Emerging Technology 4: Glogster

For my 4th emerging technology, I chose to try my hand at the website www.glogster.com. This is an interactive website that allows users to combine pictures, vidoes, and music of their choice with a variety of wallpapers, graphics, and text provided by the website. All of this combines into making a personalized poster for the user! This application is very user friendly, that is if you are the creative type. As is obvious by my poster, I stuck with the very basics of just picking a wallpaper, adding a picture and text and a couple heart graphics. Overall though, it is very easy to determine how to use this website and there are a variety of different graphics provided for any type of poster.

I do see this website more being used by high school girls for hours sitting and making posters of thier friends and boyfriends rather than used in an educational setting. However, as mentioned in previous emerging techonology posts, I would once again use this in my special education inclusion English classes when reading novels. Students could create great posters, scrapbook pages, and collages to summarize a chapter/entire novel with this website. This website could have also been used previously in an assignment that was given to the students when they had to create a cover for a novel we just read.

The only issues I see with using this website in the classroom would be the same issues that could arise using any other technology. I can see that some students would have difficulty focusing on the task at hand because they would want to make their own posters for personal use. I could also see some students being inappropriate with this website. However, all of this can be monitored by the teacher. The only technology problem I really see is that most likely the students would want to use their own pictures, music, and videos and our school system has many of those downloads blocked so the students would not be able to do so.

Emerging Technology 3: Animoto

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Animoto is a website that provides a service of combining photos and/or video with music to create a slideshow or short movie. A thirty second version is available for anyone who wants to create a video. However, if you are wanting to make a longer video, then you need to sign up and fees do apply. The functionality of the tool is pretty basic and is offered in several other formats on different websites. It may have been that I am more use to using different versions available online, but this was not my favorite tool by far.

The concept of taking short clips and pictures and combining them with music to create a longer video can be utilized not only for entertainment, but also for education. This tool can be used in the classroom setting in a variety of different ways. Not only can you upload pictures from field trips, students works they have created, or classroom events. You can also upload pictures from the internet and give a presentation on a variety of different topics. For example, I am a high school special education teacher for English and the students just finished reading Of Mice and Men. This website could have been used to download pictures about the great depression and different events that happened during that time instead of just doing a basic power point presentation with pictures (which is what I did, sigh).

I am not sure if it was the computer I was using, or the website, but I just had alot more difficulty using this site than I have had using other digital imagery websites. The main problem that I had though was that the website did not let the user really determine the length of the pictures. You got to pick between 3 speeds, but the website even stated the length of the picture would be determined by the video length and music. The user also did not get to choose the format the pictures were shown in. Other websites I have used let you choose between a variety of presentations, but this one did not.

Emerging Technology 2: Make Belief Comix

The online website www.makebeliefscomix.com  allows the user to tap into their imagination while also encouraging reading and writing skills all while creating comic strips.  This program provides a variety of characters, emotions, objects, bubbles, and prompts to be chosen from and inserted into the work.  The user is then also given the power of manipulation of these pictures into different sizes, colors, and vantage points.   This website also has a printables section where pictures/comics are already made and students can either write stories about them or simply add their own captions.

The website itself provides a list of 21 different ideas for ways that teachers can implement this technology in the classroom.   Some different ways that the website states that I feel I could utilize at the high school level are:  using new vocabulary words, story boards for special education students, and summarize scenes/dialogue in a text. I instantly without reading the list provided by the website realized that I could utilize this resource in my classroom mainly during the reading of  novels or other pieces of literature.  One English teacher at the high school is giving a end of the novel project to the students and one of the options is actually creating a comic strip based off of one of the scenes.  Allowing students to use this website would be a great adaptation for certain students! 

This website is very user friendly except for two main factors.  First, there is no “undo” button.  A few times I mistakenly deleted something that I just spent several minutes making sure it was the right size and in the right position just to accidentally hit the delete button and have to start all over.  One time I actually even deleted my entire comic strip because I didn’t know what the picture of the light bulb does.  (For future reference the light bulb doesn’t just delete one thing, it deletes EVERYTHING!)  The second main problem I had with this website is that it does not allow you to simply save your comic strip to your computer.  Initially, the only option you have is to email it or print it.  Then, if you want to save it from your email you can only do so if you have Paint, Fireworks, or Photoshop.  I do not have any of these on my personal computer; therfore, I am stuck with just copying and pasting my link to my comic (See below).  Without the required technology to save, I would just have the students email me their final piece.

The comic I made is not really funny.  However, I utilized the comic strip to show different types of foreshadowing in the novel Of Mice and Men that the students are currently reading.  I could have added several more boxes to show ALL of the foreshadowing, but you get the idea.

http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/Comix/?comix_id=3582067C219766

Module 4-2 Digital Literacy

While visiting the ISTE website and researching the National Education Technology Standards, also referred to as NETS,  for students, I instantly became overwhelmed.  I don’t know about everyone else, but all I seem to hear about lately is standards based curriculum.  I have to make sure that as a teacher I am displaying the standards I am teaching that day for anyone who walks into my classroom to review.  It is “highly encouraged” for people to write the standard taught next to each test question.  Then we run tests through an assessor program so we know which standards the students didn’t understand so we can go back through and do remediation. 

With the added time and pressure placed on standards, when I saw technology standards in nice bold capital letters my inside dialogue instantly said, “Are you kidding me?!”  However, as I researched what each standard meant I started to realize that I am already doing about half of this stuff with my students.  The three standards that I believe I am already attempting to work on with the students to a higher degree than the others  are:   Research and Information Fluency; Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and Decision Making; and Digital Citizenships.   I believe that I am working on these three areas the most mainly for when I work with students on their research projects and other informational papers that they have to write for English.  In order to write an effective research paper students must be able to decide upon a relevant topic for investigation, locate and organize different types of credible information from online resources,  and of course abide by the technology rules set forth in the student handbook.  The other three standards are:  creativity and innovation, communication and collaboration, and technology operations and concepts.  While I feel that the first two standards should be the easiest to implement, I find that they may be the hardest.  Due to time constraints, often times the students are given the website and the steps to obtain the desired result instead of letting them figure them out on their own.  Also, often times the communication and collaboration with peers is difficult at the high school level unless it is strictly a classwork assignment.  If a group project rolls over into homework it becomes questionable who in the group is actually completing the work.  I feel that my students are GREAT at the last standard involving use of technology systems- when they want to be.  For example, Facebook, youtube, online games, and emails.  However, when it comes to using google to search for information for a project, they come up empty.

The video that I watched from Edutopia was titled, “Kids Represent Their Work Through Tech”.  This video is about a Middle School in Portland that works with personalized project based learning with the students final presentation being presented with the use of computer technology.  This specific class was given the topic of endangered species and was required incorporate art, science, math, and language arts projects around this topic incorporated into a form of media technology.   I found this video very interesting because it showed how allowing students the freedom to discover information on their own and giving them the capabilities to develop that knowledge into different genres can be more beneficial than simply having them take notes and memorize information given to them.  Below is the link to this video:

http://www.edutopia.org/expeditionary-learning-maine-video

The blog that I read was from Owen Edwards titled, “Can Electronic Reading Devices Replace Classroom Texts?”, discussed the integration of technology in the classroom and potentially the demise of books as we know them.  He wasn’t necessarily saying that the technology of books online, or specifically speaking of the new kindle technology where you can download several books, are a bad thing.  He did seem to be questioning though if the gained accessibility and technolgy is worth the lost sentiment behind a simple book.

I found this very interesting as Edwards made a personal connection to me as he questioned wether or not his children and grandchildren would appreciate some of the books that he has saved for them to read.  I personally have shelves upon shelves full of my grandmother and mother’s hardback Nancy Drew, Bobbsey Twins, and Hardy Boys books.  I remember getting those and just being in awe of the yellowing bent pages that showed where they had read and stopped and just the smell of the binding (admit it you’ve smelled books before).  Will my grandkids smell a computer? 

Please read his blog below:

http://www.edutopia.org/electronic-readers-versus-classroom-texts

Module 4: 21st Century Skills, Changes

Assistive Technology: Making Dreams Come True

The Fun Theory needs to be implemented in every school nationwide.  What could be done to make homework and studying fun though?  Hmmm…how about what we talk about every day in this class.  TECHNOLOGY!  I have said it time and time again in my assignments and forum posts…  Let the students use their love of the internet, computers, cell phones, and ipods; however, show them how to utilize it for the purpose of education and not just entertainment.

Once I logged on to the Edutopia website, I was overwhelmed with the variety of videos there are to watch.  I was originally looking for something involving specifically the use of ipods or cell phones in school.  However, while I was looking for this though I was scrolling through several pages and saw something that caught my eye.  It was a video called, “Assistive Technology:  Lukas Bratcher”.  Being a special education teacher, the term assistive technology instinctively got my attention.  I found myself watching an amazing video involving a young man who was born with birth condition that renders his arms and legs stiff and almost immovable at the joints.   Yet through assistive devices he is able to live his musical dream and play his euphoium in the school jazz and marching bands.  

While I was watching this video, another video that was under the section titled “related” snagged my attention again.  This video titled, “Assistive Technology:  Enabling Dreams”, is what I decided to use as my video from edutopia.  This video also includes a section dedicated to the young man, Lukas Bratcher mentioned above.  However, it also discusses many different types of assistive technology and shows how it allows people to participate in activities that without these devices would be impossible for them to do so.   There are a variety of different speech technologies shown in this video along with a variety of assistive computer devices to help students help themselves.  This video is truely an inspiration out there for anyone who says that they can not do something. 

Here is the link to the video as well (just in case!):

http://www.edutopia.org/assistive-technology-enabling-dreams-video

After watching these videos, my goal has not really changed since I made it at the beginning of this course.  Students are hands on learners.  I want to learn to use a variety of different technologies and be able to allow students to then use these technologies to better their educational experiences.  I want the students to want to learn.  What better way to do that than to incorporate what THEY want to do with what I want them do to?  My goal is simply to find out what technologies if implimented correctly can best motivate students to have a desire to learn, and do just that, learn.

Emerging Technology 1: Wordle

Wordle is a tool provided through its own online website,  http://www.wordle.net/.  This site allows the user to create their own word clouds based off of inserted text.  This text can then be manipulated into different fonts, format, and colors simply by pushing a button.  Once the desired presentation layout is created, the user can then share this wordle by simply printing it, or they can save them on the wordle website and/or any other web page the user may have access to.   These different functions of the website are very user friendly and include easy to follow steps to make your own creation. 

 As a Special Education teacher who does inclusion in high school English classes, I feel that this technology has potential to be utilized in several different lessons.   The four main categories that I feel this could be helpful in would surround the reading of a novel and include having the students summarize the reading and make characters lists, and the teacher can provide vocabulary and review wordles.  As students read a novel, they can chapter by chapter include specific ideas in their wordle that they feel are imporant.  The students could then present these wordles to the class explaining why they chose the words that they did and why they are important.  Students can also create a wordle using specific characters and add words to explain their traits and actions.  The name of the character could be inserted in the wordle, or it could be left out and other students have to figure out who it is.  Teachers could also make a vocabulary wordle prior to students reading.  Then as the students find the word in their text they can write the page number next to it and its definition for better understanding.  Finally, teachers can also create a wordle for review of main concepts.  This could be displayed simply using the website or if printed out, on an elmo.  Students can then share what they know about the topics presented.

The main issue that I could see the potential for arising would simply be the use of the actual website and maintaining that it is used appropriately by the students.  For example, in the FAQ section of the website, I teacher had asked that a couple wordles be removed due to the language and vulgatiry.  The author of the site stated that unless personal information was being violated that he would not delete any wordles.  As a teacher of high school students, I can see them potentially abusing this and attempting to post inappropriate pieces.  The solution being not with the website, but with the teacher making sure to warn the students and monitor them as closely as possible.  The only other problem I found with this site is that there is no way to edit a wordle that has been created.  Once you have made a wordle and saved it, if you want to change something or add a word you have to start completely over.  I don’t know about anyone else, but I am definitley not perfect and often times have to edit things several times!  It would be important when using this site to make sure that students understand this and I found that before saving if I highlight and copy the words, then I don’t necessarily have to “start over” if needed, I could instead just paste the words back into the box again.

Here is the Wordle that I created!  I am tempted to make a couple more though since I did this as I was still researching and since have come across many other ways to create these (keep certain phrases together and make certain words bigger than others).

Main ideas from Ch.1 Of Mice and Men

Hello fellow bloggers!

Just testing the waters!