way the text was presented is more creative and dynamic than that of the original. As far as new information, I know that there were facts from more recent years, buy I do remember some of those same facts being presented in the original, such as the idea that we as educators are preparing students for jobs that do not exist. I feel that this version, just as the original, does well at getting its point across that we are living in rapidly growing world. This growth can be seen not only in population but in the technology and knowledge that exists today. To me it serves as yet another reminder of how important it is to be familiar with technology and use it as much as possible in the classroom.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Video Reflection and Educational Video
I am discovering that You tube is full of, not only lots of time wasting entertaining videos, but also videos that will be very useful for me as a Spanish teacher. The video that I have posted here, for example shows a free resource that I can suggest to students for further practice listening to and identifying vocabulary. (in this case vocabulary about vegetables.) I particularly like the style of this video because it gives a visual image of the word and object described and also gives the correct pronunciation. It also provides students with a practice at the end where the picture is presented and they are to identify the word in Spanish. This is just an example of the simple, yet useful videos that can be found on sites like YouTube.
2 New Technologies
One objective that I have always considered important in a Spanish language class is the ability to practice the language with other people, particularly native Spanish speakers. While it is important that students understand and have a basic grasp of things such as vocabulary and grammar, the real purpose of learning a language is to speak it. This fact seems obvious, but too often opportunities to communicate with others are severely lacking in the language classroom. This has motivated me to explore a social networking called LiveMocha. This site is unique because it was specifically designed for language learners. LiveMocha offers various languages from English to Korean. Members on the sight can learn from free tutorials that are offered on the site that are designed for the beginning and intermediate language learner. The really great thing about this site is the interaction you can have with native speakers of the target language. Through the site you can chat, both using text and speaking out loud using the microphone. You can also submit completed exercises to be reviewed by native speakers of the language you are learning. In a recent Technology Review exercise (produced by MIT) the creator and chief executive of LiveMocha, Shirish Nadkarni, explained that he created this site because he knew from personal experience the benefits of knowing a foreign language, which in his case was English. He was also motivated after seeing the lack of real practice his kids were getting in their Spanish class, a concern I mentioned earlier. In a review found in the New York Times, live mocha is described as a "community of like-minded learners who can leverage their native language proficiency to help one another."
This site would be a great way for the students in my class to be able to communicate with native Spanish speakers, specifically in a place where the language is the central focus. (as opposed to another Spanish chat room or interest site.) Students could have the assignment of letting a Native speaker review a written assignment, or they could practice introductions in a web-chat.
One negative aspect that I could see to using this in the classroom is the possibility of coming across objectionable language or even pictures (although the pictures on this site are limited to profile pics.) This is always a danger when dealing with real people. As with any social networking site there is the potential risk of contact with those who may present offensive comments or pose other dangers. This could be prevented by setting up clear guidelines that point out that students are not to reveal personal information. I might also screen the people that students have contact with based on those I have found to be reputable in the past.
Based on the experience that I have had with this site I do feel it is a great way to have contact and communicate with native speakers, when live interaction is not possible or practical. Not only this but it has the potential to get students more excited about language learning, and more motivated to continue practicing the language each day.
articles
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/business/17novel.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=livemocha&st=cse
http://www.technologyreview.com/biztech/19484/
Due to favorable conditions (i.e. being married to a teacher) I had the opportunity to work with a Smart Board for a little while. I had heard a lot about these interactive whiteboards and even seen them in the education building and in my wife's classroom, but until this week I had never used one. I was skeptical about them before and did not really see how they could be much better than a projector, or a whiteboard, but after using one I am beginning to see how it could be useful particularly in a Spanish class. The ability to "write" over virtually any program would make grammar practices and lessons more interesting and interactive for the students. Not to mention there are specific programs that allow you to create review activities, games, note taking, and subject matter exploration. For example in an article put out by scholastic a geography teacher describes being able to use interactive maps and things like Google Earth to help the students learn.
Another appeal to the Smart Board is that it excites students. I saw this first hand in my wives classroom as two girls came in and immediately started playing with the Smart board while they waited for their mother. The appeal of technology motivates students to participate in activities much more than if that same exercise was simply done on the board. I would use this appeal to have students demonstrate fill in the blank vocabulary or verb conjugation exercises.
Some downsides to the Smart board that I saw is set up time. It took about ten minutes to get the computer, projector and Smart board set up and in sync, time that could be used doing something more productive. Supposedly this is not an issue on the new 600i system but I wasn't able to find out exactly why that is. Another con (particularly for someone who is left-handed like me is that it is hard to see the board as you are writing on it. (your shadow covers the projection) I also believe some improvements could be made that could cut cost and create less parts that could be lost (such as the electronic pens and eraser)
Another benefit pointed out in a technology blog is that the Smart board allows teachers to save notes and presentations where on a regular board those would have to be erased before the next class. This would be useful in picking up where you left off in the previous class period. These are just a few of the benefits and uses of the Smart Board that I have come across ed, but I imagine that there is much more that can be done with them so long as they are available through school funding, grants etc.
Articles
http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3749226
http://edublogs.org/tags/?t=review
This site would be a great way for the students in my class to be able to communicate with native Spanish speakers, specifically in a place where the language is the central focus. (as opposed to another Spanish chat room or interest site.) Students could have the assignment of letting a Native speaker review a written assignment, or they could practice introductions in a web-chat.
One negative aspect that I could see to using this in the classroom is the possibility of coming across objectionable language or even pictures (although the pictures on this site are limited to profile pics.) This is always a danger when dealing with real people. As with any social networking site there is the potential risk of contact with those who may present offensive comments or pose other dangers. This could be prevented by setting up clear guidelines that point out that students are not to reveal personal information. I might also screen the people that students have contact with based on those I have found to be reputable in the past.
Based on the experience that I have had with this site I do feel it is a great way to have contact and communicate with native speakers, when live interaction is not possible or practical. Not only this but it has the potential to get students more excited about language learning, and more motivated to continue practicing the language each day.
articles
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/business/17novel.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=livemocha&st=cse
http://www.technologyreview.com/biztech/19484/
Due to favorable conditions (i.e. being married to a teacher) I had the opportunity to work with a Smart Board for a little while. I had heard a lot about these interactive whiteboards and even seen them in the education building and in my wife's classroom, but until this week I had never used one. I was skeptical about them before and did not really see how they could be much better than a projector, or a whiteboard, but after using one I am beginning to see how it could be useful particularly in a Spanish class. The ability to "write" over virtually any program would make grammar practices and lessons more interesting and interactive for the students. Not to mention there are specific programs that allow you to create review activities, games, note taking, and subject matter exploration. For example in an article put out by scholastic a geography teacher describes being able to use interactive maps and things like Google Earth to help the students learn.
Another appeal to the Smart Board is that it excites students. I saw this first hand in my wives classroom as two girls came in and immediately started playing with the Smart board while they waited for their mother. The appeal of technology motivates students to participate in activities much more than if that same exercise was simply done on the board. I would use this appeal to have students demonstrate fill in the blank vocabulary or verb conjugation exercises.
Some downsides to the Smart board that I saw is set up time. It took about ten minutes to get the computer, projector and Smart board set up and in sync, time that could be used doing something more productive. Supposedly this is not an issue on the new 600i system but I wasn't able to find out exactly why that is. Another con (particularly for someone who is left-handed like me is that it is hard to see the board as you are writing on it. (your shadow covers the projection) I also believe some improvements could be made that could cut cost and create less parts that could be lost (such as the electronic pens and eraser)
Another benefit pointed out in a technology blog is that the Smart board allows teachers to save notes and presentations where on a regular board those would have to be erased before the next class. This would be useful in picking up where you left off in the previous class period. These are just a few of the benefits and uses of the Smart Board that I have come across ed, but I imagine that there is much more that can be done with them so long as they are available through school funding, grants etc.
Articles
http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3749226
http://edublogs.org/tags/?t=review
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Video Reflection: Top Ten List
I'm not completely sure, but I don't think that was an actual David Letterman top ten list. (I could be wrong though.) This video was fun and for the most part, funny (I thought the top 3 were a little lame.) I think it is true that there are certain things that you just don't, and can't learn about teaching in college. As I am still in college I don't yet know what all those things are, but having been married to a teacher for two years, having both parents as teachers and four siblings who teach I am not completely unfamiliar with the things I have waiting for me. Looking at this video from a technology perspective, I can see the fun you can have using videos like this.
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