Reflecting on this course has reiterated to me how vast the Internet is. So many options and so many opportunities that it can be overwhelming at times, but incredibly awesome at the same time. I thought I was an Internet expert until I read November's book and I shortly realized that reading URLs and analyzing websites is something that is as important as learning math this day and age. I know next year I am going to really emphasize that with my students. The earlier they learn the better they will become at it when they are adult learners.
I've always been concerned about safety on the Internet. I've always been cautious with my personal information and always used virus protection applications. This course has made me realize how easy it is for a youngster who doesn't understand all that stuff to go out on the web and do something silly because they weren't trained properly. I think we as educators should emphasize showing learners how to use the Internet for educational purposes but also almost just as important how to safely explore. Just like we teach our kids fire safety, water safety, etc.
I know that in my classroom I am going to utilize the Internet next year more than ever. I am really excited to get my wiki up and running and I even have proposed to my principal to create a school wide wiki that teachers would have access to use. Thanks to this class I have great ideas that I want to use on a regular basis. I am obsessed with Jing and Voicethread now. I think they are so convenient and I plan on using them when I have to do some Professional Developments for my school next year.
All in all this was a great course that I have gained many tools for toolbox. With the right equipment I feel that I can do great things with young children now. 21st century learning can be exciting and beneficial if done properly, and after taking this course, I feel tat I am on the right path to be an excellent 21st century educator.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Response Blog #6
Here is a link to my web based learning experience.
http://mrde.wikispaces.com
It is in the beginning and early stages of my own personal classroom wiki. I know earlier I've stated how I want to collaborate with another classroom in the future, but for right now this will be my online learning environment. When the wiki is in full operation, I want it to be a central hub for everything in my classroom. Parents can check it for recent news and homework, students can check it for information about school, and the students can also use it to do online based projects, and even post their projects. I want it to be a place for communication with parents and also for collaborative writing pieces (i.e. poems, songs, brainstorming ideas almost like a mindmeister) amongst the students.
My lesson will be focused on different countries around the world. I know that my current students are very interested in their countries where they know that their families are from (Cambodia, Vietnam, Mexico, Haiti, and a couple more). They always seem to ask me about these countries and I answer them to the best of my ability and sometimes we search them on the internet, but this online experience that I am creating I think is a perfect opportunity for the students to go off and do it themselves.
I will have links for the students to search and even a jing video showing the students how to go about researching these countries. I want the students to post what they've found onto a separate page, and I will have a sample page of how it should look when they present their information. I know it sounds like a lot of work for the students but really, I am just going to be asking for a flag and a couple of facts about the country like where it is and famous facts.
I also had an idea to post a picture of the world and somehow have my students be able to locate the country somehow by circling it or something along those lines. Maybe a voicethread? That way the students can use the pen feature and circle the country they are researching.
Not to get too ahead of myself, like I think I already am, I would love it if the students could somehow psot the national anthem for that country, or maybe even write a paper about it and post their findings as a podcast. The more I think about this project the more possibilities I find
So those are my thoughts as of now, I'm new to having my own wiki so I'm sorry if it's not super easy to navigate just yet, but I will get the hang of it the more I play with it. As of now the pages and the navigation to those pages are on the left hand side. Give me your thoughts. Thanks, and good luck on all of yours!
http://mrde.wikispaces.com
It is in the beginning and early stages of my own personal classroom wiki. I know earlier I've stated how I want to collaborate with another classroom in the future, but for right now this will be my online learning environment. When the wiki is in full operation, I want it to be a central hub for everything in my classroom. Parents can check it for recent news and homework, students can check it for information about school, and the students can also use it to do online based projects, and even post their projects. I want it to be a place for communication with parents and also for collaborative writing pieces (i.e. poems, songs, brainstorming ideas almost like a mindmeister) amongst the students.
My lesson will be focused on different countries around the world. I know that my current students are very interested in their countries where they know that their families are from (Cambodia, Vietnam, Mexico, Haiti, and a couple more). They always seem to ask me about these countries and I answer them to the best of my ability and sometimes we search them on the internet, but this online experience that I am creating I think is a perfect opportunity for the students to go off and do it themselves.
I will have links for the students to search and even a jing video showing the students how to go about researching these countries. I want the students to post what they've found onto a separate page, and I will have a sample page of how it should look when they present their information. I know it sounds like a lot of work for the students but really, I am just going to be asking for a flag and a couple of facts about the country like where it is and famous facts.
I also had an idea to post a picture of the world and somehow have my students be able to locate the country somehow by circling it or something along those lines. Maybe a voicethread? That way the students can use the pen feature and circle the country they are researching.
Not to get too ahead of myself, like I think I already am, I would love it if the students could somehow psot the national anthem for that country, or maybe even write a paper about it and post their findings as a podcast. The more I think about this project the more possibilities I find
So those are my thoughts as of now, I'm new to having my own wiki so I'm sorry if it's not super easy to navigate just yet, but I will get the hang of it the more I play with it. As of now the pages and the navigation to those pages are on the left hand side. Give me your thoughts. Thanks, and good luck on all of yours!
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Internet Policy
The following is the internet policies that I will be focusing on with my students for next year. I have this in kid friendly terms as best as I could think of, and as I mentioned last week in my blog, it is the list that I will help construct with the students during the first couple of weeks of school. I broke it up into two seperate lists, one is for the internet and one for use of our class wiki. I want to do a whole super hero theme next year in my classroom as much as possible so I thought I'd make them become Super Internet Users.
Super Internet Users to the rescue!!
When I'm on the internet, I will....
-Never tell anyone my last name, where I live, my phone number, or any other information about myself.
-Go on websites that are in the Bookmarks File or check the website with the teacher to amke sure it's good.
-Use the internet to learn as much as possible, and not just play games
-Only click 3 times or less when visiting websites
When I'm on the class wiki, I will....
--Never tell anyone my last name, where I live, my phone number, or any other information about myself.
-Check the wiki every time I go on the computer to see "What's New!" and also have my parents check it every night too.
-Participate and contribute to the wiki when my teacher asks me to
-Read what others have to say and not use the wiki for bullying
I know that if I don't do these things, then I may not be aloud to use this awesome computer for sometime, until I learn how to be a Super Internet User.
(Sign Here)
Super Internet Users to the rescue!!
When I'm on the internet, I will....
-Never tell anyone my last name, where I live, my phone number, or any other information about myself.
-Go on websites that are in the Bookmarks File or check the website with the teacher to amke sure it's good.
-Use the internet to learn as much as possible, and not just play games
-Only click 3 times or less when visiting websites
When I'm on the class wiki, I will....
--Never tell anyone my last name, where I live, my phone number, or any other information about myself.
-Check the wiki every time I go on the computer to see "What's New!" and also have my parents check it every night too.
-Participate and contribute to the wiki when my teacher asks me to
-Read what others have to say and not use the wiki for bullying
I know that if I don't do these things, then I may not be aloud to use this awesome computer for sometime, until I learn how to be a Super Internet User.
(Sign Here)
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Response Blog #5
Since last week I've been thnking about my final project, which is going to be a wiki to connect with another classroom next year in September. Since the students will be using this wiki I will need to have a Safety and Security policy in place. My students will use the web to communicate and share projects via the wiki. They will also be using the interent for some small research based projects and other websites that have been approved by the district for games and intervention programs. I think that best policy format that I can put in place would be a checklist that is kid friendly. The checklist would have no more then 10 items on it and would be in a language that the students could relate to. Each item would be added one at a time as we discuss each policy. In other words I wouldn't just hand ou the checklist and say "Here it is." I would take mayb two a week and realy try to embed those policies into the students. The final result would be a checklist that the students helped create.
I will try not to make the list a list of "don't's!" I want it to be positive for the most part and have each student know the consequences if they don't partake on the internet correctly. Some ideas for items on the checklist are...1. Game sites like (insert sites here) may only be used during lunch, recess, or if the teacher says it's ok. 2. 3 clicks per website, try not to get lost. 3. On the Wiki, never mention your name or anything else about yourself.
I think that students learn new information the best when they are a part of constructing it, that's why I would take each item as it's own little mini lesson and reinforce them as we constructed new ones together.
Here is Philadelphia's School District AUP
I will try not to make the list a list of "don't's!" I want it to be positive for the most part and have each student know the consequences if they don't partake on the internet correctly. Some ideas for items on the checklist are...1. Game sites like (insert sites here) may only be used during lunch, recess, or if the teacher says it's ok. 2. 3 clicks per website, try not to get lost. 3. On the Wiki, never mention your name or anything else about yourself.
I think that students learn new information the best when they are a part of constructing it, that's why I would take each item as it's own little mini lesson and reinforce them as we constructed new ones together.
Here is Philadelphia's School District AUP
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