For my research, I typed "digital storytelling" into my yahoo search engine, and clicked the first site at the top of the page. It was a link to the University of Houston that completely explained the idea of digital storytelling. Not only that, but it had a variety of other places you could navigate to within the website that can help put your story together, such as movie and sound editing programs, and how to get started. I think I am going to find this helpful for the project at the end.
On the home page to the site I looked at, there was a short video clip about digital storytelling. In it was a series of video clips that were just pieces of American history, from Neil Armstrong stepping on the moon to the space shuttle blowing up in '86. It also showed a short clip of a larger story that a man had put together about his dad being a pilot in WW 2. Just these brief clips were enough to touch me, as I remembered the events in my life, big and small, that affected me greatly.
Digital storytelling is not necessarily simple. As with anything involving the creative process, it takes time and energy for a quality completed project. I just hope that I will be able to do the medium justice and create something that matters.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Global Education Communities
When I first read the criteria for this assignment, I was unsure of what I was supposed to do. What is a global education community. So, I did what any rational college student working agains a deadline would do: I googled it, and clicked on the first site I came upon.
All I can say is wow! I am pretty impressed with what I saw. For anyone who does not know what a global education community is, it is basically a group of people from around the globe gathering together in an online community, searching for various ways to connect. It might be through an environmental chat thread. Or helping gather research for a project being don around the world. One of the coolest ones I found was a link to a site where teachers could connect their strongest writers to a GLOBAL community of writers. In this particular community, young people can read other young people's writing, gaining inspiration and even lending a helping hand. If I had a place where I could have developed my writing when I was younger, then I wonder how much better I would be now?!
Basically, these global communities are similar in thought to the old "pen pal" idea of my days. Write a letter to a child across the world, telling them about your life in the U.S. Then, they would write one back and tell you about their life wherever they are. It was always a nice thought, but snail mail can be frustrating, and writing when your heart wasn't really in it was always more of a chore. But in these global communities, students can receive near instant feedback from a new friend across the world, download and share pictures, and again an appreciation of what it's like in other cultures. Pen pals for the digital age! What a great idea!
The site I found had a lot of jumping off points for teachers to guide their students as well as become involved in a community they are interested as well. It takes signing up to participate in the various threads, but it's nothing more than we do for hotmail or eLive anyway. The site's address is: http://globaleducation.ning.com/ I really reccommend it. I can't wait to find ways to integrate this into my own classroom someday and see what happens.
All I can say is wow! I am pretty impressed with what I saw. For anyone who does not know what a global education community is, it is basically a group of people from around the globe gathering together in an online community, searching for various ways to connect. It might be through an environmental chat thread. Or helping gather research for a project being don around the world. One of the coolest ones I found was a link to a site where teachers could connect their strongest writers to a GLOBAL community of writers. In this particular community, young people can read other young people's writing, gaining inspiration and even lending a helping hand. If I had a place where I could have developed my writing when I was younger, then I wonder how much better I would be now?!
Basically, these global communities are similar in thought to the old "pen pal" idea of my days. Write a letter to a child across the world, telling them about your life in the U.S. Then, they would write one back and tell you about their life wherever they are. It was always a nice thought, but snail mail can be frustrating, and writing when your heart wasn't really in it was always more of a chore. But in these global communities, students can receive near instant feedback from a new friend across the world, download and share pictures, and again an appreciation of what it's like in other cultures. Pen pals for the digital age! What a great idea!
The site I found had a lot of jumping off points for teachers to guide their students as well as become involved in a community they are interested as well. It takes signing up to participate in the various threads, but it's nothing more than we do for hotmail or eLive anyway. The site's address is: http://globaleducation.ning.com/ I really reccommend it. I can't wait to find ways to integrate this into my own classroom someday and see what happens.
Monday, July 11, 2011
The blog I'm following: Tech Fridge
I decided to follow TechFridge because it has so many links to helpful information about the subject of teaching. Of course, I have struggled with this in the past, because sometimes, it is hard to make a lot of sense out of a blog that mainly lists links and does not do a lot of actual blogging. However, this all changed when I got my new iPad. A lot of the links were about how to use the iPad in education. And a lot of those links had even more links with even more information! It was incredible as I read what my iPad can do for me in the classroom. I spent a good amount of time downloading new whiteboard apps and even a networking app it was talking about. I look forward to more uses as time goes on.
The blog did do a lot of talking about this year's ISTE, which is the International Society for Technology in Education is just now over, and the blogger had attended, so I read some updates about his interactions with many participants he had met over Twitter. This, if nothing else, cemented in my mind the fact that whether I like it or not, I probably need to get on Twitter, or I could mis important networking opportunities. As late in life as I am picking up this career, I need all of the extra help I can get if I want to become the best I can be. For me and my students.
The blog did do a lot of talking about this year's ISTE, which is the International Society for Technology in Education is just now over, and the blogger had attended, so I read some updates about his interactions with many participants he had met over Twitter. This, if nothing else, cemented in my mind the fact that whether I like it or not, I probably need to get on Twitter, or I could mis important networking opportunities. As late in life as I am picking up this career, I need all of the extra help I can get if I want to become the best I can be. For me and my students.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Assistive Technology in Education
All children have the right to a free public education. Sometimes, due to special needs, some students might be at a disadvantage. In fact, according to most statistics, over 6 million kids receive some form of special education. In some of these situations, students may need something to help them along. In order to accomplish scholastic tasks, assistive technology devices have been created to meet these special needs. Assistive technology comes in all types, from low tech, to super high tech.
So what is assistive technology? The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997 defines assistive technology device as "any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of a child with a disability" (IDEA, 1997, 20, USC, Ch. 33, Sec. 1401 [25] US) (www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/methods/technlgy/te7assist.htm). While the list is too long to go over, assistive devices can mean anything from a simple pair of headphones to something as complicated as a braille note-taker/printer. The main point is that as long as the device is determined suitable for the child's needs, it is considered an assistive device, and allowed to be used in the classroom.
So, how is a device considered "suitable"? While rules vary slightly from state to state, a decision must be handed down from the student's IEP team that the device is necessary for the student's success. These decisions are made based on need, disability, and whether or not an assistive device would actually help the situation. These devices are provided free by the school district for use in the school. Once again, while rules vary amongst states, if the device is purchased by the school district, the device stays with the district once the child leaves.
One device that I found particularly interesting was the braille note-taker/printer. Portable and small, Braille note-taking devices allow students to take notes during lectures and also to complete word-processing tasks. With a Braille note-taking device, students can store a class's notes just as other students would store notes in a traditional notebook (www.ehow.com/list_ 6001006_examples-assistive-technology-school.html). This machine is able to help blind students take notes and refer back to them at a later time. It also acts like a translation device, converting braille into text so that the assignment can be turned in for the teacher to read. I like this device because I have always been interested in Braille, and the process that people go through to write it. The integration possibilities are endless, and I think it could be a tremendous asset in a classroom that deals with visually impaired students.
So what is assistive technology? The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997 defines assistive technology device as "any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of a child with a disability" (IDEA, 1997, 20, USC, Ch. 33, Sec. 1401 [25] US) (www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/methods/technlgy/te7assist.htm). While the list is too long to go over, assistive devices can mean anything from a simple pair of headphones to something as complicated as a braille note-taker/printer. The main point is that as long as the device is determined suitable for the child's needs, it is considered an assistive device, and allowed to be used in the classroom.
So, how is a device considered "suitable"? While rules vary slightly from state to state, a decision must be handed down from the student's IEP team that the device is necessary for the student's success. These decisions are made based on need, disability, and whether or not an assistive device would actually help the situation. These devices are provided free by the school district for use in the school. Once again, while rules vary amongst states, if the device is purchased by the school district, the device stays with the district once the child leaves.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Dance Mat Typing
For my tech tool, I chose Dance Mat Typing. As a person who still uses the "hunt and peck" method, I have always been kind of jealous of those who can type with out looking at the keyboard. I just never learned. Never took a typing class, never had a reason to learn. I have tried, but my fingers are huge, and constantly hit the wrong keys. One of those things that if I had learned earlier, then maybe I would see things differently.
Dance Mat Typing is a website put out by the BBC that uses cute little interactive videos to teach kids to type. It's best for younger kids, but I did the lesson on the homerow, and found it pretty fun. The characters are way British, so their accents were fun to listen to. The whole program is set up around music, and at every step of the way, the characters will pop up and celebrate major milestones that the student accomplishes. Even mistakes are okay, because instead of telling you you are wrong, the proper key (in a picture on the screen) asks you to hit it instead. So kids are positively reinforced from every direction.
Computers are not going anywhere. As our lesson plans rely more and more on computers and their proper use, it is only responsible of us to teach them the basics. Since most older kids already know these basics, this program would work best for lower grade levels. Coupling it with reading and/or writing would work great, so that kids are learning multiple skills at the same time.
Dance Mat Typing is a website put out by the BBC that uses cute little interactive videos to teach kids to type. It's best for younger kids, but I did the lesson on the homerow, and found it pretty fun. The characters are way British, so their accents were fun to listen to. The whole program is set up around music, and at every step of the way, the characters will pop up and celebrate major milestones that the student accomplishes. Even mistakes are okay, because instead of telling you you are wrong, the proper key (in a picture on the screen) asks you to hit it instead. So kids are positively reinforced from every direction.
Computers are not going anywhere. As our lesson plans rely more and more on computers and their proper use, it is only responsible of us to teach them the basics. Since most older kids already know these basics, this program would work best for lower grade levels. Coupling it with reading and/or writing would work great, so that kids are learning multiple skills at the same time.
Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks
For our assignment, we were supposed to introduce three people to the commoncraft videos. For the first person, I tried my son. I showed him the video about Twitter, because he is always asking me about it. He seemed to think the video itself was entertaining. But when I asked him if he wanted to start a Twitter account, he looked at me and said "No. I just wanted to know how it works," and promptly left the room.
The next person to show a video to was my mom. As the least computer literate person in my family, she regards the computer as some magical box. I sat her down, and asked her if any video interested her at all. She decided on the video about BitTorrent, since my brother is always downloading music for her using BitTorrent. She watched it, and I wasn't sure she was getting it. But after the video was done, she asked to watch another one. So I set her up with the list, and she spent the next hour watching videos. While I am pretty sure she still can't DO any of it, at least she understands the idea behind most of hat she watched.
The last one happened by accident. When my mom started watching videos, she called my dad in, and he started watching it. Of course, being my dad, he insisted he already knew all of this, but found the animations to be quirky and worthy of his time. Personally, I think he was learning a couple things, but he'll never admit it. Overall, my experience with Commoncraft videos has been positive. Everyone in my family learned something, even if they didn't mean to.
The next person to show a video to was my mom. As the least computer literate person in my family, she regards the computer as some magical box. I sat her down, and asked her if any video interested her at all. She decided on the video about BitTorrent, since my brother is always downloading music for her using BitTorrent. She watched it, and I wasn't sure she was getting it. But after the video was done, she asked to watch another one. So I set her up with the list, and she spent the next hour watching videos. While I am pretty sure she still can't DO any of it, at least she understands the idea behind most of hat she watched.
The last one happened by accident. When my mom started watching videos, she called my dad in, and he started watching it. Of course, being my dad, he insisted he already knew all of this, but found the animations to be quirky and worthy of his time. Personally, I think he was learning a couple things, but he'll never admit it. Overall, my experience with Commoncraft videos has been positive. Everyone in my family learned something, even if they didn't mean to.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
The Following
It was a dark and stormy night. As usual, I was up, with a case to solve. I felt like I had my finger on the answer, I just couldn't see where my finger was. You see, the blogs were lighting up all around me. Stories connecting copyright and education blogs were all around me, and one of them was the killer. So here I was, at my desktop, puzzling through each one. JJ's blog was about a magical digital world and the effort of a group of friends regarding copyright. But then, Sheng's was also about a group of friends and copyright, but minus the fairy tale setting. Teresa's blog showed promise, but there didn't seem to be any story, just a lot of words. Which was exactly how Brianna's was as well, no story, but the connections seemed to be there.
I was getting frustrated and hungry, which in my line of work is never a good combo. Harder to think. So I got up from my desk and went over to my tech fridge. I opened it and was astounded at all the stuff I could choose from. "Someone must have restocked it while I was away," I thought. I was always surprised at the usefulness of this particular site. Variety and lots of it. Helps me think. I never walk away without some kind of idea from my tech fridge.
No sooner did the idea hit me than I heard the door close, and before I could turn around, a gunshot rang out. I turned around and sure enough, I was right. She thought she was being so sly, but I recognized that face staring down at me from her blog. But as the warmth left my body, I knew it didn't matter. She had gotten the last laugh. And I was dead.
I was getting frustrated and hungry, which in my line of work is never a good combo. Harder to think. So I got up from my desk and went over to my tech fridge. I opened it and was astounded at all the stuff I could choose from. "Someone must have restocked it while I was away," I thought. I was always surprised at the usefulness of this particular site. Variety and lots of it. Helps me think. I never walk away without some kind of idea from my tech fridge.
No sooner did the idea hit me than I heard the door close, and before I could turn around, a gunshot rang out. I turned around and sure enough, I was right. She thought she was being so sly, but I recognized that face staring down at me from her blog. But as the warmth left my body, I knew it didn't matter. She had gotten the last laugh. And I was dead.
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