Making up a class

In order to make up a class that I missed way back in September when my husband was on his R&R from Iraq, I'm writing this post. I reviewed the Elive session and these were the points of interest that hit me.

1. The passing thing was a silly way to get the class to share their week. It took 20 minutes of class time to do simple introductions and explain the rules. I don't know if it was worth it.

2. It was fun to see the images that people found to represent themselves. It is also interesting in twenty-twenty hindsight that you built on this activity later with grouping.

3. Learning about Elive text tools was something I already knew how to do from experimentation with other classes (my professors ended up with a curious student who just randomly played with buttons on accident :) ) I didn't know, however, about active links in the paragraph box verses the inactive link in the single line box.

4. It never fails to strike me just how broad a subject Digital Citizenship is. Even after this whole semester of contemplating the idea and talking about it, the subject is quite difficult to wrestle with! My Literacy and Language class had a debate over the role of technology in the classroom and these very same topics came up! I put in my two cents about NETS-T, of course, so that other educators could see that there really were guidelines, but technology changes everyday. We need to have a board policy to handle that change.

5. I thought the discussion regarding 'Comment wars' (saying things nicely) was kind of funny. I have been amazed at how chat boxes in Elive sessions have turned into comment war zones! I have left classes this semester really passionate about a topic and gone to Facebook to continue the argument before! We need to learn how to take those comment wars and make them into genuine discussions.

6. NCATE moment: fairness. This moment was rather odd. I grew up thinking that 'life ain't fair' to quote my mother. I suppose that one needs to strive to be fair in the professional world, but everyday I make a decision to cut someone short just a little bit of fair. I can't help it. I wonder why the examiners in UAA are looking for fairness if that is next to impossible?

Avatar Images

Something of interest came from the EduBlogger that I would like to note here: Avatar images! Because you don't necessarily want your students posting pictures of themselves online and with their public blogs, you can go to the sites that the EduBlogger lists and draw your own cartoon character or Avatar image. This can depict the student in place of their face or a piece of their personal life you would rather they not share until they are fully ready to become a responsible digital citizen. I put together one of my own, but I was required to sign up with the website and provide information I would rather just not fill out. So, my Avatar image remains unseen. But, this would be a great idea for students of all ages.

Distance Education and the Bush Alaska Scenario

Damon Hargraves of the Bering Straight School District came and spoke in our Ed Tech class last month on technology in the Bush of Alaska. What I discovered was disquieting and also very intriguing. First of all, as many of my classmates have noted, there is a lot of money for Bush schools that allows for them to purchase the equipment and technology necessary for their students' education plus more than the minimum! Urban schools don't have that type of funding (or at least we don't see it used for such things). The second thing I noted was that this sort of technology could not only link outlying villages, but it could also link the home schooled community to teachers and networks unlike anything ever seen! What the possibilities for open wiki pages and public pages and sites are beyond fathoming. I would really enjoy learning more about this technology so that 1) I can tap into the funding machine that sponsors these ventures, and 2) So that I can reach new students in fresh and exciting ways around the nation and even around the globe!

Picture of the Week

Woe to the Babysitter!

Down for a week

So, the Blackboard site went down with a bang this week. All of my classes were cancelled and virtually no emails could get back and forth from faculty to students. While it was a nice week to get homework done (the stuff that didn't require a blackboard page) and get caught up on classes, it makes me wonder just how much stalk we put into a single server. Whatever would we do if the power went out for more than a week? Whatever would we do if the internet was hacked and all sites sent bugs to our computers? This was just a small outage that required a small percentage of very perseverant IT souls to work around the clock. They managed to fix the problem in less than a week. But, a whole school week was totally cut off for several classes. No homework was turned in and no classes could be held via online Elive sessions.

I propose that we have a back up system that we can go to. It doesn't have to be perfect, just an older system kept in the online vaults for outages such as these. What do you think? Could it be possible?

Board on Money

I didn't have much success looking through the blogs I'm following for any new educational tidbits, but I did attend a Club Ed meeting at UAA last night that I think you all would be interested in hearing about:

Mrs. Sunny Hilts from the Alaska Association of School Boards came and spoke to some UAA Elementary Educations students all the way from the Kenai! She came as an ambassador to tell us soon to be teachers what a school board is and does. I won't go into specifics here, but she had an interesting comment that we all need to be aware of. One of the points Mrs. Sunny made was concerning the budget for schools. She said that right now the school systems are sitting in a large pool of cash. The oil industry has done well and has pumped lots of cash into education as well as the government stimulus packages. The school budgets are rather flush at the moment. Consequently great bounds in technology, resources, and training is available like never before.

The bad news is, this education funding bubble will not likely last forever according to Mrs. Sunny. What she calls 'The Gap' is coming. 'The Gap' is what she estimates as a 5 year period where funding will dry up from the oil and the government and schools will be left with very little money for technology and other perks. She wanted to prepare all of us teachers for a drought in educational opportunities.

I say this for two reasons: 1) to ask if you think her information is correct according to your outlook and 2) to ellicite ideas of what we should do if she is correct?

Standard? What Standard?

This is a nice time in the semester to go back and reflect on the big picture: the Standard. Yes, that over arching Standard in the sky by which we must compare ourselves is upon us once again. The Standard by which I am to compare myself and my current Educational Tech class is the NETS-T 2008. Now, upon reflection, we as a class have done quite well with following along. We have become better able to model technology better in the classroom. We have learned how to set up a lesson using technology, yet not rely on it. We have learned new technologies ourselves and seen their pros and cons. We have reflected nicely on the idea of digital citizenship and looked at our own selves in light of the internet's logs. All in all, we are following the Standard to the letter and are all the more standardized for it.

Please don't get me wrong, this is a great thing at the moment; I have learned tons about the way technology works and how to use it in a classroom setting. However, I don't want to stay in this Standard box forever. As you can already tell, what started as a classroom assignment has led to a blog that I actually use. I keep track of my friends' blogs and blogs that hold interest to me. I am no longer just using this as a classroom assignment obligation. I'm starting to get creative with the way I use my technology. I'm stepping outside of the Standards as I begin to realize the possibilities out there.

Picture of the Week

They Were Here

Smart. Real smart.

Today I got to observe a classroom with a Smartboard! I was SO pumped! It is my first time seeing such technology let alone getting to play with it. I simply asked the teacher if I could mess with it while the students were involved in a craft and she said sure and booted up the computer. Next thing I knew, all of the students were gathered at my feet, watching me touch the screen and orientate the board to the projector.

Two things happened: 1) all of the students wanted a turn at writing their name with the 'magic marker' and 2) I discovered that I was going to need one on one time to work out how to use the Smartboard smartly. I did the best I could with number one. And in the process learned some more on number two. First, I lined the kids up and had them take turns writing their name on the board. The immediate thing that was apparent, was that kids had a tough time writing on the board because their hands and shirt sleeves brushed the board making the screen register other movements and contact rather than just the censor pen. As a result, the children's work was sloppy and frustrating. The second thing I noticed was that the shadow created by the children was most distracting. Because the Smartboard was front lit by a projector, all of the hands from the children trying to write as well as the children just making funny shadows in the light, created major obstacles to the writing. The board needed to be backlit for optimum performance.

My next thought as I watch the kids, was how to get a keyboard to project itself on the screen rather than having to write everything in by hand. I asked the teacher who didn't know. So, I poked around the program and found the button that projected what I desired. I was thrilled with my success! I had found a tool that the teacher didn't know existed.

The final thing that I noted from the kids virtually teaching me how to use the tool by their own mistakes was that there was three pieces of technology used in this silly writing of names on a wall: the computer, the projector, and finally the Smart board itself. When the kids bumped the projector, the orientation for the Smartboard went out. When the computer was accidently touched, the projector no longer projected correctly. When the Smartboard shut down, the whole thing depended on the computer to get it all back online. My point is this: this whole set up is WAY too much trouble for just a little fun. Smartboards may be innovative, but they are certainly not ready to hit the mainstream yet. I would love to have one, however, to learn how to use. I wonder how much they go for on the market?

Picture of the Week

Picture of the Week

This is my first stab at adding a picture to a blog! The little lad was stopped in the middle of the floor in a crowded room counting his precious candy collections after attending a Halloween carnival at UAA. He is all alone in the process, but totally fulfilled in the doing.

Advantage or Disadvantage

I was browsing through some voicethreads today when I had a thought: voicethreads could be a key to long distance education in a private setting. A teacher could give lessons to thousands of children at a time and never have to see their face. I was home schooled, and this makes since especially in the high school years. I had to send in dozens of reports, tests, and papers to professors who never saw my face. This voicethread lesson planning could be used by teachers in remote areas to reach students anywhere with internet at the touch of a button. What a convenience!

On the other hand, a disadvantage to voicethreads, is that they aren't terribly interactive. Sure, you can leave comments and add to them, but one can't really interact with the individual face to face as you could in a live conference online. As I flip through the voicethreads to catch the content and how they are used by various teachers, I am struck that they are slightly boring unless there is a story being told or something fun is going on. Math lessons are rather tedious on the screen over and over again.

Assignment for Class on Technology

Okay: I think I am done exploring for the moment and need to buckle down and get to work on my assignment.

Here is the prompt:

Where you are at on tech skills to be a great teacher and where you think you need to be? What are your strengths and weaknesses in technology use for instruction and professional development? What kind of plan can you develop for your professional growth?

1. I consider myself in the middle of the road technologically. I'm exploring, getting to know key programs such as Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. I am not proficient in anyone of these areas and there is definite room for improvement before I hit the classroom. I am not, however afraid of exploring with these programs and I wish I could learn them faster.

2. My strengths: I like to use technology. If I know it, I use it. I also am not afraid, once I know how to use a piece of technology, to take it outside of the box and use if for creative projects. My weaknesses: I have to be told about the technology; I don't just go looking for it by myself. Just because I can conceive of something, doesn't mean I go looking for it. Nor can I create it.

3. A long term plan for my professional growth would include getting some intermediate level classes for anything and everything under the sun technology speaking. I would like to become known as the teacher who is the most creative and most innovative in the school. I want to know how to take my students to the levels they need in technology and to do that, I need a starting foundation from which to build.

More Fun!

The blog I am following for my Ed Tech class is the EduBlogger and what I took away from that reading is that I can set up my own Elive rooms for free for up to 3 people! I set up an account with the learning tool and I hope to be on my way to being able to reach people around the area without too much trouble. This may be the answer for meetings taking place in Anchorage that folks in the Valley might want to attend. It may also be the answer for meetings in the Valley that Anchorage folks want to attend! Or for folks in Kenai! You know, all of those poor souls that are all tied to Anchorage because that is where the administration sits, but otherwise can't take part in all of the activities! We can help change the role of the outlier communities now by tying them together with Elive! Who knew?! Well, I may have to fiddle with the program some more, but wouldn't it be cool to live this dream???

Ooo... Shiny!

So, I got on the Blogger to fix up an assignment for my Ed Tech class when I accidently started reading and listening to one of the blogs I am following. On that blog was a cluster map of all of the places around the world that people lived and looked at their page! I decided that as a geography buff I wanted one on my page! So, now a half an hour and lots of extra stuff saved on my clip board, I have my very own ClustrMap! Yay!

And... I've complete forgotten what I was originally going to post about. In the meantime, however, I have also discovered the Add a Gadget function on Blogger and have been playing around with my layout. It won't be long before I can actually set up the page the way I wish to have it run. Oh the worlds of greatness on Blogger! Soon it shall be mine to control and it shall not control me!

Where teachers aren't techy

There was an interesting discussion in my Ed Tech class this evening. We were talking about how much technology teachers should be familiar with. There were varying answers across the board. Some teachers don't need to know how to use technology at all. Others need to know how to not only use, but also fix their techy tools. In the middle, there is the majority of teachers; those that need to know enough to get through the day, yet no need to be overburdened with the concepts too deep for their fields. I think that while it is helpful to know about technology, it is not necessary for teaching and learning in a classroom setting. However, that being said: I like to use technology because I find it fun, interesting, a new way to get creative. I could care less about hard drives, updates, or security. What I care about is: how do I create something fun with powerpoint or how do I put together a smashing lesson plan using a voice thread? How do I create a website upon which I can advertise my lesson plans and curriculum? I don't rightly care about the RAM on my computer or whether I have fast enough internet, I just want to have fun.

Oh, and teach students to have fun with me :). That too!

Voice Threading

Today I learned how to make a voice thread! It was the neatest thing! I effectively uploaded several photos, recorded my thoughts on each like a powerpoint slide presentation, then edited my settings so that other folks could view it as well! That was rather exciting to be able to do all of that in a relatively small amount of time. A brand new task has been mastered! Go check it out!

http://voicethread.com/#u554397.b661868.i3500484

Blog on a Blog

I have been following the EduBlogger. Today I found a fascinating little tidbit from it that kind of gave a 101 crash course on blogs. I have been having trouble working with mine and with the RSS feed and I found this bit very helpful.

1) A blog is like an online journal. I need to check it or add to it at least once a day. I should add it to my list of things to do such as checking my email, updating my Facebook, or writing a letter to my penpals. It does seem like a rather hard way of working, but if I want to be successful with this thing, I need to be here more than once a week.

2) I can bookmark popular posts. I still don't know how to yet, but at least I can look for the option.

3) I need to somehow increase my readership if I want my blog to be important. I figure the best way to do this is to start dialoging on other people's blogs and they, in turn, will be interested in reading mine. Once we get some good conversations starting, then I will have a reason to be on this thing.

So, that is what I learned today on Edublogger.

RSS Nightmare

RSS - I still have not found the usefulness for this feature. I haven't been back to my Google reader account that I created and consequently made a mess of. I think I made a technology toxic spill on the internet and someone is going to have to clean it up for me one of these years. You know, that is an interesting question:

Do sites that are inactive for a certain period of time eventually get shut down and deleted from memory? Or do they stay out in the computer system forever and ever? Is there such a thing as overloading the system with an infinite amount of memory? hmm... maybe it is time for me to go read a science fiction novel about computers going rogue on mankind!

Be Googled!

So, I have looked up both my maiden name and my married name in Google and am proud to say that neither displayed anything embarrassing or plausible for identity theft. My maiden name turned up that I had made the Dean's List several years ago as well as an old address. My married name turned up in church bulletin as teaching a Sunday school class this past summer as well as my Facebook account. You could therefore deduce from your findings that I am a smart college student at UAA, living in Anchorage, attend a church, and am socially connected on the web. Not too bad considering how much time I spend on a computer!

RSS Nightmare

I'll admit that I am new to this RSS deal.  I have little idea what I'm doing and what few buttons I have managed to push have left me with more confusion rather than less.  I looked up some information online and discovered that RSS is supposed to syncronize one's internet updates into a readable formate.  I like the idea.  Everyday I visit about 10 sites on a regular basis: 2 news channels, facebook, my online email, my uaa email, blackboard, my blogger, the weather channel, and the library.  I would LOVE to have all of the information on one site!  But, when I went to try and set up Google reader, I ended up with not the news stories I wanted, but rather tons of useless articles that I would never have the time to read.  I just overloaded my reader with just one site!  EEk!  Help!  

Passed my smarts on

So, yesterday I sat down with my in laws and had them log into the National Geographic site to explore it (my brother and sister in laws are age range 22-7 years) and all were quite enthralled with the games and interactive tools. All of them are home schooled and loved the cool computer tools. Fortunately, they all were unable to trump me in the geography game. I remained in control of my pride as a result :).

So much for being smart

So, I thought I was smart.  Then I went to the National Geographic website and started playing the little kid games and failed so completely that I'm seriously doubting my abilities to teach now!  ha ha ha

No, it was a great website that has tons of wonderful games for kids and interactive learning tools.  I could be entertained for hours, so I'm assuming any student able to read and comprehend large concepts would also be entertained.  I also learned something from the videos and games I played, so I don't doubt that this site could teach students something quite quickly and completely.

On the other hand, a word of warning for this site; it did contain a large bit of graphic material so younger students might not be encouraged to wander around the site without supervision.  The graphic material when taken as a purely scientific view, is quite fascinating and wonderful to learn, but younger students might not be able to make the distinction.  I would recommend that teachers carefully look at what they would like the students to do at this site before they assign a project.

The next generation

Today I watched.  I watched a video made by teachers who want the world of teaching to catch up with the world of learning.  The students of today's schools are ahead of their teachers by leaps and bounds especially in the area of technology.  They can operate, manipulate, and apply technology in ways that many grown adults can only gawk at in surprise.  It is going to take a new teacher to teach this generation.  It is going to take new creativity to balance out the fresh wave of information that has pulverized our society.  To create a digital identity is something most of us shake in our boots over, but kids as young as five or six already have a presence online.  I heard from a friend that a baby, barely a month old already has his own personal site set up by his parents.  What is the older generation going to do?  Sit by or catch up?  Here are a few of my thoughts.

For one thing, this idea scares me.  I was taught at an early age to keep my private life private.  You don't post things that you don't want seen where people can see it.  I applied that well until I started with my own digital identity.   Before I started this project of creating myself online, I googled myself (in the year 2000) and found nothing.  Today I have a facebook page, a blog, a name on a roster at an university, and I teach.  My life is as public as it can be less than a decade later.  This scares me.  Why?  What if I say something wrong?  What if I post a picture that in some way comes back to haunt me?  What if my religious convictions offend someone and they decide to stalk me?  What if my family is someday harmed because of my digital identity?  What if the government comes looking for me because I am considered dangerous or not safe anymore?  What is there to stop someone from finding all that there is about me?  I no longer feel free.  I no longer feel like I can say something to a friend and no have it being overheard.  Any good sixth grader worth his or her salt could hack my emails and find all sorts of incriminating evidence to have me fired, jailed, or worse.  Do I really want that as a teacher?  Do I want to be that open?  

Now, nobody go look at my stuff at once!  

Vision vs. Reality in NETS-T, -S

Dear Fellow Sojourner,

Just because I can think it doesn't mean I can do it.  Just because I can conceive of an event or program working doesn't mean that I can put it into practice.  Technology is a tool at my fingertips that I know is present, but don't know how to full use.  

There is a vision in my head of every student that I teach in my career after the morning bell rings in my classroom having a computer screen in front of them.  They log into their personal universal site and start working at the games present for them.  The first thing they do is navigate the typing scenario for the day in game format.  I set it up the night before to model an earthquake scenario which is the unit study for the day's science lesson.  The students move their character around the obstacle course set out before them using their accuracy and words per minute in typing skills.  If their character survives the earthquake scenario then they can move onto the next challenge.  

The vision moves on as I show each student his or her grades for the quarter on a graph in their own personal site.  I edited the grades using my moderator power and the grades show up on their sites.  Only they, their parents, and myself can access their site so the viewings are completely private.  I can show them using visuals and graphs where they are academically day to day.  They can see where they are at and where they need to go.  There can and will be no excuse for not knowing about bad grades descending upon their heads.  

Nice vision.  For me.  Likely to remain so for two reasons.  Number one, while NET-T and NET-S (National Educational Technology Standards - Teachers - Students) claim that these sorts of things ought to be a reality, schools rarely have the funding to develop these kinds of extensive technology networks in elementary classrooms, let alone train teachers how to use them.  And number two, I am not very 'tech savvy' myself.  I will need the training.  I'm already behind by national standards.  I don't know how to use programs that I will need to even preform basic tasks let alone have polished skills that I can teach to the younger generation.  

For my vision to become a reality, I need to stop day dreaming and get to work.