Week Two LD 2 Engage Them or Enrage Them

Week Two LD 2 Engage Them or Enrage Them

Week Two AR1 Thinking about Technology

Week Two AR1 Thinking about Technology

Week One - Part B Intro Lecture

Week One - Part B Intro Lecture

Week One - Intro Part A

Week One - Intro Part A

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.

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 ?

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.