Final Reflection

I actually got a lot of this class. There were some things involving technology that I just thought were way to complicated that I wouldn't ever try. Throughout this class I have learned those things such as creating a website and editing a video that I thought were too hard for me. Turns out that they are not that bad at all. So if I had to say one thing that I got out of this class, it would be that I realized technology can actually be user friendly. I will use technology in my classroom.

This class has changed the way I think about technology in a very similar way. I think that technology is a great asset to a classroom. I used to think that technology was just a waste of money; I mean I learned just fine without the ipad or whatever, but technology does actually aid and facilitate learning. Technology is cool, and is always changing. I know that if I keep up to date with the new technologies of the day I will be able to better serve my students.

Did u know??

I knew that the world was changing, but I didn't realize how fast the change was happening. This video made me realize that a lot of the technology taught in school will be obselete in a number of years. Because of this, we need to be teaching students how to learn things on there own. That is the only way that they will be able to find jobs later in life and compete with the younger generation. It is no longer about teaching students concrete facts, it is about teacing them how to adapt to new ideas.

Internet Safety

From what I could find on the internet about internet safety I noticed that a lot of attention is given to sexual predators that may target teenagers in the chat room. This is a very important issue to discuss but I don't feel like enough attention was given to the other dangers of internet use. However, I guess teenagers don't have to worry about identity theft or the other dangers of the internet. Although, I would have liked to see more information about how to avoid pornography and how to avoid getting viruses. I thought if was sort of ironic that isafe asked for such detailed information, then I remembered how to check if a website is secure. isafe seems like a really cool resource. As a teacher I would push that the school I work at somehow integrate that program, whether it be by a computer class or by having a internet safety week during which the students had time in school to review the program. One change I will make when giving out credit card numbers and such,is to only do if url contains https. Also, I made my facebook so that only the day of my birthday shows on my profile not the year. I had no idea how easy it is for predators to steal identities. I have heard some horror stories about how stolen identities have ruined peoples lives. When I am a teacher I will make sure that the students at least have a basic knowledge of internet safety because internet use is only going to increase over time and I'm sure new dangers will surface. When the students use computers under my supervision I will be very clear of the consequences of doing inappropriate things on the internet and contact parents if the students break the rules. Also, especially in these days of facebook and myspace, I would be sure to tell them what it acceptable and safe to put up on those sites.
For my lesson I taught my roommate about internet safety. I used the slide show you sent us to teach her. I think it went well, she said she already knew most of the stuff but she ended up taking her birthday of facebook and she didn't know about phishing and how convincing scams could get. She also found the https tip helpful.

finalist presentations

I'm not sure I understood what the videos and presentations were supposed to be about. The couple that won the competition definitely put the most effort into their project, but I wasn't impressed with the technology they were using (I think they were just using a website as there technolgy). However, with all of those premade lesson plans I will definitely check their site out. I really liked the project that Amiee and her partner came up with. It was simple, but their idea to connect people from all over the world in a debate is something that would be helpful in learning about other cultures and for seeing other peoples point of veiw. It was great to see all of the technologies that teachers have available to them to help students learn. However, the projects that used technologies from the internet and cheap things were more appealing to me. With all of the budget cuts that are occuring and all the teachers getting laid off, I couldn't justify getting a class set of ipads. I got by just fine without such expensive technologies.

I thought that creating this video was really fun. Once I got a hang on imovie it was actually pretty easy. The only difficult thing was uploading it to youtube. I could share it directly with yourtube, I had to export it to the computer first. I would feel comfortable making a movie for another class and using this technology with my future students.

DANG IT!

It won't upload to youtube, it says it is waiting for acknowlegdement. I'm gonna try again later

Media Project Update

The main difficulty we have been having with out media project is finding a time that we can get together to film the project. The good thing is that we have a very solid idea of what we are going to do so when we do get started it will be very efficient. We are going to be creating a sample student project. For the assignment the students will demonstrate how to effectively communicate and interact with people who are different from them. It is going to be sweet!

Multimedia ideas

For the mutlimedia project I will be working with David Ames. We are going to be creating a sample student project. The students will be learning about how to deal with others who they have differences with and demonstrating the appropriate behavior. In our specific video we will be having an interview between a white man and a black-mexican, pregnant women. We will be demonstrating how to bad the situation could turn and how to appropriately handle the situation. This is done on a video so that the students will really take the time to think about how to handle the situation. Also, it will help the students who have reservations about getting up in front of the class feel more comfortable participating.

Video

I think that video is a great resource in a classroom, especially in a history classroom. It is a great way to supplement and reinforce the understanding of the students. Video from the time period that students are studying can be a great way for the students to relate to the past and to get a better sense of what the people were like. Even though video is a great tool, it can also be overused. In my classroom I will try to make it to that a video is a treat not naptime.

New Idea

I decided not to work with Google Earth. The reason I changed my mind is because Google Earth is too ugly to work with (I know that sound lame, but it was just hard for me to look at). So I decided to figure something else out. I got an idea off of the wikispaces site you showed us last tuesday. I ended up with a project that using the website ToonDoo. ToonDoo is a site were you can make cartoons. I used it to create a lesson about propaganda. It was way fun and much more pretty :)

Personal Technology Project

I am going to learn more about Google Earth. I know how to look a picture of my house from a satelite, but I know there is so much more things Google Earth can do. I am going to create a lesson plan where the students will create a virtual tour of some significant area in history. I don't have any of the details figured out yet, but I'll get on it.

Copyright

I think that copyright laws are a good thing. It was interesting to find out that they are in place to promote the advancement of art and sciences. That makes sense, why would someone develop something if it can be stolen and other people could make money off it. Nevertheless, I do find them annoying sometimes. For instance, when they put an episode of a show on youtube and have to leave off the last 10 minutes. I really like the idea of fair use, it is nice that in a world where teachers make a small amount of money, that we at least get to bend the copyright rules a bit. I don't think I know enough about the complexities of copyright to actually suggest modifications. I know that they are a good thing, it can just become an annoyance sometimes.

My Class Website

http://sites.google.com/site/msjonutzsclasssite/

Computer Problems

Okay, so I have been having a problem with my laptop for sometime now. Last semester I downloaded symatic virus protection onto my computer. It was working great till about a month ago then it started telling me that it was not compatible with windows vista. Now everytime I turn on my computer it trys to install symatic again and just keeps telling it won't work. But, it just decides to randomly try on its own. Its hasn't affected the functionality of my computer so I have just ingored it thus far. I just hope it doesn't get worse.

Challenges

The Google Sites layout is pretty straightforward so I haven't ran into to many problems so far. However, I'm sure as I progress I won't be able to say that anymore. One of the challenges I have encountered thus far is making my site pleasing to the eye. I want to make it seem like I know more about creating websites than I actually do by making it look good. I found a couple of tutorials on youtube that have helped a little bit but if anybody knows any tricks to make my site look better please share. Here is one tutorial that has good information about simple things to change the appearance of your site, you just have to put up with her monotone for 9 minutes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW3OElLssgE

Resources

I thought that many of the resources we reveiwed would be helpful in furthering my learning. Every new technology I learn about to make things simpler and faster. I am a history teaching major, Zotero will be extremely helpful when I write my many research papers. Diigo will also com in handy for that same reason. Before I would always copy and paste viable research into a word document to save it for later, it will be so much more convenient to have my highlights on the actual website. Jing I think wil be fun and useful for both personal and teaching reaons. I think it will come in handy most when other people are visually taking me through the steps. Google Docs is a great resource for when I am trying to work in a group for a project or in a study group. It is great that we can share ideas without actually meeting. Google Calendars will also be very handy as a teacher when parents want to come in and talk about their student. Its a great way to schedule things without a middle man. I had no idea these types of resources were available.

My Gadgets

The gadgets I used are the picture, the adding of text, about me, the RSS feed, my blog list, my blog archive and my videos. The picture is of my mom, sister, and I at Thanksgiving. I added text welcoming visitors to my blog and as a caption to my picture. The videos in the my videos section are from my mom's youtube channel.

Technology Background and Goals

I know how to work the basic technological programs that are available. I can create a document with Word, I can create a Powerpoint presentation, but I do have some difficulting with Excel. I also am relatively confident with my Internet and Emailing skills. I can navigate my way through Photoshop as well. As far as teaching with multimedia goes, I am not quite sure what that means, so I can conclude that I don't know how to do that. I hope that by the end of this class I can take advantage of all the technological resources at my disposal to better enhance the learning of my future students. http://www.cs.mun.ca/~brown/multi/home.html, this is a site that had a couple of ideas that could be used in teaching with multimedia.