I have already reflected on this class in an earlier blog, however I wanted to discuss more things that I have came across during this time!  One thing that I want to bring up from a past blog is the fact that how dependent are we on technology!  My cousin suggested how happy he was that he could do his online shopping, banking, look up jobs, and chat with others over the internet without leaving his house!  He beamed on the fact that he could lounge around in his boxers and no one would have to know.  What is this suggesting to us?  That we can roll out of bed, be lazy by staying in our pajamas all day while we get all our errands done! 

If everybody thought like my cousin did where would we be today?  Would we become a 300 pound couch potato not realizing that there is a world out there?  Would our face to face interaction with one another be obsolete?  What about the security of our identities through banking and ebills? 

Not only this, but what about going to chatrooms or a site called SecondLife where you can waste away all our money and be left with nothing!  SecondLife can be a positve or negative site depending on how it is used.  Is it healthy to take on a different persona or buy non realistic items such as outfits or things for your secondlife house using real money?

In this class, we have been able to experience the usefulness of the internet!  With such things as podcasts, digital storytelling, and our guest speakers we were able to see how the internet can be used to our advantage and not direct the net into negative light.  If used under correct measures, I believe that the advancing technology will be a heavenly gateway to our learning.

Well needless to say, after doing this and seeing how much of an accomplishment this was to me I decided to create more.  It is so much more cheaper to do than traditional scrapbooking!  I am not saying that we should eliminate traditional ways… but technology does have a way of making things a lot more simpler, fun, and less time consuming (well when it works that is hehe). 

For Christmas this year I thought one great idea to do for the family was to create individual slideshows for them.  For my sister I found school pictures of her growing up, randoms, and family portraits as I placed it into the slides with a tear jerking song to match. As for my folks slideshow, I created one from our vacation this fall!  It was so much easier to do thsi time around as I gained the knowledge from past attempts!

Hereis a glimpse of the slideshow I made for my folks:

http://education.uregina.ca/web/wallmank/aboriginal/keeperunit.htm

Within this unit I have designed an online version of the unit I used in my pre-internship semester in a grade 2 classroom.  Although teaching about Aboriginals is found in the grade 4 Social Studies Curriculum, I believed that it could be integrated within grade 2 currciculum. 

1. The process of developing my project was very difficult in this first part.  I used DreamWeaver program that is found at the U of R computers.  I learnt how to use this program (kind of) last year and thus I thought I could revise what I have learned and add more things to it.  Well… it was easier said then done!  I had difficulties with adding new things on this site such as videos, pods, etc.  I believe this would have been very beneficial to have and I hope I will be able to add it in here sooner or later.  Also, I had to learn how to set up pages and how to link them to one another.  This took a bit of time and configuration however I ended up completing this well. 

2. There was many technical difficulties while working on this unit.  I very well do believe that I challenged my technical capabilities through part one and two of this project.  From a hardcover version of my unit to an online version I have went beyond my learnings.  It was awesome to see how everything seemed more alive and interesting while viewing it on a screen rather than my hard copy. 

3. Product Design: I think that I have showed well thought out design and planning within this project.  I chose lessons and added objectives, instructions, and other media resources (photos, websites, music, stories) that can be used to help children learn about Aboriginals and their culture.  Also, I created a rationale, key notes, and classroom management skills.  Within the rationale I wrote about the challenges and successes I faced while implementing this unit in a grade 2 classroom.  The classroom management link provides teachers with a few ideas how to manage their classroom and what seemed effective for me as a teacher.  Music is a great classroom management skill to have.  The key notes were added to give a teacher some tips on teaching this unit, some sites to use, and some assessment tools that I have used throughout the course of the unit.  LAstly, I added resources to this unit to provide a teacher with some information within the curriculums, children’s stories, and guest speakers that can come in and talk with the children. 

4. This project is very useful to not only the scope of the class but to other teachers as well.  There are many different units a teacher can look up on the internet; thus, mine is just another unit they can view.  I put a lot of degree of thinking into this unit and tried to create it based on a third person view.  I wanted it to be an aide for other teachers that share the same struggles and challenges as I have throughout this unit. 

NOTE: I will go into more explanation of these in part 2 – the student based learning website.

Google Earth/Maps will send you to any location with a few clicks of a mouse!  It can show you points of interests (such as restaurants, churches, malls), distances in kilometres, miles, and time periods, and it will also go into detail of what places you have to go through and the directions to get to your destination.  The only part of this operation is that SOMETIMES there are quicker ways or easier directions that can be taken.  For example, with the North Dakota road trip my friend and I printed off directions and the map to Minot.  With using the map though, we ended up in some hicktown in the states and then referred to our friends’ directions after that!  It also says in the fine print:

These directions are for planning purposes only. You may find that construction projects, traffic, weather, or other events may cause conditions to differ from the map results, and you should plan your route accordingly. You must obey all signs or notices regarding your route.

Anyways I created my own google map for a trip I would love to take to Seattle, Washington (where my friend from Minot moved to).  Thus this is the map I created and boy after reading the directions and time factor (17 hours) by car I am not really looking forward to that part hehe.

Traditional to millenium… 

www.learnkey.com/…/product_categories/k12.jpg  (traditional reading writing image)    

http://hippert.r.googlepages.com/Kidsandtech.jpg/Kidsandtech-full.jpg (girl on computer image)

In kindergarten, I believe teaching children the fundamentals of technology (such as how to properly use the equipment, the meain concepts, etc) is the most important aspect of their learning.  Computers can be set up as a centre time to give children time to explore and familiarize themselves with the technology through exploration and educational games.  In elementary years, they begin to use the search engines and maybe even start up a pen pal forum with students across the world.  This can be integrated in social studies and geography.  I believe digital storytelling can be a creative expression for the children.  Instead of doing collages or drawings they can advance their skills by working with powerpoints, movie maker, etc.  This will also be essential in a much clean cut presentation for group or individual projects. 

Now the question is: Describe my future classroom.  Now that I am more advanced in technology and how to incorporate it in the classroom I am psyched to start teaching and setting up my room.  I am a very visual and auditoty type of person and my classroom would be full of visuals and noise.  I not speaking of noise that will disrupt other classes, but I want a classroom that is welcoming and inviting to all.  If I had a big enough elelmentary classroom I would love to set up a couple of computers with a scanner, webcam, microphone, and printer.  Why would I want all of these items?  Well, in my classroom I would be excited to start pen pal collaboration with another classroom across the globe.  With a webcam and mic the students would have access to actually show themselves to their pen pal or even use it as a tool if we began creating our own webpage for the classroom or a podcast.  Also, I would have music!  While in my preinternship and internship semesters, I used music for a variety of things including for relaxation, for a lesson, for a welcoming after recess or other breaks, and used it for classroom management strategies.  As said I would have my computers in one area of the room.  Another part would be sectioned off as carpet time.  This is where the students can come and sit while a story is read or movie is being watched or even to just play/dance. 

As for the pedagogy and learning environment, I have dabbled in it a bit throughout this blog.  It is important to stress that technology (as much as we want to swear at it at times) is very beneficial to a classroom.  As a teacher I would discuss rules or the equipment just for safety purposes and would set filters and safe sites on the computers for close monitoring.  I would also take the time out of the schedule to introduce the the proper usuage of equipment.  Classroom management is always a hard issue for new teachers and I focussed a lot on music and flipping the light switch to get their attention.  I would love to collaborate with other colleaugues and more knowledgeable people while doing my units.  Through the delicious site we were exposed to, Dean said this was a good example of how to find information without doing much researching yourself.  Clearly, having an account myself shows this is true.   Also, as a group project I am creating an online unit for the teacher and the students to engage in.  This can be a great aspect to the classroom as the children can become independent learners.

I believe the learning environment could be very chaotic or very intriguing for the students as well as myself.  It all depends on how a teacher establishes, sets boundaries, and carries through with integrating technology within their classroom.  Interesting enough, the more knowledgeable a teacher is in this field and the more accepting / comfortable they are will state whether or not a classroom will be chaotic or successful.

www.sangrea.net/…/philosophy-cartoons.html

The older the teacher you talk to, the more traditional the teaching they will implement in their classrooms.  I am not insisting that a 50 year old teacher will not implement technology (smart boards, computers, etc) into a classroom because they are not knowledgeable; I am basing my opinion on the different teachers I have been able to talk to or the teachers I have had in school.  It is like teaching old dog new tricks… its hard to do but with the right programs and tools it is interesting to see that at any age they can learn. 

This saying can lead into my personal learning.  As said I have been taught many ways of teaching and have implemented such things as adaptive dimension, risky units (creating and teaching an aboriginal unit to grade 2 children), and used the different teaching styles (audio, visual, and kinesthetic) within my teachings.  To get to this stage though I had to learn!  And boy did I learn!  When I taught my aboriginal unit to grade 2 children (which is a grade 4 unit study in social within the evergreen curriculum), I had many challenges.  For a 20 year old Caucasian student that was entering preinternship year with not a clue about aboriginal culture I had to learn how to teach about this ethnicity!  In university, I was given many packages and information (through my instructors and guest speakers) on how to teach aboriginals.  Yet, I felt like I did not have a clue what to do!  Thus the internet was one of my best friends!  I would google different sites and find activities, pictures, programs, and information that was beneficial in my teachings as well as learning.  I feel more confident to know that through forums and things that there are other teachers out there that felt just as uncomfortable as I had!

Personal learning is very effective with me.  I love to learn about anything that interests me.  Sometimes the questions I may ask sound juvenile or a head scratcher of a “stupid question” but I was told there is no such thing as stupid questions because that is the only way to learn.  My aboriginal unit that I describe above was such a learning experience that I would love to continue learning about and maybe one day find a teaching job up north teaching aboriginals. 

Learning is much harder than teaching!  In order to be a teacher you have to learn about the topics and units you are going to implement in your classroom to become knowledgeable.  For technology sakes, a teacher must become comfortable with this or else it will be hard to teach it.  I have many friends that know things about computers that I would never imagine and people on my delicious or other bookmarking accounts; these are the type of people that become part of my personal network on helping me figure out programs and different websites that would be beneficial in my learning. 

I learn best independently!  If I am forced to learn about something that does not interest me I tend to struggle in that area; however, if I am interested in something then I love to find new ways to learn about it whether it is through questioning, internet or other media forms, or through instructing.  Dependent learning is also good in such ways as “putting two heads together is better than one” theory, social networking online with such things as blogs or accounts like delicious, and getting feedback through other colleagues and educators.

Why would I choose google calendar? Well I am an unorganized organized person. I have schedulers on my cell phone and little digital scheduler to give me times that are important. I have my cell phone alarms and scheduler. I have calendars and daily planners… but google calendar would be a great new way of knowing what is going on! I am putting my class/work schedule on it presently so that this will just be another thing that will make sure an unorganized person will remember!

Along with having your very own scheduler, you can also check out your family or friends schedules.  This would be beneficial in schools for group work/ projects, for parents to keep track of what is going on in class, and more.  The con to this application for parents would be the parents that are not technologically advanced and do not know how to work a computer little own interenet.  However, this can give teachers a chance to implement a home/school connection by having a program set up inviting parents and their children to learn how to use the internet.  This calendar would be beneficial also for those children that “lose or misplace their daily planners or newsletters” or for school events such as Terry Fox Run or a school dance.

Here are some examples of my screen shots of google reader!

 This is my week scheduler

 This screen shot shows my month layout for October so far!

http://www.centernetworks.com/images/sites/picnik1.png

One day out of boredom at my friends house I was surfing the facebook applications and I came across Picnik.  Well the “Open Thinking Wiki” site (http://couros.wikispaces.com/tools) that Alec Couros set up had a graphics/images section within the list.  I figured “why not kill two birds with one stone”, thus my friend and I had a lot of fun with this program. The site is found at: www.picnik.com

I created a page on my blogsite called Picnik Edits (can be found in the tabs).  In this page I put together a sample of four pictures I have chosen from my facebook pictures.  In these pictures, my friend and I got a little crazy with editing them but it was a lot of fun!  While twenty some year olds can have a blast editing photos I believe that students would be able to benefit with this program.  The motto about Picnik is “its fast, easy, and fun” and its so true.  It is a free site to go to to edit your pictures with shapes, text, colors, red eye, and more.  It is a great site (besides Flickr, and the other listed sites on the wiki tools site) to let your students immerse themselves in technology within the classroom.  As I have wrote in a previous blog, technology is becoming more important within a classroom and to be able to immerse children in different sources of technology will strengthen their learning, imagination, creativity, and more.  It can be used as a child friendly site also! Thus, while using a digital device (camera, webcams, scanners, etc) a teacher (or their students) can add their favourite pictures to the computer and go to this site or similiar editing sites to crop, edit, and alter the original image.  This program can be implemented as a centre time, spare time learning, or used for projects.

When I think back to my computer class and schooling I do not think such programs as this existed. The only thing that I was used to if I wanted to edit my pictures was go to the Paint application in the programs on your computer.  When I look at paint to picnik and flickr I sit there in awe as I see the vast difference within the two different programs.  There are a few other programs on the wiki tools list that I am  familiar with and I have presently checked out a few other sites I did not really know about and so far Alec Couros’s list is an excellent source that teachers should beginning looking up! The internet can be used as a valuable source when it comes to teaching children. Always remember that the internet can be a teacher’s best friend!

This is a picture of me at the Sask border. In this pic I played with the colors, sharpen, and exposure tabs. Not too bad I guess…