#16 Blogfolio

1. Introduction Video: At the very beginning of the semester, we were given the task of making an introduction video explaining who we are, what we're interested in, and other basic facts about ourselves.  This project met the second NETS-T standard, because it facilitated authentic learning while using contemporary tools. This also matched part three of this standard, which states that it will be customized and personal activities. This video allowed us to add our own personal touch to this video and customize it to our liking. Also, this was a learning experience for us, because most of us did not have experience with using blogs at all and giving us the directions of uploading it and putting the video on our blog page was interesting and challenging. This was also a way for people who see our blog to know why we have this page, and for others to see our common interest in teaching. I could see myself using this in the classroom for elementary students by having each student prepare something to say about themselves on video and practice their public speaking skills. Since in elementary school it would be difficult to get them to have their own blog and post their own video, but it would be nice to have a class blog that their parents could see.

2. Concept Map: For this assignment, we used technology called Inspiration, that none of us had used before, to create a concept map on a certain subject that we, as teachers, would like to teach to our students.  This project used NETS-T standard two which states "Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments". This activity implemented technology that allowed us to design our own material relevantly, using hyperlinks and creating our own template for the concept map. We chose our topics and they were required to have five different subtopics, this would be something interesting to use in the classroom to give students the freedom to come up with something they're interested in, but also challenge them to meet the requirements.  The use of the Inspiration technology could easily be used in the classroom in elementary schools and would be an easy way to incorporate technology into their learning and helping them use new things and remain interested in a simple task such as a concept map.

3. Website: This assignment used NETS-T standard five which states "engage in professional leadership and growth", this project did this because we had to create a website that we would share with out students and their parents.  This website included a page that we wrote a personal introduction, another page that we created a calendar, and another page with resources for our students to use. This was very enjoyable for me, because we were able to create a page as if we had our own classroom without rules, things we would implement into our classroom, and it gave us the freedom to be original and creative. I would definitely use this in my classroom as a way of communicating with students and parents. This would be a great tool to put copies of homework and links to assignments for students that are prone to losing their work.

4. Movie:  This project met the first NETS-T standard, about facilitating student learning and creativity.  This was one of the most fun projects that we did. We used Microsoft Movie Maker to create a movie about some event that happened in our lives.  This was an opportunity for us to learn how to create a video on our own, put it to music, and upload it to our blog.  This project was also very challenging. To complete this project we used the computers in class and due to our school's technology we had to save our photos through Drop Box and download them daily. It was also a learning experience to see how to put music to our video and compress it to put it on our blog. I could use this in a high school or middle school classroom, but it would be difficult to allow elementary students use this technology. It would however be a way for me, the teacher to document things that we do in the classroom. It would be a way for me to show students things from field trips, projects, literature circles, and much more.  This was a great activity for our class, because we were able to learn more about our classmates and what is important to them and also to build relationships and see how we relate to one another.

5. Turn It In: This assignment fell into the NETS-T standard four that says “promote and model digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information". In this assignment we were asked to do a number of things, the first things was to answer a number of questions on the internet using certain websites, copying the answers word for word and uploading them to Turn It In. We were required to get a certain percent of plagiarism.  Once we had completed that, we had to rewrite our answers to get rid of our plagiarism.  This was a difficult assignment, because it showed me that Turn It In could sometimes be inaccurate and unreliable.  This activity was useful though to show social responsibility and integrity, which is a lot of the reason that so many teachers use Turn It In to begin with. I could see myself showing students this activity in class if I ever planned on having students turn something in that way, or I could show students just so that they would understand how bad it is to cheat and how easily it could be monitored.

6. Web Tools: This project lines up with the NETS-T standard two that covers customizing and personalizing learning activities to address students. This was a way to engage all of us as education majors.  During this activity we were given three, new, very useful websites that allowed us to make rubrics, quizzes, and more. This was interesting, because it would be a way for us as teachers to allow students to be assessed on their learning and progress online.  This would be especially good to be used with upper elementary grades that have access to computers and can take the quizzes you post online.  The rubric website would also be helpful to make rubrics that can be shared with students.

7. Google Assignment: This assignment works with NETS-T standard number one, which states that it should promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness. This assignment required us to get in groups and create a Google Group. Once we were in the Google Group, we were required to write a story and make a PowerPoint on an aspect of technology in the classroom. This was an interesting assignment because it first made us use our creativity to come up with a story with others. My group decided to make a Google Doc to share our story and do it on our own time, as well as a Google presentation as the slideshow. This was also a learning experience for me, because I had never used a Google Group before and this was very interesting and something that I could see people using in the classroom for students to share information.

            This class has been very useful to me. There are a lot of resources out there for teachers that I did not know about. This class has shown me that there are many ways that we are jeopardizing our students' educations if we do not use technology in our classroom. This class helped me to broaden my horizons when it came to using technology in the classroom. I had no prior knowledge on how I should do this until this class.

            I am not a very technology savvy person in my day-to-day life so a lot of the assignments in this class were challenging and I had to learn how to do things that I would not normally have to do. Once I got the hang of how to do the assignments I really enjoyed them and can see myself using the Inspiration program as well as Movie Maker in my classroom.
            I enjoyed learning these things because I now feel equipped to teach students using technology in the classroom, an area in which I felt very lacking before this class.  In the future I will continue to use these technologies and more to make my classroom successful.