Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Friday, October 9, 2009
The Wonderful World of Technology
EDTEC 566 is coming to an end and in a week and a half a big weight will be lifted off my shoulders. During this class we have gone through software, modeling tools, hypermedia, and many many other things. It has been a crazy and eventful seven weeks, but when it is all said and done there is a lot I will be able to take away from this course.
One thing this course taught me was how many free tools are out there that I can utilize in my classes. The tool that I am most excited about is Jing. I found a good You Tube video that walks you through setting up Jing. I also found a good article ‘Screencasting in 7 minutes with Jing’ , which helps you set up and use Jing. Another teacher I work with used a program similar to this called hypercam, which costs $40 dollars for a license. He had the students create step-by-step guides for a CAD program called Pro E. Hypercam is no longer on the computers, so I would like to install Jing because it is free. With Jing we can continue to do the step-by-step guides and also use it for other projects.
I would like to use Jing for my action plan but the one concern I have is trying to get the software onto the computers. As a teacher I am not allowed to install any programs onto the computers. This morning I suggested to one of the Technology coaches in our building installing this program on just one computer so I could use it, but I quickly got a nope you can’t install anything. The technology coach said he was sorry and felt my pain and wished he could help me, but he was not allowed to install anything for me. How frustrating is that?
Teaching can be very frustrating, especially when you are a technology teacher, and you have as much access to the computers as the students. I am constantly standing in my room helpless waiting for a tech person to come fix the problem. Now, it is not their fault there is only two people to fix over 300 teachers computers but something needs to be done. If as teachers we want to push our classes to the next level we need to have support.
So as I finish my rant about no support and start to think about my final project I still don’t know if I will be able to use Jing in my project. Either way life goes on and I will do the best I can with what I have.
One thing this course taught me was how many free tools are out there that I can utilize in my classes. The tool that I am most excited about is Jing. I found a good You Tube video that walks you through setting up Jing. I also found a good article ‘Screencasting in 7 minutes with Jing’ , which helps you set up and use Jing. Another teacher I work with used a program similar to this called hypercam, which costs $40 dollars for a license. He had the students create step-by-step guides for a CAD program called Pro E. Hypercam is no longer on the computers, so I would like to install Jing because it is free. With Jing we can continue to do the step-by-step guides and also use it for other projects.
I would like to use Jing for my action plan but the one concern I have is trying to get the software onto the computers. As a teacher I am not allowed to install any programs onto the computers. This morning I suggested to one of the Technology coaches in our building installing this program on just one computer so I could use it, but I quickly got a nope you can’t install anything. The technology coach said he was sorry and felt my pain and wished he could help me, but he was not allowed to install anything for me. How frustrating is that?
Teaching can be very frustrating, especially when you are a technology teacher, and you have as much access to the computers as the students. I am constantly standing in my room helpless waiting for a tech person to come fix the problem. Now, it is not their fault there is only two people to fix over 300 teachers computers but something needs to be done. If as teachers we want to push our classes to the next level we need to have support.
So as I finish my rant about no support and start to think about my final project I still don’t know if I will be able to use Jing in my project. Either way life goes on and I will do the best I can with what I have.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Flip Camera
When the question was posed “ how can you use a flip camera in your classroom?” the first class that came to my mind was Power and Energy. I want to create an assignment in this class where students have to come up with, research, and explain their own safety rules for the class. These rules will deal with power tools, cleaning up a lab, and emergencies. For this assignment I want the students to create a Wiki where they can explain in-depth safety rules, and give examples of why it is important to follow these rules. Along with this I want my students to use the flip cameras to video tape proper procedures, what not to do, or any other useful material. I think this would really enhance the learning experience. At first I didn’t know if a Wikispace would support video, but after doing a quick Google search I found a site that gave instructions of how to put a video from YouTube to your Wikispace. I also found a how-to-Video on You tube that visually walks you through step by step. It seems if I want my students to put a video on their Wikispace I will need them to post their videos to YouTube first.
One concern I Have is my school blocks You Tube. So I’m not sure if I will be able to embed the video. I can talk to the technical staff and see if they can unblock it, but I have a feeling this will not be a quick easy process.
One concern I Have is my school blocks You Tube. So I’m not sure if I will be able to embed the video. I can talk to the technical staff and see if they can unblock it, but I have a feeling this will not be a quick easy process.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Learning online
Watching the video of the student trying to use his textbook as a web book was very amusing and powerful. I have had similar experiences when I use a regular text book. There have been times when I want to find a key word and my first reaction is to hit ctrl+f, to bring up a find dialog box. Once I realize I can’t search for key words like that I immediately think this would be so much easier if the text was online. Simple things like zooming in, double clicking to make pictures bigger, and searching for key words can create a much better learning environment.
I do agree that a web book can be a more powerful and thought provoking tool, but I also know there are times that it is much easier for me to read text then off a screen. I think there are advantages to both mediums but I think there are more for webbooks, especially with all the technology out there for search through text, High resolution images, Video, and hyperlinks.
What do your students need to know before going online?
Students need to know the boundaries. It is important that they understand that they are using the internet for educational purposes and not so they can play games. They need to know what they can and can’t go to on the internet.
Students need to also understand that just because it is on the internet doesn’t mean it is true. They need to be able to distinguish between correct and incorrect information. They need to know what a legitimate website is that contains information they can trust and what a website that shouldn’t be trusted is.
How will you get your students to "dig deeper" for online content?
Students need to be pushed to dig deeper into a subject. As a teacher I need to ask questions in a way that forces them to look harder for information. I need to create critical thinking questions that force my students to dig deeper.
4. How do you teach them to search for information online? Visit here first.
This site talked about being specific and using Google advanced search to help. In Google advanced search there are four ways to search for information. You can search by finding results for all the words you typed in, you can search by finding exact phrases, you can search by finding any of the words you typed in and last you can search by excluding words. Once you teach them about advanced search you can teach them how to trim back a URL that they have found and see if there is more information on other pages around the one they are on. And last you can show them how to search for similar pages once they have found a page they like.
5. How do you teach them to evaluate the information they find online? Visit here first. Then, visit here.
You need to teach the students that there are different types of websites. There are opinion, commercial, news and informational. Students need to know the key characteristics of a legitimate website such as are there spelling and grammar errors, does the author support the
I do agree that a web book can be a more powerful and thought provoking tool, but I also know there are times that it is much easier for me to read text then off a screen. I think there are advantages to both mediums but I think there are more for webbooks, especially with all the technology out there for search through text, High resolution images, Video, and hyperlinks.
What do your students need to know before going online?
Students need to know the boundaries. It is important that they understand that they are using the internet for educational purposes and not so they can play games. They need to know what they can and can’t go to on the internet.
Students need to also understand that just because it is on the internet doesn’t mean it is true. They need to be able to distinguish between correct and incorrect information. They need to know what a legitimate website is that contains information they can trust and what a website that shouldn’t be trusted is.
How will you get your students to "dig deeper" for online content?
Students need to be pushed to dig deeper into a subject. As a teacher I need to ask questions in a way that forces them to look harder for information. I need to create critical thinking questions that force my students to dig deeper.
4. How do you teach them to search for information online? Visit here first.
This site talked about being specific and using Google advanced search to help. In Google advanced search there are four ways to search for information. You can search by finding results for all the words you typed in, you can search by finding exact phrases, you can search by finding any of the words you typed in and last you can search by excluding words. Once you teach them about advanced search you can teach them how to trim back a URL that they have found and see if there is more information on other pages around the one they are on. And last you can show them how to search for similar pages once they have found a page they like.
5. How do you teach them to evaluate the information they find online? Visit here first. Then, visit here.
You need to teach the students that there are different types of websites. There are opinion, commercial, news and informational. Students need to know the key characteristics of a legitimate website such as are there spelling and grammar errors, does the author support the
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