Wireless Technology

This week we are discussing wireless technology. This technology is nearly everywhere and it is convenient. The schools in my district all have wireless capabilities. All of the teachers are issued a laptop to keep up with administrative duties, to communicate with colleagues and parents/ students, and to do research. It is nice to be able to print to any approved printer within the school. The students can take advantage of our wireless environment as well. Although each classroom has one to two computers in the classroom that are connected via ethernet cables, the students are able to use laptops via the portable carts for class projects and research. 

Another wireless technology that I am a huge fan of is 'clickers'. Clickers are student response systems that allow teachers to assess classes with the click of a button. Instead of printing several copies or even a classroom set of questions for quizzes and tests, teachers can post questions and students can answer them. Not all schools in my district has this technology, but I am hoping more will get it. 

Synchronous and Asynchronous Learning Environments

This has been a hectic week. The TCAP learning assessment was this week in our state which affected much of my planning time (homework time). I had to use family time to complete the assignments this week and I still had to stay up way past my bedtime; yes, I have one. I spent many hours in our asynchronous learning environment at Walden doing research and reading. The asynchronous environment has many advantages that work for me. If I had not have had the opportunity to log-on at my convenience, I would not have been able to successfully complete and submit assignments. I am not very confident that I completed one of the assignments to specification, but at least it is done. C'est la vie!!

This week I chose to critique MOODLE, WIZIQ and more- new ways of expanding your physical classroom boundaries. I found this blog to be both interesting and insightful. I like that Inma Alcázar chooses to discuss a tool that supports both asynchronous and synchronous learning environments. She discusses Moodle which is an asynchronous environment. I was not aware of the history of the tool until now. I had no idea the tool has been around since 1999. I thought it was relatively new. She also lists advantages to students as well as to the teachers that use the platform. Other tools mentioned that can be used in conjunction with Moodle are Elluminate and Wiziq. These platform supports synchronous formats. There is a hyperlink and a video that gives more information about Wiziq. Overall, the site is very informative and I give it two thumbs up. Just in case you can not access the site by clicking on its title, here is a direct link to the site:

http://myeslcorner.blogspot.com/2009/01/moodle-vs-wiziq-two-ways-to-create-your.html

 

Multimedia Project

This project took several hours. It may not look like this six minute item could take approximately 16  hours to complete, but it did and I am still learning new components. I have yet to figure out how to make my animated items move. They posted just like plain clip art. After deciding what I wanted to say and completing research about the subjects discussed, I had to teach myself how to use Garage Band to create a podcast. 

Listed below are sites that were referenced in the podcast. For some reason, they are not visible at the bottom of the frame as they were in the Quicktime window. 

http://schools.wikia.com/wiki/Center_of_Mass

http://techskills4today.wikispaces.com/Science

http://science-learning2009.wikispaces.com/

References: 

Austin, R., & Anderson, J. (Jan-March 2008). Building bridges online: issues of pedagogy and learning outcomes in intercultural education through citizenship. (Report). International Journal of Information and Communication Technology Education, 4, 1. p.86 (9). Retrieved March 26, 2009, from Academic OneFile via Gale:
http://find.galegroup.com/ips/retrieve.do?resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSet=IAC-Documents&qrySerId=Locale%28en%2CUS%2C%29%3AFQE%3D%28KE%2CNone%2C22%29collaborative+software%3AAnd%3AFQE%3D%28TX%2CNone%2C31%29what+is+collaborative+software+%3AAnd%3ALQE%3D%28AC%2CNone%2C8%29fulltext%3AAnd%3ALQE%3D%28RE%2CNone%2C3%29ref%24&inPS=true&sort=DateDescend&tabID=T002&prodId=IPS&searchId=R3&retrieveFormat=PDF&currentPosition=1&userGroupName=tel_p_memshel&docLevel=&docId=A172437228&noOfPages=9

Bernsteiner, R., Ostermann, H., & Staudinger, R. (July-Sept 2008). Facilitating e-learning with social software: attitudes and usage from the student's point of view. International Journal of Web-Based Learning and Teaching Technologies, 3, 3. p.16 (18). Retrieved March 26, 2009, from Academic OneFile via Gale:
http://find.galegroup.com/ips/retrieve.do?contentSet=IAC-Documents&qrySerId=Locale%28en%2C%2C%29%3AFQE%3D%28K0%2CNone%2C6%29wikis+%3AAnd%3ALQE%3D%28AC%2CNone%2C8%29fulltext%3AAnd%3ALQE%3D%28RE%2CNone%2C3%29ref%24&inPS=true&tabID=T002&prodId=IPS&searchId=R9&retrieveFormat=PDF&currentPosition=22&userGroupName=tel_p_memshel&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&sort=DateDescend&docId=A191476780&noOfPages=18

Finin, T., Joshi, A., Kolari, P., Java, A., Kale, A., & Karandikar, A. (Fall 2008). The information ecology of social media and online communities. AI Magazine, 29, 3. p.77(16). Retrieved March 26, 2009, from General OneFile via Gale: http://find.galegroup.com/ips/retrieve.do?resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSet=IAC-Documents&qrySerId=Locale%28en%2C%2C%29%3AFQE%3D%28K0%2CNone%2C6%29wikis+%3AAnd%3ALQE%3D%28AC%2CNone%2C8%29fulltext%3AAnd%3ALQE%3D%28RE%2CNone%2C3%29ref%24&inPS=true&sort=DateDescend&tabID=T002&prodId=IPS&searchId=R9&retrieveFormat=PDF&currentPosition=16&userGroupName=tel_p_memshel&docLevel=&docId=A186225627&noOfPages=16

Google. (2009). Google tour. Retrieved March 26, 2009 from http://www.google.com/google-d-s/tour1.html 

Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, wikis, podcasts and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Audio and Video Emerging Technologies

Here I go again. I am learning something new in class. This week our reading focused on multimedia publishing. I discovered I am aware of live streaming, but am not familiar with screencasting which is suppose to be similar to podcasting, just with video. And although I have heard of podcasts and have listened to some sermons from church via this tool, I have never created my own. From the reading this week, Richardson makes it seem so simple. He says that “it is now very easy to create and publish recordings” (2009, p. 113) and that it just requires a method to record information and the Internet (p. 113). I will soon see how much work the creation of a podcast will entail because my multimedia project, due next week, is going to be generated via podcasting and authoring software. My plan is to enlist my students to help me. I find that they are highly skilled in the emergent technologies and are more than willing to show their teacher a thing or two. Prensky describes the students of today as “digital natives born into digital technology and their teachers are digital immigrants having learned digital technology later in life” (2005, p. 45, ¶3). I would say that the description is accurate of me and my students in this case.


References:

Prensky, M. (2005). Adopt and adapt: 21st-century schools need 21st-century technology. Edutopia, December/ January 2006. Retrieved September 8, 2006 from http://www.edutopia.org/magazine/ed1article.php?id=art_1423&issue=dec_05

Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, wikis, podcasts and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Open and Online Learning Environments

To define open learning, it is a constructivist method that allows students to explore as they learn. Students are encouraged to research topics independently to gain knowledge. When the platform to experience open learning is based on-line, the definition is slightly different. Allessi and Trollip state “computer-based OLEs are well integrated collections of tools, information resources, and sometimes pedagogical supports that facilitate learning in flexible, somewhat learner-controlled, and motivating ways”, p. 320.


As a science teacher I fully support the open learning premise. Virtual labs can allow for individual and collaborative explorations. Students can even create their own labs to test concepts. The blog chosen this week to critique on our current topic is by Harry Keller at http://smartscience.blogspot.com/2008/10/blending-virtual-and-physical.html

Mr. Keller explains that simulations should not be considered a lab experience because students are not able to truly explore concepts. He supports virtual labs because they give students more opportunity that real labs. He says “we fill the hands-on experiment gap. Due to time, safety, cost, space, and other considerations, students don't investigate fully. They may do a single experiment, for example. By providing a rich set of virtual (but real) experiments, we allow students to investigate more completely” (2008, ¶ 7).

I agree with Mr. Keller. In addition, hands on labs can be messy and not all students want to comply with lab safety rules. Those factors as well as having to schedule lab time around other teachers’ schedules, affect the frequency of lab visits. Virtual labs can occur from anywhere software or kits can be used. Moreover, students can focus more time on the activity and less time on set-up and clean-up because in most cases virtual labs are computer-based.


References:

Alessi, S. M., & Trollip, S. R. (2001). Multimedia for learning. Methods and development. (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Keller, Harry. (2008). Great science labs take great effort. Retrieved April 2, 2009 from http://smartscience.blogspot.com/2008/10/blending-virtual-and-physical.html