I must say it has been fun and a great learning experience. I have enjoyed all of the knowledge and all of the new faces that I have come to know, but I am glad that the semester is at a close!

Summary Post

1) I actually loved all of the things that we covered in our class. I learned a lot of things that i will be able to bring into my classroom. As I have stated before I love the idea of having blogs in my classroom. I is a great source for parent/teacher communication and a great way for parents to be involved with their child's school work. I loved learning how to upload videos onto UTube, well I did not love to learn how to do it, but I love that I now know how to do it. Google docs and spreadsheets are a great tool that I will use that I did not know even existed before this course. I also love iTunesU. There is so much information available so much knowledge that can be used! I also liked the "Comments for Kids" it not only made us involved with the classrooms of today, but gave me great ideas and encouragement for technology in my classroom. I have voiced to you my love for Delicious. I am also very glad that you brought our "intellectual trail" to our attention. I had never thought of my footprints before. I must say that I have a huge library of knowledge at finger tips that I never new was there until this class!

2) I do not think that there could be anymore that I would have liked to have learned. I am sure that there is more out there thought.

3) I am glad that we learned everything that we did! Knowledge is power!

4) As I stated before many things excited me in the class. I loved being able to talk to people that we had assignments on. I also am very excited over all of the knowledge that I am now able to access and all the the tools available for me and support from other teachers on the web.

5) I did not find anything intellectually challenging.

6)I was never bored, always on my toes!

7) I would hope for a complete outline of assignments at the beginning of the semester that did not change to be able go by and double check myself along the way.

8) I think that I am more technologically literate that I was entering this course. I believe that I am in the medium range.

9) I will maintain and improve my skills learned in this class by using the tools that have been brought to my attention and by continuing to search for more tools.

Comments 4 Kids Summary

I really loved doing Comments for Kids this semester. I loved being able to see how other teachers are incorporating technology into their classrooms. It gave me great ideas, like using google earth to look up where famous people once lived. I also love the idea of my students parents being able to log on and look at their child's progress in the class and what they are working. I think that it is encouraging to the students that we worked to receive comments from college students and their parents. I think that it gets them excited about their work and make them want to do well on their because they know that their parents and us are looking at their work.

PLN

I will use Google Documents in the classroom as well. This will eliminate the hassle of my students and their parents buying and carrying around disks and usb storage drives. A Google document is free and no more what computer the students get on they will always be able to access Google documents. With Google documents, my students will be able to write word documents and do presentations among other things.
iTunesU
I plan to use iTunes University in my classroom. This will be useful to me, my students, and parents. I will be able to get great ideas from my peers about assignments. My students will benefit from iTunes by looking at some great podcast videos done by other students. The parents will benefit by visiting iTunes to look at their child's classroom video podcasts and/or listening to the podcasts.

I plan on using these tools daily in the classroom. I feel that it will take me a year or two to get on track with it, but I think once I get it down it will be like riding a bike. I will have to wait to get out there to decide exactly where I will use them in my class, but I will certainly have my students using blogger to post their journals.

My Projects

View my Podcast project Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

View my other project Mac vs. PC

New Classroom Rules

My Two Favorites of these are...

2. Come to class on time, or log into your online class anytime day or night, whenever it is most convenient to you.

8. Do not cheat, but remix, re-purpose, and sample other peoples’ work and ideas and give them credit.


... I picked these two because I actually use both of them! I think that technology is great it has helped me as a mom be able to take classes that I would have normally not had the time to take. I also Love to quote other peoples work. There are a lot of people out there with great thoughts that I love to include in my work, but you must ALWAYS acknowledge them!

7 Brilliant Things Teachers Do With Technology

I really liked this article. It not only shines light on the teachers who are doing good things with technology, but it also inspires and give new well any teachers ideas and encouragement. I love when he said, "Technology won’t make a poor teacher a good one. But it can make a good teacher even better. And it can help make great teachers the ones that students remember for the rest of their lives."

My Two Favorite are...

1. Empower kids with technology. Technology is an amplifier of natural abilities. Brilliant teachers see that good writers become better writers, good debaters become better debaters, good French speakers become better French speakers, good mathematical problem-solvers become better mathematical problem-solvers, and so on. by helping their students harness technology. They do not see technology as a crutch, but as a propellant. Brilliant teachers have experienced the empowering power of technology themselves. Brilliant teachers use good assessment strategies to rigorously determine the quality of technology-enhanced projects.

Use this great tool of the future, it is here.

6. Use the kids’ own devices to teach them. Brilliant teachers understand the old Arab proverb, "It's easier to steer the camel in the direction it is already heading." Students are increasingly and unstoppably bringing in personal communication devices -- cell phones, cameras, game devices, iPods/mp3 players, netbooks, laptops, and PDAs. Brilliant teachers know how to use cell phones to poll their classes; create podcasts of lectures for later review; use games to teach difficult concepts; and make "Google-jockeys" of student wireless laptop users. Read the report, http://www.joanganzcooneycenter.org/publications/index.html?tr=y&auid=4393966 Pockets of Potential for a great overview of this topic.

Use the students on interest to keep them interested. Learn from them as well!

Seven Stupid Mistakes Teachers Make

HA HA, I can't believe people are watching porn at work!
That is absurd.
Why he decided to compare that with what follows is I guess to catch the attention of the reader, but I do not feel is in the same scope, but a great eye catcher!

To me these mistakes are common sense, Not backing up data, Treating a school computer like a home computer, Not supervising computer-using students, private online communication, Believing that one's teaching style need not change, ignoring kids interest in technology, Thinking technology in schools will go away. I do not see how teachers are making these mistakes or believe these things. I certainly hope that there are not any new teachers in the field who are thinking these things.
I realize all of these points and plan to abide by the rules of common sense. Do not use you work computer as a home computer! Do not look at anything or post anything on the Internet that you do not want traced back to you. REMEMBER YOUR FOOTPRINTS!

The two that are most important to me are...
1. Not backing up data. "You mean having two copies of my files on the hard drive doesn't count as a backup?" The first time a teacher loses his or her precious data, my heart breaks. The second time, well, stupidity ought to cause some suffering.


I think that out of them all this is the one mistake that may have actually made. It is always a good idea to have a thumb drive, but what about backing up your back up? I have had thumb drives that erased all of my files before!

4. Thinking online communication is ever private. Eventually, everyone sends an embarrassing personal message to a listserv. I've heard of some tech directors who get their jollies reading salacious inter-staff e-mails. Your school e-mails can be requested and must be produced if germane to any federal lawsuits. Even e-mail deleted from your computer still sits on servers somewhere -- often for a very loooong time. Think you wiped out your browsing history? Don't bet that is the only set of tracks you've left that show where you've been surfing. Your Facebook page will be looked at by the school board chair; your superintendent and principal know who the author of that "anonymous" blog is. Not assuming everyone can see what you send and do online is stupid.

I think that anyone who thinks that online communication is private is very stupid! You need to turn on your television or get a computer yourself if you believe this one!

I have to say the I have mixed emotions on this link. It can be used as a great communication tool for educators, but some people tend to be using it for a "gripe" session. I read one about students using pencils as weapons and students having to turn in thier pencils to the office.... blaugh blaugh blaugh.

One blog that did stand out as great though was the one about teaching students how important it is to create a positive digital portfolio. It remindes me of Dr. Strange in teaching us about our tech trails. I never realized before this class how great our digital imprints can be.

The author of that blog was so very right in saying "we must encourage our students to create and save digital content whether it be audio, video, writing, or a mash up of the three at some centralized spot that can be found later by them, future employers, or even by colleges and universities. What are you doing to help your students create their own positivie on line identity?"

Michael Wesch: Part Two

"The Machine is Changing US" is right on point! Media does mediate our conversations! I truly believe that the media has a major impact on our actions and I believe that the public follows the impact of what is said. I think that the media influenced the 2008 Presidential Campaign. Obama was smart in this and took advantage of technology and the media in winning the election. Television is "shaping" our culture. What can change this? How can we stop this impact? It is a major concern of mine. BUT as Mr. Wesch states in regard to the middle east, What do you plan to do about it?....NOTHING! It seems to overwhelming to save the world from the media. I know that I can control my home though and instead of letting my son get worked up over the death of Micheal Jackson, whom he has no idea of who that person was before his death, I just DO NOT LET HIM WATCH IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ps22

I loved watching this video. I almost cried. Landslide is one of my favorite songs. I think that it is great that these students were able to come together and sing this touching song. It is great that Stevie Nicks saw this video herself and was so touched that she invited the students to sing this at a concert. This was so great.

ALEX

The Alabama Learning Exchange, better known as ALEX is a resource for both teachers and students.
I really like how ALEX provides so many resources for teachers and students to utilize in education.
ALEX is a teachers best friend.
I love the access for faculty, administrators,and students.
Thank You for helping us discover this tool that we can use for our entire carriers.

ACCESS

The Alabama Connecting Classroom, Educators and Students Statewide is a program the state of Alabama created in order to created virtual classrooms for students. This is great. The purpose is for high school students that need AP courses that are not offered at their school. This is great, but I think that honors high school students are going to be the only students who are responsible enough to use this tool and receive actual credit.

Dear Kaia

Very sweet and hear touching. I would love to do this with my son. He father is teaching her so much. It is going to be a great thing for her to look back on and her sister Skyelar. It is great that he takes the time to upload all of those videos also. It is great that he is teaching her through experience.

Wendy Drexler

Challenging but very doable. I think people like Wendy Drexler are paving the roads to our future teachers classrooms. Of course teachers will always be needed to guide the way. Mrs. Drexler's video was very creative and kept me interested. I know if she incorporates that into the class then it will be an easier process and she will receive great results. I think that the middle school students will do great with this.
Ms. Drexler motivates me.
Like she said in regard to Randi Pausch and the brick walls. It is how hard you want it to make it work and realize how bad you want it to!

Richard Miller

I agree with Mr. Miller both of these videos were very poignant. Our teachers are not ready for our technology classes. I know that our students will know more than us in regard to technology. Everyone uses computers now because that is all that you need. You can get all of the information from the newspaper off of your computer. I am not surprised by the emotional profiling of the world that he referred to.I know that there is a lot of things that are in use around the world especially by our government that we could not possibly grasp.

ITunesU

I think that ITunesU is great. It is reliable information. One question though... Can people go into ITunes as they go into Wiki and change information? If not I think as I said before.
I wish that ITunesU and google squared were around when I first started college. I think that they would have been a great tool for those classes that you have to write research papers in.
If you view some of the videos it shows how much more children know about technology. It is embedded into them like language. It has always been there so they automatically know the ins and outs of it. Unlike us who have learned it at an older age.

Dr. Christie's Site

I found Dr. Christie's site to be both intimidating and informative. Intimidating because she not only has forty years as an educator under her belt, which is very rare now a days, but she knows so much about technology in education. I am very intimidated by any technology, but always try to be open minded about learning how to use it with students.
Dr. Christie's site was highly informative, especially the section of "Educational Technology" which is for teachers who wish to effectively use technology in there classroom. At this part of the site she names many links that teach anyone how to use any piece of technology in their class. This web site is going to be very useful to me as a teacher because of how intimidated I am when it comes to technology. After looking at this site I have learned many way that I can use technology effectively, and it also be comfortable for me and my students.

Comments for Kids

I watched a video on Little Red Riding Hood that the kids did with puppets. They all did a great job. It was cute and funny!

Wickipedia

I always used wiki in high school, and whenever I began my junior college career at Faulkner, I didn't understand why I could no longer use it. Now I know, and I am shocked. I knew that there were things on the net that you couldn't trust to be reliable, but never would I have thought it would be wiki. I personally believe that wiki should have warnings at the bottom of every page stating that all the facts may not be correct. After finding out about wiki, it has made me wonder and question every site that I get my information from now.

Comments for Kids 4

I commented on the classes map. I think that the map that they are using to locate famous scientists is great. I told them that they were doing a great job. The visual that they are using will help retain knowledge of the subject.

My Presentation

Karl Fisch: Is it Okay for Teacher to Be Technologically Illiterate

I am indifferent in agreeing with the blog that we read. I feel that new teachers, such as ourselves, we should be technologically savvy. We have the classes and the resources to know all about technology. In my opinion it would be completely ridiculous for a new teacher to not know about technology. Knowing about technology will only help us in our classrooms, it will also help our students. When our students see us using technology, then they can learn how it use it. We have to remember that as future teachers, we will be teaching the most influential people we will ever come in contact with. If we don't give them their first taste of technology then who will?
I also think that teachers who have been teaching for a while should be cut some slack. Technology changes everyday, and some teachers find it hard to find the time to learn all about the new technology. I don't mean that they shouldn't learn t all, I mean that they shouldn't be expected to become an expert in that field. I think they should be given a little more time to learn, and be expected to learn a little bit about the new technology.

Randy Paush

When I heard Randy Pausch's story I was shocked. I actually heard about it on Oprah one day when I was passing the television. My dad had liver cancer so his story really related to me. I listened to his story, and was touched in two minutes. I was astonished that a man to act so unselfishly, and think not of himself and dying but of his family and how they were going to be taken care of.
One teaching tactic that I learned from Pausch is to push your students. Pausch did not accept anything but the best from his students, and would push them and push them until he got what he thought they were fully capable of doing. I want to be able to do this with my students. The thing about Pausch is that while pushing his students he never came off as negative or hard, he came off as caring.
Paush is an amazing person and I hope that his legacy will live forever. It is a shame that someone so great has to leave this earth so soon.
Pausch has an inspiring story, and I am happy that his story lives on even after he is gone. His children have an extraordinary father, and should be proud. Pausch is an inspiration to anyone who has been diagnosed with cancer and to all teachers.

Kelly Hines

I agree mostly with what Hines is saying. It is true that the number one thing a teacher must never forget is to be a learner. In one of my very first teaching classes my instructor told me that you should learn something from your students everyday or you are not being an effective teacher. I completely agree with that. I think that especially in these times we should be more open minded towards our students and realize that they probably know way more about technology than we do and that they can teach us a lot. I think that Hines should realize that although we do need teachers who are learners and learning and teaching are not the same. That technology needs to be incorporated in the classroom more than she states.

Did you Know 4.0

I love these "Did You Know 4.0" videos! They are set up so well. They actually keep me interested in reading the facts. I actually know teens who send over 5,000 text in a month. I had no idea about the cbs, abc.. comparison to facebook, myspace... that is amazing! I believe that President Obama was very smart in his decision on using technology in his campaign. This video makes me want an iphone even more!

Comments for Kids 3

I commented on Sidney W. post about his pet ginnea pig. He wrote is story very well.

Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today

I liked this video. It really related to a college students life. I also think that it relates to middle and high school students as well. I am not on facebook as much as the video shows, but I do get on a good bit. I think that everyone who goes to college will be in debt, that is common since. I have to better myself though. College and accomplishments take time and hard work. if it were not hard then everyone would do it.

Comments for kids 2

I really liked the fact that the students seemed free to talk about whatever they liked. It was cute to read about their camping trips and summer camp experiences.

Comments for Kids 1

I left comments for the fourth graders on their blogs. It was fun to go into a classroom. I liked that the students parents were able to leave comments on their child's work!

Last Semesters Podcasts

I think that the podcasts were good, but they needed a little something extra... maybe enthusiasm? I do not know what they were offered to do last semester, but I like that we are going to be able to make video clips. I think that will be more interesting than watching people sit and talk.

iTunes Podcasts

Wow I have learned that there is a lot that I do not know about the Internet! After listening to these six pod casts I was amazed. SmartBoard Lessons Podcast, KidCast, ConnectLearning, EdTechTalk, MacBreak Weekly, and This Week in Photography were great. There were a few boring moments, but the great thing that we just love about the Internet is fast forward! It is amazing how the Internet can connect all of these people from all over and then we can listen to them!
SmartBoard Lessons went over things like good IT stuff for teachers and google docs. I really think that it was great that the two teachers were in different places. I think that this site will be great for helping me in my classroom. I love the ides of being able to connect with experienced teachers for great classroom activities.
I also really liked the MacBreak Weekly podcast. It was great being able to listen to students on a podcast. it was great for them to be able to share their Japan experience with the world.
Being able to listen to all of these podcast, it makes me more comfortable with becoming a teacher. To know that you have a great resource to reference for your classroom is very comforting.

Vicki Davis

Now this is how every classroom should be! Not only does this teacher include technology, but it keeps the kids interested and engaged in their work.This is what America's classroom should look like today. I think that students having blogs is also a great way for parents to be more involved in their child's school life. Parents can log on to their computers and read their child's blog as soon as it is posted and be able to communicate with their child more at home about their school day.

I would love for my class to look like this! I also think that it would be helpful for teacher and parent relationships. How can we get this in all classrooms across America?

Sir Ken Robinson

I do agree with Ken Robinson, school is killing creativity. I think that this has become even worse with the "No Child Left Behind Act". Ken states, "we get educated out of creativity." I am in 100% agreement with this statement. All children can excel in a certain area. Not every child is great at Math or Science. Some children are better at dance or better at art. I think that education should include everything that our children can achieve. You can have a promising career in art or in dance, BUT or education system instills into you that you will never get a job in art or dance. Ken speaks of this in his speech.

We all know that our education system needs more work. There is no way that all problems with the education system will be ironed out in our lifetime. I think that the most important thing to take away from this is that we as future educators need to encourage our students in their interest and not discourage them.

Mr. Winkles Wakes

This video was short and to the point. We have expanded technology in our society to include everything but the classroom. This is a major reason why America is falling behind in technology. This video should open our eyes to the need of teachers who are educated in technology and the need of technology being taught in the classroom. How are our children suppose to stay connected in the classroom when our teaching methods are so obsolete that they are no longer needed. With all of the growing technology surrounding us our students are going to be extremely bored in the classroom and will not interact to learn.

By watching the two videos that we have so far really makes me want to incorporate a more technical learning environment into my class. One that will keep my students engaged with the curriculum of the class and a more exciting and inviting learning atmosphere.

Did you Know 3.0?

WOW! This video gave me chills! It also scared me a little. According to this video, The United States is further behind in technology than I thought. How can CHINA become the number one English speaking country in the world? India has more honors kids than we have kids! Bermuda is the number one country for Broadband Internet Penetration. This video is an eye opener. We really need to incorporate more technology in our class rooms and start having more children, lol.

I love the way that the people composed this video. The music and graphics kept me very intrigued. They also gave great information that I believe most people in the United States do not know about. We need to be more informed!

Check out the school I attend!

Check out the school I attend! Click Here

HELLO EVERYONE

Welcome to my page!

Dana Cook's EDM 310 Blog

Hello, my name is Dana Cook. This is my first "blog" account. I do have myspace, facebook, and twitter though. My major is Elementary Education. I am scheduled to graduate next December. I have a four year old son named Dylan. In my free time I love to spend time with my son and my boyfriend Shaun. I also like to bake cakes to make a little extra money on the side. I am looking forward to learning everything that this class offers.