Oshkosh Airventure camping
We all have the same amount of hours in a day. It's what we do with them that sets us apart.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Friday, April 15, 2011
Post for EDT 6440 Resource Links and stuff
This is a blog that I started when I began taking classes toward a Masters degree in Educational Technology. I have not used it in a while but am very glad to be back at the site adding more resources that I can utilize through out my career.
It is some what disheartening to see so many teachers who treat teaching as a job and not a profession or career. Years seems to wear a person down for sure. It is a job where you are ON almost all of the time when you are there. In this post are a few new links that we have shared in this class EDT 6440.
Emerging Technologies: In this website are a multitude of opportunities for educators to learn from other educators or share your knowledge with other educators. It is great resource and you can access at your own pace and in your spare time.( you may laugh now)
http://www.edu20.org/log_in/required?from=%2Fhome
Broadband Applications: I have used YouTube extensively in my biology class to offer educational opportunities to the students that are at their fingertips but they didn't know were their. There are thousands of short instructional science videos that allow the use of an electron Microscope image on video to come right into my classroom and on the big screen also. School tubes is great when you want students to have more filtered access to online videos. They are prescreened so no accidental adult content will come up in a search.
http://http://www.schooltube.com/
http://http://www.youtube.com/swf/l.swf?video_id=5FyA4mrIn_k
Planning for implementation for future technologies:
edu 2.0 has people who would be good connections as to how to fund projects and grant writing from people who have successfully obtained funds. I am also including my home school because using the technology in your classroom and having other teachers see the students response to the use of technology and offering to train fellow teacher during otherwise boring PD meeting is an excellent way to lobby for school funding for advancement of technology. It also allows you the chance to introduce the use of technology in a constructive and productive way.
http://www.kalamazoopublicschools.com/
http://www.edu20.org/log_in/required?from=%2Fhome
Additional Resources:
This section could go on a long time but here are a few of the resources that I use for Biology, Aviation classes and private tutoring.
http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/TRC/Aeronautics/AeronauticActivitiesHome2.htm NASA Science website with many different resources including lesson plans and activities
http://phet.colorado.edu/ online help with chemistry, general science, physics, and more
http://www.mathnerds.com/mathnerds/ an online math resource with chat availability for help with specific problems
http://www.ajdesigner.com/index.htm simulations and other design work aids
http://www.virtualclassroom.org/index.html Just what is says how to have your own virtual classroom
http://space.xprize.org/x-prize-cup/x-prize-cup-education-day Science challenge for high school students
That just about wraps it up. I could go on and on as the world wide web and all that computers offer go on and on and changes all the time. Fun stuff.
It is some what disheartening to see so many teachers who treat teaching as a job and not a profession or career. Years seems to wear a person down for sure. It is a job where you are ON almost all of the time when you are there. In this post are a few new links that we have shared in this class EDT 6440.
Emerging Technologies: In this website are a multitude of opportunities for educators to learn from other educators or share your knowledge with other educators. It is great resource and you can access at your own pace and in your spare time.( you may laugh now)
http://www.edu20.org/log_in/required?from=%2Fhome
Broadband Applications: I have used YouTube extensively in my biology class to offer educational opportunities to the students that are at their fingertips but they didn't know were their. There are thousands of short instructional science videos that allow the use of an electron Microscope image on video to come right into my classroom and on the big screen also. School tubes is great when you want students to have more filtered access to online videos. They are prescreened so no accidental adult content will come up in a search.
http://http://www.schooltube.com/
http://http://www.youtube.com/swf/l.swf?video_id=5FyA4mrIn_k
Planning for implementation for future technologies:
edu 2.0 has people who would be good connections as to how to fund projects and grant writing from people who have successfully obtained funds. I am also including my home school because using the technology in your classroom and having other teachers see the students response to the use of technology and offering to train fellow teacher during otherwise boring PD meeting is an excellent way to lobby for school funding for advancement of technology. It also allows you the chance to introduce the use of technology in a constructive and productive way.
http://www.kalamazoopublicschools.com/
http://www.edu20.org/log_in/required?from=%2Fhome
Additional Resources:
This section could go on a long time but here are a few of the resources that I use for Biology, Aviation classes and private tutoring.
http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/TRC/Aeronautics/AeronauticActivitiesHome2.htm NASA Science website with many different resources including lesson plans and activities
http://phet.colorado.edu/ online help with chemistry, general science, physics, and more
http://www.mathnerds.com/mathnerds/ an online math resource with chat availability for help with specific problems
http://www.ajdesigner.com/index.htm simulations and other design work aids
http://www.virtualclassroom.org/index.html Just what is says how to have your own virtual classroom
http://space.xprize.org/x-prize-cup/x-prize-cup-education-day Science challenge for high school students
That just about wraps it up. I could go on and on as the world wide web and all that computers offer go on and on and changes all the time. Fun stuff.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Review of Google Documents Presentation Maker and Spreadsheets
The Google Documents Presentation Maker was incredibly easy to use. It operates the same as PowerPoint in Microsoft Office but I think the share and edit features are a bit more transparent in the Google version. I was easily able to import pictures and add them to the slides. The choices of slide lay out were readily available. I also set it up so that it would be an online collaborative effort. My question is if it is online can I go to my account from any computer with Internet access and have my presentation come up? Could it be that simple? No more need to carry my laptop with me and need the sign in for someone else's hot spot? That would be just too cool. Check out My very important presentation: https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AWNfkZp5VMppZGNnOTY3eGdfMGMzejg2eGZk&hl=en
I found the spread sheets to be just as easy to use. The features were all the same as Microsoft office and again the sharing and saving and accessibility was awesome. Check out my spread sheet;
https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=0AmNfkZp5VMppdE9pRHlUX2NqVk9JYXlNOGhaOG8tZ2c&hl=en&output=html
So why do we pay big money when there is so much good free software and how can Google offer so much for free? I know advertising pays for a lot of things. Maybe they count on the people who do not know how much stuff is for free. Kind of the same way rebates and coupons count on you never sending in the forms. We may never know or will we ?
I found the spread sheets to be just as easy to use. The features were all the same as Microsoft office and again the sharing and saving and accessibility was awesome. Check out my spread sheet;
https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=0AmNfkZp5VMppdE9pRHlUX2NqVk9JYXlNOGhaOG8tZ2c&hl=en&output=html
So why do we pay big money when there is so much good free software and how can Google offer so much for free? I know advertising pays for a lot of things. Maybe they count on the people who do not know how much stuff is for free. Kind of the same way rebates and coupons count on you never sending in the forms. We may never know or will we ?
Sunday, August 8, 2010
R/D 13 Is it unlucky to end on 13. I say it is not. Here goes last but not least.
What made me say "wow that's so neat" is that I went back to my blog after reading Chapter 31 Emerging Instructional Technologies: The Near Future to start my reflection and found this link http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/08/04/technology-takes-formative-assessment-to-a-whole-new-level/#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed . The article was right in line with the material from chapter 31. I thought the most ironic and awesome part was that it was on my blog as a RSS feed all of which were part of a class for Educational Technology. Check out the article it is pretty amazing. Not in how advanced it is but in the fact that we are beginning to allow students to learn how to learn and not just memorize and spit back information.
My son went to a Montessori public school from K-6th grade. He excelled and loved school. When it was time to go to middle school he was put into a traditional learning environment. It took him a while to understand the whole new system and to learn that he could not work at his own pace but had to wait if he finished first or get left behind if he didn't finish when everyone else did. It was a hard transition and he was disgruntled during his remaining secondary years. He has succeeded but school was not as enjoyable a place for him as it could have been. If he could have continued with the Montessori methods it would have been a better overall experience.
My favorite activity of the semester has to be the blog itself. As I stated in my first reflection, seeing my words in print in what looks to be a very professional environment is very gratifying. The added benefit is that others will be reading it and critiquing it. I welcome praise and critiquing as they both make us better at what we do. I have shared my blog with friends,and relatives as well as classmates. Most are impressed and some have felt challenged to rise to encompass new technology in their own requiem of knowledge.
My son went to a Montessori public school from K-6th grade. He excelled and loved school. When it was time to go to middle school he was put into a traditional learning environment. It took him a while to understand the whole new system and to learn that he could not work at his own pace but had to wait if he finished first or get left behind if he didn't finish when everyone else did. It was a hard transition and he was disgruntled during his remaining secondary years. He has succeeded but school was not as enjoyable a place for him as it could have been. If he could have continued with the Montessori methods it would have been a better overall experience.
My favorite activity of the semester has to be the blog itself. As I stated in my first reflection, seeing my words in print in what looks to be a very professional environment is very gratifying. The added benefit is that others will be reading it and critiquing it. I welcome praise and critiquing as they both make us better at what we do. I have shared my blog with friends,and relatives as well as classmates. Most are impressed and some have felt challenged to rise to encompass new technology in their own requiem of knowledge.
R/D 12 Next to last but not next to least /Rich Media
I enjoyed chapter 30 Using Rich Media Wisely. The first bit of new learning was that I learned what Rich Media was. Now I can converse in geek-speech and sound informed. I like informed.
In this chapter the scientist in me definitely stepped up to the plate. I will be looking up more of the specifications on the studies in this chapter to find out sample size, age of the participants and other relevant information.
For my first take away, age of the participant came to mind as I was reading the section on Minimizing Irrelevant Audio,pg 318. This came to mind as my 16 year old daughter sat at the computer with her headphones plugged in, itunes playing, as she flipped back and forth between facebook and a summer homework paper writing project for an AP English Class. Facebook is open because friends were also working on the same school project. Mom facebook is not just for fun, jeez. She got a A on the paper. It made me wonder if audio overload applied mainly on the initial introduction to material or did it carry over to the output of prior knowledge.(i.e. writing a review on a book ). I think it is a study that I would like to run to try and either validate or invalidate the need for students to have music playing while they study or not have music playing while they study. It is a struggle that has moved down through the generations.
For my second take away,I do agree that visuals to support written text, greatly improve the learning and retention of materials especially in low learners. I have used (and will continue to use) visual aids in biology and chemistry classes to aid in the learning process. There are quite a few programs and online sites that provide excellent microscope pictures some with video of microscopic creatures that can sometimes be hard to capture under a microscope in class. It is always easier to remember that a cyanospirobacteria is blue and spirally when you can see that under the microscope he really is blue and shaped like a spiral. Wow, how cool is that?
In this chapter the scientist in me definitely stepped up to the plate. I will be looking up more of the specifications on the studies in this chapter to find out sample size, age of the participants and other relevant information.
For my first take away, age of the participant came to mind as I was reading the section on Minimizing Irrelevant Audio,pg 318. This came to mind as my 16 year old daughter sat at the computer with her headphones plugged in, itunes playing, as she flipped back and forth between facebook and a summer homework paper writing project for an AP English Class. Facebook is open because friends were also working on the same school project. Mom facebook is not just for fun, jeez. She got a A on the paper. It made me wonder if audio overload applied mainly on the initial introduction to material or did it carry over to the output of prior knowledge.(i.e. writing a review on a book ). I think it is a study that I would like to run to try and either validate or invalidate the need for students to have music playing while they study or not have music playing while they study. It is a struggle that has moved down through the generations.
For my second take away,I do agree that visuals to support written text, greatly improve the learning and retention of materials especially in low learners. I have used (and will continue to use) visual aids in biology and chemistry classes to aid in the learning process. There are quite a few programs and online sites that provide excellent microscope pictures some with video of microscopic creatures that can sometimes be hard to capture under a microscope in class. It is always easier to remember that a cyanospirobacteria is blue and spirally when you can see that under the microscope he really is blue and shaped like a spiral. Wow, how cool is that?
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