Videos

What? This week we viewed you tube, a website where you can see videos made from anyone or were copied from it's original destination. We were then told to find an education video and place it on our blog. How might you ask does one do that exactly? Well there is a great website called zamzar. This website allows you to take videos from places like you tube and convert them to another file so that you might be able to place them anywhere you would like, like your blog for example.

So What? You tube is a great way to teach your students. Kids can watch video from a familiar, interesting source, therefore being more interested in what they are watching. Teachers can also make their own videos and even use their students in them. Parents can then watch the same videos on my class website. Students can create mashups, a combination of several videos, to demonstrate a point. I now feel comfortable that I could make a video and use it for another one of my classes today.

Now What? This piece of technology will be great for my future students. I like this class because it shows me all the new ways that I can influence my students through technology. Lets face this is the new age of technology and if you want to get through to your students you have to use means they are interested. Before this assignment I never thought about using you tube in the classroom but this way my student can not only hear and read about a subject they can watch about it. It is just using more ways to get through to my students. I could set up an assignment where the students need to make a mashup for a certain subject. This way I will know that they are truly learning about the subject. I think using this source of technology will make me a better teacher because I am using a fun and unique way to teach them and get them involved. I also think my colleagues will be able to see what I am doing to teach my students and they will get ideas from me. I really want to be the best teacher I can be and if that means learning to find a way to connect with my students I will do it. I definitely think that using you tube is the way to do that.

Picasa!

What? This week we worked with a program called Picasa. It allows you to put imagines in album from your digital camera. You can then enhance these imagines however you like, from cropping them to changing the colors to black and white. No worries about losing your original photo, Picasa keeps all of them in case you make a mistake. You then can take these imagines and send them straight to your blog or get the url and send them somewhere, like my uen website.
So What? I think this program would be very useful as a teacher. You can use this program as a tool when using the many ideas we learned of last week when were learning how to use a digital camera in the classroom. This is another great way to allow the kids to show their creativity. As a teacher I could use this program to include some pictures in a powerpoint I am using to explain an idea.



Now What? I can definitely see myself using this program in the future. I think it is important for students to learn how to work with photography because not only do they learn how to express their creativity but it also marks down their own history. I hope to be the kind of teacher that will teach my students things they can use in the future. One assignment I could assign to my students is have them take a picture of themselves and then have them enhance the photo by erasing everything but their head and then having them create a body of the person they want to be when they grow up. For example it could be a body of a person in scrubs who is a doctor. This way the students can express themselves and think about what they would like to be in the future. I also think if I learn more about these applications and become more computer savvy I will become a better colleague.
I know that I can become a better teacher if I can make them understand by using something familiar to them. We are living in a technological world as this is something my students can relate and understand and therefore better understand the concept I am trying to teach.

Digital Cameras

This week we learned all about the great uses digital cameras have in the classroom. When kids are aloud to use digital cameras in class they get to express their creativity. It also helps them to remember lessons that they took part in. It's an easy way to document experiences they have in class. They can also show learning experiences they learn outside of class. As teachers we can also use digital cameras to teach a lesson. For example, this week we made power point slide shows. We took several pictures to show and teach about the food pyramid.

I never really thought about using a camera in the classroom but this assignment got me thinking about all the get uses. This gives a personal touch to teaching. It also gives the kids a way to teach themselves. They can take pictures of things that interest them and that they, personally want to learn about.

Once kids learn how to take advantages of using digital cameras they can see how learning can apply in the real world. Now I can teach my students for example, about the food pyramid, then ask them to go home and take one picture of food from each group in the food pyramid. That they I can see and know that the children understand what they are learning about. They can also keep this knowledge for years to come so they never forget it. They can learn how they can record their own history.

This weeks video blog was a mashup, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tprMEs-zfQA.
What a mashup is, is a combination of several video clips, songs, etc. This idea is a great one for the use of our classroom. You have the kids make a mashup explaining an idea. That way they will see several examples of this idea and they will learn how to work with technology. In this day and age it is important that kids learn how to work and include technology in their lives.

Internet Safety

6 Questions to Ask Yourself Every Time You Visit a Website

Who wrote the page? Are the an expert in the field?
What does the author say is the purpose of the site?
When was the site created and when was it last updated?
Where does the information come from?
Why is the information useful for my purpose?
Is there a sponsoring organization? If so, is there a link to their page?
Is the information given opinion or factual?
Can you contact the author for more information?

Reflection

The internet can be a useful tool for us as educators to get and give information to our students. We can explain a question in a way that the students can understand visually, hands on, and listening all at once. The internet can give us real time data. We can learn current weather conditions, geographic awareness, and learn about the earth in a tangible way they can see and understand. We can gather information that might not be available to us otherwise. We can get original sources, journals that everyone can see. There is the simulation the internet can give us. We could go up in space in a virtual tour. We could see stars even when it is daylight and see what the constellations looked like anywhere in the world, thousands of years before hand. If I can not answer a student's question I could use the internet to collaborate teacher's efforts or ask an expert. They could make a friend across the global and learn information about how life is like for them. There are teacher's resources like making quizzes or activities to use in class. As you can see the possibilities are endless when it comes to the internet.

Now you are probably thinking, "Wow, the internet can do no wrong!" Well because the internet is so publicly used and an a easy access to everyone there are many sites that are inappropriate for children and students. Children unaware of the dangers of the internet can give out personal information and meet some unsavory people and websites. So what should we do, put an age-limit on internet? No, we just need to make sure children armed with internet safety before logging on.

Not only do people need to use internet safety while surfing the web, they also have to be aware that the internet is not always accurate. Anyone can post something on the internet so how can you be sure you are getting the right information you need? So when researching a website you need to evaluate and ask certain questions on whether this website in a reliable source. Those questions are listed above.

I hope that we can use the internet often but I want to be able to keep my student safe too. So before we use the interent we are going to spend a day on interent safety. We are going to play my activity, maybe try a few online. I will keep asking my students questions about what is or is not appropriate while using the internet. I will also watch their progress and encourage their parents to keep the computer centrally located in the house so that they can keep and eye on them while at home.

Video reflection:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oui0IcNpvmQ

I liked this video because not only does it show the very real dangers of the internet but it also shows you the appropriate way to handle yourself on the internet. I think it would be even better if it showed that a parent was monitoring the computer. I also think it would be better if the child told the parent their concerns of instant messaging online.