blog#10

When reviewing other students' blogs I was interested in finding out the level of technological knoweldge that they had, and also the amount of technology that is integrated into their lives as compared with my own. It was also interesting to compare and contrast what they found to be the most integral components of each of the chapters in the text book to what I considered to be the most important aspect of that particular chapter.
The skill that I would be most interested in learning next to fulfill my technology education would be to learn how to make my own website and add to it continually so that in the future I can have my own classroom website that my students can go and browse through. On this website I would have a syllabus, assignments, reading materials they can download. Also, I would have helpful links to study sites and other resources that would be valuable to the students.
In order to further my technological-educational career goals in the future, it might be helpful to take classes either at FSU, TCC, in the commuity, or even online. I could even go to the library or the bookstore to the computer section and pick up a book that I could read to learn more about ways that I can integrate technology both in my life at home and in my life as an educator. Also, there are most likely teacher conferences available that would teach educators on ways to integrate technology into assignments and classroom teaching that I could attend once I have graduated and am a teacher.

blog# 9

When looking online, I located a very useful teaching website. The website: http://school.discovery.com/teachingtools/teachingtools.html has many great teaching tools that would benefit the classroom and my future plans as a teacher. The website is through the discovery channel. It is not limited to one field or subject area of teaching.
It contains items from television, lesson plans, teacher’s stores, teaching tools, homework guidance, curriculum ideas, custom classrooms, and a guide to teaching. It also contains useful homework and project ideas such as puzzle-maker, clip art gallery, science fair project, study ideas, and “brain boosters.” The website is a good way to get a teacher started and help him or her throughout the year forming worksheets and activities. It also has the ability to provide quizzes for students.
A useful teaching tool that I have not seen yet but I think would be useful is an online ability test for students that automatically advances them to a more difficult level once they have completed one test. The test could be taken at any computer and the results could be sent directly to the teacher via his or her school email. The teacher could then use the results to decide the students’ level and capability and be able to form the curriculum and teaching method around this knowledge.

blog#8 correction

When I first wrote blog number 8 Ithought that it was due last monday, so I wrote about what I had learned about wikis. So to complete the assignment correctly I must discuss what I learned from the powerpoint lesson last monday. I did not realize that there were so many different options involved in the process of making a powerpoint presentation. I learned that one could download a picture from the internet and allow that to be the background of a presentation. I also learned about the different options related to animation. I also learned about the different ways to include graphs, outlines, and other symbols and figures within the powerpoint presentation. The possibilities seem endless when it comes to designing a powerpoint presentation. Powerpoint is a very useful tool for classroom teaching. I also learned that a teacher can attach a notes section that can only be viewed by the person looking at the computer screen. So a teacher can write down hints or notes about the topic that he/she is presenting without the students being able to see. This can allow for the teacher to give more instruction without cluttering the slide or overwhelming the students' vision. Powerpoint is a good tool for classroom notes, explanations, as well as a tool for a student project.

blog#8

In chapter 8 there is discussions pertaining towards security, ethics and the emergence of techonology in education. This is a very important subject since it is essential for teachers to have good ethics, be a good example for students and to have good security for his/herself and his/her students. There are many computer crimes and the chapter discusses the possibilities of being affected by some of them. One that can seriously affect the technology in a classroom are computer viruses (boot sector, file, macro, worm, trojan horse, logic bomb, time bombm and michelangelo). Chapter 8 gives effective tips in how to detect, avoid, and remove such viruses from school computers. It is important to have antivirus protection on a computer as well as a rescue disc. Another computer fear are those presented by hackers or unauthorized users. Thus it is critical for preventing this to obtain access controls, particularly user identification and password verification in order to enter into a school controlled computer. Other hacker preventions are possessed objects (an item that must be carried to gain access), firewalls, and proxy server. Another thing to worry about is theft and vandalism. There are methods to lower these chances of occurence as well, including alarm systems, deadbolt locks, and cable locks. The best safety measure for a computer is a backup in case of theft, damage, or destruction. There are also ethics to consider and of which students should be aware. Some of these are copyright laws, privacy laws, internet laws, and child protection laws. Ways to minimize the breaking of such rules is having filtering software, teacher observance, user policy, and websites by the teachers themselves.
The last class I gained useful information pertaining to wikis. These would be beneficial to my educational career by allowing me, as a teacher, to give my students, their parents, and the school access to a web page developed by me. This would be helpful in allowing me to discern which websites are appropriate for specific topics in my class that my students may visit and putting them on the wiki for them to view. This would save the students and myself a lot of unneccessary stress and concern over the appropriateness of a certain website that the student wishes to cite. It would also give the parents and the school administration ease in knowing that I have already screened what is to be viewed by the students. I can ensure that the rest of the public does not view the classroom wiki and can allow access to it for the parents and faculty so that they may view it and give their approval over it.

blog#7

Chapter 7 discussses evaluation of technology. There is a cycle of evaluation in regards to technology integration into education. It transitions from before intstruction, during instruction, after instruction, evaluate and revise and back again through the same cycle. What is important to note is that evaluate and revise enters into all of the other phases of the cycle not just before instruction but also during and after instruction. It is essential to evaluate software applications and web resources prior to using them for instruction purposes. It is also good to evaluate how effective the integration of technology is towards the learner, the learning objectives, and the learning process. The chapter also focuses on the best method of evaluating a technology-based student project. Since students are presenting their knowledge and information more frequently through technology, it is important that the teacher has a good idea on what should be required and expected out of such a project or presentation. Finally the chapter presents appropriate and specific information for each subject area that a teacher may focus upon. In my situation the chapter was helpful in discussing technology integration into a language arts curriculum which will eventually become my field of teaching expertise.
In the last class I learned how to make a wiki. I had heard of a wiki before but was unsure of what it really was, how to obtain one, and who could get one. I now know that it is open to use by anyone who so desires and also that it can be private or public. A wiki can also be shared with a specific group and one can link their wiki to another's and a main page. I learned how to develop a wiki and enhance the details on it. It would be useful if I wanted to provide a personal web resource for my students to go to and possibly to add information. I can give the students information pertaining to the class and list helpful websites and class agendas on the wiki.

Blog#6

I chapter six technology, digital media, and curriculum integration are the main focus. It discusses possible ways to integrate technology into the curriculum, such as through the use of computers, CDs, DVDs, application software, digital media applications, electronic references, and the internet. The chapter explains a five step model for instructional transformation produced by Welliver that begins with awareness of technology and continues until full evolvement of technology in all subject areas. The book believes that the best method of integrating technology into the classroom is to educate the teachers, make it easily accessible, and let the teachers decide for themselves how to integrate it. Another model that the book teaches is the ASSURE model. This is an acronym for Analyze the learner, State objectives, Select methods, media, and materials, Utilize methods, media, and materials, Require learner participation, and Evaluate and revise. This is an instructional model for effective teaching using technology.
In the last class I learned about qualified websites and how to differentiate them between those websites that may not be appropriate. There is a list of criteria that help to determine whether the website is good or bad. There are seven questions that a web user should ask regarding the website: 1. who is the authority; 2. what is the websites objective; 3. what is the accuracy of the website; 4. what is the currency of the website; 5. what does the website cover; 6. is the website easy to maneuver. They should also consider whether the web version is different than the print version, that websites are subject to change, is the web the best place to locate this information, and that anyone can post something on the web. .edu is an educational website, .gov is a government website, .org is an organization’s website, .com is a commercial website, and .net is a personal-internet service provider. The provider is an okay quick method of determining whether the website has a good authority. Finally it is important to teach our future students that not everything on the web is okay to use and they should follow guidelines.

blog#5

Chapter five contains a lot of information on digital media. That is those technologies that allow users to create new forms of interaction, expression, communication, and entertainment in a digital format, according to the text. This differs from technology in that technology is used for administrative tasks, training programs, and vocational and production education. Multimedia is simpley the use of more than one media. Digital media is a more specific term for defining the type of multimedia in use. Many classes today are enhancing the learning of their students through the use of digital media, specifically by integrating the web into the lessons- which provides students with extra resources that would otherwise be unavailable. Some educational software include computer-assisted instruction, drill and practice, educational games, tutorials, educational simulations, integrated learning systems, and curriculum-specific software. All of these are beneficial for teachers and students in helping to assure a well-rounded educational experience.
In the last lesson I learned more about Microsoft Word. I also learned a lot about the web and search engines. Before the last class I thought google search only offered one form of searching. I now know that there are advanced searching techniques which include more specific search tools. Also I found out that google also has maps, media, videos, book listings, and even scholar/academic articles. This will be very helpful when it comes to teaching. I will be able to locate various items to integrate into a lesson with little trouble.