Other Articles

Teachers are reaching out to Students with a New Class Blog-

Teachers are integrating blogs into the classroom to assist with their teaching methods and improve learning. I think this is a huge step in the right and logical direction. When I was first introduced to computers, I never thought people would be able to communicate with others from across the world or even be able to view a picture right after it was taken except on a Polaroid camera. Technology has defiantly improved how people communicate and has changed the outlook of the world.

More Students Getting Laptops instead of Textbooks-

Laptops are very versatile and are easy to travel with. There are many benefits to laptops but I feel an all-digital curriculum will not give the students the hands on experiences that are necessary to grow academically.

There is no doubt immersion into computers will defiantly help students with college and their future careers but some of the “old way” of doing things still needs to be in the curriculum.

Video Helps Overhaul Districts Curriculum-

Watching videos in the classroom is nothing new but the way they get into the classroom has changed. The video-on-demand system sounds great with it being able to be accessed more quickly and without much trouble.

The Marshal of My Space-

It is great to know there are people patrolling the internet and watching for the wrong people to sneak into our children’s (students) communication streams. My Space and other online informative chat areas need to be monitored at home as much as possible to decrease the chances of problems with the wrong types of people.

If wired right, computers do belong in classrooms-

I agree that much of the software out today is useless and if it does not contribute in the learning process it needs to be disposed of quickly. I am positive there are many great programs that need to be found. It is just a matter of weeding out the bad ones.

Highlights of Course

*5. Think about this course:

The oddest part of this class was making a podcast. I was very nervous and it took me a while to understand how to change a WAV file into a Mp3. That project made me think outside the realm of where my brain is normally so it was an eye opening experience.

When I started this class and saw all the websites to visit I was starting to wonder how I was going to write everything down or put it somewhere I would not lose it. The social book marking sites are by far the best idea for organizing websites. This feature of the internet is also great because it is so easy to share with others.

I really enjoyed using Flickr to post my pictures onto the web. I have given my page information to my family so they can see different pictures of vacations and my children doing crazy things.

I have learned a lot from our internet grammar assignment. I thought I knew a good chunk of terms and meanings pertaining to the internet but since I failed that test I realized I did not know very much at all. I was also glad to be reminded about all the misleading information on the internet so I can teach my own children as well as my future students how to surf the web responsibly.

I had a good time figuring out how to make a power point game. I have a few more bugs to figure out but I did not realize power point was capable of doing such a project.

Edutopia

4. Edutopia:

Harrison Central High School-The idea of connecting real world experiences to school applications is a good one. When children get to work out real life experiences I think they learn more than using hypothetical situations. Later in life they will think back to those experiences and relate them to a current issue and be able to have a base for the right decision to be made.

Mary Scroggs Elementary School-This is the most wired school in the nation. The students have personal access to a computer anywhere in the school which is a great idea but I would think it would be costly. Having computer access would be beneficial when needing information that some students may not be able to get from home and since it would be in a school environment access would be limited and monitored to assure safety.

A Product of Learning-In my opinion, hands on learning is all ways the way to go because you bring many of the other senses into the learning process which would allow the information to be better retained while keeping the students active in their participation in the class.

A Night in the Global Village-I enjoyed watching how the students in this video were excited to learn about how people in developing countries live by actually sleeping in the different types of houses and in some cases bagging for their food. I think this experience would make the students appreciate what they have but more importantly have empathy for others in the world.

Learning By Design-Having an internship while in high school would be a great experience for students. They would get real work experience while using the skills they learn in school.

Art Works- The students are learning through physical activities that they like to do such as dancing or playing music. There are so many ways to use mathematical solutions while looking at music or dancing when the students would take the time to analyze them, there would be much data to organize and apply to other areas of learning.

Book marking

3. ALTEC

Mrs. Remter added this site to her book marking site for future reference. She had mentioned this would be great for finding videos to watch and information for tests and quizzes. This is a great resource for beginning teachers as it provides endless information to help out in the classroom.

Sharing Information with Others

2. Apple Learning Interchange Reflection:

Mary Remter will be teaching in the Appleton, Wisconsin area next school year. She enjoyed learning about the different social book marking sites that aid in the organization of websites and all of the open software that will assist with lesson plans and ideas for lessons.

Tecs 290 Reflections

1. Read all the articles

U.S. schools lag behind in use of technology

Technology is not the cheapest advancement for schools but definitely worth it. There are many schools that need to catch up to the technology buzz but the hard part is making sure the software and other components are of high quality, then everyone will benefit.

National Education Technology Plan

The action steps put into place to prepare students for their futures seems like they were well thought out. Technology will be constantly improving so there needs to be an action plan to keep up with the changing times.

NETS: National Education Technology Standards: for Students, for Teachers and for Administrators

The NETS Project will be a reliable way to know how much technology is assisting students in their learning and where educators are at in their understanding of the technology they are using. Setting standards is important so everyone what is expected and what will not be tolerated.

Don't Just Adapt Technology, Adopt It!!

This title is a good philosophy to adopt. Technology will all ways be changing so if you just continue to adapt with the situations at hand, by the time it is understood there will be some new technology to try and begin to understand. If technology is adopted in to the curriculum everything will still constantly be improving but at least the basic usage skills will be well established in many different areas of technology needed to make the learning experience fun and full filling for all that are involved.

High School.com

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Apple Learning Interchange: This is for all teachers, not just Apple users! http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/

This is a very interesting resource for teachers. This site has a lot of education ideas to offer such as lesson plans, videos, and links to other sites to explore. I have book marked this site to refer back to it when needed.

ALTEC: Innovative Technologies to Improve Teaching and Learning: http://altec.org/index.php

This is another great site that has a wealth of information and projects to tackle on any given day. This site would be helpful with organizing assignments, making quizzes, tests and lesson plans and also provides links to other helpful sites. I am glad I needed to take this class because there is no way I would have found all this great information on my own.