Leading the Change

Leading the change is another great presentation from the K12 Online Conference. This video is about a superintendent who had his first introduction to the Internet world. He was very unaware of what he was doing and everything that went with the internet. The superintendent met with the International Society for Technology due to events that arose. During a year and a half of his self-directed learning, the superintendent learned much about the people of this online world with help from people like his mentor who is someone who has been around the world and back and a man also has also become a part of the online network of educators. As time grew on, he became so much more comfortable with many aspects of the internet. He began his own blog, and now understood the concept of "surfing the web".
This story to me is a great one for people who feel like they are behind in today's world. This man proved that it is never too late to catch up with society. I thought this video has the ability to be quite inspirational to many around the world.

Kicking it up a Notch

Kicking it up a notch is another video of the K12 Online Conference that is very interesting. Mathew Needleman introduces the concept of movie making. He gives out many tips that can be very helpful when creating a video. He gives step by step directions on how to use a story board and be successful with it. When he talks about improving your video, he uses examples such as improving lighting and sound, or perhaps choosing correct shots or angles to enhance the video, and make the viewer more interested. He has found that when he uses storyboards in school, some kids really like them and use them all the time, and some throw them away after awhile. One point that I really liked was the one he used stating that most children gain information from movies, tv, media, and iPods, instead of reading from text. Since they gain their knowledge from media, it makes sense to teach them skills about media messages and what is being thrown at them.
I thought Mathew's video is a great source for teachers to see how to increase the quality of work from their students in terms of video. The one statement that he said that stood out in my mind the most was that 90% of school time is spent reading out of textbooks, yet students gain most of their knowledge from media. This hit me hard because it makes so much sense, yet so few people seem to realize it.

Getting Started

The K12 Online Conference is an excellent event that occurs each year. Getting Started by Jackie Gherstein offers her opinion on emerging technology for engaging, thinking, learning, collaborating, creating, and innovating. She is a constructivist who tries to have her students learn by discovery. Using scavenger hunts and webquests is something that she finds intriguing, although she does not use them as much as she would like. Discovery learning is very important for because she feels that students need to learn on their own to grasp the full understanding of learning. She introduces teacher webpages to her students because she feels that they are a big part of technology use in schools today. Another thing she was adamant about was the need for safety on computers. With everything on the internet, students could easily wander to an inappropriate site. She explains excellent ways to prevent this and they have seemed to work with her class.
I really enjoy her descriptions of each way to use technology in the classroom. She definitely has a passion for technology and she shows it through her video. I was really impressed with her methods of indirect instruction and safety. She knows the importance of student learning and works with it well.

Other Blogs Beneficial?

Educational blogs are a great reading experience for both new and experienced teachers. They provide an excellent viewpoint of education from a completely different perspective. Many of these blogs show personal teaching methods used directly in the classroom. Also, the authors of the educational blogs can share their own personal beliefs about teaching, and their own personal philosophy about education. These two things are a great learning tool to use for up and coming teachers. In the blogs, teachers can also share personal experiences and how they dealt with them. This is also a great thing to take from all the blogs that one would read. Sometimes, one can only learn through experience, and reading about real life problems and how they were handled allows young and older teachers to see what route they could take in certain situations.
One blog that I have been reading has provided me with many of the things I mentioned in the previous paragraph. This blog is titled "So you want to teach? Education for educators". It gives me many links on classroom management, classroom skills, how to multitask, and much more. The blog is also very encouraging for me as well. It has a list of reasons on why to love being a teacher. Another part of the page is something that I found called the "New Teacher Surviver Kit". This is something that I will definitely use in the future. It provides a list of just about everything a teacher should know before entering a classroom. I am very appreciative of this blog because it has given me so much information that I can use in the near future. To see this blog first hand, follow this link: http://www.soyouwanttoteach.com/three-basic-classroom-skills/

Technology Can Help

Technology can help in the classroom in so many different ways. With the recent advancement in technology, all age levels are able to use it in some way during the school year. If I was teaching a very young class, from around ages five to nine, there are certain things I would use. I think that these students would enjoy using programs such as Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. It is not too difficult to the point where they would become discouraged and quit. It is fun and challenging for them, and a new way to learn fun things. Another something that these youngsters could use is a scavenger hunt. This is a great way for them to get away from the common textbook and make learning fun. They follow links to websites and find the answers to the questions. It is a whole new exciting way of learning.
If I were teaching kids from ages ten and up, I would use some more advanced tactics to incorporate technology into the classroom. I would allow them to create their own blogs about anything that they would want. The idea of this is for them to enjoy writing and way to do this is by writing about something enjoyable. Then you set up a blog for them to write on, and set a certain amount of passages they need. If I was a student this, I would really enjoy it. Something else that would be fun to use is MovieMaker. This is a great way for students to learn how to use a digital camera and the movie program on the computer. I would have my students take a bunch of pictures of something that they are very passionate about. Then upload them on the computer and go through the entire movie making process. Students would then talk about why they picked this topic and tell us everything they did inside MovieMaker.
There are so many things that can be done using technology in the classroom today and we need to take advantage of it by using the different and exciting programs that are offered to us.

What Must We Do to Prepare Our Students for the 21st Century

So many things change each and every year. Technology seems to be changing even faster. Each new discovery in technology tries to make life easier than before. The problem with the rapid evolution of technology is that the younger generation of students is starting to fall behind. Teachers now have to take it upon themselves to personally be able to understand what is happening today in technology. If we, the teachers do not understand, how can we expect our students to learn it as well. It has become obvious that we need to start incorporating technology use into classrooms at a younger age. The advancement in technology is only going to continue to grow. With younger students having some kind of understanding of technology, it will give them an opportunity to fully comprehend it as they get older. Technology has been integrated into everyday aspects of life. Technology has the potential to enhance students' abilities and achievements. As teachers, we will always urge our students to be creative and original. Students will then begin to think of ways to be original. Technology will be the best option for many of them. There are so many ways to do something using technology, and the better understanding students have of this will allow them to get their creative juices flowing to their full potential. Preparation for the 21st century in terms of technology will most assuredly be needed. If we do not show the children how to do it now, this generation may be in for trouble.

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Gabcast! Jeff Shenker #2

Using Technology in the Classroom

Using technology in the classroom has always been a unique experience. It allows students to get away from the dusty old text book and open their minds into something new and exciting. Although it make take awhile for students to becoma acclimated with the technology they are using, it usually is quite beneficial to them. It can make learning interesting and exciting. While technology is a great asset to the classroom, it can also be harmful. As we all know, technology does not always work the way we want it to; it sometimes gets us so mad that we want to break whatever we are using. Some people like using the good old textbook. No problems with those. Either way one looks at technology, most will admit that it does create a whole new way of learning.

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Gabcast! Jeff Shenker #1