The class on Friday was by far my favorite of the semester. I was blown away by how useful all of the programs/apps were. I actually have 3 of them and have never even come close to fully utilizing them. My presentation on skype taught me just how much that program is capable. It has so many third party apps that would be great for the classroom and keeping me organized in general. I wish I had known this when I was in Greece last summer. It would have been great for using with my family and friends back home. However, of all the programs, my favorite is Diigo. I found it to be invaluable as a studying tool for myself. I think that students of all ages could really benefit from using it. Not only does it provide a great studying tool, but a community for studying and sharing important articles and ideas with the click of a button.
I really just had a lot of fun working in the group and having everyone share what they learned. It was really nice that we were all helping each other out with our programs. I really felt like we had a real team aspect going on for us, and it was great. I also liked being able to teach my peers something they hadn't known before. It was interesting to hear everyone's unique takes on the programs and how they would apply them to life, and their classrooms.
Finally, I enjoyed Kristin's teaching session at the end where she helped us set up our rss feeds and discussed social networking. I thought she did a great job teaching on her own even though she had a huge class. I found the rss feed to be incredibly helpful. I am sad to see aviary go, since it was something I was looking forward to utilizing in class with my students, but I'm sure something similar will pop up. Overall, it was a great class and the room in North Quad was really nice. I wish every table had those outlets!
Monday, July 30, 2012
Monday, July 23, 2012
Rebecca Black
Figure it out.
Friday's class was cool and all, but I feel like we also are forced to do a lot of things that aren't actually useful. For example, Weebly is something I will never utilize. If I get a job using fucking weebly then my life has taken quite a sad turn. I'm sorry, maybe that is offensive but just because the internet is there doesn't always mean we have to use it. I can give my credit card number to a Nigerian prince online too, doesn't mean I need to. While a lot of technology does make my life easier, some things are more trivial than realistic. I worked in a corporate office that utilizes technology all of the time, and I'd never heard of Weebly. It's called Monster.com, and that shit is awesome. You can apply for jobs and they match you and all kinds of things using magic or something. That's cool. There is also this awesome thing called google search on the internet which will allow you to find open job opportunities. Also, there is this mystical thing called the newspaper or you can always make a phone call asking. Link'dIn is basically Weebly except it doesn't suck and has an actual following. I don't mean to knock it, but again, let's be real. Podcast stuff? Cool. Aviary? Kind of cool. Weebly? Please.
It was cool to see how angry birds was utilized, but I also see some downfalls in that. I can see how that could be distracting, or worse seen as a waste of time by the parents. I think when using these things, we have to maybe take the awesome parts of the games and technology and apply them in a non-distracting way. Or maybe make the game part of an assignment and then discuss it in class. However, I found the symbol stuff to be interesting and a good analogy for understanding how foreign or familiar technology can feel to people. I hate to be a negative Nancy in this blog, but there are some days where I feel like I spent 50 thousand dollars to basically spend three hours doing something I could have figured out alone in 5 minutes when utilizing google. I know everyone isn't like that and I can appreciate that. I guess I'm just in a bad mood or something. This isn't to say that I have any problem with the professors or their teaching abilities. I find them both to be knowledgeable and passionate about technology and teaching. I know that they know their stuff and I appreciate that. I have found most of the tech classes to be awesome though. Also, there was no need to be on north campus last week. We could have done that in the school of ed. Just saying.....
Friday's class was cool and all, but I feel like we also are forced to do a lot of things that aren't actually useful. For example, Weebly is something I will never utilize. If I get a job using fucking weebly then my life has taken quite a sad turn. I'm sorry, maybe that is offensive but just because the internet is there doesn't always mean we have to use it. I can give my credit card number to a Nigerian prince online too, doesn't mean I need to. While a lot of technology does make my life easier, some things are more trivial than realistic. I worked in a corporate office that utilizes technology all of the time, and I'd never heard of Weebly. It's called Monster.com, and that shit is awesome. You can apply for jobs and they match you and all kinds of things using magic or something. That's cool. There is also this awesome thing called google search on the internet which will allow you to find open job opportunities. Also, there is this mystical thing called the newspaper or you can always make a phone call asking. Link'dIn is basically Weebly except it doesn't suck and has an actual following. I don't mean to knock it, but again, let's be real. Podcast stuff? Cool. Aviary? Kind of cool. Weebly? Please.
It was cool to see how angry birds was utilized, but I also see some downfalls in that. I can see how that could be distracting, or worse seen as a waste of time by the parents. I think when using these things, we have to maybe take the awesome parts of the games and technology and apply them in a non-distracting way. Or maybe make the game part of an assignment and then discuss it in class. However, I found the symbol stuff to be interesting and a good analogy for understanding how foreign or familiar technology can feel to people. I hate to be a negative Nancy in this blog, but there are some days where I feel like I spent 50 thousand dollars to basically spend three hours doing something I could have figured out alone in 5 minutes when utilizing google. I know everyone isn't like that and I can appreciate that. I guess I'm just in a bad mood or something. This isn't to say that I have any problem with the professors or their teaching abilities. I find them both to be knowledgeable and passionate about technology and teaching. I know that they know their stuff and I appreciate that. I have found most of the tech classes to be awesome though. Also, there was no need to be on north campus last week. We could have done that in the school of ed. Just saying.....
Well this is awkward....
So, this is late. That's real. That happened. But oh well man, life happens and what not. Sun goes up, sun goes down. You can't explain that.
The readings and videos we had to do for class gave me a lot to think about from a pedagogical standpoint. It's awesome that there are teachers out there who try to stay current concerning technology and its practical usage in the classroom. In reality, I utilize technology in my daily life to a degree that may be considered unhealthy. There are some days where the only realistic marriage I ever see myself having is to my cell phone. Basically, I love the internet more than I love most things in life. More generally I love technology and how much easier it makes my daily life. With that being said, why shouldn't or wouldn't I utilize these tools in my classroom? The students I'll be teaching are not much younger than I am and we share many of the same interests when it comes to entertainment. If we share so much common ground in this respect, it should be explored. I liked our assignments because they demonstrated how creative we can be with things that we usually only value as entertainment. If we can use things like "Angry Birds" as a viable and effective teaching tool, why shouldn't we?
I found it interesting how beneficial video games can be to our cognitive processes. Students use problem solving skills in games like world of warcraft, which help them thinking about tactics and traits their characters need. This could be transferred to a classroom environment, by creating a similar setup within the classroom with real world applications. For example, government could be very applicable to such a game. Maybe even have them set up accounts for the game, and make them practice real world exercises within the game in order to prevent wars, or engage in them. Maybe have students practice international relations and treaty situations by having their guilds represent countries. Students could do secret alliances, explicit alliances and treachery in order to achieve a certain goal, while secretly having one group work against those common goals.
Gee talks about students willingness to try new things in video games. If we can transfer that mentality to the classroom, students may be willing to exit their comfort zone in order to learn new things. The fear of failure in real life does not transfer to video games. Video games allow multiple attempts and maybe we should allow the classroom to as well. If students can have redo's on certain assignments, with the goal of trying to exit their comfort zone, maybe students would be more willing to apply their creativity to assignments. Thus, even if we do not directly apply technology in the classroom, we could apply things that video games teach us in order to create a more successful classroom.
The readings and videos we had to do for class gave me a lot to think about from a pedagogical standpoint. It's awesome that there are teachers out there who try to stay current concerning technology and its practical usage in the classroom. In reality, I utilize technology in my daily life to a degree that may be considered unhealthy. There are some days where the only realistic marriage I ever see myself having is to my cell phone. Basically, I love the internet more than I love most things in life. More generally I love technology and how much easier it makes my daily life. With that being said, why shouldn't or wouldn't I utilize these tools in my classroom? The students I'll be teaching are not much younger than I am and we share many of the same interests when it comes to entertainment. If we share so much common ground in this respect, it should be explored. I liked our assignments because they demonstrated how creative we can be with things that we usually only value as entertainment. If we can use things like "Angry Birds" as a viable and effective teaching tool, why shouldn't we?
I found it interesting how beneficial video games can be to our cognitive processes. Students use problem solving skills in games like world of warcraft, which help them thinking about tactics and traits their characters need. This could be transferred to a classroom environment, by creating a similar setup within the classroom with real world applications. For example, government could be very applicable to such a game. Maybe even have them set up accounts for the game, and make them practice real world exercises within the game in order to prevent wars, or engage in them. Maybe have students practice international relations and treaty situations by having their guilds represent countries. Students could do secret alliances, explicit alliances and treachery in order to achieve a certain goal, while secretly having one group work against those common goals.
Gee talks about students willingness to try new things in video games. If we can transfer that mentality to the classroom, students may be willing to exit their comfort zone in order to learn new things. The fear of failure in real life does not transfer to video games. Video games allow multiple attempts and maybe we should allow the classroom to as well. If students can have redo's on certain assignments, with the goal of trying to exit their comfort zone, maybe students would be more willing to apply their creativity to assignments. Thus, even if we do not directly apply technology in the classroom, we could apply things that video games teach us in order to create a more successful classroom.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Reflection 2
First, I have to say that my favorite part of the day was when the students came in to visit us. I was disappointed that they didn't get to hang longer, but I guess it's ok. I definitely would have appreciated more time to just chill before we got down to the nitty-gritty. The lesson planning was really cool. I was introduced to a ton of new websites that can help me with taxonomy and activities for lessons. I must admit that I don't think I could have made such an awesome lesson plan on my own. Having everyone's opinion on how we should go about conducting the lesson was really helpful, and it was really cool to see how creative everyone is with their approach to lesson planning and teaching. I thought overall, we rocked the shit with our lesson plan. If I were in high school, I would have enjoyed that soda ban lesson plan. < that rhymes.
I had a fun lunch with a group of mackers, who I had not met before. I was pretty excited about that. I also thought aviary was pretty cool, but the sound editing was really rudimentary. I make and mix music at home, so I was pumped about doing that activity. I breezed through it, but since I had some problems with the wiki, I ended up being like one of the last people to leave. Either way, I think there are some really awesome possibilities to utilize technology in a creative way in the classroom. I like that teaching can be fun and modern. I'm excited to try out a podcast in class. Overall, I thought the day was pretty helpful, and I was pumped we got out early. The End.
I had a fun lunch with a group of mackers, who I had not met before. I was pretty excited about that. I also thought aviary was pretty cool, but the sound editing was really rudimentary. I make and mix music at home, so I was pumped about doing that activity. I breezed through it, but since I had some problems with the wiki, I ended up being like one of the last people to leave. Either way, I think there are some really awesome possibilities to utilize technology in a creative way in the classroom. I like that teaching can be fun and modern. I'm excited to try out a podcast in class. Overall, I thought the day was pretty helpful, and I was pumped we got out early. The End.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Soda ban
There are 380 calories in a McDonald's milkshake http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/nutrition-calories/food/mcdonalds/milkshake/, 110 calories in one 12 oz. beer http://www.beer100.com/beercalories.htm, and 112 calories in a cup of orange juice. There are 140 calories in a 12 oz. can of coca-colahttp://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/nutrition-calories/food/coca-cola/.
Mayor Bloomberg and his administration decided that they should ban soda over the size of 16 oz., but only at restaurants. I understand that soda is not healthy for people in any way, but neither is beer. Light beers like a Bud Light has 110 calories in one can, and yet nothing is mentioned about liquor sales in restaurants. It seems that people who go to dinner at a restaurant are just as likely to drink multiple beers throughout dinner, which could add up to nearly a fourth of a person's daily caloric intake. What I find even worse, is that one McDonald's milkshake has 380 calories. One. That is ridiculous and the amount of fat in one milkshake is usually pretty outrageous.
I don't fault the mayor for wanting to make the city healthier, but I think it is hypocritical to put limits on soda sizes and yet milkshakes and alcohol are unaffected. Orange juice also has a lot of calories, but it's actually healthy to have real fruit juice so I don't want to try to lump it in with the other beverages I've mentioned. However, from a caloric standpoint, the juice is almost as bad as a 12 oz. soda. It's easy to find justification for banning foods and beverages, but limiting size on one specific drink, and not actually limiting the amount you can buy seems like a scam.
Alcohol makes a lot of money in taxes for the state and now soda can too. They already raised the tax on soda, and now they are forcing people to buy multiple soda beverages in a sitting if they want more. What they are really doing is creating revenue through taxes for the government and forcing people to spend more money. If he was really concerned about health, he would crack down on milkshakes, ice cream, candy, and other unnecessary snack foods that contribute to the obesity of the american public. Furthermore, he would try to do something about alcohol and the adverse effects it has on the body. Not only do alcoholic beverages contribute to weight gain, but it also can cause liver damage, fetal alcohol syndrome, and addiction. The monetary aspect of this law is already on his mind and he uses it as a defense for his actions, "He also said he foresaw no adverse effect on local businesses, and he suggested that restaurants could simply charge more for smaller drinks if their sales were to drop." This shows that money is what this law comes down to. So now people are going to spend more money at restaurants and be charged more for soda when outside of the city they can get it for much cheaper and without regulation.
I'm not saying that I think soda is good for people. I actually don't drink much myself, but until he is willing to really crack down on the weight problem, bring more physical activities to the schools, create exercise regiments or free gym memberships for citizens and ban snack foods, I don't think that his actions are justified. It literally will do absolutely nothing beneficial for the citizens, but it will make the city's government richer and force the people to spend more. I think that the obesity issue in this nation needs to be addressed, but I think this is the wrong way to go about doing so.
Mayor Bloomberg and his administration decided that they should ban soda over the size of 16 oz., but only at restaurants. I understand that soda is not healthy for people in any way, but neither is beer. Light beers like a Bud Light has 110 calories in one can, and yet nothing is mentioned about liquor sales in restaurants. It seems that people who go to dinner at a restaurant are just as likely to drink multiple beers throughout dinner, which could add up to nearly a fourth of a person's daily caloric intake. What I find even worse, is that one McDonald's milkshake has 380 calories. One. That is ridiculous and the amount of fat in one milkshake is usually pretty outrageous.
I don't fault the mayor for wanting to make the city healthier, but I think it is hypocritical to put limits on soda sizes and yet milkshakes and alcohol are unaffected. Orange juice also has a lot of calories, but it's actually healthy to have real fruit juice so I don't want to try to lump it in with the other beverages I've mentioned. However, from a caloric standpoint, the juice is almost as bad as a 12 oz. soda. It's easy to find justification for banning foods and beverages, but limiting size on one specific drink, and not actually limiting the amount you can buy seems like a scam.
Alcohol makes a lot of money in taxes for the state and now soda can too. They already raised the tax on soda, and now they are forcing people to buy multiple soda beverages in a sitting if they want more. What they are really doing is creating revenue through taxes for the government and forcing people to spend more money. If he was really concerned about health, he would crack down on milkshakes, ice cream, candy, and other unnecessary snack foods that contribute to the obesity of the american public. Furthermore, he would try to do something about alcohol and the adverse effects it has on the body. Not only do alcoholic beverages contribute to weight gain, but it also can cause liver damage, fetal alcohol syndrome, and addiction. The monetary aspect of this law is already on his mind and he uses it as a defense for his actions, "He also said he foresaw no adverse effect on local businesses, and he suggested that restaurants could simply charge more for smaller drinks if their sales were to drop." This shows that money is what this law comes down to. So now people are going to spend more money at restaurants and be charged more for soda when outside of the city they can get it for much cheaper and without regulation.
I'm not saying that I think soda is good for people. I actually don't drink much myself, but until he is willing to really crack down on the weight problem, bring more physical activities to the schools, create exercise regiments or free gym memberships for citizens and ban snack foods, I don't think that his actions are justified. It literally will do absolutely nothing beneficial for the citizens, but it will make the city's government richer and force the people to spend more. I think that the obesity issue in this nation needs to be addressed, but I think this is the wrong way to go about doing so.
Monday, July 2, 2012
First Day of Class
In the modern classroom, there are children who are more familiar with the apple store than the book store and we have to evolve with these students if we want to be effective teachers. While many view the usage of technology as a gimmick or fun activity for the children, in reality it has become an important aspect for learning, and in many ways, far more useful than our older forms of educational resources. While tradition inspires apprehension to change with the times, the reality is that our students' lives will have technology deeply ingrained in both their personal and professional lifestyles. Knowing how to use technology effectively and efficiently is a necessity in the modern world and will only continue to advance. It would be irresponsible to leave this important facet of modern life out of our curriculum.
EDUC 504 may be a teaching with technology class, but it is also teaching for the future. If we can utilize what we learn in this class, we are providing the students with an invaluable and nearly infinite informational resource. This could change how we connect with students, how absence from class affects learning and how we interact with both students and parents. With technology on our side, social media like skype, facebook and twitter can become teaching as well as disciplinary tools. A child could skype into class from home if they are not feeling well, or parent teacher conferences could be conducted with a parent who may not be able to make it to the formal hours. Furthermore, if we utilize social media we can have better understanding of how our students manage their time (in a non invasive way), create facebook events for important homeworks that would serve as reminders for students who may be forgetful, and have a better relationship with the parents. If a child misses school we could send their parents and them a facebook message or tweet, which they may be more likely to receive than an email. Also, sites like youtube have a plethora of educational videos, tutoring, and how-to's that could help students who may want to see examples.The possibilities for both classroom management and teaching are endless.
Of course, there are problems that will arise from using technology in the classroom. My biggest concerns are distractions such as facebook, twitter and tumblr. If we could make them into a learning tool, that would be wonderful, but there will always be the risk of students instead just browsing throughout the entire class. The chats on sites like facebook create a very real opportunity for cyber-bullying, which seems to be the new trend. Finally, cheating could become easier due to google search and online chats. However, these are problems that can be combated with filters, close monitoring, and assignments that are due in class.
The article we read spoke about the demand for change in the classroom. Students want, deserve, and expect their teachers and their classrooms to keep up with technological advances. Furthermore, by installing a familiar and more imaginative medium to the classroom, we are relating to their lives more. This will help keep students interested in what we as teachers want them to learn. I personally agree with this. When I was younger we used no technology, and instead were always forced to go to the library and other outdated routes. It made me disinterested and disengaged more quickly. I was more comfortable with the computer by the time I was a junior in high school. When teachers actually took advantage of technology, the classroom would become more alive and more students participated because they felt more comfortable. Instead of the world of books, where they may have been marginalized, they were now being confronted with technology and many of us felt much more confident in our abilities. I think if technology is used correctly, we could position ourselves to be able to teach more in a day than was ever possible before. Students are used to taking in more information than of those in the past, and it's time we try to teach with this "new" and invaluable tool.
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