To Whom it May Concern,
One tool that I think every school should take advantage of is Teacher Tube. Teacher Tube is an online community, created for sharing instructional videos. The videos are educationally focused, and safe for teachers, schools, and home learners. It also has the capability for teachers to post videos for students, in order to learn a concept or skill.
You may be familiar with the online tool, You Tube. Teacher Tube is very similar, only, as I said earlier, all of the videos are educational and instructionally-based. Members are encouraged to upload educationally relevant videos as well as make constructive comments and use the site's rating system to rate the videos. The site's integrity comes from the viewers, or users, who are allowed to "flag" inappropriate videos. The staff of Teacher Tube will review the flagged sites and remove the inappropriate videos and/or comments.
The best part about Teacher Tube is that it is completely FREE! There is no charge to become a member or to be a viewer. I believe this online tool can be very useful in the classroom. For instance, if I were teaching a unit on the life cycle of insects, I could type this into the search bar and choose between several informational and educational videos to show to the class. This tool will keep students engaged and interested in what they are learning. I hope that you will consider using Teacher Tube in our school.
Thank You,
Ryan Logsdon
Friday, May 22, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Chapter 9 Response
Chapter 9 What It All Means
Everything we have learned from this book and this class has been very helpful. I plan on using many of these types of technology in my classroom. I think it is fun to learn about and put into practice these new ways of learning. I especially liked "Big Shift #8: Writing is no longer limited to text." This is so true. Now we can "write" by audio, video, music, photos, etc. Students can demonstrate their learning in many different ways now. This is a great way to differentiate.
Everything we have learned from this book and this class has been very helpful. I plan on using many of these types of technology in my classroom. I think it is fun to learn about and put into practice these new ways of learning. I especially liked "Big Shift #8: Writing is no longer limited to text." This is so true. Now we can "write" by audio, video, music, photos, etc. Students can demonstrate their learning in many different ways now. This is a great way to differentiate.
Chapter 6 Response
Chapter 6 The Social Web: Learning Together
Furl is tool you can use to construct your own personal piece of the Web. It can be used to store sites for journalism, parenting, environment, kids, etc. Furl is like an online bookmark and allows you to keep an archive of site. A similar site is called Delicious...why does it have this name anyway?? One alternative for social bookmarking is ScuttlEDU or Multipost Bookmarklet Tool. This chapter was helping in discussing how to use online bookmarking in the classroom.
Furl is tool you can use to construct your own personal piece of the Web. It can be used to store sites for journalism, parenting, environment, kids, etc. Furl is like an online bookmark and allows you to keep an archive of site. A similar site is called Delicious...why does it have this name anyway?? One alternative for social bookmarking is ScuttlEDU or Multipost Bookmarklet Tool. This chapter was helping in discussing how to use online bookmarking in the classroom.
Chapter 8 Response
Chapter 8 Podcasting and Screencasting: Multimedia Publishing for the Masses
Podcasting is the creation and distribution of amateur radio. I have downloaded poscasts as mp3's from a radio show before and synced them to my ipod. It worked fine. I think that it would be fun in an elementary class to create a class podcast. As suggested by the chapter, I would start with Education Podcast Network. It may have to be approved by the school (and paid for) in order to star an actual radio broadcast. I also liked using Audacity in class. I like that it is easy to use and had several options for effects.
Podcasting is the creation and distribution of amateur radio. I have downloaded poscasts as mp3's from a radio show before and synced them to my ipod. It worked fine. I think that it would be fun in an elementary class to create a class podcast. As suggested by the chapter, I would start with Education Podcast Network. It may have to be approved by the school (and paid for) in order to star an actual radio broadcast. I also liked using Audacity in class. I like that it is easy to use and had several options for effects.
Chapter 4 Response
Chapter 4 Wikis: Easy Collaboration for All
When we started this class, I didn't really know what a wiki was, but I learned quickly because it is where all of the information is for our class! Now that I have learned how to edit a wiki, and after reading this chapter, I now know more about the wiki technology. I think this can be very useful in the classroom. You can have an online text including curriculum that the teacher and the students can contribute to. I really like the Peanut Butter Wiki site to start a wiki and plan on doing this when I have my own classroom. Yay wiki!
When we started this class, I didn't really know what a wiki was, but I learned quickly because it is where all of the information is for our class! Now that I have learned how to edit a wiki, and after reading this chapter, I now know more about the wiki technology. I think this can be very useful in the classroom. You can have an online text including curriculum that the teacher and the students can contribute to. I really like the Peanut Butter Wiki site to start a wiki and plan on doing this when I have my own classroom. Yay wiki!
Chapters 3, 5, and 7 Response
Chapter 3 Weblogs: Get Started!
This chapter discusses in depth how to start a weblog. I am planning on using this techonology for my fourth exemplar lesson plan. I hope to start a blog that I can pull back up and use this lesson in my real classroom (depending on what grade I will be teaching!). This chapter was helpful in getting started on the blog.
Chapter 5 RSS: The New Killer App for Educators
RSS stands for Real Simple Syndication. This can come in handy in the classroom. You can just set up an RSS feed to see all of the posts from your students, instead of opening each of ther blogs and reading 25 different ones each day. I'm glad they have this technology because now I can just scan through to make sure the students have posted and then choose a few or several to comment on.
Chapter 7 Fun With Flickr: Creating, Publishing, and Using Images Online
I sort of knew about Flickr before this class, but I had never created an account. Now that we have put together a short Flickr presentation, I have realized that this tool can be very useful in the classroom, for any age! You can even send pictures from Flickr to a Weblog or Webpage. Students can also search for a certain location and view other people's pictures from that location.
This chapter discusses in depth how to start a weblog. I am planning on using this techonology for my fourth exemplar lesson plan. I hope to start a blog that I can pull back up and use this lesson in my real classroom (depending on what grade I will be teaching!). This chapter was helpful in getting started on the blog.
Chapter 5 RSS: The New Killer App for Educators
RSS stands for Real Simple Syndication. This can come in handy in the classroom. You can just set up an RSS feed to see all of the posts from your students, instead of opening each of ther blogs and reading 25 different ones each day. I'm glad they have this technology because now I can just scan through to make sure the students have posted and then choose a few or several to comment on.
Chapter 7 Fun With Flickr: Creating, Publishing, and Using Images Online
I sort of knew about Flickr before this class, but I had never created an account. Now that we have put together a short Flickr presentation, I have realized that this tool can be very useful in the classroom, for any age! You can even send pictures from Flickr to a Weblog or Webpage. Students can also search for a certain location and view other people's pictures from that location.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Response to Chapters 1 and 2
Chapter 1: The Read/Write Web
In chapter 1, it talks about how our ability to publish content online will force us to rethink the way we communicate with our students. It will also change how we deliver the curriculum and how we set expectations of our students. I agree with this. In my first student teaching placement (a 3rd grade classroom), the teacher kept a "class website" with up-to-date information, including student birthdays, umcoming events, what they are learning, book clubs, and she even had pictures of the students. Obviously, we need to be careful about publishing our students' names and pictures online. We must have their parent or guardian sign a release form to be able to use their name or picture. We just have to use common sense about keeping our students safe.
It is great that we now have tools such as Weblogs, wikis, podcasting, etc. to teach our students with. We have to learn to keep up with our students in this fast-paced world and technology-rich environment.
Chapter 2: Weblogs: Pedagogy and Practice
"A Weblog is an easily created, easily updated Website that allows an author to publish instantly to the internet from any internet connection." The book says it takes only as much skill as sending an email. It is really that easy.
I enjoyed the list of classroom uses of Weblogs at the end of Chapter 2. This list will come in handy when I begin teaching in my own classroom!
In chapter 1, it talks about how our ability to publish content online will force us to rethink the way we communicate with our students. It will also change how we deliver the curriculum and how we set expectations of our students. I agree with this. In my first student teaching placement (a 3rd grade classroom), the teacher kept a "class website" with up-to-date information, including student birthdays, umcoming events, what they are learning, book clubs, and she even had pictures of the students. Obviously, we need to be careful about publishing our students' names and pictures online. We must have their parent or guardian sign a release form to be able to use their name or picture. We just have to use common sense about keeping our students safe.
It is great that we now have tools such as Weblogs, wikis, podcasting, etc. to teach our students with. We have to learn to keep up with our students in this fast-paced world and technology-rich environment.
Chapter 2: Weblogs: Pedagogy and Practice
"A Weblog is an easily created, easily updated Website that allows an author to publish instantly to the internet from any internet connection." The book says it takes only as much skill as sending an email. It is really that easy.
I enjoyed the list of classroom uses of Weblogs at the end of Chapter 2. This list will come in handy when I begin teaching in my own classroom!
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